AKQA promoted Carlos Matias to the role of international design director, effective immediately.
In the new role, Matias will be responsible for overseeing the design and branding practices across all of AKQA’s offices in the U.S. and Europe. He will be based out of AKQA’s New York office and report to international creative director Duan Evans and international managing director Giles McCormack.
Matias has served as a design/creative director with AKQA London for the past five years, following a brief stint as a teacher for NewMedia; he helped to build the agency’s design team while creating award-winning work for Nike. Before that he spent nearly four and a half years as an art director with Fullsix Portugal and two years as a senior designer with BY Design after founding his own boutique design studio called Dialectica back in 2001 and working with clients in the fashion, arts and media sectors.
“This is an exciting opportunity to reinforce the exquisite craftsmanship of AKQA on a global level and further elevate the brand and design capabilities for our clients,” Matias said in a statement. “At the same time, I am thrilled to be in the US, discovering some of the best creative talent and collaborating with them across the AKQA network.”
Additionally, AKQA appointed Hunter Simms as a creative director. Simms joins the agency from Razorfish, where he served as an associate creative director since April of 2014, working with brands including Dove, Mercedes-Benz, Spotify and Smart Car. Before joining Razorfish, Simms spent nearly four years as an associate creative director with Tribal Worldwide, working with brands such as Reebok, the NFL and Pepsi after spending nearly two years as a senior copywriter with JWT Dubai.
“These appointments signify an exciting new chapter for AKQA, specifically in New York,” McCormack said. “Carlos and Hunter are incredible creative talents and will make a huge impact.”