Tell us about the studio: Who are the founders, how many employees, where are you based, what’s your speciality, any details you’d like to share.

Nightjar is a technology-first design studio with a core focus on building digital products. We challenge ourselves across industry to solve complex business problems by unifying brand, experience and technology. The studio was founded by three friends, Christine Sultana, Bonnie MacTavish, and myself with a desire to do things better - the process, the work, and the enjoyment of both. Each one of us complement each other’s expertise. Bonnie has a background in strategy, Christine a production skillset and I float between design and engineering. It is these disciplines that combined to create Nightjar and keep us continuously innovating. Our team is a collection of experts, carefully selected for their dedication to their craft. We think in digital systems, building brands and strategies and engineering them with agility, speed and precision.

What is the story behind the name of the studio?

The Nightjar bird, active at both ends of the day, reflects the circadian rhythms of the Nightjar's founders. While Christine and Bonnie are early risers, I myself am a night owl. The Nightjar bird is nocturnal, more often heard than seen, from dusk to the early hours of the morning. During our early days it really felt like that, and even eight years into our journey we still run at the speed of a startup. We felt that the bird perfectly mirrored the studio’s continuous iteration, the rise and fall improvement of our process. Every new member of the team adds to that cycle. There’s also some interesting folklore surrounding the cryptic Nightjar, of which they have been referred to as the harbingers of doom and are eloquently referred to as the "goatsucker", stemming from the belief that they sucked milk from goats at night. The three founders were here to shake things up, so it felt about right.

Which topics or industries are you most passionate about and focused on?

We’re industry agnostic and relish the opportunity to learn something about a new category – it keeps things interesting. We have always been principles-led, choosing our clients based on their ethics as well as their attitude towards leaning into new ideas. We want to make sure we get along with the team who we’re going to be spending a lot of time with and may also have to have difficult conversations with at some point along the journey. Currently we’re focused heavily in the health space, working on products from mental health to low vision. Alongside those challenging briefs we are quite passionate about the luxury eCommerce space, Government (believe it or not, but we’re all about effective products), and publishing.

Do you listen to something or play music while working?

When we first moved into our studio, we installed a beefy sound system for when the after party is brought back. Through the day it is kept in full swing powering us through the week. Studio tastes vary based on whatever new mixes or sets the team are into that particular week, a Rufus or Tame Impala album is normally on loop at any given point, or a switch-up to just good ol’ reliable Radiohead.

How does the team wind down or spend quality time together?
 

We believe that by caring deeply for our people and clients, we can create magic. It’s about knowing how special what we’ve got is, and nurturing it.

We ride together, die together. We roll up our sleeves to get the hard stuff done, and leave no Nightjar behind. We strike the balance between work and play. It's kind of a no-brainer but to be the best digital studio, we need the best people. And we need them at their best.

It’s a culture of shared experiences, shared jokes, shared snacks. And we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else than our sunny Sydney studio.

We’ll normally head down to our local every fortnight to come together as a team for lunch, our team are avid film buffs, and occasionally we’ll hit the cinema and delve into a film festival movie of choice. Once a year, on Nightjar’s anniversary we take the team away to a new destination in the country to really let loose and enjoy each other’s company.

What’s the hardest thing about running a studio?

Keeping all the plates spinning whilst maintaining a strong pipeline. Context switching, being pulled in lots of different directions. It keeps it exciting, but then it’s hard to squeeze in the deep focused work. To counter this, we keep Tuesday and Thursday as our meeting days, leaving the other days free for deep flow. We believe that senior-led teams drive real value for our partners, and so ensuring focused collaboration is crucial to the work we do in the studio. Market conditions are hard to predict and it’s been a tricky few years, but we’ve stayed motivated and are now feeling things picking up again.

What’s the best thing about running a studio?

The constant thrill of solving the next big challenge. I’ve always been deeply passionate about the intersection of design and technology, so for me I literally can’t stop what I’m doing. I have to be reminded to pen down, but there’s always more to learn, explore and refine. We get to build a team of people we admire and respect working with. There are always hard times, when market conditions sway but when you’re surrounded by brilliant thinkers and doers, nothing can stand in your way. 

Who would you love to collaborate with, or have as a client?

For me, working with partners in fields that are pushing boundaries of science and technology. Currently I’m quite interested in the break-throughs in Quantum Computing, be it the large players or the smaller companies looking to solve some of the biggest problems. Whilst we are not able to solve the problem itself, I believe there is a lot of work to be done in the education and communication of what the world might look like when this mammoth task is solved. 

When was the last time you said ‘no’ to a new client or project and why?

We’re big on chemistry here at Nightjar, and believe the best work is done when we’re able to align on vision, ambition and most importantly, scope. Those conversations are a walk in the park when you’re dealing with partners who are clear on their brief, are experts in their field and respect us in ours. For the most part we turn down projects in which we simply can not deliver enough value for the budget at hand, or the task is too great within restrictive parameters such as technology pre-requisites.

What’s your recruitment strategy? How do you decide who to employ?

Generally, we try to communicate to potential candidates through the work. Our process is a three-step interview. Based upon the role an individual will first meet with one of the founders in which the specialism is held, and then move to the next founder. If you’re passionate in strategy, delivery, design and technology then you’re a shoe-in.

What's the best advice you can give about working with clients?

Listen intently, know that they understand their business better than you ever will, but that you can bring a new creative lens upon which their end-user will experience the brand.

Where would you like to see the studio in 5 years?

Growth has always been top of mind, but sustainable growth is key to our success. We wish to remain a cutting edge studio, of which our team of experts have the time and space to solve the problems at hand. Working with partners that are as ambitious as we are, trying hard to shape the world into a slightly better place. Whilst we’re big fans of Sydney, we would like to take a dive into a new city, and open a studio in a location that is culturally different and bring in new perspectives and diverse thought that moves the work and our team forward.

Thank you Nightjar!