Robert Achten

Athlete, Brainstormer, Change Agent, Concerned citizen, Designer, Explorer, Global soul, Parent, World traveler

Professional Profile: Rob Achten Creative Director, Icebreaker Clothing Bold, disruptive, meaningful design typifies the ethos of Icebreaker Creative Director Rob Achten. “Design has to have meaning – it shouldn’t be just a pretty picture,” says Rob, who is one of Australasia’s leading designers. “It also has to stand out from the crowd. It goes without saying that design should be elegant and of good quality, but all that’s a waste of time if it goes unnoticed.” Standing out from the crowd hasn’t been a problem for Icebreaker, which visually expresses itself in a radically different way from other outdoor clothing manufacturers. Icebreaker’s imagery and photography are based around telling its powerful story: the bond it has with nature, and particularly with the Southern Alps, the rugged New Zealand mountain range where merino sheep grow the premium fiber for Icebreaker’s sustainably-produced garments. Rob joined Icebreaker in 2003, and has built up a 15-strong team responsible for brand, graphic and retail design. His role is to ensure Icebreaker’s identity, strategy and design direction are consistently carried through to all design disciplines. Before joining Icebreaker, Rob co-founded Origin Design, an agency based in Wellington, New Zealand. Origin started out as a boutique design company, and soon began collecting design awards. The agency attracted increasing numbers of corporate clients, but Rob found that industry upstart Icebreaker had become his favorite client. “Working for Icebreaker felt a lot more real than working for corporates. I liked Icebreaker’s commitment to nature and to sustainability, and I enjoying doing work that had a real connection with something,” says Rob. “When you work for Icebreaker, you’re very close to your consumers. If one of your ideas doesn’t work, you hear about it very quickly. As a designer, it keeps you honest.” Rob has picked up a sheaf of design awards during his career, including a Stringer award for graphic design in 1995 and again in 2004. The Stringer award is the supreme award for outstanding achievement in the BeST Design Awards, New Zealand designs’ equivalent of the Oscars. In his spare time, Rob enjoys traveling, hanging out with his wife and twin sons, adventure racing and taking part in multi-sport events. He is now training for his fourth Speight’s Coast-to-Coast, a premier New Zealand multi-sport event that involves a 140k bike ride, a 67k kayak, and a 36k run - across the Southern Alps.

Design & Creativity. Nature & the environment. New Zealand. Design in Nature. My Family. Eccentric people and places. Spirituality.

Love what you do. Different is good

Design, Design Leadership, Design Management

I don’t have a TED story - other than finding it a great source of inspiration

getting by on very little sleep