GAVIN CHIMES

It took the Matilda Bay brewers 27 batches to create a beer that met their master brewer’s standards. They called it the Original Ale. To promote this perfect brew, we released the almost perfect rejects. Rejected Ales, the best beers you were never meant to taste.

Animals help us sell things. They appear in 20% of all ads. But while they’re thriving in advertising, they’re suffering in the real world. The Lion’s Share is an initiative that ensures animals receive the support they deserve.

I’m honoured to have worked with the founders at Finch to help develop this truly impactful project.

Air-Ink is the first ink made from air pollution.

What began as a pilot in Hong Kong quickly grew into a global project, reaching New York, Berlin, Bangalore and the UK, where it’s on permanent display at the London Design Museum.

The technology is currently being considered by the UN and governments around the world.

Life’s a lot for young people. Heartbreak. Anxiety. Moving out. Coming out. Sex. The f***ing climate crisis. Men. Then you get your period.

To introduce Modibodi periodwear to Gen Z, we created ‘I’m Dying Inside’ - a modern period drama.

Selleys Liquid Nails is not a super glue. It's a serious construction adhesive with 400kg of holding power per square meter. But the builders who buy it don’t give a crap about words. They want proof.

So, we built a billboard that doubled as a torture test and stuck a kayak, arcade machine, even a marlin to it with nothing but Selleys. Then we threw down the gauntlet: If you can take it, it’s yours.

Pedestrians tried. Builders had a go. Australia’s second strongest man grunted and failed. Every tug, heave and swear word was captured as undeniable proof of one thing: If it’s Selleys, it works.

Installation built by James Dive.

Maurice Blackburn, Australia’s leading social justice law firm, spent 300 hours documenting the experiences of offshore detention survivors for a class action case. When a change in law forced the case to be dropped, they came to us with a question: how could these stories still be heard?

With no cameras or journalists allowed inside the detention centres, we worked with survivors to turn their testimony into visual evidence, using the then-emerging technology of generative AI.

Exhibit A-i became the largest visual and written record of life in offshore detention - bringing hidden atrocities into public view, putting pressure on policy-makers and, above all, ensuring the survivors’ stories became part of the permanent public record.

Coverage by CNN
Coverage by The Guardian

Examine the evidence at exhibitai.com.au

Mattress start up 10:PM lacked the budget to run billboards like their competitors, so we created them…from their competitors’ abandoned products.

Petbarn had distinctive brand icons. The problem was, they were flat 2D assets with about as much personality as a bag of kibble.

So we brought them to life in 3D as Petey and Barnadette, two fully realised characters who relaunched the brand by ‘accidentally’ deleting its entire social feed and defacing its billboards.

Now they write the emails, spruik products, hijack store announcements and will star in 75 films across 2026. Built with human craft and AI, their world has become Petbarn’s world — turning a pair of brand icons into an entertainment platform designed to build fame, loyalty and put Petbarn at the heart of Australian pet culture.

For caravanners, slow is a way of life. About getting back to basics, back to nature and reconnecting with what’s important. What better thing for NRMA Insurance to protect? Not just caravans but the very way of life that surrounds them.

Every year, natural disasters put Australian homes and first responders at risk. While NRMA Insurance helps rebuild afterwards, we found a way for them to help before.

With 100x zoom, the new Samsung Galaxy has the best camera in smartphone history. To launch it, we did something massive…by doing something tiny. 

With streaming subscription prices increasing and cost of living at an all-time high, millions of people are being forced to choose which streaming service to cancel. Netflix or Prime? Disney+ or Apple TV?

As a completely free streaming service, with world-class drama, comedy, sport, news, kids shows and more, we saw the perfect opportunity to position ABC iview as one streamer Aussies never need to cancel.

This campaign led the streamer to become the #1 free streaming network in Aus, just one month after launch.

A finch. An Eagle. Avril Lavigne. I’m not crying, it’s raining on my face. To show that care isn’t some slogan on a wall at Allianz but baked into everything the company does, we created an emotionally stirring film from Oscar-nominated director, Michael Gracey.

This campaign had a transformative impact on the brand. It was named the #1 of the year by the Australian public, went viral on TikTok and helped Allianz Australia receive their highest ever NPS score.

Seasol is an iconic Aussie plant product, loved by older gardeners. Problem was, these customers were dying out. Literally. So, we preserved their wisdom and packaged it up for a TikTok generation.

Introducing Dirty Old Secrets. Gardening advice just got good. And very, very dirty.

If you want to tackle prejudice, don’t tell people why hate is wrong, give them something to love instead.

Incommon was created with the Sydney Jewish Museum to tackle the alarming rise of antisemitism in Gen-z. All without mentioning the word once.

Made possible with the Dor Foundation and TikTok Australia.

Established in 1975, triple j isn’t just a radio station. It’s the thudding 150 BPM heart of Aussie youth culture. It blasts on phones, laptops, in cars and on stages. Our design system was made to reflect this energy. Always changing, always relevant. Able to keep up with the changing tastes of gen-z, gen-alpha or gen-whatever-the-hell-comes-next.

When it comes to lager, Aussies are a loyal bunch. They don’t just drink their favourite beers, they wear branded merch, get tattoos of logos, even build shrines in their sheds. To encourage trial of Matilda Bay’s new Hazy Lager, we decided not to compete with people’s favourite beers, but instead help them love their favourites even more.

Over 500 million people visit the cinema every year. Yet for those who are blind or have low vision, the experience is an afterthought. They rely on audio descriptions, screen readers or a companion to explain what's on the screen.

To launch Mastercard’s Touch Card – a bank card designed for the blind and low vision community – we flipped the script to create an inclusive cinema experience that was truly priceless.

TOUCH is a feature-length motion picture without pictures. Brought to life solely through Dolby 7.1 sound, without images or audio descriptions. Made so all audiences can enjoy the magic of cinema together, no matter their level of vision.

ahm Health Insurance needed a new brand platform to appeal to young adults.

Rather than show how great life can be with insurance (like the rest of the category), we did the opposite and explored how absurd, funny and complex life really is.

Working with New Yorker Magazine illustrator Liana Finck, we reimagined a whole new brand world for ahm, totally distinct from the rest of the health insurance category. Almost 10 years since launch, this brand world lives on, driving huge results for ahm.

Belong is Australia’s first carbon neutral mobile and internet provider. As the name suggests, it’s a brand that’s all about inclusivity and togetherness. ‘It Feels Good to Belong’ is a joyful celebration of that. An integrated platform that goes beyond the rational, into the world of emotion, whimsy and internet-fuelled wonder. After all, belonging feels good, so why be serious?

To drive purchase of Belong’s Second Life Phones, we needed to show that the tech was so good, consumers wouldn't notice a difference. So we did the most logical thing we could think of and strapped a man to a chair and filmed his forehead with a surgical camera.

Is there anything cuter than puppies and kittens? If your answer to that is yes, you're wrong. To launch Petbarn’s Puppy & Kitten Club, we created the most adorable ad we could, achieving a 5.0 System One rating, putting it in the top 1% of all ads on their database. More here.

To launch the Samsung Galaxy S26 with Vodafone, we decided the first thing you should do with a new phone isn’t photograph your breakfast. It’s shoot a sweaty, once-in-a-lifetime gig with a musical icon.

Vodafone First Night Only gave customers the ultimate first night with their new phone. Pre-order the Galaxy S26 and you went in the draw to see ARIA-winning, genre-mangling icon Genesis Owusu up close and very loud.

Everything was built for the S26. Bespoke lighting for the 200MP camera. Sweat towels and stickers for reels. Even the post-gig kebab was designed to be shot. Fans, influencers and media took it far beyond the room, making it Vodafone’s most successful Samsung launch to date.

In Tasmania, everyone knows what Keno is. It’s like bingo with a different name. As much a part of pub culture as cold beer and rump steak. Yet the game’s familiarity was making it easy to look past.

To re-instate its icon status, we launched a 3-minute film based around the 3 minutes it takes between every game. And we ran it in 3-minute ad breaks on peak TV – like the the footy finals and the 6pm news. Celebrating its glorious players and making Keno unignorable once again.

Everest is a long way to climb for a human with legs. It’s even longer for a human thumb without them. Yet every month, our thumbs scroll that very distance. This fact was the perfect launch point for us to create a campaign to educate people about what that means for the environment. And show that with Belong’s carbon neutral mobile and internet, you can feel good about scrolling

Telco Belong saw the iPhone 13 announcement as a chance to earn buzz and get SIMs into phones. So we solved a problem everyone experiences when they set up a new one. Phone limbo. The period of disconnection that happens while all your data transfers between devices.

Enter the Book of Limbo. An offline online wormhole, designed to entertain those stranded between phones. And help Belong steal the conversation during the iPhone 13 launch.

Increasingly, young people aren’t appreciating well-crafted beer. They mix it with soft drink, garnish it or drink it out of beer bongs. Lord Nelson Brewery couldn’t let their flagship beer, Three Sheets Pale Ale, go unappreciated any more. So, we raised its drinking age to 35+.

Using the visual language of classification stickers, 35+ labels were placed on products in pubs and bottle shops, and promoted in OOH, press and PR.

All designed for the beer to get noticed at the point of purchase; appealing to the mature palates of older drinkers, while making younger ones want the beer even more.

From great white sharks to hazardous waste, these posters collated the perils of the deep to show that Dry Dock is the safest beer for landlubbers.

OPSM, Australia's leading eye care specialists, needed to show they offer more than just eye checks; they offer the largest range of designer glasses too.

We suggested they stop acting like optometrists and start acting as a fashion brand. With the help of American philosopher Dr. Cornel West, we redefined what they really stood for: style.

In just 6 weeks, this idea went from a scribble on a piece paper to a store in New York. Sheer madness. Seeing people line up around the block just to get inside made every bit of schvitz worth it.

To celebrate Tiger Beer’s origins, we captured the heat, passion and energy of Asia by paying homage to the universal symbol of its streets – the wok.

What happens when you cross a dog with a cat with a bird with a lobster with a monkey with a snake with a rabbit? You get Skat the Mutt. A kid’s book I wrote about belonging.

Co-authored with my veterinarian sister Dr Lisa Chimes.
Published with Scholastic Australia. Illustrated by Louis Shea.
Available at leading book retailers.

DOG by Dr Lisa is luxury dog care company that I co-developed with my brilliant veterinarian sister, Lisa Chimes. Products include wipes, washes, colognes, ponchos, brushes and more. Visit dogbydrlisa.com