Luminary welcomes renowned design duo

Our award-winning design team has been strengthened even further with the addition of not just one but two new members – former Avanade Studio designers Thom Bransom and Josh Smith. Thom joins as our new Design Director, while Josh takes on the role of UX Director.

The pair have worked together for over three years at Avanade, and over that time have cemented their reputation in the industry as a formidable design team. 

“With a larger UX Design team, we will be able to take on larger accounts, as we ramp up our capacity in this area and take our offering to the next level,” said Luminary CEO Marty Drill. 

“Over the past few years we’ve seen exponential growth in the demand for our UX Design and Strategy services as clients are increasingly seeing the value of laying solid foundations for their digital projects,” added Marty. “With Josh and Thom on board, we’ll be able to expand our capacity to take on more of these sorts of engagements and help our clients lead the way in their industries. Thom and Josh's skill sets are complementary and they already have a fantastic working relationship. This is a major win for Luminary!”

Hailing from the UK, Thom has been permanently based in Australia since 2016. Prior to joining Luminary, he held the position of Design Practice Lead at Avanade, and worked closely with Josh to build the agency’s Experience Design (XD) practice. 

“I am extremely happy and proud to be part of the team at Luminary,” said Bransom. “I look forward to helping shape the way we approach our projects and deliver meaningful experiences. I am focused on creating beautiful and engaging experiences across multiple surfaces. My passion is in the details and iterating on every possible solution to the challenge. Throughout my career, user research, and testing and prototyping have become integral for how I approach and solve design problems. I believe every detail in a project is critical.” 

Josh, formerly Head of XD at Avanade, brings a wealth of UX experience to the Luminary team, including expertise in research, usability, interaction design and prototyping. He has delivered digital transformations and launched new products to market for some of Australia's most iconic brands, including AGL, Melbourne University, Swinburne University of Technology and Nissan.

In his own words, he is driven by a desire to “remove careless and unwanted experiences from the world” through human-centered design. 

“As a child, I asked questions incessantly, maddening my parents,” he quipped. “My partner would tell you I still do, often being left with me complaining about broken experiences. It is the carelessness with which many products are created that irks me. By asking the right questions and giving a small amount of consideration, problems never have to come to be.

“Sixteen years ago, I found human-centred design (HCD), a process to not just make trinkets, but considerate products and services. It is through HCD that I build a deep understanding of people and create change.”

Commenting on his appointment as UX Director, Josh said, “I've followed Luminary for a few years and love how vocal the agency is. I think it's an exciting brand to work for. I believe we have the potential for our design team and agency as a whole to become the best end-to-end agency in the industry, and I want to be part of that.”