Steve Richards discusses 20 years of Dynamo

20 years of Dynamo! Huge congrats on the milestone, Steve. How different is the business today from when you launched?
Thank you! When we set Dynamo up in March 2005, we’d moved to Devon several years earlier for work and a lifestyle change for our family… We hit the ground running – concentrating on the publishing contacts I’d made over my years in the creative industry. We were immediately able to generate a good level of work, and quickly established a small, in-house team. That comprised an editor, designer and illustrator, plus me and my wife Gill, supplemented by a network of freelance collaborators.

Fast forward to 2025! We’re now a 360-degree creative agency, working with global brands and licensee clients across publishing, toy, LBE and lifestyle – and in multiple product categories. The team has grown, internally and collaboratively, adding new people, experiences and skillsets in response to a steadily growing client base.

Our services now include product development, IP creation, style guides, illustrated assets, brand extensions, complete creative book packaging, 3D animation and full location-based creative support.

And how did that offering evolve over time?
The aim was to build a flexible and useful business with the ability to offer creative solutions for any projects our clients sent our way. I’m proud to say that we’ve developed a reputation for delivering great results, no matter the type, style, size, complexity or schedule. Providing stability, income, opportunity and purpose for the Dynamites – as our team members are affectionately known – were some of the core drivers of business growth…

We spend a lot of time developing new business, visiting clients face to face and attending multiple relevant UK and international trade fairs. Then, in response to the growth of digital 3D and animated original content – and subsequent demand from licensors and manufacturers for 3D based style guides, concepts, assets and product development – we acquired a 3D animation studio 10 years ago…

Ah, yes!
That’s headed up by Dan our 3D man! It’s been instrumental in our providing cutting-edge, cost-effective creative solutions for many clients, whether for storytelling, product and model building, character development, 3D turnarounds, asset creation or promotional marketing… In fact, the people we’ve added to the team over the years have had a huge positive impact on our evolution. Key people like Alex our Creative Director and Claire and Jeremy our Publishing Managers, who really helped supercharge the whole team. And of course, Gill, my wife and our Operations and Finance Director, who keeps all the essential cogs turning so we can run at full speed.

What’s been key to the studio’s longevity?
It’s a mix of factors… Providing consistently good service, establishing those long-term relationships, built on trust and shared values, and keeping a close eye on the pennies. It’s also about not being afraid to try new ways of working and developing skills for new areas of business. We’ve also evolved due to several amazing collaborative partnerships, as with Rainbow Productions and Fi O’Malley from Making Things. All have been richly rewarding from both a personal and business development point of view.

Tell us a little more about them!
The Rainbow collaboration has seen us gain a growing client base in the international LBE industry, while Fi continues to be a great source of experience and inspiration for co-developing new IP and servicing our toy-industry clients. Latterly we’ve also established a unique relationship with another creative agency: Watermelon Creative…

You’re working together as United Creatives…
Exactly right. We offer an even broader creative skillset, allowing us to work with real authenticity across all genres and sectors. We’ve already collaborated on a number of successful projects and we hope this will lead to many more. It’s definitely all about the people you enjoy working with and the relationships you build along the way.

With that in mind, it made sense to bring industry consultant Maggy Harris on board to help with new business development in early 2020. Maggy helps keep me sane, which is very important too!

Ha! And what are some of the big industry changes over the past 20 years?
The pace of change has been the biggest challenge. Economic and social ups and downs… From the banking crashes and recessions to the advancements in smartphone and computer technology, through to the latest US tariff rules… Covid and its aftermath saw massive changes at retail, affecting expectations, buying habits, product relevance and volumes – and therefore budgets available for creative.

And what’s in-store for the next 20 years?
We’ll continue to hone our craft and keep producing great creative for exciting products and projects – all while maintaining our reputation for delivering a collaborative and friendly service to all new and existing clients. Thank you to all who’ve been on this journey with us and here’s to the next 20 years of Dynamo!