Uncommon Creative Studio Appoints Lisa Smith as First Global Chief Design Officer

​Uncommon Creative Studio has appointed Lisa Smith as its first global chief design officer, marking a significant milestone in the studio’s expanding global design practice and reflecting the studio’s ambition to further scale and evolve its offering.

Lisa — an internationally recognised design leader — joins Uncommon at a moment of rapid growth, particularly in the US, following the opening of its New York studio in 2023. The appointment builds on a string of design-led projects from the studio, including the comprehensive global rebrand of EA Sports FC, the bold new identity for SiriusXM and the recent launch of Vimeo’s REFRAME platform in North America.

In her new role, Lisa will work closely with Uncommon’s creative leadership across London, New York and Stockholm, helping to shape, scale and evolve the studio’s design capability as it continues to grow its influence internationally.

Lisa’s appointment underscores Uncommon’s ongoing commitment to placing design at the heart of ideas that live in the world, spark attention and create lasting cultural relevance.

With over 20 years of experience, Lisa is best known for transforming some of the world’s most-loved brands. She led the global rebrand for Burger King at JKR, using design to help improve quality and taste perceptions across the full brand experience. Lisa also worked across Walmart, Nordstrom Rack, Mozilla, Impossible, Manischevitz and Paramount during her time at JKR.

Prior to JKR, Lisa was ECD of Chobani where she was responsible for putting creativity at the heart of the company, overseeing a rebrand that transformed the business, expanding its product offering and increasing customer loyalty, directly translating to top-line growth. Lisa was also head of design at Wolff Olins NY, focused on creating ground-breaking and commercially successful work for USA Today, Grubhub and The Met.

In 2021, Lisa was named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People for her role in delivering some of ‘the biggest redesigns of the decade’. In recognition of this, Lisa has picked up notable accolades throughout her career including Fast Company’s Rebrand of the Year and a Gold Cannes Lion for Burger King, a Brand Impact Award in Culture for The Met, a Cannes Lions Silver and a Fast Company Innovation by Design Award for the rebrand of USA Today. She has sat as jury president for Design at Cannes Lions, D&AD and ADC, and is on the Board of Trustees at D&AD.