Debbie Millman’s ongoing project “What Matters,” an effort to understand the interior life of artists, designers, and creative thinkers, is now in its third year. Each respondent is invited to answer ten identical questions and submit a nonprofessional photograph.
David Recchia is executive creative director at creative branding and communications agency The Team. He is a multi-disciplinary designer with over 20 years’ experience across brand strategy, identity, campaigns and employer brand. David shapes The Team’s creative strategy, forming channel agnostic ideas that connect brands to audiences, leading a design studio of experience, motion and print-based designers. He has worked with a diverse array of clients, from The Beatles through to McLaren Cars and the English National Ballet, and has won seven Design Business Association effectiveness awards.
What is the thing you like doing most in the world?
Exploring life with family and friends through travel, culture, and conversation.
What is the first memory you have of being creative?
Making the toys I didn’t have as a child. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents during my primary school years, growing up in my hometown, Melbourne. I’d often sit at my grandmother’s kitchen table surrounded by odds and ends I’d sourced from around the house. I’d set about making my version of Matchbox cars from empty match boxes and buttons. It’s amazing what a child can convince the mind to see.
What is your biggest regret?
Nothing significant enough, which feels like a regret. I’ve always accepted that not all decisions I take in life are necessarily going to be right, nor wrong, though I do believe the paths we take or carve out for ourselves are all part of life’s learning journey.
How have you gotten over heartbreak?
Thus far, I’ve been lucky in life as heartbreak has yet to cross my path.
What makes you cry?
Onions. Every time.
How long does the pride and joy of accomplishing something last for you?
Not long enough – my head very quickly turns to the next project. Though, it does depend on the type of project. When it comes to designing books, I find the process – from idea to finished object – to be so immersive that when I finally have the finished book in my hands, if it feels as I envisaged, it’s a quick flick through and onto the bookshelf. I may not return to it for years.
Whereas, turning a warehouse into a home or renovating a rundown Victorian terrace, which I’ve done a number of times in my life to date, creating the environment which I want to live fills me with pride and joy every day.
Do you believe in an afterlife, and if so, what does that look like to you?
I believe I have one beautiful life to fulfill. It’s in my gift to do that in a way which feeds my senses, nourishes my soul and live in the moment.
What do you hate most about yourself?
Inability to sit still and do nothing.
What do you love most about yourself?
Willingness to always try something new and accepting it could go horribly wrong.
What is your absolute favorite meal?
The meals I love most always transport me back to the time and place I first experienced them. Living in London, I miss the sea, though a fresh platter of native oysters will always take me there. It’s my absolute favourite experience.
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