Rosie Street of D8 Amsterdam on the Power of Flexibility

Her young daughter inspires her to tackle challenges

Rosie is managing director at D8 in Amsterdam, an independent creative agency that works with Spotify, Nike, the BBC and many more. She has been at the agency since 2019, moving from the U.K. to the Netherlands to help grow operations. 

We spent two minutes with Rosie to learn more about her background, her creative inspirations and recent work she’s admired. 

Rosie, tell us …

Where you grew up, and where you live now.  

I grew up in Skipton, the “Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales,” which is a lovely green place in the U.K. I lived there until university, where I studied marketing. I did my first year in Newcastle and then moved across the border to study at Strathclyde University in Glasgow. In February 2021, D8 decided to set up a studio and build a team in Amsterdam. I was asked to head up the account management function in the new studio and moved to Diemen, just south of Amsterdam, where I live now.

How you first realized you were creative.  

When I wrote poetry and performed at drama festivals as a teenager. I would also point to my final-year GCSE design tech piece. It was an oak coffee table which lives in the D8 studio now—a nice connection to those early days.

A moment from high school or college that changed your life.  

Meeting my best friend in high school—another Rosie. I spent most of my school life living on her farm and loved it. I actually have dreams of eventually becoming a farmer. Professionally, when I was in my final year of my degree, I was struggling to see where to go next. Everyone around me was talking about moving to London to join huge corporations, which never felt like the path for me. Thankfully, someone came and gave a talk about agency life, which made me realize there was a different option.

Your most important creative inspirations, and some recent stuff you love.  

My 1-year-old daughter. Seeing her go from not being able to do something and then going for it amazes me. It’s also a good reminder that any challenge, no matter how tricky, can be tackled with the right attitude and curiosity. 

One of your favorite creative projects you’ve ever worked on. 

My only client-side role was as the internal marketing manager at the Glasgow Science Centre. We designed a series of events that welcomed just under 10,000 guests to the center and created the campaign which followed. We worked hard to bring science into normal life, make it fun and accessible for young minds. One of the most memorable examples was when we sent Terry the Teacake to space as part of a project called Glasgow Science. He traveled to an altitude of over 37,000 meters and his journey was witnessed on every continent on Earth.

A recent project you’re proud of.

One of our recent large-scale projects was renaming and positioning the Carlton Collection, a group of hotels across the U.K. It is not only beautiful work, but a great example of a project that helps give clarity and purpose to a fantastic, passionate group of people. We helped create an overarching brand that united them all, without encroaching on the autonomy of the individual locations. The result is a bold, warm brand that helped unify many different layers under one concept. There’s a striking color palette, centered around a bright orange that cuts through in the hospitality market.

Someone else’s work you admired lately. 

I loved the work Louis Vuitton did ahead of their collaboration with Yayoi Kusama in 2023. They drenched the walls in Kusama polka-dots and created life-like, human-scale animatronics to sit in window displays.

Your main strength as a creative person.  

I process things quickly and I’m very flexible. There’s a real skill in making the right things happen while also retaining and encouraging creativity. My hope is that I can be a beacon of enthusiasm for a client and my team.  

Your biggest weakness.  

I don’t switch off very well. I find myself awake in the middle of the night, thinking of work or things that I want to do. In my free time, I’ve been reading about team dynamics and psychology so I can help everyone get the best out of their time at D8. I am trying to find more separation, so I can spend those days with my daughter and focus entirely on her and our time together, which I absolutely cherish. 

A mentor who helped you navigate the industry.  

Adrian Carroll, our creative director. He does his job with such enthusiasm and care. From the smallest job to the biggest, he does it with no ego, no fuss and the same passion I imagine was there 26 years ago when he set up D8. 

What you’d be doing if you weren’t in brand design.  

Coach or a mentor. Both my parents are coaches and they love it, and the psychological side of management is something I’ve always been drawn to. Or maybe I’d be on that farm like I always dreamed.