ABOUT
I’m Mark Taffs – most people call me Taffy. I’ve spent my career learning how to connect businesses with their customers, and the last 18 of those running Taffy Design my way: direct, honest, and built around what actually works for you.
MY STORY
There’s a fair bit of road between where I started and where Taffy Design is today. Here’s the version that actually matters – not the highlight reel, just what shaped how I work and why I do it this way.
HOW I GOT HERE
It started where a lot of design careers start – studying it properly, learning the craft from the ground up, then heading straight into agency life. About ten years of it. Different agencies, different clients, the same pace: fast, high-pressure, and unforgiving of mistakes. I learned to work quickly without cutting corners, because in that world you simply didn’t get a second chance to get it right.
What I also learned, the longer I stayed, was how much got wasted along the way. Client budgets eaten by layers that didn’t need to exist. Time lost to approval chains and handoffs that had nothing to do with the work itself. Good people doing good work, buried under structure that served the agency more than the client.
So in 2008, I made the leap. Taffy Design wasn’t a slow pivot or a side hustle that grew – it was always the plan. Take everything agency life had taught me about working fast and working well, and strip out everything that didn’t actually help the client. Eighteen years later, that’s still exactly what this is.
THE WAY I WORK
Working solo was never the limitation people assume. It’s the advantage. No layers between us. No one learning the ropes on your budget. No watching good money disappear into process that exists for the agency’s benefit, not yours.
That doesn’t mean you’re limited to what one person can do. When a project genuinely needs a specialist, I bring in exactly the right one – so you get full capability, with one person accountable for the result. You’re never short-changed by working with me directly.
It’s a deliberate choice. Eighteen years in, I’m yet to find a reason to make it any other way.
IN PRACTICE
Every project still moves at the speed agency life taught me – I just don’t let anything slow it down that doesn’t need to. You deal with me directly, from the first conversation to the final file. Clear process, honest advice, and a result that’s actually yours.
Creativity, Vision, Purpose – it’s not a slogan. It’s how I show up for everyone I work with, the same way it has been since day one.
WHEN I'M NOT DESIGNING
Most days you’ll find me at the studio, but outside of it I’m usually on a motorcycle, behind a ski boat with my crew, or out bushwalking somewhere along the coast. Photography, live music, and a genuine love of science fiction round out the rest. It’s a good life, in a good part of the world – which is probably why I’ve never had much interest in being anywhere else.
MY STORY
There’s a fair bit of road between where I started and where Taffy Design is today. Here’s the version that actually matters – not the highlight reel, just what shaped how I work and why I do it this way.
It started where a lot of design careers start – studying it properly, learning the craft from the ground up, then heading straight into agency life. About ten years of it. Different agencies, different clients, the same pace: fast, high-pressure, and unforgiving of mistakes. I learned to work quickly without cutting corners, because in that world you simply didn’t get a second chance to get it right.
What I also learned, the longer I stayed, was how much got wasted along the way. Client budgets eaten by layers that didn’t need to exist. Time lost to approval chains and handoffs that had nothing to do with the work itself. Good people doing good work, buried under structure that served the agency more than the client.
So in 2008, I made the leap. Taffy Design wasn’t a slow pivot or a side hustle that grew – it was always the plan. Take everything agency life had taught me about working fast and working well, and strip out everything that didn’t actually help the client. Eighteen years later, that’s still exactly what this is.
Working solo was never the limitation people assume. It’s the advantage. No layers between us. No one learning the ropes on your budget. No watching good money disappear into process that exists for the agency’s benefit, not yours.
That doesn’t mean you’re limited to what one person can do. When a project genuinely needs a specialist, I bring in exactly the right one – so you get full capability, with one person accountable for the result. You’re never short-changed by working with me directly.
It’s a deliberate choice. Eighteen years in, I’m yet to find a reason to make it any other way.
Every project still moves at the speed agency life taught me – I just don’t let anything slow it down that doesn’t need to. You deal with me directly, from the first conversation to the final file. Clear process, honest advice, and a result that’s actually yours.
Creativity, Vision, Purpose – it’s not a slogan. It’s how I show up for everyone I work with, the same way it has been since day one.
Most days you’ll find me at the studio, but outside of it I’m usually on a motorcycle, behind a ski boat with my crew, or out bushwalking somewhere along the coast. Photography, live music, and a genuine love of science fiction round out the rest. It’s a good life, in a good part of the world – which is probably why I’ve never had much interest in being anywhere else.
Recent Projects
Here’s a snapshot of recent work – from brand-new identities to complete WordPress sites. Every one built to help a real business connect with the people it’s trying to reach.
REVIEWS
The best way to know if I’m the right fit is to hear from people I’ve worked with. These reviews come directly from Google – real clients, real projects, real results.
LET'S TALK
If you’ve read this far, you already know more about how I work than most people do before their first project starts. Let’s talk about yours.
