Heckler appoints leading designer Luca Ionescu to the role of executive creative director

Heckler has appointed Luca Ionescu as executive creative director to further drive creative excellence at the design, animation and visual effects house.

An established typographer and creative leader, Ionescu brings a wealth of experience and a high level of craft across a wide range of media. A founder of Like Minded Studio, the agency has focussed on delivering exceptional artistic endeavours across design and culture for more than a decade. Ionescu brings that experience to Heckler, including a long list of collaborations and associations within the arts.

Known for creating the branding for Baz Luhrmann hit film ‘The Great Gatsby’, he was also responsible for the ‘Tiger Translate’ brand design and for assisting with the curation of artists for the project, which ran for close to 15 years across Asia and the Middle East. He also designed the opening titles for Netflix series ‘Dirty Money’, and has strong links with public projects such as the City of Sydney beautification project.

Having worked across brands including Warner Bros, Lexus, Coke, SBS, Telstra, Australian Open, Nike, Socceroos, VH1 Hip Hop Music Awards, MTV and Absolut Vodka, Ionescu has won a string of international awards including New York Type Directors Club, D&AD and Cannes Lions, LIA, Award Awards, Caxton awards.

Ionescu joins Heckler to further pursue his passion in motion graphics, titles and directorial work, but also to help the team push the boundaries of creativity and experimentation and drive new thinking. He will work with Heckler’s co-founders to ensure excellence across all disciplines, working with the inhouse creative and production teams across experiential, design, motion graphics and film as well as leading an exciting new offering within the region.

Says Will Alexander, co-founder and executive producer, Heckler: “We’re delighted to have someone with Luca’s experience join us. 2019 is shaping up to be a standout for Heckler and having him on board at a time when we’re ramping up our creative offering and expanding into new markets means there’s plenty of opportunities to get his teeth stuck into.”

Says Ionescu: “Heckler’s reputation of working collaboratively with creative and production partners and just the sheer pool of talent here made it an easy decision for me when Will came knocking. There’s a lot happening and I’m looking forward to helping the business continue produce truly world class work.”

To view Ionescu’s reel click here.