“We have a shared responsibility”: Max Ottignon, Co-Founder of Ragged Edge on the Design Next podcast

In this episode of our podcast, Max Ottignon, Co-Founder of Ragged Edge, reflects on 18 years of building one of the most distinctive brand agencies.

No stranger to change (after all, Ragged Edge has evolved in that time and repositioned themselves only this year) – Max encourages us all to get closer to the change we want to see.

We start by revisiting the moment he realised that advertising, with its “short term, temporary surface nature,” wasn’t the right creative home. What drew him to branding was the longevity, and ability to create genuine change. That shift set the foundations for Ragged Edge, built with co-founder Matt Bland.

What happened before Ragged Edge? Max was getting frustrated with the hierarchy and bureaucracy of his role in the advertising world: being a cog in a machine, unable to speak to creators or seriously influence decisions. His own business was shaped in response to that… a place where the work mattered, where clients mattered, and where people had genuine agency.

Since then, the ambition never changed. The goal, then and now, is simple: to create the best, most impactful branding work in the world. That ambition is tied to an unwavering belief that brand projects must drive commercial results. Max is open about the industry’s weakness in communicating that value, and knows it’s essential for agencies to tell a results-driven story, not just celebrate craft.

At an inevitable point, Max had to step back from being in the work to the same extent. Covid was a major catalyst, when Max took a good look at where he could practically add the most value to his own business. The shocker? “the work was still as good and probably better” without him on every project!

We speak about identifying what you’re “bad at” and hiring those who excel in those areas. Clarity and conviction are the traits he had to learn most consciously. His natural leaning toward nuance sometimes led to “a muddy message.” He’s clearly a good learner, now known as a strong, unwavering voice in the industry and a fantastic speaker at our third Common Matters event.

The branding world is incredibly supportive, and Max has real heart for shared success strengthening the entire industry. Good work elevates everyone.

With conviction and optimism, the industry (all of us!) can define what comes next.