Est. 1998 • Bigger and better than ever.
This week is Artisan’s Birthday Week. We’re turning 28 and honestly, we can’t quite believe it either.
Twenty-eight years is a long time in any industry, but it’s a particularly long time in an industry built on trends, platforms and job titles that didn’t exist a decade ago, let alone three. We’ve recruited for roles that didn’t have names yet. We’ve watched entire disciplines get invented, rebranded, and reinvented again. Through all of it, one thing hasn’t changed: recruitment works best when it’s built on real relationships, not transactions.
How it started
Back in 1998, Artisan began as a small team with a simple, slightly stubborn belief, that recruitment in creative, digital and marketing could actually feel human. No jargon. No ticket numbers. No candidates reduced to a keyword search. Just people who understood the industry, talking to people who worked in it, trying to get the match right.
At the time, that wasn’t necessarily the obvious way to build a recruitment business. It’s slower. It takes longer to earn trust than it does to send a database search. But it’s also the only approach that lasts nearly three decades, because relationships — unlike trends — don’t go out of fashion.
Founded 1998 | Australia wide | 1 creative community
How it’s going
Fast forward to today, and that same idea is still exactly what gets our team out of bed every morning. We’ve grown from one small office into a business operating across the country, but the job has never really changed, understand what a client actually needs, understand what a candidate actually wants, and don’t stop until those two things line up properly.
Along the way, we’ve had a front-row seat to some pretty great stories. We’ve watched candidates we placed as junior designers become creative directors running their own teams. We’ve watched one-person startups turn into agencies with entire floors of their own. We’ve fielded the 4:45pm Friday phone call from a freelancer who needed a placement sorted before Monday, and made it happen anyway. We’ve popped more than one bottle of something when the right candidate got the right job.
None of that happens by accident. It happens because our team treats every brief and every CV as more than a line item and because our clients and candidates have kept coming back, year after year, to work with people they actually trust.
28 years, by the numbers
We’re not usually ones to boast, but on our birthday we’ll allow it:
- 9,000+ Partners who’ve trusted us with their hiring, from ambitious startups to some of the biggest brands in the country
- 25,000+ Placements made across creative, digital and marketing roles
- 36,000+ Candidates we’ve had the privilege of representing at some point in their career
- 28 Years in business — still boutique, still hands-on, still answering the phone ourselves
Every one of those numbers represents a person, a conversation, and a decision someone trusted us to help them get right.
Don’t just take it from us
We could tell you what nearly three decades of relationships looks like. Or we could let some of the clients who’ve lived it tell you instead.
“We have been working with Artisan for the past 10 years and during that time our experience has been first class. Artisan have a deep understanding of the creative services industry, they offer outstanding candidates at reasonable prices and they are very responsive to our needs.” — Impress
“We have been working with Artisan for over two years and have hired eight candidates to date. Each person has seamlessly integrated into our team, bringing a friendly and helpful attitude. Artisan makes finding talented freelancers an easy and efficient process.” — AGL
“Artisan have been a valuable partner for us over many years. We’re a small team, so our time is precious. When we need assistance with resourcing, they understand our business and our personalities — so quick to suggest who’ll be a good match to complement our team, deliver quality work for projects and reliably meet our deadlines.” — Helium Design
“We have always been able to rely on Artisan to provide quality candidates. Their ability to deliver the right designer for the required job has enabled us to manage increasing workloads seamlessly.” — Experiential Design Company
One urgent brief at a time, the common thread is the same one we started with in 1998: show up, understand the business, and find the right person for the job.
Thank You
To every client who trusted us with a brief. To every candidate who trusted us with their career. To every freelancer who picked up the phone at 4:45pm on a Friday and made it work anyway. Thank you. Genuinely. We couldn’t have gotten here without you, and we don’t take a single one of those 28 years for granted.
A birthday gift (or two)
Here’s the thing about birthdays, normally you’re the one getting the presents. We’ve decided to flip that around. As part of Birthday Week, we’ve got two mystery gifts waiting in our email for anyone who wants to celebrate with us. We’re not going to spoil either one here. One’s a taste of something we’ve kept close for 28 years, the other’s about 30 seconds of your time and worth every second. Keep an eye on your inbox this week to find out.
Celebrate with us
If you’ve worked with Artisan at any point over the last 28 years — as a client, a candidate, a freelancer, or just someone who once got a very helpful phone call from one of our consultants — we’d genuinely love to hear about it. Leave us a review and help us mark the milestone properly.
Here’s to the last 28 years, and to whatever the next chapter of creative, digital and marketing looks like. We’ll be here for it, same as always. Birthday Week isn’t over yet, there’s more to come.
Artisan is Australia’s most connected, trusted and committed recruitment agency for creative, digital and marketing talent. Looking for talent? Looking for work?
