Meet The Team
Digital Noir - A Brief History
It has long been said that, if you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you are going.
The Digital Noir journey has not always been smooth sailing, but we are firm believers that a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. 10 years have flown by in a blink, but when you start looking back you realise how much we have grown as humans, as a team and how much fun we had in the process.
Here is a very brief snapshot.
THE PAST
2006-2011
Scrimshaw Communications, London UK
Sam had fled Adelaide in search of adventure and exotic lands. Instead he ended up in London town, where in 2006 he fatefully quit his 9-5 and started ‘freelancing’ as a graphic designer. A dozen crash courses in web design and many more Polski Pivo’s fuelled the birth of Scrimshaw. A small web agency run out of an even smaller flat.
2011
Digital Noir is born in Adelaide, SA
Upon returning to Adelaide, Sam formed Digital Noir. Scrimshaw had a corporate edge that did not reflect Sam’s own personal style. DN was a play on the classic ‘Film Noir’ and it’s main intention was to stand out from the crowd, to do things differently.
2013
The birth of the DN team
DN had been working with several freelancers, part timers and contractors but 2013 saw the addition of the first full time staff. There really is no I in team, without the staff DN does not exist. This is a snap from our first ever neighbourhood xmas party.
2014
New faces & new countries
Prasetyo is the longest serving member of the DN crew, he started helping out in 2012. He came onboard full time in 2014 and Sam travelled in Indonesia to catchup face to face! Back home we welcomed Nick and Tess to the team to help further grow the business.
2015
Pixel Pong – A brief stint in Chiang Mai
As DN expanded into Apps, the team needed to grow. A small experiment in the jewel of the north, Chiang Mai (Thailand) ensued. Pixel Pong was an offshoot of DN with 5 staff and a fully kitted out office. Not all experiments pan out and DN decided to move all operations back to ADL.
2015
DN Expansion – another home by the beach
Somerton Park was our HQ for two years and saw the biggest growth in the business and a great spot by the sea. This was the spiritual home of DN 2.0 and we have many great memories of team feasts and cards games on the floor.
2016
A team trip to Bali and plans for DN 3.0
As the team grew so did our need for a stronger brand presence and personality. The birth of DN 3.0 (what you see/feel on this site) started in 2016 and has it’s roots in a solid team that love to create together. In Nov ’16 we spent a week in Bali with Pras – Digital Nomads on the loose!
2017
Flinders Street HQ – more new faces
We were sad to leave the beach but the city life called and we have not looked back since. Our new HQ on Flinders Street in Wotso is the perfect space from which to weave our DN magic. The team continued to grow, bringing on more support roles and expanding our development & design team. Bring on the next adventure!
2019
Agile by name agile by nature!
We had long been using ‘scrum’ as an internal framework for our project work but in 2019 began rolling our the DN Agile approach to our partners with great success! We launched some world-class products for our partners, took our podcast to Pause Fest and raised over $1200 for men’s health as a part of Movember.
2020
A fresh space
Don’t worry, Sam has not given up DN to become a tradie! We expanded our studio to include a very sleek and low lit ‘huddle room’ where our Agile teams could work and dial in offshore teams and partners. We continued to evolve our service offering and quality of work, with a renewed focus on ‘design’ being at the heart of what we do.
The Covid Years
The pandemic was a really hard time for a lot of businesses. Like most teams, we found ourselves working from home, facing new challenges while striving to continue to do our best work. We learned a lot about working remotely while remaining a cohesive unit, and ensuring we were still accessible to clients. We continued to work together as a strong team and smashed out some amazing projects along the way.
The Future is Now!
After months and months of discussions, emails, lunches and anxious moments…Digital Noir announced our merge with KWP! Our whole team moved to our new offices on Rundle Street and were excited to kick off the new year as a brand new team, while keeping our same close-knit, approachable style and strong values.
New Beginnings
We are SO excited to join the team at KWP! As Adelaide’s leading media and branding agency, DN have come on board to boost their digital offering, securing us as a powerhouse agency – providing a huge array of services to existing and new clients….Biggest update of all…We use colour now!
A New Era
In August 2022, Digital Noir & KWP! rebranded as kwpx. This exciting change saw over 30 years of industry experience in brand and media join forces with our highly experienced digital team. Kwpx is one of the largest independent communications companies in Australia, offering a truly integrated agency experience.