Born and raised in Western Canada, Ian Grais studied economics at the University of British Columbia and then advertising and design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, prior to founding Rethink in 1999 with partners Tom Shepansky and Chris Staples. Ian has been ranked the number one art director and also the number one creative director (with Rethink co-creative director Chris Staples) in the country for the past decade. At Rethink, Ian creates and directs a wide range of projects encompassing design, interactive, installation and advertising. Ian has served on the juries of many industry award shows, including the ANDYs, Cannes, the CLIOs, Communication Arts, D&AD, and the One Show. Currently Ian serves on the Graphic Design Advisory Committee at Kwantlen College and the Professional Advisory Board for the Illustration program at Sheridan College in Ontario.
Chris Staples is one of Canada’s leading creative thinkers. In fact, since 1997, he has been named the number one creative director in the country eight times (including four times at Rethink, with co-creative director Ian Grais). Chris has an honours degree in journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa. He has spent his entire career in Western Canada. In 1990 he moved to Vancouver as a writer at Palmer Jarvis (now DDB). Three years later he was creative director, helping lead that agency to three Agency of the Year titles in five years. In 1999, Chris started Rethink with Ian Grais and Tom Shepansky. He splits his time between high-level strategy with clients and creative direction on all accounts in both Vancouver and Toronto. Chris has won a slew of national and international awards, and has served as a judge at Cannes (twice), the Clios (twice), D&AD, the One Show, the ANDYs and the Communication Arts Annual. In his spare time he travels incessantly and watches far too much reality television.