Transform Magazine features a long-form interview with Michelle Mak, Creative Director at Lonsdale US, speaking from the agency’s New York office.

Previously at forceMajeure — the premium creative agency integrated into the Lonsdale+Partners network in 2024 — Michelle Mak embodies the cross-pollination of expertise that defines the group. Her background spans the full spectrum: from ultra-premium prestige brands, including Zacapa, the Guatemalan rum she helped reposition as a luxury spirit, to large-scale global FMCG.

Her first major project at Lonsdale US: the rebranding of Simple, Unilever’s skincare label. In a beauty landscape oversaturated with complex routines and layered promises, Simple stands for the counter-movement — clear formulas, products that work with the skin rather than overwhelming it. The redesign covers brand identity, packaging and the full brand ecosystem, from point of sale to digital.

A conversation that extends Lonsdale’s broader thinking on experiential branding, the role of strategic storytelling in design, and what it means to build a brand for the next generation of consumers — from the heart of the US market.