Mitchell Oakley Smith.
Manuscript has relaunched as an independent creative studio, founded by creative director and author Mitchell Oakley Smith.
Services span brand strategy and identity, campaigns, content, editorial ideation and publishing, cultural partnerships, talent engagement, and experiential events and activations.
“Manuscript is built on a holistic understanding of how culture actually moves: from brand to agency to media and back again,” said Oakley Smith.
“I’ve spent my career working across that entire ecosystem and seeing where things break down between them.
“Manuscript is a response to that: a studio designed to connect those dots. It’s about more than creating ideas; it’s about understanding how they travel, who they’re for, and what gives them value once they’re out in the world. The goal is to create work that is not only conceptually strong but contextually aware.”
The studio builds on Manuscript’s original iteration, launched in 2011 as a biannual art and design journal produced in the format and voice of a broadsheet newspaper.
Through its focus on the creative industries, the publication produced 13 issues by 2018 and expanding into a contemporary art book imprint, publishing biographical monographs of Australian artists.
Relaunched in 2026, Manuscript extends this foundation into a broader creative practice.
Foundational client projects include a strategic brand platform, identity and evergreen campaign for winemaker Church Road (Vinarchy, formerly Pernod Ricard Winemakers), and a brand proposition, identity and digital content suite for Woolmark’s global sustainability initiative, Woolmark Plus.
A former magazine editor and author of five books on art and design, Oakley Smith has held senior and executive-level creative roles at Semi Permanent, Destination New South Wales, Esquire and Woolmark, and brings experience from across Southeast Asia.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.