Building a more thoughtful future for hiring in design.
For more than a decade, we've helped architecture and design studios build exceptional teams and supported creative professionals as they navigate their careers.
Along the way, we came to the same conclusion time and time again: the industry is stifled by outdated recruiting models, fragmented information, and hiring processes that demand too much time from everyone involved.
We're building a new kind of recruiting agency one that combines trusted relationships with modern technology to help studios hire more thoughtfully and designers build more meaningful careers.
We believe technology is most powerful when it deepens human judgment. By mapping the design industry with greater clarity and context, we’re able to make stronger introductions, uncover matches, and help both studios and designers make more informed decisions.
Our Principles
Great hiring is about understanding people.
Thoughtfully built technology can uncover what makes people exceptional, not reduce them to keywords or résumés.
Exceptional recruiting should be accessible.
By investing in more efficient processes, we're creating a model that gives more studios access to cutting edge recruiting without compromising on quality.
The work is only as strong as the team behind it.
The right hire shapes culture, influences the work, and can define a studio for years to come. We understand that building the right team is inseparable from building the practice itself.
Technology has the capacity to support expertise.
Our platform exists to help our team make better decisions, move faster, and spend more time building relationships.
Duke Butler
For more than a decade, Duke has partnered with the world's leading architecture and interior design studios, helping them build thoughtful, high-performing teams. Having made hundreds of placements across every level of the industry, he has developed a nuanced understanding of the people, relationships, and decisions that shape successful creative businesses.
After years of working within traditional recruiting, Duke founded Duke Talent with a simple belief: hiring could be more transparent, more accessible, and more human.
Looking for strategic guidance?
Interested in one-on-one support?
Learn more about Duke's advising work.