Nick Humphreys

Humphreys co-founded LinktreeLinktreeLinktree is a link-in-bio platform that brings together content, websites, social accounts and commercial destinations. It provides creators, brands and businesses with sharing, audience-management, analytics and monetization tools.Open the full entry in Melbourne with Alex and Anthony ZaccariaAnthony ZaccariaAnthony Zaccaria is a co-founder of Linktree whose business activities span music marketing, startup investment and independent bookselling.Open the full entry. Their digital agency repeatedly changed clients’ single social-profile links; they brought multiple destinations together on one updateable page.⁠[1]

As Bolster’s creative director, Humphreys designed BIGSOUND Buzz, built by developer Mike Bywaters. It tracked Facebook and Twitter mentions of artists appearing at BIGSOUND, weighting volume, engagement and account influence to display attention through rankings and charts. The tool also included measures against manipulation.⁠[2]

Bolster announced that Humphreys would join You Sound Good, But Do You Look Good at BIGSOUND, discussing personal branding and visual consistency across film, design and digital media. The agency also outlined sessions on content creation, data and measuring marketing results.⁠[3]

Alex ZaccariaAlex ZaccariaAlex Zaccaria is the co-founder and CEO of Linktree, a co-founder of Bolster and a venture partner at Side Stage Ventures.Open the full entry recalled that Linktree began as a Bolster side project with a prototype built in about six hours. The team then maintained the platform while running the agency. After a Product Hunt feature, daily sign-ups rose from an initial five to ten to roughly 2,000, later exceeding 10,000. He identified Alicia Keys joining within the first six months as an important turning point.⁠[4]

Linktree introduced a new website featuring animations developed by Humphreys and UI designer Dan Taplin to explain supported content and uses with less dependence on language. The team studied site data and user needs, testing legibility, navigation, contrast and alternative text for screen readers.⁠[5]

The new entry point let visitors test a username and register directly, an approach intended to reduce friction. Product, engineering, marketing, partnerships and customer-support staff contributed feedback.⁠[5]

Humphreys recalled childhood drawing and graphic design work during study; nightclub management developed people skills. London brought experiential design, brand websites and UX. Major music campaigns drew him back to Australia, where he sought engineering collaboration and spent around three unpaid years building Bolster.⁠[6]

Instagram’s algorithmic feed resurfaced posts whose bio links had changed. He recalled Alex proposing a landing page.⁠[6]

Engineers initially supported Linktree part-time; feedback guided development. He valued practical learning and serving creators and visitors.⁠[6]

Linktree unveiled a new visual identity developed by Humphreys, COLLINS and the company’s team. It used a flexible visual system intended to represent diverse creators and support a global audience.⁠[7]

Humphreys described expanding the palette around Canopy green with purple, yellow and orange. Accessibility for people with visual impairments was a central requirement, informing combinations that balanced distinctiveness and contrast.⁠[8]

The system avoided a single photography or illustration style, using collage, abstract layers and motion to represent creators’ varied activities. Images could flip, move and regroup on hover, combining expressive visuals with simple functional interfaces.⁠[8]

While browsing new profiles, Humphreys discovered Melbourne type foundry ATS Type and recruited it after meeting the team to create Link Sans. He wanted to commission creators found through Linktree. The typeface’s long-term aim was to retain a consistent character across writing systems.⁠[9]

ATS Type’s Dalton Bruyns used connectivity as a design theme and consulted specialists in India, Korea and Europe about different scripts. The team paid particular attention to the terminals of f, t and j and the structure and curves of lowercase a and s.⁠[9]

Humphreys said layoffs affected brand and product design teams and publicly recommended departing designers.⁠[10]

An episode of Startups Decoded featuring Humphreys was released that day. It discussed direct audience relationships, reduced dependence on feed algorithms and more resilient creator income. He advocated using AI to expand creative expression and output while retaining the creator’s own voice.⁠[11]

The discussion also addressed user feedback in product development, prioritizing features for a broad audience, and balancing new capabilities with the user experience.⁠[11]

Humphreys spent four years designing in London for clients including Barclays and Manchester United. He subsequently worked as Bolster’s creative director and on cultural platform LNWY.CO. He described drawing inspiration from brutalism and the physical world for his digital design work.⁠[12]

Humphreys and Alex and Anthony Zaccaria exited their music-marketing business Bolster in 2020.⁠[13]

COLLINS designed the Linktree identity project, with Humphreys, Alex Zaccaria and Anthony Zaccaria credited as clients. The credits include creative director Ben Crick, design director Frank Lionetti, strategy director Dashiell Alison and motion design director Tomas Markevicius.⁠[14]

Humphreys is Linktree’s co-founder and chief creative officer.⁠[1]

Humphreys is a venture partner at Co Ventures, part of its network of founders and early company builders.⁠[15]

Personal website: https://linktr.ee/nicky (opens in a new window).⁠[16]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickyhumphreys/ (opens in a new window).⁠[16]

SpotifySpotifySpotify is an audio streaming subscription service offering on-demand music, podcasts, and audiobooks through a free ad-supported service and a paid Premium subscription. Its parent company, Spotify Technology S.A., is incorporated in Luxembourg, has its principal operations in Stockholm, Sweden, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker SPOT). It helped move the recorded-music business from buying and owning music to on-demand streaming and is one of the largest audio streaming subscription services by users.Open the full entry: https://open.spotify.com/user/1231573709 (opens in a new window).⁠[16]

Linktree: Official website: https://linktr.ee/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

Bolster: Official website: https://blstr.co/ (opens in a new window).⁠[17]

Co Ventures: Official website: https://www.coventures.vc/ (opens in a new window).⁠[15]