Design Companies

I liked this brief because I was able to learn about successful design companies that I'd never heard of. I was surprised at how small the companies were and the huge businesses that they design for. 

Ah-Ha Studios was created in 2011 by Carolina Cantante and Catarina Carreiras who were two friends at university who decided to work together. They are based in Lisbon and practice using a variety of mediums including interior design, advertising, traditional and fine print, photography and product design. They are known for their basic geometric designs and simple primary colour schemes. The work is tight and minimalist, I really like the consistency and quality of the work. I really like the fact that Cantante and Carreiras were friends who have become successful because of such a good working relationship. 

Hey

Hey is a graphic design studio that started in 2007, based in Barcelona. They specialise in brand identity, editorial design and illustration making sure they work closely with their clients in one-to-one relationships. As an agency they love to use geometry colour and direct typography. They often create side projects so they can experiment with new techniques and ideas to push their creative boundaries.  This allows them to put their passion into big name companies such as Apple, Vodafone and Oxfam. 

S&G is a small yet successful design company based in New York. It has a work force of just four which includes Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh. Sagmeister has worked for bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Talking Heads and Lou Reed. Walsh is a very successful designer who has won many awards for her work. The studio does a very broad range of services from web design, identity, advertising, print and furniture design. They like to work closely with photographers and film makers to combine skills. A lot of their work relates to the pop art movement, bright colour schemes and bold shapes are prominent in their work. You can see the evidence that they collaborate with other designers so that they can feed off other people's specialties. 

Heydays

Heydays are a Norwegian design agency who specialise in visual identity, web design and interface design. The agency is made up of only 6 designers but they often collaborate with other designers from specialist fields. Heydays want to have their own identity, which makes them unique. Five years on, Heydays is one of the most award winning graphic design agencies in Norway.

They do not limit themselves with the mediums they use. From looking at some of their work, they have adapted their it to suit their clients requirements. Mediums such as woodwork, digital and traditional print, app design and moving picture are a few examples of why they cater for such varied clients.

LUST

Lust is a multidisciplinary graphic design practice established in 1996 by Jeroen Barendse, Thomas Castro, and Dimitri Nieuwenhuizen, based in The Hague, Netherlands. LUST works in a broad spectrum of media including traditional print work and book design, new media and interactive installations, and architectural graphics. Lust are interested in finding new ways of creating new media from technology and architecture, they have their own space to experiment with ideas and media. I like the idea of designing compositions using traditional and digital techniques to create a final outcome.

S T U D I O    D U M B A R

Studio Dumbar is an international agency with a Dutch heritage. It is the third most awarded organisation after Pentagram and Apple and they specialise in visual branding and online branding. 

Looking at their work, it's clear they like to work with typography. A lot of the typography has been manipulated to make the compositions look abstract, geometric and distorted. 

BUILD

Build Design is based in London but moved to Yorkshire in 2015. It was created in 2001 by Michael Place and Nicky Place and only has a team of 4. They like to work with typography a lot to produce brand identity, editorial print and help design spaces. They have worked for large companies such as Nike and Microsoft. I like their work because their typography is tight and pleasant to look at, especially with the toned down limited colour palette.

Elmwood design has currently won the most awards than any other design agency in the world. It was started in 1997 and is now an international company with studios in Leeds, New York and Singapore. Something that makes this studio really unique is that they create their own design tools to allow them to consistently create successful work. Elmwood's work has a very broad range of styles and I think this is because they have so many clients they all need something different. Companies such as Andrex, BBC and Met Office have all used Elmwood's creative passion. I like how they have such a broad range of services and styles to cater for any client. It shows that Elmwood is a very distinguished design company. 

Bleed

Bleed is a multidisciplinary design consultancy based in Oslo and Vienna. They have won numerous European design awards for their passion for creative identity through concept development, art direction, graphic design and service design. Personally I really like how clean and concise their work is, especially with typography. A lot of the typography they create is serif. I really like serif fonts as they're traditional and smarter. Bleed have adapted these fonts using a minimal colour palette to create a contemporary look. 

This composition incorporates shape and typography, along with the monochromatic colour scheme, to make a harmonious outcome. 

A recurring theme from their typographic work that I found was cutting into an image or block of muted colour to create a negative space of the letter. I like the muted colour schemes, along with the geometric shapes/type to make a balanced composition. 

Face was founded in North Yorkshire, 2006. They are dedicated to helping their clients succeed. They make it clear that the client comes first as they provide understanding and sensibility towards clear communication between the studio and the client. They do a lot of work in brand identity which is clear to see as their work and clients reflect a clear message in the form of a logo or book. In my opinion, I like contemporary design, something that has pushed a boundary such as type and made something new out of it. I think Face are designing for clients that want a smart outcome, not a contemporary piece which is interesting to see. 

dessein 

Dessein was founded by Geoff Bickford and Tracy Kenworthy in 1987, Perth, Australia. They also have three more designers working for them to produce branding, signage, website and packaging. Bickford is passionate about exploring new possibilities. They state that as a company they work closely with their fellow designers and clients to get the best outcomes. The design team all come from different cultural backgrounds, religions and travel experiences which they feed off.  

Wolff Olins has been around since 1965 in London by Michael Wolff and Wally Olins. They have studios all around the world such as New York, San Francisco and Dubai. They stated that when they work for a client, they want to create a brand that lasts forever. They created the controversial London 2012 Olympic logo and have worked for huge companies such as EE, AOL and Virgin. Personally, I think this company is thinking ahead and creating successful and smart outcomes which we probably see daily. 




I am surprised by how small the teams of people are in the majority of the companies and the scale of some of the projects.