Formula - Studio visits

Over the past few months, me and Luke have been researching into various potential studio spaces for when we graduate. We chose Leeds due to our mutual appreciation of the city and what it has to offer.

Umbrella —

We first looked at Umbrella who offer various sized spaces fairly close to the city centre in Holbeck. The rent started at £150 a month for the smaller spaces though the studios themselves were not as I hoped. For the larger spaces (which would be ideal), the rent is £285pcm.

Tower Works

Next up was Tower Works which had been our favourite from the get go. The studio spaces looked fantastic and they were situated in an idea location — directly behind the train station and therefore within in the city centre. Although more expensive than Umbrella, at £300pcm, it was fair for what they had to offer.

Formula - Plans

Me and Luke have decided to start a collaborative practice upon graduating as after working together on a few projects, we have realised our direction and approach to design works parallel.

We have named ourselves, Formula — the name comes from our methodical and logical approach and after looking into mathematical terminology, Formula stood out. A formula is a process that leads to an end result, much like design and we believe the two marry with one another.

Designival

In November, me and Luke went to Designival — a 2 day design festival in Liverpool. As we'd be setting up a studio together, we thought it'd be useful to hear from the 4 speakers, particularly Lance Wyman and Simon Manchipp due to their specialisms in brand design.

Day 1

For the first day of Designival, a few studios around Liverpool opened their doors. We selected a few we wanted to visit in particular — Mercy, Uniform, SB, Black & Ginger and Smiling Wolf. I think we only managed to see 3 of these (Mercy, SB and Black & Ginger) but all in all, a really insightful day and interesting to see the environment in which these studios work in. (Also got a mean brekkie this day, as you can see below).

Day 2

Day 2 was the day of the talks and portfolio review sessions. Although we had booked for these, there must have been some confusion with timing as we didn't get seen to in the end. The talks make up for this and first on was Sara De Bondt who talked through the development of her career. She discussed in depth how she approached, created and resolved a project which was extremely insightful.

PPD Workshop [2]

Task 1 — Identify 5 companies/studios which you consider potentially synergetic to you personally. Write a short explanatory paragraph and reasons for each.

Heydays
heydays.no

Heydays is an Oslo-based design studio who specialise primarily in brand design. They "remove noise to add value" to ensure clear and concise resolutions. I hope to specialise within branding and identity upon finishing my degree and the work of Heydays has been a huge inspiration throughout the past few years. Their clean aesthetic is evident throughout their portfolio and is something in which I intend to emulate within my own work. The branding, however, is also based upon strong, visual concepts.

Because Studio
becausestudio.co.uk

Because studio is the professional practice of Loz Ives.

The Consult
theconsult.com

The Consult are a leeds based brand agency who produce crafted and well considered resolutions. After contacting them prior to summer last year, they offered some extensive and insightful advice in regards to approaching branding; something I will take on board for the rest of the degree and beyond.

Lundgren & Lindqvist
lundgrenlindqvist.se

Lundgren & Lindqvist are a Swedish brand design studio who offer services including "branding, design for print and digital, illustration and Art Direction". Again, much like the others I have selected, their work is based on an understanding of how a brand works and and ultimately that the message dictates the media. I aim to explore brand identity in more depth through my FMP so they will offer an invaluable contextual resource.

Task 2/3 — Identify the top choice and WHY you feel that they may have synergy with your practice now, or in the near future. What is your choice based on?

As aforementioned, The Consult are a brand consultancy based in Leeds who I got in touch with a few months ago asking for some advice / direction. They got back to me with some insightful feedback in relation to branding and identity which ultimately spurred me to pursue a direction towards brand design. Their work is well-crafted, concise in its form and well-informed — producing extensive, high quality outcomes. I always try and approach a project methodically to ensure clarity and I believe The Consult has a similar approach which I want to try and emulate.