DUMMY was an evolving online and IRL platform that has been discovering and supporting visionary music artists from across the globe for decades. DUMMY inspired the founding of DMY Artists, a record label, apparel range and live events brand that provides fair artist-friendly distribution and publishing for independent artists;  And this in turn led to the creation of Do Music Yourself, a self-publishing platform for the wider music creator community. There was a need to clarify the relationship between these separate offerings under a unified DMY brand. DMY needed consistent branding that was reflective of all aspects of what the brand does.

We created a new visual identity for the brand around the idea of ‘turning up the volume on artists’ — a truth that applied to all aspects of what DMY did.

The music of the artists we love is always better when it’s as loud as possible. And this idea of increasing volume is at the heart of our visual identity. We have visualised full volume by expanding the letterforms in the DMY logo to the edge of legibility — as loud as it will go. By adding visual volume to graphics it can show a ‘dialling up’ from ‘normal’ to ‘full volume’. This is an expressive behaviour we can use to create responsive interactions that convey the energy DMY has for artists and their music. The solid ‘high volume’ forms also have the functional benefit of being easily legible over imagery and footage — meaning the artist’s work doesn’t need to be darkened or reduced in any way for legibility.

Year: 2020-22. Role: Creative Direction; Senior Designer: Oli East; Junior Designer: Anya Land; Animation: Rob Wickstead; many thanks to the wonderful Tim Larke for making everything happen, and to our supportive client Paul Benney.

A group of us helped the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) with a new visual identity and campaign to celebrate their 75th anniversary. 2022.

Thanks to Rebecca Lewis, David Kolbusz, Beatriz Cóias, @abcdinamo, @jcollllis, Philip Vile, The Hub London, The artists, photographers and organisations who gave us permission use their images and words as part of the campaign, and the team at the ICA for their support and help in making this a reality.

Client: Amazon; Agency: Droga5 London; Role: creative direction of social and OOH assets.

Campaign called “That Reading Feeling Awaits,” which gives life to the invisible magic that happens inside our imaginations when we read – inspiring readers to read more and get more out of what they read.

Photographer: Spencer Murphy; Illustrators/Artists: Anton Hjertstedt, Sam Lyon, Fantasista Utamaro, Joseph Mehuish, Alex Valentina, Thomas Burden, YONK, Mat Voyce, Patrick Savile, Nick Kempton, Jordan Harrison, Eva Munnich, Romain Braccini, Jae Yeon Kim, Loulou João, Studio Private, Dan Woodger, Electric Theatre Collective; D5 team: Matt Hubbard (CD), Hannah Stewart, Matteo Alibiso, Tim Larke, Katerina Gharraph, Tom Elias, Laura Kidd, Chris Russell, Ahmed Ellabib, Pete Heskett, Jen Knox, Michael O’Brien, Rob Wicksteed, Paul Callaby, Nik Coomber; Year: 2022

Client: Greenwich Peninsula. Agency: Droga5. Year: 2019. Role: Creative Direction. Designer: Steph McArdle, Christian Sexty.

We developed the name, brand identity and launch campaign for London’s first cultural riverside ‘linear park’ on Greenwich Peninsula: The Tide. We wanted to encourage novelty-seeking Londoners to explore the pathway and its surroundings. The launch was based around promoting Turning Tides Festival — an event showcasing the types of experiences people will come to associate with The Tide.