Shaking up the Industry
When we diversify our interests and our inspirations, our work is always better. Why wouldn’t it be the same when it comes to diversifying our team?
We design for the world, so we need to make sure our team reflects and honours this wide range of thoughts, opinions, and experiences. Bolstering our studio with creative minds from all backgrounds helps us escape the echo chamber whilst also giving opportunities to talent who might previously not get an industry “in”.
We design for the world, so we need to make sure our team reflects and honours this wide range of thoughts, opinions, and experiences.
Throughout 2023 and 2024, we have continued to partner with a variety of platforms and organisations that are playing a significant role in shaking up the design industry.
During our partnership with University of the Arts London's Design Against Crime Research Centre (DACRC) we co-created the brand UNTOLD with young men currently serving time at HMP Isis. UNTOLD aims to give every young person in prison the chance to rewrite their story. Our work on the Untold project was a small step towards dismantling barriers to ED&I within the design industry, by redefining how design serves as a catalyst for social transformation. By fostering education, collaboration, and creative empowerment, we’re challenging outdated perceptions and opening up new opportunities for marginalised voices. As we continue to innovate and explore the potential of design, our commitment remains steadfast: to reshape narratives, empower individuals, and build a more inclusive, equitable future for all. You can read more about our work with DACRC, HMP Isis and Untold here.
In the Spring and Summer of 2023, six members of our team volunteered to join Creative Mentor Network’s Break the Wall programme. Creative Mentor Network (CMN) is a charity dedicated to promoting socio-economic inclusion in the creative industries.
CMN’s focus is on building a society where every young person can achieve their potential in the creative world of work, regardless of their background. They share our belief that those who shape our creative and cultural output should represent the diversity of today’s world. By partnering with Creative Mentor Network, we aimed to deepen our understanding of the barriers faced by young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and work together to create a robust pipeline of diverse talent while training inclusive leaders across the creative industries.
What drew us to Creative Mentor Network was their approach to engaging young people who aren’t necessarily 'creatives' or studying creative subjects. Many of these young individuals excel in various academic and non-academic areas and are keen to apply their skills within the creative industry. This allowed our volunteer mentors to share valuable soft skills — such as confidence, presentation skills, and professionalism — and provide insights into the diverse pathways and roles within the creative industry for their mentees to explore.
By partnering with Creative Mentor Network, we aimed to deepen our understanding of the barriers faced by young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and work together to create a robust pipeline of diverse talent while training inclusive leaders across the creative industries.
In Summer of 2024, we had the unique opportunity to partner with Design Futures, a new programme from LIFT and Capital City College Group’s Creative Skills Hub, for talented creatives who are ready to take their next steps into work. The programme included a 4-week, full-time practical course to help enhance graphic design and branding skills followed by access to 8-week paid (London Living Wage) internships with local employers.
The programme has been developed to provide practical work experience and skills training supported by industry professionals, where they will work on real briefs, learn core skills and work with a team on an industry project. After completing the training programme participants will gain access to interviews for a number of design internships within local businesses.
The programme will provide mentoring and support throughout the course and into the internship journey for those who are successful in gaining an 8-week industry placement.
We were paired with an enthusiastic, self-taught creative candidate from the programme who joined us for four days per week, and spent their fifth day on additional training, development and networking activities with Capital City College.
To conclude 2024, we partnered once again with D&AD Shift, but this time we were the ones setting the cohort a brief to respond to. We hosted the Shifters for the briefing evening, shared contact details so they could reach out with questions and welcomed them back 7 weeks later to receive their presentations. Witnessing the imaginative responses they collaborated on was truly inspiring. It was evident how much they valued the feedback, encouragement, and insider knowledge on breaking into the creative industry that we provided.
Through these initiatives in 2023 and 2024, we have reinforced our commitment to fostering diversity, inclusion, and innovation in the design industry. We look forward to continuing these efforts and making a lasting impact in the years to come.
Impact Summaries
Community
INTENTIONS
- Identifying additional opportunities to have a meaningful voice within our industry on the topic of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- Actively engaging with the industry through our involvement with the Creative Mentor Network, Design Futures and Creative Mentor Network placing ourselves in conversations and taking small steps towards bringing about positive change in the realm of ED&I.
THE FUTURE
- Identify and partner with an even wider range of charities and initiatives that are making moves in this space.
- Early intervention. It's still our ambition to learn from these partnerships so that we can one day host our own outreach to schools and within our community. Exploring ways to establish direct connections with local schools in our community, cultivating awareness at a younger age of all the possibilities within the creative industry – from design to client services to copywriting to strategy – and thus seeking to overcome barriers and inform pathways for young talent.
- Evolve our approach to 2025’s internship scheme to open up opportunities for underrepresented talent in all areas of our multidisciplinary team.
Customers
INTENTIONS
Spreading the message of the importance of ED&I in everything we do, emphasising the significant role diversity plays in creating exceptional work that resonates with our clients' audiences.
THE FUTURE
- Publish our achievements on our social media to attract the attention of our network
Workers
INTENTIONS
- Utilising the ED&I forum to define our ambitions, prioritise areas of focus, and shape our approach for the next three years.
- Making informed decisions about future partnerships in the ED&I space to continue learning and growing as a team.
- Planning ongoing ED&I training sessions for the entire studio, ensuring that our commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion remains embedded in our daily practices.
- Identifying further partner companies making moves in this space and committing both time and financial resources to support their initiatives.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- Participating in the D&AD Shift program both as a partner setting a new sort of brief for the cohort to tackle and as alumni, whilst one of our team who had been part of the Shift programme previously was able to help mentor this year's cohort.
- Partnering with Design Futures and providing the opportunity for two of our workers to volunteer their time for mentorship over a period of 8 weeks.
- Partnering with the Creative Mentor Network and providing the opportunity for six of our workers to volunteer their time for mentorship over a period of three months.
THE FUTURE
- Making informed decisions about future partnerships in the ED&I space to continue learning and growing as a team.
- Continuing to schedule ED&I training sessions for the entire studio, ensuring that our commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion remains embedded in our daily practices.