Manifesto, logos, print, direct mail and social media campaign graphics for the 2022 local elections.

The campaign resulted in Wandsworth Labour winning a majority of 12 and control of the council for the first time since 1974, in what was previously considered a highly symbolic, flagship Tory borough and personal favourite of Margaret Thatcher. This historic result received widespread coverage by the national media.

Founded in 1826 in central London, UCL (University College London) is London’s leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 13,000 staff and 42,000 students from 150 different countries. UCL has a history of academic excellence and is consistently ranked amongst the world’s top universities, with many institutions leading their field.

We design promotional materials and communications for seminars, events and brand identities – as well as design and editorial for various publications such as research reports and reviews.

Manifesto; ‘pledge card’ graphics for social media; and mayoral address booklet, delivered to every voter as part of Lewisham Labour’s campaign for the 2018 local elections.

It was Lewisham Labour’s most successful campaign ever, winning a clean sweep of all 54 council seats and the directly-elected mayoralty with an absolute majority, and largest ever vote share.

The Guardian plans to reopen the Midland Goods Shed at London’s King’s Cross to create a new kind of civic space. It is a 30,000 square foot space in a building nearby to the Guardian’s offices, originally built in 1850 as a temporary home for King’s Cross rail terminal. It will become ‘a hub for big ideas and stimulating conversations’, hosting events, activities and courses from Guardian Live and other institutions, as well as being the home of Guardian Membership.

We were commissioned by The Guardian’s internal communications and membership departments to create a large digitally-printed wall display (4.2 x 2.5 metre), announcing these exciting developments to Guardian employees and visitors to their office. We were then asked to develop this into a series of slides for display on screens throughout the office building. Another display (2.4 x 2.5 metre) detailed and promoted upcoming events.


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Portfolio site for a London-based contemporary visual artist. Deepa works with 'ready-made and everyday objects which are manipulated, re-evaluated and re-presented'. 

This simple, responsive website allows the work to speak for itself, showing it with full screen slideshows and galleries. See the live site here.

An open-ended study of works and thoughts by the Korean-American multimedia artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (1951-82). Her structuralist film pieces, scripts, synopses and performance documents present a fragmented image of the complex identity behind her work.

First published to accompany an exhibition at the Korean Cultural Centre and events at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London – this catalogue is a testament to the growing interest in her work and repositions her within the canon of postwar art.

It featured a wraparound poster cover printed in two colours, which sampled and montaged elements of Cha's work. The typography was inspired by the stencil and typewritten lettering which Cha also used. The whole catalogue can also be viewed online here.

Film & Arts Beyond Bollywood

Bombay Mix is based in London and stages various screenings and events, presenting film and arts concerning the Indian subcontinent, South Asian people worldwide and the British Asian experience.

We designed a comprehensive range of items including the brand identity, stationery, event programmes and a variety of promotional materials such as posters and flyers. We also curated exhibitions and designed the catalogues; helped to organise events and created the website.

The logo's typography references Bollywood posters; the joining ascenders of the ‘b’ and the ‘y’ resemble Hindi script; and the diamond dot above the ‘i’ is reminiscent of Arabic script – in this way it is inclusive of different cultures within the South Asian community.

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Slavery and resistance 200 years after abolition

In 1807 Britain abolished the slave trade. 200 years later at least 12 million people worldwide remain in slavery. Photojournalist Pete Pattisson exposes modern forms of slavery across the world. This book, published to accompany an exhibition first held in London in 2007, is a compelling reminder that slavery may be forgotten, but it is not yet gone.

The understated design focuses on the powerful content – although an engaging variety of layouts are used. Each chapter begins with a striking portrait against a black backdrop. The linked ‘o’s of the main title resemble not only a broken chain (signifying resistance to slavery) but also suggest something ‘gone’. We designed the cover, text, illustrations and assisted with copy and picture editing. We also designed the accompanying exhibition, including display graphics and promotional materials. The complete book can also be viewed online here.

Vardo Films is based in London and develops, directs and produces documentaries and fiction films for international audiences.

Vardo's website features long scrolling pages with background images and full-width galleries, showcasing the company’s best work. See the live site here.

Collaborative Schools is a network of state-funded schools in the Kathmandu area of Nepal. The network is currently expanding and includes Jana Uddhar School.

Most children in the area attend private schools, with only the most impoverished going to state schools. Alongside practical reforms, this rebranding project helps reverse that trend, presenting the schools in a more professional, engaging way.

We designed a logo system where the central motif of the pencil represents learning and creativity. This is common to all bodies within the network – while each school has a variation on it. The network itself is illustrated with divergent ribbon-like strands flowing together, signifying collaboration. Jana Uddhar Secondary School’s own pencil also transforms into a book. This was a bilingual project in both English and Nepali.

Susanne Salavati is a London-based Director of Photography who shoots features, drama, documentaries and commercials in worldwide locations. She is focused on challenging and socially-engaged projects for clients such as Tate, 38 Degrees and Virgin.

We were asked to redesign her website in a simple, uncluttered style. The cover page features a stills slide show and a link to her showreel video. The site presents her portfolio of clips and trailers with large, widescreen thumbnail images. See the live site here.

Teaching Citizenship is the journal of the Association for Citizenship Teaching, the professional membership association for those involved in Citizenship education. Citizenship is a statutory subject which equips young people with the skills and knowledge to exercise their democratic rights and engage in political processes.

Following our redesign of their brand identity we were asked to overhaul ACT’s magazine and pitched it between a trade title and an academic journal. We were responsible for cover and text page design, as well as illustration and picture editing; alongside editorial input.

Yi Er (一二生活) is a lifestyle retail business based in China, currently expanding into international markets. The name roughly translates into English as ‘one, two... life’ and represents Taoist philosophical principles of living positively in harmony with nature. Outlets offer a diverse range of cultural products for young professionals including books, original artworks, gifts and refreshments. They also host educational, film and family events.

We developed a contemporary bilingual brand identity, applied to a range of items including stationery, merchandise and signage.

DemFest 2016 is an independent festival of democracy, ideas and action. Consisting of a weekend conference including talks, seminars, workshops and other events; it is organised by the Democratic Society in collaboration with other partners.

The Democratic Society (DemSoc) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation that aims to improve democracy through greater participation, better information, transparent government, and open decision making.

We designed a brand identity which was applied to posters, flyers and digital media. It is based around a typographic word mark, combining an 'X' for the vote (referencing DemSoc's own logo); the number 16; and the 'T' of 'DemFest'. The design also illustrates a network of communities, and shows the various themes and organisations featured at the conference.

The Young Mayor is a voice for all young people in this inner London borough and decides how to spend a budget on youth projects. Anyone aged 11-18 who lives or studies in Lewisham can vote or stand for the position. The campaign also aimed to engage young people in the democratic process.

The look of the campaign was based on a dynamic urban style. The figure at the bottom of the logo not only resembles a ‘Y’ for youth, but is also taken from Lewisham council’s own crown logo. We also created promotional materials, posters, learning packs and merchandise, as well as a website for the campaign.

Campaign materials for both print and social media, on the theme of safer communities and policing.

This proposed campaign sought to balance creative presentation with the delivery of clear, consistent messages within Labour’s visual guidelines.

Interzone delivers an interactive augmented reality theatrical experience, which can combine audio with live action based on the user’s location. We worked on the home screen design as well as other interface elements, such as icons.

400 Years of History

An extensively researched, comprehensive study of Asians from the Indian subcontinent in Britain. Spanning four centuries, it tells the history of the Indian community in Britain from the first recorded baptism in 1616 and the servants, ayahs and sailors of the seventeenth century, to the students, soldiers, professionals, MPs, entrepreneurs and suffragettes of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The cover features a fusion of the British union jack flag and the Indian tricolour, replacing the British red and blue with the Indian orange and green, illustrating the idea of Asians in Britain very directly and simply. This is combined with a photographic portrait of an Anglo-Indian family of the 1920s, supplied by the author. The distressed type and effects give a sense the long history of Asians in Britain.

Each character in the font is composed entirely from equilateral triangles. Within this rigid framework we sought to construct letterforms which were as conventional as possible, since these constraints already give the font such a distinctive personality. An alternate version was created so every glyph has a left-slanted, right-slanted or upright version. As a result, the characters can fit together well. Kerning pairs and OpenType technology automatically substitute combinations of letterforms to facilitate this. Each version also has a set of small caps, making a total of four fonts in the whole family.

This book explains how the higher education assessment system works, how to avoid common errors and how to succeed in written assignments. It shares the experiences and perspectives of both students and tutors.

The book was printed in just two colours – blue and black (plus a fluorescent orange for the cover). Each chapter starts with an illustrated title page, but since there was no budget for photography this was achieved purely with vector illustrations throughout.

Oversized numerals add further visual interest to the text pages and aid navigation. The numerous quotes in the book were pulled from the main copy and placed in outer columns alongside the text. We also had considerable editorial input for the publication. The whole book can also be viewed online here.

Flyers, posters and promotional material for the annual conference of the British Urban Regeneration Association. The three colours of blue, pink and orange signify the private, public and voluntary sectors.

Critical Analysis from Karl Marx to Amartya Sen, edited by Douglas Dowd

Combining contributions from seven leading economists in a critical assessment of the relationship between economic thought and the dominance of capitalism, this book traces the growth of the capitalist system over the past two hundred years and how economic theory has, in fact, become capitalist ideology.

For this cover design, the actual barcode of the book is used on the front cover as an illustration. The barcode and the ‘S’ of ‘capitalism’ (stylised as a dollar sign) suggest the consumerist nature of capitalism. This dollar sign combined with the red, white and blue colourway further illustrates the dominance of the US in the capitalist world and also hints at the preponderance of US authors in this book. The lightbulb represents understanding; and works together with the dollar sign as a sort of logo for the whole book, as used on the spine. The design is printed in just two colours and the lightbulb is made up of overprinted red and blue inks, creating a third dark purple colour. Original photography of Canary Wharf and Citigroup towers were used for the background.

A series of posters and flyers promoting ‘InStereo’, events organised by London Recycled / PartArt – a collective  of visual artists.

Posters, flyers and web graphics for Lewisham Deptford CLP xmas party. Produced in an old school letterpress style for a handmade, informal and welcoming feel.

Printed in three fluorescent inks (plus black), this set of three A2 posters were aimed at younger secondary school students and had to grab their attention, amongst often overcrowded classroom walls. The intention was not just to promote the subject of Citizenship, but also to build students' sense of political agency. They were distributed to every secondary school in the UK.

A brochure and accompanying poster for a study abroad programme, organised by the Hansard Society, the UK’s leading political research and education think tank.

Aimed mainly at US undergraduates, the design of brochure conveys classic English style and quality. Printed on heavy board, it featured a double gatefold and a die-cut pocket to hold time-sensitive information, such as pricing.

Illuminate features overlapping translucent geometric elements which describe the countours of negative letterforms. It is a lyrical interpretation of the word's meaning, both in the senses of enlightening decoratively, as well as intellectually. It will be built from laser-cut coloured acrylic and backlit, mounted on a lightbox.

Disambiguation is an experiment in colour and typography which celebrates a word that was seldom used until the popular advent of Wikipedia. It also creates a visual pun in making the word itself appear relatively ambiguous. It will be produced as a large screen print.

The third image shows a composition created in the letterpress workshop at Camberwell College of Arts. The full text reads, 'Typographic design is realised on two scales: macro (explicit and obvious) and micro (subtle, sophisticated…)'.

Photography, brand identity and design for a series of flyers, programmes, posters and publicity for this live music venue on Deptford Broadway, London.

A long-exposure night shot was taken for the relaunch. The light trails from buses, cars, ambulances and street lights convey the vibrancy of the venue and surrounding area.

We also devised a typographic map, showing the bar's location in a more creative way than usual.

South East

In this first volume of a series, the distinctive and diverse South East London of the 1890s is revealed, using previously unpublished sources. Together with full-colour hand-painted ‘maps descriptive of London poverty’ the text provides a guide of unsurpassed detail. Charles Booth’s Victorian social researchers also categorised and colour-coded every street according to class and income, from ‘very wealthy’ to ‘vicious and semi-criminal’!

We designed a cover that presented the material in an engaging, contemporary way, rather than using a historical ‘vernacular’ approach. We also produced versions for paperback and hardback and devised a custom bookmark which enabled readers to easily decode the colours used in the map illustrations.

Revolutionary Iconoclast

Michael Spindler evaluates the usefulness and the limitations of Veblen’s views for an understanding of modern America by considering Veblen not just as an economist or a sociologist – as has been the case up to now – but as a seminal analyst and critic of American culture, whose importance has been underplayed and whose radicalism has been blunted by some postwar commentators.

For this cover design we focused on the American aspect by using a flag device, and also by giving the typography a traditional ‘American’ feel with its tight spacing and serifs. The playful treatment of the ‘A’ and ‘V’ also form a dynamic composition together with elements of the portrait of Veblen.

Women’s spaces of sociality in postcolonial London

This research project explored the role of class, ethnicity, and generation in constructions of women’s identities in informal spaces of sociality.

We developed a visual identity for the project, applied across a range of media.

Large scale lightbox installation in the Peckham Pulse Leisure Centre.