Some studios ask us not to mention where they’re based – they want to be seen as global, and use this worldliness to attract clients wherever they may be.
Others are proud to be rooted in a specific place, and use this as part of their identity. And some, like Wonderhood Design, go one step further, creating work for and with the community in which their studio sits.
Wonderhood started out making adverts and TV shows, and hired Simon Elvins from Wieden + Kennedy to lead its design department in 2021.
While working on a comms campaign for mobile network Three, Elvins realised there was an opportunity “for a complete strategic pivot, to re-evaluate the visual identity at the same time.”
Elvins worked closely with Roy Barker, the head of production and project management, and the pair saw an opportunity to help other clients with broader design work – which they did for both Branston and INEOS Grenadier.
Wonderhood Design’s identity for Sacred Grounds coffee shop
In 2023, Wonderhood Design launched as a standalone studio, with Elvins and Barker as co–founders, and they have gone on to work with clients like the V&A, Hargreaves Lansdown and the Migration Museum.
But alongside this big-name client work, the team wanted to support the businesses and other organisations which cluster around their studio in the heart of London’s Soho. To do this, they created the Neighbourly Fund, an annual initiative offering free branding for their neighbours.
“Soho is an amazing place to work, but in recent years it has definitely suffered with local and independent business closures, especially after Covid, and with bigger companies and developers moving in,” Elvins says. “They don’t have the same connection or investment in the area, so some of its charm and soul go with it.
“We wanted to do something that would help connect us with our local community, and give something back.”
Wonderhood Design’s identity for Sacred Grounds coffee shop
But, he admits, things got off to an inauspicious start.
“I was literally walking around Soho and going into sex shops, DIY stores and newsagents with a business card,” he says. “I spent a lot of time talking to confused shop attendants, who were like, ‘Yeah I’ll hand it to my manager.’ I wasn’t sure they would.”
If some of the local businesses seemed suspicious, Elvins had more success with what he calls “the cornerstones of the community,” starting with the local church, St. Anne’s. They commissioned Wonderhood to create the name, branding and comms for its new coffee shop, which came to be called Sacred Grounds.
The team went all in with a new logo, bespoke fonts, merchandise and social content. This grew into an unexpected collaboration between Sacred Grounds and fashion brand Sports Banger, brokered by Wonderhood.
The partnership included a limited-edition range of jewellery, including coffee-bean rosary beads, and a stole-inspired scarf. They also made a zine charting the church’s history, “from Royal baptisms to drag queens and divine cappuccinos.”
“We did an event and Father Simon from the church did a blessing,” Elvins explains. “We thought it would be a fun thing to do, but it was actually very emotional, and it became a really meaningful evening.
“There was such a brilliant mix of the local community, the coffee shop regulars, the Sports Banger fashion crowd, and the church.”
The second project they worked on was for the Soho Parish CofE Primary School. It has educated local children for 150 years, but is under pressure as the last school standing in Soho, with falling pupil numbers threatening its future.
Working with the children, Wonderhood created a new logo inspired by the silhouette of the building. This could be filled with icons inspired by the pupils’ favourite things about the school.
There was also a new wordmark, based on the site’s historic signage, and a striking blue and yellow colour palette.
Again the team went above and beyond, designing banners, notebooks and personalised sticker packs, as well as providing a logo generation tool to let members of the community make personalised versions.
Wonderhood Design’s identity for Soho Parish CofE Primary School
And as with the St Anne’s team, Elvins was pleasantly surprised by how smooth the process of working together was.
“Alix Ascough, the headteacher, was a really good client,” he says. “We weren’t sure how our presentations would go down, but they were like, ‘We don’t have a lot of time. We don’t like this, we like this, let’s move forward.’ They were very decisive, which was brilliant.”
The studio’s most recent project, although not part of the Neighbourly Fund, is for another nearby business, Soho Radio.
It’s the station’s first new identity since it launched in 2014, and it’s designed to reflect its “diverse, dynamic and exploratory listening experience.”
“From our first meeting, it was clear they shared our drive to do things differently, and a deep passion for the Soho community,” says Tommy Spitters, Wonderhood’s design director.
“We wanted to futureproof their brand, keeping it relevant to their loyal audience while opening the door to new listeners.”
The work includes a flexible logo, clashing graphics, merchandise, and a punchy verbal identity that underlines the station’s commitment to unpredictable programming, with lines like “Ears wide open” and “Go off track.” They also redesigned the Soho Radio app.
As with their work for the school, the handover included a tool, developed with Testbed Studio, that allows DJs to pick and choose colours, fonts and images to promote their shows online.
For Elvins, this element really “empowers clients to take ownership” of their new identities.
“It means the people that are using the brand every day can have a more active part in shaping it, in a way that is more fluid and adaptable, rather than fixed or static,” he says. “People enjoy using them, and there’s an element of play which is engaging and rewarding.”
Wonderhood Design’s new identity for Soho Radio
Many agencies do charity work alongside their client projects. The key, Elvins thinks, is for both sides to “develop meaningful relationships.” It takes time to build this trust, but it makes for more fruitful collaborations.
“You just have to get out there to meet and talk to people,” he says. “We got a lot of mixed responses when we were wandering around Soho, but it has led to some brilliant relationships.”
Wonderhood Design’s new identity for Soho Radio
Wonderhood Design’s new identity for Soho Radio