{"id":14440,"date":"2025-09-16T16:30:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/designstudio-relaunches-as-further-with-magnetic-new-brand\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T16:30:05","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:30:05","slug":"designstudio-relaunches-as-further-with-magnetic-new-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/designstudio-relaunches-as-further-with-magnetic-new-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"DesignStudio relaunches as Further with magnetic new brand"},"content":{"rendered":"

DesignStudio is relaunching today as Further<\/a>, as a \u201csignal to the world\u201d that it\u2019s evolving into a different kind of agency.<\/p>\n

The rebrand comes after the 16-year-old studio, which has offices in London, New York and Sydney, bought two new companies to extend the services it offers clients, from campaigns to events.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our bet on the future based on a belief in human creativity,\u201d said DesignStudio CEO Paul Stafford.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Stafford says the studio\u2019s leadership started thinking about the future of the business \u201cjust after Covid.\u201d<\/p>\n

DesignStudio built its reputation creating new identities for clients like Eurostar, the Premier League, and perhaps most notably, Airbnb. But Stafford says they wanted to move beyond \u201cthe bombastic moments of businesses pivoting and rebranding,\u201d to work on more of their clients\u2019 commercial strategy.<\/p>\n

Stafford and his team started looking at ways they could \u201clevel up\u201d DesignStudio\u2019s capability to deliver these broader offerings, and decided the best approach was to, \u201cgo out and buy the best in market, and bring them to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year they bought motion design studio Analog and immersive experience agency Pixel Artworks, and united the three business as the Further Group. Further acquisitions will follow.<\/p>\n

The new collective is backed by Waterland Private Equity, and Stafford says that in both the creative and financial partnerships, the studio was determined to ensure \u201ccultural alignment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can do all the scientific due diligence, digging into past work and asking the right questions,\u201d Stafford says. \u201cBut in this field, we\u2019re all experts at selling ourselves. So a lot of it comes down to sitting in pubs together, so people let their guard down a bit, and you can understand what\u2019s important to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new Further identity<\/p>\n

He says that when it came to choosing the right investors, it was vital the financiers appreciated how creative businesses are different.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have 12 months\u2019 visibility on our pipeline, and I guarantee that is the same for every design company,\u201d he says. \u201cSo we needed people who understood our industry, and who have an appreciation that we don\u2019t necessarily run things in the way that big corporates do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re more about showing the team a flag, and giving them something to charge at, rather than building really detailed one-pagers on how our values and goals are going to trickle down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stafford explains that Further will still work on rebrands, but these will form part of the studio\u2019s wider services, alongside campaigns, product launches, events and digital projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to work on what we consider a client\u2019s landmark moments,\u201d he explains. \u201cYes, they\u2019ve got to be consistent, and roll out all these things in different versions, and languages, and territories.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they need to keep seeding these landmark moments, where communities gather, where fandoms are born, and where people start building this love and affinity for the brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

In part, Stafford sees the agency\u2019s new focus as rising above the \u201ccrappy campaign work\u201d he predicts AI is going to hoover up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to play in the high impact, high value moments,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s where creativity is really needed, where the world needs to see something that hasn\u2019t been seen before, where genius minds come together to create and curate.\u201d<\/p>\n

To reflect this new direction, Stafford says it was important to change the name from DesignStudio.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had to happen, because we are entering a new era of what agencies need to do, and we have a completely new offer,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe name DesignStudio, and the brand DesignStudio, didn\u2019t capture that any more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a risk,\u201d he accepts. \u201cBut I think the risks of not changing the name way outweigh the risks of changing the name,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt signals to the world that this is a significant shift. And I think the fact that we\u2019re willing to drop the name, because we believe in this new agency, signals to the rest of the business that they should believe in it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Stafford says he and co-founder Ben Wright always thought DesignStudio was \u201cthe shittiest name possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe struggled to come up with a name, and said, \u2018My God, let\u2019s just call it DesignStudio.\u2019 There was always a discussion about whether it was genius or idiocy.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the agency\u2019s subsequent success convinced Stafford that in the end, a studio name is far less important than its work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe name doesn\u2019t really matter,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s what you create that becomes representative of who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The name Further, he says, is \u201ca lot more considered than DesignStudio was at the time.\u201d It reflects both the enhanced and expanded work the new studio wants to do, as well as the internal drive to push creativity beyond the tried and tested.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis name marries our intent, our desire, and our vision of where the business is going,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

To accompany the new name, Further also has a new visual brand, overseen by design director Lorenzo Di Cola.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe set out to build an identity for an agency that didn\u2019t yet exist,\u201d Di Cola says. \u201cIt had to flex across brand, content, experience and motion. It had to showcase wildly different kinds of work. And most importantly, it had to reflect the collaborative spirit and creative energy of the new business we\u2019re building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stafford admits that working on an agency\u2019s own brand is always \u201ca painful experience\u201d and the team had to balance and channel the wide range of input they received. \u201cEveryone in our business is a brand expert, so everyone has an opinion,\u201d he laughs.<\/p>\n

There is a new crafted wordmark, with striking 3D motion expressions, while the type family includes Grotesk\u2019s Mono<\/em>, Peta<\/em>, Giga<\/em> and Mega<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always believed, from the days of Airbnb, that you need to build something so compelling that it draws people towards it,\u201d Stafford says. \u201cThat\u2019s how you build community, and fandom, and advocacy \u2013 from the inside out.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo our new brand is built around the idea of magnetism \u2013 such a force that it pulls things towards it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\nStafford also wanted a brand that would feel \u201cprovocative\u201d and make \u201csome people uncomfortable.\u201d This, he believes, will resonate with and attract clients who want to be pushed out of their comfort zone, while filtering out those who would prefer to play it safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always gone into pitches against businesses like the Omnicoms and WPPs,\u201d Stafford says. \u201cAnd I wanted us to feel like the antithesis of them. We want to be the agency that, win or lose, people remember us because we scared them a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stafford says pivoting the business in this way has thrown up challenges, but his biggest learning has been to remain present and available to listen to people\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n

He thinks this communication matters less in the formal moments \u2013 like all-hands meetings and company emails \u2013 than in the informal ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s about turning up at an event in the pub with the team,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen someone\u2019s three pints in, and is confident enough to ask the boss, \u2018What\u2019s going on?\u2019 Where you connect with people, on a real level, is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

But despite these challenges, Stafford is ready to embrace start this new chapter. \u201cI feed off moments like this,\u201d he says. \u201cIt gets me energised.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like there is an opportunity right now, to figure out what is the role of a design business in the future. And I feel like we\u2019re in a good position to do that. It\u2019s nerve-wracking, but it\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nWhat to read next: <\/strong>Neighbourhood app Nextdoor relaunches with new brand and product design<\/a> | England Cricket unveils roarsome new brand to capitalise on \u201cexciting time\u201d<\/a> | Derek&Eric heroes \u201cthe dude\u201d logo for innocent\u2019s brand refresh<\/a> | Without creates new brand for Sleepover airport nap pods<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DesignStudio is relaunching today as Further, as a \u201csignal to the world\u201d that it\u2019s evolving into a different kind of agency. 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