Design Audit for Made Thought, London
An analysis of how design is used by an organization and how coherent design is in relation to the company’s beliefs and values. Naqiyah Mustafa g00064520
Organizational Review Made Thought is a design studio based in London, founded in 2000 by two classmates, Paul Austin and Ben Parker. The Studio helps luxury brands use progressive design to change the image of their organizations. The studio prides itself in being able to challenge the creative norms and help brands become more desirable and elevated. The idea behind the studios name Made Thought focuses on how great design always comes from deep thought. The design studio believes in heartfelt strategy and intriguing visual craft to help create products, services and experiences that allow people to fall in love with. The studio consists of around 40-50 employees from a diverse field of thinkers & doers, makers and crafters, writers and editors, etc (Made Thought, n.d.). The studio begins every new project with the same excitement as the last and they try to meet new challenges through agility and adaptability on every scale. Their work primarily combines intelligent thought and creative visuals. The studio offers services to brands as a whole package and not just one piece of the jigsaw, and by doing so they offer services such as brand identity, print matter, packaging and many other essential design services. Although the company started their journey in 2000, the studio continues to succeed enormously, bagging big clients to work with and transforming the way their brand is. Their philosophy revolves around making the relationships with their clients utterly unique by ensuring that the customer knows that they are extremely cared for by the studio. This approach by the studio is now encapsulated by an ideology that Paul and Ben use to explain the studio’s output, which is “super boutique�. What the studio holds very dearly is the relationship they have with their customers, similar to what small boutiques have with their own customers. This is what has redefined the way that Made Thought functions and has primarily pushed them towards success instead of being a simple studio filled with able-bodied designers.
"Simple ideas, effortlessly beautiful, that appeal to the head and the heart. Our work makes deep and lasting connections." Made Thought
Brand Review Made Thought has a very clear design identity. For them simplicity is key. The brand works in 6 ways.
scope
simplicity
connections
Build a brand from the ground up, or guide them when they feel that they have lost their way.
Believe that simplicity and clarity is always the best, the world is complicated enough.
Brands are looked at in totality, every aspect of the brand contributes to the whole.
impact
responsibility
partnership
Always make a positive impact with who they work with. Deep understanding, passion and an intelligent team is what creates work that makes a difference.
The work they produce, and how they conduct themselves, they seek to make a conscious difference.
Dialogue is necessery for effective work. Keep listening, be honest and work together to create.
Each component helps them create unique and thoughtful designs and ideas for their clients. Their vision and aim when working with great design is to work alongside four crucial elements. Good design must be intelligent, and be a result of collaborative thinking and dynamic dialogue. It should be distinct; the design should be able to stand out against the crowd by being distinct and unique. The design should also be proactive, so that the brand is able to change based on customer behavior and perception. And last but not the least the design must aim to be beautiful. Made Thought has a simple and consistent website format that showcases all their project and client work systematically. Furthermore, their website allows viewers to explore the type of design studio that they are, and learn more about the way they think and how they do what they do. The website is also their biggest platform for viewers to learn more about the studio and connect with them by viewing their projects or reaching out to them for project work. Apart from the website, Made Thought is active on a majority of social media such as Instagram with a following of 42.2k, where they post on a regular basis about their projects. They are also active on LinkedIn and Twitter where they tweet alongside their clients and also have a following of 13.9k followers.
Design Review Made Thought offers an extremely wide range of services such as:
The different sectors that they cater to consist of:
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• • • • • • • • •
Creative Partner Brand Identity Printer Matter Packaging Art Direction Moving Image Spatial Design Campaign Digital & Social Design
Art & Culture Beauty Creative Industries Fashion & Apparel Innovation & Technology Lifestyle & Hospitality Luxury & Craft Place & Property Sustainability
In terms of specialization, Made Thought offers a series of special services that cater to different segments of the market such as; We Partner: creating a connection with firms on distinct projects in specialized areas of brand, product development and delivery. Made Together: is an innovative initiative to help start-ups by providing creative and strategic support in their earliest stages of development. Made Good: a service that helps to create a positive impact through beautiful work and through the process of discovering, researching and trialing. Especially to reduce environmental impact. Made Projects: this service is an incubator for new products and opportunities that helps to develop ideas and ensures that an idea grows all the way from the initial idea to it’s product development and launch.
Client Review Made Thought works for and in collaboration with a large variety of clients. They’ve done projects for Adidas, Stella McCartney, Jamie Oliver, Established & Sons, G F. Smith, Tom Dixon, The Museum of Modern Art, and many other large and influential brands as well as a good number of start-ups. Some of their more recent works have been for The Museum of Modern Art which is deemed to be the world’s most iconic art institution. The focus for Made Thought with MoMA was to create an interesting and dynamic advertising campaign that could reach the breadth of audience that the company is continually trying to engage. They did this by working with the team and the design board at MoMA to introduce a new and refreshing style to an iconic identity through more flexible graphic style. They also aimed to apply a strong voice and attitude to the design and artwork to make the advertisement feel less institutional and more inspirational. Another company that they have worked with is G F. Smith, also known as the world’s finest paper company. The company has a history of 140 years and provides the finest specialty papers to the creative and fashion industries. The challenge that Made Thought faced with this project was to create desirability of paper in the creative community where everything was going digital. They decided to take an approach where they captivated their market through beauty, inspiration and spectacle. They did this by re-inventing the way they tell the story about the company and focused on making the product engaging to its audience. The company later was awarded the D&AD “Black” Pencil for Brand Expression in 2015 for their work with G F. Smith. The company has also received recognition because of the work they create but also the values that they share and their design vision. Paul and Ben, the founders of the company were named ‘Graphic Designers of the Year’ by Blueprint Magazine (UK) in 2004 and were invited to join Alliance Graphique Internationale in 2010 (Ideas on Design, 2012). They have also been awarded a rare D&AD “Black” Pencil in 2015 and were voted the UK’s best creative studio and have been in the top ten for the last five years (Made Thought, n.d.).
Recommendations Strengths • Work Ethic of the Team and Values of The Company • Strong Customer Relationships • Innovative Design Processes • Focus on making design simple yet intriguing • Bold and Unforgettable Designs • Sustainable Projects and Collaborations
Opportunities
Weakness • Lack of Information about size and scale, internal structure and job roles of company • Unclear image of what the design studio looks like • Inconsistent among social media • No secondary sources about the company
• Growth – open studios internationally • Become more consistent across social media platforms • Publicize achievements and innovation • Make company information more transparent and easily accessible • Make a clear, bold and unforgettable brand for themselves
Threats • Being overshadowed by big companies who might begin to use similar strategies of design • Missed chances on important projects due to vague online presence • If they defer from their main vision, the company will have no unique value proposition
SWOT Analysis
Made Thought is an excellent design studio with a fresh perspective about looking at design projects and catering to their customers. Their main aim is to “create desire” and that is what keeps pushing them ahead in the game. They create designs that reflect their own personality as a firm which is simple, effortless and beautiful, but most importantly designs that are unforgettable and unique. I believe that Made Thought is following the right path towards leading an innovative, creative and sustainable design studio and has consistently been one of the best design firms for over a decade. But even after being active for so long, they could do with a few recommendations for growth. For starters, the company should consider creating a strong visual identity for themselves that consists of a unique logo, tagline as well as consistency amongst their website and social media accounts. While researching about the company, I also noticed that it was quite difficult to find information about the firm that wasn’t already provided on the website. The firm has a sense of mysteriousness around them and makes me wonder why it’s so hard to find information about a firm with such fabulous design pieces. Lack of online presence could lead to their downfall, and it would be essential for them to start publicizing their victories and great works and becoming more active in the online world. Overall, I believe that the company has very high potential and has been creating unbeatable work for a long time. But to maintain this level of good work and work with interesting clients they must bring people towards them.
References Best, K. (2015). Design Management. Auditing the Use of Design, 44 - 47. Ideas on Design. (2012). Made Thought. Retrieved from http://ideasondesign.net/ speakers/speakers/madethought-paul-austin-and-ben-parker/ Made Thought. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.madethought.com Best, K. (2015). Design Management. Auditing the Use of Design, 44 - 47.
