Est. 2016 · Bristol
A brand and design studio for companies with something specific to prove. Positioning, identity, and the digital work that carries it.
Selected work
2016 — 2026
What we do
Four disciplines, usually in this order
Before anything is drawn we work out what the company is actually claiming, who would dispute it, and whether the claim survives.
Market and rival audit · Claim testing · Messaging hierarchy · Naming where needed
The face of the argument. Marks, type, colour and a system disciplined enough that people who are not us can use it correctly.
Logo and marks · Typographic system · Colour and art direction · Guidelines
Sites and products that carry the identity into the place most people will actually meet it.
Design and build · CMS and content model · Motion · Handover and training
Long-running content that keeps the brand arguing its case after launch, rather than going quiet.
Campaign work · Print and reports · Photography direction · Copy systems
Nadia Kestrel · Founder, Kestrel Type
What they say afterwards
Four of the last six
They arrived with a brief about colour and left us with a company that knew what it was for. The identity was almost an afterthought by the time we got to it — in the best way.
Ana Beltrán
Founder
Fieldnote
We assumed we needed two brands. Holloway spent a week proving we needed one with a range, which saved us roughly half the budget we had set aside.
Tom Vale
Director
Harbour & Vale
The name did more for our pipeline in a quarter than two years of conference sponsorship. I have stopped being surprised by that.
Priya Nandra
Partner
Meridian Row
They told us in week two that we had a product problem rather than a brand one, and offered to stop. We did not stop, but I have never forgotten that they offered.
Michael Okonjo
Chief Executive
Ashgrove Estate
From the journal
The brief is rarely the problem
Clients almost always describe the symptom accurately and the cause badly. Our first week is spent disagreeing politely.
Naming is a legal exercise wearing a creative hat
Every good name we have made was the fourth-favourite until the trademark search killed the first three.
On charging for thinking
We used to give the strategy away and charge for the artwork. It made the strategy worse and the artwork thinner.
Ashgrove, one year on
What we would change about the Ashgrove identity now that it has been through four seasons and a wet August.
Tell us what you are trying to prove.
We take on eight projects a year. Tell us what you are trying to prove and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right studio for it.