Ink Studios, Hackney Wick, UK

Project info / Insight:
Ink Studios is a workplace located in Hackney Wick, best known as one of London’s most vibrant creative areas, a place where artists, makers, independents and forward-thinking businesses cluster around industrial warehouses, canal-side studios, and a distinctly alternative cultural atmosphere.

Challenge / Idea:
Ink Studios is a raw creative workplace, most of it covered by concrete walls and exposed features. It is designed to feel rough around the edges, mimicking its surrounding area, and that was something people around there loved and new people coming in craved. The challenge was to keep this element alive; it wasn’t about dressing up the branding and marketing. It needed to feel just as raw and authentic as the space itself.

Design / Results:
Inspired by the local graffiti scene, I created a bespoke logotype to look like a graffiti stencil. The logotype was then spray-painted on one of the walls, tapping into the local graffiti culture and bringing this into the space. Using the logotype, I was able to create a pattern by repeating it, and with every repeat the colour would slightly fade, this was a subtle nod to a spray can running out. This fading-out effect also applied to the text on the out-of-home advertising.

I designed the website and brochure to feel very raw. One of the ways I did that was by capturing the texture from the concrete wall within the space and using that as the background for the floor plans, imagery and the text.