Justified Studio is an advocate for global change, working with transparency, authenticity and activism

Founded by a team of William Whiting, Luke Patton and Joshua Ogden, London-based Justified Studio is here with a mission. That mission, to be precise, is to address the notion that “power is shifting”, says Luke, with the entire brand being built on the fact that various factors such as transparency, authenticity, climate change and activism are prevailing.

With a working relationship spanning more than ten years, each of the studio’s founders have had somewhat varied – yet complementary – careers in the lead-up to forming their own agency. For example, Will has spent much of his time in art direction and branding, with his most recent role at London studio Village Green working with the branding team at Nike, plus many cultural institutions like Tate and the Barbican. Luke, on the other hand, is an interactive art director and designer who ran a digital agency called Ever & Ever, producing digital products and applications for brands such as Fendi, Google and Moleskine, “while supporting start-ups through various stages of their product,” Will tells It’s Nice That. Then there’s Josh, who’s spent much of his career working in Paris at AKQA on some “pretty hefty” ad campaigns and, most recently, was heading up a new creative organisation of the UN in Copenhagen.

This in turn evolved into UN Live, one of the studio’s founding clients. “Our learnings from working so closely with the UN Live team really helped us define our studio mission,” continues Will. “One insight really resonated with us and is something we keep coming back to: ‘If we really are coming into this decade of change, a term coined by the UN, how can people, brands and organisations start to think and act differently?’” With this, the team looked at the specific roles of creativity and agencies as a whole, turning a critical lens on what the role of Justified Studio is too.

Through a whole host of services including creative direction, branding, identity, creative strategy, advertising, consultation, digital design and tech development, the studio now boasts an impressive client list to boot. Fenty, United Nations, Champion, Hermès, Svea Solar, Google and Cleo to name a few, while the team have also been awarded by D&AD, Cannes Lions, Awwwards, Ciclope, Eurobest and Site Inspire. “A key part of our offering is running with the idea that (especially) right now, brands and organisations have a moment to question their purpose and values,” says Josh. “Going into this decade of change, there’s an opportunity to self-disrupt, refine and re-focus the mission statement; a mission that might have been slightly lost of convoluted over the years.”

Consequently, the team have taken on board this ‘decade of change’ and are as a result very excited about what they’re currently putting out into the world. Working with clients and partners from the get-go, the studio is able to work on strategies and create tangible executions. “We task ourselves to find these opportunities,” continues Josh, “if it is with the UN, for green energy companies, within the fin-tech market or for a luxury fashion brand. We are having a lot of fun mixing sharp, honest strategy with bold graphic visual codes.”

Working in a unified approach, the studio is able to utilise the skills of each founding member by way of each brief. A couple of weeks ago, the team launched a “complete overhaul” of one of Sweden’s biggest solar energy companies, called Svea Solar. “For us,” adds Luke, “this was a perfect project that gave us an opportunity to disrupt an industry that massively needs to shake up. We can’t keep seeing the same green fields, people holding hands and overused cliches that you often see associated with green energy brands.”

As such they decided to embark on a target of making green energy feel more contemporary, and how to make people feel differently about using power. The result is a visual system that toys with this notion of power and consumerism, paired with a bright and formulaic design. And of course, we’re all wanting to consume less in all areas of the consumerist world. “However,” he goes on to say, “in the energy industry, if we want to encourage people to change and progress, we need people to use (more) power and, more importantly, we need people to own power – just a different type of power!”

Circling back to this notion mentioned at the start, it’s plain to see that the work of Justified Studio is very much forward-thinking and progressive. For the future, the team tell us how they’re optimistic about the industry – now is the time of change and, like them, many are getting on board with new methods of working and creating that can positively impact our world.