Work-form’s practice has its roots in participatory design and place-making

Alongside their studio practice, founders of work-form Charlie Abbott, Jake Hopwood and Alex Hough teach graphic design at a range of institutions across London, collaborating with participants of all ages to orchestrate large creative briefs and collaborative projects. Seeing this part they play in education as a valuable way of “testing approaches to the production of graphic design”, says Alex, teaching has always been an extension of the studio’s open and research-led approach to projects. “Reflective and always interesting, we learn constantly from the students we work with,” Alex adds.

The collaborative, iterative approach that’s embedded into their teaching practice often rears its head in work-form’s community-centred design projects. From visual identities to websites, books, exhibitions and a wide range of printed matter, the studio’s work “often explores the relationship between people and the places they live”, shares Charlie. “We try to immerse ourselves in the environments and communities we’re designing with; this helps us find opportunities to develop participatory ways of working, often leading our design process in more thoughtful directions,” he says. The studio’s recent exhibition identity for The In Crowd: Mod Fashion and Style 1958–1966 at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery is an example of this rich immersion into research and place, with a visual system that carefully “captured the spirit of gig posters, magazines and television graphics from the period”, says Jake.

What unites all of the studio’s work is its attention to typography. Whether it wriggles, or wraps round the side of train stations, letterforms are an opportunity for succinct playful expression that the studio never misses. Charlie, Jake and Alex tend to pair these detailed type experiments with unconventional and expressive approaches, to make visuals that celebrate the specifics they’ve uncovered about each brief’s subject matter in the research stage. “We enjoy the idiosyncrasies created where these methods intersect,” Jake shares. “A favourite project is our work for Townsend Farm, an artisanal apple juice company who reject large scale, homogenised production. Our playful, modular identity also looks to break from any conventions.”