Despite our ‘studio next door’ vibes, O Street has been operating as a global agency since our inception 15 years ago. Over the years this has included work with Google, Spotify, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Bacardi to name a few. We’ve run in-person brand workshops in Kenya, Italy, Denver and even Glasgow (sounds like an Abba song!).

During Covid, remote working seemed the new norm, particularly with a business like ours that was already accustomed to it. However, in the last few months, we’ve rediscovered the importance of face-to-face connections with our clients. This prompted our very own Tessa Simpson and David Freer to make a trip to the US earlier this month. It’s an expense and effort to undertake business travel of this scale, yet it’s something we greatly value, and here are a few reasons why:

Meeting over marketing

Agency marketing budgets can easily get used up on lead generation, design awards and conferences. These work for many people, but we’ve found spending our allocated budgets on building tangible relationships with existing clients/peers or being introduced to real people so much more valuable for building our business. We see the return on investment straight away.

Facetime

No matter how fast your broadband speed is, some things can’t be replicated with video chats. Since our trip, we now know what the view looks like from our client’s office window; the choice of sandwiches in TIFIN’s local deli and even the high score on the pinball machine that sits in the reception at Paralel. These are the things that make us human, and despite the professional nature of our service, in the end, we do work with humans and we appreciate the ability to understand them on that level too.

Seeing a brand exist in real life

Over in the US, it was a delight to see our logo creations on hoodies, fluorescent signs, etched office doors and meeting room murals. Talking to our clients, it was even more enlightening to see them embody the values and personalities we had helped craft at their inception. Standing inside the offices of the businesses we work with is a reminder of the impact and value of the work we do.

Understanding a place

We spent time in New York and have clients all over the US. But, our spiritual home seems to be in Colorado. As with our UK base in Glasgow, Denver is a place that balances both the cosmopolitan culture of a big city and the lifestyle of its proximity to the great outdoors. Again, like Glasgow, people living here seem to appreciate the balance of work/life alongside tech/nature. As well as our kind of folk, it also attracts brands like Crocs and VFC whose values align with our own.

Same same, but different

The UK and the US may have many similarities, but it’s understanding the unique qualities of each that allows us to communicate a brand in an authentic voice. Experiencing the positivity of every shopkeeper who wishes you a ‘wonderful day’ in the US explains the bright bold unashamed tone of voice required to engage with US audiences. In the same way that the bad weather and slightly grumpier shopkeepers in the UK explains the importance of humour in the design work we have here.

Between the lines feedback

It’s all well and good getting direct feedback from clients via email or video. However, it’s the between-the-lines information you get from those more casual conversations that often holds the real value. When discussing our work with the team at Google, we realised that what gets them the most excited are our creative side projects, like our Roadliners documentary film or the Label O’ Love book. It’s also reassuring to know that people are reading our newsletters and social media posts! If you want in, sign up here.

Emerging trends

One of the biggest value-adds that we bring to our American clients is a European design sensibility. At the same time, cross-pollinating our work from both sides of the world gives us a new perspective on what we create. Plus we’re getting eyes on emerging trends (design or otherwise) from America that often make their way over to us in the UK. Speaking of, anyone for Disc Golf? If you haven’t heard of that, check out the Glasgow contingency.

Small world, big impact

Our nine-strong designer team is about the size that any creative team would be in a larger organisation, but we often view ourselves as small. However, when we step out into the wider world, we realise the big impact we have with the work we do. These reminders include the billboards we pass on the street and the banknotes we designed in people’s wallets. On the other side of the world, this includes bottles we designed lined up in a bar and logos emblazoned on the walls of a skyscraper in downtown Denver.

From sunny Colorado straight back to torrential rain and flooding in Scotland, we landed with a bit of a bump, but still feeling super inspired and motivated with new projects on the horizon.
That feeling might be a leftover from the lasting effects of American positivity… not the only souvenir we brought back from our trip!

Photography by Ladislav Piljar

Happy launch day to Outwalker—the latest whisk(e)y brand we’ve been working with… and this time, it’s Irish!

Outwalker Whiskey is a collaboration between global mixologist titans Sean Muldoon and Jillian Vose (owners of Charleston’s Hazel and Apple), ex-Irish rugby player Darren Cave and the Merchant Hotel’s former general manager Adrian McLaughlin.

We loved working with the Outwalker team and our Belfast-based collaborators SheSaid and Conor Kelly on this one. Conveying the bold brand concept, The Restless Spirit, with a custom bottle and label design—we helped them create a new Irish whiskey for a young, modern Ireland.

Stay tuned for our case study where we will share more on the collaborative work and the branding process. In the meantime, we’ll be at the launch party in Belfast tonight. Check out our socials tomorrow for some photos. Sláinte!

At O Street, we’ve always loved bringing others into our creative circle when working on a particular project. These others are often our clients but where possible, we love collaborating with other creatives.

Neil at the Northern City exhibition at the Lighthouse Gallery by Peter Dibdin.

When we first started out as two upstart designers in an attic, we collaborated a lot to help establish larger creative teams for big projects (PriceWaterhouseCooper, Celtic Football Club and The Edinburgh International Film Festival with photographer Peter Dibdin.

As we grew, we started to bring those skills in-house (artworking, illustration, animation etc.). However, we still recognise when external specialist skills are required, be it a professional photographer or a website developer for a complex build.

When pitching for the visual identity project that became HOME a number of years ago, the marketing manager suggested we work alongside a local Manchester agency called Creative Concern. I’ll admit, at the time I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t win the project outright. However, we genuinely clicked as a team and we’ve worked on numerous projects with Creative Concern ever since (Thackray Medical Museum, National Trust, Johnstone Credit Union.)

Even now, when we have a broad range of design skills in our company, we still opt for collaborative teams when we can. Working outside the creative echo chamber of your own studio can lead to unexpected inspiration, the discovery of new development tools/tactics and even (dare I say it) some healthy competition.

It’s hard though right? Working in an industry where the development of brand new ideas and unique takes on briefs requires a great deal of confidence in your own thinking. Letting others influence these early, febrile musings requires a skill many of us designers don’t have: a lack of ego.

During our redesign of Scotland’s banknotes for Royal Bank of Scotland, led by service design agency Nile HQ a panel of our peers was appointed to scrutinise our design concepts, sense check our visuals and critique our work. With our egos left at the door, we embraced the approach and truly believe that the results of that project were made greater by the input from the broad range of creatives involved.

It was a model we also adopted when working on the Ulster Bank notes with Belfast agency shesaid. Again, a relationship we’ve continued, most recently on a project for a new global player in the Irish Whiskey space, Outwalker. Check our socials for some exciting announcements about that very soon!

With jobs like these, the other important dimension is including the authentic voice of a geographically local agency, so we often look to collaborate with studios around the world to ensure that voice is present within these projects too.

What The Client Wanted by Andrew Rae

Collaborating well takes skill though. As the saying goes ‘Opinions are like assholes… everyone’s got one’. It’s possible to take on too many opinions and try to please too many people. Most of us can spot the ‘design by committee’ ideas a mile off. They are the brand identities or campaigns that seem to tick all the boxes (approachable font, neat motif, bright colour palette) but they just feel a bit… meh! They lack a spark, a bravery that a bold creative often brings to a project. There will be times when an individual needs the freedom to disagree with others’ opinions and push on. It’s good to realise that that’s okay too.

As we grow and develop our agency, I don’t think we’ll ever stop collaborating with others. This approach has allowed us to work on massive global projects in the drinks, TV/music streaming and beauty spaces, whilst maintaining our creative-led boutique agency size and approach. We’re small, but mighty—with an agile, creative team that delivers big ideas.

It’s at this point in a blog where I realise that I haven’t mentioned half the projects or collaborators I meant to. So, very briefly, take a look at our recent project for Santini Cycle Jerseys with Fourtwentyseven, Stuco and Patrick Hughes and keep your eye out for soon to be released This Day branding project—a global philanthropy brand created with Good Point and Atime.

We haven’t mentioned everyone, there are too many to list, but we want to thank all of the talented people we collaborate with. You know who you are!

—David

We recently worked with our pal, Scottish musician BESSA (Sam), designing a cover for the Refuweegee 7″ EP—a collaborative project between I Belong To Glasgow, O Street and BESSA, to raise funds for the brilliant Glasgow charity, Refuweegee.

We worked with Sam a few years back when he created a unique soundtrack for our showreel. It’s been brilliant to collaborate again, so we invited Sam to tell us a bit more about the project and the finished design.

Here’s what he had to say:

The original idea was sparked by Dale from I Belong to Glasgow, who gave me a shout for any tracks that I would be willing to release. The main focus was to raise funds and awareness for Glasgow-based charity Refuweegee; I saw an opportunity to tie the project in with a design that highlighted my mixed background.

I asked my friends at O Street if they could help me with the sleeve design for the vinyl and I couldn’t be any prouder of the result!

We explored my Scottish and Algerian background which led O Street to come up with some unique and just brilliant ideas; in one of the designs they married images of Mount Tahat (Algeria) and Ben Nevis (Scotland).

Amazingly, looking at some of the images and designs we explored helped me build confidence in my own identity and heritage. I’ve found in the past it has been difficult to find belonging, coming from two cultures.

We settled on the image of my wee Algerian village with famous and personal Glasgow landmarks mixed into the space. For me, this image really worked by conveying what Refuweegee strives towards in making refugees welcome and safe in Our Glasgow.

—Sam

This illustration is an O Street collaboration with talented local designer Jack Batchelor.

You can purchase the BESSA Refuweegee 7″ EP here.

If you would like to donate directly to Refuweegee you can do so here.

O Street is officially 15 years old this year. In business (or cat) years that’s a wise old age, a sure sign that we are doing something right.

Over that time, we’ve helped lots of brands grow and we’ve provided a creatively inspirational place for lots of people to work. One approach we are particularly fond of—and might be the secret to our success so far—is our ability to do things differently and tackle things in our own way.

So, if you have a minute (or 10 cat minutes) we’d love to indulge ourselves and hopefully entertain you with 15 ways we have zigged when others have zagged:

1. Looking beyond the computer to generate our graphics

From carpenters building us billboard posters to hand drawn whisky labels, we’ve often pushed against the conventional method of generating graphics on a computer. My favourite was our very first big job, drawing the Edinburgh International Film Festival logo in light, using long exposure photography.

2. Keeping things simple

Sometimes the best solution is the simplest. Suggesting changing the names of the Dean Gallery and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art to ONE and TWO was a bold move that met a lot of board-level resistance. However, with Edinburgh taxi drivers adopting it within days and Visit Scotland adding an extra star rating due to its less confusing visitor experience, it was a creative decision that still makes us proud.

3. Taking the space no one else wants

For the Scottish Show in 2007, we were asked which gallery we would like to display our work in. Most of the best spaces had already been nabbed, so we chose the toilets. Our experimentation with Otl Aicher-style people icons was a roaring success, staying on display at the Lighthouse Gallery for years after the other exhibitions had been taken down because, surprise surprise, no one else ever wanted to exhibit in the loos!

4. Making mix tapes

Music has always been an important thing for our team. You could say we only formed a design studio because all our efforts to form a successful indie band failed. So it’s no surprise that we have used music over the years to help win new work: including a mix tape-styled portfolio we used to impress Last.fm, a client we have worked with for the last 10 years as well as winning work with Spotify, the Brit Awards and our latest 7” cover for DJ Bessa to raise money for Refuweegee—more on that soon.

5. Looking at things ‘indirectly’

We have often looked to indirect competitors for inspiration in our work. Back when we started O Street, we were asked to design Celtic Football Club’s website. Looking beyond the direct reference of other football teams’ sites, we took inspiration from US baseball teams and suggested to Celtic that they put video highlights on their homepage. It seems like an obvious solution now, but at the time, no other football team in the world was doing that, so it helped Celtic stand out and make extra sponsorship revenue.

6. Keeping shop

We made a conscious decision to move our studio from a third floor office space to a street level shop unit. A less corporate move at the time, but one that reflects the affinity we have with our local community. In the early days, a mother ran into our shop with her daughter who was having a medical crisis. Once the minor emergency was resolved and mother and daughter left smiling, we remarked how strange it was that they had chosen our design studio as opposed to the doctor’s surgery across the road. There must be something in making your place of work appear so welcoming!?

7. Getting fully immersed

As a designer-led team, we love to work as closely as possible with our clients, understanding their business and providing creative work that really aligns with their ethos. We believe that an organisation’s ‘brand’ is best understood and communicated by the people that live and breathe it every day. A great example of this was the two days Tessa and Neil spent on the farm at Fyne Ales Brewery before our rebrand, it’s harder work than it sounds.

8. Working with our clients, not just for them

As a branding studio working with amazing clients, it’s no surprise that we often fall hook, line and sinker in love with what they do. That belief, that authentic understanding of what they are trying to do positions us in a great place to help others engage with our clients’ work. In 2011, The National Theatre of Scotland planned an ambitious 24-hour stream of live theatre productions. So of course, we wrote (in collaboration with Graeme Virtue) and performed a short play from the studio starring our own thespian wannabe David Freer (has he already told you the one about him being an extra in Trainspotting… yawn!)

9. Collaborate, collaborate collaborate

Let’s be honest, there are loads of creative agencies out there and many see that as a threat to their own business success. Very early on, we came to the realisation that these other studios are actually the key to our continued success. We learn from (and become better) working and sharing best practices with other creatives just like us. It’s too long to list in full but to high-five a few of our besties: Plus, Creative Concern, Spey, Stuco, Nile, Jenni Lennox Timorous Beasties, Shesaid and BYND.

10. Using a typographer, who didn’t even know they were a typographer

Any design company doing their own rebrand is gonna be a hard task. Even riskier when we hired a typographer to draw our logo who didn’t even know they were a typographer, you can read about that here, but in brief, we hired Roadliner Tam to draw our logo and brand font as part of our new identity. The resulting short documentary is still touring with the British Council as an exemplar of authentic British craftsmanship.

11. Asking other design studios to critique our work

Taking criticism and external input can be difficult at any time, but asking rival local studios to do so at key parts of the biggest project we had ever worked on felt crazy. That’s exactly what we did as part of our redesign of Scotland’s banknotes for RBS. I should really blame Jeni Lennox & Nile for suggesting it, but in the end, it turned out to be a stroke of genius. It helped us create something bigger than we would have devised on our own, and deserving of the national impact it had.

12. Incubating our own tech startup

Running one business is tough, running a second alongside it is even harder. We were crazy to try and take on the likes of Instagram and Samsung with our voice-activated camera app Vapp in 2011. However, improving our creative entrepreneurship skills and experiencing how many of our clients must feel has been an invaluable lesson. Although the app ultimately failed (despite a copycat product in the US getting $10million investment for a similar product) we loved the journey and even won Glasgow Startup of the year in 2012 for it.

13. Championing remote working for over 10 years

We have had certain employees working remotely for years. When Covid brought an industry-wide lockdown, the new working practice was a smooth transition for our team. Of course being remote has its issues, and we still champion the camaraderie we have fostered in our Glasgow HQ. However, having senior team members working throughout the world has helped expand our new business pipelines and overall vision.

14. Having an international outlook

We love being Scottish, even those of us who aren’t Scottish. But it’s our global outlook and international profile that has helped us endure these first 15 years. Our global mix of clients has helped us remain busy during two major financial market crashes in the UK. Moreover, we’re proud to say that as well as learning from other cultures, we’ve left our Scottish fingerprints on work from Kenya to Italy, Sydney to Denver.

15. Building a company for the future

We’re cheating with this last one, but as a promise to ourselves and our team, we are actively looking at ways to improve and strengthen our business for the future. We don’t know exactly what this will look like yet, or how we will do it, but no doubt we will tackle the issue slightly differently than everyone else!

We’ve gone away fishing again! I’ll admit, we’re a bit late in sharing our reportage of the trip this year, but there’s a reason for this, and thankfully it’s not because of a man overboard, or raw-fish-related ailments.

As per tradition, we’ve made an arthouse-adjacent short film to document the trip, but this time we took the time to reflect on why we started O Street in the first place (15 years ago this month!), what makes us who we are and why we do what we do. Give it a watch!