Need: Necessary design
Nomination
Category
Design Agency of the Year
Company
Need
Summary
Need is a strategic design practice working with cultural clients across the globe to tell their stories, challenge assumptions and overcome obstacles.
Run by Laura and Ed, the studio specialises in culture, community, place and space. But mainly, they just like working with good people who do good things in the world.
Focused on figuring out what a client needs, their ethos lies in problem solving – leading to effective, enduring design. A firm confidence in making the best choices for clients, not the easiest, Need’s process is rigorous and joyful, collaborative and engaging.
The end result? A brand, a website, a campaign, an all of the above – or none of the above – that makes sense to the right audiences, stands out from competitors, and works for each organisation. Just what clients need – no more, no less.
Need also runs a free event series called Jot. It’s for people who write – that’s anyone from copywriters, to emerging creatives, to social media managers, and beyond.
Recently, the studio was featured in a list of top 25 design studios in the world curated by Creative Boom.
What sets your practice/agency apart from others?
WE CARE ABOUT OUR IMPACTWe live in unprecedented times. Our planet has already faced irreversible change, and within 10 years – or less – is facing environmental disaster.
As creatives, we acutely feel the responsibility to pursue and guide clients towards sustainable materials and solutions. We help organisations avoid needless waste or practices that harm the planet – from specifying only FSC-managed paper stocks, to working with printing and hosting partners powered by 100% green energy.
We practice what we preach, too. In 2024, we moved from our bustling Barrowlands studio to one that’s on the same street we live on – ensuring a car-less commute.
STUDIO MOVE
On what was probably the snowiest day of winter 2024, we packed up a moving van and took all of our furniture and equipment from the city out to our new studio in Balfron (you might have to look that one up on Google Maps).
Our aim was to reduce our carbon footprint, but also to engage with and support our local community. One of the first things we did after the move was to sign up with the local high school to offer work experience.
A LABOUR OF (LITERAL) LOVE
Between fielding off questions like ‘how can you work with your husband / wife?’, we’re busy running our business together. Only six months after Laura founded Need and employed staff to support in strategic roles, the lockdown made us both reevaluate what’s important. Getting to spend more time together, to tag-team parenting and running a business, and to enjoy business travel as a couple all came out on top of the list.
Ed joined the business as a partner that summer, and we started offering everything that encompasses strategic design – from brand strategy to web build, book design to motion graphics, copywriting to social media management.
For the first time ever this summer, we restructured the business to be just the two of us – opting to work with a network of specialist creative talent on a project by project basis. It’s now easier than ever to spend quality time with our three children, to look after extended family members, and to develop our creative practice beyond the usual urgent work.
WE TAKE GIVING BACK SERIOUSLY
We are so incredibly privileged to get to run this business – we never want to be gatekeepers, and we always strive to give back.
The studio runs paid internships for people looking to break into the industry, and both Ed and Laura regularly meet with students and recent graduates who are looking for advice and support – Laura in particular is keen to assist women into paid design roles.
We’ve given thousands of pounds to charities like Women’s Aid and The National Deaf Children’s Society. And every year, we select a charity partner to work with pro bono. We started with RISE, a charity that enabled and empowered refugee women into paid hospitality roles. Most recently we’ve been working with a charity in Los Angeles that offers women and children a beautiful, safe place to call home while giving unhoused women life-changing support, like developing necessary skills to be self-sufficient.
We’re also in the process of launching a range of typefaces and posters that go up for sale in April. All of the proceeds are going to Simon Community Scotland’s unbelievable new Connect Hub – a safe space for women who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. We’re looking to raise around £1,500.
And that’s not all! We’re also a Living Wage Accredited employer and we’ve worked with a range of educational institutions, like GCU, BIMA, RGU, Braw Talent and more – all to upskill and support students coming into the industry.
JOT COMMUNITY
We formed a community for people who write. Jot is a series of free workshops, talks, meetups and discussions that aims to share knowledge and encourage others. With themes and speakers, we strive to be inclusive – covering topics like class, gender and race, and being inclusive and fair with speakers and venues.
At its heart, Jot encourages and helps people in the design industry to improve their writing skills – from helping freelancers to write their portfolios, CVs and emails, to connecting copywriters with clients.
How do you go 'the extra mile' for clients and employees?
GETTING IT RIGHT FOR OUR CLIENTSOur honed strategic approach is all about doing the right thing for our clients and their audiences. We don’t just respond to briefs, we truly get to know our clients, their practice, their business challenges, their team, and their audiences to help inform the brief – together. We cultivate relationships during this process that stand the test of time – often well beyond the delivery of the work.
We genuinely care about getting the budget right and doing only what our clients need to ensure success and return on investment, working transparently from beginning to end. Acting as project managers for everything creative, we also manage photography, film, print, and anything else beyond our studio scope that the client needs.
At the end of a project, we ensure clients are equipped with tools, templates and the skills required to manage their brand without having to pay someone else to do it – saving them time, energy and money. Ultimately, we set organisations up for long-term success.
We’re real advocates for our clients' businesses. Beyond projects alone, we’ve built up a wide network across the world and regularly connect clients with each other – some have even started working together! Which is super rewarding for us.
SUPPORTING OUR PEERS
We’re extremely proud of the employees who have come through Need on their creative journey – and of the support and training we’ve supplied them with. We don’t have a bums-on-seats mentality, and are excited about being part of someone’s growth.
Claudia was our first ever employee, and was hired as a communications assistant. After a year, she was keen to explore creative coding – so we enrolled her on courses and found her other women in development to offer mentoring. After three years, Claudia was headhunted by a large London tech company.
Our most recent employee was with us for over two years. After 18 months, she expressed that she was keen to work within graphic design in the music industry. For six months, we supported her towards that freelance journey – keeping her on part-time and putting her name forward for projects and as a speaker at events to raise her profile.
As well as training, we provide opportunities for inspiration and connection – booking places for employees at industry events and workshops.
Beyond employees, we work with a variety of creative specialists. When someone isn’t the right fit for one of our projects, we often refer them to someone else – and tend to meet for coffee or on calls to provide more in-depth information on which studios might be a better fit.
VERY NICE EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK
“I really can’t thank or credit you both enough for how much I’ve progressed professionally and personally since we started working together.
Ed – you’ve never missed an opportunity to show your appreciation for the work I’ve done, or to big me up. I have a mental filing cabinet of all the times you’ve sent me lovely messages when I’ve managed to build something tricky, successfully navigated a client call, or drafted a good email. Thank you for always being encouraging, positive, and showing complete confidence in me.
Working with you on web projects has pushed me to continuously build my skills and taught me the importance of attention to detail. I really am in awe of your eye for design. Us working together has also shown me that having A Man as a boss doesn’t have to be A Horrible Experience, and I’m glad I have the level of respect and admiration you’ve treated me with as a threshold for how I will accept being treated in the future. You're really, truly great.
Laura – I think there are very few rare occasions in life where you get to meet a woman that you have such a strong instantaneous affinity and bond with. It’s even rarer – and luckier – for that person to be your boss. I am forever grateful that you took me on to do this Need thing, and for every piece of advice you’ve given, encouragement you’ve offered, and confidence you’ve instilled in me since then. I have unending respect for the way you navigate business (and life), and how you never skip a beat in supporting the people around you – even when you’re struggling.
As a woman, boss, friend and co-conspirator, you have been (and will continue to be) one of the most influential people in my life to date.
I really had no trajectory for where I was going or what I was doing when I graduated. Somehow in 3 years I’ve been moulded into a person with tangible skills, professional confidence and ambition. Being at Need has meant I’ve navigated my late twenties – and a pandemic – with support, encouragement, understanding and space to learn. I feel extremely lucky to have met and worked with you both.”
- Claudia, Need’s first employee
What innovations have you introduced in the past year?
We’ve been working on a lot in the past year! Along with launching our website and updating our brand, moving to a studio out of the city for a better quality of life and to reduce our impact on the environment, and restructuring our business, we’ve been in the process of diversifying our practice.PRINT FOR PURPOSE
In the past couple of years, we’ve worked with a lot of architecture practices – ones that do good in the world, from rewilding landscape projects to Passivhaus builds. Not only do we love working with architects (people who value the creative process, and respect us as experts in what we do!) but we’re also really excited by architecture – local and global.
We wanted to turn our passion for architecture into purpose – another way to give back. In 2024, we started developing three typefaces based on famous Scottish architecture firm Gillespie, Kidd & Coia’s work. These – along with prints we’ve designed for each – are about to go up for sale to raise money for charity.
All of the proceeds will go to Simon Community Scotland’s incredible new Connect Hub – a safe space for women who are either experiencing homelessness or are at risk of being displaced.
This is our first self-initiated print project, and we’ve already got plans in motion to collaborate with other creatives as part of our ‘print for purpose’ series. Watch this space!
TRAINING
We’re currently piloting a training programme to assist small businesses and micro creative studios to improve their writing skills and develop their own brand tone of voice.
This one is still currently top secret! Once we’ve gotten feedback and are positive the programme will be valuable, we’re looking to launch in Q3 of this year.
WIDER CREATIVE COLLABORATION
People often comment on how much they like our Need branding – the shapes and colours specifically. We thought it might be fun to create objects based on this visual identity, and we really wanted to do that with other creatives.
Our creative community extends beyond graphic design and branding. We have friends who are ceramicists, jewellers, and product designers. In 2024, we decided to discuss the idea with a select few. To our delight, they were keen!
Right now, we’re working with a ceramicist based in rural Scotland to design Need branded mugs. They’re currently in the process of being glazed, and will be on sale this summer. Again, another top secret project – for now!
BRAND KIT INNOVATIONS
As well as diversifying, we’re always adding new and innovative approaches to the way we deliver work to enhance the experience for our clients. We’ve never thought that relying on a PDF of guidelines was enough for clients to truly build a successful business from the brands we create, so we’ve always created more helpful digital kits in programmes like Figma and Canva.
This year, we’ve started exploring how we can utilise AI to help our clients make the best use of their time and energy while keeping their branding consistent.