Over the next few months we're going to be interviewing just some of the many different designers, artists and collectives based in or working with the Rose Lipman Building, a space co run between Create London and Mill Co.
First up is the very brilliant design studio 'We Are Laura'.
We Are Laura is a creative design studio that was founded in east London in 2010 by Middlehurst and Woolf. (Can you guess our first names?) We specialise in delivering unique creative solutions, including brand identities and collateral, books, websites, exhibition design, and have reinvented high streets and shopfronts in Willesden Green, Barking and Walthamstow as part of Outer London Fund Regeneration Schemes. We Are Laura projects and products are a synthesis of strong conceptual design and highly skilled craftwork that results in imaginative outcomes that are playful, original and attention-grabbing. Their company has been based in the Rose Lipman Building (co-run with Create and Mill Co.) since October 2012.
Can you tell us a little about how you first met and why you decided to form a studio together?
We met on the MA Communication Design degree at Central St Martins and found ourselves on the same pathway, Digital Media. We soon discovered that we shared a similar approach to tackling briefs and taste in aesthetics, often combining hand-made processes with digital techniques.
On graduating the MA, we went on to work within different areas of the creative industry, gaining commercial experience. A few years later, after working on some freelance projects together, we realised that we would have more creative freedom if we pursued our own practice and took the plunge to set up the studio.
Valet Dry Cleaning Specialists, Paint The Town, Barking
You recently worked with Barking Council to help with the aesthetics of their town centre. Can you tell us a little about the project?
Paint the Town is a high-street regeneration project commissioned by Barking & Dagenham Council. The objective of the scheme was to brighten Barking town centre, particularly the shopfronts and shutters.
Working alongside Bread Collective and Zarah Hussain, who designed and implemented the shutter artworks, our primary focus was to revive eight shopfronts, making an impact to the high-street during the daytime. Our role encompassed liaising with the local traders, creating bespoke design solutions for each shop, including: new branding, stripping back old and untidy signs, and introducing a brighter colour palette to Barking town centre.
The project has been well received and has created a brighter and visually appealing identity for Barking town centre.
“ Not only me but most of my customers think it looks great. It does attract people’s attention and when you look at the town in general now after the work has been done it looks completely different. It looks more lively, friendly. It’s inviting people to Barking. ”
Sully - Turquoise Jewellers
You have been based in the Rose Lipman Building for a little over a year now. Has working in a building with such a varied creative environment (Art, Fashion, Theatre ect.) had an effect on any aspects of your business?
Definitely. We find our practice is moving towards collaborative, multi-faceted projects and being situated in this building, with so many other creative practitioners, has helped to facilitate and inspire this progression in our work.
There is always something interesting and exciting happening in the building which adds to the enjoyment of being here. It’s a motivating and vibrant environment, which has encouraged us to develop collaborative self-directed projects. We also find it useful to gain insights into other people’s creative methods and receive feedback on our work from a variety of different perspectives.
New Windows on Willesden Green, supported by The Architecture Foundation
Your work is quite varied spanning straight design commissions to regeneration projects with councils. What do you feel are the benefits, or potential drawbacks, to such diversity in your work?
We perceive ourselves as creative practitioners rather than straightforward graphic designers. We approach each brief individually, working through the concept and deciding which visual approach is best suited to conveying the message. We use design as a tool in realising these thought processes, be it tackling a print book for a publishers, or an installation for an architecture company. Being so diverse has an appeal to us, as it means our briefs can change from one project to the next, so we never get bored, constrained or sterile in our thinking. We are therefore not constrained by clients, or medium, and the outcome can be extremely diverse.
Drawbacks can be finding the variety of work on a continuous basis, and not getting pigeonholed into working on certain briefs or within certain fields. We also find that prospective clients, who haven’t experienced our way of tackling briefs, can find the variety in our portfolio confusing. This can sometimes make it harder for us to be considered for certain jobs we want to work on.
Branding of Chats Palace, Community arts & Entertainment Centre, Homerton
Do you have a long term plan for where you would hope to see your studio in, say, 5 years time?
We would like to continue working with a wide variety of clients in varied industries. Our main goal is to combine all the facets of what we can do to provide larger full-scale design lead experiences and identities for our clients.
We have a passion for working with local communities and councils, bringing art and design to the social sector, and we definitely want to see where we can push this aspect of our practice. Collaborating with other creatives and helping to nurture new talent by providing them with varied experiences is also high on the agenda.We want to expand on the “We are Laura” brand and events, particularly in an international field.
Lastly, do you have any recommendations for young people who might wish to found a creative business?
Work hard, be original and be brave.
Set yourself goals and work towards them.
Get advice and help on the business side of things (it’s often the part that creatives struggle with).
