Great brands and design exist outside of London

It’s a fact – great brands, great design and great designers do exist outside of London. Stockport is testament to that, where we have a wealth of talented creatives and excellent designers.

Traditionally, London may have been the be-all and end-all of the creative industries. However, in recent years there has been fantastic growth in talent and output across the UK.

David O’Hearns, managing director at Dawn Creative, takes a look at how the design industry is decentralising and how their team get more from being based outside of the capital.

Work-life balance

As an independent studio based in Cheadle Hulme, about 9 miles from Manchester, we can be in London within a couple of hours but also back home in less than half an hour. Work-life balance is a real benefit for us here at Dawn Creative. Colleagues get home sooner, spend more time with their family, less time in traffic and arrive to work quicker and fresher. We may not have the same lunch choices out here but we feel we work better and are able to spend more time focusing on our clients by not squeezing onto a cramped tube two hours a day.

Bringing SME’s branding up to speed

Aside from these obvious benefits we feel more connected to the local community here in the North West, with a growing area of our work being some of the smaller, local businesses based here in Cheshire. Our experience helps bring a higher standard of branding and creativity that may have been previously absent in this sector. A case in point is a our recent rebrand for a local boxing gym that included it’s own bespoke typeface built from the space itself.

An industry-wide pattern

And it’s not just us. Creative Review has recently run a series of articles on how both young creatives and established studios alike are moving out of the capital to smaller towns and even rural areas. This area especially has grown from strength to strength in recent years with fixtures such the Design Manchester festival bringing creatives from across the North West and overseas to share work and develop ideas.

Just a few examples of how design has become firmly established in the hearts and minds of clients across the UK. In a tight marketplace a solid brand has become critical in helping clients stand out from their competition whilst providing a platform to communicate to prospects in a meaningful and memorable way.

Expert Opinion provided by Cheadle Hulme based Dawn Creative