A family run, multi-disciplinary design studio with a legacy and portfolio that spans four decades, projects that traverse disciplines and sectors, and clients of every persuasion; Shelter, The National Trust, St. Modwen, Southbank Centre and TFL, to name a few.
We are a talented and motivated team of graphic designers, urban planners, writers, art directors, ideas people and strategic thinkers; combining diverse fields of skills and expertise to create meaning and transformation for ambitious clients.
We collaborate, we create, and we care about the detail as much as the big stuff. We believe that great design comes from a desire to improve things that matter in life and this long-held philosophy underpins everything that we do – putting ethics and environment at the heart of design. It is this mantra that continually ensures our creative thinking and method for delivering socially responsible design.
Our work takes us across culture-led regeneration, urban design, interior architecture, community-focused placemaking, large scale multi-arts festivals, exhibition design, graphic and brand identity amongst other things. But our real speciality is with people, places, and positive societal impact.
Over the last 30 years, we’ve helped rebuild Europe’s first ever pleasure park (for which we were shortlisted for Design Museum’s ‘Design of the Year’ in 2017), advised House of Lords select committees, publicly shamed the house building industry then demonstrated (by masterplanning and designing an award-winning housing scheme in Gateshead) that a better way is possible, co-designed a new uniform for Transport for London, rebranded FTSE 100 companies and thrown a 24-hour non-stop multi-arts festival for 30,000 revellers on a sandy beach in Suffolk. We’ve formed new creative communities in Blackburn and Bognor Regis, reimagined heritage buildings in Portsmouth, Preston, and Plymouth, and influenced the influenced the urban fabric of Bournemouth, Dartford, King’s Lynn, Maidenhead, Manchester, and Whitehaven, all with great acclaim.
We are not restricted by a house style, or by process (although we have tried and tested methodologies). We have a subjective point of view that is considerate of diverse and divergent perspectives. We’re plugged into the Zeitgeist; we understand cultural context and social issues that affect and shape people’s lives every day.
Our greatest strength lies in the multidimensional way we look at all projects, which comes from years of multi-disciplinary design experience and a highly motivated team that share their expertise and learnings across all the projects that we work on.
Our greatest strength lies in the multidimensional way we look at all projects, which comes from years of multi-disciplinary design experience and a highly motivated team that share their expertise and learnings across all the projects that we work on.
Despite being a London based agency, most of our work is based in towns, cities, and regions outside of the capital – we like getting around, seeing new places, meeting new people, working with new communities. This gives us a great sense of personal satisfaction, but more importantly, it gives us a broad understanding of the varied socio-economic circumstances across the UK, which helps us to make sure we are always designing for everyone – recognising the diversity of human experience.
We cherish partnerships and collaboration, and count many of the clients, companies, and communities that we work with as friends. Some of our relationships with clients are well into their second decade. We stay with projects from inception to completion and beyond, as ambassadors, long-term partners, or critical friends.
Our studio is in Wembley. People often think that’s odd, and we get that. We started here because it was our old family home, but we’ve stayed because it’s perfect for what we do.
The team is a unique blend of old and new, so to speak. Founders Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway bring four decades of award-winning design and entrepreneurial experience, which works in harmony with the bounty of fresh, invigorating ideas from the next generation of HemingwayDesign partners – Tilly and Jack Hemingway – and a wider team of talented designers, ideas people and strategic thinkers.
Our team spans disciplines and generations; mixing decades of experience with a young, fresh outlook. Our strength is in bringing expertise from our individual specialities – urban design, graphic design, interior architecture, writing, events and research to work across multiple teams and projects.
We’re proud to be members of the Good Business Charter, a Living Wage Employer and as of November 2022 B-Corp certified.
We value three things above all else: talent, personality, and a drive to create positive change through brilliant design.
As for our next project, well – you tell us. We’d love to put your purpose into practice or help bring your vision into reality. You could be a local authority, a cultural organisation, a charity, a brand with big ambition, a purposeful landowner, or developer. You could need a new idea, or to make an existing great idea happen. As long as we are working towards the same goal of improving the things that matter in life, we’re ready to get started.
To read more about HemingwayDesign’s origins, click here.