Thoughts on going 'in-house'

According to a recent article in Grafik magazine 41% of designers in the UK are in-house, 32% work for agencies and the remainder are freelance. I have very recently become part of the majority and joined the new in-house design team at More Th>n. The decision to change to in-house was not an easy one. Since graduating i've always felt certain i didn't want to go down that route, but recently i've seen more and more change to brands come from within.

If you think about the best design in the world right now, just think how much comes from in-house teams...

Jonathan Ive, Apple

Mark Porter, Guardian

David Butler. Coke

It's often said that the grandfather of in-house designers is Lou Dorfsman. From 1946 to 1991 he was responsible for every item of CBS' brand. He designed everything from TV ads to cafeteria coffee cups. His work and his ability to use design to affect change are still being talked about today.

Lou Dorfsman, CBS

Having spent the past ten years working in agencies of all different shapes and sizes, I felt my next step needed to offer me a totally new challenge. I've joined a very large organisation that has always used external agencies and has now set about building its own team. I'm very excited about working in a different kind of environment and becoming an internal champion for the power of design.

Hey, if it's good enough for the legendary designer Jan Tschichold, then it's good enough for me.

Jan Tschichold, Penguin

Martyn Reading

I've been on a big Reading kick lately. I seem to be devouring books at an increasing rate. Some of my recents reads include:


Grid Systems by Kimberly Evans
A fairly dry step through the basics of layout and composition



Brand Planning by Stephen King
An iconic planner with a few interesting insights, but mostly death by diagram



Ogilvy on advertising by David Ogilvy
A legendary ad man and a brilliant writer. Everyone working in the creative industry can learn a huge amount from this book. Full of gems and just as relevant today, as when it was written.



NoiseFive by Attik
The retrospective is a disarmly truthful and inspiring account of the birth, growth, demise and rebirth of a global agengy.



Stanley Kubrick. Drama & shadows: photographs 1945-1950
A look at the still image work of one of cinema's master film makers. Incredibly beautiful work.

There are a lot more waiting for me in a pile, in my room, but at the moment the pile is growing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My new job

I have accepted a new job. As of the start of 2010 i'll be Lead Designer at More Th>n. Since leaving Preview at the end of November i've carefully considered different options and I came to the conclusion that I wanted to try working in an 'in-house' team. The role at More Th>n is completely new. Historically the marketing team have used agencies for all design work, so I am part of the team that will set the standard.

I'm very excited to have the chance to take on a completely new challenge. I've worked at many great agencies and felt my next move needed to be something different. As i find my feet in the new team i'll post pics and work here.

In the mean time i'd like to say 'thanks' to the many, many people who have helped me over the past month.