25 Years of Crush Creative

posted by Robyn Pitts August 22, 2023

Crush is an ideas-led creative agency, made up of a core team of thinkers, designers, illustrators, and animators. Their craftsmanship, fresh perspective, and sense of humour delivers original and effective results for brands around the world, including Warner Bros, Disney, and Nickelodeon. This September, Crush are celebrating 25 years as an independent design agency.

Over the next few weeks, the team will be sharing some highlights from each year on their Instagram, and have created a page on their website to spotlight some of the great design moments that marked significant changes or pivotal moments in their history.

Back in 1998, armed with £4000 in savings, Carl Rush, the agency’s founder, took a leap of faith and invested it all in a laptop, some stationery, and the first month’s rent in London’s run-down district of Shoreditch (which ironically transformed into London’s coolest place after his departure). Crush’s first years were a period of relentless hustling, and after securing Catatonia as their first client, Carl sought out record companies and took on any album artwork projects that came his way. Catatonia went on to become their first regular clients, and over the course of several years, Crush navigated the ever-shifting landscape of the music industry, designing everything from techno compilations to classical violin concerts.

After moving to Brighton a few years later, Carl invested a small sum into an advertising agency contact list, and landed a job for a global dance music festival that transformed Crush from a one-man operation to a team of four overnight.

As the years passed, Crush grew gradually, adding one or two team members every couple of years. Carl states; “Throughout it all, I have remained at the core of the creative process, firmly believing that exceptional creative output will always lead to more work. After 25 years, I find myself surrounded by an incredibly talented group of individuals, working with some of the biggest brands in the world, all from our humble city of Brighton.”