On the 22nd of September brand design agency Believe in® announced the official launch of their second studio in Ontario, Canada, operating alongside the agency’s founding operation in Exeter, South West England. Operating as a single team, the company will continue to collaborate across both studios, serving clients in Europe and North America. Blair Thomson founded Believe in® in 1996 and for two decades the studio has helped brands to inspire their audiences with simple, meaningful design, primarily working in brand identity, packaging and brand communications. Now Creative Director, along with Business Director Joanna Thomson, the pair have opened the studio in Mono, Ontario, just north of Canada’s largest city, Toronto. Both relocated ahead of the official launch to allow time for thorough testing of the new communication processes, ensuring seamless integration across both studios.
2016 marked 20 years in business for Believe in®, and this provided the impetus to expand their offering with a permanent base in Canada. Blair, a returning Canadian, believes that his homecoming represents an amazing opportunity for the business. “I’m enormously proud of my Canadian heritage, and have deep admiration for those pioneering designers who established Canada as a centre for modernist design in the 1960s and 1970s. I believe that the time is right for Canada to reassert its position as a global design leader, and if I can play a small part in helping to make it happen, it would be a major achievement in my career, and my life.” says Blair.
The business enjoys a strong family ethos and a very loyal team. In an industry that often struggles to retain talent, this has been vital to setting up the new studio. “Getting used to collaborating across continents and time zones on a daily basis has been a challenge that we’ve enjoyed getting to grips with. I’m lucky to have the support of an amazing team who I trust wholeheartedly. Without their energy and commitment, no amount of technology could’ve made it work.”
The company has already secured several new business opportunities both in Canada and the US, while continuing to build a network of likeminded creative professionals to draw upon and collaborate with. The company currently works with a diverse client base including Fontsmith, Greenwich Peninsula, Pinnacle Group, the Redbush Tea Company, Clive’s Organic, Lorient, the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers, Devonshire Homes, Oxford Brookes University, Scandia Foods and LittlePod.
To celebrate the launch of their new Canadian studio, brand design agency Believe in® have created a special limited edition bottle of premium maple syrup, one of Canada’s most iconic exports. The name, Uproot, reflects the company’s arrival in Canada while also referencing the process of drawing water up through the Maple tree to create the sap from which the syrup is made.
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