Studio Contents is a Manchester-based design studio founded by creative director James Gilbert. The studio launched in 2013 as an evolution of Gilbert’s earlier practice, James Gilbert Design, marking a shift from a one-man operation to a collaborative model that assembles bespoke teams for individual projects.[1]
Design and History
Studio Contents emerged in 2013 when James Gilbert decided to formalize his long-standing practice of collaborating with outside specialists. After five years of working with other designers, developers, illustrators and copywriters on an ad hoc basis, Gilbert relaunched his studio under the new name. The rebrand involved changes to the name, visual identity and website.[2]
Gilbert explained the name choice in an interview: “The saying goes that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. While it’s true that it is the final output that is critiqued, a certain amount of a project’s success is directly linked to a carefully selected set of parts: individuals, processes, research, thoughts, ideas – our ‘contents.'” He also noted that the word refers to a collection of people who are “content,” which he said reflects the studio’s working dynamic.[2]
The studio’s first project under its new name was a brand identity for IOU, a Yorkshire-based contemporary arts organisation with 37 years of history. Gilbert led a team that included photographer Percy Dean and web developer James Galley to create what Creative Bloq described as “a bold new typographic identity based around the letters of the organisation’s name.”[1]
Meaning and Symbolism
For the IOU identity, Studio Contents designed a modular, evolving logo built from the organisation’s three initials. Gilbert told Design Week that the letters were deliberately shown “separated in random places” across applications “to make it a little bit more interesting and echo the philosophy of the company, which is all about adventure, excitement and strange and wonderful experiences.”[3]
The IOU logo used split gold and white lettering, which Gilbert said aimed to reference the metal used in many IOU-commissioned installations.[4] The identity was developed with brand strategist Christopher Charlton following a series of workshops with IOU.[4]
Creative Review described the resulting system as a “modular, evolving logo and flexible grid system,” noting that the identity was designed to be applied across stationery, a website and photography.[5]
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