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Who we are

a multidisciplinary design agency based in London, UK

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What we do

Advertising
Brand Strategy
Design and Art Direction
Editorial
Environmental Design
Events and Conferences
Motion and Film Design
Social Media
Typographic Design
UX Design
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Selected Clients

Altagamma
Barbican
Berlucchi Nero
Black Business Institute
BMW
Carbonadi Vodka
Design Singapore
EDB Singapore
ETEL
FIND Design Fair Asia
Fortune
General Projects
Hieronymus
Loro Piana
Lucara
The Macallan
Mater Design
Orient Express Hotel
OTOMOTO
Paul Smith
Phaidon
Rubelli
Santoni
Singapore House
Sotheby's
Wallpaper*
Whitechapel Gallery

Selected work

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01 Creative Direction

Loro Piana enlisted TC & Friends to imagine their 'Like Home' campaign, focusing on the ‘home’, our most intimate and personal place, with their latest collection of blankets and loungewear. The campaign featured supermodel Amber Valletta and visionary architect Vincent Van Duysen – photographed at Van Duysen's Antwerp abode by Annemarieke van Drimmelen. In addition, TC collaborated with master interiors photographer François Halard, who captured Loro Piana's range of blankets in a portfolio of still-lifes.

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02 Art, Design, and ideas platform

OTOMOTO is an art, design, and ideas platform by artist Ryan Gander and creative director Tony Chambers. Launched initially at Milan’s Salone del Mobile with the creation of a compact, ergonomically designed kitchen sink system, OTOMOTO also generates product and content across all media.

The palindromic name is derived from the Japanese phrase ‘close at hand’ and all OTOMOTO projects adhere to the principles of efficiency, ergonomics and sustainability.

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03 Editor, Creative Direction

Paul Smith asked TC & Friends to edit and oversee the creation of a definitive monograph coinciding with the 50th anniversary of his eponymous brand. TC developed the overarching concept of the book: a portrait constructed through 50 objects from Paul’s personal collection. Opening with a foreword by Jonathan Ive, Paul Smith also includes over 60 unique contributions – personal letters, drawings, and photos – from fashion and design icons such as Manolo Blahnik, James Dyson, Martin Parr, John Pawson, and Alice Rawsthorn.

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04 Brand Narrative, Web Design

X MUSE, pronounced ‘tenth muse’, is the first blended barley vodka inspired by the spirit making traditions of Scotland, co-founded by Robert Wilson and Vadim Grigoryan. Grigoryan first consulted with TC on suitable creative collaborators for X MUSE, with the role expanding to helm the brand narrative, website and visual communication as the project progressed. The elegant visual identity was developed by TC close friends A Practice for Everyday Life, the X MUSE bottle was designed by renowned agency Stranger & Stranger, while Formafantasma conceived an exclusive tasting experience at Jupiter Artland, complete with the world’s finest glassware, Lobmeyr.

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05 Creative Direction, Interior Design

Progressive real estate developers General Projects enlisted TC & Friends to shape a corporate identity for their latest high-end office project: Technique – the restoration and revival of a historical building in Clerkenwell, London. TC also commissioned design duo Formafantasma to re-imagine the building’s traditional office lobby, introducing radical ideas using re-purposed materials. Launched in spring 2022, Technique is the first commercial use of Formafantasma’s highly-vaunted ExCinere tiles – developed with materials specialist, Dzek.

Leaving no stone un-turned, TC&F also designed the building’s wayfinding and signage; employing the signature motifs of Technique’s visual language in innovative ways, from gigantic, floor-identifying super-graphics to bespoke toilet symbols.

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06 Creative Direction

TC & Friends directed the new brand imagery for Carbonadi, the Italian vodka filtered through black diamonds or ‘carbonados’. This unique filtration method removes impurities that standard processes do not, resulting in a smooth and clean spirit. Collaborating with photographer Matthew Donaldson, with set styling by Studio Heff, the team produced a series of still lifes to showcase the brand’s elevated luxury positioning.

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07 Product Design, Development

RE-OR, The Original Interchangeable Candle, is the collaboration between Amsterdam-based design duo BCXSY, Tony Chambers, and Davide Giordano. Inspired by a classic stacking-rings toy, RE-OR candles are playfully modular, boasting 48 possible configurations. The brand launched in 2021, fit with a minimal brand identity and packaging design by TC & Friends, subtlety reflective of the product's geometric character.

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08 Creative Direction

TC & Friends were creative directors for Santoni’s seasonal 'On Beauty' campaigns. The concept was conceived by TC, who curated a family of over 26 ambassadors to participate in narrative-led films and photoshoots with legendary photographer Koto Bolofo. Leading figures from the creative and business worlds, such as Patricia Urquiola, Charlie Casely-Hayford, Rosey Chan and Maurizio Cattelan shared their views ‘on beauty’ and the enduring quality of Santoni’s handcrafted shoes.

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09 Branding, Founding Board Member

Black and other minority ethnic communities continue to face inexplicable prejudice. This requires an urgent, strategic response. The Black Business Institute was founded in November 2020 to fund and support active diversity and inclusion programs across all businesses and to boost educational prospects for black and minority ethnic groups. TC & Friends were there at the start – creating a dynamic and vibrant brand identity and designing BBI’s website and digital communication. The butterfly kitemark symbolises hope, courage, renewal and the metamorphosis required to create a level society.

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10 Conference Chair

Tony Chambers is co-chair of the Singapore Brainstorm Design Conference in conjunction with Fortune Magazine. This global seminar gathers FORTUNE 500 executives and the world’s pre-eminent designers to explore the crucial question: How do we achieve better business results through design? TC curates the annual seminar and hosts panels with such experts, encouraging them to share their insights and cutting-edge design work that is transforming their industries.

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11 Curation

In October 2017, Sotheby’s commissioned TC to curate ‘Living in a Material World’, an auction dedicated to exploring how leading designers have employed materials in new and cutting-edge ways. Covering a full spectrum of post-war and contemporary design, lots included work by Josef Frank, Joris Laarman, Ron Arad, Marc Newson and Studio Job. TC also hosted a series of lunch presentations and panel discussions involving Job Smeets of Studio Job, Liv Vaisberg, Co-founder of the Collectible Design Fair, Artist and Designer-Maker Joseph Walsh and Adam Trunoske, specialist in Design at Sotheby’s.

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12 Branding, Creative Direction

IN’EI is a gallery specialising in twentieth and twenty-first century Japanese design, currently located in Florence. TC & Friends were brought on as creative collaborators to shape the gallery’s name, design, identity and narrative. Its name is derived from the Japanese essay In’ei Raisan (In Praise of Shadows) by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, a formative exposition on Japanese aesthetics and design.

BMW
BMW
BMW

13 Consultant: Thomas Demand x BMW

German artist Thomas Demand approached TC to help communicate his extraordinary set of artworks portraying a soon-to-be-unveiled BMW concept car – the Vision M Next. Working closely with Demand and BMW Group’s Head of Design, Adrian van Hooydonk, along with the BMW communications team, TC & Friends engineered global editorial coverage in the finest print and digital publications.

Altagamma
Altagamma

14 Conference Moderator

Founded in 1992, Altagamma protects and promotes the interests of Italy’s high-end cultural and creative brands – those recognised globally as authentic ambassadors of Italian style. Their NEXT Perspectives Design Conference was launched in 2018 to stimulate international debate and to investigate the ongoing changes in consumption patterns across the fields of fashion, design, food & beverage, automotive, yachts, and hospitality. TC was invited by the Altagamma board to help shape the conference and be lead moderator alongside Paola Antonelli in 2018 and Deyan Sudjic in 2019. Highlights included illuminating conversations with industry leaders such as President and CEO of Gucci, Marco Bizzarri, Philippe Starck, Ilse Crawford and Nadja Swarovski.

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15 Branding

Dora Alma + Edna Brown is a social enterprise based in Suffolk. Its key mission is to transform the homes and lives of young women and families in need in the surrounding areas. Founded by Sacha Naylor and Rebecca May Marston, they commissioned TC&F to create a brand identity that not only encompasses the large scope of their services, but also incentivises individuals and corporations to make financial donations. Utilising jigsaw-like, deconstructed letterforms, the upbeat identity creates order from chaos, illustrating the profound impact their work has on those they help.

16 Thought Leadership

Berlucchi is the main producer of Franciacorta sparkling wines, and in order to promote their region, TC was invited to present a research paper at the inaugural Academia Berlucchi conference. Centred around the impact of good design on the global wine industry, the presentation focused on innovation and sustainability – stimulating passionate discussion amongst the many experts present and generating much press and media attention afterwards.

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17 Branding

In 2020, The DesignSingapore Council introduced a new sub-brand: The Singapore House – a destination to experience the best in Singapore design and lifestyle. Essentially a pop-up retail platform that will travel to major global cities, it also provides a background in which a variety of events such as meetings, dialogues, workshops, and media tours can take place.

TC & Friends created a distinct brand narrative, focusing on promoting market access in Europe for Singapore brands. Taking primary inspiration from the distinctive Peranakan tiles and motifs, our SH logo reflects the rich melting pot of culture and ethnicity that has made Singapore such a vibrant contemporary Asian society.

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18 Curation, Creative Direction

Leading Brazilian furniture producers, and preservationists of Brazilian modernism, Etel recruited TC & Friends to help project the brand’s international expansion. A key aspect of this was the curation and identity design of two important exhibitions. Women in Design showcased the female creators in the Etel family as well as celebrating their first non-Brazilian designer, Patricia Urquiola, into the fold. The second exhibition, Modern: Xingu to Brasilia, looked at the comparative work of modernist master Oscar Niemeyer and the zoomorphic accomplishments of the indigenous Xingu people.

19 Creative Direction

Lucara, a leading diamond mining company working primarily in Botswana, is built on strong ethics and community spirit. Livia Firth, the founder of Eco Age, encouraged them to share their company values on a broader scale. TC & Friends were engaged to devise a vehicle that would amplify Lucara’s CSR report, making it more consumer facing and accessible to a wider audience.

We devised a community-led project: to design a flag celebrating responsible, respectful diamond mining and the positive Lucara x Botswana relationship. The CSR report would be accompanied by the finished flag and a story box documenting the project.

20 Creative Direction

The Barbican Art Centre’s Virtual Realms exhibition is a touring showcase of six immersive installations, partnering world-renowned game developers with the world’s leading media design studios. To tackle the broad reach of the exhibition and its audience, TC & Friends developed a simple and accessible visual language. The final concepts utilize cutting edge, contemporary graphic design, paired with the stunning exhibition imagery, to mobilise video game fans and regular museum-goers alike.

21 Editor in Chief

Wallpaper* Magazine is the leading global lifestyle publication focusing on design, architecture, fashion, interiors and art. In 2003, TC was appointed as Creative Director and in 2007 was made Editor-in-Chief. Under Tony’s leadership, Wallpaper* was transformed into a hugely successful global lifestyle brand. He introduced a series of over 100 pocket City Guides, a pioneering website and social media platform, an in-house creative agency, an interior design service, and the online retail platform WallpaperSTORE*.

TC is also the creator of Wallpaper*Handmade, an annual exhibition at Salone del Mobile which brings together the finest designers, artists, craftsmen and manufacturers to collaborate on one-of-a-kind pieces.

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22 Product Development, Creative Direction

Recipe Roulette is a game derived from Wallpaper* Magazine’s ‘Artist’s Palate’ page: a collection of 100+ recipes from artists and designers collected over the past eleven years. The game is akin to Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies concept: what you cook and eat that evening is governed by chance. The game can be played in analogue form by selecting a card from a shuffled pack or in a digital iteration (as in this video) via an app using a random selector. You could be lucky and pick Cindy Sherman’s delicious Gnocchi with Sage and Butter Sauce, Ed Ruscha’s spicy Cactus Omelette, or Joseph Kosuth’s ‘Oatmeal for One’. But beware, you could also draw the short straw and end up with Maurizio Cattelan’s Venetian-style Cat Casserole. Meow!

23 Creative Direction

TC art directed and oversaw the growth of the world-renowned Wallpaper* City Guides, published by Phaidon. With an ergonomic design and a discrete aesthetic, each pocketbook is thoroughly researched and tightly edited to provide a need-to-know checklist of the best a location has to offer the busy traveller. Over 100 titles have been released and are updated regularly. A selection is also available as apps for Apple and Android devices.