Life at a design studio A month in the studio.
Life at Brand1, a brand and creative studio, runs on four rituals: weekly crit, signed work, monthly tool bake-offs and a quarterly look at our own brand.
Studio culture: the four rituals
Crit
WeeklyAll work goes on the wall, and everyone critiques it, across teams and seniority. It is the most important hour of the week.
A named signature
Every jobNothing ships until a named person puts their name to it. Clients sign off the strategy, the identity and the system.
The bake-off
MonthlySame brief, new tools, judged blind. We only change how we work when the work gets better.
Brand1 on Brand1
QuarterlyWe run our own method on our own brand. If it is not good enough for us, it is not good enough for you.
Everyone makes. Everyone teaches.
Authorship
Signed work: your name on the marks you draw, in the file and in the credits.
Teaching
Everyone teaches something in the Academy, from type to film grading.
Join us
Bring your best work.
Studio in Chennai, working worldwide. Send three to five pieces and a line on what you did.
Studio life, answered
What is it like to work at Brand1?
Brand1 is a small, senior design studio held together by four rituals: a weekly crit where all work goes on the wall, a named signature on every job, a monthly bake-off where new AI tools are judged blind on the same brief, and a quarterly review of the studio's own brand. Everyone makes the work, and everyone teaches something in the Academy.
How does Brand1 credit its designers?
By name. Every mark Brand1 delivers is credited to the designer who drew it, in the file and in the project credits, and the exploration behind it is kept on record. Nothing ships until a named person signs it. AI takes the repetition, such as sizes, versions and formats; the designer keeps the authorship of the work.
What happens in a design crit at Brand1?
Once a week, all the work in the studio is pinned up and critiqued across teams and seniority. Designers, writers, strategists and producers look at each piece against its brief and the brand system, and say plainly what works and what does not. It is the most important hour of the studio week, and it keeps the craft consistent.
How does Brand1 choose its AI tools?
By a monthly bake-off. The studio gives the same brief to new and existing tools, and the results are judged blind by designers and directors who do not know which tool made what. The studio only changes how it works when the work gets better, and it names the tools it uses on each job.