Abrahams UK

JON ALDENTON

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

I met Jon in the late 70s and he struck me as a charismatic, opinionated and an instinctive thinker and doer. I designed the logo for his consultancy – The Environment Trust in east London. Jon knows how to flatter and being a sucker for praise, I did the work for love! I didn’t see much of him again until the late 90s when I bumped into him on the Circle Line. He asked if I was still designing as he was involved with the transformation of Mile End Park in Tower Hamlets. I knew that if I could summarise our thinking into a big idea that resonated, no matter how unconventional or seemingly impractical, Jon would back us all the way despite the politics of dealing with multiple stakeholders. There is nothing that Jon likes better than a seemingly impossible challenge, and ultimately being proven right! Why choose the easy option? Sure, it’s a good way to make money, but a very bad way to make great work.

Mile End Park, east London, 1996
Research had shown the public wanting many different things, so we suggested a park of parks each with its own name, graphic and 3m high ‘X (sign) marking the spot’

Abrahams UK

ZDENKA BECK

MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS

Seven designs from Raymond Loewy’s design team were put up to pitch for Wentworth Club’s identity. The one picked was mine. Thus began a 15 year working relationship with marketing director, Zdenka Beck. We hit it off from the word go, and when I established Abrahams in 1996, Zdenka backed me, ensuring we continued our intense creative friendship.

Zdenka’s genius lay in recognising that for any project to succeed, the irreconcilable has to be reconciled – project budget vs design costs. That is as creative a challenge as any design project. Paying for work by the hour – the default design business model – was never going to work. Zdenka proposed a monthly consultancy fee, reviewed annually which neatly allowed me real creative freedom, and fairness and security on both ends.

And today, 35 years after we created the brand identity and three owners later, the iconic Wentworth logo is still going strong, just like my friendship with Zdenka.

Wentworth Club, Surrey, 1993-2015
…the first ever golf umbrella with a logo split across two panels – despite being told it couldn’t be done; the first ever champagne label to feature a photo – despite being told photos were not permitted; the first ever golf course planners with covers the texture of a golf ball – despite endless arguments whether it should be Titelist or TaylorMade; the first ever house Claret featuring the (annual) Club captain of that vintage…

Abrahams UK

YANNIS S. COSTOPOULOS

DON’T BANK ON IT

“What do I know about banking? Actually, not a lot. Though I do know what it’s like being a customer.”

That throw-away comment must have intrigued the Greek bank’s chairman who had been trying to resolve what to do about Trapeza Pisteos’s brand identity for five years. I said… “unify the bank’s name with their products called ‘Alpha this’ and ‘Alpha that…’ retain but update the symbol so it doesn’t look like you’ve been taken over… and improve customer service”.

At the end of the meting Mr Costopoulos, who had been drawing throughout, pushed his sketches towards me. I edged backwards and he pushed them closer. I ignored his move leaving the paper on the table.

At the next meeting, I first showed what Mr Costopoulos wanted to see – his sketches, and then I showed what I thought was best. He continued to draw in meetings, but at the end he tore them up leaving the pieces in an ashtray. This delightful charade continued for over 10 years!

Alpha Bank, Greece, 1994-2004
Brand identity and strategy
Collaborations with local advertising agencies and architects
Print and signage for over 700 branches
Runner in the Alpha Bank sponsored Athens Marathon 2003
Guest of the Athens Olympics 2004

Abrahams UK

DICK DOHERTY

YOU CAN’T DO THAT

When Dick ‘our print farmer’ retired, I missed him big time. Dick was one of those people who never received the recognition that they deserve for the contributions they make. I suspect that he has forgotten more about print production than I will every know. But one thing I do know is that it’s essential to surround yourself with specialists…

He’d sit in our briefings and would gently temper our ideas with his vast knowledge, allowing us to come up with efficient and practical solutions – which made our ideas even sharper.

Dick was an occasional, yet integral part of the team, took ownership of production, ensuring I never had sleepless nights. And often with people from a certain era and industry, sleeping was induced after large amounts of alcohol had been imbibed. I don’t miss that aspect though!

Calvert Culture Show, 2007
Silk-screen printed invites for an ‘art’ show, each one a unique print
Edition of 100

Abrahams UK

SUE EVANS

SOMETHING FOR NOTHING

The most interesting projects often have the tiniest budgets. So, I am always inviting nice people to help me out. I had an idea for a hoarding around a building site. A story called From home to home, in 12 lines, each one displayed for a month during the build. I turned to Sue and 11 other Dark Angels, who each wrote a line of the poem beginning with the last word of the previous line – a literary relay race (see J for more about the project).

Nobody should work for free, so the deal we agreed, was that I would enter our work into the annual D&AD awards – the Oscars of the design industry. Awards are not my thing, I guess it’s because I can’t stand rejection. So as a first-time entrant I was blown away when we won not one, but two ‘pencils’ for writing and environmental graphics.

From home to home, 2013
D&AD awards for our literary relay

Abrahams UK

FERRARI

THINK OF A COLOUR

All the great clients I have worked with embody their brand. Get to understand them (because they rarely understand themselves) and you get to see the big picture.

When I worked at Raymond Loewy, we were asked to design the identity for the Ferrari F1 team. Michael Schumacher had just joined and was backed by a company selling an addictive product that I am ashamed to say I turned a blind eye to (that’s one of the reasons I left to set up Abrahams in 1996). The brief was one third of the car white, two thirds red (make it look like a pack of Marlboro).

Anyone who follows motorsport knows we all support the driver who shares our nationality, yet everyone loves Ferrari! And Ferraris are red – not white and red. So at the end of every presentation of red and white cars (which they insisted on seeing) I ended by showing a red one… I just wore them down. The client wasn’t sure, but the brand triumphed and Schumacher won the championship!

Ferrari F1, 1996-2006
Ecco la rossa per te’translates as here is the red one for you

Abrahams UK

MATTHEW GOULCHER

IT’S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS

My neighbour Matthew used to pop into the studio for a chat and it was always the same question – how do you creatively run a creative business? He’s the managing director of a medium sized architecture practice and part of the second generation of owners. So we identified two fundamental challenges – what to ditch from the past without losing what made them special in the first place and how do you recruit the generation to follow you? “What’s the secret to great orchestras who keep going for hundreds of years irrespective of who plays and conducts?”

This was always going to be about strategy not just pretty pictures. Not normally my thing, but involving Amanda Manor, the sharpest (no bullshit) brand strategist ever, allowed us to crack the directors’ dilemmas through a series of structured workshops. It was like holding up a mirror for me too – I was also grappling with these issues… I decided I’m like a pop group, when I put down the mic for the last time that’s the end of the band.

Levitt Bernstein, 2014-16
Workshop for partners: model of the what, where and how of the business

Abrahams UK

CLAIRE CURTICE & RUMINA HAJI-White

THAT’S WHERE IT’S AT

When I set up Abrahams in 1996, I knew that we would remain a micro-business and having little interest and energy to spend reputation building we would always remain niche and relatively unknown. The challenge was figuring out how to talk about the things that interest me with people from the arts, science and business who I wouldn’t normally be able to engage.

The answer was to invite them to speak/perform at events which I curated with Claire and Rumina. Over five years we hosted 15 free and roving atabrahams evenings in locations such as the Banqueting House, Arup, Wellcome Trust, St Aloysius Social Club, V&A, St James Piccadilly… and the wonderful thing was that the 100+ people from the arts, science and business who spoke, illustrated or performed – from Kae Tempest to Mark Miodownik, Alex de Rijke, Margot Henderson, Asif Kapadia to Tracey Neuls – all gave their time and shared their ideas for free with the thousands of invited guests. No questions asked. That generosity of spirit was very special. Every event focused on one topic investigated from the varied perspectives of multiple speakers/performers. Hearing someone reflect about the same thing from a different point of view was the point of the exercise.

Claire, Rumina and I meet up annually to plan the next one, but secretly we know we’ve done our bit, however you can see more about atabrahams here and do contact Claire and Rumina who are the best publicists in town!

‘When is enough enough?’
At Abrahams, event No. 12, Wellcome Trust, 2008

Abrahams UK

INTERESTS

all work and no play makes mike a dull boy

I know I said that this website is about dealing with the biggest creative challenge I continually face – designing my relationship with my clients. However, I feel it is also important to understand and to periodically review the relationship I have with my work. That’s where other interests come in. Of course family and friends rank highly, but it’s the things I do in Mike Time that also matter.

I’m as committed to my running as I am to my creative work. It is the perfect antidote to sitting, thinking and making. What I love about running is that there’s a predictable relationship between what I put in and what I get out, the opposite of the design process. And while I run, my thinking is free to wander and often stumbles on ideas and strategies which pop into my head from who knows where.

I encourage everyone to try running – if you can lace up a pair of trainers you can run – slowly at first – but it’s amazing how far one can eventually go and where it can take you.

Just after I’d completed the 1500m at the world masters Athletics championship 2007, Rimini/riccione, Italy
I didn’t win. I wasn’t last. But I smashed my PB!
photo: Nina Anderson (my brilliant coach)

Abrahams UK

TANYA ZEIN & JEAN PAUL JACCAUD

“DO WHATEVER YOU WANT”

When architects and novice developers, Tanya and Jean Paul said to me “do whatever you want” I thought WTF? They had asked Roger Zogolovitch (letter Z) to recommend a designer for the hoarding around a building site in Islington north London.

The great Alan Fletcher (Pentagram founder) would have presented only one idea – his view was that it’s hard enough to have even one good idea, let alone the normal three (and clients invariably choose the lowest risk/worst option) but through force of habit I showed a ‘safe’ option, an ‘interesting’ one, and a ‘radical’ one – a poem called From home to home (letter E) with one line displayed every month during the construction period. They chose that without any discussion. I often wonder what would have happened if I had only shown one? To see more of the project click here.

They just totally trusted me from the word go. And to cap it all we won two D&AD awards for our efforts.

Shepherdess Walk hoardings, London N1, 2014

Abrahams UK

THE KING’S SINGERS

You only sing when you’re winning

I don’t think it’s an accident of language that talented people in many disciplines are called artists, though if I say ‘artist’, most people would think painter. Given the title Gold for the 50th anniversary album of the group, I invited the six King’s Singers to a studio to spend the morning being artists, singing and splashing gold paint around. We had only one take and no rehearsal but I think that my hunch that, with confidence, people can dabble across disciplines was proved correct. In my case however, while I am more artist than designer these days – you really don’t want to ask me to sing!

Gold, 2018
Triple CD and collectors’ vinyl edition
Grammy nominated

Abrahams UK

EVE LOM

An anagram of ‘Love me’

I was introduced to Eve 25 years ago and created the packaging for the retail launch of her products in Dickens & Jones in Regent Street. Being an old fashioned bloke, soap and water is the nearest I get to skincare, but the staff in the studio adored the cleanser which was how we got paid initially. Being the most expensive cleanser around (Eve had created the recipe herself following her instincts – it’s a great story, more here), it was important that the packaging was visibly honest so that it was clear that the cost was in the contents, nothing else.

Before the launch Eve sold a few pots a month from her salon, so we had no idea what success would look like. I didn’t have the courage to ask for a royalty on every pot sold rather than taking fees, because, ‘it was a bird in the hand…’  I learned a big lesson – the pots flew out of the door in their thousands and I am still kicking myself for not following my instincts. Eve sold the brand a few years later for undisclosed millions.

I’m working with Eve now on developing her conscious breathing routine, and maybe I’ll find a way to incorporate that amazing anagram. If not, then my instinct says we’ll do it another day. It’s just too good to not use.

strategy, brand identity and launch packaging, 1995

Abrahams UK

PAUL McCREESH

sounds like an offer they can’t refuse

I walked into my next door neighbour’s office in 1998 and asked “what do you do?”. They gave me an album and some concert programmes and sent me packing. I listened and read and decided they were both really good, but completely unsympathetic to one another. I went back and told them so. I said I can do better and happy to help for free. No orchestra in the UK makes enough money to survive by ticket sales alone. They all rely on grants, funds and the generosity of patrons for a significant chunk of income. So what do I get out of this arrangement?

I have been a trustee of Gabrieli Consort & Players since 2011 and it seems my role is to ask awkward questions and advise on graphics and brand. I collaborate closely with Paul McCreesh, the founder and artistic director, on his projects including their award winning albums. To work with a scholar and an authority sharing his insights into this beautiful expression of human creativity through projects as varied as Purcell’s Fairy Queen, Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato or Britten’s War Requiem is an amazing privilege. And we also share the dilemmas of balancing the desire to make the best we can against the commercial realities of the market.

Paul Mccreesh and the Gabrieli Consort & players
Photo: Andy Staples

Abrahams UK

DICK NEGUS

back to school

Dick was a genius. Largely unsung and relatively unknown. Negus & Negus specialised in ‘corporate identity’ and designed, what was at that time the world’s biggest project – the creation of British Airways out of the merger of BOAC and BEA – with a team of just eight people. We created logos for English Heritage, Waterford Crystal, Emirates and others which are still around today.

I think I learned more working with Dick than with anyone else. It wasn’t just about design. It was about how to get the most from staff to reach their potential; how to work with suppliers to make them do the impossible; how to present to clients to get them to make the right decisions; and how to make money. Sadly, I was never very interested in the money making bit, so while Dick drove a Porsche I do love my Fiat 500C.

What I wasn’t taught, but deduced was that there is an equation in any work situation; what you put in (time and effort) should equal what you get out (money and experience/learning). When that balance is out of kilter it’s time to move on. And that’s what I did when Dick retired.

English Heritage logo, 1984

Abrahams UK

Oh s**t

thanks but no thanks

I have always been against pitching but once in a while having been invited to a paid pitch, we were – let me use the right word – rejected. That always hurt, but what hurt even more was not knowing why. Feedback is really useful. In the same way, when we were chosen I’d always ask why us?

At the same time, I have been invited to meet clients and my instinct said that design was not their problem – better they spend their money on something or someone else. I could always sense the bewilderment that they had met someone who was rejecting them –not nice and certainly not the usual mode of business for a ‘supplier’. But being honest sure makes me feel good.

Blair Enns ‘win without pitching’
designer breakfast, bbh, November 2011

Abrahams UK

John Perring

who needs a business card?

I often get criticised for never switching off. I was at a BBQ when John came up to me and asked if I was a designer. How did he know? He said that I dressed like one.

What a pick-up line – and it worked! And after tasting the olive oil from his private finca I agreed to design the labels for that years’ produce – wines, oil and herbs in exchange for a few litres of virgin olive oil and a case of wine.

Langar de señor, 2019
wine, olive oil and produce labels overprinted on unsold copies of el PAÍS weekend magazines, Every label unique

Abrahams UK

THE QUEEN

the client is always right, even when they aren’t

I was invited to create the graphic identity for a firm and really liked the owners. Everything was just fine. A little while later, there was a change at the top (perhaps a royal connection?) and a new chief executive took over running the company. I liked him too. He asked us to do more work and then some more but somehow they never got round to paying the bills. I guess I should have said no when the first bill wasn’t paid, but that’s not my style. Trust is so important.

What to do? Legal advice was that we were in the right, but what about the reputational damage when your business grows by referrals?

discretion is the better part of valour

Abrahams UK

BRITTA RUHNAU

100 DAYS

With clients it’s collaboration, complicity and communication. With employees I have to add co-operation and compatibility (creativity goes without saying). Britta was my first employee. I guess it’s like first children, you don’t love them any more than the others, but somehow they get remembered more… Britta came to work with me on a 100 day placement from her German University and at the end of it I had to complete pages and pages of feedback. Questions about time keeping, sickness, language and computer skills… What a bore. I wrote a one-liner which didn’t go down well with the college. I have no idea why. I wrote, I am delighted to offer Britta a full time job when she qualifies. What could be more clear than that?

I also recall, during our annual review around seven years later, I told her that it was time she left Abrahams to get experience elsewhere and to continue to develop her skills on different types of projects with different people. No she wasn’t being sacked, but I’m sure it felt like that to her even though she and all the other staff knew that was how the studio worked. My job was to help develop the next generation of talent and encourage them to embark on new adventures… never to squeeze out every last drop of profit from them.

Britta and Benny get married, 2016

Abrahams UK

STEVE SHAW

Listen and look

I try my best to listen, though I have to admit I’m not very good at it. What really impresses me is when others listen particularly when it’s nothing to do with work, and I do talk a lot. I knew Steve was a keen photographer and having picked up that I was making 26 photographic alphabets of found objects, he sent me this picture which was a terrific gesture and much appreciated!

trestle table at paddington Arts, 2011

Abrahams UK

AMANDA TATHAM

timing is everything

I met Amanda at my one and only attendance at the AGM of the Chartered Society of Designers (my professional body). I had never seen so many Harris Tweed jackets (with pens neatly arranged in top pockets) in one room, so I decided to sit next to the only person who didn’t look like a stuffed jacket. Afterwards, exhausted from tutting and sighing all the way through we decided we needed to do something for our industry which is still overwhelmingly made up of micro-businesses. Early morning get-togethers were easiest from our experience and we focused on the themes of entrepreneurship, working with SMEs and new business models – issues close to our hearts.

With the help of many people, particularly Pippa Crawford, we curated nearly 100 Designer Breakfasts over eight years with speakers who could be described as the greats, the controversial and the opinionated, but what they all had in common was their generosity and readiness to tell the truth. The events were held in locations including The British Library, BBH, St Brides and the Design Museum. In 2013 we trialed Google hangouts well before video conferencing was available as a simple download. We didn’t get our timing quite right on that but on reflection I do think we were just ahead of the curve which is exactly where designers should be.

where are the women?
designer breakfasts, design museum, march 2012

Abrahams UK

UNIVERSITY OF READING

TYPOGRAPHY & GRAPHIC COMMUNICATIONS

In the 70s, if one wanted a practical art course, it was a DipAD at art college, not university. But being the son of a Jewish mother, it had to be a ‘proper degree’. In my interview, I was asked by Prof Michael Twyman what I knew about typography (I didn’t know what it was but the word studio was mentioned in the prospectus and that was enough to entice me)? I answered, “Nothing, that’s why I want to come to Reading”. That got me in, and a career of 40+ years not just following, but trusting my instincts.

University of Reading, 1978
Staff and students, years 2-4, I’m the short one with beard, arms crossed standing just behind the staff

Abrahams UK

KEIR VINE

SOUND ADVICE

Keir is a pop star. I went to see him perform at the Barbican. The reality, I have to constantly remind myself is that famous people are normal people too – as Bob Dylan sang in It’s Alright Ma “even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked”. My problem is that I’m  overawed by reputation. So asking a favour seems like a massive ask. But as the saying goes, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. I’m always surprised that I get a yes much more often than a no and even more surprised by their full-on commitment.

First Words in Dalston, 2021
Keir on site reviewing the invisible speakers for the Audio and visual installation created in collaboration with artist Francesca Giuliano

Abrahams UK

JONATHAN WARD

Begin as you mean to go on, and don’t stop

You know how you meet people at weddings? Everyone gets a bit tipsy and before you know it you’re best mates and want to do nothing but make beautiful music? Well we didn’t make music but Jonathan invited me to make an artist’s book as part of his Arts Council sponsored millennium project called Inside Cover – comprising 20 artists, each making an edition of 100 books. The books were exhibited around the world for seven years and I was chuffed that copies were bought by the V&A, Tate and other institutions. Our book, called A-Z 2000 was the first of a series of ‘abcderies’, part of my studio’s R&D exploring alphabetical progressions (more here). We got great press and copies were sold and then it all went quiet. I want to thank Jonathan for getting me started making art – where are you now Jonathan? Answers on a postcard though an email will do.

A-Z 2000
Edition of 100

Abrahams UK

FATHER XMAS

THE MOST DIFFICULT CLIENT. EVER.

They say never work with children or animals. I say never work with no client. No brief. No feedback. And no fee. Self initiated projects demand more thought, more sweat and more grief. But isn’t that what I demand from every client and every project? It’s the ultimate challenge. Maybe never having another client is the answer – I guess that’s why I’m a retiring designer and a budding artist?

Xmas cards 2016
Edition of 50
Hand cut and punched on Sirio 280gsm Orange
Paper kindly supplied by Fedrigoni UK

Abrahams UK

DAN YOUNG

THOUGHT FOR FOOD

Dan Young lives next door to my studio (it’s important to befriend neighbours for both altruistic and selfish reasons) and was the restaurant critic of the New York Daily News. Today, everyone can be a critic, so Dan set up Young & Foodish, pioneering pop-up food events featuring ‘common food prepared with uncommon skill’ – burgers, pasta, pizza… you get the idea.

Most start-ups have no money, so to support him I offered to develop his brand for a few free lunches. This type of deal always gives a designer (à la) carte blanche. Do anything that you fancy – then suck it and see.

Burger Monday at Andrews cafe, Clerkenwell, 2012
Branding as experience – alphabetti placemats, irresistibly anagramable
Image: Paul Winch-furness

Abrahams UK

ROGER ZOGOLOVITCH

WHEN THE WORLD ZIGS, ZOG

Roger is an architect and a developer who intuitively understands brand, because he embodies it – making it a joy to work with him. Everything Solidspace does, from product to promotion is true to the values enshrined in a manifesto called Making Developments as Art (a copy is in the Tate’s collection of artists books).

Since 2003, I’ve been working with Roger disrupting the dingy world of making buildings, furthering his ambition to create a new typology of residential architecture. Not easy, nor quick. Not cheap, nor straight forward.

Sure, I’ve designed the Solidspace logo, manifesto, signage, hoardings, books, brochures, sales material, exhibitions, website and more, but the pleasure has been in the ongoing conversations with Roger through his written journals – over 100 – which reflect on design, architecture, manufacturing, materials, finance, land, the law, technology, politics, demographics, planning etc.

Roger is the perfect client because he’s as committed to his cause as I am to mine – we both want to change the world for the better.

Solidspace logo at multi-award winning 81-87 Weston Street, 2018
Strategy, branding, graphics