![[a] design agency - design-led consultants and [a] teams](http://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d24c387d5bfe5000130af2f/abf19039-5661-437b-b64c-b0facb61a77d/a-logo-1080px-transparent.png?format=1500w){kind=logo}
Services: Art direction • Branding • Consulting • Design
[a] design agency
We deliver design-led work to help you make clear decisions, enabling your brand to act with confidence.
[a] design agency is built around one lead (Stewart Ainslie) and a trusted network of specialists.
We work with clients across the UK from our home in Scotland.
Is your brand working for you?
We work with organisations to clarify their position, launch new ideas, refresh established brands, and communicate complex ideas succinctly.
What we do
[a] provides: planning, creative consultancy and facilitation for design-led projects.
The what: Art direction, branding, consultancy and design.
The how: Through conversation, collaboration and delivery.
We're on your side. An [a] team becomes part of your team.
We turn audiences into advocates.
How do you want your brand to be seen?
We help brands become clearer, more distinctive and easier to understand—so when people have a choice, you're the obvious one.
Selected design projects—
Marketing and consultancy for Cepac.
Cepac is a UK-based packaging business focused on manufacturing paper-based corrugated packaging.
Stew has supported Cepac with brand consultancy, marketing, design and advertising support for over five years. We support their internal design teams and collaborate with external partners to promote their Performance Packaging strategy and assist their growth.
Our work includes creative direction, graphic design, copywriting, trademark support and marketing activities.
Start-up brand identity and assets for Fieldworks.
David Crozier (Forest & Wye) is an independent Architect based in the Wye Valley, UK. Fieldworks was established to help AEC firms make practice perfect through integrated software solutions backed by expert consultancy.
While Fieldworks could walk the walk, [a] helped it talk the talk from day one. We developed the start-up brand identity, created investment and sales presentations, and designed the marketing website.
Alongside the creative work, we advised on brand perception, messaging, sales strategy and visual identity. In architecture, how something looks isn't just important—it's a bar to entry.
Ongoing design-led projects:
Retail activation for a distillery,
Advocacy impact for a national charity,
Partnerships pack for a governing body,
An ‘arts club’ for an arts institution,
A graphic identity for a creative studio.
In good company
This simply wouldn’t be an agency website without a grid of client logos.
Selected clients—
Fieldworks -
Brand launch, graphic identity, copywriting and consultancy.
Isle of Barra -
activations, print management and graphic design.
Ramblers Scotland -
Design for marketing, membership and advocacy activity.
Historic Environment Scotland -
Exhibitions, publications and event support.
Cepac Limited -
Brand management, marketing, product launches and web consultancy.
The Herald (Glasgow) -
Consultancy (retail and income generation).
University of Glasgow -
Printed matter, internal comms, advertising, event support and retail materials.
Scottish Mountain Rescue -
Branding, graphic design, print design and consultancy.
The Hunterian -
Printed matter, retail materials, exhibition advertising.
Dubh Mor -
Brand launch, graphic design, web consultancy and social media training.
Note: Theses brands are not ‘our clients’ or ‘our partners’. We believe in collaboration, not exclusivity.
How would you like us to work with your brand?
We are flexible, scalable and are available on an ad hoc basis.
Stewart Ainslie is [a] brand consultant.
Design-led consultancy
Stew is the first point of contact for every project. He runs [a] design agency from his home in Scotland. [Current: Glasgow.]
Stew leads the associates. Different disciplines bring different perspectives. Different perspectives create distinction.
Associated design teams
No fixed teams. No off-the-shelf process. Every project starts with a conversation, a clear brief and a proper cup of tea.
Ambitious briefs preferred.
Stew likes to think…
Occasional thoughts on branding, design leadership and creative practice.
[a] design agency
- creative consultants who deliver.
Where to start?
Every project begins with [a] conversation. Ideally over a brew.
Let's talk about your next project!
![A photo comp of stationery with [a] design agency details. A blank pile of paper has a message on it, reads: "Start with [a] blank sheet of paper.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d24c387d5bfe5000130af2f/1595858528697-61P6FPETIS6HGPQVC64P/Fresh-Start-1600px-web.jpg)
Services: Art direction • Branding • Consulting • Design