Our home

This is the home of Garden, where brands, creative thought and expression is explored. We started off thinking that this would be the area that we would express our knowledge about branding and the world of commercial design, but we changed our minds. It’s hard to talk about yourself objectively sometimes, especially when you are passionate about the spirit of something you love. We therefore felt the best way to demonstrate the culture of Garden is to let the people describe it, through words, images and ideas. Therefore we gave the current team, past interns, freelancers, contractors and even clients, the opportunity to think and express what they felt the soul of Garden is about. The images on this page are just a scattering of the things we feel represent the Garden experience.

 

The family home of Garden is built around freedom to think and to creatively explore.

 

We are an anti ego agency, where no one is allowed into the studio unless their ego is left strapped down and screaming at home. We insist on total collaboration throughout all projects, and anyone with an idea is as important as anyone else. We are self-effacing, but are strong and brave enough to push through an idea if it has the foundations it needs. We have a total equal opportunities policy. All we ask is to be highly creative, highly imaginative, highly playful, always fun, honest, gifted, open and respectful to everyone.

We have dreams of important and exciting projects, but we have no ambition to be the biggest – just the greatest. Everyone must love design, they must spend their spare time admiring great design, even more so if by other agencies, it’s all about respect.

Some people live in houses, we live in the Garden.

Joseph founded Garden in 2011, prior to this he was a design director at Siegle & Gale, and over the years has worked for many large branding companies, such as Rufus Leonard, Rareform, Interbrand, Bloom, Jack Morton, and many others. He has been the lead designer or creative director on brands such as Etisalat while working at Rareform, Mobily, also while working at Rareform, Les Trois Garçons, EuroTunnel Le Shuttle, J20, Afriquia, Stassen, Sainsbury’s Tu, Ajman Bank, Coca Cola, Ernst & Young, BT, Royal Mail and many other important branding and design projects. He has won many design awards, as well as judged on design awards panels, been brand consultant to Channel 4’s Supershoppers and has been guest speaker at many brand related events.

“Creativity is something that can’t be painted by numbers, however immersion is the zen, data the focus, and experimentation and play the weapon, Garden is the playground for creativity - let’s play.”

My happy place

Abstract thought is the foundation for originality.

I have learned so much at Garden, they know so much, and they really helped me understand how to think about design. I've never had anyone take the time to mentor me about this kind of stuff, but they have seriously helped me grow and reach my potential.

Taner Karasalih - Developer

 

I think it’s all about the spirit of the company, a place where people have the time and space to think, it is a place where opinions, theories and learnings are shared and grown.

Nick Shea - Designer

A place for sharing.

What Garden stands for:

Unique / we are unique, and we want to stay that way, avoiding the cliché, leading the world in differentiation.

Brave / we avoid being dogged by negativity, we trust our instincts, and we always take the step - it feels good to be outside our comfort zone, and it’s this attitude we bring to our clients, moving them outside of their own comfort zone - their clients feeling invigorated at this confident attitude.

Simple / keeping things simple keeps things memorable, take out the fluff and let the value shine through.

Smart / keeping up with the world and how it effects brands is smart, we keep these things in our focus so that our clients are prepared and ready for every eventuality, becoming early adopters of new technology and channels.

Real & fun / we all want to be spoken to like human beings, happy to have more real and natural conversations than the popular approaches of the past, it is this realisation that has spurred the new disruptor brands of today.

I have seen Garden grow from a seedling, it’s amazing to see it grow into what is now a sunflower of a company.

Melanie - Business Development Director

 

“I started my experience at Garden as a design intern and ended up working there for nearly 2 years. I couldn’t have wished for a better agency to start my adventure in the design industry. From the very first day, I was given a chance to delve into creative briefs and come into contact with the different aspects of agency life. Throughout my time there, I’ve been guided by a talented group of people who value support, collaboration and, above all, kindness.”

Garden is an agency that truly fosters creativity. Joe and the team have laid the foundations of an environment in which designers shall never fear to voice a “wrong” idea, encouraging the kind of unafraid thinking that leads to great work.

Sara Degiorgi - Designer