Our favourite design projects from 2021

2021 promised to be a year where we could all crawl out from under the woodwork and return to some sort of normality! Over the course of the year we welcomed aboard a number of exciting new clients (with some interesting projects to share with you soon) and also picked up where we left off with some some familiar faces.

The studio team has rallied together to pick out some of their own highlights from the work we produced and launched in 2021...

The International Air & Space Training Institute

Early 2021 marked the launch of a brand new educational space for those with their eyes fixed firmly upwards. Inspired by the likes of the aurora borealis, the milky way and cloud formations we forged a new brand with a strong focus on tech and innovation: IASTI. 

Launching with a new brand, prospectus, award-winning website, signage, wall murals and some awesome merch - this futuristic institute is set for success.

"As the country’s first International Air and Space Institute this project was great privilege to get behind. When tackling a large project such as IASTI it was important for us to consider the applications of the brand and thoroughly research into the target audience. With the colour palette, typography, photography carefully selected we then set to developing the brand and their online presence with some brilliant solutions along the way. From start to finish the project was organised, well managed and the client remained very communicative throughout. All in all, IASTI has been one of my most rewarding projects to date and we look forward to working with them in the future." Ruari Watts, Root Studio

Since launching the website it's not only been listed in the 'Top 10 Clean Website Designs' by DesignRush but has also received an award for 'Mobile Excellence'.

See more about IASTI

Freshers Week

In the Summer we launched Lincoln SU's brand new look for Freshers Week with a colourful, animated logo, brand guidelines doc, print and digital marketing tools and an all singing all dancing website (winning another award for the studio). 

This new look looked to achieve a fun, festival vibe that was a little more current than the standard 2-4-1 drinks campaigns that you would normally associate with Freshers week! Instead we shifted focus to achieving an inclusive, community feel with events and activities of all kinds dotted around our unique City. 

"Working with Lincoln SU on such a colourful project was great fun and a real highlight for the year. We're really happy with how well the new branding and the new website have been received by students and staff alike and look forward to working with the SU again in future!" Tom Bradley, Root Studio

See more of Freshers Week

LOROS Hospice

In August we launched possibly our biggest website to date for Leicester's LOROS Hospice. Their new site provides them with a powerful digital tool for sharing information, raising support and promoting events throughout the year. In addition, the website also contains information for businesses such as training courses, research facilities, venue hire, noticeboards, VR headsets are more!

"The LOROS site is by far the largest website we've built to date, which provided some new interesting and fun challenges to overcome. The team at LOROS were amazing to work with and together we’ve been able to produce a great cornerstone to help them reach their charitable goals." Byron Fitzgerald, Root Studio

Find out more about LOROS

Chester Zoo

Our friends at Chester challenged us with some major projects in 2021! Firstly their Love it for Longer campaign and installation required around 30 illustrated bespoke-shaped interpretation panels each focused on a different area of environmental concern from throw-away tech to food waste, fast fashion to elephant poo! 

Later in the year they returned to us to replace the signage of one of their major Zoo attractions - the Elephant enclosure. In all, nearly 50 panels were created with bespoke illustrations, infographics, maps and plans in Chester Zoo's signature house style. A big team effort and one happy client!

"Every Chester Zoo project is an exciting opportunity for the design team and these two big projects in particular were a real team effort with multiple designers and illustrators coming together and pulling off a huge number of deliverables in a short space of time. Can't wait to visit the Zoo again soon to see the new panels in place!" Lydia Bradley, Root Studio

See more work for Chester Zoo here

RVbooking.com

Working with our friends at Craze Management, NY we created a range of character illustrations for Hollywood-based RVbooking.com. These quirky scenes were created from scratch by the studio design team with the main character based on the business founder, Bronwyn.

"The team at Craze Management & RVbooking were great to work with. The quirky camper was a personal highlight and became an important character in its own right." Stuart Hill, Root Studio

St Barnabas Pub Quiz

We've been working with St Barnabas Hospice for a number of years now and every project is both fun and rewarding but with the team featuring some beer connoisseurs - 2021's Pub Quiz branding was a real humdinger! For the campaign we created a new logo, marketing materials and a set of characterful beer coasters.

"Designing a set of beer coasters was a new challenge for me and one I greatly enjoyed. It’s also rewarding to have worked on a project which supports the amazing work St Barnabas are doing." Stuart Hill, Root Studio

See more about St Barnabas

AURA Hair & Beauty

It's not every day you get to create a new brand and design the shop frontage for a High Street salon so the AURA project was an exciting opportunity for the studio to create something we'd pass on the street on a regular basis!

With deliverables including a brand new logo, signage design, fascia displays as well as digital and printed marketing assets - this was a big project with a short lead time but the studio team delivered a brand with real flair.

"The AURA salon does great work not only supporting and inspiring the next generation of stylists but also has strong environmental values which is fantastic to see. We thoroughly enjoyed bringing a touch of luxury to their new branding and wish them every success for the future!" Tom Bradley, Root Studio  

See more about AURA here

AQUAA Partners

2021 saw the rebrand and launch of a new website and promo video for London-based M&A Advisory firm and thought-leaders AQUAA Partners. This project took attention to detail and determination to the next level as we tackled lockdowns and new collaborations and the results speak for themselves.

"Revitalising the AQUAA brand was a challenge we relished in 2021. Working closely with the team at Aquaa we've produced a solid foundation for their ever growing industry insights" Lea Chapman, Root Studio

LincsFest

A brand new event for the Lincolnshire Showground, LincsFest promised carnival-vibes, fun, food and an escape from lockdown for the good people of Lincolnshire! With a colour palette inspired by the Lincolnshire flag and hand drawn graphics giving the brand an energetic, loose and free feel - this was a real pleasure to work on after seeing so many of our county's events postponed for so long.

"It’s always fun to work on a project where you’re given creative freedom, and once we'd designed the new branding I was able to take the hand drawn feel of the logo and accompanying colours, and create a fully illustrated map. Squeezing in playful typography around little drawings of the locations, and making sure you could still tell where to go was challenging, but fun!" Stuart Horwood, Root Studio

See more from the Showground here

Xenia Lettings Mural

Mural designs are something that we love working on so when we were approached by Altrincham's Xenia Estates to produce a colourful design for a blank wall at their HQ - we jumped at the chance! With elements of the design inspired by the ancient greek custom of 'Xenia' (championing hospitality) and incorporating local landmarks and company values - this colourful design looks like it might be rolled out across their other sites during 2022. 

"After doing some research about the origins of the word Xenia I quickly found the link to Ancient Greece. This opened a treasure trove of interesting illustrations I could add the the mural, which made for a fun project." Stuart Hill, Root Studio

RSPB Boat Operator Packs

Last but not least, we continued our success with the RSPB's Biosecurity for LIFE campaign with the creation of their Boat Operator Packs. These detailed factsheets were provided to boat owners in areas of concern to inform them about the dangers of accidentally introducing invasive predators to neighbouring islands which would provide a real threat for our struggling seabird populations.

"As a team we're all emotionally invested in the success of the Biosecurity for LIFE project and have been with them throughout their journey. It's great to see how far the scheme has come already and we were thrilled to work with the RSPB team on yet another creative design solution. A lot of research went into the illustrations making sure we used accurate vessels and focusing on specific areas inside and out of the boats where the invasive predators may hide. I found the process really interesting and it’s great to know the project has already made a difference protecting our seabirds." Lydia Bradley, Root Studio

See more about this project here

Roll on 2022...

We're seriously looking forward to what this year has in store for us! If you have a project in the pipeline or have been inspired to create something new - give us a call!