Images&Co is an innovation consultancy and design practice. Our focus is on culture, identity and place.
Transforming cities and spaces
Our multidisciplinary teams work together to make sense of complex narratives in city design. In this area we work with city governments, universities and other stakeholders on projects that promote civic and service design, support enterprise and innovation through the startup economy, and work with arts organisations, local communities and developers to reimagine parks, public spaces and local facilities.
Selected examples: Design Manchester festival, People + Heritage programme in North London, Smart Working in London.
Usability of environments
We aim to use technology and creativity in ways that connect people and places, rather than separating people from the physical environment. We are interested in how places speak and relate, and we work with providers, custodians and stakeholders to develop broader business planning for public spaces, from wayfinding in cities, transport networks and hospitals, to developing incubators and coworking spaces, and rethinking human-centred use of digital technology and data in parks and the public realm.
Selected examples: Legible London, Dublin Bus, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, The Sharp Project, Smarter Traffic Management in Istanbul.
Connected communications
At the heart of usability and interaction is coherent and compelling communication. This is what we provide for our clients and partners, from brand to information design, content to publishing, commercial to political campaigns.
Selected examples: KTN, CNI, Fibre Blackpool, 2NQ, Big Chip Awards, Michael Clark Company, Open Fibre Alliance.
Technology innovation
The pace of technological development is such that design and a user-centred focus are essential to ensure that technology and digital transformation work for people. We work with our clients and partners to develop innovative technology solutions – cultural, commercial and civic – that are ethical, secure and easy to use.
Selected examples: LVMH Online, VITAL-IoT, NetPark, The People’s Park Augmented Reality Trail.
Education and the future of work
We are fans and advocates of education – working with schools, colleges and universities, and with industry and government, to promote creative education, pathways to sustainable jobs, and future approaches to teaching and learning.
Selected examples: Sir Misha Black Awards, Big Chip Awards, The Great Debate at Manchester School of Art, WDC22 Skills Development Programme.
Images&Co is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office as a Data Controller No. Z9797963.
Kasper de Graaf FRSA
CEO
Steering Board Member, UK Design Action Plan
Programme Director, APPG on Key Cities
Director, Design Manchester
Director, 2NQ
Kasper is a writer and producer with more than three decades’ experience as an innovator in cities and public environments.
He has written numerous studies, articles and reports and led the delivery of major projects in the UK and abroad, including the prototype and pilots of the world’s largest pedestrian wayfinding scheme in London, traffic and transport schemes in Vancouver and Istanbul, and the redesign and implementation of the UK Border environments for the Home Office at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and other ports and airports..
As a director of Design Manchester, Kasper has led the development of a local, regional, national and global network of partnerships that underpins the city’s annual design festival and its strategic focus on civic design. He contributed design sector input to the GM Industrial Strategy and edited the published reports of the GM Independent Prosperity Review in 2019 and 2020.
In London in 2019-2020, he was programme director of People + Heritage, a cultural engagement project with communities in North London jointly funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the London Borough of Haringey.
Kasper previously worked as a journalist and editor for the Birmingham Post, Times Higher Education Supplement, The Guardian, the BBC, Smash Hits, New Sounds New Styles and The Business of Film before developing Assorted Images, the world’s largest music design studio, with Malcolm Garrett in the 1980s and then switching his focus to “the voice of the space” – initially in museums and cultural venues.
He is a Trustee of the William Little Foundation, Vice-chair of the Finsbury Park Trust, Member of BAFTA and the Society of Authors, and Fellow of the RSA.
Malcolm Garrett MBE RDI
CDO
Ambassador, Manchester School of Art
Committee Member, Sir Misha Black Awards
Curator, The Malcolm Garrett Collection
Director, Design Manchester
Director, 2NQ
Malcolm is a graphic designer known for his groundbreaking design and branding in music, the arts, media, digital and immersive experiences and public spaces over more than four decades.
In 1977, while still at art school, he established his design practice under the name Assorted iMaGes, producing record sleeves and posters for friends including seminal punk pop bands Buzzcocks and Magazine. In 1981, a year after moving to London, magazine editor Kasper de Graaf invited him to design New Sounds New Styles and two years later the two went into partnership to develop the Assorted Images studio along with a wider community of artists, writers, designers, stylists and musicians in what was then a derelict Shoreditch in the East End of London.
In music, Malcolm created landmark designs for The Members, The Human League, Duran Duran, Boy George, Simple Minds, Peter Gabriel and many others. The artists Denis Masi and Peter Phillips were among his clients, along with organisations such as the ICA, Museum of Modern Art Oxford, Channel 4, the RSC, the LSO, British Ballet Organization, Michael Clark Company, The Sharp Project, Open Futures, NetPark, Stoke Newington Literary Festival, the broadcaster Jonathan Ross and the filmmaker Peter Greenaway.
In 1994 he established AMX, one of the first digital companies in what is now Tech City. While continuing to work with musicians such as Orbital, Oasis, Pulp, Iron Maiden and Spice Girls, AMX delivered innovations for corporate clients such as Apple, EMI, Virgin, Warner Brothers, Barclays, Saatchi & Saatchi, BBC, Sci-Fi Channel, SkyTV and Accenture, exploring the potential of “new media” alongside conventional publishing and media outlets.
In 2003 he became the Creative Director at Immersion Studios in Toronto, creating immersive ‘interactive cinema’ installations in museums and visitor centres around the world. On his return to London he applied the lessons of digital innovation in real-world spatial design, helping to develop the Legible London walking map (with AIG London) and introducing a new network diagram and routing scheme for Dublin Bus. With 2NQ he works with local Councils and community groups to deliver community-led projects, including the 2019 celebrations around the 150th Anniversary of Finsbury Park, one of the original Victorian ‘people’s parks’.
Malcolm is a Founder and Joint Artistic Director of the annual Design Manchester festival, established initially as a one-off celebration of the 175th Anniversary of Manchester School of Art, and now in its eighth year.
In 1998 he was nominated for the ‘Prince Philip Designers Prize’ for ‘outstanding achievement in design for business and society’., and in 2000, he became the first RSA Royal Designer for Industry nominated for what was then the ‘new media’ category. He served as Master of the Faculty of Royal Designers from 2013 to 2015 and continues to represent the Faculty on the committee that decides the Sir Misha Black Awards for excellence in design education.
Malcolm was one of the first 10 designers to be inducted into the Design Week ‘Hall of Fame’ in 2015, and in 2017 was nominated as one of Creative Review’s 50 ‘Creative Leaders’. He is a Visiting Professor at UAL, Ambassador for Manchester School of Art, a member of BAFTA and a Fellow of the Institute of Typographic Designers.
In 2020 Malcolm was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for ‘services to design’.