North55 was formed in 2000 to provide Middle East businesses world-class creative solutions. Since inception, they have worked with leading corporations to define and develop effective, durable brands that deliver real bottom-line value. North55 brand communication experience encompasses real estate, travel and tourism, retail, luxury goods and food and beverage, across a wide-ranging client base. We had the opportunity and pleasure of meeting Craig Falconer, co-founder and creative partner.

On entrance to the North55 studio exposed brickwork covers the reception walls, along with a specially-commissioned graffiti piece. An archway leads you into the open plan studio space where a shag-pile-carpeted meeting rooms, relaxed break-out areas, brings a kitsch edge to a very contemporary interior.

GraphicHug: Craig, nice to meet you and thank you in advance for taking time out to answer some questions. Firstly, in your own words who is North55 and how did it come to be?

N55: North55 is a creative design studio. We don’t claim to be able to do everything, but what we do, we do with passion. We started in late 2000, when Dubai was just entering the major growth period.  At that point the creative agencies in the region took a shot-gun approach to marketing.  Everyone did a little bit of everything and as a client you often suffered.  Some disciplines were handled well while others were simply tagged on. We wanted to give design the attention it deserved.  Also clients at the time were waking up to the value of brands.

GraphicHug: Could you tell us a bit about your background?
N55: I studied design in the UK, then went on to join a number of UK design agencies. I was lucky enough to join the industry just before computers really took over. I learnt some of the core skills from old-school designers.  You really pay attention when you’re setting type by hand, letter-by-letter, it makes you look at things differently.  That’s not to say I don’t enjoy the transition the industry has gone through.  My Mac is my best friend now, but it has also taken a degree of the craft out of the job.  Even the very best designers today still work out their designs by hand, and only rely on the Mac once the concept is cracked.

GraphicHug: What was it that made you set up on your own and here in the middle east?

N55: I was given an opportunity to join a company in Dubai, and relished the chance to be able to travel and explore the world of design outside the UK.  After a couple of years I realised that although I was very happy in Dubai, I needed a new direction.  I wasn’t inspired by many of the companies in Dubai at the time, but I did see signs that design was becoming more appreciated.  I’d seen TMH evolve as a strong design studio and thought it was the right time to set-up.

GraphicHug: I’m sure you’ve been asked this before – but where did the name North55 originate from?

It’s actually the line of latitude that runs through both the founder’s hometown of Newcastle, but more importantly it’s a memorable name which intrigues people.

GraphicHug: What are your thoughts on the design scene here in Dubai compared to that of the UK? Would you say it is different from working as a designer in the UK in terms of workflow and creativity?

N55: Of course it’s different.  The UK has had a 50 year head-start on Dubai, but what everyone tends to forget is that when you work in the UK design industry, only about 1% of creatives work at top end. An awful lot of UK design is very average. The opportunities for designers are often very limited. There’s a tendency to moan in Dubai, about most things, and in general people are spoilt. But Dubai’s design scene offers opportunities in abundance.  Brands are born every week in Dubai and more recently there has been some exciting developments in Abu Dhabi.  You just have to adapt to the working practices and not try to do everything the ‘UK’ way.

GraphicHug: It seems that there is more of a real primary focus on advertising (in the most conventional sense) out here in the Middle east, especially in the likes of Dubai and Kuwait. North55 seems to be a much more design-led company, so how do you percieve your role within that atmosphere?

N55: ‘Advertising’ has always been the big brother to ‘design’ throughout the world.  It’s more glamorous, and with media buying it can be far more lucrative. But even though the Middle East was late to catch on to the value of branding, the last five years has seen it embraced.  Middle East brands are becoming global brands and traditional family businesses are going public.  They now understand the commercial value of a strong brand.

GraphicHug: So, wow – the studio space. Tell us a little more about that.

N55: When you rent space in Dubai for almost ten years you are forced to compromise.  Once we bought our own office space we deciced to make it special. We couldn’t claim to be a creative company and then introduce our clients to a boring, cookie-cutter, ‘beige’ office.

GraphicHug: You’ve said you want to keep the company small and have mentioned that you have always worked for small companies? Why do you consider this important?

N55: Various reasons.  On a day-to-day level it avoids politics, policies and excessive admin and it allows you to concentrate more of your time on design. From a clients’ perspective you feel as if you are really working with N55 as a ‘design team’.  Clients have full access to our team and are made to feel important regardless of size or budget. From a North55 culture perspective, it means we don’t have huge overheads, which could make us chase the big money projects which aren’t always the ones which produce good work or are rewarding.

GraphicHug: I’m always reading UK being championed as the world’s most thriving creative hub. Do you intend on setting up over there one day and return to your roots?

N55: I’ve never had a life plan, although I sometimes wish I did set some targets.  At the moment I am very happy in Dubai, and I am enjoying life at North55 so I can’t really ask for too much more. I only really know design, so if I end up moving back to the UK or anywhere else then design would follow in one form or another.

GraphicHug: According to a recent article in Design Week, there has been an increase in UK graduates moving to and looking for work abroad. What is your take on that, being an employer yourself and having made the transition?

N55: I welcome it; Dubai lacks fresh talent. The classic structure of agencies is lost here, so you often find top-heavy companies, or companies with little turnover of staff which risk becoming a little stale. As an employer though it can be tough, Dubai is expensive and graduates rarely have the luxury of living with parents, so employing fresh talent can be expensive compared to the UK.  The result is you will often find junior designers with too much commercial pressure on them, as they have to pay their way.  In the ideal world we’d pay them less, but give them more support and training to allow them to adapt to the commercial world of design.

GraphicHug: Can you describe yours, and in turn the companies’ approach to a typical creative brief? For instance do you adhere to a winning formula or not?

N55: In general, the project manager along with myself would develop the brief based upon the initial client meetings.  We would then share this with the appropriate design team, depending on the task. We always try to have at least three creatives tackle a brief at the first stage, where we encourage them to spill all their thoughts, research, and ideas on the table.  This often includes the good, the bad and the ugly!  Once we’ve explored this stage, we would normally narrow down the routes to develop, and reduce the number of team members working on the project. The next stage would be initial concepts, which we may review internally a few times before being presented to the client.

Ideas can come from anywhere, so creatives are encouraged to leave their desks and more importantly their monitors to allow their ideas to develop.  We have a break-out area in the office or they can grab a coffee outside, as long as they come up with the ideas, it doesn’t matter where.

GraphicHug: Does this make you less hands-on as you’ve progressed to your current role as creative director/partner. Do you prefer still to be hands on?

N55: It’s a compromise.  I love to design – it’s a hobby for me which I make a living off, but the reality of starting a company is that you spend a lot of time working with the other designers, helping them develop their work, and this is also a part of the job I really enjoy.  The rest of my time is spent on admin, which you could say is the boring part, but it’s an area where I’ve had to learn on the job, and I have started to enjoy more as I’ve gained confidence.

One area of crictism I have for design education is that they ignore the commercial aspect of the industry. I honestly feel that designers should have an element of business studies incorporated into their creative courses, as so many good designers get lost in the real world.  They get used and abused, they become a cog in a big corporate design factory.

GraphicHug: So who and what are your current influences? Would you say these have changed along with your design sensibilties throughout your career?

N55: I have never claimed to be, or desired to be a revolutionary cutting edge designer, so all these poster-boy designers of the eras have bored me.  People get carried away and everyone starts to follow the same trends, work starts to look the same and you stop being a designer. My influences have generally been colleagues.  When I was younger I worked with some great designers and business people.  Not all of them were recognised for their work or efforts, but I learnt so much from them.

GraphicHug: So besides the obvious – namely the sun-soaked and tax-free lifestyle, what is most redeeming thing about being a designer in the UAE?

N55: Exciting opportunities, simple as that. That’s why it’s so important to use them.

GraphicHug: So what would be your ideal project and is there any work you would turn down?

N55: It’s a cliché but my ideal project is the next one!  I hate being quiet, so I always enjoy starting the next job.  And yes we’ve turned down plenty of jobs over the years (a few less this year!) but you have to have some intergrity.  Some jobs we simply could not handle, some projects are not best suited to our skill set, and some would simply bring the company profile down.

GraphicHug: So to finish – what’s on the agenda for this weekend…?

N55: Family stuff really.  I have two little boys which I don’t see enough of through the week, so most of our weekends are spent with them.

GraphicHug: It’s been great talking to you Craig.

Published on November 25, 2009 – 6:56 am | 2 Comments

By Graeme Stephenson | Posted in Design / Branding, Design / General, Design / Graphic, Hug, Interview / Studio |