Behind The Scenery - Graphic Design

Welcome to Behind The Scenery. A new feature of the 1805 Journal where you can get to know the people who make your theatre what it is today!

Today we're talking with Jamie Ellul, the Creative Director of Supple Studio, the team who redesigned and revived our 1805 Club membership in 2023. Every bit of graphic design work undertaken in our rebrand last year was carefully and meticulously designed by Jamie and his team, from the new membership brochure, to the logo on your new membership cards, to the gold signage in the 1805 Rooms. Every minute detail was designed and delivered by Supple.

Supple Studio are a small local business with a huge national reputation and we are delighted to have worked with them on the 1805 Club. Supple are official corporate partners of TRB, having donated a significant portion of their time to this project in order to support us achieve our charitable aims and objectives. 

Jamie is an awarded member of D&AD and regularly sits on the judging panel of international awards schemes such as Design Week, Pentawards and D&AD. He started his design career at hat-trick design consultants in 2001 after graduating from Somerset College of Arts. In 2013 Jamie relocated to Bath where he started Supple Studio, bringing with him a wealth of experience and an enviable list of clients including Channel 4, Royal Mail, The Royal Mint, University of the Arts London, The Royal Institution, The Chartered Society of Designers, NSPCC and National Museums of Scotland.

In this interview we find out about Jamie's design process, the concept of the 1805 Club and what it means to run an ethical business in 2024. 

What brief were you given by TRB?

Our brief was to improve the communications and assets needed to market the 1805 Rooms for VIP and member packages. A new identity that reflects the refurbished rooms. Giving the membership offer a more modern twist with a view to building the 45-60 year old membership base from a predominately 60+ base. 

And we needed to communicate the fact that membership offers direct access to the theatre due to the location of the rooms – giving members their own door into the auditorium.

Can you describe your process? What comes first? Where do the ideas come from?

We always start projects with research and a solid understanding of the client’s needs. So we visited the space to get a feel for it and understand the membership experience. 

Then we go away and scribble – we always start with sketches before moving to the computer. It allows our ideas to be fluid and more about the idea itself than the execution – so we’re not swayed by sexy visuals or beautiful typefaces. Our approach is always concept first then relevant styling and execution. 

We tend to get 2-3 of the team on this stage of a project so that we have several perspectives and a bigger mixing pot of ideas.

How did you arrive at the final designs? What do they say?

We had two concepts for the identity – one made the 0 of 1805 into a keyhole; the idea of a glimpse into the unseen parts of the theatre. And the other used a clever crop of the 0 that echoed the unusual shape of the stage at TRB. 

It was felt that the second idea was more unique to the theatre. And it paired nicely with a copy idea – f ‘Help set the stage for more powerful theatre’. 

The 0 / stage then became a vehicle for imagery from the extensive TRB photography archive. With cutout elements that break out of the 0 shape suggesting scale and dynamism. 

Why did you decide to set up your business in Bath? What advantages does Bath hold over Bristol or London?

I’d worked in London since 2001 and had setup an agency five years before moving to Bath in 2013. I felt it was a good time to change cities from a family point of view as my kids were getting ready for school. And I could see that the ways of working in design were changing – we were having less face-to-face meetings thanks to tech advancements. So I thought we could pull off the same level of work and client relationships from somewhere that wasn’t the capital.  Bath was the natural choice as my brother lived here and it’s got easy links to London where most of our clients were when we first setup. Plus my parents had moved us to Somerset from London when I was a kid. So I knew the area a bit and didn’t want to live in a provincial town. 

The main advantage of being here is a better quality of life. Cheaper housing (just), cheaper studio rent, more green spaces and less of a commute to work. 

You’re a B-Corp now! How does that affect your practice?

Yes we became a B-Corp on xmas eve 2022. It was a very involved process that pushed us to self reflect as a business and has made us a better company to work with a for I think. Overall it’s made us more aware of our impact on the planet and the impact our work has too in terms of who we work with. We’re now carbon neutral, we plant trees every month with Ecologi and have a better handle on our supply chain for things like print and production. 

But the main commitment we’ve made is to 50% of our work coming from not-for-profit, purpose-led and education clients. And we also give 5% of our time in pro bono design services. The 1805 Club work was a mix of fee paying and pro bono work. And we’ve done similar projects like the Wonder Fund with the same approach. We love doing charity and pro bono work for local clients as we get to see the effects first hand. We’re just writing up our first B-Corp impact report and we’ve actually hit 56% of our work being for good – which we’re very proud of. 

What work or projects are you most proud of?

Well this probably changes from month to month. We don’t tend to look back too much – for us you’re only as good as your next project. But one project that’s defined the kind of work we want to do (and are good at) is the Squirrels brand identity for Scouts. That project brought together everything we love – big ideas, loads of touch points and an audience of kids and parents. Dreamy. And it seems to get us lots more work too – we’ve been working with Bikeability (the cycling proficiency people) who found us through the Squirrels work. 

Any exciting projects in the pipeline?

One of our most regular clients is the Royal Mail. We’ve got two special stamp issues on the boil for them at the moment. But if I tell you what the subject matter is I’ll have to kill you…

Thank you so much, Jamie!

Interview: Nicholas Fleming

Photos: Tom Hull