About

Hello there. I am Matthew Rudd – a brand designer, an artist and occasionally a musician. I grew up with artist parents and went on to study Visual Communication at Central Saint Martins and The Royal College of Art, before setting up Rudd Studio in 2002. I wanted to bring an artistic sensibility to brand projects and I was very lucky to establish working relationships in the early years of the studio which allowed me to do this, most notably with Channel 4 in the UK.

For small brand projects I work on my own. On bigger projects I work with my trusted circle of collaborators. I also collaborate with brand agency Undivided, whose experience in brand strategy dovetails with my experience in visual identity.

I like to draw inspiration from the world of art as I work on brand projects. For the rebranding of a major British Arts Centre for example (coming soon), my concept was inspired by the work of the Dada artists a hundred years ago and my idea for the 2010 Channel 4 Rebrand came from Cubist art.

I find that art is a better source of inspiration when designing brands than other brand design. It helps me to make things which are beautiful, and which are able to engage people in an emotional way. It helps me to bypass the trends of the day and to make work which rises above the visual noise of our times.

In recent years I started to devote some of my working life to making art. I felt that artistic ideas had come up in brand projects which I wanted to develop further. My ‘colour-picking’ logo design for ITV in the UK, for example, seemed to scratch the surface of something really interesting, and this device became a part of my artistic explorations. Ever since my first (and only) job – designing record covers – I’ve used photography in my design work, and this medium is central to my art practice. You can have a look at my art here.

I’ve always loved music, and earlier in my career I composed music for some of the broadcast projects I was designing. More recently I have been writing and recording songs at home. On the first day of 2021 I published an EP – a collection of six songs which I wrote, performed and recorded with a little help from my friends. Have a listen to it here on Spotify, here on Apple Music, or search for Matthew Rudd – In Our World – on all the major music platforms. I wrote this blog post about it.

As someone who has spent a lot of time helping organisations to tell a clear story, I know that the story told here is not a neat and tidy one. But there is magic in the messiness. I learned that good work isn’t only about perfecting a single craft. It is also about the unexpected thinking that comes from porting ideas from one discipline to another, or by working in a field where you are less aware of the conventions. The seeds for this thinking were planted for me when I was lucky enough to meet Milton Glaser in 2013. His practice perfectly illustrates how art and design can complement each other.

I am inspired by the increasingly mixed-up, interdisciplinary environment in which we live and work. Driven by the relentless march of technology, people are making and consuming things in new ways. Branded content is replacing advertising and artists are making TV idents. Our creative environment is turning into a mash-up of talents and disciplines and I find this very exciting.

I am always interested to meet new people and start good conversations. Do send an email to matt@ruddstudio.com and let’s talk.