Process · Strategy6 min
Why we design the boring pages first
Homepages win awards. Specification sheets win contracts. A defence of starting where nobody is looking.
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Brands with weight.
Foundry North is an independent creative studio in Manchester. We design brand identities, digital products, and websites for companies that make real things — and we judge the work by what it changes, not how it photographs.
- Est.
- 2016 — Ancoats, Manchester
- Practice
- Brand, product, web, type
- Capacity
- 8–10 projects a year
- Status
- Scheduling next quarter
Selected work
Recent engagements
- 01Halvard MarineA working identity for a working shipyardMaritime manufacturing · 2024
- 02LedgerlineFinance software that talks like a site managerConstruction fintech · 2024
- 03Tern TransitWayfinding for a network nobody could navigatePublic transport · 2023
- 04Slate & EmberSelling ceramics without the pottery clichésCraft & homeware · 2023
Capabilities
What we take on
01
Brand Identity
Positioning, naming, and visual identity for companies that need to look as capable as they are.
02
Digital Product
Interface design for software with real users and real stakes — from first prototype to shipped product.
03
Websites & E-commerce
Fast, durable websites and shops — designed and built in-house, handed over documented.
04
Type & Art Direction
Custom lettering, typographic systems, packaging, and campaign art direction for brands we've built — and a few we haven't.
Evidence
The studio in numbers
2016Founded in Ancoats, Manchester
12People, one building, no account layer
84Projects shipped to date
8–10Projects taken on per year
“Every design agency we spoke to wanted to make fintech look friendly. Foundry North made it look certain, which is what people who are owed money actually want.”
Journal
Notes from the floor
Design · Typography5 min
A grid is a promise
Visible structure isn't an aesthetic tic. It's a contract with the reader about where things will be.
Design · Strategy7 min
Blunt by design: what brutalism buys a commercial brand
Our house style gets called brutalist. Here's what that word means when there's revenue attached to it.
Eight to ten projects a year. Currently scheduling work for next quarter.
Start something →newwork@foundrynorth.example · +44 161 496 0233