Cave Studio Is Live
George Edge (left), Dennis McInnes (right)
So, let's set the scene. You want to establish yourself in a particular industry so you decide that you need a website. You don’t love Wix or Squarespace, but you've never done this before and the platforms are seemingly easy to use. You start creating your brand, because well, it's yours, but then, after a couple of months, nothing comes of it. You are left looking at a digital trail of dead ends, dry designs and dud copy with the only course of action to be to untether your debit card from the subscription. Sure, your website has a Scandi aesthetic, but is minimal still even trending? And your posters and album cover look OK, but why settle for a workshopped project versus a good ol’ design made for you? None of that Dior Sauvage collectivism. Look instead to the prowess of design agencies and small practicez capable of flipping your idea into a story and your story into something that sticks — crafted, pushed out, and lapped up.
The best designs live in the present and evolve into the future and Cave Studio is one such entity that creates visual identities that are marketable but also personable and sustainable. Edge and McInnes provide elevated designs that cultivate ideas and promote action. Together, they enhance the meaning of images to a standard that garners attention much like a Reddit typography thread (at least for me).
Ahluwalia Spring/Summer 2022
Take their collaboration for Ahluwalia Spring/Summer 2022 for instance. Priya Ahluwalia, the Creative Director and Founder of the brand, shared how the creative duo began with "discussing the overall direction of the collection... then exchanged extensive research and storytelling concepts" before developing their graphics and prints for the line.
Edge and McInnes once worked as separate entities, now as a team, they aim to also include their collaborators in the decision-making for their projects. British visual artist Haroon Mirza also worked with the two on the branding for his record label, OUTPUTS, which has grown since. They didn't come in and change his idea. Mirza said that instead, they “built on the initial reference material both visually and conceptually to create something that embodied the core ethos of what OUTPUTS is about."
Youtube Music: Hip Hop History Month
It's Peak
Nike: Our City
Outsourcing is too harsh a word for what design studios do. Cave Studio makes things. They allow artists and creators to tell their stories. They collaborate and work alongside businesses on branding, consulting, and creating websites and logos. They push to expose the heart of a brand then let it interact with and saturate the minds of an audience.
Until, of course, we buy.
