The Demon Barbers
Brand Development and Website Design

We've been working with the maverick English folk band The Demon Barbers for the last few months, updating their identity and creating them a website which is quickly becoming their second home!

Here's a sneak preview before we get more details on our website!


Logo Identity
Maverick English Folk - fun for all the family!






Website Design
The website has everything a band could possibly need, gig listings, media players, a shop and a forum so they can be in touch with their audiences all over the world...

Grace Stephenson Jewellery Designer and Maker
Website Header for Grace's New Online Shop

Grace Stephenson approached us at Design By If after seeing some of our previous work. She's a silversmith based in Newcastle and is about to launch her brand new online shop. Grace is just starting out, so our webheader was a perfect way of giving her a great new look but at a price that was affordable to her.

We worked closely with Grace making sure that we created something that was contemporary, playful and personal to her own designs. The pendant design is based on one of her own signature pieces.

The website is under construction so we'll let you know when it's up and running!


Web Header
Grace Stephenson

New Blog Header for Soupa
A nice Autumny banner for Soupa Creative Network

We spent a few hours rustling up this fun seasonal blog header for Soupa Creative Network, an online community of Illustrators, Designers and Photographers founded by Jo Spencer. Go and check out the site for great works and pretty handmade things to buy.


Soupa Blog Header
October 2010

'Susans' project featured in new design book!
Creating Great Graphic Design to a Budget - by Scott Witham

We are very excited to announce that our recent project for Susans bakery is featured in RotoVisions recent publication Creating Great Graphic Design to a Budget - by Scott Witham. We are very proud to be featured alongside the likes of WPA Pinfold, Music and Traffic Design Consultants in a book that is described as "an excellent source of design inspiration".

The book showcases many different approaches to design and print and offers tips on how to produce great design on a strict budget. You can buy it for yourself here!

Here's a snapshot or two just to prove it!

Upcoming projects and new communities!

After a busy few months we are heading into late summer with many more projects lining up. More websites for Pure Records, The Demon Barbers and Laura Connolly while Pete Coe is busily arranging his next children's album 'Tall Tailes' ready for release in the new year. There are more projects in the pipeline but this should keep us busy for a week or two!

We've also just become a contributer to a new creative community based up here in Leeds called Hand Drawn Pixels. A great way for creative minds in the north to share and talk over new ideas. If you have interesting things to say go and join up!

Laura Connolly
Logo and brand identity

Laura Connolly is a clog dancer and early years practitioner based in Newcastle. She is soon to feature in a BBC4 documentary on clog dancing in the North East presented by Charles Hazlewood. In the programme Laura teaches over 200 people some basic clog steps that are then performed as a flash mob clog event in the centre of Newcastle.

Laura has also recently gone solo after working at the Sage Gateshead for the past few years. It is essential that Laura gets her branding and website up and running before the show is aired so she can maximise on the publicity.

So far we have presented Laura with a range of logo identities, some of which are shown below. It was important to show her as a child friendly practitioner, but also as a trusted professional. A good mix of tradition and craft neatly blend these two ideas. Her favourite so far is option 1!

We'll keep you updated on progress...


A few Logo Options
Option 1




Option 2




Option 3

Kate Rusby
Website design and development

We’ve been working on Kate’s website for the past couple of months and the site has just been launched! Happy New Website day to Kate!

The website has been completely handed over to Emma at Pure Records who has complete control over all content. This enables Kate’s site to be independent from web builders and therefore avoiding added maintenance/update charges and waiting times.

One of our web wizards Tom Pitts helped with the web development and continues to be on hand to help out with anything we need him for in the future.

Please browse the site here.

Website Design and Development

Pete Coe
Art Direction and album artwork

Pete Coe is a folk singer who has been touring the folk clubs and festivals for the past 40 years. He approached Design By If to create artwork for his latest release Backbone and we were thrilled to help out! The album was launched this year at the Sidmouth Folk Festival and is going down a storm.

Fabulously talented illustrator Harriet Gray provided the stunning pencil work – have a look at some more of her work here.

Album Artwork

Fancy Pants
Clothing retail

We designed these lovely pants just for a bit of fun! For your own piece of limited edition designer pant wear nip down to www.soupa.co.uk and browse the shop. There are lots of beautiful and handmade gifts and home-wares waiting to be bought!

Design By If has been a member of the splendid creative network in London for the past year, you can keep up to date on design news on the Soupa blog and also find our profile here…

Fancy Pants

Gift Package

Wireless Grids Corporation
Branding and website design

Wireless Grids Corporation (WGC) has recently completed a merger with Varsity Media Group Acquisition Corp., of Austin, TX. They specialize in developing cutting edge software for next-generation seamless media and file sharing across the range of mobile and fixed operating systems.

Their growing team is currently engaged in a new phase of research and development and they are evolving their prototypes into commercial products.

This progress has encouraged the team to look into their own company brand. Design By If were commissioned to re-design the company’s logo, develop their branding and then apply this to the company website.

Logo Design

Brand Creation

The Demon Barbers
Album artwork

The Demon Barbers have recently released their 3rd full album ‘The adventures of Captain Ward’, with the help of the genius Tony Hall, Design By If produced the artwork. The band have been described as ’slightly unhinged’ with ‘maverick tendencies’ – what more can we say?!

You can buy the album direct from the band here

Album Artwork (cover)

Damien O'Kane
Brand creation, album artwork and website design

Damien O’Kane has recently been taken on by Pure Records. He has been performing for years with his family and various bands but Summer Hill, produced by Pure Records is his first solo album. Pure Records needed a brand look for Damien as a solo performer and we were happy to oblige!


Summer Hill Album Artwork
Cover of Damien’s debut album Summer Hill with stunning photography by Sarah Photo Girl. You can listen to a few snippets on his website, and buy his album from the Pure Records shop.




Website Design and Development
With help from one of our web guru’s Tom Pitts we built Damien a shiny new website. It was important that Damien, Emma and other colleagues at Pure Records were able to easily update and amend the website on a daily basis so each have their own log in codes and now have full control of the site. Please visit the site here.

Damien Barber and Mike Wilson
Photo shoot with Mark Howe

Damien Barber and Mike Wilson, nominees for Best Duo at the BBC Radio 2, Folk Awards 2010 released their album ‘Under the Influence’ in 2009. You can buy the splendid album here and listen to them here.

We are currently working on a new look for Damien and Mike starting with stunning photography by Mark Howe. Damien and Mike sing old traditional English songs with an honest, gritty approach. The photo’s are no frills representations of the guys and what they do. The photographs were taken at Kelham Island, an old industrial part of Sheffield. The featured pub regularly holds a folk club where the duo and many of their contemporaries have played. We wanted to show the Duo as they are and as they are seen by their fans.

All change!
Hello faithful blog followers! Sorry it's been a while since we updated you on goings on in the studio. It's been a busy few months so we're about to inundate you with new projects and news... Our new website is about to be launched which will provide a more formal setting for showcasing our work. We enjoy the informality of the blog however so will be continuing to run this alongside to offer more of a continual dialogue of current work and news.

Can't wait!

Time Gentlemen Please
What better way to entice me back to work after 2 weeks of Christmas laziness than a new dance show! Time Gentlemen Please is a show based largely on English traditional dance forms written and created by Artistic Director Damien Barber and Choreographer Bobak Walker. The musicians and traditional dancers are taken from The Demon Barber Roadshow, winners of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Best Live Act 2009. Here's a bit of their official blurb...

'Used to pushing the boundaries of English traditions the Demon Barbers take a further step and invite three young hip hop dancers for a night out at their local pub ‘The Fighting Cocks’. Clog, Rapper and Morris meet B-boying, Popping and Krump in this humourous and unmissable visual feast. Think Riverdance with a false moustache, Stomp with bells on and both sitting in the front seat of a Bugatti!'

The show will be launched in Leeds at the Carriageworks on 15h May 2010.

Promotional Image
These past two weeks I have been working on a promotional image for the show. Something that shows traditional dance but firmly placed in a contemporary setting. This image will be used for dance company and theatre programmes, posters, fliers and all other supporting literature.