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A list of (some) design agencies in Cardiff
I currently work at the International Baccalaureate in Cardiff. My job title is Online Media Officer, quite vague – yes, but I basically do a bit of everything. A bit of graphic design, web development, Wordpress theme development, lots of CSS and the day to day content reviewing/update type stuff.
Sometime in the next two years though the IB is changing dramatically and my office will be closing and moving to The Hague in the Netherlands. For personal reasons I have decided that I won’t be going. So, I’m hoping that at the end of my time at the IB I will be ready to work for a studio or agency or try out some freelancing for real. I say ‘ready’ as I still think I’ve got lots of refining to do both in design and coding.
I thought it would be worth compiling a list of all the design studios and agencies in Cardiff that I know of or like for future reference. There’s quite a few agencies now in Cardiff producing some really nice work so I thought it would be nice to blog about them and showcase their work to a potentially international audience.This list is by NO means exhaustive and by all means leave a comment with the website of any agency I haven’t included. Chances are I simply haven’t heard of them.
1. Hoffi – website | twitter
Hoffi are a design agency based in Cardiff Bay. They advertise themselves primarily as branding specialists but they also have a pretty high profile web portfolio too. Furthermore, they specialise in bilingual communications projects (being Welsh this is a good earner and they do it well). They have also worked for my organisation - the IB in creating the Community Theme website and (inadvertantly) creating the consistent look and feel that you see across all IB sites.
2. Burning Red – website | twitter
Burning Red are another agency based in Cardiff Bay. They produce ‘edgy’ work (even though I hate describing anything as ‘edgy’ I have allowed myself to use it here) and have produced work for some of the ‘cooler’ companies in Cardiff. Not sure what’s going on with them at the moment as their website is just a holding page so it could hopefully mean a new website coming soon.
3. Carbon Studio – website | twitter
Carbon Studio are web design and gaming agency based in (you’ve guessed it) Cardiff Bay. I don’t know a great deal about their work but they have a flash driven website with some nice interactive things going on. Their portfolio shows a mix of online flash based games and websites for clients such as the BBC. What I do like about this company is that have an environmental policy and try to work on projects that have a carbon neutral output. Nice!
4. Box UK - website | twitter
Box UK are a long established web design, development, agency, consultancy, seo, graphic design etc etc. They do it all and they also have a nice office too, not in Cardiff Bay but in the city centre next to a nice tapas bar. They are a big company with offices in London aswell and they have a long list of high profile clients. Nice clean modern website that’s full of stuff worth checking out.
5. Sequence - website | no twitter?
Sequence are a digital agency that have been going for ages (1996 according to their website). They’ve worked with many of the big Welsh companies and organisations – BBC, Brains Beer, Welsh National Opera and even Doctor Who. They have a large remit of digital offerings and are one of the most agencies in Cardiff.
6. Mark Boulton Design - website | twitter
Mark Boulton is a globally known designer, speaker and author on all things web related. He has worked with some of the biggest companies in the online world most recently Drupal. His small design agency is based in Penarth and it seems from Marks’ Twitter that he’s never there but constantly trekking the globe speaking at various events. News is they are working on a new site design at the agency which will be interesting to see and hopefully online soon.
7. Creo - website | no twitter?
Creo are a web development agency sat round the corner from Box UK. I see these guys as more of a techy type web agency than a heavy design focussed agency but their designs are nice and straightforward. Creo are responsible for creating the back end for the International Baccalaureate website (cold fusion) which I now manage. They’ve been going for ages and have good long list of decent clients.
Okay so that’s like my top 7. They are the ones that I have heard of and/or like what they do and how they work. Below is a list of some of the other design agencies and studios in Cardiff that I stumbled across…
5 Comments for A list of (some) design agencies in Cardiff
Owain | November 27, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Huw | December 3, 2009 at 11:40 am
Hi Matt, cool site, great work on the City Surf site, was gutted when I called them and found out someone was already working on it 
Cheers for the Rootsy mention
Huw
Matt | December 10, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Thanks for the feedback. I really like what the pair of you are doing. It amazes me how many web designers there are in Cardiff. It’s a wonder that there’s any work going round.
I’d be interested to know which agencies you don’t like and why Owain.
Owain | December 13, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Hi Matt.
Yeah there is certainly no shortage of web design agencies in Cardiff. Foolishly I’m working on starting one as we speak.
With regard to the one’s I like and don’t I guess it’s a matter of personal preference and it can be hard to quantify sometimes. Maybe I’ve spend too much time looking at CSS galleries. Haha. The Carbon Studio site really impressed me and Box UK are also amazing.
Keep up the good work. I was really impressed when I found your site!
Mark | December 14, 2009 at 8:49 am
Hi Matt,
Nice site and just to let you know the Sequence Twitter feed is @sequence_agency
Cheers for the mention,
Mark
Hey Matt. Great site and some great work you have here especially the CitySurf site. You definitely have skills. There were a few on here I hadn’t really noticed before. Some I like and some I really don’t.
Cheers