Interstate was always going to be different

Our first two clients were both in motor sport, a business that moves almost as fast as the cars. With clients focussed on lap times and pit lane strategy, we learned quickly that waiting for the perfect brief or the ideal moment for a meeting was never going to work. We learned to trust our instincts and the clients began to trust them too.

1998 was the year that saw us on this steep learning curve. Launched in a classic agency break-away with a few promises of future work, a team of eight design professionals knew that this was the moment to take control of their own destinies. Interstate - taking something or someone from one state to another - helped demonstrate our belief in our ability and the power of our craft to bring
change and transformation as positive agents to our clients’ businesses - clients who were entrepreneurial, results focussed and incredibly hard to please.

This vision was the guiding light when Interstate was born in a flat in Chiswick and remains true today. What was an aspiration has today become more concrete with a growing list of loyal clients, often a leading company in its sector. During the past ten years Interstate has selected and moulded an outstanding team of designers and craftsmen. Some have been hired as seniors from other agencies and from other countries, but many have been nurtured from graduation to apply the particular craft that now defines Interstate.

Rome wasn't built in a day (or so Giulio tells us)

2009

  • Interchange...

    We reveal our new ‘interchangable’ identity.

  • Indy-state 500

    We design the livery for Townsend Bell and KV Racing’s Herbalife sponsored entry in the 2009 Indy500 race.

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  • Making Waves

    We create the brand identity for Maalem, a newly established institutional investor based in the Arabian Gulf.

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  • Absent Elk

    Former Interstate team member Kjetil Morland and his band, Absent Elk, support Girls Aloud on their 2009 UK tour.

2008

  • "We are QPR, we are QPR"

    Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore purchase Queens Park Rangers Football Club and invite us to design a new stadium signage system and VIP passes.

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  • Interserve

    We update the studio server to hold a staggering 7 terabytes of data.

2007

  • Crown Prince opens Amwaj

    His Highness Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa officially opens Amwaj Islands alongside Saud Abdulaziz Kanoo, Chairman, Ossis Property Developers.

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  • New York Festivals

    Our interactive design for the new WhippetGrey website is shortlisted for a 2007 NY Festivals award.

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  • Preston 2 Norwich 6

    Linn Trones joins the Interstate team as a designer from Norway, via Norwich School of Art.

  • Kelly Lear Joins

    Kelly Lear re-joins the Interstate team as senior designer. Kelly previously worked at Interstate in 2004 before returning to her native Australia.

  • Jonathan Henton Joins

    Jonathan Henton joins the Interstate team as a designer from 999 Design.

2006

  • £10 million

    Our revenue reaches £10 million since starting trading in 1998.

  • Iain Hutchinson joins

    Iain Hutchinson joins the Interstate team as deputy creative director. Iain previously worked at 999 Design and The Open Agency.

2005

  • Louise Caton Joins

    Louise Caton joins the Interstate team as a designer after working as a visual merchandiser. Louise graduated from the BA (Hons) Information Design course at the London College of Communication in 2004.

  • Ben Watts Joins

    Ben Watts joins the Interstate Digital production team.

  • Kjetil Morland Joins

    Kjetil Morland joins the Interstate team from Norway via Kingston as a designer.

  • B&Q Sets Sail

    We brand Dame Ellen MacArthur’s record breaking Kingfisher sponsored trimaran.

2004

  • Lucy Self Joins

    Lucy Self joins the Interstate team as a designer after graduating from the BA (Hons) Information Design Pathway course at London College of Communication.

  • 04.04.04

    4th of April 2004, race day, the inaugural Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix gets off to a flyng start.

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  • Christmas Break

    We celebrated Christmas on the slopes in Lech, Austria - only one broken wrist.

2003

  • BIC Pitch Win

    We win a seven way pitch to design the new brand identity for the Bahrain International Circuit which is to host the Arabian Gulf’s first Grand Prix in 2004.

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  • Fast Track

    During our first year working in Bahrain Managing Director Nick Downes makes 17 return trips to the Kingdom.

2002

  • Melbourne GP

    The Panasonic Toyota Racing Formula One team start 14th and 16th on the grid at their first F1 championship race, the Australian Grand Prix.

  • The Green Book

    We produce our first brochure showcasing 24 of our best projects from 1998 to 2002.

2001

  • Preston 1 Norwich 5

    Louis Weiner joins the Interstate team as a designer fresh from Norwich School of Art, our fifth Norwich student.

  • Winterstate

    The team bump into Dolph Lundgren on the ice rink in Stockholm.

  • Federal Espresso

    The studio’s La Cimbali M21 Junior arrives and quickly becomes Giulio’s new best friend!

  • New Studio

    In March 2001 we began the renovation work on our new Notting Hill studio.

  • TF102 Launch

    Toyota Formula One launch their new TF102 racing car in Cologne with our dynamic new livery.

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  • Zita West is Born

    We design the identity for Zita West, a start-up company by an expert midwife, acupuncturist and nutritional adviser.

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2000

  • Giulio Ruggieri Joins

    Giulio Ruggieri joins the Interstate team as an interactive designer. He later becomes the director of interactive production.

  • James Jeanes Joins

    James Jeans joins the digital production team.

  • Brian Simpson Joins

    Brian Simpson joins the Interstate team as an artworker. As Interstate grows as a company Brian becomes the director of the production department.

  • Jaguar Racing

    Our major project of 2000 was the rebranding of the Jaguar Formula 1 team.

  • Interchange

    We go green. After two years we reveal a fresh new identity to align with the now more confident and matured Interstate.

1999

  • Jayne Connell Joins

    Jayne Connell joins Interstate as a partner and account director. Jayne was previously an associate director at Futurebrand.

  • 1st £1 Million

    We record an annual revenue of £1 Million in only our second year of trading.

  • Save the Rhino

    We start working for the charity Save the Rhino. To show his dedication to the cause creative director Nigel Gray embarks on a gruelling sponsored bike ride across Namibia in aid of the charity.

  • V8 Star

    We design the identity for V8 Star, a brand new European silhouette racing series  based on the American Nascar series.

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  • Benetton Formula

    Benetton Formula communications strategy developed. Presentation to Rocco Benetton, Chief Executive.

1998

  • Agency Breakaway

    Interstate is founded by Nick Downes and Nigel Gray in a classic agency breakaway. They establish the company in a flat in Chiswick Green Studios.

  • Our First Identity

    Our first identity symbolises our three core disciplines - branding, interior and interactive - and the interesting results that occur when the three overlap.

  • Our First Job

    Our first job was the redesign of the Porsche Supercup identity as they moved from a European only supporting event to a global stage.

Our studio

The environment in which we work is probably important to us all but for us it is the setting for our creative interaction and where we have to practice our chosen ‘subject’. The built environment is the expression which refers to the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity and for a creative business that is a critical dynamic that must exist and must exist in a way that fosters inventive and lateral thinking. When we realised that our ‘start-up’ office no longer satisfied our
business needs, we began the search for a space that offered the location, atmosphere and character for a studio centric business. We found that place in a small mews in Notting Hill; an old, fairly scruffy stable that was in need of refurbishment and a few shiny-surfaces. John Tomalin-Reeves helped us layout the space and designed a dramatic entrance to house the administration team. The studio revolves around one, 15 metre long, central desk that accomodates most of the design team and offers an interesting
insight into the anthropology of the company: left brain, right brain and wired brains combine to create ideas and craft concepts. For the process-driven manager it is as close to an armageddon experience as one could wish for but we have many years of experience managing large creative challenges and the studio provides a brilliant canvas for everything that happens here. NG/09

The Arabian Gulf

Prior to 2003 the Arabian Gulf, and Bahrain
in particular, was a destination on my father's

Dad was Alan Downes, a founder member of ITN in 1955 and for 32 years one of its most distinguished 'hard-news' cameramen. He shot some of the most influential and revealing film footage of the modern era. In the 60s, 70s and 80s he was frequently embedded in a troubled city or a conflicted outpost: from the famine of Biafra to his 1972 film of Vietnamese women and children on Route 1 immediately after a US napalm attack etched an enduring image of the horrors of war that went all the way to the White House. According to Mike Nicholson, he perfected his art from the ground-up, joining ITN from school and when not recording action in El Salvador or Eritrea could be found on his racing bike... an energetic perfectionist.


global news-gathering resumé and, like many
of his travels, was a source of great curiosity.
When Bahrain secured the first F1 race in the
Middle East the opportunity to walk in the same
footsteps was too good to miss. We established
contact with HE Shaikh Mohammed

and were
added to the shortlist for the FIA grade 1 venue
being built in the middle of the Island.
After an intensive seven-way pitch Interstate's
'Arabesque' concept of tradition, modernised was
selected to represent Bahrain International Circuit.

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The experience was a fantastic mixture of cultural
immersion and learnings and professional
achievements. In 2004 Bahrain won Formula
One's coveted 'Best Promotor' award and we
continued to help the best Bahraini businesses
develop their brand communications. We are
most proud of our work in Bahrain. ND/09

Dad was Alan Downes, a founder member of ITN in 1955 and for 32 years one of its most distinguished 'hard-news' cameramen. He shot some of the most influential and revealing film footage of the modern era. In the 60s, 70s and 80s he was frequently embedded in a troubled city or a conflicted outpost: from the famine of Biafra to his 1972 film of Vietnamese women and children on Route 1 immediately after a US napalm attack etched an enduring image of the horrors of war that went all the way to the White House. According to Mike Nicholson, he perfected his art from the ground-up, joining ITN from school and when not recording action in El Salvador or Eritrea could be found on his racing bike... an energetic perfectionist.

View Client Portfolio