Pooling Talents
October 2011
A lawyer and a designer who have worked for some of the biggest companies in the world have joined forces to set up a design firm with a difference in Shropshire.
Carl Jones, who runs Carl Jones Design and was behind the branding of Tesco, and lawyer Nick Blackbourn, who was part of the team who put together the Guinness “Pure Genius” campaign
in the 1980s, have set up Blackbourn & Jones to pool their talents.
Full package
The move comes with new legislation set to allow members of the legal profession to offer services outside their remit, and will effectively be run as a design company offering a full package of services.
Mr Blackbourn said: “It is a new, unique partnership that has not been done before. The central issue is how can we best serve clients in a more integrated way. “We don’t just look at the legal side of things, we look at the commercial aspects as well. It brings together different skills that haven’t been brought together in the past. “It’s a business where the design aspect will be the lead rather than the legal side. Carl will lead that side of things, but I can bring in an understanding of the business. This is step one, and we are thinking if this works what else can bring in under our branding in the future.”
The pair have worked in collaboration in the past, when Mr Blackbourn recommended clients to his new business partner. Now, however, they are making the working relationship formal in the hope of working beyond the design element of companies’ needs.
They will effectively be offering design and legal services together, with a focus on the design
consultancy.
Departure
Mr Jones said: “It’s a bit of a departure, and is different to how others are doing things. “A lot of clients ask for recommendations from partners, and now I’m able to not just recommend but offer the services for Nick. It’s like a mini networking group but under a single banner.”
Mr Jones has also designed logos for a number of Shropshire companies, including Linder Myers
Solicitors, Battlefield 1403, and Wenlock Springwater.