Status: On-duty.
Hi there people of the internet, nice to finally meet you. It’s good to be here!
We are Duties, or currently more commonly known as Paul and Erling. As longtime friends (and designers) from opposite sides of the globe we have always had a shared appreciation for design spanning various disciplines. After working in agencies and startups between Oslo and Sydney it only made sense that we finally start something of our own. The result of our combined skill sets is an independent studio based in Oslo working primarily across digital product design and brand identities alongside a variety of other creative services. But before all that, we needed a name.
So, why the name Duties?
The word duties can be defined as the following:
- A moral or legal obligation; a responsibility.
- A task or action that one is required to perform as part of one’s job.
The initial concept behind the name was to have something that represented the notion of a solid work ethic, being service-minded and demonstrating responsibility to our clients. Essentially, we believe it is our duty as designers to provide the world with thoughtfully designed products and identities that are both functional, accessible and visually beautiful.
Secondly, it’s a flexible word choice that can be built upon to encompass a larger brand ecosystem and naming conventions for various studio outputs. For example, when we are on-duty, we are engaged in paid client work. When we are off-duty, you can find us creating experimental typefaces, dabbling in photography and curating our studio playlists on Spotify (Sound Duty). Our line of in-house merchandise such as t-shirts and tote bags are branded as Heavy-Duty Soft Goods whilst accessories are classified as Heavy-Duty Hardware. Digital resources such as typefaces and assets fall under the name Heavy-Duty Software. These outputs will be made available through our Off-Duty store launching in the near future.
Our wordmark also contains some conscious design decisions to tie in with the Duties name, most notably via the use of a punctuation mark known as a colon. This device consists of two equally sized dots centered on a common vertical axis. Firstly, the dots represent the two of us that make up Duties as a studio. Secondly, the colon as a punctuation mark often precedes an explanation or a list; which in our case is a list of creative duties, processes and responsibilities that we perform for our clients and their end-users. Cue: next point.
A duty of care.
We are passionate about what we do. We care about our processes, our craft and producing the best possible solution for any given context within a project. But beyond that we also care about our clients and their stakeholders, as well as the wider ecosystem in which the final product or design exists within. We therefore prefer to act as a creative partner to our clients wherever possible, sharing a vested interest in their projects and success. If their users or customers are happy, we are happy and can confidently feel like we have successfully done our job. If our clients’ brand or business looks good, we look good. If they do well, we should (in theory) do well too.
We also want to be there to offer support to our clients before, during, and after a project. We aim to be flexible when times are tough. We are collaborative. We want to be transparent and build trust by ensuring they are with us throughout the entire creative process. All this however is a two-way street. When a client is on board and excited about a project, we get excited. That’s when the magic happens; because when they care, we care.
We have been lucky enough to work with a range of excellent companies and people throughout the years and we are always excited to hear from future collaborators about exciting ventures, new opportunities and problems to solve. Take a look at our website and see what we’ve done and how we can help you with your next project.
Already got something in mind? Let’s chat (the first coffee is on us).
