Studio Ivy/Aidan lets the interplay of materials and mechanics lead its practice

Over the years at art school, the work of graphic designers Ivy Webb and Aidan Pinkney’s began to slowly intertwine. After finding an “unexpected shared practice” outside of their course curriculum during their first year, the pair have shared many creative collaborations since. Post graduation, the design duo have continued their creative partnership, and recent set up their joint studio practice in London: Ivy/Aidan.

The studio exists as a place to marry Aidan’s focus on type, print and editorial design with Ivy’s skills in hands-on making, art direction and photography; together they explore playful yet precise analogue techniques with “a spatial and material approach to design”. Brought to life with clever motion elements, their carefully orchestrated works often draw from places outside the graphic design scene. “It’s rare that we look within our own field for direct inspiration, instead we draw references from a range of subject matters such as dance and performance, set design, fashion and everyday objects we find around us,” says Ivy.

With the hopes of occupying a creative corner that sits somewhere in between the art and design world, Ivy and Aidan are applying their experimental approach to the interplay of materials and mechanics — led as much by happy accidents as they are by grids and systems. “We always love the unexpected moments that come from human precision and how these ‘quirks’ can generate an idea [...] we often pull apart an idea to make sure it’s distilled down to its most true form, making it tangible,” says Aidan.

This approach shines in the concept behind Time Saver: a project the pair embarked on for the launch of CSM Fashion Design graduate Alex Bagnall’s final sportswear collection, inspired by aviation equipment. Ivy and Aidan decided to craft flat lays of garment silhouettes that – when reduced to their graphic forms – look like something that’s about to take off. The smooth stop-motion movements of the silhouettes were a way to “subtly reference planes, to highlight the sleek breathability of Alex’s designs, and simplify the collections complex details”, Aidan says.