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"We liberate ideas the world deserves," declares Cat How, co-founder of design and branding agency How&How. It's a bold mission statement that encapsulates the agency's approach to transformative brand work, and one that has guided them through five years of industry turbulence.
Since launching during the pandemic, How&How has navigated Silicon Valley Bank's collapse, tech industry contractions, and the AI revolution while expanding from Portugal to establish teams in London and Los Angeles. Their secret? An unwavering commitment to values-driven creativity that's as selective about clients as it is about talent.
"We’re fortunate enough to be in a position where we won’t just take any job," How explains. "We've got very high standards for the clients we want to work with as well as our team. It means everyone gets the best out of the project and we produce the best and bravest work together"
This principled stance might seem risky in uncertain economic times, but it's precisely this approach that has fuelled How&How's growth while other agencies struggled through post-pandemic downturns.
Building a values-first creative culture
How&How emerged organically from the complementary skills of its founders - How's background in journalism and graphics, and her husband Roger How’s decade at the BBC. After running several creatively driven businesses, including an e-commerce platform for designer makers and co-working spaces, they recognised their true calling.
"We were always running those businesses a bit like agencies anyway," How reflects. "We always placed a lot of emphasis on art direction, photography and branding."
What distinguishes How&How isn't just creative output, but its operational ethos. As a certified B Corporation with a transparent tiered salary system, the agency has built equality into its foundations from day one.
The result is a studio environment that's noticeably different from industry norms. "It's very ego-free," How notes, "and a lot of people who’ve joined us have commented on how our vibe is more egalitarian and generally more supportive than other places they’ve been."
Transforming brands through collaborative creativity
For How&How, the most exciting projects share two key characteristics: brave clients and purpose-driven products.
“Our job is to create transformation. And the best way you can create the most meaningful transformation is to have a client who's brave and up for being pushed to consider things which are completely different. A client who knows that being differentiated is how you produce a brand that people will remember and talk about. Because we know that renown creates fame, and fame creates value—and ultimately we all want to create valuable brands"
This philosophy is evident in their work for Wild Thingz, a vegan candy brand that challenged category conventions. Observing that healthy children's snacks were typically marketed with "very worthy and very boring" packaging, How&How positioned Wild Things to compete with sugar-laden competitors like Haribo and Skittles.
"We thought, why do bad sweets have all the fun?" How asks. "We surely can be a good sweet and still have as much fun." The resulting brand features a Venus Flytrap-inspired mascot inspired by a tattoo with "massive teeth" and vibrant, playful typography that stands out dramatically from health food competitors. Since launch the Wild Thingz has gone stratospheric.
The project exemplifies How&How's collaborative approach, beginning with an agency-wide brainstorm that included everyone from interns to client services. "Everyone on the team had some sort of little investment in the project itself because they felt they contributed their ideas at the beginning," How explains.
This co-creative ethos extends to client relationships as well. Unlike traditional agencies where designers "beaver away at something for several weeks" before presenting finished work, How&How maintains constant communication, sharing Figma files, integrating on Slack, and creating shared Google drives.
"We place a lot of emphasis on the client feeling like they're in control of things all the way and that we're there as guides to try and push them as much as we can," How says. "Nothing's ever just dumped on them. We work together every step of the way."
Bucking trends in the AI era
As artificial intelligence reshapes the creative landscape, How&How has taken a nuanced approach, embracing AI as a tool while questioning its aesthetic influence, particularly in the tech sector.
"AI is not going anywhere," How acknowledges. "So we’re getting ahead of the curve, working with it and harnessing its sheer power to supercharge our work. I see it as a huge opportunity to amplify the curation, skill and direction all of us in the team have"
Yet the agency deliberately counters the homogenising effect of AI on brand design." We carve out that point of differentiation during the design process. We don’t create work that gets lost in a sea of AI-generated branding”
This anti-trend stance led to their work for Jupi, an AI decision-making tool with a distinctly un-AI aesthetic. "The logo is like a pair of walking legs," How describes. "It looks like it's cut from the Flintstones. It's very human, very rough and chunky, but it's completely different to what's being seen out there at the moment."
This approach reflects a broader industry shift that How has observed: "Ad agencies are moving increasingly more upstream into design territory doing brand identities now, which conventionally wasn't the case and only a few had dabbled in." She attributes this "land grab" to AI's impact on production work, forcing agencies to expand their offerings, a challenge How&How is addressing by considering its own downstream expansion.
The human touch in a digital world
Despite its digital expertise, How&How maintains a deeply human approach to both client and team relationships. When team members face personal challenges - from marathon recovery to family emergencies, the agency responds with thoughtful gestures.
This care extends to client relationships as well. "We fly people to New York for a special event if that client's putting on a launch of their brand," How explains. "We send them a bottle of champagne if they become a Chairman or reach a big milestone in the business. Once you finish a job, we believe those relationships we have with clients live on as part of one extended family"
Such gestures might seem small, but they reflect How&How's understanding that meaningful business relationships transcend transactional exchanges. As How puts it: "We see clients after we finish a job, we maintain friendships. These are people we see grow and want to continue to.”
Looking ahead: growth without compromise
As How&How celebrates its fifth anniversary, How remains focused on expansion without diluting the agency's core values. The London team has reached what she considers "a really nice number" at 26 people, with growth efforts now concentrated on building the American presence.
Despite economic uncertainties and industry disruptions, How remains committed to the agency's selective approach. "Being able to navigate it in a way, but still be able to produce the work we want to and still be able to gently turn people away whilst obviously still having to pay the bills," she reflects, has "galvanised everyone" at the agency.
In an industry where compromise often seems inevitable, How&How has demonstrated that principled creativity can be both commercially viable and personally fulfilling. By maintaining high standards for both clients and talent, the agency has created a distinctive position in the market, one that values quality, creativity, and human connection above all else.
"We want to be a point of reference for effective novelty, creativity and imagination," How says. In a world of increasingly homogenised design, that commitment to differentiation may be How&How's most valuable asset.
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