Lairds & Wren: The Edinburgh Studio Building Brands from the Ground Up

Tucked into a converted printing works on a quiet lane off Leith Walk, Lairds & Wren occupies a space that feels appropriate for a studio obsessed with craft and provenance. The ceilings are high, the walls are lined with shelves of reference books and archival packaging, and the atmosphere on any given morning is more library than agency. Founded in 2016 by Catriona Laird and James Wren, the studio has spent the better part of a decade establishing itself as one of Scotland's most considered branding practices.

The firm's focus is narrow by design. Lairds & Wren works exclusively on branding and identity, a discipline the founders believe requires a level of concentration that generalist agencies struggle to maintain. Their portfolio includes work for whisky distilleries, cultural institutions, hospitality groups, and a growing number of technology companies that have outgrown their first-generation logos and need something more enduring. Clients tend to find the studio through referral rather than advertising, which suits Catriona and James fine. They prefer relationships that begin with trust already in place.

Philosophy and Process

Ask anyone at the studio what makes Lairds & Wren different and you'll hear some version of the same idea: they treat identity design as an act of compression. The goal is not to illustrate everything a company does but to distill it into a single, resonant mark and a system flexible enough to carry that mark across decades and contexts. The studio's process is research-heavy and, by industry standards, slow. A typical project takes between four and six months, beginning with a period of immersion that involves interviewing stakeholders, studying competitors, and analysing the cultural landscape around a brand.

"We're not decorators. Our job is to find the structural truth of an organisation and give it a visual form that people can recognise instantly and remember forever. That takes patience and a willingness to throw away ideas that are merely beautiful."

That quote, from co-founder Catriona Laird in a 2022 interview with Creative Review, captures the studio's ethos well. There is a seriousness to the work, but not a coldness. The identities Lairds & Wren produce tend to have warmth and personality, a sense of life behind the geometry. Their 2021 rebrand of the Lothian Theatre Trust, which paired a restrained sans-serif wordmark with a richly textured colour palette drawn from Scottish theatrical tradition, won a D&AD Pencil and remains one of the studio's most recognised projects.

The Team

Lairds & Wren currently employs fourteen people, a size the founders consider close to ideal. The team includes brand strategists, graphic designers, a type designer, a motion specialist, and a small production team that handles print and environmental applications. There is no traditional account management layer. Designers are expected to maintain client relationships directly, which means communication skills matter as much as technical ability.

Hiring tends to happen in small bursts, usually when a cluster of new projects demands fresh perspectives. The studio has a reputation for developing junior talent, with several former assistants now running their own practices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London. Internships are offered annually, typically to recent graduates of Edinburgh College of Art, the Glasgow School of Art, or similar programmes, though the studio has also brought in interns from continental Europe and Scandinavia.

Working Culture

The culture at Lairds & Wren is quiet, focused, and collaborative without being performatively open-plan. Desks are arranged in clusters of three or four, and the studio operates a four-and-a-half-day week, with Friday afternoons reserved for personal projects, research, or simply leaving early. There is a shared conviction that good creative work requires margins, time spent not producing but absorbing. The studio's library is used constantly, and a monthly lecture series brings in speakers from typography, architecture, and other adjacent fields.

Feedback at the studio is direct and frequent. Design reviews happen twice a week in a dedicated crit room, and every team member, regardless of seniority, is expected to contribute. The founders believe that a reluctance to critique is more damaging than any awkward conversation, and they work hard to maintain an environment where honest assessment feels safe rather than threatening.

Edinburgh as a Base

The decision to remain in Edinburgh has been deliberate. While London dominates the UK branding landscape, Catriona and James have always felt that the Scottish capital offers something the south cannot: proximity to a distinct visual heritage, a manageable pace of life, and a creative community that is tight-knit without being insular. The city's festivals bring a seasonal influx of international energy, and the studio has increasingly taken on projects from clients in Europe and North America who are drawn to the studio's aesthetic sensibility and, perhaps, to the romance of working with a Scottish firm.

That said, Lairds & Wren is not a studio that trades on tartanry or national cliché. The work is rooted in place but never provincial. Their 2023 identity for a Copenhagen-based furniture company was as Nordic in feel as anything produced in Scandinavia, while their ongoing relationship with a chain of London hotels has demanded a visual language that feels metropolitan and cosmopolitan. Versatility, grounded in rigour, is the thread that connects it all.

Looking Ahead

The studio is currently expanding its capabilities in motion and digital brand systems, reflecting a broader shift in the industry toward identities that live primarily on screens. A new partnership with a Glasgow-based digital studio has allowed Lairds & Wren to offer more integrated services without losing focus on their core discipline. There are no plans to open a second office, but the client list is becoming steadily more international, and the team may grow by two or three people over the coming year. For the right candidates, it is a compelling time to join.