We believe in providing effective solutions, not flannel, and we aim never to blind clients with the science of theoretical design. We believe in achieving practical, tailored solutions to specific problems, rather than creating work for ourselves by 'talking up' the clients requirements. We love to produce work without budgetary constraints so that the creativity we can provide is able to maximise the results on behalf of the client and their image, but we're not afraid to get our teeth into budget-conscious requirements and advise clients as best we can in the solutions which are the best balance of image and price. We don't believe that great design needs to cost a king's ransom, and we don't believe that 'budget' negates 'quality.' We endeavour to conduct all our work with the utmost integrity and consideration to the needs of the client and our work ethic.

We never cut budget by cutting quality. With many conventional design firms the price you pay includes a range of skill bases that you'll probably never use. Utilising a large in-house staff, many studios operate inflexible pricing and budget for artists, coders and designers who will never even cast an eye across your work, but still need to be paid regardless. We don't believe in scaling-down your budgeted solution to give you less, for more money... we believe in scaling-up the skill base, and the cost of your job, as needed. To achieve this we utilise a network of variously skilled freelance designers, coders, scripters, photographers with the finest skills at reasonable prices, as well as some of the finest print solutions in the United Kingdom.

As a result of this 'methodology of scalability' we aim to be a one-stop solution for a broad range of design needs; from advisory input to evaluation and appraisal of existing or current projects - even when you need 'a second opinion', to complete image creation, rebranding, design overhaul, branded interior and exterior design conceptualisation... if we can do it, we'll do it...

We work with print & web; from business cards and letterheads, signs and banners, posters and flyers, books and pamphlets, product packaging and multimedia design.

We're exclusively 'Apple Mac' in our creative centre. That means that we're working to an internationally accepted standard of design platform - Mac is the universal language of creative digital design, and ensures the most effective, reliable, and productivity-centric working environment with a minimum of down-time.

We don't have a copy of PaintShopPro in sight... the tools we use reflect the professional and dedicated nature of our ethic and the contemporary nature of our industry-standard toolbase. Alongside the 'standard' universal typefaces (known to some as 'fonts') we use the highest quality renderings of premium designed faces from renowned type-houses and famed designers who have as much a passion for their art as we do for ours. We also endeavour to find and licence typefaces to suit a particular need from the catalogues of several prominent typographic collections on a job-by-job basis or for that little bit of additional uniqueness.

"I came from a background where I was academic in the traditional sense, and was desperately trying to propel a self-acquired passion for design and digital layout (which developed organically at an early age) through a traditional education system which did not at the time acknowledge design as a sufficiently 'academic' subject... Having come up through more 'classical' humanities studies, a 'year out' in which to find myself and find my direction turned into a much longer period of discovery. Taking a variety of work, I set out to fund a self-propelled season of learning and the software tools of the trade I so desperately wanted to break into.

THREESIXTEEN, in that context, is a venture fuelled by that same passion. It's a passion that inspired a little audacity, and got me in over my head numerous times. I took on the most ambitious projects I could, ahead of time really, in order to force myself through steep learning curves - learning on the job. But it seemed that the clients I was finding and taking contracts from were loving the work and more than merely being one-job-wonders, they were coming back, and were recommending friends and colleagues to me. They put their trust, first and foremost, in what they could see and how it related to them and their needs, rather than extensive consultancies with folks who have more letters AFTER their name than IN their name. And part of the ongoing ethic at THREESIXTEEN is rooted there. It's a little bit like the old phrase 'there's more than one way to skin a rabbit'... you want to acheive the same result, but different people have different methods, styles and modes of getting there. The proof of the pudding really is in the eating. I've seen graduate work which was truly awful, and by the same token I've seen the work of a self-taught designer impress business owners with the highest aspirations. Beauty is in the eye of the client.

THREESIXTEEN has been a venture a long time in the making. It's the result of a variety of experience and involvement in various fields from book publishing to digital publishing, design to hands-on business management which gives us a pretty wide appreciation of the needs of businesses and the importance of a strong image and good visual communication, while at the same time being mindful of budgets and the constraints of various media. This has helped us work more effectively with businesses of various sizes and has allowed us to work especially well with budget-conscious smaller businesses and new start-ups. We're not what I call a 'theoretical' or 'high-art' design firm. We believe in purpose-driven design. If you're advertising spanners you want your brochure to relate to that market, not appear to be promoting a modern art gallery. If you're advertising a modern art gallery, then we will cater for that too.

At THREESIXTEEN we're satisfied that our work speaks for itself and that our approach makes sense, and we're happy that our clients think that too. We think that the best credentials for a design firm are found in the pages of their portfolio, and so we invite you to take a look and hope that you like what you see... if you do, then we're already part-way to being able to help you realise your design needs. It's easy to forget that the design graduates of today are merely learning what the design pioneers of yesterday made up for the first time and decided 'Hey! That works...'

We're an informal company. We don't have a conference room and we don't wear suits. Some of us don't even HAVE a suit. You're hiring our design skills, not our dress sense and wardrobe bill. We love operating over the internet because with all the advances in digital document technology we can use Adobe PDF's to proof all our work with our clients. This cuts out unnecessary travelling time, meetings, expenses, and allows us to work internationally without leaving our offices. This is a good working environment for us, and cost effectiveness for you. We can use this methodology to focus 100% of our attention on acheiving a quality result while keeping an eye on your budget.

Thank you for taking a look at our website, and we encourage you to check back again to follow our progress and development. We hope you like what you've seen and that you may consider us for your design needs." S.A.

Well, that's the question isn't it... More like a 'where does the name come from, eh?'

Probably need to ask the boss...

'THREESIXTEEN has been around for almost two thousand years. It's a tagline, really, for something much bigger. It's a line quoted from literature, actually. In an age where it seems to have become trendy to name businesses in some word-associative fashion, or by pop-quotes from contemporary culture, ours goes back a little bit further still. It was written by a rather enigmatic chap called John, who was a first hand witness to some of the most amazing events in history, and it's found in chapter three of his self-titled bestseller... It's also one of the most quoted passages of literature, and has appeared on banners at many sporting and public events. It states: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

'It's not about being preachy. Provoking thought is often a good thing. G.K. Chesterton said that we 'are not human beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a human experience.' As far as literature goes, John 3:16 might just be the most important consideration in human experience. And to a great degree it's simply a reminder to ourselves about who we are and what we stand for. THREESIXTEEN might not mean much to you as it stands... but it represents a principle which in turn promotes an ethic and in practice we hope that it always represents our honesty and integrity in all the areas of our work. It's something that has inspired us, and continues to inspire us.'