W+K London launches design studio, NOT Wieden+Kennedy with an infinitely customisable visual identity

NOT W+K is the creative agency Wieden+Kennedy London's latest offering as an in-house branding and design studio. With an 18-strong team of designers, creative technologists, motion designers, 3D artists, brand strategists and writers, NOT W+K can tailor responses to briefs and work with collaborators inside and outside the agency's global network.

The department is headed up by award-winning branding and design creative director Adam Rix, whose 20 years' worth of experience has seen him work with clients including Nike, Dr Martens, BBC, Manchester City Football Club and the British Fashion Council.

Rix has partnered with brand director Anika Ramani, who joins NOT W+K from global brand consultancy Interbrand where she was client director and equity diversity & inclusion lead. She has previously worked with companies like Estee Lauder Group, Unilever, Cartier and Great.

Rix said: "NOT W+K is all about the power of the team. We have an incredible group from a wide range of backgrounds – from editorial to in-house and the world's best branding and design agencies.

"Combine that talent with their experience of applying the world's biggest brands to a never-ending list of deliverables, and we can create brands that work in the real world and strike the perfect balance of flexibility and consistency to keep pace with audiences and culture.

"By taking what W+K does best – and applying it to design and branding - we're offering a compelling and different approach to our clients and beyond."

What makes the studio so remarkable is its infinitely customisable, generative identity, which is owned by the entire team and can be reworked to show affinity to clients and specific projects. The visual identity was built through a digital generator – known as The NOT Machine. It customises wordmarks from images and icons and then lets these become animations. This means anyone can create an animated logo easily in response to their personal style, specific client project, pitch or popular culture.

The NOT W+K team has made a version of the generator publically available as an antidote to the January blues. Users can pick a series of images, icons, backgrounds, and overlay drawings or writings before activating the animation. It's a way of spreading joy and a little stupidity online.

NOT W+K was established to help ambitious brands find their voice. Through focusing on brand strategy, visual identity and tone of voice, the branding and design studio will breathe fresh life into brands by prioritising design that inspires people, culture and business. The team have been tasked with creating work that gets audiences to feel something.

Ryan Fisher, president of W+K London, added: "From Nike to Sainsbury's to Formula 1, Wieden+Kennedy London has a wealth of world-class design-led, brand-building experience on a local and global scale. But until now, much of that work has been created with advertising at the core. NOT W+K can deliver design-led transformation to brands, with work that impacts culture and business."

The studio will be based within W+K's east London offices and will operate with its own revenue stream and new business strategy, working with new and existing clients.