Wieden+Kennedy is a creative agency. A place where ‘The Work Comes First’. A place that exists to create strong and provocative relationships between good companies and their customers. A place that prides itself in being a force in culture. Fundamentally though, this is a place where people come to do the best work of their lives. Whatever the role, we give everyone the space, support, and opportunity to do great things. And that should be at least as true for designers, if not more so.

What makes W+K a special place for designers?

Diversity of work and people

Designers get involved with making all kinds of stuff here – not just posters, print ads, tv end-frames and titles, but a whole breadth of projects, from games, apps and websites to packaging and bespoke typefaces for brands.

But it’s more than what we make, it’s also how we make it. Because we’re an agency with a diverse range of assignments we also have an incredibly broad community of people to collaborate with – both internally and externally. Which means that one minute you could be designing a new typeface with a top-tier typographer, going on a photoshoot to Slough (or somewhere more exotic), and the next working with a community manager to figure out how to make a brand pop on Instagram.

We pride ourselves on not being afraid to try new things, and to give people a shot at stuff they’ve never done before. It’s often where the most interesting and provocative work comes from.

Scale and cultural impact

We’re lucky enough to get to work with some of the biggest and best brands in the world. And we’ve been fundamentally involved in shaping a few of them.

We pride ourselves in doing work that makes a ‘dent in culture’. We’re not happy for our work to just sit in textbooks or awards annuals. We want the world to really connect emotionally and profoundly with the companies we partner with.

Creation of brand worlds

Our best work is often much deeper than making an ad. When we’re at our best we create an entire world for a brand to ‘show up’ in. That’s everything from how it sounds, how it writes, how it behaves online and in the real world, and of course how it looks.

This often means diving into painstaking detail, like designing the badges on the space suits worn in one of our Honda TV spots.

Obsession with craft

We really really care about every last detail. Perhaps this is too obvious to even say to designers, but this obsession is agency-wide. And it affects all aspects of what we create. Sometimes it means taking the long route, or grafting for an extra hour or two. But that’s what it takes to get to great.

In addition to these things, there’s all the stuff that you’d expect from a creative company. One that’s trying to make a place where people can thrive and do amazing creative work. Whether that’s trying to give people the time and space to nourish their creative brains, funding pet projects, letting people bring their dogs to work on Fridays, or just the fact that we’re constantly messing with things to try to get to better work.

If you’re interested in joining the design department, check out jobs page, where you’ll be able to upload your portfolio, or other examples of your creative output.