Based in London, Poland and Spain, Rhapsody is a global marketing and production agency specialised in creative, digital, print and brand projects all around the world. At the heart of the business lies something simple: a strong belief in the power of collaboration.
The team has developed the healthy habit of keeping each other informed about the things that they find the most inspiring, be it from scrolling through social media or perusing some beloved online publication. The Rhapsody team is far from sitting atop an elitist ivory tower; they know there is always something new to learn, somewhere to get inspired by, and their numerous heroes and interests in the industry prove as much.
In this Company Spotlight, we are learning more about Rhapsody following an inspiring chat with Jamie Bitmead and Perry Harding, Design Leads at the forward-thinking production house.
How was your company born and where are you based?
Rhapsody has been Powering Ideas since 1980. We’re currently have studios based in London, Poland and Spain. When it was founded, Rhapsody was a print and production focused business, but in recent years we have also developed an ever growing digital and creative department where we now operate as Creative Media Production Agency.
What was the biggest challenge to the growth of your company?
One of the biggest challenges through the growth is the flexibility and managing of such a wide and diverse range of projects. We’re lucky enough to work with great clients of all sizes and building solid relationships with our clients is integral.
Which was the first huge success that you can remember?
Our first big success was campaign-based projects, namely for Spotify and Arsenal Football Club. The Spotify projects were mainly aimed at engaging with students across UK universities, these campaigns involved media across print and digital as well as live events. For Arsenal, we developed unique creative concepts for the Emirates Cup pre-season event on a yearly basis. Details for both of these projects can be found on our Creativepool profile!
What’s the biggest opportunity for you and your company in the next year?
Jamie: There’s a lot to look forward to, one thing that might just top that list is that we are moving to a new studio! We are currently based in Shoreditch where we have been for some time, it’s great to be here and feel like we are on the pulse of the creative heartbeat in London. We’ve been fortunate enough to find another Shoreditch based space that suits our growing creative department and we’ll be moving in at the end of the year.
Perry: Recently, we have successfully landed some significant projects that we are very excited about and are currently working on. These projects will be going live at the end of this year and in to the next, so keep an eye out!
Can you explain your team’s creative process?
P: Depending on the discipline, it varies. We tend to start with creative and visual research, but as a department we’re constantly have our eyes open when it comes to the latest from the industry.
J: The next stage is all about collaboration, we look to have creative and explorative conversation around the project to develop ideas. We’ll often sketch these out in pencil in order to make the process slick, we try not to commit any ideas to digital design until we’ve ideated in this way first, it is the quickest and most efficient way we have found to get the most out of our time for this stage of a project.
P: After we’ve ideated some initial concepts, we then look to develop our favourite routes and present them to the client. Once we have feedback, we kick off the production and bring in the wider team to make it a reality.
How does your team remain inspired and motivated?
J: We are constantly communicating with each other about things that inspire us, whether it be an image of a 1980’s Formula 1 car, an engaging campaign creative that we’ve seen around town or an interesting article we have read. One of our mechanisms for doing this is our ‘Bookmark Club’. With working from home becoming the norm, we found ourselves collecting more and more tabs to show each other on the next zoom call, so we dedicated time to go through our bookmarks together and discuss them.
How has COVID-19 affected your company?
J: We initially found ourselves with some time to recoup as people were getting used to the new norm, during this time, we took stock and redesigned our website and refined our brand. As a project that helped us propel into new ways of working, allowing us to internally work out the new mechanisms we needed to work from home and communicate remotely whilst maintaining creativity.
Which agencies do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
P: There is so many! Personally, I have a few that I like to keep tabs on. A hero in the industry would have to be Nike. It’s a brand our creative team hold in high regard; their consistent innovation and design exploration is a constant source of inspo.
J: I totally agree with Perry, there are far too many to mention! In terms of agencies there are some familiar big hitters that I am consistently inspired by. More often than not, I am most impressed by the work coming from a selection of talented creatives I follow on socials.
What is one tip that you would give to other agencies looking to grow?
P: Updating our website to showcase our work in a better light was very beneficial. Being proactive at displaying your work in a visually considered manner is the best way to engage with people and grow your presence.
How do you go about finding new clients/business? (Pitching, work with retainers, etc.)
We have an internal marketing team that finds ways of connecting with potential clients, for example, Creativepool. We also bring in work through our network and industry connections. Staying on top of our social presence is key to starting conversations and creating engagement.
What’s your one big hope for the future of the industry?
We would like to see more accessible opportunities for a diverse range of people to get into the creative industry. Creativity is important and should be encouraged from an early age.
Do you have any websites, books or resources that you would recommend?
Every designer has a list as long as their arm of resources for inspiration and for the most part, they are fantastic sources. Two that are definitely on our list and that were recent discoveries are The Branding Identity (https://the-brandidentity.com) and Design Reviewed (https://designreviewed.com).
