Image licensed via Adobe Stock
In our exclusive survey, design leaders reveal their strategies and predictions for the year ahead, from AI integration to dealing with economic pressures.
As we approach 2025, the creative industry stands at a fascinating intersection. We won’t mince words: the economy is tough, there’s a lot of technological change coming our way, and a lot of agencies will lose out as a result.
But studio heads aren’t dumb, and they know that excuses won’t pay the rent. So most of them are quietly crafting strategies in the background to help them, their staff and their clients weather the coming storm.
To find out what people are thinking, we’ve surveyed creative directors, agency founders and design leaders across the globe. And several key themes emerged from our discussions about the future of creativity and how agencies plan to tackle the year ahead.
We share some of the most interesting and thought-provoking insights in the article below, and they make fascinating reading – not least because they reveal an industry that’s cautiously optimistic, with a renewed focus on purpose-driven work and strategic growth.
1. Building brands differently
Sunny Bonnell, co-founder & CEO of Motto, believes the coming year will mark a fundamental shift in brand building. “2025 won’t be about trends; it’ll be about paradigm shifts,” she predicts. “One of the biggest shifts in our industry will be in how brands are built: not as static entities, but as dynamic systems that grow, shift, and evolve just like the people they serve.”
So, what will that look like in practice? “Brand strategy can no longer be a conversation happening in marketing silos,” she responds. “It needs to be part of the company’s decision-making at the highest level. Our focus will be on helping leadership teams understand that a brand isn’t just a nice marketing effort; it’s their most powerful business-building asset.”
This sentiment is echoed by Shannon Palmer, creative director at People People. “We believe that there will be a need for increasingly flexible brands, brand systems that can adapt across mediums and communication channels, respond to the world, and evolve with their audiences,” she explains.
“As a result, how we as designers think about brand guidelines will also need to adapt. We also see website accessibility as a growing priority for companies across all sectors. It’s no longer just a box to be checked, but is a website goal discussed from day one.”
2. Making better use of AI
A couple of years back, the agency world was caught off guard by the sudden explosion of AI. But now studios are catching up, and they are catching up fast.
“With 2025 around the corner, we need to shift away from what The New York Times’ Hard Fork podcast coined as ‘AI vertigo’ to an openness for change,” says Jan Eumann, executive creative director at Wolff Olins. “There’s no before and after with this new technology. And it’s fair to assume that we’ll see years of drastic improvements both to the actual intelligence and the manifold applications of it. Having an open mind and discussing our disciplines of strategy, design and engagement in terms of how they can benefit is the only path forward for us as a studio.
“Our assumption is that we will see AI support the teams across many tasks, and through that, free up time and mind-space for where humans will have the highest impact; pushing the ideas, our creativity, thoughtful interactions with one another and with our clients, and ultimately great work. We firmly believe that we won’t get replaced but augmented.”
3. Being more selective about clients
As clients become more demanding, wanting more for less, a recurring theme in our discussions was the importance of strategic growth and careful client selection.
“Our goal for this next year is to continue to differentiate our client base while at the same time slightly narrowing and further honing our services offered,” says Shannon. “A broad client base not only provides security through economic ups-and-downs but also keeps our creative team feeling engaged and inspired.”
Beverley Luckings, founder of Bev95 Agency, puts it succinctly. “Be selective and remain true to the ethos of one’s company and portfolio of clients,” she urges. “Less is sometimes more!”
4. Focus on internal culture and learning
Many studios are telling us they’ll be prioritising team development and cultural growth in 2025. For instance, Tim Dalton, business director at Outlaw, says: “We plan to foster a culture of continuous development by encouraging team members to upskill in emerging technologies and sustainable design practices. We’ll continue to actively support and provide a platform for team members to lead and present a ‘lunch and learn’ session on a topic they care about and believe will offer valuable learning opportunities for other members of the studio.
“In 2024, topics covered included behavioural science, harnessing AI, sustainable print production, ultra-processed foods, fast innovation and design sprints and sustainable design practices,” he adds. “By harnessing a strategy and subsequent culture of continuous development and learning, we naturally raise the bar when it comes to the quality of work we deliver for our client partners. Because otherwise, what’s the point?”
5. Responding to economic headwinds
It’s no secret that economic pressures are making it tough for lots of studios at the moment. As Julia Beardwood, founder of Beardwood&Co., puts it: “Brand and design leaders are being challenged to do more with less.”
Their solution? “When a client approaches us with a challenge, we will offer them three different ways to solve it, at different price points, so they can have a hand in deciding how to get the most bang for their buck,” Julia explains. “Including them in building the work plan and setting the budget gives them greater autonomy and partnership.”
Meanwhile, Miro LaFlaga, co-founder of Six Cinquième, says that: “Diversifying our offering to accommodate for the economic climate is something we’re working on. We’re also working on growing our own brand and having our team work towards building international connections and exposure.”
6. Doing purpose-driven work
One of the biggest things studio heads have been talking about recently is the growing focus on meaningful work and positive impact. Andy Harvey, founder and executive creative director at Communion, is one of them. Consequently, his plans for 2025 revolve around “deepening our ability to partner with brands creating positive futures. For us, this means marketing the change we can bring to brands by bringing together strategy, design and campaigns.”
Tom Munckton, ECD at Fold7Design takes a similar tack. “In 2024, we’ve become more human-centred in our work,” he explains. “That’s included creating identities for the likes of Stop the Traffik, using data to disrupt the pathways of human trafficking, and partnering with [REDACTED], a web3 organisation devoted to human data ownership rather than big tech corps. We’re hoping for more of that stuff in 2025.”
7. Pursuing work-life balance
Finally, several creatives we spoke to emphasised the importance of driving sustainable working practices in the year to come. Designer David Sedgwick is one of them. “I need to focus more on getting the balance right between work and play,” he says. “It has been such a busy last 12 months that I never seem to be able to take stock. I’d like to finally get a new website as well and showcase some of the work I’ve been busy doing.”
Fiona McGarva, managing director at Sundae Communications, tells a similar story. “We are refocusing on the fundamentals, which for us means ensuring work is both fun and rewarding for everyone involved,” she explains. “We are asking big questions. What is our purpose? Who do we want to work for? How can we make that our primary focus? How can we get the right balance between corporate and creative work? How do we balance our work and home life? The answers are ever-evolving, so it’s important to keep asking.”
