Façade designers set up alone

Two Façade Design employees have left to set up their own consultancy, Emperor Design Consultants, located in London’s Clerkenwell.

Noel O’Connor and Stephen Kemp, formerly Façade senior designer and account director respectively, have left the corporate literature consultancy and are specialising in print design. All parties agree the split is amicable.

Façade managing director Justin Mould has introduced a more formal structure to the group, says O’Connor, and brought in Alan Fender as creative director. Fender was made redundant from Design House at Christmas and has been freelancing. O’Connor says the restructuring “precipitated” his move.

Façade now has a full-time design team of four. Mould says his restructuring was to “target the larger annual report market”. The consultancy has just won the annual report design for the Guardian Media Group in an unpaid creative pitch.

Emperor, launched this week, is working for an unnamed Façade client and plans to take on up to three designers in coming months. Mould says the client move is not a cause for concern.