Wood & Wood Design reborn as FW Design

Wayfinding consultancy Wood & Wood Design has closed and reformed as FW Design, retaining all Wood & Wood Design’s clients and its 14 staff. The company has split from sister company Wood & Wood Signs, although it will continue to share office space with the sign manufacturer.

Both companies are owned by investment company Fitzwilton, which has promoted former design director of Wood & Wood, Roger Crabtree, to the new position of managing director of FW Design.

‘This is not just changing the sign on the door; we are putting in place a new business plan for FW Design,’ says Crabtree. ‘Over the past two years, the design arm of Wood & Wood has grown to the point where Fitzwilton wants to support us in starting our own company, with the aim of taking on the big design players.’

FW Design aims to broaden its offer to include product and graphic design and to boost staffing levels by a third over the next year. The company is seeking a design director, senior wayfinding strategist and senior product designer ‘to lead the creative offer, including and beyond the urban design realm’.

Crabtree adds, ‘In terms of wayfinding, we currently compete with Cityspace, City ID and AIG. In future, we aim to compete with Fitch, The Brand Union and The Brewery.’

As well as continuing work begun by Wood & Wood Design, including on the Bristol Cabot Circus shopping centre, FW Design is to start ‘a substantial project’ in the centre of Dublin with architect HKR next year.

FW Design represents Fitzwilton’s only design consultancy – its biggest business is road traffic management product group Rennicks. It also owns Waterford Wedgwood, for which FW Design may do some branding work later this year.

Crabtree says that the name Fitzwilton was used as ‘the main reference point’ when naming the company.