Meet 2Fold

²Fold Studio is a graphic design consultancy based in Manchester, founded in 2014 by Eddie Cooper and Matthew Chatfield.

We have a unique, contemporary design style and concept-driven ideas. At ²Fold Studio we produce a diverse range of work across multiple disciplines including identity, design for print and web. We offer innovative and intelligent design solutions to help our clients communicate their messages clearly.

Working at The Hive for the past year and a half has been great for us on both a personal and professional level. It is located far enough away from the city centre to make commuting for meetings and work easy whilst avoiding the hectic lifestyle inner-city business brings. Our office is the ideal setting for growing a business; the office pods are well maintained, always clean, filled with friendly people and have everything you need under one roof. The meeting rooms in the Hive are very professional and more than accommodating for up to 8-12 people, so when meetings are arranged we have more than enough space to present. Working close to Co-op Academy Manchester has been great for us as means we can keep close ties with one of our clients being just a stone’s throw away from any meeting or briefing.

One of our favourite things about The Hive is the close-knit community within the building. When arriving to work we feel comfortable with the environment created inside The Hive, which in our opinion is the most important factor to being pro-active, productive and efficient when working.

Since we started working at The Hive our business has grown in a variety of different ways and we have embarked down routes leading us to new opportunities and prospects. Before working for Co-op Academy Manchester, our business hadn’t really worked with clients involved in the educational sector. However, we are now in a position where we feel we comfortably provide the academy with all of the design solutions they require (whether it be in-house design focused towards students or promotional material targeting parents). Since we joined The Hive, the academy has helped our business grow significantly, not just by being a big client of ours but also by supporting us, and giving us guidance and advice when need it. After gaining a vast amount of knowledge, confidence and experience working within the education sector, our main focus and aim of 2018 is to reach out to other academies to help our business grow even further.

Another way The Hive has helped us grow is by working alongside the Yes Project, a company dedicated to helping people find work and set up new businesses, so if you need any business advice or anything you are in the perfect location. The lectures and seminars provided by the Yes Project have pushed us forward and helped us to expand our knowledge of practicing as a professional business. Also, projects we have worked on for the Co-op Academy Manchester (which have required us to make and present briefs to members of staff) have helped us to boost our confidence when working with clients and also helped to build up our experience when successfully pitching.

Through developing our businesses practices and working in a more professional way (and in a professional environment) we have seen a big growth in our business. We have become a lot more professional since moving in; we understand business and dealing with clients a lot more, which has helped us massively when meeting with new clients and generating work.

Since moving in we have been able to secure enough clients on retainers so that each month we are bringing in enough money to get by even without finding new work. This is a massive weight off our mind, not having to stress each month to find jobs to pay the bills. It gives us freedom so that we can hand pick projects that we want to work on and turn down the projects that don’t interest us, rather than just working on any brief that comes in, meaning work has become less stressful and a lot more enjoyable.