Deep-diving into two decades of design with DixonBaxi.

Simon Dixon and Aporva Baxi discuss the last 20 years of design with Creative Review, from the liberation of independent agencies in the early 2000s, to the unparalleled ease with which we can access work from anywhere in the world.

A lot has happened in 20 years.
In 2001, Simon Dixon and Aporva Baxi wrote a list of behaviours for a new kind of design agency and DixonBaxi was born. It was a conscious choice to be more selfish with the work they took on by ignoring industry trappings, allowing the duo to “get back to why we create the work we create, who we create it for and why is that useful and valuable,” explains Dixon. Two decades on and DixonBaxi still lives according to that list.

The agency started in the midst of a design boom fuelled by independent organisations and new technology. Independent agencies of the 80s and 90s had distinct styles of work, making each different from the last. Design and designers alike were quickly becoming far more accessible thanks to connected technologies. “It liberated and empowered smaller agencies to have far greater reach, and a far greater buzz” says Dixon. It also connected consumers to the industry in a revolutionary way.

Feedback and trends became possible nearly overnight and have been accelerating ever since. As Baxi explains, “[e]veryone’s seeing the same thing instantly. So something back in the day might have been original and [it would take] quite a long time for that to become a trend and a trope, but now that can happen in weeks.” DixonBaxi avoids trends in favour of revolution, focusing instead on how truly brave brands can change the world.

Read the full article as published by Creative Review.

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“What you want to be doing is inventing the future of what your client needs on behalf of the people you’re designing for.”