If you’ve heard of us you’re probably thinking ‘packaging designers’ – and yes, we’re very good at that, but we’ve been changing with a changing world. Recently, we’ve been providing all sorts of services; copywriting, video, photography – even advertising. They might sound disparate, but they’ve all got one thing in common; they’re all forms of storytelling. Find out more about our storytelling services.
When we started out, we called ourselves Design for Market. We thought, people will understand that we do ‘design’ that is suitable for the ‘market’. It’s a no-nonsense name. We work mainly with food and FMCG businesses so the market – where people make their purchasing decisions – is our focus. That remains the case twelve years later. But ‘design’ – that has become a little more problematic. Sure we still design – “what’s your job?” people ask, “designer,” we still answer – but ‘Design for Market’ doesn’t reflect how we’ve changed. We write, we write a lot. We make videos. We take pictures. We build sites and we make stuff. We’re not saying this to pitch ourselves as photographers, filmmakers or publishers. We do all those things to serve a common goal: To tell our clients’ brand stories the way they’ve got to be told in 2021. And we don’t want to change our name. We are Design for Market, that’s how we’re known, that and sometimes ‘DFM’. That’s what some of our clients started to call us over the years. That made us think; DFM doesn’t lean so heavily into ‘design’. So from now on, you’ll see a bit more of that. Hope you like it.
LEONARD HICKEY
Founder Leonard Hickey has spent twenty-five years in the design business handling major accounts for both food and non-food FMCG clients. His in-depth knowledge of the food and product packaging design for the Irish marketplace, experience in print management and strong partnership approach have earned him a reputation for carefully managing brands from inception to launch and beyond, resulting in many of these accounts developing into ongoing relationships.
EOIN STEPHENS
Founder and Creative Director Eoin Stephens has twenty-five years experience creating identities and packaging for some of Ireland’s biggest brands. His uniquely hands-on approach to food packaging design means he is often involved in every stage of bringing a product to market, from developing the initial brief all the way through to photography of the finished packs.
Leonard & Eoin have an exceptional ability to communicate your brands desired message to the end consumer through both modern and traditional marketing methods. Their passion and comprehensive industry understanding brought our brand values to life through powerful branding and packaging design. Our project needs were approached with enthusiasm, professionalism and a focus to deliver on time.
Leonard and the team have worked on a number of our packaging and point of sale projects where they have brought to life the brief with excellence and are always proactive with recommendations to ensure the brands’ essence is always maintained. Design For Market are a pleasure to work with and I would highly recommend them.
McCambridge have worked with the team at DFM for the last 5 years. There is a great fit between both. The blend of design expertise and commercial knowledge in DFM is something which is hard to find in other design companies. Working with DFM has helped McCambridge adopt a continuous improvement approach to all our visual communications.
Leonard and the team have worked with us over the past number of years on website, logo and marketing projects. We have found them to be very professional and willing to listen, ensuring that the brief always exceeds our expectations. They have helped us modernise our company profile and I would not hesitate to recommend them to any business.