Independent graphic design studio, Northgate
Pellam Studio
Identities, packaging, posters and books for people who make things. Two designers, and every project proofed on paper before it ships.
- Founded
- 2014
- Designers
- 2
- Projects
- 148
01 Selected work
Six projects, printed as covers.
Each cover is a poster made for this page and printed live in three inks. Move across a tile to knock the layers out of register.
02 Case study
Tidewater Ferries: a name and a system you can read from the quay.
The brief
Tidewater runs four ferry routes across the estuary. Its signs came from thirty years of different suppliers, and passengers regularly boarded the wrong boat. The job was one identity and one signage system, finished before the summer timetable and inside a fixed budget.
Our approach
Start with the passenger, not the logo. We walked the routes, found where people hesitate, and designed the smallest set of signs that removes each hesitation. The identity came second and was built to survive on a hull, a ticket and a hi-vis jacket.
Stage 1 of 3 Survey
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Stage 01
Survey
We rode every route at every hour for two weeks and marked each place where a passenger has to decide. There were 41 decision points. Nine of them caused most of the mistakes, and those nine got the first drawings.
- Two weeks on the water
- 41 decision points mapped
- 9 problem places named
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Stage 02
Mark
A capital T, cut by the line of the water. It prints in one colour, reads at 12 millimetres on a ticket and at two metres on a hull, and works in reverse on dark paint. We tested it in a single-ink print first, because that is the hardest case.
- One colour, one shape
- Tested at 12 mm and 2 m
- Works in reverse
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Stage 03
System
Every quay has a number and a colour. Signs use one size of type, one arrow and no more than three lines. We drew 38 sign types, proofed them at full size on the studio wall and sent the fabricator files that needed no questions.
- 38 sign types
- One arrow, one type size
- Proofed at full size
Outcome
- weeks from first meeting to installed signs
- 14
- old signs replaced by 38 sign types
- 112
- fewer wrong-boat reports in the first summer
- 31%
- colour needed to print the mark
- 1
03 Services and process
What we make, and how we work.
Identity and logos
Names, marks, type and colour, with a guide your team will use. From six weeks.
Packaging and labels
Boxes, bottles and bags, drawn flat and proofed as real objects. From five weeks.
Editorial and books
Books, reports and magazines, from the grid to the print file. From eight weeks.
Posters and campaigns
Single posters and series, for print and screen. From two weeks.
Signage and wayfinding
Signs that remove hesitation, with files ready for the fabricator. From ten weeks.
Type and lettering
Custom lettering and small typefaces for a single brand. From four weeks.
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Step 01
Listen
A paid first week. We ask what has to change, who will see the work and what it has to do, then write it on one page that you approve.
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Step 02
Draw
Three routes, on paper and screen. We show rough work early, because early is when changing direction costs the least.
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Step 03
Proof
We print tests on our riso machine and a laser printer, at real size and on real stock. Colour and type are judged on paper, not on a screen.
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Step 04
Deliver
Final files, a short guide and a handover call. We answer questions for three months afterwards at no charge.
04 Studio
Two designers, one long table.
We work from a former print works in Northgate with a riso machine, a proofing press and a table that seats ten for critiques. We take on about eight projects a year, so the people you meet are the people who do the work.
Noor Calloway
Co-founder, art direction
Trained as a printmaker and still sets her own type by hand. Leads identity and packaging work. Before Pellam she spent ten years at a packaging agency, where she learned how much a label has to do on a crowded shelf.
Tomas Hallgren
Co-founder, typography
Draws letters and sets books. Leads editorial and signage work. He teaches one evening class a week at the college of art and keeps a drawer of every proof he has ever been unhappy with.
05 Clients and recognition
People we have worked with.
- Tidewater Ferries
- Marrow & Co
- Low Orchard Cider
- Kiln Arts Festival
- Northlight Library
- Sable Type Foundry
- Fenwick Bakery
- Harrow Street Books
- Calder Valley Rail Trust
- Oddfellow Cycles
- The Slate Hotel
- Meridian Pottery
- 2026Northgate Design Prize, SilverIdentity, Tidewater Ferries
- 2026Regional Print Biennial, SelectedPosters, Kiln Festival
- 2025Harbour Poster Prize, WinnerKiln Festival series
- 2025Packaging Review, ShortlistLow Orchard Cider
- 2024Type and Book Awards, CommendedSable specimen book
- 2023Northgate Design Prize, BronzePackaging, Marrow & Co
06 Contact
Tell us what you are making.
We take new projects in January and April, and reply to every message within two working days.
Unit 6, Dye Works Lane, NorthgateOpen Tuesday to Friday, 9 to 5