Builders Club: Laying A Foundation For The Future

Among the countless upheavals and revolutions brought on by the Coronavirus pandemic is a sea-change in the way we work. On the surface level, we have all been forced to retreat into our homes, with any professional discussion compressed into the confines of a laptop screen. 

Far deeper than that, however, is the revolution of our professional values. The mass migration to remote working is opening eyes to practices and possibilities that we haven’t needed or thought to consider before. We’re not just finding out ways in which remote working is flexible enough to adapt to our systems; we’re actively finding ways in which its flexibility is preferable to what came before. 

For the London based creative collective Builders Club, flexibility has been ingrained in their working life since the company’s inception. For its clients, which include Nike, Adidas, Apple, Chanel, Google and more, Builders Club’s promise has always been to deliver high-end productions and campaigns for enormous clients, with the agility and clear vision of a small, independent collective. 

Above: Builders Club’s Nike X Riccardo Tisci project is a set of moving images inspired by the basketball-oriented collection designed by celebrity designer Riccardo Tisci

What those clients have found through working with Builders Club has been that a smaller-scale and independent studio is capable of producing work that capably rivals that of an enormous agency with a deeply ingrained hierarchical structure. 

Given that we are living through times in which a new normal is being established, it could be that working with Builders Club’s model is a habit which brands enjoy getting used to. 

Indeed, working with a small group of independent creatives doesn’t mean that you lose out on creative diversity. A spokesperson for Builders Club explains that “we are built on collaboration. When a project requires a certain direction or aesthetic we tend to get those people involved. We don’t just have one way of doing things, and we never will”.

Above: A project for Gentle Monster saw Builders Club create five portraits of future mars humans. The resulting video portraits became part of a Gentle Monster art experience at SKP Beijing.

At a time in which high-end CG and motion graphics is no longer the preserve of post-production powerhouses, there is little to stop brands experimenting with the artistic freedom that tends to come with a smaller collective. 

Over the course of this pandemic, we are all picking up new habits. The ability to work flexibly, quickly, and with limitless artistic potential is one that Builders Club believes will stick. 

You can check out Builders Club's showreel below: