John Dowling and Rob Duncan met when they were both designers at Pentagram, working with John Rushworth. Dowling then worked for Sea Design and Frost Design, before establishing Dowling Design & Art Direction in 2003. Duncan transferred to Pentagram’s San Francisco office in 2003, before becoming art director at Apple in 2007. In 2008 he established Rob Duncan Design.

Dowling says the pair have been collaborating on projects for some time, but the new consultancy, which launches this week, formalises the relationship. The consultancy will work across a number of disciplines, including identity and editorial design, packaging and digital.

Dowling says, ‘I’ve got clients with interests in the States, and this arrangement gives them the confidence that we can handle projects for them both here and in the US’. He adds, ‘Internally, nothing has changed, but we’ve pooled our resources and experience.’ The new consultancy will work on a number of projects for US-based blue chip clients including Rebecca Beeson and Piperlime, says Dowling.

Design Week – News, 8 April 2010, p5