Hybrid Working Isn't Broken. Your Model Is.

Flexible working isn't new. We've all lived through it for years now. But the conversation has matured. Studios that haven't kept up are losing people unnecessarily.

In 2020 and beyond, candidates held all the cards. Flexibility wasn't just expected. It was demanded. Studios scrambled to offer it or risk losing talent.

Now? The market has settled. Employers have more choice. Return-to-office mandates are everywhere. Amazon, Disney, major studios calling people back four or five days a week.

So is hybrid dead?

Not quite.

But the question isn't whether you offer it anymore. It's whether you know how to make it work.

Because the studios getting this right are building stronger teams, keeping talent longer, and developing juniors faster. The ones getting it wrong are hiring people who leave within a year, wondering why their culture feels flat.

What people actually want.

We ran a poll recently. Asked creative professionals if they'd do a four-day week. 73% said absolutely.

Another poll asked which work environment brings out their best creative work. 67% said hybrid.

The appetite for flexibility is real. But wanting something and knowing how to use it well are different things.

The studios still winning on talent aren't offering unlimited work-from-home. They're not forcing everyone back full-time either.

They've figured out a model that delivers results for everyone.

Team days aren't optional.

Pick your days. Tuesday to Thursday usually work best. Get everyone in. Make them count.

The 67% who voted for hybrid aren't asking to never see their colleagues. They're asking for focused time at home and collaborative time together. Give them both, with intention.

Here's what success looks like: A team that knows Wednesday is the day everyone's in. That's when you book the big crit. The brainstorm. The conversation that needs energy. People come in because it's worth it, not because they have to. Chemistry builds. Ideas move faster. Problems get solved in real time instead of over three days of Slack threads.

Here's what failure looks like: A team that drifts in randomly. Sits on video calls in separate rooms. Wonders why the work feels disconnected. You hired talented people and accidentally isolated them.

Studio time is career fuel, especially for juniors.

Here's the uncomfortable truth.

Hybrid used to be a perk earned with experience. Seniors had already clocked years learning from people around them. They'd built their networks. Absorbed how studios work. Developed their instincts.

Juniors asking for three days at home from day one are unknowingly stunting their own growth.

You learn faster sitting next to someone solving a problem than unpicking a Slack thread. You build your reputation in the studio, not on a screen. You pick up the unspoken stuff by being there when it happens. How to handle a tricky client. When to push back. How to sell an idea.

This isn't about control. It's about opportunity.

Juniors who spend most of their week at home often find themselves stuck at junior longer. They're not in the room when decisions are made. They're not grabbing coffee with the senior designer who could mentor them. They miss the moment when someone says, "Actually, can you help with this pitch?"

Studios that figured this out have juniors who progress faster, stay longer, and become the mid-level talent they're desperate to hire externally.

Studios that didn't are hiring juniors who leave after 18 months because they never felt part of the team.

If you're hiring juniors, be honest about this. Four days in the studio for the first year or two isn't punishment. It's investment. In them. In your studio.

Be clear about what works for you.

Vague promises of "flexibility" help no one.

If you need people in four days a week to make the work sing, say it. If two days works, own it. Candidates respect clarity far more than being sold one thing in the interview and experiencing another three months in.

Figure out your model. Discuss it with your leadership team.

What are your non-negotiables? Does everyone need to be in on set days, or can people choose? Are there specific hours you need coverage? What would you flex on for the right person?

Then talk about it positively.

Don't say, "We do three days in the studio, but honestly we do our best work when everyone's here." You've just told a candidate you don't believe in your own model.

Sell what works for your studio. If three days is your sweet spot, explain why. If it's four, same.

Studios that get clear on this hire people who want to work that way. Studios that stay vague hire people who feel misled and start looking three months in.

Flexibility done right is still a competitive advantage.

The market has stabilised. Employers have more leverage than they did a few years ago.

But the studios still attracting the best people in 2025 aren't the ones forcing everyone back out of principle. Or offering endless WFH because they're scared to ask for commitment.

They're the ones who've built sustainable hybrid models.

Geography still matters less than it used to. A talented designer in Manchester or Berlin is more accessible now than they were five years ago. Freelancers can plug in from anywhere, as long as they're set up for UK projects and available when you need them. That broader talent pool hasn't gone away.

But for permanent hires, especially juniors and mid-levels, studio time isn't negotiable.

Creativity is collaborative. Careers are built through proximity. The best work happens when people are in the same room, bouncing off each other, building something together.

Hybrid working is here to stay. But only the version that actually works.

Clear team days. Honest expectations. Studio time weighted towards juniors who need it most. And a recognition that flexibility is a tool, not a right. It only delivers results when everyone understands how to use it.

Figure out your model. Commit to it. Then hire people who want to work that way.

You'll build a stronger team. Keep them longer. And stop losing talent to studios who worked this out two years ago.

How a Strong Client Services Team Elevates Your Design Potential.

Let's talk about something that doesn't get nearly enough credit in design studios: a really good client services team.

I'm not talking about someone who just answers emails and books meetings. I'm talking about the kind of team that creates actual space for your designers to do their best work. The kind that means your creative director isn't spending half their day managing client expectations or decoding vague feedback.

If you've ever thought "we need another designer" when what you actually need is someone to handle everything around the design work, this one's for you.

What Happens When Designers Are Also Client Managers

Here's what I see all the time: talented designers spending huge chunks of their day on calls, writing follow-up emails, chasing approvals, managing scope creep, and trying to translate "can you make it pop more?" into something they can actually action.

It's exhausting. And it's expensive, because those are hours they're not spending on the work you actually hired them to do.

A strong client services team changes that equation completely. They become the buffer, the translator, the organiser. They let your designers be designers.

What This Actually Looks Like in Practice

They handle the communication so your designers don't have to. Every back-and-forth with a client, every status update, every "just checking in" email. That's all managed by someone whose job is communication, not creation. Your designers get clear, actionable briefs instead of messy threads and last-minute panic calls.

They're really good at getting useful feedback. Not all feedback is created equal, and not all clients know how to give it. Client services teams know how to dig deeper, ask the right questions, and translate "I don't like it" into something your designers can actually work with. Less guessing, more doing.

They figure out what actually needs to happen first. When everything feels urgent, nothing is. A good client services team assesses what's genuinely time-sensitive, what can wait, and what needs the most attention right now. Your designers stop firefighting and start focusing on work that actually moves the needle.

They build the relationships that make projects easier. Trust takes time, and someone needs to be building it consistently with your clients. When that's handled well, clients are more patient, more collaborative, and way less likely to derail a project with constant changes. Your designers get the breathing room they need to do great work.

They spot opportunities your designers might miss. Because they're in regular contact with clients, they hear about upcoming projects, shifting priorities, and new needs before anyone else does. That means more work coming in and your design team getting to stretch into new areas instead of wondering where the next brief is coming from.

They balance workloads so no one burns out. A good client services team knows who's swamped, who's got capacity, and what's coming down the pipeline. They manage expectations on both sides so your designers aren't over-promised to clients and under-supported by the studio.

What This Actually Gets You

When client services and design work together properly, everything shifts. Projects run smoother because communication is clearer. Quality goes up because designers have time to actually think. Capacity increases because you're not losing half your team's hours to admin and client management. And clients? They're happier because someone's genuinely looking after them, not squeezing them in between design tasks.

It's not about adding headcount for the sake of it. It's about structuring your team so everyone's doing what they're actually good at.

Is Your Team Set Up Right?

If your designers are spending more time managing clients than designing, or if you're turning down work because you "don't have capacity" when really you just don't have the support structure, it's worth looking at how your team's built.

Sometimes the answer isn't hiring another designer. Sometimes it's hiring the right client services person who makes your existing team twice as effective.

I'd genuinely love to hear how your studio's currently set up and whether this is something you've thought about. If you're trying to figure out whether you need to expand your client services team or restructure what you've already got, let's talk. I work with studios navigating this exact question all the time.

Looking to build or strengthen your client services team? Let's have a conversation about what would actually make a difference for your studio.