ABOUT US.OUR ROOTS.
We are a multidisciplinary design company made up of creative problem-solvers, dedicated to tackling a wide array of projects, all of which have a social or environmental objective.
Roots and Wings C.I.C was founded in 2008 by a group of individuals from a range of creative and entrepreneurial backgrounds. Since our inception we have expanded our team, our reach, and our creative services, combining our skills to support those people, projects, and institutions who are working on the front line, striving to make the world a better place socially and environmentally.
As the scope and scale of our projects continues to grow, so does our ability to positively impact the environment and the communities that we serve. Over the years our core values haven’t changed at all – to tackle inequality and social issues through creative solutions, and to support organisations and projects that match these values. From our headquarters in Newcastle’s Ouseburn Valley, we strive to make the world fairer and more just by undertaking projects that fulfill these objectives.
We are proponents of the circular economy and support asset-based community development, as such we are a registered Community Interest Company. Nailing our non-profit status to the mast in this way places us firmly in the third sector, making us unique amongst design companies. As a social enterprise, 100% of our profits are reinvested into projects that match our goals and we play an active role in supporting and facilitating community projects across the North East. Our company name reflects our mission; to stay deeply rooted in the community and to tackle environmental and social issues through creative solutions, or as we see it, through the development of wings.
OUR TEAM.
Our core team is comprised of designers, copywriters, illustrators, animators, videographers, musicians, and web and UX developers. Our multidisciplinary approach allows us to approach projects from a number of angles, channeling all our collective creative experience into innovative design solutions. Projects also often require us to draw on our extensive and multitalented network of freelancers to deliver the expertise needed for bespoke solutions.
OUR PRACTICE.
At Roots and Wings C.I.C., we make ethical choices in terms of how we run our business and how we treat each other. We’re an Equal Pay and Living Wage employer. Our studio is powered entirely by renewable energy sources through our provider Ecotricity. Banking can be a shady business, but The Co-Operative Bank has the highest ethical standards of all the high street banks, so we use them. Finally, being a design company we naturally deal with a fair amount of printed material. Far from being dead, we think print is still one of the best ways to communicate with audiences, although we also like trees. To minimise our carbon footprint we’ve partnered with ecologically sustainable and carbon-balanced printers, so where possible we use 100% recycled paper, FSC/PEFC-approved card, carbon-neutral manufacture, and vegetable-based inks.
As a Community-Interest Company (C.I.C.) and social enterprise, 100% of our profits are reinvested towards supporting further community work and educational outreach. We play an active role in facilitating worthwhile projects across the North East and all of our work retains a strong community and environmental focus.
Clients.
