About Us
DED Associates is an international design agency. Its output is diverse, crossing print, film, websites and other visual media and featuring commissions from clients in business, publishing and the arts, as well as self-initiated projects.Founded by Jon and Nik Daughtry in 1991, DED pursues its own, ultra-contemporary path in design. Treating its clients' imagery and words as raw materials, DED creates active and often anarchic visual environments that beg exploration.
The DED approach has attracted a number of high-profile clients. Highlights of the portfolio include: 'Crazy World', a cross-media advertising campaign for Nissan; a credit card for MTV; 'Hybrids', an exhibition catalogue for Tate Liverpool; and numerous music-related projects for clients such as Chrysalis, Universal Records and EMI.
At a strategic level, DED has provided the creative direction on a number of campaigns for major brands such as Coca-Cola, Grolsch, Nissan and Intel. It is regularly being asked by agencies to provide art direction and design on specific projects. TBWA, Weber Shandwick and Leith are among those that have grasped the value of outsourcing creative work to a design firm with its own visual point of view while retaining control of the product.
Besides commissions, DED has had two solo design books published. 'Travel Sickness', published by DGV in 2000, extends DED's investigations into the connections between text and image. Described by ID Magazine as 'maximalism at its most memorable and unnerving', it became a best-seller in its class. 'Do Not Inflate', a textless deconstruction and re-amalgamation of aircraft safety cards, was released in 2002, by Laurence King.
DED was selected to appear in Graphic Design for the 21st Century: 100 of the World's Best Graphic Designers (Taschen), and is often described as representing a vital current in visual communication. DED's work has been featured in magazines and design journals such as notably IDEA (Japan), IDN (Hong Kong), Etapes (France) and Creative Review (UK), and in design-related books, including Trigger, ZOO, Pictoplasma and Los Logo.