We are EMC Design
The best way to predict the future is to create it
We started in 1990, and have always been passionate about taking on the best new designers the industry has to offer. Since then we’ve grown to be the UK’s largest design studio dedicated to educational publishing, with 30+ employees.
What is Education Publishing?
Well, predominantly books (but increasingly digital materials), for people in a whole spectrum of educational environments. From infants to adults; learning anything from languages to science. Considering we work in a niche area of the design industry, the variety of the work we do is immense. Our clients are international publishing houses, who commission the courses we design, and distribute them all over the world.
OK SO BOOKS, THAT’S EDITORIAL DESIGN, RIGHT?
Correct! In a nutshell our job is to use great typography and images to turn a manuscript into a beautiful book. The added challenge with educational design is that we have to maintain a strict structure; you’ll hear phrases like ‘visual hierarchy’ and ‘intuitive navigation’. It means we need to be even more creative with our solutions, and our designs have to work even harder. The job has two sides; technical design work (typesetting, editorial corrections, navigational design), and realia.
DESIGN WITHIN DESIGN, LIKE ARTY INCEPTION…
Realia is texts students read and then answer questions about. Typically realia looks like texts from real life (it’s where the name comes from; REAL-ia)—so magazines, websites, gig posters, plane tickets, instant message conversations— pretty much anything and everything! Our work can include logo design, branding, brochure design, user interfaces… the list is endless! This means we have to be the best all-round designers, AND do it all within the confines of the course’s visual identity and learning outcomes. It’s what makes the role challenging, but equally satisfying.
What we stand for
● Community and people are really important to us; we donate our time and expertise within our local and professional community, and we donate financially to charities and initiatives we feel connected with.
● Our values underpin everything we do. We live and breathe them, and they form our guiding principles, daily behaviours and ultimately how we run our business.
● We work hard to ensure that our studio environment is not only a fair and lawful one, but also an enjoyable and caring one, and go out of our way to listen to and involve all of our people.
● We operate an equal opportunities policy – from who we recruit, to how we promote. Everyone enjoys the rewards and shares in the successes of being part of a supportive team.
We are proud of our fantastic studio culture – you can genuinely be excited to come to work, and be surrounded by like-minded individuals.
Our space is open and light, we have music playing and the atmosphere is busy but fun! We have two well-equipped kitchen/break rooms (tea & coffee is provided), plants in every room and a cosy reading nook. You’ll have a spacious, comfortable working area and be using a top-of-the-range Mac, with the very latest creative software.
Throughout the year we run all sorts of social and creative events; from croquet to pumpkin carving, lino printing to escape rooms and games nights. Not to mention our annual wayzgoose and (now infamous) Christmas party! We have team lunches to help create a social break from talking shop, and encourage regular walks in our beautiful surroundings.