As 2025 draws to a close and the world rolls into 2026, we’re looking back at our first year as a studio with a mixture of pride and anticipation.

2025 was the year we (Lorna and Mike) created In Progress. We’ve helped our partners create landmark campaigns and brands, and we’re beginning to establish ourselves as a design and branding go-to for organisations and campaigners who want to make the world better.

Launching the studio

We chose the name In Progress because it’s honest. We want to work with people who help make society better, and we know that this work is constantly evolving as we adapt to changing conditions, just as we ourselves are constantly learning and changing. 

Our first year under the In Progress name has been a busy one! Here are some of the highlights:

Reimagining Advertising with Purpose Disruptors

February saw Purpose Disruptors’ landmark conference, bringing together key players in the Advertising Industry to confront the Climate Crisis head on. We jumped on the opportunity to bring the brand we created to life in a physical space, and getting to see the amazing Kate Raworth smash economic conventions was an inspiring time. 

More recently, we helped PD launch their latest Advertised Emissions report, Beyond the Chaos, Ahead of the Curve, which shows agencies how they can move beyond their current practices into a genuinely sustainable model.

Rebranding Our Kids’ Climate

A real pleasure for us to get to know some of the most dedicated and inspiring people in the game. We’re so proud of the brand we created with OKC, but more than that, we learned so much from the process – understanding what parents across the world are concerned with and what they need from their community and their communications. The enthusiasm and engagement of their members, from Brazil to South Africa to Australia to India and beyond, was a privilege to be part of.

The resulting brand got a great write-up in Brand New (a career box ticked for Mike!), and has been really positively received by the parents themselves. We helped the OKC team show up in Belem for COP and New York for Climate Week with even more impact and confidence, and we’re so excited to continue our partnership into next year as there’s so much more to be done.

Judging the New Blood Awards

Mike was asked to help judge the White Pencil entries for the New Blood Awards this year. The talent on show from the range of young entrants was impressive, and it got us thinking about how we as a studio can support young people coming into the industry who want to use their skills for good. We’re excited to be continuing mentoring with D&AD into 2026!

Spreading the word on obnoxious cars

This project in collaboration with Serious People and Clean Cities saw the invention of a new word: Carspreading. The campaign we created has spread across London, Cardiff and Edinburgh, and in October, Cardiff became the first council to enact higher parking charges for heavier vehicles. Our new word has been frantically reported on by the Daily Mail and GB News, and explained on BBC Newsround among others!

DearTomorrow at New York Climate Week

Relishing another opportunity to bring one of our brands to life IRL, we worked with Rachel Thomas Studio to create DearTomorrow’s exhibition stand for NYC Climate Week. The result was an ethereal display of some of the most engaging letters gathered by the project, as well as an interactive space for visitors to contribute their own heartfelt messages. Unfortunately we couldn’t make it to NYC ourselves, but from the pictures we can tell it was something special!

Electrifying London

October also saw the launch of the Electrify London campaign, encouraging councillors, businesses and policymakers across London to adopt new and varied solutions for transport and logistics. We were able to have fun illustrating all the different kinds of vehicles, from the standard electric van to weird and wonderful cargo bikes of all shapes and sizes. There’s even a boat in the mix.

Looking forward

It has to be acknowledged that, broadly speaking, the world is not in a good place right now, though can it ever really be said otherwise? Working “in progress” can be at best challenging and at worst demoralising, but we’ve seen in our network an inspirational amount of resolve and determination, and glimmers of hope still shine through in the work that we see so many in the movement undertaking. 

What’s remarkable is the breadth of approaches to the problems we face, from humour, satire and good old PR savvy, to reaching out and engaging communities and decision makers, building networks and shifting centres of power away from those who seem to actively desire destruction and collapse. Here’s to 2026 being a year that brings all these angles to a meeting point — a spark that can finally bring in a new era of politics for people and planet.

As a studio we’re looking forward to new partnerships, collaborations and relationships, as well as establishing ourselves in the design community here in Scotland. We’ve got some exciting things in the works that will come to light in early 2026 – watch this space!

All the best,
Lorna & Mike