A love letter to Bristol.
Around 2006, Halo moved from our first, tiny studio, situated above an Osteopathy clinic in leafy Clifton, to a larger, quirky space just off the bottom of Park Street. A short walk to The Hatchet pub. An even shorter stroll to College Green. Next door was a club called The Tube (formerly Silent Peach), a small cellar lit by buzzing neon, powered by tequila. It was run by some good friends of ours. They’d bought the lease for it off of Massive Attack.
Banksy rocked up one night and made our building instantly famous with Well Hung Lover. Noel Edmonds (when he was filming Deal or No Deal in the city) parked up on our street in a black cab with a mannequin dressed up as an old lady in the back seat. Michael Eavis (yes, that one) came to our studio launch party and made a speech about Halo being great and all, but we should never expect to be as successful or culturally significant as Portishead or Ronnie Size.
There was an artisanal skate shop round the corner.
The mobile coffee stand over the road sold £5 flat whites, pre-rolls, poppers and Blue Note vinyl.
It was so fucking Bristol it hurt.
It was amazing.
It felt like anything was possible.
It felt like we were in the right city, at the right time.
It still feels like that today. That’s how it always feels in Bristol.
Capital gains
Bristol is famous. For art and culture. Wallace and Gromit. Engineering and balloons. Drum and bass. And regardless of what a features editor at Campaign told me over lunch in 2010, the perfect place to set up a strategic brand and commercial arts studio. “The problem you’ll always have, is that agencies outside of London don’t really… count” the man told me, nodding sagely. At the time I thought he was just being a dick. 20 years on, with global brands in FMCG, technology and retail on our client roster, I know he was being a dick, but that’s because he did what countless industry journos have done for years: underestimated anyone outside of the capital. Dismissed agencies not sucked into a London-centric Holding Co. orbit.
Times have changed. And they’re changing faster than ever. The slow-motion car crash of WPP, the collapse of networks panicked by AI and shareholder scrutiny. Heritage agencies shutting their doors. Uncommon selling to Havas (no shade, still killing it) all highlights an industry in flux. Trying to stand upright on shifting sands.
But here in Bristol? We’re quietly rolling with the punches and coming out fighting. And if you look at our little slice of the brand, advertising and design industry - we’re in rude health.
Agencies with agency
There’s some amazing agencies in Bristol. You can’t walk into a supermarket (anywhere in the world) without finding the work of Taxi, or Epoch (or yes, Halo Studio). You can’t talk about the gaming industry without naming checking Diva. McCann’s has an outpost here. Bulletproof has an Outlaw here. There’s the refined design of Fiasco, the hedonism of Hey! What?, the sophisticates at Mr B & Friends. And loads of others. Too many to mention. But they make the landscape here a vibrant, eclectic tornado of creativity. Collectively taking big swings and doing great things. Not as culturally seismic as Sour Times, Mr Eavis, but we’re doing the city justice. We’re repping Bristol on the global stage.
Get to know us
If you don’t know Bristol, and you’re from the US, think Austin, Texas. It’s purposefully weird here as well. Some say it’s like London, but smaller and with an actual personality. I’ve heard Brighton get called Bristol by the sea. That’s a compliment.
Bristol thinks it’s cool, because it is cool. It fancies itself. It absolutely backs itself. And it supports the commercial arts like no other city I’ve ever known. The creative community pushes and competes, jostles and agitates, but never forgets it’s a community first. However competitive it gets, we all win. Because we’re all Bristol. And that counts for something.
Proud to be outsiders
When we started Halo 21 years ago, we were outsiders. We still are. We’re not featured in the industry press. We don’t appear on judging panels. We don’t get asked to do keynotes. I bet you’ve never even heard of us. And that’s fine. You’ll know our clients. You’ll know our work, that’s what really matters. Plus, being the outsider is on brand for Bristol. We’re anti-establishment. The enfant terrible. We don’t need to join a club. We’ll set up our own. There'll be no dress code, 12 brands of Rum and you’ll be able to smoke inside. And the music will be outstanding. Culturally significant even.
Bristol is a city that bends, and often breaks rules. A place of contradictions. Friction and unity in a melting pot or powder keg. It’s a place with a unique energy wrapped in rizla.
It’s a city that never sleeps. We leave that to Bath.
Come and visit Halo Studio in Bristol. We’ll take you out for vegan tapas, craft IPA and MDMA. We’ll show you a place where creativity is a way of life, cider is as important as water.
And time has a whole new meaning (IYKYK).
Right, time to dig out Maxinquaye on vinyl and make some windows shake.
