The Lloyd Northover years

Origins

Soon after John Lloyd and Jim Northover met as students at the London College of Printing they began to work together. The earliest collaborative work shown on this website – posters for the LCP Film Society, Whitechapel Gallery and University of London Arts Festival – were designed at the LCP in the 1960s.

Early years 1975 – 1980

The Lloyd Northover design consultancy was formally launched in 1975. Early clients included the English Tourist Board, Royal Shakespeare Company, Arts Council and IBM. The firm’s reputation grew steadily and in 1981 the Design Council invited Lloyd Northover to mount an exhibition of their work at the Design Centre in London and the Scottish Design Centre in Glasgow.

Steady growth 1981 – 1990

By the mid 1980s, the emphasis of the consultancy’s work had shifted from print design to the design and implementation of substantial corporate identity programmes. Key projects from these years are BAA (British Airports), John Lewis Partnership, and Courtaulds, which broke new ground and was awarded the Grand Prix in the first Design Effectiveness Awards in 1989.

International expansion 1991 – 2000

Asia Pacific

In 1993 Lloyd Northover won a significant commission to create an identity for Hong Kong’s Airport Express. From a hastily established Hong Kong office, the consultancy provided naming, and the design of graphics, liveries, interiors, signage, and passenger information. Lloyd Northover’s Hong Kong office went on to become the leading design consultancy working in this sector in the Asia Pacific region.

Europe and the Middle East

During this period, the London office grew substantially to service an ever growing number of UK clients whilst in Continental Europe major corporate identity assignments were tackled in Finland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland; an office was also opened in Dubai.

Lloyd Northover joined the Citigate Communications Group in 1993, which later became part of Incepta Group plc, an international marketing and services group.

America

Shortly after the death of the great American graphic designer, Saul Bass, in 1996, John Lloyd and Jim Northover, who were long-term admirers of his work, were offered the opportunity to merge their consultancy with the surviving practice of Saul Bass in Los Angeles. They jumped at the chance.

The story continues…

Following a merger in 2013 with branding consultancy, Holmes & Marchant, Lloyd Northover adopted the Holmes & Marchant name. The Lloyd Northover name was re-introduced in 2016 and the consultancy's activities continue to encompass brand strategy and corporate identity; digital design and development; corporate and marketing communications; information design; way-finding and sign systems; and environment design.