Who we are

Lexographic is a co-operative partnership formed in 2004 by graphic designer James Sparling and freelance journalist Craig Ryan. After working together on several media projects, we realised that many clients needed support with both design and content and didn’t really make much distinction between the two.

Whether it’s a website, a magazine, a brochure or a promotional campaign, many projects get stalled because no one gets round to writing to the copy, or because no one’s thought much about the project’s real purpose and the best way of delivering it.

We specialise in supporting organisations who need to communicate professionally but don’t have the resources for a large in-house team or to pay fat retainers to a PR consultancy. Our collaborative, project-based approach means we’re fully engaged with your business but you only pay for the job in hand. We try to make your life easier, not to find new things for you to spend your money on or new tasks for your staff to worry about.

We think good communications should be about building communities and encouraging people to get involved, not just bombarding them with marketing messages. Our clients have members, supporters, service users, employees or loyal customers they want to reach and engage with, and this is where our expertise and contacts really come into their own.

Our small in-house team is supported by a network of partners – trusted professionals we’ve often worked with for years. These include web designers, artists and illustrators, cartoonists, photographers, freelance writers, printers, mailing companies and promotions specialists.

After many years based in east London, in June 2017 we moved to the wonderful Cotswold town of Stroud – 90 minutes from London by fast train.

We are members of Social Enterprise UK and the Federation of Small Businesses.

Companies

Elsevier, Robinson Lowe Francis (RLF), Systech International, Vox Supply Partners, Thames Water

Film and theatre

The Agency Theatre, Michigan Blue Lake Productions, Nufan, Rebekah Theatre Project, Vanessa Theatre

Charities and social enterprises

Maritime Charities Funding Group, Seafarers UK, Road Peace, Values into Action, The Retts Syndrome Association, The White Ensign Association, Which?

Trade unions

Association of Revenue and Customs (ARC), First Division Association (FDA), Managers in Partnership (MiP), PCS, UNISON

Trade associations

Association of Business Schools, Federation of Small Businesses, CIPFA

Magazines

Public Service Magazine, Public Finance, Healthcare Manager, Flagship, Prospect

Think tanks and policy groups

Centre for European Reform (CER), The Centre for Global Studies (CGS), Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), The Policy Network

Restaurants

The Ambassador, Be@one, The Feathers, The Larder, Zapatista

From our clients

Our partners

Craig Ryan

Craig has been a freelance journalist and copywriter  since 1999. Before that, he worked for, among others, the Parliamentary Labour Party, the Royal College of Nursing, the Centre for Urban Studies in Detroit and the Swan with Two Necks pub in Manchester.

Craig was head of communications at the First Division Association in the 1990s, editor of Public Service Magazine from 1997 to 2000 (and acting editor again since March 2017) and Whitehall correspondent for Public Finance from 1999 to 2003. He was associate editor of Healthcare Manager from 2009 to 2015, and has been editor since January 2016. Craig is a regular writer on politics, economics and anything else that takes his fancy, and also advises Lexographic clients on policy and campaigning.

James Sparling

James is an experienced graphic designer, web developer and media producer. Originally a music graduate, he managed a bookshop in north London, before setting up his own design agency. He was owner and managing director of Emphasis Communications from 1993 to 2004, set up a media agency, Emphasis Media, and rode the first dot com bubble through the turn of the century.

He's worked with many trade unions, think tanks and a diverse collection of local and national businesses. James is also an actor and voice-over artist, and divides his time between our London office and Chicago, where he is involved in several film and theatre projects.