Applied Prose is a London-based creative studio working at the intersection between design and language. Grounded in the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement, our work is always a measured response to the use case, prioritising durability over passing trends. We focus on producing slow-burn content, adaptable brand assets, and typographic systems that emphasise clarity, balance, and durability. This approach allows us to attend to fine detail and craft work that functions as a tool for sustained engagement over time. Through longer-term retainer-based partnerships, we learn how each client thinks and what they value. From this foundation, we shape communication that is consistent, accurate, and appropriate for the context. Every project, whether print or digital, communicates intentionally using the fewest possible words, the simplest forms, and the plainest possible language, echoing Ruskin’s counsel to avoid misunderstanding and neglect.
Brand identity
A brand identity is a system, engineered to ensure language and form remain coherent across every medium of communication. Logos, colour palettes, and typographic structures create the foundations, while graphics libraries, photography specifications, tone of voice guidelines extend the framework into messaging that feels brand-consistent and audience-aligned. Applied consistently to merchandise, packaging, stationery, signage, and digital platforms, these elements build recognition while adapting with intent, allowing the identity to evolve without losing its character.
Corporate communications
Corporate communications express strategy through documents such as reports, white papers, policy briefs, and presentations that demand professionalism and industry authority. Hierarchy, spacing, and typography guide readers through information with ease, while editorial refinement ensures that tone and persuasion remain aligned with purpose. The result is work that carries credibility, presenting complex material in ways that support understanding, reinforce trust, and sustain professional standards.
Marketing literature
Marketing literature translates messages into outputs that range from brochures and flyers to press releases and advertising campaigns, each shaped to land with clarity and intent. Proportion, pacing, and rhythm guide the eye across content, while language condenses ideas into forms that are legible, persuasive, and memorable. Together these elements create communications that capture attention, sustain interest, and reinforce brand coherence across print, digital, and environmental contexts.
Independent publishing
Independent publishing creates space for extended ideas to develop in forms such as books, essays, exhibition captions, and digital journalism, rewarding sustained engagement. Typesetting, cover design, and image placement establish the rhythm and pace, while editorial refinement ensures that language aligns with brand voice and reader intention. Each publication becomes both object and experience, designed to hold attention, invite reflection, and preserve meaning long after the moment of release.
Digital content
Digital content sustains presence across websites, e-commerce platforms, email campaigns, and social media channels, where immediacy and adaptability must align with consistency and control. Systems of layout, typography, and hierarchy allow structure to flow across devices, while written material supports navigation, engagement, and longer-form narratives. When managed with care, these moving parts combine to create a presence that is brand-aligned, yet responsive to pace and context.
Copywriting Retainer
Our copywriting retainer is intended for teams with internal marketing capacity who want to improve the consistency and clarity of their written communications. With a writer on-board, there is no need to divert attention from other roles or compromise on tone and accuracy. We can work across a range of outputs, from longer-form documents to everyday content, adapting to your subject matter and house style. The arrangement supports a steady rhythm of production and allows for continuity across formats. It is a practical and thoughtful way to ensure that language is managed with care and aligned with the overall character of your communications.
Design Retainer
A design retainer offers ongoing access to professional visual work without requiring in-house resources. It is appropriate for teams who prefer to manage their own copy but need design support that is consistent and considered. We work across print and digital formats, including presentations, social media campaigns, and marketing literature. Our continued involvement allows for visual continuity and quick turnaround, as we become familiar with your visual language and working preferences. This provides structure and flexibility, ensuring that materials reflect your organisation accurately and are produced to a high visual standard across all platforms.
Integrated Retainer
An integrated retainer brings writing and design into a single, continuous process, allowing for unified communications without the need to coordinate multiple providers. By shaping content and form together, we function as a marketing team, create materials that are not only strategic, but coherent in tone, structure, and appearance. The relationship is sustained over time, enabling us to to anticipate needs, reduce administrative burden, and maintain a measured pace of production. The idea is to support your organisation with thoughtful, well-aligned outputs that reflect both the clarity of your message and the integrity of your presentation.
Project Commissions
Our project commissions are tailored to your organisation’s unique needs, offering focused expertise that responds to specific challenges or opportunities. Each commission is shaped through close collaboration, ensuring that the outcome aligns precisely with your goals and business context. Typical projects include editorial and typesetting for independent publishing; brand identity development; and website design and build, in collaboration with CodeCurrent. These commissions provide the foundational work that supports and enhances ongoing retainer arrangements, offering flexible solutions that adapt to your brand’s evolving requirements.