Popping-in?

Our studio is filled with light and music.
There are multiple meeting rooms, a well stocked kitchen, and an indoor garden (with fishpond). Talk to us about access needs, environmental factors and any accommodations we might make to enhance your visit. Pop-in for tea and stay to use a spare desk for as long as you need.

11 Greenwich Centre Business Park,
53 Norman Road, Greenwich
London SE10 9QF

Cog is a Certified B Corporation

Public transport

We’re next to Greenwich train and DLR station. We have a door right on the concourse but it’s different to our postal address.
what3words.com/hungry.means.author

From Greenwich rail platform

This video shows the route to take from the train that will arrive at Greenwich rail station from London Bridge. There's a gentle slope next to the staircase.

From Greenwich DLR station

This video shows the route to take from the DLR that will arrive at Greenwich DLR station from Bank. There's a lift at the platform level if that's useful.

By car

If you have to come by car, we have a couple of parking spaces. We have a charging point that you are welcome to use if you have an electric car. Call ahead and we'll make sure the spaces are free. Use our postcode (SE10 9QF) to guide you in.

Get in touch

We’d love to hear from you. Use whichever medium works best for you.

11 Greenwich Centre Business Park,
53 Norman Road, Greenwich
London SE10 9QF

Cog is a Certified B Corporation

New project enquiry

It's exciting to chat about potential new projects. We don't have a ‘sales’ team or a form to fill in. Call us or give us a little detail via email and we'll get straight back to you.

enquiry@cogdesign.com

Website support

If you're a client then you'll be best served by calling us or contacting us via ClickUp, otherwise you can use this dedicated email that reaches all of the digital team.

digital@cogdesign.com

Finance questions

This email hits the inboxes of the people who deal with our bookkeeping and finances.

accounts@cogdesign.com

Just want a chat?

Sometimes enquiries don't fall neatly under a heading, do they?

hello@cogdesign.com

Cultural Calendar

A round-up of recommendations and reviews, sent on the first Friday of each month, topped-off with a commissioned image from a talented new illustrator. Sign-up and tell your friends.

Sign me up Cultural Calendar

Cog News

An irregular update of activity from our studio. Showing off about great new projects, announcements, job opportunities, that sort of thing. Sign-up and tell your friends.

Sign me up Cog News

Five Lessons from Culture Geek 2020

Five Lessons from Culture Geek 2020

Last week Alex attended Culture Geek 2020. Here are his five takeaways from the digital conference.

Usually held in London, Culture Geek brings together people from the forefront of digital transformation across the arts. This year it was online with participants joining from across the world.

It was brilliant day full of inspiration and learning, after a weekend to let it all sink there are some key themes and lessons that emerged throughout the day:

1. Give your online content an identity

With so much content online for audiences to choose from it’s important to define your content for your audience and let them know what to expect.

Whether it’s “Always open online” from the Rijksmuseum or “Our House to Your House” from the Royal Opera House, giving content strands an identity allows audiences to follow along and find what they’re looking for.

Chris Shipman from the Royal Opera House recommended thinking like a broadcaster, by creating different series of content for different purposes. And he reminded us that sharing content regularly is more important than sharing content often.

2. Meet your audience where they are

Whether it’s creating interactive experiences for young audiences in Minecraft, sharing art on posters in your local area or taking a full size print of a 12m sq painting on a tour of care homes, it’s never been more important to meet audiences where they already are, particularly online.

Make sure what you’re making works for that platform and the audience that use it.

We heard from the Royal Opera House about how they choose which networks and platforms to prioritise in order to meet their core audience.

You don’t have to be everywhere all at once to find your audience and make an impact.

Chris Shipman from the Royal Opera House speaking at Culture Geek 2020 Chris Shipman from the Royal Opera House speaking at Culture Geek 2020

3. Use algorithms to your advantage (TikTok is coming)

If there was one social network that got mentioned more than any other at this year’s Culture Geek, it was TikTok.

For the uninitiated TikTok is a new social network that is growing rapidly. Based around short form videos synced to music, the platform is now thought to have around 850 million monthly active users.

At Culture Geek we heard from a number of organisations about their work on TikTok. Many of them pointed out that TikTok is keen to shed its image of a frivolous app for children and position itself as a platform for creativity and learning.

In order to do this TikTok is keen to promote educational content from arts organisations or creative professionals.

By joining platforms early, experimenting and by being aware of what different platforms want to promote you can gain an “algorithmic advantage” and get your content promoted in users’ feeds.

4. Accessibility (of all kinds) should never be an afterthought

A big theme at Culture Geek this year was accessibility, not only in terms of physical buildings or digital accessibility guidelines but simply in making everyone feel welcome no matter what barriers they face.

The Whitechapel Gallery took particular care to ensure high-risk members of their audience could still return after lock-down. They consulted with their audiences and created special visiting hours which were clearly explained on their website.

Art comes from a human place and access to it should be equally human - for all

Different audiences will have different needs as the world opens up after Coronavirus and it’s important for organisations to be conscious of this and not leave anyone behind.

We also heard from The Shed about their aim to be radically welcoming. Lily Wan from The Shed reminded us that it’s important to address ‘vibe barriers’ from the start and to make sure that everyone feels welcome when experiencing your art, she said:

“Art comes from a human place and access to it should be equally human – for all”

5. Be authentic, be human

The biggest lesson we learnt at Culture Geek this year was that it’s more important than ever to be authentic and human in our communications, especially online.

Throughout the conference it was clear that the Coronavirus pandemic has forced all organisations big and small to focus and reflect on approaches to digital content.

It’s easy to over-intellectualise art or to over-serve a dedicated core audience with an appetite for specialist content. Particularly when there’s a relentless push from one show to the next (and the next…)

But, by being human, approachable and creating genuine enthusiastic content you can inspire audiences old and new in-person and online.


If any of the lessons above have inspired you to think about how you talk to your audience and you’d like to think about doing it differently do get in touch.

We’ve got 30 years experience in helping arts organisations inspire their audiences and are always up for a chat.