About the studio
A small studio, pointed at one thing
Beacon & Beam exists for people who are building something for a community they belong to — and who want it to still be standing, and still true, in five years.
Why a lighthouse
A lighthouse does one job. It doesn't chase the ships, it doesn't shout, and it doesn't try to be a harbour. It stands where it is, holds its position, and puts a steady light on the water so that other people can find their way in the dark.
That's the whole of our approach to strategy. We are not here to make you louder. We are here to help you hold a position clearly enough that the right people can find you — and to keep holding it when the weather turns.
How we got here
The studio started in 2019 with one project: a weekend school in East London that had been running for eleven years and had never once written down what it was for. We spent six weeks with the founders, the teachers, and four parents, and produced a single page. They used it for everything — grant applications, volunteer recruitment, the sign above the door.
Word travelled the way it does in community work: quietly, through people who trust each other. By 2021 we were working with education platforms, welfare organisations, and faith-based media across the UK and Canada. We have deliberately stayed small. Two of us, one project at a time, and a network of photographers, illustrators, and developers we bring in when the work calls for it.
We have turned down more work than we've taken. Not out of preciousness — because a studio that says yes to everything ends up giving everyone the same answer.
The people
Who you'll actually be working with
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Amara Idris
Fifteen years in brand strategy, the first eight inside agencies working on campaigns she didn't believe in. Amara leads vision clarity and messaging work, and is the person who will ask you the question you've been avoiding. Speaks English and conversational Arabic. Based in London.
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Yusuf Rahman
Trained as a book designer, which explains the typography. Yusuf handles identity, art direction, and the visual side of campaigns — and has an unreasonable attachment to getting the print specification right. Based in Toronto, which is why our calls happen at odd hours.
We are not trying to make you sound like everyone else who is doing good work. We are trying to make you sound like yourself, on your best day. Studio principle, written on the wall
What we believe about this work
Intention is a design constraint, not a slogan. If you know what you're for, most decisions get easier — and the ones that stay hard are usually the ones worth spending money on.
Clarity beats cleverness. A plain sentence that a volunteer can repeat is worth more than a beautiful one that only the founder understands.
Sustainability is a creative problem. The most original thing a small organisation can do is still be running in three years.
- Founded
- 2019, London
- Projects completed
- 41 across the UK, Canada, and the Gulf
- Studio
- Unit 4, Bell Yard Mews, London SE1 3TY
- Second desk
- Queen West, Toronto
The next step
Tell us what you're building
Forty-five minutes, free, and useful either way.