(Studio Nari was founded on (13 February 2020) by Caterina Bianchini the award-winning designer and art/creative director based in London)

Studio Nari Marcus Rashford Project

Play Forward is a visual-identity and creative-direction project developed by Studio Nari, a London-based design practice founded by Caterina Bianchini. A bit more about the foundation the project is for the Youth-focused initiative led by Marcus Rashford, the English footballer and social campaigner. The project was developed in collaboration with Nike’s community-impact programme, with the aim of supporting young people through sport, creativity, and local engagement. The project was created for Play Forward a youth-empowerment programme developed by Football Beyond Borders (FBB) in partnership with Nike and footballer Marcus Rashford. Studio Nari was commissioned to create the full visual identity, art direction, bespoke typography, and motion language for the initiative, with the goal of communicating the programme’s emphasis on community, confidence, and social uplift. The design direction was led by founder and creative director Caterina Bianchini, with a team including typographer Lynn Cariou and designers , Bryan Lee, Devran Dogaroglu, Nick Briz Waters and Fatih Rosli.

(These photos include Caterina Bianchini from the Nari website and then the FBB logo and finally the co-owner of Nari Joe Osbourne)

little bit about the background for the project Play Forward was launched to support 11–12-year-olds in underserved communities across the United Kingdom. The programme helps young people build confidence, life skills, and emotional resilience through weekly football sessions combined with off-pitch mentoring. The initiative was developed collaboratively by Marcus Rashford, Nike, and Football Beyond Borders, and is supported by a long-term investment by Nike to expand the scheme across multiple UK regions.

The new name “Nari” stands for “Not Always Right Ideas” — encapsulating the studio’s ethos: rejecting rigid “textbook” graphic-design conventions in favour of a more humanist, artistic, and experimental approach

Choosing Nari Studios, which is led by women, feels important to me for reasons that go beyond just liking their work. The creative industry talks a lot about diversity and inclusion, but when you look closely, the people in top positions are still mostly men. This affects everything from the way projects are run to the stories and ideas that get the most attention. So, for me, picking a women-led studio is a way of supporting a space that reflects the kind of industry I want to be part of.

A lot of what I’m thinking about comes from reading Women Graphic Designers: Rebalancing the Canon, edited by Elizabeth Resnick. One thing that really stood out in the book was the point that even though women make up a big part of design students today, they still don’t get the same level of recognition once they enter the professional world. Resnick explains that women’s contributions are often left out of the “official” history of design or not talked about much at all (Resnick, 2023). That honestly surprised me at first, but then I realised I’ve seen similar patterns in other creative fields too. It becomes obvious why women-led studios matter: they make space for the voices that have been pushed aside.

The book also talks about how many women in the past faced things that held them back — not because they weren’t talented, but because the industry had certain expectations or barriers that men didn’t face. Resnick mentions that a lot of women dealt with career interruptions or weren’t taken as seriously because of family responsibilities or old-fashioned assumptions (2023). Reading that made me think about how different creative work environments can feel depending on who’s in charge. When the people leading a studio understand these issues personally, they usually create a place where people are treated with more fairness and understanding.

Another idea that stuck with me from the book is that acknowledging women’s work is a way of fixing the gaps in how design history has been written. Resnick describes her project as a way of “rebalancing” things — basically trying to fill in the missing pieces so that the story of design includes everyone who shaped it (2023). This made me realise that choosing a women-led studio is part of that same effort. It’s not about excluding men; it’s about supporting a fairer balance and making sure women are seen as leaders too.

And honestly, I think the impact goes further than just one studio. When women are visible in leadership roles, people starting out in the industry can picture themselves there too. That’s something Resnick’s book hints at — that when contributions aren’t recognised, it affects who feels like they belong in the field. Supporting a studio like Nari sends the opposite message: that leadership isn’t defined by gender, and that women deserve to be celebrated for their creativity and influence.

So, choosing Nari Studios is meaningful to me because it aligns with the values I’m trying to support. It feels like a small but real step toward a more equal and inclusive creative industry. Women’s work has been overlooked for a long time, and the book by Resnick really opened my eyes to how deep that issue runs. Working with a women-led studio feels like the kind of choice that supports positive change — not just in the present, but for the future of the field too.

Harvard Reference

Resnick, E. (ed.) (2023) Women Graphic Designers: Rebalancing the Canon. London: Bloomsbury.

Davis, M. (2012) Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field. London: Thames & Hudson.
(Used for general context on how the design canon is shaped.)

Poynor, R. (2003) No More Rules: Graphic Design and Postmodernism. London: Laurence King.
(Cited for broader historical imbalance and canon formation.)

Lupton, E. (2014) Design Is Storytelling. New York: Cooper Hewitt.
(Useful for discussions about who gets to shape visual narratives.)

Oakley, K. and O’Connor, J. (2020) The Routledge Companion to Cultural Industries. London: Routledge.
(Included for industry-wide gender imbalance and leadership disparities.)

Lloyd, C. (2019) ‘Gendered inequalities in creative labour’, International Journal of Cultural Policy, 25(3), pp. 361–375.
(Used to support discussion about how gender impacts career progression.)

Gill, R. (2014) ‘Unspeakable inequalities: Gender and creative work’, Social Politics, 21(4), pp. 509–528.

(This is the main forefront of the project as spoken about below from the project sourced from the Nari portfolio website)

Studio Nari developed a visual system that combined structured typographic clarity with expressive, human gestures including the following, The project’s central element is an interconnected wordmark in which individual letters support and lean into one another. Studio Nari describes this feature as symbolising unity, mutual support, and the idea that personal progress is achieved through community strength. Using scribble and linework layering to reflect the spontaneity and raw energy of youth culture and sport, the identity incorporates textured, analogue-style scribbles layered over clean, modern typographic forms. This contrast aligns with the programme’s aim of blending structure (mentorship, curriculum, consistency) with emotional expression and individuality. The use of a recurring double-arrow graphic represents forward movement, aspiration, and momentum — visualising what the programme aims to give to the youth participants. Studio Nari extended the identity into motion to allow it to be used on social media. The motion language uses rhythmic, elastic transitions to evoke the vigor of both 

football and personal growth.

(This is another aspect of the project from the portfolio on the website)

The Play Forward project exemplifies Studio Nari’s broader philosophy of emotional intelligence in design — a term used by Bianchini to describe the studio’s emphasis on feeling, empathy, and connection. This approach positions graphic design not as static branding but as an expressive vehicle for human values. In interviews and project notes, Studio Nari highlights that design for social programmes must feel accessible, uplifting, and community-driven rather than corporate or didactic. The Play Forward identity reflects Studio Nari’s emphasis on emotional intelligence in design — a philosophy articulated by Bianchini in interviews and design commentary. The studio prioritises visual systems that resonate on a human level, using expressive elements to evoke empathy, empowerment, and connection. The identity created for Play Forward demonstrates how visual design can become an extension of a programme’s psychological and social aims.