Design and technology are two words that are very often thrown together. They’re a subject at school, whole political departments and an entire industry in and of itself. Many creative agencies label themselves as such, but few have these spaces as integrated into their practice as Instrument. From the inside out, the design and technology company works to simplify complex creative problems – working for the likes of Spotify, Google and Ōura – through interconnected and scalable design systems. At the centre of Instrument’s work is novelty and the pursuit of creative solutions that haven’t yet been uncovered. “We’ve always been most alive at the edge of what’s possible,” Instrument CCO, Nishat Akhtar, says, “where a business problem meets a design and technology solution that nobody’s tried yet.”
The ethos has remained steadfast since it started, despite the new scale and faces of the company. Having been founded in 2005 by three friends – Justin Lewis, Vince Laveccia, and JD Hooge – Nishat explains how the trio’s core belief that design and technology were inseparable has not only stood the test of time, but is a testament to how ahead of the game Instrument has always been. “That wasn’t a common conviction at the time,” she says, “most companies were still figuring out what the internet even meant for their business,” all the while, Instrument was already establishing its ground and expertise at the intersection between the two. It’s perhaps more fair to say that Instrument sits at a crossroads, rather than an intersection; design, technology, brands and business are both its output and input, fundamental elements of Instrument’s practice and, importantly, its process.