AI can generate a logo in seconds. What it can't generate is taste — and for Jordan Yates and Rachel Cook, that's exactly why bold, considered design matters more now than it ever has.
Jordan is the founder and creative director of Studio AntiGravity; Rachel is its studio director. Married, Manchester-based, and four or five months into running the studio in its current form, they trace the honest, slightly messy work of turning one person's seven-year freelance practice into a proper studio — pulling every process "out of Jordan's head" and building something that can stand on its own.
Along the way they get into scaling slowly and deliberately rather than growing too fast too soon; why networking and simply reaching out has shaped both their careers far more than any cold pitch ever could; how staying curious — and getting made redundant early on — kept Jordan learning; and where AI actually belongs in a studio's process: a tool that speeds up the middle of the work, never the idea, the craft, or the human judgement at the end of it.
If you're a student or early in your design career, this one's a reassurance. You don't need a perfectly mapped-out path, a straight line into your dream studio, or every answer figured out to be heading somewhere good. Curiosity, the right people around you, and a willingness to show up count for more.
In this episode: getting everything out of the founder's head · scaling a studio without losing altitude · why reaching out beats the cold pitch · staying curious after an early redundancy · AI, taste, and the "stink" of slop · and the cardboard cut-out of his own head that got Jordan more contacts than placements.
Find Studio AntiGravity:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studio.antigravity/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/studio-antigravity/
Find Jordan:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-yates-a8881b6a/
Find Rachel:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-cook-009618133/
