AWO

AWO is a new type of data rights agency. Nestled at the nexus of data, technology, law and policy, they address questions that matter to everyone — What does power know about you? What does power want to do with what it knows? They asked us to build a brand identity that did the same.

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In Richard Brautigan’s 1967 poem, ‘All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace’,  the poet questions whether the union of tech and society will create a free utopia or oppressive dystopia. As a law firm and consultancy empowering individuals and organisations to uphold data rights and change digital policy, AWO believes the answer to that question is up to us. The poem and perspective inspires their name, to “all watch over’ everywhere tech and society meet. ‍

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The Mueller report, officially titled Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election, was published in 2019 with approximately 11% of the text redacted for the public. This tension between the public's right to information and power’s ability to censor was a key influence for AWO’s identity. From the logo to business cards, whether designing filing systems or court documents, redactions, censors and carefully balanced spaces appear throughout.

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Tech has always outpaced the law. By the time innovation reaches mass appeal public rights are far behind. AWO works to fill the gap between tech and policy and our visual identity plays with this push and pull — old meeting modern, tech encountering tradition. We smash Baskerville, a traditional typeface, with cryptographic computer code elements, creating a confident yet dynamic aesthetic from the mix of old and new.

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This aesthetic comes into its own with our concrete poetry. Across beautiful lines of typewriter style typography, Thomas Sharp asks and answers questions at the core of all AWO’s work — what’s so special about data? And what’s yours truly worth?

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