MBS Group

The client

MBS Group is a global executive search and advisory firm operating across retail, hospitality, consumer and private equity sectors. Alongside its advisory work, MBS produces a series of high-profile reports, whitepapers and indexes designed to inform senior industry leaders and shape wider business conversations.

The brief

MBS required a consistent design approach across its growing portfolio of reports and insight-led publications. The work needed to balance editorial clarity with a more premium and considered visual style, while allowing individual publications to retain their own identity and focus.

Alongside supporting long-form reading and complex information, the publications also needed to work effectively across both print and digital formats.

A photo of the North Londoner Magazine on a pallet in The Mailing People factory.

A mock-up of the North Londoner cover and internal spread on a dark blue background.

Our approach

We developed a flexible editorial design system that brought greater consistency across MBS publications, while allowing each report and index to retain its own tone, structure and visual identity.

A mock-up showing a spread from the MBS Role Models Report

Structuring complex information

MBS publications often contain detailed industry insight, long-form interviews and data-led content. We developed layouts, hierarchy systems and pacing structures that helped organise information clearly while supporting both quick browsing and deeper reading.

Women to Watch Index

We worked closely on the development of the Women to Watch Index, shaping a more editorial and portrait-led approach for the publication. Elegant layouts, clear navigation and considered typography helped give featured leaders greater presence while supporting the wider themes explored throughout the report.

A mock-up showing a spread of charts and graphs from the MBS Diversity in Retail Report.

A flexible editorial system

Rather than treating each publication as a standalone design, we created a consistent editorial framework that could scale across reports, indexes and whitepapers. This allowed each piece to retain its own focus while maintaining continuity across the wider MBS portfolio.

A mock-up showing a spread from the MBS Role Models in Beauty report.

Whitepapers & insight reports

Across whitepapers and sector reports, the focus was on translating complex subjects into accessible and visually engaging publications. Opening spreads, infographic styles and data visualisation approaches were developed to help structure content clearly across both print and digital formats.

A mock-up of social graphics for MBS reports.

A mock-up showing a MBS Women to Watch report spread.

Results & next steps

The project established a more consistent editorial approach across MBS reports, indexes and whitepapers, creating a connected visual system that could flex across different sectors, themes and publication formats. Through considered typography, structured layouts and refined data visualisation, the publications were designed to support long-form reading while presenting complex insight-led content in a clearer and more engaging way across both print and digital outputs.

Our continued work on the Women to Watch Index also helped evolve the publication into a more editorial and portrait-led experience, supporting its position as one of MBS’s most recognised and widely referenced industry publications.

We continue to support MBS Group with the ongoing development of reports, whitepapers and thought leadership publications across its growing portfolio of insight-led content.

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Our work in action

Parador

Ongoing design support for Parador, delivering consistent, detail-led multilingual brochures and brand materials across global audiences.

Aderans Trendco

Aderans Trendco’s luxury brochure combines fashion-forward design with accessibility, showcasing their aftercare range through impactful visuals and clarity.

Marathon Leisure

Reimagining Marathon Leisure’s 1,000+ page catalogue with a clear, flexible design system that brings consistency to complex supplier content.

Shape insight-led publications with clarity and consistency

If your organisation produces reports, whitepapers or thought leadership content, we can help translate complex information into clear, engaging editorial design. From developing flexible publication systems to structuring long-form content and data visualisation, we create publications that feel considered, accessible and consistent across both print and digital formats.

Let’s create publications that give your insight the presence it deserves.

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