Two European Design Studios to Kickstart New International Office Swap Trend

Vilnius-based Andstudio and Florence-based Muttnik will spend one month working in each other’s offices on the other side of Europe to bolster collaboration, look for new opportunities.
 

A design studio from Vilnius, Andstudio, decided to go on an unusual workation. They reached out to several design studios around Europe with an offer to swap their working environments. Twelve studios showed interest, six were shortlisted, and Muttnik, a Florence-based graphic design studio, became the perfect partner to kickstart the project with. The two teams of designers will be living each other’s lives for one month this summer.

“This exchange aims to get familiar with an unfamiliar market and the challenges it poses. As a studio, we want to keep challenging ourselves in various ways and have fun doing it. Spending time in Florence and working in someone else’s creative environment will surely be our highlight of the summer,” said Augustinas Paukštė, partner at Andstudio.

According to Andstudio, the idea to organize an office swap came a year ago. After doing initial research, the Vilnius-based studio couldn’t find precedents of similar exchanges between design studios and decided to act upon changing it. The invitations to collaborate were sent out to studios across Europe, and one of them, Muttnik, were most eager to jump on board.  

“Muttnik is a multidisciplinary studio known for its exclusive and experimental design, mainly working on museum and gallery identity projects in Northern Italy. The bulk of our work revolves around strategy, visual identities, and communication design across various sectors. Getting familiar with each other’s environment and work will be mutually beneficial,” added Paukštė.

It is not only the work environments that will be swapped. The two studios have arranged meetings with potential local clients for their counterparts, adding another layer of collaboration to the project. In the time before the exchange starts, both teams are making sure the visiting studio will know where to go and what to do after the work day ends.

“This project has no strings attached – none of the participating parts has to pay anything but their living and traveling expenses. We helped each other with finding where to live, who to meet, what to do. Hopefully, this creative exchange will be just the first of many, and more studios will follow suit to build a more connected community among the graphic design professionals in Europe. Usually, design studios are fierce competitors, but we believe there is much more to gain by collaborating,” finished Paukštė.

The office swap project has its website, where both participating studios will share their experiences while spending time in their partner’s shoes. Also, the website calls for closer collaboration among professionals in the design field by inviting to register and participate in future exchanges. Those interested in a more traditional workation in Vilnius can apply for one of the free spots via the official workation program of the city.