TADO; consisting of Mike and Katie from Sheffield are a design agency with a focus in on character driven stories and campaigns. With recent commercial work ranging from a SKY campaign, to Artfelt with Sheffield Hospital to being commissioned to build a piece for Jello Kitty's 40th anniversary, here is a duo that truly excites with their quirky and beautiful yet timeless work.

It is interesting to note that so many of the people who do so well for themselves inside and outside the design world don’t realise just how well they are doing; the pursuit; not of perfection, but of evolution leaves us constantly underwhelmed by our own achievements. Mike and Katie never seem overawed about their amazing projects or arrogant; they are genuinely excited about what they do and truly enjoy their creative process.

With an artistic style that coexists somewhere in the 80s with He-Man and Super Ted and in noughties Britain but also is very much inspired by Asian street and manga culture (think Dragonball Z and Ghost in a Shell) in their everyday designs. They see the world around them in a way that pretty much anything can be made into a character and then a mascot that can truly tell not only the clients story but also the characters personal story. Their campaign with Sky Kids is would be a perfect example and is interesting not only in its scope and also in the vision of the client.

Seeing a concept go from your mind to paper to television and then a physical 3D toy is a surreal experience. Their favourite medium definitely is wood because of its malleability and ‘design flixibility’. For them making wooden toys is great for getting away from the computer screen and into the physical joy of using your hands to create ‘real’ things.