It All Starts With Why

In a world predominantly concerned with making things accessible and standardized, certain elements of intangible quality have been lost along the way. Society at large no longer values what it cannot quantify. The qualitative has been reduced to the subjective, which, in turn, is dismissed as unreal, unmeasurable, or straight-up non-existent. Art, poetry, organic, rhythm, fantasy–all deliberately eliminated.

People are viewed through the lens of data–their aspirations as part of the user experience. Dignity has faded away and courage is attributed to history. Removing qualities and traits that make us human results in a society without a soul, like a group of mercenaries–conformist, distant, merciless.

The people of AxelMondrian believe otherwise. We are here to signify stories, dignify people and make complex meaningful.

The Challenge: “We Are The Time, We Are The Famous”

As you scroll through your newsfeed or social media, the name “Axel Mondrian” should evoke a sense of familiarity—an impression that you’ve encountered it before, perhaps associated with generations of Axel Mondrians running a respectable and trustworthy firm. This was precisely the goal for the brand’s identity: to reflect the founders’ 20 years of industry experience, from the Oxford Centre for Corporate Reputation to Ogilvy in Europe, yet to create a new, unique name.

The challenge was to craft an identity that not only resonated with this sense of heritage but also stood out as a distinctive name—one that would remain unclaimed in a simple search. We went to a bar and ordered Old Fashioneds—several, in fact—to distil what it truly means to be Axel Mondrian.

The Solution: “We Are Old School”

We created an enigma—deliberately ambiguous and purposefully mystical. What, or who, is AxelMondrian? Is it a team of professionals? A famous yet elusive individual? Perhaps an agency or a firm? This familiar yet mysterious name highlighted AxelMondrian’s positioning as a brand with a magician archetype. We aimed to present AxelMondrian not merely as an institution or a company, at least not to those observing from the outside. Much like its name, AxelMondrian is an idea, an ambition.

Brand Philosophy: Thinking, Writing, Portraying

To articulate AxelMondrian, founded on three key pillars, we turned to postmodern philosophy and drew inspiration from three seminal thinkers who have shaped our approach.

AxelMondrian Thinking (Research) – Michel Foucault’s “Subjectivity and the Truth”

“The work of an intellectual is not to mould the political will of others; it is, through the analyses that he does in his own field, to re-examine evidence and assumptions, to shake up habitual ways of working and thinking, to dissipate conventional familiarities, to re-evaluate rules and institutions, and to participate in the formation of a political will.”

AxelMondrian Writing (Conceptualisation) – George Orwell’s “Why I Write”

“Desire to seem clever, to be talked about, to be remembered after death, to get your own back on grown-ups who snubbed you in childhood… It is humbug to pretend this is not a motive, and a strong one. Writers share this characteristic with the whole top crust of humanity. The great mass of human beings are not acutely selfish.”

AxelMondrian Portraying (Visualisation) – Susan Sontag’s “Against Interpretation / On Photography”

To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never have; it turns people into objects that can be symbolically possessed. Just as a camera is a sublimation of the gun, to photograph someone is a subliminal murder – a soft murder, appropriate to a sad, frightened time.

Impact. The Birth Of Axelmondrian

The AxelMondrian Brand Philosophy series was brought to life through lens photography, with the initial preview showcased during the halftime of a contemporary film festival. This choice of medium underscored the brand’s commitment to merging artistic expression with intellectual depth.

The brand name was prominently displayed on the office building, with the brand’s storytelling integrated into the office space itself. Additionally, corporate inventory, including branded methodological files, was produced using high-quality materials, some of which were featured in product photography to further enhance the brand’s image.

In its first year, AxelMondrian achieved significant recognition, ranking 6th in terms of awareness among business decision-makers. This wouldn’t be the case if AxelMondrian wasn’t there—in a suit, wearing a hat, entering a bar and ordering an Old Fashioned