The story behind Persona Studio

Persona Studio started with a simple belief: digital experiences should be built around people.

Not technology for technology’s sake. Not design that simply looks good. But work that understands how people think, feel and behave, and uses that understanding to create something genuinely useful and meaningful.

That was what I wanted to build when I first founded Persona Studio. A more human-focused digital agency, where empathy, creativity and technical thinking worked together.

And while the business has changed considerably since those early days, that belief has never really changed.

Start with people.

For the first three or four years, Persona was primarily a digital and UX studio.

We quickly built a talented team, taking on increasingly ambitious website, platform and technology projects. We worked with businesses that needed more than a good-looking website. They needed help understanding their audiences, simplifying complicated experiences and making technology work better for the people using it.

As the projects grew, so did our thinking.

We began to see just how closely brand and digital experience were connected. You could design an intuitive website, but if the brand didn’t communicate the right feeling, something was missing. Equally, a brilliant brand identity could only go so far if the experience behind it didn’t live up to the promise.

A partnership that became something bigger

Around this time, we began collaborating more closely with Tile Creative, a creative agency with a strong background in branding, design and visual storytelling.

What started as working together on projects developed into a genuine partnership.

We brought different strengths to the table, but shared a similar outlook on creativity, craft and the importance of understanding people. The more we worked together, the more obvious it became that our combined teams could offer clients something stronger than either business could independently.

That relationship eventually led to Persona Studio merging with Tile Creative, bringing our teams, experience and capabilities together under one business.

It also brought Lee Isherwood into the mix, my fellow business partner and the owner of Manchester’s Finest.

Lee brought a different perspective, with a deep understanding of brands, audiences, content and what makes people connect with businesses and places.

Together, we saw an opportunity to build a studio that could move naturally between brand and digital, without treating them as separate disciplines.

One studio. Brand and digital, together.

Today, Persona Studio is a brand, UX and digital studio with a genuinely balanced team across creative and technical disciplines.

That balance wasn’t simply a result of the merger. It’s something we’ve deliberately protected and strengthened over time.

Our brand team brings expertise in strategy, identity, storytelling and creative direction. Our digital team brings research, UX, UI, technology and development. But the real value comes from how those disciplines work together.

We don’t believe brand should stop at a set of guidelines, or that digital should begin with a list of features.

Both start with understanding people.

What motivates them. What frustrates them. What makes them trust something, remember it or feel connected to it.

That understanding shapes everything from the first conversation about a brand to the smallest interaction on a website.

And it’s why we continue to place so much importance on human craft, emotion, empathy and behaviour in our work.

Why we’re still called Persona Studio

There’s an important distinction between the name people know us by and the company behind the studio.

Persona Studio is the trading name of Persona Tile Limited.

Following the merger with Tile Creative, Persona Tile Limited became the combined business behind the studio. It is the larger legal entity through which our team is employed and our integrated brand, UX and digital services are delivered.

Although Persona Studio Limited was the original business, it doesn’t represent the full scale, team or capabilities of the studio as it operates today.

We chose to continue trading as Persona Studio because the name still captured what we believed in better than anything else.

A persona is fundamentally about understanding people. Their needs, motivations, behaviours and perspectives.

That idea sits at the centre of everything we do, whether we’re creating a brand identity, designing a digital product, developing a website or helping a business communicate more clearly.

The name felt right when I started the studio. And it feels even more relevant now.

Different strengths. Shared beliefs.

Looking back, the merger wasn’t about becoming a bigger agency for the sake of it.

It was about bringing together people who cared about similar things, but approached them from different creative perspectives.

That combination has allowed us to take on more ambitious projects, build longer-lasting client relationships and deliver work that feels more considered and connected.

Over time, the distinction between the original businesses has become less and less important. We’re one team, with a shared culture and a common belief in the value of thoughtful, human-centred work. We’ve grown, our capabilities have evolved and the projects have become more varied. But the things that mattered at the beginning still matter today.

Curiosity. Collaboration. Craft. Empathy. And the belief that the best creative work doesn’t just communicate something or make something function.

It makes people feel something.

Tell stories. Shape experiences. Create feeling.

That’s Persona Studio.

Persona Studio is a Manchester-based brand, UX and digital studio, founded by Tom Davies and formed into its current integrated business following a merger with Tile Creative. The studio is operated by Persona Tile Limited, trading as Persona Studio. Tom Davies and Lee Isherwood are business partners in the combined studio, with Lee also owning Manchester’s Finest.