What happens when a love of music, a DIY attitude and a passion for creativity turn into a career?
For Alex White, it started with gig posters.
More than 15 years ago, Alex and her husband Chris founded We Three Club, a design studio that began by working with bands and musicians before organically evolving into branding, hospitality, marketing and visual communications.
We caught up with Alex for the latest episode of Made In Ely to talk about creativity, building a business around your passions and why, despite the rise of AI, there will always be a place for human creativity.
It all started with music
Alex’s background was originally in makeup for TV and film, having studied at London College of Fashion.
But alongside her studies was another passion: music.
Alex was heavily involved in the Cambridge gig scene, putting on shows at venues including the Portland Arms, the Labour Club and CB2.
And, as anyone who has ever organised a gig knows, gigs need posters.
Alex became increasingly interested in gig poster design and discovered a whole community of artists doing the same thing.
One of those artists was Chris.
The pair initially connected through MySpace after Alex organised a Cambridge version of an exhibition called Poster Roast, bringing together gig poster artists and musicians.
Chris was one of the artists involved.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The pair eventually combined their freelance work and created We Three Club.
A very DIY approach
Alex describes her early career as coming from a very punk, DIY background.
The attitude was essentially: “I could just do this. It’s fine.”
Rather than waiting for someone to give her permission to become a designer, she learned by doing.
Illustration, drawing, Photoshop and design all came together through working with bands, and the business grew organically.
One project led to another. A band would ask for a poster, then a T-shirt, then another band would see the work and get in touch.
It was never really a carefully mapped-out business plan.
It was simply Alex following her creativity and seeing where it took her.
From small bands to global names
That approach eventually led to We Three Club working with some seriously big names.
The studio has created work for artists including Florence + The Machine, Metallica, Royal Blood and Gallows, among many others.
One of Alex’s favourite stories is Royal Blood.
Around 2014/15, the band was still relatively unknown, having only released one single. Chris had heard them and had a feeling they were going to be something special.
They chose Royal Blood for a festival poster project and created artwork for them.
The prediction turned out to be pretty accurate.
The work subsequently led to years of collaboration, including tour posters and merchandise.
Perhaps the strangest part?
A tiger-head design created by We Three Club eventually became associated with Royal Blood and was even tattooed by fans.
Something created in the garden of a home in Ely had suddenly become part of the visual identity of an international band.
The move into hospitality
While music remained at the heart of We Three Club, Alex’s work gradually began moving into other areas.
One of the key turning points came when musician George Craig approached We Three Club about branding a new bar called Jimmy’s.
Rather than using a traditional branding agency, George wanted the raw, creative aesthetic that Alex and Chris had developed through working with bands.
They ended up creating almost everything – from the logo and interiors to murals, glasses, uniforms and beer branding.
That project opened the door to more hospitality work.
Another opportunity came through Lauren Hodge, who was working with the Waterman Pub in Cambridge.
What started with posters eventually developed into wider branding and marketing work with City Pub Company.
For Alex, it made perfect sense.
Putting on events, promoting them, creating posters, branding businesses and marketing them were all really just different sides of the same thing.
What makes a good brand?
For Alex, good branding isn’t simply about having a nice logo.
It’s about looking at the whole picture.
Who are you trying to speak to?
What is your tone of voice?
What are you trying to communicate?
And does everything – from your website and social media to your emails and physical spaces – feel like it belongs to the same brand?
Alex is particularly passionate about businesses making sure their branding works across different formats.
A logo might look fantastic on a large sign, but if it doesn’t work as a tiny social media profile picture, it’s not doing its job.
Her advice is to keep things bold, simple and flexible.
Good branding doesn’t necessarily need to be complicated.
It just needs to be considered.
Keeping creativity human in the age of AI
Naturally, the conversation also turned to AI.
Alex sees that there is a place for technology, particularly tools such as Canva, which can make it easier for businesses to work with their established branding.
But she worries about the growing tendency to use AI as a replacement for genuine creative thinking.
For Alex, one of the most important things about working with a creative professional is the relationship.
When she works with a business, she becomes deeply invested in it.
She described feeling almost as though it is her own company and wanting to do everything she can to help it succeed.
That human connection is something AI can’t replicate.
And while Alex understands that small businesses don’t always have the budget to invest heavily in branding, she believes there will always be value in working with people who can understand a business, challenge its ideas and guide it through the creative process.
Staying inspired
Creativity isn’t always easy, particularly when you’re balancing work and family life.
Alex has two daughters and admits that becoming a parent changed the amount of headspace she had for creativity.
These days, inspiration comes from everywhere.
Music, art, food, other businesses and, most importantly, the talented people around her all feed into her creative process.
That sense of community is clearly a big part of what keeps Alex inspired.
It’s also why she continues to enjoy working with local businesses.
Rather than chasing a particular end goal, Alex is happy to keep following interesting projects and seeing where they lead.
What’s next for We Three Club?
Although We Three Club is now described as being slightly “dormant”, it certainly isn’t gone.
The studio continues to work on projects such as Record Store Day, 2000 Trees Festival and Green Man Festival, alongside exciting new projects.
One recent project saw We Three Club design guitar straps for the Jimi Hendrix Foundation in collaboration with Dunlop.
Alex is also continuing to work with local businesses on branding, websites, content and marketing, including recent work with Wood Street Coffee and Willow Grange Farm.
And then there’s the UK Poster Association, which Alex and Chris helped establish to support gig poster artists across the country.
Every year, they head to Green Man Festival with a collection of artists and create commemorative posters for bands appearing at the festival.
Importantly, it isn’t really about making money.
It’s about keeping something they love alive.
Following the creative path
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Alex’s story is how little of it was planned.
A degree in makeup for TV and film led to putting on gigs.
Putting on gigs led to designing posters.
Poster design led to working with bands.
Working with bands led to branding.
Branding led to hospitality, marketing and visual communications.
And 15 years later, Alex is still following that same creative instinct.
There’s a lesson in that for any small business owner: you don’t always need to know exactly where you’re going.
Sometimes you just need to follow what you’re good at, stay curious, build relationships and see where the next opportunity takes you.
And if Alex’s career so far is anything to go by, it could take you somewhere pretty exciting.
You can find Alex’s Instagram profile HERE
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