Tom Allen is co-founder and creative director at Buff, a motion-first creative studio prioritising people, process and craft. As a certified B Corp, Buff pioneers brand-led, strategic motion with a high standard of social and environmental performance, enhancing brand experience with intention.
As part of our 5 Questions With series, I caught up with Tom to discuss the value of thoughtfully crafted motion design. Together, we talked about creative pet peeves, the love-hate world of AI and the secret to staying relevant in an ever-evolving industry.
Why is B Corp certification important to you?
My business partner Chloe and I founded Buff on the principle of building a studio with a healthy approach to work and life. That wasn’t something we experienced in many of the companies we’d worked in previously, where late nights and weekend work were often considered the norm.
To make that approach realistic while working with brands all over the world, we’ve had to be very considered about how we structure timelines and how open we are with our clients. As a result, we’ve always been conscious of how we run the business, both internally and externally, for our team and the wider community.
What really appealed to us about becoming a B Corp was having a framework to formalise a lot of our existing procedures and mindset. Some of this we were already doing, some needed to evolve, and some were completely new. It took around 18 months to go through the process, and we’ve now just completed our first full year of being certified.
So, to answer the question more directly, we value that it gives us a clear pathway for running the business in the right way. We know B Corp isn’t for everyone, but being certified is hopefully an indication that we’re genuinely trying to be as good as we can, within our means.
What’s the ugliest creative trend you secretly love?
I’m slightly reluctant to say this because everyone is sick of the conversation, but… AI. Not sure if you’ve heard of it?
The amount of AI slop we’re served every day is pretty incredible. I absolutely hate that side of it, but what I do like is how much it makes authentic work stand out.
I’m not suggesting there isn’t a place for AI at all. When it’s used responsibly, it can help us make better work and do more than we ever could before. There are also some great examples of studios using it in really interesting ways, while still retaining a strong sense of human craftsmanship.
So this is a slightly tenuous answer to the question, but what I love is that people seem to be turning away from lazy uses of AI and instead reaching for more hand-touched creative work that really embraces craft.
What’s your creative pet peeve?
This might be a controversial one, but it’s always bugged me when designers place text bang in the vertical centre of a frame because, technically, that’s “perfectly” centred. In a 16x9 frame especially, true vertical centre actually looks too low.
It's why when a piece of art is framed the bottom edge is often thicker than the top. It feels visually centred, even if it isn’t mathematically so. It goes back to the age-old design for what looks correct, rather than what is correct.
What’s one thing you wish more people understood about your role/industry?
There’s a huge push at the moment for every new brand identity to include motion. That’s a great thing, and we’ve long advocated for motion to be considered right at the beginning of the branding process.
That said, I think a lot of agencies are implementing fairly generic motion principles without really digging into what approach is right for each brand. Motion plays such an important role in expressing a brand’s voice, its personality, and its character. Every detail of how something moves should be considered and should reinforce the brand’s tone and language.
Because there’s such a scramble to include motion at all costs, it often ends up being under-considered and can look bland or generic, which I think is a real missed opportunity.
What does staying relevant mean to you?
With so many brilliant studios and agencies working in motion branding now, standing out and staying relevant is getting harder. Because of that, we’re really trying to be more present in the community and clearer about our positioning.
We spend a lot of time thinking about our own brand and how it shows up in the world. We try to be humble, approachable, and open in the way we carry ourselves. Through a combination of creating great work and sharing our thinking, I hope we can build a voice that feels distinctly Buff.
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