The Stone Twins is a creative

branding agency A branding agency is a firm that specializes in creating and launching brands and rebranding. The role of a branding agency is to create, plan, measure, and manage branding strategies for clients, including support in advertising and other forms o ...

based in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. It was founded by twin brothers Declan and Garech Stone (born 8 November 1970,

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

), graduates of the

National College of Art and Design The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) is Ireland's oldest art institution, offering the largest range of art and design degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the country. Originating as a drawing school in 1746, many of t ...

, Dublin. The Stone Twins specialises in areas such as

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

strategy, naming and brand

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...

(both visual and verbal). The firm is best known for the branding of MassiveMusic and A'DAM Toren, as well as the design of several Irish commemorative postage stamps. The Stone Twins' award-winning work includes a coveted Dutch Design Award, several

European Design Award The European Design Awards, also known as the ED-Awards, are annual awards presented to European designers for outstanding work in the communication design field. The ED-Awards is a joint initiative of design magazines from across Europe and endors ...

s and 13

D&AD Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. ...

Pencils. Their work forms part of the permanent collections of the

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 Smithsonian Institution museums and one of three Smithsonian facil ...

, New York, and the

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

, and has been described as concept-led, witty, thought-provoking and pioneering. The Stone Twins regularly write for trade magazines, including ''Communicatie'' (Wolters Kluwer) and ''Eye'' magazine: the International Review of Graphic Design. They are the authors of the critically acclaimed book ''Logo R.I.P.'' (A Commemoration of Dead

Logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

s); the updated 2nd edition was launched in the

, New York in 2012. They are keen educators, and were Head of the ‘Man and Communication' department at

Design Academy Eindhoven Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) is an interdisciplinary educational institute for art, architecture and design in Eindhoven, Netherlands. The work of its faculty and alumni have brought it international recognition. History The Design Academy E ...

from 2008 until their resignation in 2013.

Books

The Stone Twins have written the following books: * ''Logo R.I.P., (A Commemoration of Dead Logos)''
BIS Publishers
2012. () * ''A Catalogue of Curiosities, Relics, Art & Propaganda (CRAP)'', 2010. * ''Hello, I'm A'DAM (The Creation of a New Amsterdam Icon)'', A'DAM Toren C.V., 2021. () Logo R

Magazine Articles

Selected articles written by The Stone Twins: * ''Chameleons (Single-character logos provide rich, raw material for identity design)'' –

Eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

, No. 67, Vol. 17, Spring 2008. * ''Logos without words'' –

, No. 80, Vol. 20, Summer 2011. * ''Something Is Rotten in the State of Design'' –

Design Week ''Design Week'' is a UK-based website, and formerly a weekly magazine, for the design industry. It was first published in October 1986 by Centaur Communications. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations primary circulation for 2007 was 8 ...

, August 2015. Republished in: Open Manifesto #8: Change, 2018. * ''Design & Humour'' – 100 Archive: Dialogues, 8th April 2020.

Exhibitions

Selected exhibitions: * 2015 ''Liminal – Irish design at the threshold'', Eindhoven, Milan, New York and Dublin (group show) * 2012 ''New Graphic Design Collection'',

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Amsterdam (group show) * 2012 ''Graphic Design: Now in Production'',

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

, Minneapolis and the

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 Smithsonian Institution museums and one of three Smithsonian facili ...

, New York (group show) * 2011 ''Underground'' by The Stone Twins, Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg (art installation) * 2008 ''1600 X Zierikzee'' by The Stone Twins, Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg (art installation)

Controversies and criticism

In 2020, the agency began a self-initiated project questioning the

fearmongering Fearmongering, or scaremongering, is the act of exploiting feelings of fear by using exaggerated rumors of impending danger, usually for personal gain. Theory According to evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary biology, humans have a strong ...

surrounding

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and the proportionality of the measures/restrictions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stone Twins, The Design companies of the Netherlands Companies based in Amsterdam Alumni of the National College of Art and Design