“It helps us stay sharp.” Mouthwash Studio’s Research Center gives R&D the attention it deserves

For a few years now, the team at Mouthwash Studio has been thinking about their R&D process – an integral part of their practice that keeps the cogs turning and leads them to the impactful, contextual work they’ve come to be known for, but equally, a slice of the creative process that often goes unseen. To give research and experimentation a space of its own, the team launched the Mouthwash Research Center as a playground for boundless creativity, with no constraints in sight. The new vertical has let the studio tap into many things at once – it presents an opportunity to learn new skills and techniques, throw the rulebook out the window, and allows each member of the team the space to push themselves outside of their discipline and department. But perhaps, most importantly, it’s given Mouthwash the chance to redefine what it means to ‘create,’ making experiments that help tease one’s skill sets and imagination just as important as commercial work. “To only commit to client work, to playing it safe, and sticking with what we know works, is like trying to drive while only looking in the rearview mirror,” says Alex Tan, Partner, Direction & Strategy.

To learn more about the project and where it promises to take the studio next, we huddled with the team. Tan – along with Partners & Designers Mackenzie Freemire and Ben Mingo, and Partner & Creative Director Abraham Campillo – give us a peek into how the Research has allowed the team to think differently, and why R&D at Mouthwash is now getting the limelight it deserves.

RB Hi Abraham, Mackenzie, Ben and Alex! How are things at Mouthwash?

MS Great! We’re entering year five at the studio and feeling as optimistic as ever. New studio site and new office, so we’re feeling both excited and grateful to be where we are.

RB Congratulations on launching the Mouthwash Research Center! Could you tell us about what led you to it?

MS Mouthwash Research Center is a vertical we have been working on since 2021. It stemmed from us desiring a space specifically for Research & Development – putting our team in a position to constantly learn and explore, as well as stay ahead of trends and emerging technologies. This portion of the work often goes unseen when sharing projects – even though it’s a large part of what gets us to the final output. By creating a place that houses our developmental process, we are not only able to document it for ourselves, but also share it with others to spark new ideas or collaborations.

The creative freedom to make work without strict outputs has been really refreshing.

RB What has been the most rewarding aspect about creating a space for the team to experiment freely, without worrying about the constraints of commercial work?

MS Perhaps seeing the new possibilities that can come about from a new idea, or an idea that has been brought up previously and wasn’t used. It has also been rewarding to expand our list of collaborators across disciplines whom we don’t get to work with within commercial projects. Providing ourselves the liberty and creative freedom to make work without strict outputs in mind has been really refreshing.

We have also found that the Research Center has forced us to change how we share and present work. Instead of just focusing on the final case study, we now introduce work that is in progress or incomplete. Sharing in this way has shifted our approach from what was once a singular voice to embracing an approach that presents a range of voices and perspectives.

RB As I scroll through the website, the motion explorations immediately catch my eye. Tell us about the studio’s relationship with motion design, and if the freewheeling experiments have brought a change to how you approach motion now.

MS Motion design has increasingly become a large part of our studio practice, so much so, that we consider it a fourth vertical in our practice, alongside strategy, direction, and design. Whether it pertains to branding projects or web, we’ve found that it helps in the process of translating our ideas into something that feels more dynamic, and thus makes people more receptive to them. Hardly anything we consume these days is entirely still or stationary, so it comes as no surprise that the difference between seeing something such as a static logo mark and seeing it in motion is quite vast and convincing. And to tie that to the experiments on MWRC – as the Research Center has grown, we have been integrating some of the principles and learnings from our experiments into client work.

RB Do you set aside some time from your regular practice to dedicate to experiments for the Research Centre? Does the whole team carve out some time together, or are team members encouraged to explore individually?

MS For the most part, the Research Center is self-initiated as it pertains to specific projects and explorations. We try to encourage each other to pursue our curiosities and interests by sharing things we have come across on Slack, and find ways to collaborate internally and externally. We also set aside weekly and bi-weekly meetings to make sure we’re keeping on track with any internal goals we have set for ourselves – whether that be specific milestones such as the site launch or individual projects.

We are now implementing a system where for one week out of each quarter, we’re dedicating time as a team to solely work on the Research Center. It’s such a valuable part of the studio, and we believe that making time for it will only push ourselves and the work at the studio further.

RB Have the explorations led to any unique collaborations?

MS Yes, working on a project such as the choreography one was the first time we had worked alongside dancers. That was a very rewarding process in that we were able to learn from their craft whilst working together internally to create something new.

Similarly, we have also seen collaborations expand from client projects, for example our experiments with OEM, or the render experiments we worked on with Nikolas Ardeley. Seeing that relationship between the studio and the Research Center grow has been encouraging as we head into our third year since starting it.

Another upcoming project we’ve been working on that has opened up new possibilities for collaboration is a trend report that summarises yearly observations, trends and premonitions for the year ahead. Working on that led to us connecting with other researchers, designers and writers. It’s the first time we have also been able to create an output solely dedicated, and reflective of the strategy department.

It has been an exciting challenge for us to redefine what it means to ‘create.’

RB You’ve mentioned that the Research Center has allowed you to ‘venture a little ways past impossibility.’ Have there been any cases where you thought a particular technique or solution was impossible, until you cracked it, thanks to the experimentations?

MS Yes, there have been such instances, which is the beautiful thing about the way it’s set up, that you never know when something might make its way back to you. One example of this is a project we were doing for Nike Run Club – we had worked with several of their coaches to record new audio guided runs, but were having a difficult time figuring out how to visualise the audio in an interesting way that also fit into the app ecosystem.

As the use case was so interactive, we were looking for iterations that felt dynamic and integrated, like a seamless extension of the guided runs themselves. Through a lot of trial and error we were able to work out how to get a 3D rotating logo from one software to another, resulting in an output that responded to any type of audio. I don't think we would have arrived at that outcome without some of the prior tests we had been working on at the Research Center.

RB What has the team most enjoyed about creating without an end goal?

MS It has been an exciting challenge for us to redefine what it means to ‘create.’ While at the studio we have carved out defined disciplines and departments, at the Research Center we try to push ourselves outside those confined worlds. For example, strategists can pick up design work, motion designers can venture into longer-form visuals, members of the team can take classes to learn new skills etc. This type of cross-disciplinary collaboration has been rewarding to embrace.

RB Has launching the Research Center in any way influenced how you approach commercial projects now?

MS It has reinforced how much we value, and oftentimes take the R&D process for granted; it has also reminded us about the time it takes to come up with new ideas or ways of communicating. The Research Center acts as a way to keep our team sharp, and to continue to stay relevant even as the landscape around us continues to shift. To only commit to client work, to playing it safe, and sticking with what we know works, is like trying to drive while only looking in the rear view mirror. We’ve certainly got our work cut out for ourselves in it, but the whole team is looking forward to where it takes us.

Most importantly, it has also heightened our mindset into a state of openness. The Research Center encourages us to continually question and embrace the fact that the world isn’t fixed, and opportunities to challenge what’s been made before are always available.

RB How do you see the venture growing in the future? Do you have any specific plans for it?

MS At the moment, our future plans for the Research Center are pretty open. In terms of the direction we want to take it in – we hope to continue expanding our collaborations by coming up with more self-initiated projects. Alongside this, carving out time throughout the year, purely dedicated to our individual and collective research practices. This year will surely be a learning process for us, and gauging how taking time off each quarter solely for this initiative fares. But even so, we will take it in strides.

There have been a few speaking opportunities that have come up as well at design and educational institutions which is something we’re very much interested in pursuing. Being able to give back to the community and have open discourse through education is something that feels integral to the Research Center’s purpose.

Explore the Mouthwash Research Center