From KnightRiley to Vandalist From KnightRiley to Vandalist

Vandalism was originally classified by French painter Gustave Courbet as the eradication of monuments symbolising war and conquest. He labelled vandalism an expression of contempt against oppression and a creative outlet to demonstrate opposition to control, and against restriction of free thought. Whilst we are not vandals, or for that matter French Painters, we do believe in the power of thinking and acting in a manner that is creative, free, and out of the ordinary.

This process has taken us nine months to get here. We had a few false starts along the way; the main one being the acquisition of a new project just before our original launch date. We probably could have made it work, but to be knee-deep in a huge project with a lot of tense stakeholders seemed like it wasn’t the best time to mention that we thought it would be cool to change our name.

The change came down to one thing; what we were when we started is not what we are now. And what we are now is what we set out to be when we started.

We began in 2014. At this point we just wanted to get moving – we didn’t want to spend months coming up with the perfect name so we went with the surnames of the founders – Knight and Riley [KnightRiley]. But last year Steve and I acknowledged that the time had come. We had grown out of that name and we needed something more energetic and consistent with how the business was now.

The change came down to one thing; what we were when we started is not what we are now. And what we are now is what we set out to be when we started.

Vandalist is about methodical, creative, and occasionally unorthodox application of skills and resources. We love inventing, and problem solving, but strategy is what drives us. Our objective is always to get the job that needs doing, done. If we need to go off-road, we do. Rather than wait, stall, and shift responsibilities, we move.

Vandalist is a brand that contributors, current and future, can be proud of and excited by, and that users can believe in.

We’d love to hear your feedback on the name change and style. If you don’t already have our details, send us your thoughts here: promise@vandalist.co