How we got here
Tanze Okafor studied graphic design at Leeds Arts University and went straight into freelance work after graduating in 2009. For two years she worked from her flat in Headingley, picking up branding jobs for small businesses and startups across Leeds. The work was steady but the kitchen table was getting crowded, so in 2011 she took on a studio space on Call Lane and registered Tanze Print & Design.
The early years were mostly identity work: logos, business cards, letterheads. But clients kept asking whether we could handle their print runs too, and it didn't take long for that side of the business to grow. In 2013, Tanze brought in James Holroyd as a print specialist, and the studio shifted to cover both design and production under one roof. Having the whole process in-house meant better control over quality, faster turnaround, and fewer conversations lost between designer and printer.
Priya Shah joined the design team in 2017, bringing a sharp eye for layout and a knack for making complex information look clean. The three of us handle everything from single-colour business cards to large-format exhibition stands, and we're particular about the details that matter: paper stock, ink coverage, finishing. The kind of things that most people don't notice until they're wrong.
Most of our work comes through referrals and repeat customers. We take that as a good sign. It means the work holds up, the process works, and people trust us enough to come back and to send others our way. After more than a decade on Call Lane, that's the best measure of how we're doing.