About us

At Kinneir Dufort (KD) our mission is simple – to Design a Better World. We work with a wide range of clients in a variety of sectors, including medical, consumer and industrial. We have a highly skilled and collaborative team that enables us to combine creativity, technical innovation and user experience to deliver world-changing products and services to our clients.

Founded in 1977 by Ross Kinneir and Francis Dufort, the KD team are based in an iconic building in the vibrant city of Bristol. The characterful Grade 2 listed stone building was originally built as a sugar refinery around 1850. It’s now completely refitted, and houses all of our staff plus our workshops, labs, the design studio, an HF usability suite, as well as client meeting spaces. We are in a great central location: the local area is full of independent shops and it is only a short walk up to Park Street, or over to the Harbourside and St Nick’s Markets, both of which have regular street food markets.

Our values underpin everything we do.

• See possibility: we explore the potential in everyone & everything and embrace change to create opportunities.

• Make a difference: we want to be part of the solution and have courage to act, even when it isn't easy.

• Stand together: we collaborate seamlessly, value difference and support each other.

We believe strongly in equality and fairness and try hard to do the right thing; we speak up for and support groups who are working to make a difference. Our official KD partners are the RSA, Frank Water, Kerning The Gap, TeenTech, Babbasa and The Big Bang. Many of our team are also involved in, or run, events in their local communities, making a difference to those around them.

The team at KD are intelligent, hard-working, fun and collaborate brilliantly together to produce creative solutions. We work with some of the biggest, best and most interesting international clients that you’ll find anywhere. We’re a multi-disciplinary team, with experts in research, innovation, human factors, digital UX, 2D and 3D product & packaging design, engineering, prototyping, and electronics & software, all uniquely integrated within one great company.