Crystal Computing, later renamed Design Design, was a British
video game developer founded in 1982 by Chris Clarke and Ian Stamp while students at the
University of Manchester. Graham Stafford, Neil Mottershead,
Simon Brattel and Martin Horsley, joined the company as it expanded.[1][2] The company's first software release was a compilation of games for the Sinclair
ZX81, though it was with the
ZX Spectrum that Crystal found its greatest success. A deal with the machine's manufacturer
Sinclair to distribute Crystal's Zeus Assembler gave the company sufficient funds for a major marketing campaign for their next product,[3]Halls of the Things, an
arcade adventure game that became their most successful title.
Clarke left in 1984 to join
Artic Software, where he worked on the "business side", before collaborating with
Jon Ritman on the
Match Day series.[4]
With Clarke's departure the company was reorganised as Design Design,[2] a trading name that had been used by Brattel since 1976 for his electronic audio designs.[5] Design Design's core consisted of Stafford working mainly on titles for the
Commodore 64, Brattel and Mottershead working on the
ZX Spectrum and
Amstrad CPC, and David Lewellyn, the company's administrator.[2] According to Stafford the new name was part of a wider re-branding, as they wanted a more professional image, along with a better relationship with the press and the public.[2]