A community of creative activists who communicate social-change messages. Ethical, experienced, and based in Bali. Why “mostly”?
MostlyHarmless is an ethical creative agency with a deep bench in the social-impact sector. We partner with organisations, activists, sustainable businesses, and philanthropists on communications that have to work in the real world.
Our team mixes strategists, writers, designers, and producers who have spent years inside NGOs, campaigns, and government-adjacent work. We thrive in a relaxed, open studio — happiness is not a side quest.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead
Five people in Canggu, plus one honorary member who never signed anything.
Agusmantono, S.Pd, M.Sc. Studied Environmental Politics and Society at the University of Edinburgh, then spent years inside NGOs and government finding out what happens to good policy after the meeting ends. Now he translates between the people who write reports and the people who need to read them. Mostly does not panic.
Hady Hubaydillah. Ten-plus years across sustainability, technology, and telco, an economics degree, and an Agile certificate he will mention only if asked. Looks after partnerships and client success, which mostly means keeping promises and answering the phone. Can turn a forty-slide deck into one sentence. Occasionally allowed to.
N. H. Handayani. Consultant and researcher in social and public health, with evidence-based health care from the University of Oxford. Handa is the reason our campaigns start with data rather than a hunch. The cat is not on payroll either, but attends most meetings.
Chris Duamdes. Designer across more industries than is strictly reasonable, now pointed at social impact. Holds that visuals should serve the strategy and not the other way around, and will move a logo two pixels to the left if that is what it takes. It usually is.
Kauesar Achmad. Creative direction, design, and videography. Esa makes social content people actually watch, which sounds simple and is not. Speaks fluent algorithm. Prefers humans.
Douglas Adams, 1952–2001. Wrote the book we are named after. Has never attended a meeting, missed a deadline, or sent an invoice, which makes him the most reliable member of the team. What he has to do with any of this is explained below.
Understand the people our clients serve before we design anything. Listening first, visuals second.
Better work comes from more voices, in the languages they actually use. No one-size-fits-all decks.
Build capacity, not dependence. The point is that you can lead the next chapter without us in the room.
You do not need to have read the book. Here is the whole story in three steps.
In 1978 Douglas Adams wrote The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, first as a BBC radio comedy, then as a run of novels. It is about the end of the world and what happens afterwards. The Guide of the title is an electronic encyclopaedia for travellers: everything worth knowing about every planet in the galaxy, in a device that fits in a bag.
For a very long time, the Guide’s entry on our entire planet — every person, every city, every species — was a single word: Harmless. Then a researcher spent fifteen years living here, sent in his notes, and the editors expanded the entry. It now reads: Mostly harmless. Adams liked the joke enough to make it the title of the fifth book.
No spoilers, but by the end of the story the unremarkable little planet turns out to be central to the whole plot. Quiet things do that. It is the part of the joke we liked most.
Earth looked like nothing and held the keys. Unintimidating things do that, given time. A well-made message can too.
Hence the whallephant on our logo: part whale, part elephant. Two of the largest animals alive, and mostly harmless. Doing big things should not cost the planet.
Being alive means using things up. The aim is not purity; it is that everyone tries to be at least mostly harmless. Enough people doing that and the world gets better. We start with the work we take on.
So: MostlyHarmless. A joke from a good book that turned into a standard. The whallephant is there so we do not forget.
Tell us what you are trying to change. We will bring the towel.