Crystal Computing: History and Key Facts

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. 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, 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.

With Clarke's departure the company was reorganised as Design Design, a trading name that had been used by Brattel since 1976 for his electronic audio designs. 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. 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.

Stafford went on to form developer Walking Circles producing titles including The Living Daylights and Spitting Image for Domark and the PC version of Bloodwych for Image Works.

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