Crystal Computing, later renamed Design Design, was a British game development company founded in 1982 by Chris Clarke and Ian Stamp while they were 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 game compilation for the Sinclair ZX81, although it was with the ZX Spectrum that Crystal found its greatest success. A deal with machine maker Sinclair to distribute Crystal's Zeus assembler provided the company with enough funds for a major marketing campaign for its next product, Halls of the Things, an arcade adventure game that became its most popular title. successful.
Clarke left in 1984 to join Arctic 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 reorganized as Design Design, a trade name that had been used by Brattel since 1976 for his electronic audio designs. The core of Design Design consisted of Stafford, who worked primarily on titles for the Commodore 64, Brattel and Mottershead, who worked on the ZX Spectrum and the Amstrad CPC, and David Lewellyn, the company manager.