Over the last two months I have only written about UK origin design news items to give the blog a niche appeal. I though this might cause a dip in visitors for a while but actually it has increased by 500 visitors a month (5200 a month in total).
This doesn't include readers using RSS feeds, and when writing about the design community RSS subscribers are not uncommon. Therefore I have introduced feedburner to record those stats and to give a better/faster service.
If you are reading this on an RSS reader please switch over to the new feed: click here
I have also introduced captchas to the comments forms as spam bots where having a field day.
Most importantly, thank-you for your support.
I don't make a penny from this, its here to support my own interest in the industry.
If you have any feedback please do get in touch.
Alnwick Garden is tended to by Cravens
Leeds agency Cravens have just launched a new website for Alnwick Garden.
The Alnwick Garden website has been designed to create a contemporary online presence whilst encouraging sustainable relationships with family audiences and garden lovers.
As part of an ongoing awareness-building campaign targeting regional and national visitors, the new site gives green-fingered visitors the chance to grow their own mandrake plant – complete with live weather feed to ensure the plant is tended to accordingly. Incentives for growing the largest plant include a two-for-one voucher as well as dinner for four and evening tours of the Poison Garden – one of the Garden’s most popular and intriguing attractions - for the overall winner.
Visit Cravens
Visit alnwick garden
Young Boris Johnson - the comicbook
The current edition of Time Out London includes the third installment of advertising agency Mother’s Four Feet From A Rat comic. Created in collaboration with graphic novel publishers Mam Tor, the comic offers a quirky insight into London life, with one story, illustrated by German artist Roger Langridge, focusing on London’s ebullient mayor, Boris Johnson.
The story, titled Young Boris, sees our intrepid mayor cast as a heroic adventurer, fighting off the dangers of the commies, pesky picaninnies, and the evil Livingstone, natch.
Read more on the CR Blog
DADIs 2008 - Code computerlove
I am on the train back up to Edinburgh after a great night at the DADI awards.
Congratulations to agency of the year, code computerlove. Glad it went to a worthy bunch.
Back to nursing my hangover now!
Visit the DADI's website
NOISE 08 - the olympics for young creatives
NOISE is a Europe-wide media showcase for young creative people aged 25 and under, is open for submissions. Just head here to register, create a profile and upload work.
During the festival in October 2008, the website spotlights the best of the work submitted towww.NOISEfestival.com. NOISE talent will hijack the UK and international media through our partners MTV, BBC, MSN and loads of creative print publications will provide features, profiles and programmes.
NOISE is a not-for-profit charity which aims to help young people with talent, to gain opportunities in the Creative Industries, so it is free to take part!
Lily loves Handbags by Atomic
Atomic launches www.lily-loves.co.uk a new online designer handbag and home accessories shop.
Adam Hinton - Photography for British Airways
What a great photographer, have a look at the other images in the set.
They have really made an cracking campaign.
Still buzzing from absorbing the wealth of great photography collected together in our Photography Annual, we spotted a brand new, photography rich, campaign for British Airways that features shots by one of the photographers featured in said Photography Annual, Adam Hinton.
Actually, the ad agency behind the new campaign, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, enlisted the services of Hinton (represented by Wyatt Clarke & Jones) and also four Magnum photographers: Peter Marlow, Steve McCurry, Stuart Franklin and Olivia Arthur – asking them to explore cities beyond the usual guidebook stuff and capture the real essence of the places, the idea being that it’s the things we observe off the beaten track on our travels that really enrich our holidays. Here are a selection of outdoor ads from the campaign.
Saw it on the CR Blog
Adam Hinton - photogrpahy for British Airways
Still buzzing from absorbing the wealth of great photography collected together in our Photography Annual, we spotted a brand new, photography rich, campaign for British Airways that features shots by one of the photographers featured in said Photography Annual, Adam Hinton.
Actually, the ad agency behind the new campaign, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, enlisted the services of Hinton (represented by Wyatt Clarke & Jones) and also four Magnum photographers: Peter Marlow, Steve McCurry, Stuart Franklin and Olivia Arthur – asking them to explore cities beyond the usual guidebook stuff and capture the real essence of the places, the idea being that it’s the things we observe off the beaten track on our travels that really enrich our holidays. Here are a selection of outdoor ads from the campaign.
Read more on CR Blog
Grow your own creative - for juice
How the 'crunch' will effect UK design agencies
The DRUM have a great article on the effect of the credit crunch on the design industry in the UK.
Turnover
Looking at the entire sample we can see that turnover has increased during the last six months for almost half of all respondents, 47.1% to be exact. However, a quarter (25.5%) of businesses have experienced a decrease in turnover during their last six months of trading.
Slightly more than a quarter (27.5%) of companies have seen their turnover remain static over the last six months, something they will no doubt be aiming to at least replicate during the following months.
Staff
While the financial chaos is making headline news in the newspapers, how it impacts on the real economy is most evident in terms of jobs and recruitment.
Again, looking at the entire sample of 200-plus companies, we can see that 60.7% of companies are planning to maintain their current number of staff employed, with 27.5% of company bosses planning to actually increase the number of staff they employ during the next six months. We will see which areas of the marketing community are feeling the most positive about staff recruitment later. With regards to downsizing in terms of staff, some 11.8% of company bosses are already considering reducing their staff numbers from present levels. This statistic also does not take into account those who may be forced to downsize thorough loss of business, bad debts etc.
Impact
It is sometimes hard to imagine how the stories of financial mismanagement we read in the newspapers will translate into the ‘real’ economy, but 88.2% of respondents feel that the current credit crunch will hit the ‘real’ economy.
Read more on the drum
2008 UK internet usage statistics
Always worth reminding yourself that not everyone is addicted to the internet! But check out those 65+ statistics, go granny go. View the statistics
Conchango launch ireland.com
Essentially a portal, but a really nicely built portal with lots of AJAX goodness. Worth a look Interactive media agency Conchango, today announces the launch of a new digital business, and search and content aggregation site for the Irish Times, www.Ireland.com. Conchango was tasked with developing a pioneering, semantic website for Irish internet users around the world that would both create an international brand identity, and become the default homepage for Ireland. Conchango was engaged to create a contextual site which specifically caters for Irish users, both acting as a search portal and providing content from multiple sources through games, RSS feeds and partnerships with the likes of PA, Sports 365, GoldenPages.ie business directory, Entertainment.ie, and Myhome.ie property website. Dynamic navigation was developed throughout based on user intent, making the site feel even more contextual and relevant to the user. Mash-ups with Google Maps, YouTube and Flickr, plus UGC throughout add to the Web 3.0 experience on Ireland.com. Visit ireland.com
Design thoughts are on hold for a week
I am on my way to the airport for a weeks holiday. Cancoon, Fiji, San francisco, Milan?
Nope, Belfast.
Going to visit friends and family and relax.
Afraid posts will be scarce, but check back in a week. I am sure there will be plenty to catch up on!
It needs to be .... big
Creative review has a great article on how banks of changed their brands to suit markets in the past and how for many banks its time to make a change.
I love the advert above, imagine that advert coming out now. Sheeesh.
After monumental errors, nosediving share prices and the humiliation of nationalisation, the banking world has changed forever. So will their corporate identities and advertising adapt to fit the new realities?
It might seem that logos, commercials and colour schemes should be the last thing to occupy the banks right now, what with global financial meltdown and all, but surely campaigns and brands developed for a very different time (ie last week) can no longer be appropriate? Ever since the early 90s, banks have been attempting to project a friendlier, less formal image. Heraldic devices and serif type were steadily ditched in favour of rounded edges and updated typography. Everything became shinier, more colourful, less forbidding. It was all about innovation and modernity as banks started to project themselves as dynamic global brands, reflecting a shift in their management style and business aims – the upshot of which we are now experiencing.
Read more on the CR blog
100 Years of the London Underground emblem
Great article on Creative Review this morning:
To celebrate 100 years of London Underground’s iconic roundel emblem, Art on the Underground has commissioned 100 contemporary artists to create artworks based on the symbol.
The artworks are currently on show at the Rochelle School in Shoreditch, London, until October 30 and a number of them will also appear as posters on the Underground network. Here is a selection of our favourites.
See more artwork on the CR blog
An interview with the MD of BBC.com
The team at fivebyfive have posted a podcast interview with the managing director of bbc.com. Some very interesting view on the industry.
On learning from others in the digital space
“I think there’s lots that we can learn from some of the things that are coming off those sites around the way they use semantic search, around the way they talk to their users, around the way they’re inclusive, around the way they’re using social networking to broaden the experience. I think all of those things are things we can take away and learn from. That’s part of being in the web space. It’s a symbiotic relationship: once somebody’s learned something, everyone’s learned it.”
On the future
“I think that some of the next big pieces are going to be around the true convergence of what we’ve been talking about for ten years. Things like iPlayer are going to lead the way to do that, you know, how to get those things on to the home TV. At the moment it’s a pretty solitary pursuit doing things in front of your computer – how are we going to open that up and share it with friends in a mainstream way?”
Click here to check it out on Five by Five
Stiff Rowlands - Manchester International Festival
Stiff Rowlands recently launched a site for the Manchester International Festival.
Its clean, confident and to the point. Can't really complain about that.
Our redesign of the Manchester International Festival website launched last Thursday, 9 October with the announcement of the first three events from their 2009 programme. Our approach was definitely “less is more”. With world-class acts such as Rufus Wainwright and Zaha Hadid, we really didn’t need the design to shout. We hope it provides a great online presence for all the brilliant shows and events taking place next summer.
MIF Marketing Director, Cathy Gallagher said:
“We chose Stiff Rowlands for their range of experience but also for their attitude and approach. They had an intuitive understanding of what we wanted and an appreciation of the particular challenges that an artist-led, commissioning Festival is likely to present. They’re particularly good at keeping calm and coming up with appropriate solutions. It’s been a great experience working with them.”
Visit the Manchester International Festival Website
Adobe CS4 in Edinburgh
I am not sure whether to attend this, would I be giving up an afternoon to listen to salesmen? Or is this a case of keeping up with the latest developments in the industry... Book your seat now to see the all-new Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 in action and learn how to create ground breaking work across every medium. Discover shortcuts for designing, building and distributing amazing creative experiences in every media – print, web, interactive, rich internet applications, video and mobile. All of our six suites have been enhanced with exciting new versions of your essential design tools. It’s going to be brilliant! Who should attend? Graphic designers, print professionals, production and layout artists, web designers and developers, interactive designers and application developers, cable and network broadcasters, post-production professionals, corporate and event videographers, independent filmmakers, visual communication trainers and educators. Click here to find out more and register at Adobe Events
Whitespacers have had the time of their lives
Created as a present for two long standing agency staff, hilarious japes from the Edinburgh agency.
View the post on the Whitespace blog
Creative Review New Brand Identity
Creative Review® unveils its new brand identity which will advance our positioning across media platforms.
Following a universal brand audit instigated in the wake of an immersion expedition led by a cohort of leading brand ideators, we engaged in a thoroughgoing knowledge accumulation programme to facilitate blue-sky thinking and empower Creative Review® in the vanguard of world class best practice in thought-leadership. The following brand muscles were established: innovative, dynamic, square-shaped.
The compelling brand truth uncovered has been articulated in this brand statement: “Creative Review®: Leading ideation infonauts in a media neutral world”.
They are taking the piss, but its funny.
Learn more about the sendup