Happy Christmas!

4 weeks to go...

... until Christmas!! And we're starting to feel festive - excitedly anticipating the delivery of our tree next Monday. Here are some very apt baubles spotted by Nik:

walk this way

I went to a brilliant exhibition at Somerset House a couple of weeks ago – Tim Walker: Story Teller.
I’d really recommend it to anyone interested in photography, fashion, design, fairytales or anything to do with creativity and imagination...

As well as Walker's photographs and quotes on the walls, the rooms are all filled with props from the photoshoots, creating a strange and beautiful experience that goes beyond what many exhibitions achieve. In one room pieces of a replica spitfire seem to come through the walls, and in another the sand dune from a photograph continues on into the room, merging the two-dimensional with our three-dimensional reality.

If that hasn't quite enticed you, it might help to know that the exhibition’s free (always a bonus), and you could always tie it in with a spin round the ice skating rink in the courtyard!

flight plan

We had a proud moment seeing our client Aerobility pull off a spectacular opening to the London Paralympics 2012.

Congratulations to the Aerobility operations team - and of course to disabled ex-serviceman David Rawlins who flew the mission.

See the footage on the aerobility home page. 

Aerobility is a UK charity that trains disabled people to become pilots. We started working for them in 2010, helping with the step change from a successful group of enthusiasts to a more professional organisation able to offer more to a wider audience.

Our creative team developed a new brand identity to match up to the ambitious fundraising strategies.  We're still closely involved with Aerobility and currently working on two new fundraising initiatives.

The upswing in interest coming from the participation London Paralympics 2012 has been phenomenal -  we saw more web traffic in one night than we saw for the 9 months leading up to August 29th!

UK charities are finding it tough going this year. But I feel the investment Aerobility made in branding will pay off this year with its successful fundraising initiatives.

Peter

staff meeting

As part of the identity and communications work that we are doing with a large London Healthcare NHS Trust, we have been out and about with the Communications Team at various locations served by the Trust to share some ideas with staff (writes Lawrence).

It has been a really interesting experience.

There are two main observations that I wanted to share. Firstly, just how interested staff were in what we were doing. Everyone we spoke to was not only constructive in their feedback but was very aware of the importance of having a single purpose and identity behind which they could all unite. Much of what we shared was of a visual nature. It’s easy and understandable to make subjective judgments about ‘pictures’. Some will often say they don’t like something but not really know why. The responses we got were well informed and objective – often with suggestions and feedback about how things could be improved.

Secondly, how passionate everyone was about their organisation and the NHS. We spoke to a broad cross section of staff - clinical through to administrative - yet the commitment was just as strong and united. And although many had some issues with how things were, everyone’s loyalty and belief in the Trust and the NHS was unmistakable. The NHS is going through some radical changes but it’s refreshing that with all the problems that are often faced, they are being confronted by staff hell bent on delivering fantastic healthcare.

This exercise reiterated to us that you ignore sharp end staff at your peril – they not only give you important direction but also their support is vital. And that NHS staff are totally engaged with their organisation and ready and willing to make things work in order to protect this great institution of ours.

adventures in coffee

To help celebrate coffee brand Percol's 25th anniversary, we recently redesigned its ground coffee range (see pics), giving the packs the stand out on shelf they deserve.

The idea behind the brand is 'Adventures in Coffee' and we reckon the new packaging reflects this while clearly differentiating the wide range of variants...

limited edition packaging - a chance to jump on the bandwagon or add real value to your brand?

London, UK 2012

Red, white and blue dominate the retail environment at the moment. With a busy year for Great Britain including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, a Brit in the Wimbledon Finals and the Olympics being hosted here, there is surely every reason to drape the Union Jack around the shoulders of your brand and join in the patriotic spirit….and of course hope for a lift in sales during these otherwise quite dreary times of austerity and rain!

But is all this really adding brand value, or simply hopping onto the bandwagon of nationalistic pride in the hope of some short lived commercial gain?

Take for example Twinings. Awarded the Royal Warrant in 1837 and now offering over 100 varieties, the launch of a limited edition range in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is wholly in keeping with the brand’s core values, as is the stunning detail of the packaging. No flags here – just a gold carriage and commemorative ‘royal’ detailing beautifully embossed around the oval caddies (loose tea) and rectangular caddies (tea bags) – something to suit every street party. And each format is available in 3 colourways, making the set not only collectable but the packaging reusable too. 

At the other end of the spectrum I see M&Ms – a wholly American brand which, with a little help from UK band Little Mix, has chosen to launch a limited edition pack of red, white and blue sweets (or should that be candies) with the Union Jack proudly splashed across their packaging. With no apparent link back to the brand at all, beyond the limited edition packaging there really is not much for the consumer to engage with. Shame on you MARS! 

That’s not to say that only British brands should benefit in 2012. P&G, another US multinational (and Worldwide Partner of the 2012 Games), has joined forces with Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, to launch limited edition packaging to support the P&G Capital Clean up campaign, a series of clean up events designed to bring an army of 1,700 community champions together to spruce up more neglected areas of the city ahead of the Olympics. This links the household cleaning brands of P&G perfectly with the trend of growing local community spirit and pride, and of course with the Olympics. 

So, the launch of limited edition packaging can be hugely beneficial to brands - it can refresh awareness, deliver shelf standout and drive consumer interest. But it will only add real value to the consumer if it responds to a true insight and reinforces their own present associations with the brand, and demonstrates a genuine reason to purchase beyond price alone.

Jubilations

Our studio, decked out in a suitably festive fashion!

flatpack TV

I've always been a great believer in approaching problems and ideas from unexpected angles. One of the best examples of this I've come across recently is a new Ikea product, set to launch in the UK in early 2013. It's call Uppleva (which I'm reliably informed by my Swedish friends means 'revolution'). And it's not a sofa, or a new bed, or a potato masher, or even a fancy new type of tea light. It's a TV.

Ikea, making TV's? It doesn't make sense. Except it does: because Ikea have cleverly recognised the problem with TVs today. Its not about screen size, HD, 3D, smart or being able to download apps. It's the fact that most TV's today are bloated, oversized, badly designed monsters, which when combined with the plethora of boxes we now attach to them and all the associated cables that involves means our living rooms all have a proverbial (televisual) elephant in the corner.

Being a furniture maker and renowned for design, Ikea have identified this problem and produced a cleverly Swedish solution to it. A TV that doesn't compete on tech smartness and which doesn't compete with the rest of your living room. Instead, we can now consider it part of the furniture. It's very clever, and it will be interesting to see if it takes off. And if it comes in flatpack. Nik

our favourite {non-fiction} books

The next in our "a few of our favourite things" series, here are some of the non-fiction books we love...

• A Japanese series of creative/interiors books called Editions Paumes - hard to get hold of, and all in Japanese, but worth it for the lovely and inspiring pictures (here).

• London A-Z for the geek inside, I love the attention to detail and the story of its creator Phyllis Pearsal (here).

• Breathe on 'em Salop (history of Shrewsbury Town FC).

• A Year of Mornings: 3191 miles apart - a good coffee table book full of gorgeous photography where two friends, living 3191 miles apart, took photos every morning for a year to share with each other.

• A People's Tragedy by Orlando Figes - heavy in both content and physicality, but epic and - incredibly - all true.

• A Million Little Pieces by James Frey - really gripping story.

• Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah - if China is going to be the biggest world power, we need to worry.

our favourite galleries & museums

If you feel a cultural visit coming on - in or out of London - and need inspiration, here are some of our favourites...

goodbye nostalgia, hello über-nostalgia

I've been reading that nostalgia is the key to marketing in a recession (writes Peter): see the design blog of Gloucester agency Alias and the Marketing Society's debate.

From past experience I've noticed that our love for nostalgia does always seem to increase in a recession (this being my fourth).

However, it is ironic that to give the nostalgic experience any life and authenticity these days requires the talent and dedication of extremely skillful designers, artists, film makers and marketeers (and arguably requires more effort than is needed than to create something new and contemporary).

The current nostalgic decade of choice has to be the roaring '20s. And now that artists, musicians and film makers have access to such powerful digital technology, any nostalgia-based creations can be digitally enhanced to make a sort of über-nostalgia that goes beyond the realms of the pastiche.

A few examples of über-nostalgia:

FILM: The extraordinarily successful film 'The Artist' is a tribute to silent movies so faithful that it remains 'silent' throughout. Capturing that old movie feel required ultra modern movie technology, which was then projected onto purpose built and smaller flat screens, as found back in the 1920's.

Has the adorable Uggie from The Artist walked straight out of the 1920's HMV logo?

MUSIC: Take a listen to C. W. Stoneking but with your eyes closed for the first few minutes. Doesn't it sound like he's a black blues hero straight out of Mississippi in the Depression? But no, C.W. is a 30-year old Australian living in Bristol!

PACKAGING: Hendrick's Gin is a beautifully constructed pastiche of the "flapper's tipple of choice". Has this been stolen straight out of the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in London?

1920's Gordon's Gin (with medicinal serving suggestion!) vs. 2011 Hendrick's Gin

our favourite shops {anywhere}

Although shopping is kind of off our agenda for January, we've shared our favourite London shops here before and thought in the spirit of New Year's inspiration we'd throw it open to shops anywhere at all. So here are our picks...

From top:

Daikanyama, Tokyo "interesting boutiques beautifully designed and great for people watching"

Topshop, London

Merci, Paris "whereas Colette is too cool for school, this is a concept store that is just really lovely to spend time in"

Independent cookware shops "whoever would have thought you could buy a pair of 'onion glasses' - ingenious

Shrewsbury Antiques Market "a treasure trove of stuff that you just can't find anywhere"

Selfridges, London "after being to New York, Paris, Rome and countless other places, I really think this is the best shop in the world"

J R Raine & Son, Middleton-in-Teesdale "a tiny warren of a DIY shop which sells everything Homebase offers, except in smaller amounts and cheaper"

Paul Smith "nuf said"