new recruit

Today we've had a new freelancer in on trial - a highly skilled and super stylish Maltipoo called Teddy! No doubt we'll be welcoming him back soon.

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...