The dogs...

Clip&Ping has been a fantastic project and we first got involved purely on a branding aspect, not expecting the project to snowball in quite the way it did. We had previously worked with the MD of Clip&Ping, Rob Steele, when he was consulting for Alpheus (see earlier blog on this).  Rob was looking for a London based consultancy and approached us, having seen our work and thought that we had our fingers on the pulse of the latest design trends and sound digital experience. We like to think so too!

Rob liked our work, ethos and professional approach so much that after the Alpheus project he asked us to help develop the brand awareness for his new clipping service, including our thoughts on the name. We were not convinced the original name was fit for purpose. We wanted to find a professional, easily remembered, yet quirky moniker, where its simplicity is its strength and meaning would highlight the ease of using the service. Ultimately, we wanted a name that does what it says on the tin – and Clip&Ping was born.

As well as the name, we created the corresponding logo, featuring a modern and bold monogram from the Clip&Ping initials that represent the sharing and discussion of the information provided. We opted for a simple colour palette of black and pink – black for the words ‘Clip’ and ‘Ping’ and pink for the ampersand and monogrammed logo – along with an open, friendly typeface to represent the approachable, fun brand identity.

Our talented design team also came up with a brand mascot, or rather mascots, creating two canine characters, one black and one white, to add personality, as well as instant recognisability, to the brand name. These characters can be used in a variety of ways to communicate what Clip&Ping offers its target audience, acting as ‘sniffer’ dogs, seeking out information and delivering it to their ‘owner’

All in all, we were very pleased with how it turned out and so was Rob, who says: “I had a great working relationship with TTP right from the start, and I felt that they had a thorough understanding of what we wanted. The collaborative and creative process delivered a fantastic brand identity that I feel really represents the aspirations, personality and offering of Clip&Ping.”

The concept of Clip&Ping came about from a need to have a service that enabled websites to stay current and feature refreshable content for SEO rankings, as well as an ethos of helping people share information and knowledge. And the premise of how it works is pretty simple.

It aims to keep its clients’ websites relevant, current and fresh by providing them with relevant articles, comment and social media - acquired under license from over 50,000 publishers, blogs and websites - to populate and refresh their websites daily. The added ability to automatically tweet the Clip&Ping content to twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn means that companies can also promote their business and services across social media platforms. All of this helps to increase readership, site ‘stickiness’ and improve search engine rankings.

“Many SMEs simply don’t have the capacity to employ someone in-house to regularly update and refresh web content and social media activity, which are essential to keep websites near the top of search engines,” explains Rob. “So, we developed this service for our clients, providing focused, relevant, timely and filtered content. Our increasing network of publishers means we have access to millions of individual articles daily, on every conceivable topic.”

So, having heard all about the wonderful things that Clip&Ping can do, we decided to test it for ourselves. We’ve provided Rob with our relevant keywords and are currently bedding the system into our web feed. We’ll have an update as to how we’re getting on testing out the service, including any SEO stats, for next month’s e-newsletter, so keep an eye out for this.

And if you want to speak to the man himself about this service and how it could improve your SEO then why not ping him an email

And now for some culture

Maryann Maguire, Cultural and Political Advisor at InterCultures first got in touch with us back in March this year, asking us to brainstorm a number of logo options for the new company brand identity and website. We created several creative routes for her to mull over.

InterCultures was established to assist private sector companies in understanding and engaging with political institutions and local populations in post-conflict environments; especially to address the need to better map the cultural, political and development environments in emerging markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The company works for a small number of select clients, acting on their specific requirements, with community engagement, partnership and sustainable development as core operational values. They also work with public service clients, including various police forces, to help them better understand culturally diverse communities and how to communicate with them given sensitive issues such as religion or customs.

So, whilst on her work travels around the world over the last few months (including that well known tourist spot, Libya), Maryann asked a number of people for their thoughts on which logo option she should choose. A decision finally made, the minute she touched back down onto home soil, Maryann called us and it was all systems go.

Our challenge was then to finalise the logo and create a holding page that could help her start to convey the open, engaging and professional ethos of the company.

The logo comprises an informal circle, representing the world and people, and consists of four different coloured ribbons – red, orange, green and yellow – which also represent the four key messages of InterCultures: Map, Understand, Enable and Communicate.

“It was hard to find a team of designers who were creative and imaginative and who got the concept behind InterCultures", says Maryann. "The tothepoint team were not only enthusiastic, their initial work captured the spirit of what we do, which is about better understanding, bridging differences and finding better ways to communicate”.

Mark Stevens, our designer and man of the moment, says: “Given InterCultures’ wide remit and approach of utilising community partnerships and sustainable development, it was essential that we conveyed this ethos within the logo design. This holistic approach is reflected in the circular shape and bright colours of the logo, which convey the positivity of the company as well as representing its four key concepts.”

We’ll be helping Maryann develop the brand identity, including the website and stationery, so watch this space for an update on both our and her progress.

Some more Worcester sauce

When complete St Martin’s Quarter, in the heart of the industrial centre of Worcester, will be a thriving retail, restaurant and leisure destination. Produced by the scheme’s principal architects, Mountford Pigott, the video is a walk through of the development, and consists of a series of stills of the existing city centre blending seamlessly with mocked up stills of how it will look once finished, highlighting the possible new shops and restaurants.



The mocked up stills also bring our branding to life through the proposed signage, and help viewers identify the location and different aspects of the new development. We are working with our contractors on the wayfinding and hope to get all the signage installed on site as soon as possible – and we’ll obviously keep you updated in our enews.

The scheme is built on an old industrial site and as such has conservation status, meaning the design and all new brickwork had to remain sympathetic to the traditional character. The combination of this heritage with the contemporary feel that the development brings which, as those of you who have read our previous blog on this project will know, was an important element when creating the branding.

Finally, the virtual tour takes the viewer past the main anchor store, Asda, and through to the focal point of the development, a sculpture made from the stonework from one of the city’s last remaining industrial kilns.

Read more about the video here on their official press release

note: this is a follow up story to this original post