Jem is a creative designer in love with what he does. He’s got layout and typography skills on one hand, and strong illustration and icon prowess on the other. His warm friendly personality and excellent manner with clients make him a welcome addition to the team. In his days PM (pre-mortgage), Jem played guitar and sang in various bands that seemed to implode just as they acheived any success. He can still be found occasionally weeping over his redundant 1962 Fender Jaguar and musing on what could have been.
After obtaining her BA in Graphic Design, Charlie started in this area and then moved across to Account Management. Whilst she is our newest team member, she has a positive approach and looks to make things happen. She'll be working closely with Katie and supporting our team. Previously Charlie has worked as a Studio and Project Manager for a fashion company where she managed budgets and timings as well as the upkeep of the studio. When not at work, you’ll often find her running along the banks of the Thames dodging tourists’ photos!
Cloudy with a chance of...
As the creative industry slowly (and slightly reluctantly) moves over to software rental via Adobe’s all conquering Creative Cloud, terms such as 'global cloud failure' can only serve to make us even more nervous! Last week their entire system was offline for 24 hours. Whilst we were able to work around this, many others would have been more affected. Whilst it’s in Adobe’s interest to ensure this doesn’t happen again, it does raise the issue that relying TOO much on the cloud does have its drawbacks. Read more - BBC News
Released through Unit Editions, Manuals 1 - Design and Identity Guidelines is a beautiful collection of 20 design manuals produced from the 1960s to early 1980s (considered to be the golden era of identity design don't you know). The book includes manuals created for institutions and corporations such as NASA, Lufthansa and British Steel. The manuals have been lovingly photographed and displayed over 432 pages. Despite the slightly hefty £75 price tag, this will surely be a welcome addition to our bookshelves. Go on, let your "brand geek" out - United Editions
The Client Factor
Clients, don’t you just love ‘em. The Drum has launched an anonymous survey to rate the top 100 clients across the UK - judging things such as financial management, communications, appreciation and creative direction. We'll be voting for all of our (obviously!). Cast your vote - The Drum
Everything is better with cats, right? Russian artist Svetlana Petrova certainly thinks so (as does our Account Manager, Katie), as she's been adding images of her ginger cat Zarathustra to famous works of art. As is the way with the internet and cats, she's become somewhat of an internet sensation.
Check them out - BBC News
Unkinected
Microsoft and their slightly beleaguered Xbox One console haven’t been doing so well over the months since their big launch. Despite great sales so far, their competitor Sony has been increasing their lead by significant amounts. Although Microsoft bought some great new ideas to the table - with their device being aimed as an 'all in one’ media device, with their Kinect sensor able to read movement and voice controls to an amazing degree, it also added significantly to the price. They’ve now decided to drop Kinect from the device, bringing the cost down to the same as their rival the PS4. But is it too little too late? And does the loss of Kinect render this as just another games console rather than the next big thing in the living room? Read more - The Verge
What's in a name...
Shakespeare clearly hadn't considered brand merging when this was written, as the recent merger between Carphone Warehouse and Dixons proves - Dixons Carphone. We're left thinking, along with many people, why didn't they take this as an opportunity to rename and develop something that encompasses their new offering - rather than butting up two names and hoping for the best! With naming and brand building a huge part of our offer as a Design Consultancy (have we ever mentioned that?) this seems a real oversight, we've done it for many clients in the past, from unique names such as as Pevara and to does-what-it-says-on-the-tin names like Newsprinters. Design Week seem to share the same views as us - Design Week
Easy prey
With house prices soaring so high they're with the Gods, more and more people are stuck in the rent cycle. So when contracts end it can often be time to get on the house hunt again, a daunting task with such an expanse of the city at our feet but the team at Rentonomy have a nifty little widget that allows you to search London by various catagories, and then shows you your best options. None of us are moving, we just thought it was a neat little piece of digital design. Start the hunt - Rentonomy
Shakespeare clearly hadn't considered brand merging when this was written, as the recent merger between Carphone Warehouse and Dixons proves - Dixons Carphone. We're left thinking, along with many people, why didn't they take this as an opportunity to rename and develop something that encompasses their new offering - rather than butting up two names and hoping for the best! With naming and brand building a huge part of our offer as a Design Consultancy (have we ever mentioned that?) this seems a real oversight, we've done it for many clients in the past, from unique names such as as Pevara and to does-what-it-says-on-the-tin names like Newsprinters. Design Week seem to share the same views as us - Design Week
With house prices soaring so high they're with the Gods, more and more people are stuck in the rent cycle. So when contracts end it can often be time to get on the house hunt again, a daunting task with such an expanse of the city at our feet but the team at Rentonomy have a nifty little widget that allows you to search London by various catagories, and then shows you your best options. None of us are moving, we just thought it was a neat little piece of digital design. Start the hunt - Rentonomy
The Y-Front Phenomena
And finally… A cautious tale of brand, identity and the importance of user research. And underpants. An American firm ‘RJ Metrics’ recently fell foul of the ‘Y-Front’ phenomena, but discovered that this is a curiously British fixation. Still, in these days of global spanning social media, ridicule from any quarter is worth paying attention to. Read it for yourself - RJ Metrics
No comments:
Post a Comment