All change

A lot of the partnership work we do is based around creating and building sustainable brands that will see a business through thick and thin. However, every so often we get to work on something more short-term, and this time we were even able to set our inner-child free as we helped with the naming and then branded the All Aboard Competition for Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) and the Department for Transport.

The competition is aimed at 14-18 year olds and challenges them to think of innovative ways to make bus travel easier for people with visual and hearing impairments. The competition is introduced through schools, so the brand needed to be swaggy (that’s slang for cool these days) to attract the students, but it also needed to be professional and educational to attract the teachers who will drive the competition forward, plus hinting at the TSC brand.

“That’s a lot of boxes to tick!” we hear you cry. Of course we managed to tick them all. The blue hints to the TSC corporate colour, coupled with the grey on the website creates a fresh and professional colour palette. The doodles reflect the exploration of ideas but are also inspired by the icons we used throughout the TSC IM campaign, and together with the “thinking head” they create a playful foundation for the competition.

Despite battling the countdown clock coding and entry form logistics, the website was up and running in time for the launch on the 24th October. You might have even spotted it on the ITV news, #totesamaze.

Our experience from one of our other school projects, “Lab in a Lorry” for the institute of Physics, really helped us to strike the balance between fun and education, “funducation” if you will.

Projects with tight deadlines have never scared us, and unless yours involves spiders or heights we’re unlikely to be phased! Quick projects are no different to any others; communicate, plan and then communicate some more.

Bless Up (that’s slang for goodbye…)*

*Other “hip” slang words you might like to try can be found here.

A trained eye

A brand should evolve as the requirements of existing customers change, or new customers are sought. But it’s a common misconception that this will mean a time consuming and drastic change to a brand.

This month the CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) looked to us to help them refresh their Training division brand look. As a widely recognised style (who could miss that pink!), and part of a suite of divisions all with a similar look, the design needed more of an evolution than a revolution.

Using the icons more subtly, and with a stronger emphasis on people, gives the division a fresher look without straying too far from the pack. The first piece to flaunt its new style is the Training Brochure, with a series of ads to follow.Whilst working on the new Training style we also took the opportunity to tweak and refresh the CIPR logo.

Your market is constantly evolving, so like CIPR, it’s important to evaluate how your marketing materials are performing. Is your brand effective in today’s virtual world, and more importantly is your acronym a mystery to new (and existing!) customers?

In the words of Darwin (we can use Darwinism in branding, right?) it’s not always the biggest who survive, but the most adaptable to change. The brands that are innovative, flexible and embrace change not only survive but also thrive.

Autumnal announcements

Make:Shift:Do Our technology and digital based clients are asking more and more for tactile and hand crafted solutions to their internal and external communications. Looking at screens all day as part of our job, and with staff and clients who do the same, we know how they feel. Going back to traditional and craft techniques we are constantly looking at new ways to use these inspiring methods to create dramatic experiences and environments. So we are very interested to see The Craft Council are running a two-day event ‘Make:Shift:Do’ of workshops and presentations to give a hands-on experience of using digital technologies, incorporating ‘craft in the digital age'. You can check out the events, dates and venues here.

Let's press on With 2015 creeping up on us (FYI it’s 50 days until Christmas, that’s right we said the C word!), we thought it was best to start planning next year's calendar. This month we headed to explore Letterpress extraordinaire Mr Smith’s print emporium. This traditional craft has become quite the hipster mark in recent years. However the soul we can give each piece is what drew us in (that and the great local opposite his studio!). Our brains are still whirring so watch this space, and check out Mr Smith’s work in the meantime.

Fairground Fun We would all like a little more fun and games in the workplace, and for one of our clients we’ve just put this in lights! Their office is actually a converted cinema, so they were keen to see the spirit of yesteryears entertainment reflected in the items produced for their Games Room, the first of which is this retro fairground style sign. If you need us we'll be over by the dodgems.

Creative Collaborations This month The Francis Crick Institute held an event in celebration of the top 1000 most influential Londoners in science and innovation. With a star studded line up, including Microsoft rock star Bill Gates, the event celebrated the innovative work that the collaboration between science and art has been creating. Just one look at Conrad Shawcross's Paradigm sculpture proves the beautiful matrimony between science and creativity. Not to mention our design work on the hoardings that still circle this new landmark building or our work for Transport Systems Catapult's IM Campaign and Growth Stories for the EPSRC...Ok that was a shameful plug but we love this work!

Refreshingly Similar Building logos for brands is what we do best, but recently as well as creating we’ve been updating, tweaking and refreshing our clients' existing logos. Part of Samworth Brothers, Bradgate Bakery were looking for a logo refresh. By using clean typography, updating the colour palette and creating a simple vector image, the logo now references their heritage but with a more contemporary edge.

tothepoint Ticklers The men here at tothepoint are sacrificing their designer stubble and growing a 'tache in aid of Movember. Their fresh faces won’t last long with strict rules of no beards, no goatees and no fake moustaches for the entire month. They're taking the grooming and styling very seriously, although the handlebar and the horseshoe might be a bit optimistic! We’ll be sure to post the results in next month’s enews, and check out twitter for regular 'tache tweets. To make a donation to the tothepoint team click here.