New for News UK

The long sunny days of August seem a distant memory as we march our way through January amidst rumours of sleet and snow, however August for us marked the start of an exciting new project with the Technology and Operations team at News UK.

Technology and Operations were looking to inject some of their personality into their new space on the 6th floor of 1 London Bridge, which sits directly opposite the Shard and is part of the same London Bridge Renzo Piano Scheme.

Each team within Technology and Operations relate to different sectors of News UK’s business; ranging from digital, print, customer management and logistics, and prior to their move to 1 London Bridge they operated as silos. There was a desire for a more responsive, dynamic and communicative environment that encouraged the exchange of ideas. This gave us the hard task of creating something that could help unify the teams without loosing their independence.

The concept is grounded with the humble pixel and line. These two devices work hard to convey the technology involved in the teams, and also their collaboration. A pixel can work alone or be one part of the bigger picture, equally a line can work alone or to connect any number of people, things, places or anything you like!

To keep a sense of identity each team (there are ten in total) was associated a colour; which was applied to one of the pillars within their workspace, and a meeting room that would reflect their core message or USP. Through a series of meetings, doodles and brainstorming sessions we got to know each of the teams and how they wanted to be represented – from the customer focused CMP team to the process driven Infrastructure team. When combined the whole floor would tell a visitor the story of Technology and Operations and what they offer.

The coloured team pillars not only offered effective signposting, but also broke up the repetition and neutrality of the floor to provide a little bit of colour and personality to the work place environment.

The project is split into two stages, the first was the application of the concept to signage, pillars and meeting room exteriors to instantly provide a visual identity that held the floor together and complemented the modern interior office space with all its restrictions and many, many pillars. The second stage will look at the individual teams meeting rooms, and how their core message can be expressed.

Stage 1 is now complete and we’re poised ready for the start of stage 2. The feedback so far has been very positive from both the teams and those at higher levels, and has had the initial desired effect of creating a core concept that integrates the teams and provides a sense of identity to the floor. Stage 1 was very much about glass manifestations and vinyls whereas stage 2 will be more about bespoke artworks and installations, watch this space!

Hoarding good ideas

It only takes a quick look across the London horizon line to spot all the cranes reshaping our city, foundations go down and the structures go up all hidden behind the humble hoarding, a regularly over looked piece of the marketing materials.

Of course we don’t want to tar all hoardings with the same brush, however they don’t always reach their full potential. This canvas should be actively considered as a key part of the marketing, embodying the scheme as much as the other collateral does. 

The hoardings used for the regeneration in the Kings Cross area earn the gold star for hoardings in our books as they’re used to show exhibitions at local galleries, to provide nice areas to sit and enjoy your Metro (can any one think of any development sites that offer that?!) and there’s even a viewing tower for the extra nosey.

Our hoardings for The Francis Crick Institute are used as a chance to engage people in the work of Francis Crick and what the institute will do in the future. For the launch during the Olympics we had “busking scientists” in the area to engage with people and take the hoardings that next step further.

It can also act as your voice to the community, keeping them informed and excited about the positive effect the build will have. Using a time line to show the progression, demonstrating the schemes green credentials through a living wall, or even be used as way finding for people during the works. On a more basic level they can be something aesthetically pleasing and engaging for someone to look at as they wait for the bus! 

Working with an experienced design team will help to ensure your hoardings work as hard as they can, capturing that extra audience and everyone that comes into contact with the scheme during it’s initial stages. From large Dibond hoardings covering an entire scheme in Worcester, to window graphics for a luxury development in Budapest, our range of work in this space proves we can really get to the essence of your scheme and ensure your hoardings are working to their full potential.

Don't Quote Me On It...

Have I Told You Lately... That we luff you, with two f's. That's why we couldn't let the month of amouré pass us by without giving away some swoon worthy prints and gifts. Our love doesn't come free though, we're going to make you work for it with a romantically themed quote bank quiz (here). We'll choo-choo-choose the winners in a heart racing, butterfly inducing prize draw consisting of the top scoring entries. Now, if you need us we'll be looking for love in all the wrong places.

The Winners Circle We've started the New Year with some exciting news, we won a 6 way tender to brand the exhibition and lab space for the The Francis Crick Institute! With an impressive building, award winning sculpture and of course the pioneering work that will be undertaken here, the pressure is on. Having working on their hoardings a few years ago it’s great to be invited to help with their interiors. Construction is well underway just outside King’s Cross Station, with our first site visit complete we’ve started off with some cracking concepts, so watch this space.

Technical Spectacles Wearable tech is the future so we are told, although we still need a bit of convincing to actually wear these headpieces. Tech giants Microsoft and Google have both released their own version of the new technology. The long awaited Google Glass (that arrived without many people noticing) is being “re-evaluated” this month, and it's unclear how long Google will keep supporting the venture. Microsoft on the other hand are making giant leaps into the world of augmented reality. Their new Hololens headset blends the digital and the real world into a seamless unity. Don’t believe us? Take a look at the video and watch the innovation before your very eyes.

Gods Own Junk Yard  The neon craze is in full swing, from shop signage to interior branding (some we’ve created for our clients featured here. Whilst walking through Soho last week we happened upon the pop up ‘Gods Own Junk Yard’, we say happened upon, it illuminates the street so it's hard to miss! Described as a wonderland of creativity, the late Chris Bacey’s iconic work started as signs for racy Soho sex shops but the collection grew and now the company boasts one of the largest collection of neon signs and are the oldest sign makers in London! The exhibition has ended but never fear you can still find their signs in their online, their Walthamstow shop and even in Selfridges!

And The Winners Are..... The results from the quotebank quiz are in! After careful analysis of the scores we can announce that the winner of a day screen printing at Print Club London is another expert printer, Mr Smith. Who you may remember was featured as part of our enews a few months ago when we visited his letterpress studio! Runners up who will receive a limited edition quotebank quiz poster (some might think the better prize) are Jenni Dixon from CBRE, Lizzie Lockett from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and Scott Hart from LHK Fine Wines.