Round up, Round up!

TTP Calendar 2016

It’s nearly time for our annual tothepoint desk calendar to be sent out. This year it’s an extra special edition, as we're celebrating 25 years in business! The team at Benwells have been helping to bring our silver theme to life through some expert silver foil blocking, and the team here have been on press to watch it in action. Benwells have done an amazing job, we've particularly enjoyed the mix of old and new techniques in the printing process. Keep your eyes peeled for more. If you would like a calendar then drop us a line at hi@tothepoint and we'll try to get one out to you.

WWWhy

Even in today's tech driven world, many businesses still have out of date websites that aren't geared to the growing use of mobiles for web browsing, and aren't being reviewed on a regular basis to keep them relevant. Equally, all too often websites are designed to show off the latest trend or technology, rather than to reflect the needs of your audience. We have a full piece on all the elements you need to be considering when reviewing your website (including why you should be reviewing your website!), from making it responsive to having the most effective user journey. You can read the full story here.


Mucky fingers

We’re always harping on about the value of the design process. Well this month we’ve taken it to another level, getting our hands mucky in a collage class with South London based artist Richard Pavitt. We quickly overcame our horror at tearing up books and walked away with some great pieces (and stuffed with tea and cake!). Check out his work and dates of other courses here.




The amazing world of Escher

Sarah and James have been culture vultures this month, checking out the M.C. Escher exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. We’re going to hand over to James for his review:
“The exhibition covers his key pieces of work, beginning with sketches and linocuts from his early years as an architectural student, then follows his travels as an artist, quickly identifying his interest in geometric tessellated patterns influenced by the Islamic tiled art of the Middle East.

You get a fascinating insight into how Escher developed as an artist, and as well as a rare look at his working sketches, notebooks and litho-plates. The exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery is pretty popular though, so it’s a good idea to book a slot at weekends, and make sure you’re on time!”

The exhibition is on until mid-January, so there’s still time to check it out.

Simon's Sunday act

You may remember the team at Act For The Act, who are striving to save the Human Rights Act from being scrapped. Simon met up with them again:

“On Sunday I travelled out to meet many of the team who'd worked tirelessly together to bring the Act for the Act campaign to life across London and other cities. Following the success of the crowd funding project we worked on, our Act for the Act logo has found its way onto celebratory cup cakes and cat cakes but more importantly the poster campaign, which is still live in some places. It features the people who have experienced the benefits and value of the Human Rights Act first hand. Having seen some of the early videos and read their stories I realised how ill informed I had been about the Human Rights Act, especially through the tabloids focus on singular aspects of the Act. By helping to raise the visual profile of the campaign we hoped that at the very least awareness would be raised of the positive aspects of the Act. To meet face to face with one of the couples featured, Martina and Matt Brincat-Baines, was very humbling but also inspiring to see how it had brought back some positives, and even a smile, into their lives with the support and changes they have been able to make to the law. If you feel ill informed, or have the impression the Act is only for criminals and terrorists, it is worth spending a little time watching some of the videos now on the website.

One of the three founders of the campaign, my good friend Fiona Bawdon (not for long if she keeps reminding me we've known each other for 30 years+), writes:
 'The Act for the Act campaign is unique as it is all about telling the stories of ordinary people when something has gone wrong in their lives. We are asking supporters to sign our letter to Justice Secretary Michael Gove, telling him the act is too important to all of us to be scrapped. Signing takes, literally, a couple of seconds and each signature really does make a difference.'"
The letter is up there on the homepage of the website so you too can make a difference. http://actfortheact.uk/

Window into Christmas

Everyone loves the excitement of a good Christmas display, it has become an intrinsic build up to the big day just like the Coca Cola advert and in more recent years the John Lewis advert. Retailers all over London’s Oxford Street are vying for the attention of shoppers and long gone are the days when a sprinkle of fake snow would do, retailers are now favouring a more abstract interpretation of the festive season and Christmas. It is particularly interesting to us as it links to our work with interior branding, it’s always good to take a look at what other brands are doing with their interiors and the materials they are using. Here are some that have caught the eye of Design Week.

Brandalism

Guerrilla marketing and viral campaigns are often well known for their humour or quirky nature, promoting big brands in unconventional ways. However, it’s easy to forget that this marketing method isn’t just used for the LOLZ (as the cool kids say), it can be used to promote smaller brands with tighter budgets.

Case in point are Brandalism, who are using guerrilla marketing as an anti-advertising campaign. Their most recent campaign critiques the corporate sponsors of the UN summit, and features 600 artworks positioned around Paris.

Check out their work here, and even if you’re not ready to “stick it to the man” just yet, it’s still inspiring to see this style of marketing used in this way.