Any Colour?

The logo is in its most basic form when used as black and white or reversed out of black but with colour being the core offer of the business the potential for a variety of ways of using it and texture is enormous. We are already exploring these with the team through the use of moodboards and research, which included a trip to the Retail Show 2016.

The scope of the project is also growing. The brand is now ready to be developed across promotional materials, their own product range and a retail website, which is already progressing with our digital team. We’re also working closely with Sean and Skyler on the signage and interiors for their first 4,000+ sq ft colour studio in Wandsworth - currently an empty shell across two floors of a great corner plot - a truly amazing canvas!

This, and the visual below of vinyl graphics for their new studio frontage while fitout commences, is only a sneak preview ahead of what is to come. We’ll bring you more after we have explored the opportunities of colour, texture and style as we develop all the brand touch points for the Skyler London brand over the coming months.

You can see the logo and some of the work we did for the Sean Hanna Salons here.

Seismic photography

This month we have been working with our long term client Seabird Exploration on their latest Annual Report, whilst also setting the style for their 2016 quarterlies.

Seabird’s primary focus is the collection of seismic data obtained from the seabed, so beyond some interesting chart data, we are constantly looking at how we can bring their service offer to life, and nothing serves this better than great original photography that captures life on the ocean waves, and on land.

The main job of the Report will always be to communicate the performance of the company so a lot of time is spent working out how the content and story flows through the document in the lead up to the figures. Stats and facts are pulled out in a modular grid system with a backdrop of small and large imagery to add pace. The overall effect is to create a document that doubles up as an engaging brochure to promote the business and communicate the work undertaken by the crews on the ships and the shore based teams.

Before the project began we had the opportunity to brief photographers on the style and images we were looking for, covering various vessels across the world. Seabird have always seen the value in good design and imagery and now have some dynamic shots to add to their ever growing image archive.

March Round Up

High five for High Touch

We're currently working with Croydon Bid on their re-election ballot and have been immersing ourselves in the feedback from their recent workshops. For Croydon, there are a lot of areas to address to increase footfall, not least the disruption that will be caused over the next few years following the huge investment in developments that are well under way. Helpful advice and clear communication will be key for the BID, as well as fighting the fight for SME's as they adapt to change. Overarching all this will be the need to be true advocates of the vision for Croydon. For the retailers, they need to look at how they will retain loyalty and build new relationships. In one area, the loyalty/offer card scheme we branded, 'Checkout Croydon', was challenged by some as only rewarding existing customers rather than growing the business, but given the current changes and drop in footfall, the flip side is that it helps to retain customers. What is interesting for us, and the challenge for them, is all the different ways that brands try to build loyalty and it certainly requires more than a loyalty card in your consumers pocket. This recent article from Contagious contributor Tim Wade of Smith+Co caught our eye and has some useful and clear insights into this essential part of building relationships with your customers. You can read the article here.

A Chain Reaction

On 10th March, in the company of clients Sean Hanna and Skyler McDonald, our MD visited the Retail Design Expo and Retail Digital Signage Expo at Olympia. A great show that was getting the right reactions. The progress that technology has made was evident in all areas but it was the creative use of older technologies and different ways of using lighting and textured materials that caught his eye. With a few interiors projects in the pipeline and in progress, it was a great opportunity to discuss how some of our ideas could be brought to life by a few of the exhibitors. Read the full blog and see some of the suppliers that impressed us here.

In a pickle about social

This month our wall of type for Twitter UK featured heavily in ‘Week In Week Out’ BBC documentary ‘The Savage World of Social Media’. Robbie Savage found out how far people will go in risking their lives for a like or a tweet. Twitter was the only platform to respond to questions but filmmakers seemed to spend more time getting artistic shots of the wall than mopping the fevered brow of Twitter Head of Policy, Nick Pickles. Our iphone filming of this section on tv is here or for better quality the full documentary can be seen on iplayer here. The Twitter piece is 24 minutes in.

Alexander Calder

You’ve only got this weekend left to be inspired by some of the great works of Alexander Calder at Tate Modern. Well worth a view to see how he was inspired by the works of Mondrian, Picasso, and we thought a bit or Miró and Matisse, and brought his ideas to life in his 'performing' sculptures. The wire sculptures of people and circus performers were the most fascinating, with the added dimension of shadows. The later sculptures although interesting lacked the dynamism of movement. Due to their fragile nature and age you have to rely on the small video screens to see how they performed in the past. A few photos were managed until we were stopped by security - such a shame that galleries aren’t more open to allowing photography for their promotion by visitors on social media.

April First

We love a good wind up and obviously today is the day for wind ups, or at least it was until midday. We hope you haven’t been fooled too many times but we’d love to hear of any good ones that caught you out. We went back through some of the ones that stood out for us but our personal favourite is this one from the BBC - a classic. We will be posting any more we find to our facebook page so take a look here.