News nuggets

A cut above the rest

As part of our work with Better Bankside, we've produced an invitation for an exclusive reception and private view of Matisse's exhibition the 'Cut-Outs' showing at the Tate Modern. We used a fancy paper technique called duplexing (which bonds two or more sheets of paper together) to show a play on the exhibition title through the design.

James joins

James has joined the tothepoint throng as our new Head of Digital. He moved from the distant plains of Yorkshire to London back in 1998, having graduated in Graphic Design at Nottingham Trent University. Digital has always been James’ focus and passion, and his strong foundation in both designing and producing digital projects means he is equally happy conceiving killer concepts and enhancing UX as he is coding. From HTML, CSS, through to actionscript, Javascript and PHP, James is the man to both liaise with development teams as well as demystify their dark arts for the client.

Quick response

Responsive websites are a common thing in today’s multi-device world. However the effect that they have on logos leads us to question if responsive logos should also exist. There’s nothing worse than squishing your identity to accommodate a smartphone layout, why not adapt it to maintain its lovely logo-ness when on a small scale? Just drag your browser in to see it in action.

Here a cat, there a cat…

You know we can’t resist anything with fur (we say “we”, we mean Katie), however this is a data experiment masquerading as fun. The University of Florida use the co-ordinates embedded in the data of images posted to social media, combined with the search term “Cat” (duh) to plot the felines “homes” on a map. As an exercise on what you can do with data that’s freely available online, it does highlight the amount of personal information we have out there in the ether. On a shallow level, it could have looked prettier…. Feline curious?

Hot off the press

A copy of Design Genius by Gavin Ambrose has just landed on our desks, the reason we bring it up is because we feature in it, or more specifically an interview with Simon regarding our Yahoo! and Newsprinters work. Our pieces focus on the business of design and also using tone of voice within creative. The book is of course full of plenty of other great work, and well worth a read....FYI pages 72 and 206 are of course the best. Available in all good book stores soon.

Something in the air

The recent Airbnb rebrand has created somewhat of a stir, and has faced both praise and backlash through the “empowering” channel of social media. Certainly division of opinion is nothing new where logos and brands are concerned, so is this now just amplified through social media in today’s world? We think many aspects of the brand are lovely. The Create platform not only allows users to create their own Airbnb logo for their profile, but also acts as a space for people to share their stories. The website also has some great features, with a really simple UI.

Making an exhibition of ourselves

As is the glory of living in London there is always something going on, and at present there are several somethings we just had to share! Firstly there is the Digital Revolution at the Barbican, an exciting exhibition that allows you to play in laser fields, visit old games and explore the digital world. There’s also the Quentin Blake show at House of Illustration, showing a mix of his work but don’t expect too much focus on Roald Dahl. The National Theatre has also launched Watch This Space, a mixture of live theatre, dance and performance spanning South London.

FYI grammar’s not dead

The Evening Standard recently posted an article by Lucy Tobin about grammar in email, and it got us thinking about how we use grammar today. Although we have been known to hunt down rogue apostrophes, we also find the evolution of our language fascinating, not so long ago words like critic and gossip were invented and language played by a whole different set of rules. So although Lucy makes some valid points we think we shouldn’t get so hung up on rules that might be outdated.

3D CMYK

3D printing for the mass market as been on the cards for some time now. However with beta apps and stores being launched by Ebay and Amazon this month, it seems the day may be closer than we think. Don’t get carried away though, we’re still some way off printing whatever our heart desires – unless that happens to be a Bobble Head?

Marching on

Mozilla aren't feeling the love for OKCupid

The internet has exploded (from CNN to the Beeb, it's everywhere!) over claims of unrest between Mozilla and OKCupid, as it's claimed the Firefox CEO supports the anti-same-sex marriage campaign. Whether this is true, or something to do with the dawn of April Fools (it launched into the world on the eve of this mischievous day) remains to be seen!

Feeling foolish
...and talking of April Fools Day - it's April 1st and naturally a host of spurious news articles have popped up around the world - from Google's 'magic hand' to a proposed redesign of the Union Jack (without the Scottish bit!). Did you see any others that beat these?

It's certainly a terrible day to announce any serious news - as no one will take you seriously! Which is why we sent our monthly enewsletter out today. Hmmm. Still it's past mid-day now, so everything else is true - we promise!

more info: 

» Design Week - Were you fooled?

» The Guardian - April Fools 2014

The cream of the crop

The Design Museum has launched their 2014 Design of the Year exhibition, an annual event which celebrates the world of design in all it's glory! From the life changing floating school in a Nigerian lagoon to the less serious Dumb Ways to Die app it's always a great exhibition, and will open up your eyes to many exciting designs that you may not have known about.

A little distraction

Create musical sounds and colourful animations whilst you try to avoid looking at the emails piling into your inbox this lunchtime, all thanks to Google designer Jono Brandel and his little creation Patatap. A little bit of relaxing entertainment over a sandwich is just what you need, although be careful; it's easy to get sucked in!

Flagday
On March 15th we were invited to the 2014 Cyber Security Challenge UK Awards Ceremony at the Institute of Directors. We’ve been working with the Cyber Security Challenge to create a completely new website for them - more on that when it launches soon!

The organisation was set up to encourage more talented people to join the cyber security profession and is sponsored by groups and companies as diverse as GCHQ, Symantec, HP and Royal Mail (among many others). Each year they set up a series of challenges - from online competitions to full-on terrorist attack simulations.

These led up to the final ‘masterclass’ which involved 42 of the best players that had beaten their way through to the final round. This challenge was designed to test a wide variety of skills - and to add to the stress it took place over two days in an underground bunker beneath London within the Churchill War Rooms. The finalists had to contend with warning lights flashing away, sirens going off, briefings to ministers and press conferences to manage - all the while trying to contain an increasing (simulated) cyber attack on the UK’s infrastructure - scary stuff!

In the end, 19 year old Will Shackleton was awarded the top prize - and has pretty much guaranteed a top job in the industry. The awards themselves were a glitzy affair in a wonderful location. The only worrying point of the evening came right at the end - when the ceremony was interrupted with a rather terrifying video message from a group calling themselves the ‘Flag Day Associates’. We’re not sure whether this was a real terrorist warning - or maybe clever way to kick off the start of the next series of ‘challenges’ - take a look below and decide for yourselves!

More info about the event:

» GCHQ - Cyber Security Finals

» The Inquirer - 19 year old student becomes UK Cyber Champion

» Cyber Security Challenge - who are the 'Flag Day Associates'?

When brand videos go bad

The satirical video, titled This Is A Generic Brand Video, is the brain child of writer Kendra Eash and stock footage provider Dissolve. It sees the stock footage lead brand video act as fuel for the satire that is the world of stock imagery and footage providers (and of course the brands themselves to follow this particular formula). Of course our own brand videos (such as Informa, Seanhanna and Technology Partnership) break the standard mould and offer our clients a little something more than the usual! FYI if you missed out on the comedy that stock imagery can bring, check out Women Laughing Alone With Salad.

Round up, round up!

Letter Impressed 

This week Katie paid a visit to the Fedrigoni Imaginative Papers Studio for a talk on the history of printing, and a very rousing game of letterpress scrabble (for Katie maintains holding the top score for sometime). The Triple Word Score event was kicked off with a talk by Brooke Palmieri, book historian extraordinaire, who took the group through the history of printing. From the project that bankrupted the “Father of Printing” to the Broadside Ballads (Brooke used the story of a Whale, a strange and miraculous fish, washed up in Ipswich!) that made the printers their real money during that time, Katie left the event feeling much wiser on the whole subject. Although sadly did not win the Scrabble set we had our hearts set on…

Installation of the moment(um)

The latest interactive installation has arrived at the Barbican, the United Visual Artists (UVA) have launched Momentum in the Barbican's unique space of the Curve. Random International’s Rain Room from earlier in 2013 is a hard act to follow, but if anyone can it’s UVA, who have worked with Massive Attack in the past and have created installations across the world.

Legography

This month we stumbled across the delightful Legography by photographer Andrew Whyte, in which he documents the day-to-day activities of his Lego sidekick. It’s a lovely bit of lighthearted fun next time you have a lunchbreak to spare!

Capturing the commute

In celebration of the Tube’s 150th birthday, photographer Brendan Doherty has captured the London Underground commuters, snapping 150 commuters across 150 Tube stations. The exhibition location is set to be confirmed by Camden Collective, however a sneak peak can be seen here. We can confirm that none of us look that photo-ready (or cheerful) on our commute into the office!

Social Secrets

There's a new kid on the Social Media block and this one's all about secrecy (named secret.ly, naturally). While Facebook insists on real names (or at least tries to) this network is the complete opposite - everyone's anonymous. Of course this tends to encourage rather salacious posts - some truthful, many probably completely made up. Whether this becomes a new force in anonymous gossip and whistle-blowing or just another vehicle for trolls and cyber-bullying has yet to be seen. Read more about it here.

Good enough to eat

Who knew a Mondrian piece could look (and be) good enough too eat. No, we’re not a few Pollocks short of a picnic, the Art Fund has launched a new fundraising initiative aimed at art-lovers and keen-bakers to help raise money for UK galleries and museums. Our client Samworth Brothers (one of the UK’s leading chilled food manufactures) would be a dab hand at this…

Blazing through the night

We all know the roads of Central London can be a dangerous beast, from buses and cabbies to pedestrians that wander out aimlessly! However, a shining ray of protective light has come in the form of Brighton graduate Emily Brooke, who has produced the Blaze bike light, which beams the image of a bike onto the road about 5-6 metres ahead of you. Emily started the project a few years ago, gaining funding on Kickstarter and it’s now out there holding its own.

Tea and Cat
Katie has been eagerly awaiting the opening of this little gem, and the day is finally here. Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium is London's first ever cat cafe and is open as of the 1st of March. You can get a cup of tea, gluten free cake and a side of tabby cat to pet. 

Deck the halls with news...

Festive Knitting

Nothing says “Festive Season” more than the gift of socks, mulled wine and rather snazzy Christmas jumpers, and they don’t get much snazzier than those created by some very talented illustrators and “printed” on a hacked 80’s knitting machine.

That’s right, you can hack a knitting machine! As proved by Andrew Salomone, who is leading this festive venture in collaboration with Hoxton Squares KK Outlet gallery.

More info (Creative Review)

A word?

What words defined 2013? For the Oxford English Dictionary, the word they chose was 'Selfie' - not exactly highbrow, this refers to the act of taking a quick narcissistic snap of yourself via your camera phone (usually accompanied by everyone's favourite 'duck face' expression).  Whereas, the Collins Dictionary chose the slightly less shallow word 'Geek' as their word of 2013. For our money, Dictionary.com chose 'Privacy' as their word of the year – and we think they nailed it.

And if we're not happy with those words, how about the words we were all searching for this year? According to Google, this is the top 10 list of searches over 2013:

• Paul Walker
• Boston Marathon Bombing
• Nelson Mandela
• Cory Monteith
• iPhone 5s
• Government Shutdown
• James Gandolfini
• Harlem Shake
• Royal Baby
• Adrian Peterson

They've even created a video that represents their view of 2013, check it out here...
More info: Google Zeitgeirst 2013

Don't forget the fun!

Did we mention that we've created a little memory game just for Christmas? If you haven't already tried it yet, do give it a go and test those brain cells of yours. There's even an HTML5 version specially for you iPad owners...

» play the Christmas Memory Game!

But if you REALLY want to give the brain a stress-test, our colleagues at The Cyber Security Challenge have concocted their own Xmas brain teaser, but be warned, you'll need tip-top code breaking skills to crack it!

The Cyber Security Challenge sets these competitions throughout the year to find young talented code breakers and introduce them to the world of Cyber Security. When you see some of the sponsors of this charity initiative you can see why they're hunting for them. We thought we'd share the challenge and see if any of you are up to the task. Follow the link below to try it out and find out more about this great initiative.

https://cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk/virtuals.php

Read all about it!

This month the Independent revealed its new design, which was the result of a 3-month long process with their inhouse team and designer Matt Willey.

The Independent has changed its guise several times over the last few years with each change of editor or milestone it reaches, however this iteration of the British staple offers a much cleaner layout and differentiates it from its sister publication, i.

It’s clear from the finished product that the team were looking to create something with a more confident, sophisticated aesthetic, and this new look seems to offer clarity on the paper’s position as a compact broadsheet rather than a tabloid.

We think the use of typography and Dan Williams’ illustrations are lovely, and the clear, concise layout is of course a big hit with us!

Mmmulled drinks

As the weather gets colder and Christmas draws in, our minds turn to warming up on delicious mulled drinks (or is that just us?).

Do not be fooled into thinking red wine and cider are the only drinks to be doused in a warming, cinnamon glow. Everything from rum to pear brandy can be turned into a Christmas delight, and thankfully this post from Buzzfeed has listed all the best recipes. Go forth and mull my friends!

Tech mecca
As you know we’ve been working with the Croydon BID on re-developing the brand and websites, so of course we’re already big fans of the area, and so it would seem are some of London’s trendy tech bods as Croydon is set to become the new Tech City.

With rent in the proclaimed tech mecca of Shoreditch continuing to rise, many start-ups are looking for new areas to colonise. Believe it or not Croydon is already a hot tech scene, playing host to some big players such as dotMailer and games developer Hotgen, so it’s now starting to attract some of London’s growing digital talent. Last year Croydon took matters into its own hands and launched Croydon Tech City, the initiative is now a 400-strong community of software developers, VCs and tech start ups.

More info (London loves business)

Mimi's carefree

This month saw the release of the If Only For A Second campaign for the Mimi Foundation, a French foundation aimed at supporting cancer patients. Inspired by the quote from one patient “You know what I miss the most? Being carefree”, the foundation, alongside Leo Burnett France aim to bring this feel back to 20 patients, if only for a brief second – via the use of a unique make-over experience. The reactions are captured in this touching 3 minute video, and are also documented in an accompanying book.

Christmas Matters

It seems that everyone is getting into the spirit of Christmas, from this IT department to the clever clogs in the science industry. The guys at Matter PR (who we worked with earlier this year on their identity and website) have rounded up the best, and most amusing, of the Christmas themed stories, videos and experiments for us all to enjoy.

Putting on a show

You may recall from last month's newsround that our client CIPR were going to be hosting the first dedicated PR show, aptly named The Public Relations Show 2013, and not only did we brand the event and much of the collateral, but we were also planning to exhibit.

The event was the first of its kind to bring people from the industry together to demonstrate what they can offer, and with over 1,000 visitors, 37 exhibitors and #prshow13 trending on Twitter, it’s fair to say the event was a massive success!

On the lead up to the event, we implemented the brand across press ads, web graphics and a promotional flyer, as the CIPR worked hard to help the show gather momentum. On the day itself, the brand filled the Business Design Centre from the printed show guide and the signage, to bags and Oyster Card wallets. It’s always rewarding for us to see our projects come to life, but to see this one coupled with the buzz from the visitors was fantastic!

With the event being such a success, it was a long day for Ben and Simon, who were tasked with manning our stand along with our partners in crime ETC. We’ve worked with the team at ETC for a number of years now on projects such as St. Martin’s Quarter and the Francis Crick, so they were the obvious choice when we needed to produce our own exhibition stand.

Our stand proved to be quite a hit, thanks to our I Shot The Serif game (and of course our work), which you can play here; however be warned, it is highly addictive!

Ben who manages the digital side of the business (ttpdigital) and who created a special showreel to play in the background (see below) said,

"We've not really exhibited at these things before, so we treated it as a bit of an experiment. In the end it went really well – we met lots of interesting people and it was great to see such enthusiasm in our work and our experience. The video showreel really drew attention as did 'I Shot the Serif' running on one of our iPads – people got quite competitive! It was an exhausting day though, I now have a new-found appreciation for the guys manning their stand all day at the next show I visit!"

All in all it was great day and we’re looking forward to The Public Relations Show 2014.

November News

Black Celebration

Friday, November 29th is officially 'Black Friday' - which is actually a lot less ominous than it sounds. It's a tradition in America for shops to start their sales on the first Friday after Thanksgiving (similar to our Boxing Day sales) and this idea has now started to creep over to the UK, with many retailers (such as Amazon) now offering impressive Black Friday deals. The name originated in Philadelphia where it described the heavy traffic that would always occur on that day. Newer still is 'Cyber Monday' (Dec 2nd) which specifically refers to online shopping (this is a recent invention by marketeers keen to push the Black Friday idea over to another day!). So with even the likes of Apple now finally getting in on the sales act, if you see either of those terms around this weekend - make sure to look out for some good deals! But do try to avoid the chaos seen in some American stores today!

more info (the telegraph)

Stalking Friends

According to a recent book on the birth of the micro-blogging phenomena that is Twitter (and we're looking forward to working with them in the new year!) - it went through several different names and logos before arriving at the iconic bird we know today. From 'Smssy' and 'Twitch' to more worrying sounding names like 'Friendstalker' (which some might consider rather telling!). Most of the initial logos were created by one of the founders Biz Stone - going for the idea of youthfulness over old and boring approaches. You can see a few of the rejected logos in the link below.

more info (the verge)

Font Masher

Despite being a couple of years old, our little typography game 'I Shot the Serif' is still generating online buzz. Most recently it was featured on Mashable (one of the largest online sources of news and resources for the social media generation) as no. 5 in their '18 insanely addictive font games'. As a result, hits to our website page rocketed (again). We used the game on our stand at the PR Show recently and it was really effective at breaking the ice - more info on that here. And if you haven't played it yet, do check it out and be sure to look at some of the other font-based games on their list too!

more info (mashable)

4 vs. One

The next generation is upon us as both Microsoft and Sony launched their new games consoles this month - and with both of them breaking first day sales records, they've obviously got something right. But do these herald a new age for interactive entertainment - and more importantly is either of them a 'must buy' before Xmas? If you're interested (or have kids begging you for expensive presents) here's a super concise run-down:

Microsoft Xbox One:
Offers the most interesting package - aimed at taking over your TV, in theory it will eventually be able to control your TV / cable box using gesture controls and voice recognition (ie. throw away that old remote). You can play the latest games, browse the web and even Skype your friends all at the same time. However, in practice, many of these features are not working at all yet in the UK and it looks like they've skimped a little on the graphical power in relation to Sony's PS4 - and despite this it's still around £80 more expensive.

Verdict: there's no compelling reason to buy it right now, but as the software and capabilities improve it could really come into it's own - perhaps sometime next year - or even the year after?

Sony PS4:
A much smaller box than the above, but offers more gaming power inside. This looks like it will be the 'hardcore' gamers choice over the Xbox One, but doesn't have the same ambitions to control your living room.

Verdict: If you HAVE to buy one, this is the one to get, but even with the extra power, there's still no big reason to buy it right now, pretty much all the good games around are also available on the older consoles too (and they don't look that different yet) - better games will appear on the system from next year onwards.

So, our advice: save your pennies and wait around - maybe they'll drop the prices a little next summer!

more info (polygon)
PS4 review
Xbox One review


It’s all change Croydon.

This week saw the planning approval for the Westfield Hammerson JV to develop the Centrale and Whitgift shopping centre in Croydon. There are interesting times ahead for businesses, residents and visitors, and with our work with the Croydon BID we’ll hopefully have an active roll in helping communicate and manage the change and likely disruption that will ensue over the next couple of years. Our brand evolution work with the BID, and initial strap line 'all change! Croydon', has even more relevance now that Croydon's development and future plans are coming to fruition. As a company we're experiencing the major changes in London Bridge, where in the past, poor communications has added confusion to disruption. As our MD, Simon, also lives in South Croydon we’re even more eager to help communicate the changes and manage disruption through proactive and accessible information. The Croydon BID website we designed and developed aims to be a central hub for up to date information so find out more here. Good luck Croydon.

Christmas Closing

We'll be keeping up with everything that's going on but our official doors close for a well earned break end of play on the 23rd December and will reopen on the 2nd January. A bit early to wish you all 'Seasons Greetings' but thought we should let you know just in case you've got that urgent job to get out before the end of year.

Excellent design for the Excellence Awards

It’s been a busy month for CIPR (and us!) with the launch of their first PR Show, the updated Training Brochure and the Excellence Awards 2014, and we’re proud to have been able to be part of it all.

The Excellence Awards are an annual event celebrating the cream of the crop within public relations. They showcase some of the most recognisable and memorable campaigns. We’ve had the pleasure of working with the CIPR on this event for a number of years, and the glamour and sophistication of the event makes it a great design project!

This year, the whole look is anchored by the bespoke pattern we created, which not only represents all aspects of PR coming together, but also reflects the glitter and sparkle of a big awards bash! Different tints of the gold pantone are used to add depth and intrigue, a spot UV was added for that luxurious feel, elevating the bespoke pattern even further. The colour palette of a warm gold, white and black was a clear winner to represent the timeless glamour of the awards.

The event has just launched with a series of digital graphics, produced by our digital arm ttpdigital, for the CIPR website and an eye-catching postcard encouraging people to enter. However, keep your eyes peeled and be on the lookout for the rest of the awards collateral, which will be appearing in the New Year.

It's all change in Croydon!

We started working with the team at The Croydon Business Improvement District (BID) back in April. They approached us to pitch for their marketing & communications, website redesign and loyalty scheme launch, having heard from Better Bankside such positive things about our work for them. Revising the brand was not included in the original brief, however we felt it was both achievable and important to incorporate a brand refresh alongside the other deliverables, and after putting our case forward the team at the Croydon BID agreed.

“This is a time of real change for Croydon, not only in terms of what the BID is doing but also with the proposed new Westfield & Hammerson shopping centre on the horizon and developments across the town as a whole. It was important to find an agency who were as excited as us about these changes and Simon’s connection with the town and his experience as a Better Bankside levy payer made it an ideal match.”

Matthew Sims, Chief Executive, Croydon Town Centre BID.  

Old Croydon BID logo

New and improved!

The team wanted to improve the positioning of Croydon BID and promote the benefits the BID has already brought to the town for business owners, residents and visitors alike.

We started off by looking at the BID’s five key pledges to the business community – to make the town safer, cleaner, better promoted, more attractive and more accessible. We kept the original pledge colours, but developed a rationale to ensure consistency and harmony across the brand.

The logo was already established, however it needed a stronger presence. We focused on making the typography bolder and more vibrant, changing the colours in favour of something more contemporary (and a little less Wimbledon-ey!).

With the logo spruced up (and looking very smart if we do say so ourselves!), the core messaging needed to be updated. “All Change! Croydon” lent itself perfectly to the cause. Its subtle play on words not only indicate Croydon’s position as a major transport interchange, but also reflect the positive changes the BID brings to the town. On a secondary level “Making a Difference” concisely highlights what the BID is doing and reinforces its role and the reality of change.

Alongside the logo and messaging, a new website was also needed as it provides a key channel for the team to communicate the positive changes happening in Croydon. The site 'soft-launched' last week and although only a few weeks in, site visits are already up by over 3300% - you can see the new site and find out all about that side of the project here.

This strategy is being rolled out across various collateral from Christmas Banners, their Annual Report and the all-new Check Out Croydon loyalty card.

The Check Out Card gives exclusive offers and discounts in many of Croydon’s shops. The name we conceived, Check Out Croydon, offers a conversational and friendly tone, whilst the play on words also act as a call to action for people to check out what’s happening for themselves.

The card is proving to be a popular addition to Croydon BID’s positive changes, exceeding expectations with the number of sign-ups.

 

 

  

“Our partnership with the team at tothepoint has been great, they’ve produced some really creative, forward-looking work and have demonstrated a vested interest in our cause. It’s been a pleasure to work with the team and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them!”

Matthew Sims, Chief Executive, Croydon Town Centre BID.

As they always say (particularly at Halloween) there’s no rest for the wicked – we’ll be continuing our work with the BID. So when you’re next in Croydon, keep your eyes peeled for their influence, as we’ll have new collateral springing up in the coming months.