New depths of design

Here at tothepoint we’re not afraid to offer our opinion, so when Rockpool originally came to us to work on the design of a folder, we offered up our challenges not only to the brief but the brand itself.

With such an impressive history (founders include one of the City’s first “superwomen”, Nicola Horlick) and two arms to the business; Rockpool Investments and Rockpool Network, we could see great potential for the identity and the brand. With an office move imminent, the team at Rockpool decided to seize the opportunity to undergo our proposed brand refresh.

We put forward a budget to look at a series of concepts to help enhance and build the brand. However, if none of these were liked or used no fees would be charged. This approach (in a non-group tender situation) created an opportunity for a bigger project for us, and a no risk undertaking for our new client.

Our first concern was the logo and its legibility. Tints of grey, intended to mimic foil blocking, were over complicating the logo and hindering legibility. At the same time the quirky little device used to reflect water on the 'O' was too subtle at small sizes.

Once the issues were identified it was time to set to work on their solutions. The ripple in the ‘O’ was something the client and we were keen to maintain, by simplifying the device we were able to make it work better at smaller sizes. The letter ‘O’ was evolved to become an icon in itself, representing the water element of the brand, and the indepth research they undertake to find investment opportunities.

Rockpool are so named due to their ability to find undiscovered investment opportunities (less so because of memories of youthful summers spent rockpooling in the hope of finding crabs…), but we liked the analogy and proposed 'finding the opportunity' as their new strapline. This integrates the new 'O' symbol, which is also used with other key words like 'NETWORK'.

Rockpool have now settled into their new office, so the new identity is being rolled out across stationery, the folder (we didn’t forget about the original brief!) and other materials. We’re working on a series of symbols, for both areas of the business, to add to their toolkit, which will help build the unique and striking visual language that will help Rockpool stand out in their crowded marketplace.

Our main goal is always to produce something our clients are going to love (isn’t that everyone’s goal?), but what sets us apart is our willingness to challenge something if we can see a more effective solution for their brand, and a better way to allow our clients to take ownership of it. Our 20+ years of experience is what stands us in good stead when we do challenge a brief, but we like to think of it as a partnership approach.

Elizabeth Orbell , Marketing Director at Rockpool said “tothepoint developed a simple but effective new design style for us. Our unique and contemporary identity takes Rockpool’s branding beyond being just a logo and, importantly, reflects our position in the marketplace.”

Newsround

Well, July has come and gone - bringing with it all manner of weather (although pretty much all of it good - makes a change!). There's also been a smattering of interesting news, here's a few things that caught our eye...  

Polishing the Chrome - Google takes on Apple TV with a budget offering
The house of mouse - the original inventor of the mouse dies aged 88  
What does Wifi look like? - art and science merge in these wifi visualisations
to Ћ point - a new symbol for 'the' is proposed, what the..?
A (webcam) view from the top - no time to visit the Eifel Tower? This is the next best thing!
Does X mark the spot? - Oxford Street has a brand new identity
Jane Austen and trolls - it is a truth universally acknowledged, that something needs to be done about trolls


Polishing the Chrome


Google, one of the largest and most influential companies in the world has been desperately trying to break into the TV space for quite some time now. From Google TV to their Nexus Q - so far, they've not had much luck.

Their most recent product launched this week aims to turn this around. The Chromecast is tiny (see image above) and isn't much bigger than your average USB stick. It's designed to plug right into your TV via an HDMI socket. It's essentially a TV extender turning your dumb, non-connected TV into a Netflix or Youtube player (and you use your phone/tablet as a remote control). At only $35 it's quite the bargain - and while anyone with a set-top box or other Netflix capable hardware won't really get much extra benefit, it does make us wonder what the point of those expensive 'Smart TVs' really are.

But will it succeed where their other efforts have failed? We'll probably have to wait till next year to see who the leaders are in this much fought over streaming hardware / broadcast service sector. For now, the Chromecast is available in the US only, rest of the world to follow.

read more (The Verge)

 The house of mouse


Doug Engelbart, one of the many unsung heroes of the computer age died this month at the age of 88. He's the man we can thank for creating the world's first computer mouse in the 1960s - long before it was taken up by Xerox / Apple in the 1980s. The mouse revolutionised the way we interact with the computer and brought precise and intuitive analogue control that's still unbeaten today (touch screen controls may be everywhere right now, but don't offer the speed or pin-point precision the mouse still gives us).

Although there are well over a billion mice around the world, unfortunately he wasn't the millionaire he could have been as, despite patenting his invention, the patent ran out in 1987 - just before the mouse became the popular and ubiquitous device it is today. His first prototype was a simple wooden box with two metal wheels and three buttons on the top - which pretty much set the 'mouse' style for many years to come. Later the rubber ball was added for smoother movement, the mechanical parts finally being replaced by the optical mice we use now.

 read more (The Guardian)

What does WiFi look like?

 
click the image to view larger

Our cities are full of all sorts of pollution – from noise and crowds to light to smog – but what other things fill the air that we can't see or sense? Artist Nickolay Lamm decided to try to visualise one of those unseen forces: the Wifi signals that surround us, emanating out from almost every home, business and coffee shop. He studied how Wifi signals work and transmit taking current data from DC.gov to pinpoint their exact locations and then visualised these waves using central Washington as his backdrop. The resulting images are both beautiful and disturbing - the city is awash with what look like swirling forcefields of electronic communication.

read more (Motherboard)

to Ћ point



It was proposed this month that we should be adding an extra character to the English language. Paul Mathis thinks that as 'and' (which is the fifth most used word in the English language) has its own character, the ampersand, then surely 'the' (which is the number one most used word) therefore deserves its own shortened version? You can't fault his logic there. And, to save us all having to replace all our keyboards or add new characters to every major font, his proposal is to use something that already exists but is little used (a Serbian language character) which is a combination of 't' and 'h'. This would become a short-hand for 'the' in the same way we use '&'. He's going to need quite a lot of support for it to catch on, but it's an interesting idea. What do you think, could you see yourself using 'Ћ' - is it needed? And if so, will we need to change our logo?  

read more (Design Week)

Does X mark the spot?

 

London’s Oxford Street unveiled its new identity this week, giving us a look at the latest interpretation of destination brands, on the back of others such as Victoria and the proposed Northbank. The new identity sees the name shortened to 'Ox St', which is concern enough given this is a global tourist destination, and names like Bond Street, Mayfair and Oxford Street are iconic destinations. Will calling it 'Ox St' undermine this recognition and cause confusion? Plus, the new logo, with its 'X' device, arguably places too much emphasis on the local vicinity around the Regent Street junction which is already highly successful with big brand tenants such as Apple, John Lewis, Liberty, etc.

If the intention is to 'reignite London's love affair' with the street then it is arguably neglecting its less successful element (the east end). Most destination brands focus on the total visitor experience or the values they represent. Oxford Street is a long, straight shopping thoroughfare, in the same way that Regent Street is a crescent and Covent Garden is a series of lanes around a central piazza. The ‘X’ places too much emphasis on a single part of it, albeit a very important part, which is already highly successful, and we would have liked to see more made of the area it represents.

What do you think of the new identity? Let us know in the comments section below.

A (webcam) view from the top

The Google Cultural Institute and the Eiffel Tower Operating Company have joined forces to bring us three online exhibitions based on the iconic French monument, including a panoramic view from the top, just in case you can't make it there yourself. Known affectionately as the "Dame de Fer", or "Iron Lady", she stands at 324 metres tall and with almost 7 million visitors a year, is also the most visited (entrance fee) monument in the world.

Jane Austin and trolls

Back in April it was noted in the press that with Sir Winston Churchill set to replace Elizabeth Fry on our £5 note, there would be no women (other than the Queen of course!) on our currency, prompting a high profile campaign led by Caroline Criado-Perez against the decision. Last week the Bank of England announced that Jane Austin will be the new face of the £10 note, leading George Osbourne to tweet “Mark Carney's choice of Jane Austen as face of £10 note is great. After understandable row over lack of women, shows sense and sensibility." We applaud the decision and George's play on words.

This campaign also led to some truly vile misogynistic Twitter trolling and raised an important and ongoing debate on the role of social media platforms in dealing with trolls. In response to criticism of its handling of this latest hate campaign, Twitter has said it's aware of the way some people misuse the platform and is launching a feature that allows users to report individual tweets. It will be interesting to see exactly how this works and what impact, if any, it has on trolls and the number of abusive tweets sent.

Songs of praise

the new postcard for Concerto Group

They say word of mouth recommendations are the best way to win new business and who are we to disagree? We have the lovely people at Better Bankside to thank for some of our newest clients after they sang our praises (thanks guys!) and we’re now working on two really exciting projects for Croydon BID and Concerto Group.

Croydon BID is a Business Improvement District, and given our experience of working with Better Bankside over the years, the team there thought we’d be the perfect choice to help Croydon BID improve its positioning, marketing collateral and two websites.

the current Croydon BID logo

Following Better Bankside’s lovely words, Croydon BID invited us to pitch for the project, focusing on its messaging and helping to promote the benefits the BID has already brought to the town as a place to work, live, visit and do business, as well as its future ambitions.

a Croydon icon!

We’re thrilled to have won the project, and to be part of Croydon BID at such an exciting time (even more so now Crystal Palace have been promoted to the Premier League, which just shows it’s a town on the up!).

Crystal Palace: 2013 Playoff winners!

The initial strategic work has just begun, which we’re keeping top secret for now but we’ll be sure to share it with you over the coming months so watch this space. 

Matthew Sims, Chief Executive, Croydon BID had this to say about our partnership so far:
“The evolution of our messaging, collateral and overall marketing communications is a significant part of the jigsaw that must sit succinctly within the values of our business, both now and in the future. To The Point’s creative approach embodies much of our vision for the future and the team has really taken to the project, adding greater value to our positioning, messaging and overall look and feel. We are building a long term relationship with the team in order to evolve over time the strength of the brand, our communications and collateral and are delighted with the progress made to date.”

Concerto Group is our other project courtesy of Better Bankside (although, like Croydon BID, we did have a hand in winning it ourselves, after all, recommendations don’t win the project by themselves, fantastic work and a wonderful team helps too...)

One of the UK’s leading event services companies, Concerto Group covers everything from venues and catering through to event management and services, we also hear they do some epic Christmas parties! The company approached us to develop a postcard advertising its fundraising events to charities. Although the timeframe was tight, the team had a clear idea of what was needed (being in the creative industry certainly helps!) and we turned the project around very quickly. We created a vibrant, engaging postcard for them and are looking forward to working with the team on upcoming projects.

Taking PRide in CIPR's regional awards

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) asked us to design an identity for its annual PRide Awards, which celebrate outstanding public relations across the 12 regions of the UK. The brief was to create an identity that would give the awards more prestige and gravitas to bring them more in line with the importance of the CIPR Excellence Awards, whilst highlighting the regional and inspirational aspect of them. The identity also needs to be flexible so that it can be used for subsequent years to build recognition.

Bearing that in mind, we created a marque made up of a stylised map of the UK, with black and white imagery from previous campaign entries to represent the 12 respective regions that are eligible for the awards. The rest of the UK map shape is made up of different sized pink and teal squares to add vibrancy and colour, whilst bold gold text on a muted gold background adds to the prestigious feel.

As 2013 is the 10th anniversary of the awards, we included a subtle light gold text reference to this without it being the focus of the identity, which means it can be easily removed for subsequent years.

Sarah Ion, Marketing Manager at the CIPR said:

“We’re delighted with the new brand look that to the point has created for the CIPR PRide Awards. We asked the team to develop a look that adds prestige but reflects the important values and qualities of our regional awards scheme. The new branding does this beautifully and we’ve already received great feedback from our regional and national group volunteers around the UK."

We’ve also designed an A5 call for entries postcard, web banners and graphics and are currently finalising an interactive e-brochure for entrants.

Showing off the PR Show

One of the best ways in which to make an impact when launching a new event is to make sure the identity is engaging and distinct, and support this with clear, concise messaging. The CIPR knew it would be in safe hands with us and are delighted with the results.

The Public Relations Show will bring together more than 1000 public relations professionals to network and discover the latest trends and tools in the industry. As it will be the first event of its kind in the UK, the CIPR really wanted to make an impact and generate awareness.

As such, we needed to come up with a vibrant, creative and engaging identity that was professional yet adaptable. As the focus of the show is very much on professional development, collaboration and learning, we based the logo around the idea that PR can guide and direct perceptions.

We created an iconic marque made up from different coloured interlinking directional boxes. When joined, they convey the message of synergy but they also have the flexibility to have elements used independently, on signage, wayfinding and sub-branding. They can also be used to help members and participants in the show find the information they need quickly.

The vibrant grey, dark turquoise, cyan and yellow colour palette offers visual intrigue and versatility for other marketing collateral, whilst the Avenir font plays a subtle nod to the current CIPR branding. We’ve created the master show logo and supporting logos that reference the different participants in the show - exhibitor, speaker, sponsor and visitor - for use across various show collateral.

We’ve created supporting digital collateral, including web banners and graphics to help launch the show, featuring the outline of old fashioned tickets and the blocks from the logo. Over the next few months we’ll be creating other print and digital marketing materials, so watch this space.

Designed to innovate

After winning a competitive pitch, we have been appointed to help the BBSRC create a new look and feel for their upcoming Fostering Innovation 2013 awards. This year's event will focus on the competitions that have been set up to support the bioeconomy innovation network. The event will recognise and reward the work of BBSRC supported scientists, who are delivering economic and/or social impact.

As well as the branding and venue dressing, we have been tasked with creating a range of promotional materials, a slideshow, invitations for the event and booklet to be handed out at the event for all attendees. We will also be looking at trophies for each of the winners.

The event will be held in late March 2013 at Altitude 360º in Westminster, London. It will be attended by around 200 invited guests, from BBSRC’s end‐user community, policy‐makers, industry representatives, academia and the finalists.

BBSRC will continue its successful Innovator of the Year competition (now in its fifth year) and complement it with three other awards:

• Lifetime Achievement
• Activation Impact
• Excellence with Impact

An effective brand needed to be created, that demonstrates to stakeholders BBSRC’s joined up and strategic approach to fostering innovation from its investments, create a visual hook to help potential applicants find and apply for the awards and create a narrative hook for PR work around the awards.

It needed to present the multiple competitions as a coherent whole, providing a visual identity that works in printed and digital media, as well as effectively branding the awards’ event. So we evolved the logo from Innovator of the Year 2012, keeping the starburst, but moving it on, giving it a fresh, colourful and contemporary look. The colours from the main logo are then used to identify the 4 different awards, as well as the zones that will be used throughout the venue. These zones will also be dressed and branded, making it obvious that each area is different.

Rebecca Farncombe, Engagement Officer for the BBSRC said:

We are delighted to be working with To the Point. Their design and creativity has really helped us create the best brand for our competitions. Based on the work of the team so far, we are very much looking forward to working with them over the next 6 months and have every confidence that they will help us deliver a successful event in 2013.

Forging the Foundry

We’re in the middle of our fifth branding project for the Carillion Richardson Partnership, this time creating a logo, strapline and marketing collateral for a retail development in Scotland. With several completed projects for the Carillion Richardson Partnership already under our belts, this is becoming a great partnership account, underpinned by trust, teamwork… and a sense of humour.

The Foundry is a new 28,000sq ft retail park in Bathgate, between Edinburgh and Glasgow, which sits on the old Balbardie steel foundry. We used the area’s history to create an engaging personality for the park to attract potential retail tenants as well as highlight the retail and residential offer to the local community. The park is already home to a Morrisons store and the third busiest McDonalds in the UK.

The new logo, based on the concept of a hot metal cast, pays homage to the site’s previous history, whilst the contemporary sans serif font gives the design a modern, friendly feel and reflects the optimism and opportunity of the redeveloped site.

We came up with the strapline ‘Find it at The Foundry’, as a play on the name and to emphasise the park’s accessibility and value proposition to the local community. This accessibility and messaging is reflected in the hoardings and digital sales brochures that we’re also producing to help promote the development. Both play on the ‘casting’ theme and use the positive and negative spaces created by the logo to hold imagery and text.

The identity of a brand

Logo. Identity. Brand. These are all the same and can be used interchangeably, right? Well, in a word, no. These three little words are very close to a designer’s heart as they lie at the core of what we do: confuse them at your peril. A common misconception is that a brand is simply a logo, whereas a logo is not your brand, nor is it your identity. All have different roles that work together to help form a perception of a company or product.

The words ‘logo’, ‘identity’, ‘brand’ and ‘branding’ are often bandied about by different people, within marketing companies, advertising agencies, public relations firms and graphic/web design studios, as well as clients, who define them within their own frame of expertise and reference. So, it’s not surprising that people have become a bit confused and think they’re just marketing buzzwords that mean little and are an excuse for agencies to pocket large amounts of cash to draw a few squiggles – the many articles on the Internet about the London 2012 logo being a case in point.

So, we've taken a look at these words (using the London 2012 logo as a starting point) and created an easy to use, basic guide and explanation for each to remove some of the mystery and waffle from the equation. Now, we certainly don’t pretend to have all the answers here, and there may be some designers (and marketers) who disagree with our definitions, but hopefully this makes things a wee bit clearer. If so, it’s a good starting point from which to explore the complex world of branding.

» Download our guide to logos and identity here (PDF)

A PR network for the world

www.iprn.com

Formed in 1995 the Independent Public Relations Network (IPRN) is now the world’s largest independent agency network and offers opportunities for client referrals and for members to work together on global projects for clients.

IPRN's previous website design:

We were asked to design and build a new website for the IPRN as its existing website, whilst functional, was dated and didn’t accurately convey the forward thinking nature of the organisation.

There are two main purposes to the IPRN website: to attract potential clients, directing them to the relevant IPRN agencies and to encourage other independent PR agencies to join the IPRN.

As such, the original brief was to make the current site more user friendly and appealing, with improved navigation and ensuring the key areas are more visible for visitors to the site. We expanded on this brief, highlighting that the site should be more current, engaging, visually accessible and a ‘living’ entity – ie regularly updated with informative content – to help reinforce IPRN’s brand reputation and value proposition.

In addition, we were asked to come up with ideas for refreshing the existing IPRN brand, which included redesigning the logo to create a fresh, contemporary and bold identity that enhances the brand and reflects its members’ global expertise.

So, following a competitive pitch process, we got to work implementing the chosen logo – a series of orange off-centre, concentric circles that allude to the global nature and knowledge sharing of the IPRN, with contrasting black text – and building the new site.

Our new IPRN identity

We built the site using Wordpress as it needed to be simple to use for members and non-members, with clear navigation and easily uploadable content. We also created a specific Members only area using Buddypress, to make it easy for members to add their own content and news, thereby encouraging the sharing of information and expertise and also increasing the site’s SEO.

A test version of the site was unveiled to the IPRN members at the annual general meeting in Buenos Aires, to very positive feedback, with the site going live this month.

IPRN founder member Maggi Fox, who has been instrumental in launching the new site said:  

“We're delighted with the fresh, crisp appearance of the site. It wasn't an easy job for the designers to provide a site which had to satisfy so many members from so many countries and they met these challenges to the great satisfaction of us all."  

View the new site here: www.iprn.com

Constructing a brand

One of the UK’s top project management and construction companies, Warwick Avenue, asked us to refresh its current identity to reflect the next stage of its development.

The company has expanded from its core business of project management to provide highly integrated services covering the full property and construction life cycle, across Europe and the Middle East, and needed its identity to reflect the breadth of its services as well as conveying experience and professionalism.

We put together a number of creative concepts, looking at the possibility of retaining the existing cross device as well as a number of completely different routes. We also considered ways of reflecting the construction industry within the logo itself.

The chosen route retains the cross device, but replaces the flat red colour with two shades of orange to give it more depth and energy. The orange provides an interesting juxtaposition against the grey of ‘Warwick Avenue’ whilst the ‘L’ of each side of the cross shape not only implies a positive working relationship between Warwick Avenue and its clients but also alludes to the idea of walls and rooms.

The addition of a strapline ‘Projects and Construction’ completes the logo and conveys Warwick Avenue’s sector and experience to potential customers.

We are also redesigning the website, producing a corporate brochure, a range of stationery and PowerPoint templates for Warwick Avenue, all of which are currently in progress. Once complete. these will feature in a forthcoming e-news story, so watch this space.

Finally, Warwick Avenue found us through a Google search, having looked for digital agencies located in SE1, so it’s a nice example to show that our SEO is working. If you want to find out more about SEO and how we can help you to stand out then please contact Ben Jackson, our head of digital.

As easy as PIE

the new PIE identity

PIE is a specialist mapping data and routing business, supplying industry-leading mapping and routing products for local authorities and freight operators. It also provides up-to-the-minute mapping datasets and downloads for freight routing and software manufacturers.

PIE has developed the data for the new TFL Freight Journey Planner for the Olympics (due to go live in March) and saw this as an ideal opportunity to promote the service and related products more widely.

Originally, PIE approached us to develop the naming and logo for this service, however, the project quickly developed into a full brand evaluation of the group. The existing logo lacked dynamism, was overly complex and was used inconsistently across the various sub brands both in print and digital applications.

original PIE identity

Having undertaken an audit of the brand hierarchy and business structure, we recommended that all of the businesses were brought under one comprehensive brand identity and developed a clear structure for the company.

The PIE company structure

Furthermore, we advised dropping the original and longer full name, Public Information Exchange and wholly adapting the recognised short version - PIE. Dropping ‘Public Information Exchange’ removed the impression that PIE was a public sector organisation, whilst the new strapline ‘the source of insightful mapping’ clearly conveys PIE’s offering to existing and potential customers.

We came up with a number of ideas for the logo, that ranged from corporate to quirky, before deciding on a logo that was an evolution from the existing brand look and feel, but more representative of the service offer. We used a location peg as a recognisable icon in a bold purple, whilst the diagonal text of PIE added intrigue and an element of quirkiness.

We also produced simple brand guidelines, which along with a rationale and diagram of the four core services, have helped bring some much needed coherence to the brand.

page from the PIE identity guidelines

Having established the new identity, we’re now in the process of designing the look and feel for the website and microsites which, once complete, will feature in a forthcoming blog, so watch this space.

Branding Macmillan's Next Chapter

Macmillan - The Next Chapter (click to view)

Macmillan is one of the world's leading publishers, home to Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Education and Pan Macmillan. To improve collaboration and give its employees a fresh, modern working environment, the company is bringing together its various publishing divisions, which are currently split between Oxford, London and Basingstoke. Macmillan is also investing in new premises in Basingstoke, which will become its main service centre for fulfillment and distribution.

We first got involved in branding the move when Mat Rumblelow, head of internal communications consultancy, Rumbers Ltd - whom we had worked with before on an internal branding project for News International - asked us to create a new logo and strapline for the project. As part of the brief, the internal communication needed to be on brand, work with the Macmillan 'red wave' logo and be bold, quirky and fun.

We were conscious that the project identity couldn’t focus solely on London given Macmillan's investment in Basingstoke, as well as the fact that although Macmillan’s identity is rooted in print, digital is a growing and vital part of its business.

We came up with a number of concepts, before opting for a fun, simple, iconic identity that reflected the joined-up thinking of bringing all the different publishing divisions under one roof. Using a bold red linear treatment that took its cue from the Macmillan logo, we created an overarching icon featuring a book and turning page to represent the project strapline of ‘The Next Chapter’. The turning page graphic also featured an extended line treatment to link the individual publishing divisions together.

We then created a number of images and accompanying straplines in the same style to represent the reasons for and advantages of the move. These included ‘sharing knowledge’ and ‘embracing innovation’ which were represented by arrows converging and a laptop, while Q&A and Next Steps sections of the briefing pack were represented by mortar boards and pencil illustrations.

The move was announced to all staff on 9 November 2011, with the overarching logo and The Next Chapter strapline used on all internal communications, including briefing packs (given to over 2000 staff globally), presentations, newsletters and the staff intranet. The campaign was underpinned by a video from the CEO that covered the vision and changes ahead. The video was scripted by Mat and shot by Stickman Productions, who worked with us on the EDF video for upstreaming.

The project’s branding was really well received by employees at Macmillan, who felt it was highly professional, with a clear tie-in with the Macmillan logo and culture. Some even went as far as to say it as the ‘best internal communications ever seen at Macmillan.’

Mat Rumblelow says: "As always, TTP demonstrated their ability to capture the essence of the Macmillan Brand, while creating a new vibrant identity for the co-location project. The team pulled together a range of concepts under extremely tight deadlines, giving us a number of viable options. The chosen identity was a real success and will be carried forward over the course of the project to create a range of high-impact deliverables."

The dogs...

Clip&Ping has been a fantastic project and we first got involved purely on a branding aspect, not expecting the project to snowball in quite the way it did. We had previously worked with the MD of Clip&Ping, Rob Steele, when he was consulting for Alpheus (see earlier blog on this).  Rob was looking for a London based consultancy and approached us, having seen our work and thought that we had our fingers on the pulse of the latest design trends and sound digital experience. We like to think so too!

Rob liked our work, ethos and professional approach so much that after the Alpheus project he asked us to help develop the brand awareness for his new clipping service, including our thoughts on the name. We were not convinced the original name was fit for purpose. We wanted to find a professional, easily remembered, yet quirky moniker, where its simplicity is its strength and meaning would highlight the ease of using the service. Ultimately, we wanted a name that does what it says on the tin – and Clip&Ping was born.

As well as the name, we created the corresponding logo, featuring a modern and bold monogram from the Clip&Ping initials that represent the sharing and discussion of the information provided. We opted for a simple colour palette of black and pink – black for the words ‘Clip’ and ‘Ping’ and pink for the ampersand and monogrammed logo – along with an open, friendly typeface to represent the approachable, fun brand identity.

Our talented design team also came up with a brand mascot, or rather mascots, creating two canine characters, one black and one white, to add personality, as well as instant recognisability, to the brand name. These characters can be used in a variety of ways to communicate what Clip&Ping offers its target audience, acting as ‘sniffer’ dogs, seeking out information and delivering it to their ‘owner’

All in all, we were very pleased with how it turned out and so was Rob, who says: “I had a great working relationship with TTP right from the start, and I felt that they had a thorough understanding of what we wanted. The collaborative and creative process delivered a fantastic brand identity that I feel really represents the aspirations, personality and offering of Clip&Ping.”

The concept of Clip&Ping came about from a need to have a service that enabled websites to stay current and feature refreshable content for SEO rankings, as well as an ethos of helping people share information and knowledge. And the premise of how it works is pretty simple.

It aims to keep its clients’ websites relevant, current and fresh by providing them with relevant articles, comment and social media - acquired under license from over 50,000 publishers, blogs and websites - to populate and refresh their websites daily. The added ability to automatically tweet the Clip&Ping content to twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn means that companies can also promote their business and services across social media platforms. All of this helps to increase readership, site ‘stickiness’ and improve search engine rankings.

“Many SMEs simply don’t have the capacity to employ someone in-house to regularly update and refresh web content and social media activity, which are essential to keep websites near the top of search engines,” explains Rob. “So, we developed this service for our clients, providing focused, relevant, timely and filtered content. Our increasing network of publishers means we have access to millions of individual articles daily, on every conceivable topic.”

So, having heard all about the wonderful things that Clip&Ping can do, we decided to test it for ourselves. We’ve provided Rob with our relevant keywords and are currently bedding the system into our web feed. We’ll have an update as to how we’re getting on testing out the service, including any SEO stats, for next month’s e-newsletter, so keep an eye out for this.

And if you want to speak to the man himself about this service and how it could improve your SEO then why not ping him an email

And now for some culture

Maryann Maguire, Cultural and Political Advisor at InterCultures first got in touch with us back in March this year, asking us to brainstorm a number of logo options for the new company brand identity and website. We created several creative routes for her to mull over.

InterCultures was established to assist private sector companies in understanding and engaging with political institutions and local populations in post-conflict environments; especially to address the need to better map the cultural, political and development environments in emerging markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The company works for a small number of select clients, acting on their specific requirements, with community engagement, partnership and sustainable development as core operational values. They also work with public service clients, including various police forces, to help them better understand culturally diverse communities and how to communicate with them given sensitive issues such as religion or customs.

So, whilst on her work travels around the world over the last few months (including that well known tourist spot, Libya), Maryann asked a number of people for their thoughts on which logo option she should choose. A decision finally made, the minute she touched back down onto home soil, Maryann called us and it was all systems go.

Our challenge was then to finalise the logo and create a holding page that could help her start to convey the open, engaging and professional ethos of the company.

The logo comprises an informal circle, representing the world and people, and consists of four different coloured ribbons – red, orange, green and yellow – which also represent the four key messages of InterCultures: Map, Understand, Enable and Communicate.

“It was hard to find a team of designers who were creative and imaginative and who got the concept behind InterCultures", says Maryann. "The tothepoint team were not only enthusiastic, their initial work captured the spirit of what we do, which is about better understanding, bridging differences and finding better ways to communicate”.

Mark Stevens, our designer and man of the moment, says: “Given InterCultures’ wide remit and approach of utilising community partnerships and sustainable development, it was essential that we conveyed this ethos within the logo design. This holistic approach is reflected in the circular shape and bright colours of the logo, which convey the positivity of the company as well as representing its four key concepts.”

We’ll be helping Maryann develop the brand identity, including the website and stationery, so watch this space for an update on both our and her progress.

On yer bike

Phew! It feels appropriate to be writing my first blog about a racing track as the past few weeks have been quite a whirlwind for me...

What started as a dream has grown into a full blown campaign and it’s with professional pride and personal interest that I want to write about the campaign to Save the Herne Hill Velodrome.

I have been a keen cyclist, racer and fascinated visitor to the Herne Hill Velodrome for many years now. However, this beloved landmark now faces closure due to deterioration and lack of funding, and with the country’s own Olympic moment just around the corner, it’s hard not to get sad at the prospect of the Velodrome closing forever.

The Herne Hill Velodrome is one of those rare things – an iconic landmark that’s in use and as relevant to it’s visitors today as it was in decades past. The oldest cycling track in the country, it was home to the 1948 Olympic Cycling Championships, with famous riders including Bradley Wiggins the three-time Olympic gold medallist, who began his competitive cycling career at Herne Hill. Today, it’s a favoured location for cycling enthusiasts the world over and local children alike, all training, riding and racing their way to a better time, fitter body or simply a fun day out. As I watch the children, including my own, gather for the various races and events made available to them, I hope and believe that there may be one, if not more, future Olympic champions among them.

With the threat of closure – and without forgetting Peter Cattermole and the unsung heroes who, over the last ten years, have kept the Velodrome alive – a new impetus was required. A group of us, led by Hillary Peachey, conceived the Save the Herne Hill Velodrome Campaign, with me in charge of the campaign’s identity, look and feel and of course all the materials. Many may think I can pull an identity out of a hat or cook up a campaign in my sleep but this was unlike anything else I’ve had to do in such a short time frame and with no budget. Fitting four days' work into a weekend, using matchsticks and only a handful of hours’ sleep later, I had produced the basics of a campaign including logo, website, stationery, posters, postcards, leaflets and helped with the Facebook page – branding and some content. Over the weeks that followed, I built on this with help on the campaign strategy and other materials including track banners, t-shirts, displays, stickers and badges as well as providing brand elements to third parties to produce their own materials.



One such party was Condor Cycles who believed so strongly in the campaign, that they devoted a large area of their stand at the Earls Court Cycle Show to help raise awareness to the wider cycling community.

It was great to work on something I felt so passionate about and personally connected to, and the collective enthusiasm and spirit kept me going during those sleep deprived weeks. I’m proud of the designs I produced and the message my work helped shape but, in a bizarre twist, I’m almost prouder of what’s happened since...

As a designer, I love what I do, but there’s something very special about people taking your designs and running with them. As this campaign is so personal to so many, taking ownership of the messaging is essential and creating a structure (with consistency across the various elements) gives people the tools to take it further and help grow the campaign. This is a true word-of-mouth, combined with social media, success story and the momentum the campaign now has, has really blown me away: we got widespread and heartfelt coverage in the country’s press including the Guardian, London Evening Standard and the Telegraph to name but a few. We’ve had BBC’s Newsround filming us, a tweet by none other than Stephen Fry (reaching his 1.8million followers), a hugely successful public meeting with over £70,000 pledged in support, backing by Tessa Jowell and a global Facebook following that now has over 4,600 friends.



To my family's amazement, I now even have knowledge of twibbons with Facebook profiles being updated to help show support for our campaign. I’ve learned more about the strength and spirit of communities and my own knowledge of how this can be harnessed and built on using today’s technology. After the whirlwind, sitting back to enjoy the fruit of our hard work to date and come up with ways to build on this success, I’m left with a smile on my face and a very warm feeling of satisfaction and achievement (or is that muscle cramp?). Make my day and show me it was all worth it – support us and pledge money at www.savethevelodrome.com.

Carl Ison
Branding and Design Strategy
carl@tothepoint.co.uk