Archive for the ‘design’ Category

Extra-curricular creativity pt.2 - The Green Party

Friday, June 4th, 2010

If you saw our blog post of 30th April, you’ll understand the premise of this. If not, please check out ‘Extra-curricular creativity pt.1′ here
Anyway, brief number 2 was nice and tricky:

A new logo and slogan for The Green Party.

Aimed at young and first-time voters, the brief was to raise the party’s profile as a real contender. ‘The only party that has a real environmental agenda to help make everyone’s future better. A force for positive change’. Sam came up with three cracking logo concepts…

green_party_butterfly

OK, so it’s a visual cliché, but it’s spot on for the message of positive change.

green_partykey

Is it a key hole? Is it a tree? There’s a smart idea in here and it’s bold and simple.

green_partyleaves

A little more sophisticated, and we loved the lotus flower analogy – it grows in muddy water and rises above the surface to bloom, untouched by the impurity of its environment… (who says you can’t have graphic design AND philosophy).

The second part of the brief was even trickier – a slogan that ‘passes the T Shirt test’. Not just a strapline, but something that could be the party’s rally cry.

There are a few strong contenders:

ONE WORLD, ONE VOTE

Conveys the idea that The Green Party is more globally focused than other parties. It also underlines how important your vote is ie. use your vote to make a difference to the whole world.

GREEN NOT GREED

After the shambolic mess that the banking crisis has left the country in, there’s a whole section of young voters who think politics is all about fat cats getting fatter. The implication here is that The Green Party is the only party that bucks the trend. Not to mention the fact that it would sound great shouted at a political rally!

GIVE A DAMN, VOTE GREEN

A line to shake the young voter out of their lethargy. If you give a damn, get off your backside and vote for a party that gives a damn too.

Out of the shortlist of slogans, came a couple of lines that felt more like straplines than slogans, but both feel like they’re worth a mention:

SUSTAINABLE POLITICS and COLOUR YOUR FUTURE

Both snappy, both seriously on-brand and in our humble opinion a bit punchier than their current line – ‘Fair is Worth Fighting For’.

And we just keep piling on the pressure; Sam’s next brief is to create viral ideas for insect repellent, Jungle Formula!

Posted by Jonathan in agency, branding, copywriting, design | Add a response

A premium re-brand for AMA Insurance

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

When you’ve lived with the same brand identity for 20 years, it takes a brave client to change. So we were really happy when Ashleigh Mackay and Associates asked Remedy to give their brand a total overhaul.

AMA are high-end corporate insurance brokers and risk management specialists. Their key customers are large corporate clients such as architectural glaziers and electrical contractors with bespoke insurance needs. They also work with high net-worth individuals including premiership footballers.

At our first meeting, Managing Director, Gary Mackay, summed up the company’s ethos very simply: “We don’t sell policies, we buy them on behalf of our customers”. Understandably, he was still quite attached to the old logo that had worked well for them since 1980. However, they had decided it was “time for change” and that they were looking for a “sharp and clean” new brand identity.

With this as the brief, we presented four routes which were all loved by the client.

After some deliberation and a minor tweak, the new AMA logo was born and we are just about to make a start on their new website.

ama_newoldcrop1

OLD LOGO                                                                SHINY NEW LOGO

little-bit

This is what Marketing and New Business Manager, Anne-Marie Dickinson had to say:

“We were impressed with the way in which you approached us as new clients; you took the time to understand our current business whilst considering our future aims and presented a perfect pitch. It wasn’t easy to decide which of the four options we liked the most but once we did, you were happy to make a tweak to the design, with which we are now delighted. We look forward to seeing designs for our new website – we know it will reflect our business perfectly.”

Here’s to great looking brands and brave clients.

Posted by Jonathan in branding, design, remedy | Add a response

Extra-curricular creativity

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Being creative is both a blessing and a curse. Having a head full of ideas means there’s never a dull moment, but sometimes you just can’t switch it off. Any enthusiastic designer, art director or copywriter has always got some weird or wonderful creative idea hatching – that’s why most of us have dictaphones in the car and sleep with note pads next to the bed.

The other day, D&AD creative workshops cropped up in the studio banter. For the uninitiated, the basic idea is that young creatives are given briefs from top London advertising and design agencies and then have to present their creative concepts on a weekly basis. At each presentation, they are given the next week’s brief and they have 7 more days to crack it (down the pub, at 3.00 in the morning, at weekends… whenever they can fit it in between live client briefs). This set Jason off reminiscing with Sam (our junior creative) about how much fun it was “back in the day” to work on briefs where creative ingenuity was the only criteria. No existing brand guidelines, no budgetry constraints, just the chance to give the old creative noggin a massive work-out.

“Hey Sam, what if we conjured-up some briefs for you? Fancy an extra challenge?”

Funny, when you’re 23, you’ll say yes to anything. So we cooked up Sam’s first brief: coming up with brand names and top-line packaging ideas for a new biscuit, that no matter how much you dunk it, it won’t collapse into your tea.

biscuit_pack0012

We loved the nifty stripes on the biscuits, perfect for gauging how deep to dunk and the ‘the unsinkable tea time treat’ is a winner. “Pass the Admirals”.

biscuit_pack0022

Taking the nautical theme to the next level, Sam also came up with ‘U-Biscuits’, but we thought Submersibles was really quirky. A fun way of expressing their dunk-ability.

biscuit_pack0031

The sign of a good creative. Take the brief, turn it inside-out and come up with something even better. Rather than a biscuit that won’t break, what about the most absorbent biscuit in the world?  Genius! A real USP, but because it will eventually collapse in your mug, there’s still a challenge – just how long dare you dunk? ‘Riskits’, now there’s a brand name waiting to happen.

In the spirit of the D&AD workshop, as soon as we’d reviewed Sam’s ideas, we gave him the next brief – a new logo and slogan for The Green Party. Watch this space.

By the way, just in case there are any biscuit technologists or marketeers reading this, the copyright stays with Remedy, but we’re open to offers.

Posted by Jonathan in agency, branding, design, packaging | Add a response

Remedy goes back to college

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

When I left art college in ‘84, skin-tight jeans and big hair were in and everyone was talking about the latest gizmo from Apple. Turn the clock forward 26 years and it appears that not much has changed.

Then, as now, the creative industry was buzzing with the possibilities promised by new technology. But no matter how advanced the technology becomes, the foundations of good communication remains the same.

Recently I was invited to West Kent College as a guest lecturer to meet the students on their HND Graphic Design course. First I had a whistle-stop tour of their portfolios. Magazine design, information graphics, website design, illustration, photography, typography… and in amongst the 20 or so portfolios, it was the IDEAS that made the difference.

Ideas are gold dust in our industry. It doesn’t matter how pretty a brochure, ad, exhibition stand, website… looks - it needs to connect with its audience and spark the required reaction. To unearth these ideas the creative industry needs designers, copywriters and art directors who are fired-up by great ideas, people that love breaking moulds, making headlines and creating the stuff that makes everyone else say “I wish I’d thought of that”.

It’s easy to be hypnotised by shiny colours and slick design execution, but you need more than this to get tongues wagging and tills ringing. And I’m pleased to say, there are still designers coming through West Kent College that
‘get it’.

After looking through their portfolios, it was question time:

“What do you do when a client insists on running with an idea you don’t like?”
“Where do you get your creative inspiration?”
“Do you ever run out of ideas?”
“What do you look for when employing a graphic designer?”
“How do you make sure you don’t get ripped-off as a freelancer?”
“How important is it to work in London?”

After an hour and a half of intensive grilling, I had just enough energy left to chat with HND course leader, Sancha de Burca and BA course leader, Tim Bones about the challenges they faced. We all came to the same conclusion; that as exciting as advances in technology and design software can be, the students with inquisitive minds and a love for cracking briefs with intelligent ideas, are the ones that succeed.

Good luck to everyone at West Kent College who will be graduating this summer.

timsanchacrop

West Kent College Graphic Design Course leaders,
Tim Bones and Sancha de Burca

Posted by Jonathan in design, illustration, remedy | Add a response

It’s not OK to shake babies

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Sitting in the minor injuries unit at our local casualty department recently, waiting for my other half to have his swollen ankle x-rayed, I found myself intrigued by some of the public health information on display and the apparent lack of design aesthetic involved.

This one leaflet in particular caught my eye. I presume that the existence of this leaflet means that sadly, someone has deemed it necessary to inform the general public that ‘It’s NOT OK to SHAKE babies’.

shakeybaby1

The fact that we need to convey such messages is horrific, but when there is a need, then it should be done well and with sensitivity. Unfortunately for this particular piece of communication, the image used on the front cover is quite bizarre and completely dilutes the seriousness of the message. I am not sure I have ever seen such a strange use of ‘cut and paste’ before, or indeed such poor typography.

Serious messages should be conveyed in a serious fashion – good design can help to do this and ensure that the final communication is received in the way it was intended. Healthcare information often requires sensitivity and sometimes it needs to be straight talking – but either way, there is no real excuse for poor design that only serves to detract from the message.

Bizarrely, only a few days later I received an email from a friend who had been given a leaflet by an NHS physiotherapist, who was providing treatment for his sore knee. The leaflet was full of handy exercise hints and tips, including some rather amusing illustrations created in a style reminiscent of pre-war Britain.
So much for modern medicine eh?

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Does the NHS have an image problem? I think that it probably does…

Posted by Lisa in design, illustration | 1 Response

The most beautiful web site in the world?

Friday, July 31st, 2009

windowsill

Well, of course statements like this are bound to get you into trouble – one person’s amazing is the next person’s frustrating or mundane. There are many many fine web sites out there, but very few truly inspire, even fewer make your jaw drop in complete amazement (this had better be good right!) and make you wonder at the sheer talent and vision of the team that put it together.

Well I think, and feel free to disagree with me, that I’ve found just such a site: windosill

It has a humble name, is very self-indulgent, doesn’t overtly sell anything (except of course the extreme talent of the individual that created it and a $3 game) and is a complete waste of time, but it is done with such style, visual wit and playfulness, and has been so thoroughly thought through, that you cannot help but love it. Does it have a point? Are there any rules? How do you ‘play’ with it? Well, all I’ll say is that it is just a simple platform game. Switch on the light bulb, look around, play with things and work out how to get out of the little door to the next level…

The site is the work of Patrick Smith @ Vector Park. Patrick’s forte is the creation of immersive online Flash-driven animated experiences (did we used to call them games??) and I think, he’s really very good at them. A visual treat, animated to perfection, this really shows the wonderful possibilities of Flash when pushed to the extreme. It makes you think (laterally) and twists your brain but gives it ample reward, and makes you smile along the way.

It may not be for everyone, but if you can take a few precious minutes to explore Patrick’s world, your day may just be the better for it.

And if you would like to suggest another candidate for the “most beautiful web site in the world”
please post it here, or via twitter: @remedycreative

Posted by Jason in animation, design, online | 1 Response

Typefaces gives us signals - Erik Spiekermann raps!

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

For some excellent musings on typography and design from the very wonderful Erik Spiekermann, you simply must watch this great video, written by Mike Croft, featuring Erik Spiekermann; produced by Alphabeat & Parson Research:

A prolific designer, Erik has been responsible for some of the best typeface designs of the last 20 years, was the co-founder of FontShop and has designed faces for Nokia and The Economist.

We would also heartily recommend his seminal book, Stop Stealing Sheep

Baaa-rilliant!

Posted by Jason in design, typography | Add a response

Design vs football - who wins?

Friday, July 10th, 2009

First off, I should tell you that I love football, and I also love design, well good design anyway! So I thought I’d bring you an excellent example of fresh web design for one of the biggest names in the business. Yes, they have deep pockets, but clearly, they understand the value that good design can bring to their brand.

The current revolution at Manchester City FC continues with the recent launch of their spanking new website, a tactical masterstroke on behalf of the club’s marketing department.

City have blown all competition out of the water with this fresh approach to the traditional club website, adopting a much more web-savvy design in an attempt to strengthen the brand and position themselves as a resource for entertainment and information, as well as signifying their ambition to become a major player in the football world.

The site has been designed to maximise usability and interaction, with the incorporation of a twitter feed, flickr account, and best of all, a customisable home page which allows the user to add or remove whole sections (widgets) as they like. All very web 2.0 - and focused for once, on us, the fans. Well, strictly speaking not me, as I support Leeds, yeah, yeah, I know…

MCFC home page

For the fans, the Match Centre will provide a unique insight into City’s games, featuring live commentary, team sheets, and match/player stats, all beautifully rendered and clearly presented. The site draws you in, is very engaging and friendly, is easy to get around and displays quickly.

Manchester City - Match Centre

Rival club sites are overloaded with lots of text and banner advertisements, (see Manchester United’s current effort below), while City’s pages succeed with beautiful photography and well structured layouts, keeping information organised and easy to digest. The withdrawal of all advertisements is certainly a bold step, this has minimised unwanted distractions, yet also proves that City chiefs recognise the importance of clarity and style, and that it really is all about football and the fans, though let’s be honest, they really don’t need the money!

Manchester United - Home Page

Given the amount of money involved in football, it is surprising that it has taken so long for a football club to produce a website of true quality. The new online look is a strong statement of intent from the hierarchy at City, and it will be interesting to see whether rival clubs take a similar route.

So, great website, shame about the club…

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/

And if you’d like to get your website up to the Premier League, or just want to chat about football, drop me a line: sam@remedycreative.com

We are so proud
We shout it out loud
We love you Leeds! Leeds! Leeds…

Posted by Sam in design, online | 1 Response

West Kent College turning out great creative talent

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

The Remedy gang all trooped off to West Kent College on Tuesday, to see Sam’s (our junior designer) degree show. We first spotted Sam’s potential at the Graphic Design Higher Diploma end of year show, in 2008. This year he has completed his BA ‘top-up’ course and it has to be said, his work looked the business!!

Particularly liked his ‘My-tunes’ poster – a typographic representation of all the music he’s been listening to over the last year.

MyTunes

The show was of a much higher standard overall this year. There’s no doubt, there’s a really good crop of local creative talent out there. We’re just glad we grabbed Sam before the competition got their mits on him.

The fine art show was also really inspiring. One artist in particular caught my eye. Tracey Gurr’s set of drawings, ‘The Objective representation of Schizophrenia’, hit me like a ton of bricks, from the other side of the room. Each piece is a good 4 feet square and constructed in black pen, from intricate geometric shapes. They are both beautiful and unnerving in equal measure. You can see more of Tracey’s work at http://www.four-degrees.co.uk/

schizo–Tracey Gurr

If they don’t both get a 1st, I’ll eat my pencil case!

Posted by Jonathan in design, illustration | Add a response