Archive for the ‘illustration’ Category

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?

img041

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

Posted by Lisa in design, illustration | 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

Advertising doesn’t work!

Monday, June 1st, 2009

We hear it a lot – “We tried advertising and it was a waste of money”.
If this is your experience, then read on.

When PR agency, Practical Media Services, asked us to pitch for the Sunshine Kids’ advertising, they had already helped to raise their clients’ profile high enough to secure distribution through Mothercare and Halfords. Having achieved this, they knew they needed to up their creative game to be able to compete in the parenting and automotive press.

Sunshine Kids makes a range of in-car children’s products, such as booster seats, seat liners and bottle warmers.
Our brief was to produce a campaign that clearly demonstrated product benefits and increased brand recognition.

Sunshine Kids Cuddle Soft

Effective advertising doesn’t just rely on the agency, it needs a brave client too. The chosen route used distinctive ‘Janet and John/Ladybird book’ style illustrations to add warmth to the brand. This visual approach is so radically different to anything that competing brands like Maxi-Cosi and Britax were doing, that it took a leap of faith from Sunshine Kids.

The campaign broke in April 2009, and by the end of the month, sales were already significantly up on April 2008, so something’s obviously working. Now, it’s not like we can guarantee the same results for every campaign we produce, but with a bit of tender loving creativity, advertising really can work. Of course, the flip-side is that badly conceived, poorly executed advertising often doesn’t!

To see more of our Sunshine Kids work, click here

Posted by Jonathan in advertising, illustration | Add a response