After an extended leave of absence, the Inspiration Board returns!
Where else are you going to find Lady GaGa, Jason King and a Cadbury’s Creme Egg in the same place?
Archive for the ‘remedy’ Category
Inspiration Board #8
Thursday, April 18th, 2013Remedy burns some rubber
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013So, Ben said “I just got an email from someone trying to sell places on a team endurance go-karting night; anyone up for it?”
Let’s put it this way, he didn’t have to ask twice.
We all zipped over to TeamSport in Crawley and had a rip-roaring time. We probably won’t be giving Lewis Hamilton a run for his money, but Ben managed the fastest lap of the night and one of our teams even picked up 3rd place trophies.
If you’re in the mood for a noisy, heart-pumping team night out, you should definitely give it a spin!
Left to right: Sam Schumacher, Ayrton Kevva, Lisa Häkkinen, Emerson Nickipaldi, Benson Button and Stirling Jon (Tim Manuel Fangio was on the other side of the lens).
Is it a bird, is it a plane… No it’s Ben getting a Black Flag!
Glory!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By the way, our next team event is a toss-up between a survival weekend and going to the opera – apparently.
Mood boards – bringing the creative brief to life
Tuesday, January 15th, 2013Great design work starts with a great brief. If the brief is confused or woolly, then chances are, that’s the kind of work you’ll end up with. But of course, a great brief doesn’t guarantee great work, it’s down to the interpretation – turning words into pictures.
The brief may, for instance, state that a brand needs to come across as ‘contemporary, cool and cutting edge’, ‘brand leader, professional and authoritative’ or ‘warm, inviting and established’. As you might imagine, there are 1001 ways of bringing these kind of brand positioning statements to life.
At Remedy, understanding our clients and their business is at the core of the way we work. Even though we might be convinced that the brief is right, we won’t always dive straight in to our sketch books. More often than not, to provide further clarification, our designers will produce a series of mood boards as the first stage of the design process.
Mood boards act as a tool to capture the overall feel of the brand or as a visual aid to help communicate a specific idea. Using a collage of images and text, a mood board is a great way of experimenting with different possible visual aesthetics, tones, colour palettes or attitudes. This is just a preliminary stage – part of the inspiration for creating something (it could be branding, graphic design, advertising or digital design) that is unique and meets the brief.
Starting with a scrap book of possibilities is a really effective way of freeing up the creative process and determining whether a potential design direction will suit a brand.
Here’s some we made earlier…
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from Remedy!
Wednesday, December 12th, 2012
This year, we’re joining in with Save The Children’s Christmas Jumper Day on the 14th December. You can get involved by making a donation, or why not ‘make the world better with a sweater’ by getting everyone in your office wearing silly Christmas jumpers too?
Remedy will be closing on Friday 21st December and will open again on Wednesday 3rd January 2013.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
Wall of Inspiration #8 Packaging Design
Friday, November 2nd, 2012After an extended leave of absence, the Remedy wall of inspiration is back. Bigger and better than ever! In 3D!!
Full of packaging that has caught our eye, board #8 is a one-off limited edition.
So why is packaging so important? Imagine this scenario; a friend has read an article in a reliable newspaper’s consumer column – “Apparently the people who make Bert’s Expensive Coffee, supply all the supermarkets with the same coffee for their own brands.”
Your head tells you that Bert’s Expensive Coffee, in it’s sexy, authentic, rustic, award-winning packaging (and retailing at £4.99) is exactly the same as PriceRight’s ‘Especially For You Coffee’ (and guess what, Bert’s is also £1.50 more expensive). The only problem is, PriceRight’s packaging looks like it was designed by an office junior using PowerPoint.
What do you do? Show the world that you’re a savvy, cost-conscious consumer who won’t have the wool pulled over their eyes by those fancy brands with their even fancier packaging design; or do you do what most of us do, walk around with a trolley that says ‘hey look at me, I know good design when I see it, no dodgy-looking packaging finds its way into my larder’?
It’s the same when it comes to branding in general.
You know that the vast majority of dentists, accounts, solicitors… could get the job done and no doubt, there will be dozens in the right price bracket, so why worry about which one you go to? You could argue that it’s down to the relationship you build with them; whether you find it easy to deal with them or whether they make you feel like a valued customer. All true, but before you’ve engaged them, it’s all down to brand reputation. How do they ‘look’ from the outside? What do people say about them? How would you feel being associated with them? In other words, what does their packaging say about them?
So, if you are in a competitive sector, surrounded by ‘me too’ competitors, stop and think about what your brand package says about you. And of course, if you need a discerning, objective eye to help with a brand audit, we’d be delighted to help.
You can see wall #7 here
Becoming a Graphic Designer #2: How to have an awesome interview
Monday, April 16th, 2012This post continues from Becoming a Graphic Designer #1: How to get an interview.
So you’ve only gone and got yourself an interview at a creative agency. Congratulations! You’ve taken a huge step towards your first Graphic Design job, but don’t rest on your laurels now. Prepare yourself thoroughly and give the interviewers the best impression you can when you arrive with your portfolio in-hand, leaving them with no option but to employ you.
Here’s a quick guide to ease you through the process. Some of the pointers may be blatantly obvious but others may not have crossed your mind, so have a quick read through to make sure you’re as well prepared as possible:
(1.) Research the company. The most important thing you should do before going to your interview is find out as much as you can about the place. This knowledge will enable you to answer questions more effectively, tailor your portfolio accordingly and stop you from asking questions that they believe you should already know the answer to.
(2.) Call them beforehand. Ring to confirm your interview and ask a question or two about the agency – everyone loves talking about themselves, and you’ll be in the interviewers’ minds before you even arrive.
(3.) Dress smartly. Most of the time you won’t be told what to wear. In these cases, dress smartly. It’s better to be too smart than to be underdressed! Remember, these people probably don’t know you, so how you look in the interview is how you will be remembered.
(4.) Arrive early, but not too early. Arrive early enough to show that you’re punctual, but not so early that it inconveniences your interviewer. Arriving five minutes early is spot on.
(5.) Shake hands and don’t forget to smile. It’s just common courtesy. The interviewer will expect you to be nervous, but don’t forget to smile!
(6.) Tailor your portfolio. Edit your portfolio to fit the agency’s disciplines and it will do half the work for you. If the design company is a multidisciplinary agency, make sure you show a good mix of projects. If they specialise in branding, make sure at least 50% of your portfolio is branding. You should have five projects in your portfolio – place your best project last and your second best project first.
(7.) Present your work professionally. The format that you choose to exhibit your work in is almost as important as the work itself – paying to get your work printed on high-quality paper at a printers rather than on multipurpose paper from your A4 inkjet makes all the difference. Also, use a leather-bound portfolio or something similar to show off your work – this shows that you take pride in your work and gives the impression of quality before you’ve even opened it. Leather-bound portfolios can be expensive, but you should consider it a worthwhile investment, especially if you get the job!
(8.) Have confidence in your work. Your work is not rubbish, so don’t tell your interviewers that it is. If you don’t have confidence in your work, they won’t either.
(9.) Ask questions. At the end of your interview, you’ll be asked if you have any questions that you’d like to put to the interviewers. Have a couple lined up ready to ask, as this shows that you’re interested in the company. You can always write the questions down if you need to – the interview isn’t a memory test!
(10.) Leave a calling card. Offer your business card after the interview, or you could even leave a copy of your portfolio for them to keep. Having your work permanently in the studio’s library is a great way to be remembered. And the more imaginative the format, the better – for example, a portfolio book, calendar or a 3D object of some kind.
If you don’t get a call offering you the job straight away, don’t just give up. If you don’t hear anything for a week afterwards, give the design agency a follow-up call (and don’t be offended if they’ve forgotten you – agencies see a lot of people – it’s up to you to stay on their radar, without becoming a pest). Take on board people’s criticism of your work – remember this is not personal criticism. If you’re given negative criticism, try to ask why they don’t like it and how it could be improved. Make use of the invaluable industry opinion on your work, but don’t lose confidence in it. Go away and improve your portfolio as best you can, and you’ll be even better-prepared for your next interview.
Ultimately, you have to be happy with what you are touting around, and if someone likes your work, don’t let them slip through the net. Get back in touch to send or show them work updates. Aim high and try and get to see your dream design agencies, if only to get valuable portfolio input, but remember it’s a numbers game as with getting an interview, so be persistent and don’t give up!
We hope you have an awesome interview, and good luck!
Becoming a Graphic Designer #1: How to get that elusive interview
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012When applying for junior graphic design roles, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd and win yourself an interview at a creative agency. If you’re seriously considering a career in Design, there are a few things that you should take into account before starting on your quest for a job. We have put together a few pointers below to help you win over potential employers and get that elusive interview.
So, now that you’re a good way through studying your Design degree and are ready to start the job hunt, here’s what you should be doing:
(1.) Internships. Probably the most common way to get a junior creative role is through interning. Apply for an internship and get your foot in the door. Don’t stay in the same placement for more than three months unless you don’t have a new placement or a permanent position to move on to.
(2.) Portfolio website. If you’re a soon-to-be graduate and you don’t have a decent portfolio online to direct potential employers to, then you are seriously reducing your chances of being noticed. Include a downloadable PDF of your CV on your site and a link to your website on your CV.
(3.) Networking. The design industry is a lot smaller than you think. Take advantage of every guest lecture at uni or creative event nearby, and get networking. Getting a job interview through friends, family, university or industry contacts is how many people find their first graphic design job.
(4.) Jobsites. Check your collection of jobs websites on a daily basis for jobs and internships. They should include; general jobsites, such as totaljobs.com; creative industry jobsites like those on itsnicethat.com and formfiftyfive.com; university careers pages (not just your own uni’s); local jobsites like jobsinkent.com; and don’t forget to check the newspaper’s jobs sections, such as jobs.guardian.co.uk.
(5.) Professionalism. Get used to shaking hands with people when networking. Get yourself a business card – you can get small print runs of your own designs at moo.com. Use an email signature – make sure you have a professional-looking email signature on any email sent to potential employers.
(6.) Social media. Do you have Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? Of course you do. And potential employers know you do too. Make sure you haven’t got anything on your online profiles that could put off potential employers. Used in the right way, social media can increase your chances rather than hurt them – tweeting about a new advert you love that you just saw on TV shows that you’re interested in your subject area, and getting recommendations on LinkedIn is an excellent way to improve your credibility.
Before you even start looking for Graphic Design roles, you need to be building yourself a strong and varied portfolio. Do this and your portfolio will do half the work for you. Never give up and the right job will be waiting just around the corner. Remember that Design is a very competitive career path to take, and that you may hit a brick wall along the way but your persistence will ultimately pay off.
We hope this guide has been useful, and good luck on the exciting career path that lies ahead of you. Graphic Design is a hugely rewarding and entertaining career, so don’t let this put you off, and ultimately, remember to never give up!
UPDATE: Becoming a Graphic Designer #2: How to have an awesome interview
Remedy Creative helps Womankind launch their journey around the world
Monday, March 12th, 2012Women’s human rights charity, Womankind Worldwide, has launched a virtual march around the world to help celebrate International Women’s Day 2012. The digital campaign was created by Kent based agency, Remedy Creative, following a creative workshop held with the Womankind team in January.
The campaign has been devised to raise awareness of the work of Womankind’s partner organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Every visitor to the Womankind website who joins the virtual march moves a marker forward 10 miles. The journey started on 7th March 2012 on the Greenwich Meridian and it is hoped that enough people will sign up to travel all the way around the globe.
Sarah Jackson, Womankind’s Communications and New Media Manager, said:
“Nowhere in the world do women enjoy the same rights or opportunities as men. But they can transform their lives and their communities if they have the right support. We are asking people to show their support for the women and men around the globe who are fighting against discrimination, poverty and violence.”
International Women’s Day is the biggest date in the calendar for the women’s sector, and Womankind needed a strong idea to capture people’s attention and to engage with new audiences.
Lisa Casson, Remedy’s Managing Director, said:
“We worked through some top line ideas with the Womankind team and their input was invaluable in helping us to fine-tune the journey concept. We are proud of the campaign and with over 6000 miles achieved in the first two days, initial results are encouraging. We hope the campaign will continue to spread the word about Womankind and the very important work that they do.”
Sarah Jackson added:
“We’re very pleased to have been able to work with Remedy on this project. I’m not sure there are many other agencies that would have been able to turn it around in just six weeks! They were flexible and listened carefully to our feedback. Plus their design was spot on, it has hardly changed since we first saw it.”
Update: The campaign ended with over two thirds of people that signed up, opting in to receive emails. Womankind were keen to keep the map integrated within their website so we came up with a solution that enables it to work as a standalone page. Additional functionality allows users to explore the incredible work that Womankind does all over the world. View the interactive map now
-ends-
For further information, contact Lisa Casson at Remedy Creative on 0845 108 1251 or visit www.remedycreative.com
For further information about Womankind, please contact Sarah Jackson on 020 7549 0381 or visit www.womankind.org.uk
Wall of inspiration #7
Monday, February 13th, 2012Remedy’s lovely wall of inspiration is full again! It’s crammed full of the sort of graphic design, photography, typography and illustration that tickles our creative fancy.
In keeping with tradition, we will now pull it all down and start again from scratch. For posterity, we’ve recorded it here. Hope you enjoy it.
Professor Green, The Good Times, Noel Fielding, Google’s advertising campaign and The National Theatre made it onto our latest wall of inspiration.
You can see our original wall here
Take a trip to Phobia Land
Friday, January 13th, 2012
It’s Friday 13th, everybody’s favourite scary day. So to take the edge off, Remedy are giving you the chance to face your fears and visit Phobia Land home of the UK’s top phobias.