Projector

We’ve recently completed a job for our clients Beacon Purchasing. “20 ways to save money without costing the earth” is a pocket sized A7 guide showing how companies can save money by purchasing eco friendly items through their suppliers. Using environmentally friendly Greencoat Offset from Howard Smith, we showcased 20 products from Beacon suppliers, illustrating the benefits which they give to hotel owners. We used a hand-drawn illustration style to liven up the stock imagery provided, accompanying them with a graphic that was specific to the product, which housed the product number. The open stiching on the spine giving it a nice rough feel.

Projector are currently: Working, working and then working some more.

Here’s a quick sneak peek at some work we’ve been doing for one of our client’s new brands Young Mercantile, an online store for high end menswear. The brand is designed to be clean and punchy and uncomplicated, with a typographic nod to supply crates as hinted at in the “Mercantile” name. Mercantile being synonymous with the merchant navy and their delivery and transport of overseas goods. The first piece of print has arrived, here are the business cards, from our good friends and suppliers Glasgow Press! Lovely letterpessed ink on 540 Pristine White Colourplan.

Projector are currently: Gearing up for the 2nd 5 a side of the week. Knackered.

What draws people to certain clothing brands? The style and quality of the garment? Celebrity’s wardrobes influencing how you wish to look? There are a multitude of factors. A large part of the decision you make is based on the brand. Fashion brands make a statement about the kind of person that wears the clothes.

We’ve recently been working on a project for a client launching a High Quality Menswear online store and while it’s different to what we’d normally tackle it’s a project which we’ve greatly enjoyed and we came across great brands and their logos during research.

1. Albam

Based in London, Albam design menswear with hints towards workwear. A very simple and clean brand, very much in sync with their fashion design.

2. Our Legacy

A lovely clean brand from Swedish brand Our Legacy, contemporary menswear, with a look back to traditional wear.

3. Baracuta

A distinctive logo and brand work from British menswear brand Baracuta, with nods to traditional British imagery and also British Pop Culture of the 70s and 80s in the overall brand, using celebrity endorsements such as Steve McQueen and Frank Sinatra.

4. Filson

Seattle, Washington based Filson base their brand on pioneering American settlers, delving into a deep and rich history. The marque evokes a nice feeling of the classic American outdoors environment.

5. Heritage Research

Heritage Research base their collections on certain periods in recent history, and it’s mimicked in their logo, which evokes a certain feeling of nostalgia with a characterful illustration. The brands itself draws on the particular period of history they are covering with each collection.

6. Penfield

Penfield have a background in producing outerwear for the outdoors and their logo. Fashion and function dictates their garments. The logo and brand is completely in sync with this offering, a mountainous range and bear hidden in a contemporary typeface, and brand imagery of outdoors situations mixed with high fashion.

7. Brooks

Brooks’ marque and brand hark back to their founder’s age the 1860s. John Boultbee Brooks developed a comfortable leather saddle to help cycling comfort. The brand is now synonymous with the recent trend of fashionable cycling. They manage to tread a fine line of being contemporary, but also evoking a vintage classy feel.

8. Edwin

Japanese brand Edwin endeavour to create the feel and rigour of well worn vintage (they invented stone-washing) denim but in newly produced jeans. The brand marque definitely exudes a sense of classic denim and has an ageless quality, despite obviously being of a period.

9. Nigel Cabourn

Newcastle’s own Nigel Cabourn’s designs are created from a love of all things vintage. The logo and brand fit the collections perfectly. Just perfect.

10. Gitman Bros

Gitman Bros Vintage brand is entrenched in Americana as shown in their classic typographic logo. Washed Oxfords, muted madras, bright plaids.

11. Sperry

Sperry Topsider’s take their brand from a passion for the sea, everything to do with sailing. Their marque gives nudges toward the painted style of boat names, which gives an enduring style.

12. Universal Works

Universal Works is based on the concept of good quality honest British workwear and outdoors wear. The typewriter style typeface automatically conjures up a vintage feel.

13. Dockers

Dockers fashion is based around the preppy high status university fashion. A very much business casual style of clothing, for the kind of man that likes to spend his summertime aboard his yacht, as denoted by the anchor marque.

14. Engineered Garments

New York’s Engineered Garments create their collections from their obsession with American Sportswear. Creator Daiki Suzuki aims to create clothes people love, that they repair when damaged. Again, with the stamped type, it creates a real feeling of nostalgia and heritage.

15. Belstaff

The original creator of the waxed waterproof and motorcycle fashion specialist, Belstaff, are a highly sought fashion brand. The abstract symbol of the Phoenix shows Belstaff will continue through good and bad times, an enduring label of quality. Belstaff are often seen in the films, as they use features such as Iron Man, The Expendables and The Dark Knight.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this showcase, we’re going to unveil our final logo for our client’s brand very soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Projector are currently: Waiting for the curtain call for the week. Busy times!

We’ve just received printed samples of the recently completed Mark Westerby third edition portfolio. Following on from the previous editions we produced for Mark (blogged about here), we were really pleased when he returned asking us to help put together his latest portfolio.

It’s been a busy year for Mark, working on shoots internationally and gaining highly deserved recognition along the way. Winner of the Fashion & Beauty Category of the Campaign Photo awards, listed in the top 200 Photographers in the world by Lürzer’s Archive and 8 honorable mentions in the International Photography Awards to name but a few.

Continuing the theme of previous editions we kept the design simple and clean, allowing the stunning photography to be showcased to the full. Generous A3 size pages really allow the viewer to see the detail of the imagery printed in high resolution on specially selected art paper.

We wish Mark every success for the coming year – may it be as rewarding as the last!

Projector are currently: Melting in the sun.

After meeting with Union Room and discussing the logo options which we came up with, we have the selected option. Above is the final logo for Report Book, which we introduced in our previous blog post. The final logo positions itself as a visual marker for the brand’s core values, easy, quick and clever. The graphic shapes give you a strong feeling of momentum due to the arrow/pencil shape, as well as their overlapping nature (quick/easy). The colour palette used is fresh and modern, using a wide variety of colours to bring the marque to life. The breadth of colour is used to give various products of Report Book their own identity, allowing easy recognition. The use of a timeless sans-serif gives an overall feel of that of a friendly, front-running technology company (clever).

What do you guys think? We’re very happy with the end result, as are our friends Union Room.

Projector are currently: Cramming 5 days into 4!

We’ve been working closely with our sister company Union Room on an exciting interactive project. Report Book is a newly developed online reports system for schools. We were tasked with developing an identity system for the brand which would then be applied to the overall look and feel of Union Room’s website for Report Book. We thought we’d show you how it’s progressing so far and our final selection options…

Option 1. A visual pun on report book, cropping closely in on an angled book, to reveal a marking tick. Accompanied by an approachable rounded sans serif.

Option 2. We focused in on the easy to use nature of the service, providing quick, paperless access to student reports at the “touch of a button”.

Option 3. The focus of option 3 is to promote the quick, technological aspect of the service asserting the cleverness of the system. Momentum is garnered in the marque by the use of overlapping flying arrows, all pointing in one unanimous direction…Report Book.

Option 4. This is an abstract representation of the paper reports that /parents/students are used to. Momentum is hinted at in the marque and the type giving a feeling that all reports are easily accessed.

Option 5. The negative space of the leg of the k allowed for us to position a mouse pointer denoting the online nature of the report book service and also highlighting it as the first place to go for online school reporting.

We have our favourite, but what do you think?

Projector are currently: Back in the swing of things! Yeah!

We’re pleased to announce a recent project of ours is to be featured in the latest issue of Howard Smith Profiles publication which will be distributed with Design Week magazine.

The publication showcases a selection of outstanding design and print work from across the UK, printed on Howard Smith Papers.

We submitted the Beacon Supplier Awards call for entries pack which was created as a follow up to a brand refresh project we undertook for the client. The pack, printed on Regency Satin stock, featured an unusual sized booklet, bespoke printed envelope, perforated self seal reply form and spot gold ink to create a prestigious feel to the items.

Thanks to our friends at Statex for doing us proud with some fantastic print work and of course to Howard Smith for producing a great product (and choosing our project to be featured in the latest issue).

Projector are currently: Getting to grips with some new comms work.

Times are tough; tough for consumers, tough for businesses, tough for the private sector and the public sector – it’s tough for everyone. Shops have shut, people have been laid off, profits are down and this year is likely to get tougher. As a brand consultancy we thrive on helping to keep businesses booming. So, to help businesses in these tough times we’re going to write a series of articles examining creative ways businesses have built their brands and thought out of the box to stay ahead of the game.

We’re working our way through 2011 and with nearly two months under our belt I thought I’d share with you that I made a new years resolution. I’ve decided to try and be a bit more socially responsible. Just a tad.

To set the scene, imagine a large double spread Guardian infographic. It shows a spectrum, one end displays someone buying a Pret A Manger King Prawn Avocado sandwich (the sandwiches are given to charity if unsold at the end of the day) and the other end selflessly giving up all your possessions to charity and quivering under a tree at night with nothing but the warm feeling of selflessness to heat yourself up. I’d be positioned just to the right of the Pret sandwich marker. So I’m not exactly the poster boy for giving, but I’m trying my best to change my ways.

Social Responsibility is the deliberate inclusion of public interest into your (or a company’s) actions ensuring active compliance with law, ethical standards and moral behaviour/attitudes. In addition it promotes public interest by encouraging the growth and development of society at large. This would involve avoiding activities that are socially harmful (pollution and human rights violations etc) and performing activities that have positive social goals (sharing profits and sustainability). I’m going to concentrate on the latter.

A recent consumer study showed that over half of the participants were unsure of the meaning of Corporate Social Responsibility. Which is understandable, as you can’t imagine a member of the public remarking in pure brand speak, that they prefer a certain brand because of “a tactical and well handled approach to social responsiblity by building interactive brand relationships”. Nevertheless, awareness of the issue really needs to be improved, as ultimately, without people giving up their own time and money, help would not reach people in need. This has in the recent past, been highlighted by programs such as Channel 4′s “The Secret Millionaire”. It is compulsive viewing, as everyone loves an inspiring, feel good story. It’s also great PR for the business owner concerned. The same idea can be applied to brands. In the current climate of government cut backs, brands have a real chance to propel themselves ahead of the competition. Generosity – where affordable – will gain an appreciative audience. They can gain the reputation of being the honest and up front businesses, making a positive impact amidst the doom and gloom.

Take for example Waitrose. They operate a monthly “Community Matters” scheme in which each store gives £1,000 to local charities/community groups. The customers nominate these themselves each month. Then store go-ers are given a token with each purchase, they then drop the token into any of three perspex tubes, each one being a charitable organisation. At the end of the month the tokens are weighed and the money distributed amongst the organisations proportionally. It’s a simple premise, but through generosity and showing that they care, Waitrose are forging a strong link between the local community and their brand. This is a cohesive strategy, showing Waitrose are in it for the long run, rather than just making a one-off gesture.

Innocent adopted a different approach with “The Big Knit” which began in 2007. Innocent bottles were topped with tiny knitted woolen hats (brilliantly fits in with their brand image), and with each purchased, 25p is provided to Age Concern. Age Concern run a winter campaign each year to help make winter warmer for thousands of older people across the UK. Earlier dark nights, bad weather and perilous pavements lead to increased social isolation for the elderly. With around 3.7 million elderly people living alone and 17% having less than weekly contact with family, friends and neighbours, it’s a big problem. It’s very morally just of Innocent helping out to support Age Concern. A great PR win for the brand. Not only this, but there is cleverness in the intergration of the social responsibility, alongside a fun interactive campaign. Instructions on the packaging then prompts the buyer into taking funny photos of the hat, and uploading it to the Innocent Big Knit Facebook page. The winner is announced at the end of December and is given a crate of their delicious smoothies. Not only are they being aware of social concerns, but they are also rewarding their customers for caring too!

So, what about us? At Projector we’re always trying to better ourselves and are happy to help charitable causes where we can. We’ve completed various pieces of work for charity – and had a near death experience up Snowdon too –  over the years, right now we’re working on a project for CHUF, the Childrens Heart Unit Fund, and alongside our sister company Union Room we’re providing a full communications overhaul for Give Hope. Give Hope help communities in Africa and are in themselves part of a CSR policy for a Banana plantation, so you can see how the idea starts to snowball.

What does your brand have to say? Are there any causes which are particularly close to you, that you feel like you could help with and maximise the appeal of your brand? Using resources at your disposal can enrich the lives of many, as well as netting you positive brand recognition.

References

http://www.landor.com

http://www.waitrose.com

http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/thebigknit

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/strategy/e3id9db7bed8e9402cbcc7cd65342f1cca4

Projector are currently: Hoping Union Room don’t have more semi-pro ringers in 5s next week.

I thought I’d write a short post as I was lucky enough to be asked by D&AD to attend Northumbria University yesterday – and take part in the Portfolio Surgery they were running. I’d never done anything like that before and as I was in the company Rodrigo Sobral, Creative Director from The Mill I think I felt as much under scrutiny as the students.

On the whole, the session was very well ran and it went by without incident – for the students and myself! What interested me most in participating – as well as doing my duty –  was the chance to talk to some current students and see what they thought of their course. We’ve blogged in the past (here) about the gap between graduating and being ready for the real world, and since we wrote that 2 years ago the world we live in has moved on apace - we’re thinking hard about adapting clients’ brands that need to work across social media and mobile apps, looking at the changing role of designer in the modern world, so, what I wanted to know is; were they thinking about it too?

I met 6 designers, including students from Australia, Costa Rica and of course good old Blighty, and aside from the very different levels of talent (it’s a brutal industry so let’s not beat around the bush) there were huge differences in the outlook of the bunch too. I happily looked through their portfolios, and the confidence they exuded in explaining the thinking and ideas behind their work was refreshing. I know first hand that this course really hones the thinking process, there’s never been an issue with that – it’s more the realisation of those ideas that becomes the stumbling block.

So, to the matter in hand – finding out what they think the future holds. I asked each designer “what do you think the future holds for designers”. I realise this might have been unexpected, but no one really had any answers for me. And before anyone says ‘you weren’t thinking about the future at that age either’ I’d stress these guys are looking to move into the industry in 8 weeks time. I thought they’d be even more excited about fusing disciplines and media than me, but the fact that one guy – obviously talented – was questioning if he wanted a career in graphic design at all, as he enjoyed imagery and laterly had began thinking about moving image. I suggested that he could easily use the skills to add to his work. Only this week we were talking to a client about making cost-effective short videos for creating a YouTube channel and the fact we’d need to outsource and manage, rather than create. I explained this to him and he said he’d like to combine those skills, but didn’t think it was possible? I can only assume that this is due to the same thinking that means the guys I met were learning bookbinding rather than how new technologies will transform their thinking. This was accentuated by the presentation – out of 6 people, only 1 person (the Australian student) showed me their work on screen. This wasn’t due to a lack of hardware either, the whole floor looked like an Apple store, no, when I asked one student who’s work clearly didnt suit being showed in a portfolio why they persevered with it they replied ‘the tutor said we have too’. That’s disappointing.

So while I think the students are doing a great job – and I believe they’re thinking about what the future might have in store for them, I’m not convinced there’s enough future thinking going on ‘up high’ about the future (job) roles of graphic designers.

Projector are currently: Suffering after football.

Here at Projector, we’ve been on a packaging research mission. It’s been a long time since we’ve produced any packaging work, usually staying in the realm of graphic design. But with some prospective design work for one of our clients in Newcastle we thought we should have a look through our archives and highlight some really great pieces of work. Whilst on our travels, we’ve come across some really beautiful examples of packaging and decided to give you our Top Ten Packaging examples. Let us know if there’s any great examples we’ve missed! We haven’t given rankings, as all are winners in our book.

A great solution for getting just the right amount of spaghetti from design student Neal Fletcher.

Buddy Mulled Wine using inspired copy and measuring jug graphics.

A minimalist, beautiful solution from BVD for Restylane, with some nice print finishing.

Traditional illustration livening up tortilla packaging for United Supermarkets by Imaginaria.

Love in Manchester suggesting some fun ways to re-use your Silver Cross packaging.

Pentagram introducing a bold typographic look to Budgens own brand wine range.

Albion producing the lovely looking, category breaking, gourmet dog food brand Lily’s Kitchen.

Pearlfisher with a very rustic typography route for Jamie Oliver’s Jme range.

Dentsu Young & Rubicam Pte producing an innovative use of the bikini string for tan-thru bikini brand Buttcheeks.

My favourite of the lot, Panasonic Earphones packaging, brilliant use of shape from Scholz & Friends Berlin.

We hope you enjoyed the Projector Top Ten Packaging!

Projector are currently: Preparing to head off to a conference!