Projector

It’s almost the work Xmas party time at Projector Towers and pictured here is Steven from our sister company Union Room typifing the festive mood that is rife in the studio.

This may or may have not been Photoshopped. The hat anyway, but the star at the top of the tree came with free lens flare.

Projector are currently: Very Busy! 

It’s been a busy November here at the good ship Projector. But you’ve got to love the feeling of a deadline whooshing past you.

Here’s the first of a few of the projects in the works recently. This is our logo for the National Apprenticeship Business, who are going to be taking a modern and fresh approach to the Apprenticeship sector. The arrow marque symbolises a fresh more radiant change in direction, moving onwards and upwards, from an older path. We’re excited by the flexibility that this graphic gives us and look forward to producing some strong graphical work for NAB in the very near future!

Projector are currently: Preparing for Christmas

Last week we submitted two pieces from two of our designers, Dom and James to the Create Democracy exhibition at Design Event 2009.

Democracy is a challenging new graphic design exhibition forming part of Design Event, the North East’s annual design festival. The aim is to create the ultimate democratic exhibition; designers and illustrators were invited to submit their visual interpretation of the theme of Democracy and only those with the most votes will be featured in the exhibition/book.

The exhibiton will feature the very best of the work submitted to the project via this website, as voted by you. Votes can continue to be cast on the website and at the exhibition, so the art on display will continue to change, making this the most democratic exhibition ever.

So please do go ahead and give us a vote, as the more votes you get, the more likely it is that you are part of the exhibition/book! We’ve provided the links to the two pieces below.

James pointing out that Democracy is essentially a placebo, with democratic countries having problems of corruption and unfair advantage that are still commonplace. Dom’s entry adopts a quote from the band Crass, concentrating on the point that one of the beauties of democracy, even if you hate what it is, you’re free from restraint to create and protest against it.

The exhibition begins on the 16th of October at the Square Gallery next to Newcastle College.

Projector are currently: Getting to grips with the fact it’s Monday!

As the BBC 2′s long overdue coverage of the Wire is coming to a close I’ve been realising that many people I know have now become completely enrapt with the program. What seems to resonate with people is the sheer honesty of the writing, which provides the show with a shocking authenticity. Authenticity is important to brands, just as it is important in everyday life. From the bottom to the top a brand should capture it’s original intended message and promise. Give it a watch and you’ll see The Wire does this with suitable aplomb, immersing you in the reality of the Baltimore corners. The language and vocabulary of the show is just as enthralling as the yarns that are spun. It presents verbal originailty. This all taken from writer David Simon’s first hand experience among the homicide detectives and corner boys, the real star being the world of Baltimore itself.

Brands should look to this as an example. Authenticity is one of the key aspects of a compelling and successful brand. How Simon achieved the success is through thorough, solid research and experience of the area he was dealing with. Whatever sector of business we are working for, we do the same thorough research here at Projector to unearth your brands prize qualities.

Projector are currently: Trapped in the longest week ever.

It’s been a while since we posted some work up here, we’ve just been too darned busy producing the stuff! We’ve finally got around to photographing some pieces though so here is a recent Direct Mail piece we designed for a new client of ours.

Beacon were looking for a cosultancy with brand expertise to help them further raise brand awareness. They approached us after a recommendation by one of our suppliers and we were more than happy to get involved. After commissioning an initial small branding and marketing project to test our skills we were given the chance to work on the prestigious Beacon Supplier Awards marketing materials.

There was a problem with the existing material not being identifiable as part of the Beacon brand and we were asked to come up with a solution.

After initial analysis to define the problems of the existing design we presented a number of options. A simple solution was chosen – introducing the recognisable Beacon logo shape and brand typeface within the awards logo worked perfectly.

The next step was to apply the new design to a range of existing marketing materials. However, never ones to rest on our laurels, we thought we could create a better suite of comms than the existing package and so we invested some time in producing a fresh alternative. We came up with a new theme – introducing large ‘shine’ which we used throughout in spot gold to add a prestigious feel alongside spotlight imagery to tie in with the ‘beacon’ name. Our boldness paid off with the client choosing our design over the old one, another feather in our cap and more importantly a satisfied client!

Projector are currently: Almost finished a gigantic project.

Electrik Sheep are currently hosting Si Scott’s illustrative work, the driving force behind the aptly named Si Scott Studio. His swirling illustrations will be gracing the walls of the Electrik Sheep gallery from 3rd to the 30th of September. Definitely worth going down to have a nosey at. Unfortunately the opening party has been missed, but prints are still available in-store and online. I’d take a look, as there are some exclusive to Electrik Sheep only pieces. Plus pay day has just been, so splash the cash if you’ve got it.

Bit of a late post, but last weekend I moseyed along to see Jeffrey Lewis (Singer/Songwriter a la The Moldy Peaches and also featured on BBC 2′s The Culture Show) at the Independent in Sunderland last Sunday. Having heard little of his back catalogue or backstory, I was suitably impressed. Obviously a very intelligent chap, and despite initial heckling during one of his “feature films” (Lewis’s large comic book stories read aloud) managed to win over the entire crowd with his genuinely humorous afterthoughts on life. Currently touring England so try and catch him someplace soon!

Projector are currently: Working away.

After poring over the Guardian’s Media Monkey, I came across this little nugget. Channel Five obviously thought it may be a cunning homage and advert for the film Groundhog Day (starring Bill Murray, reliving the same day) if they ran the same advert, one after the other similar to the plot of the film. This was completely lost on the viewers, with the broadcast duty office receiving many reports of technical difficulty. It very much backfired. Can you let somebody know that the same ads are being repeated during each ad break?” said one viewer. “I enjoy the movie you have on but I’m confused that there doesn’t seem to be any variation in the ads.” As Murray puts it in the film, ”People like blood sausage too, people are morons.”

Projector are currently: Listening to Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear

First of all, here’s an admission to the blog readers. This has been snatched painfully away from the clutches of Creative Review’s blog. Mr Calvin Harris (who looks like he’s about to give you an angry and also painty hi-ten) with the help of many an attractive lady has managed to create a human synthesiser. The trick is in the paint, which is the conductor. I’m not exactly sure if all of the music is created through this, but nonetheless I was quite impressed. Creativity can span into some strange areas! So without further ado, here’s a link to the video:

Projector are currently: Having lunch and watching the District 9 trailer.

Last night was the opening of letterform maestro Seb Lester’s exhibition at Reluctant Hero’s shop space Electrik Sheep. I’m sure you will have come across his work if you are an avid reader of design blogs. He obviously takes a lot of effort and skill to craft and this comes to your attention even more so when they are seen in the flesh. The work is thoroughly modern and offers a large array of differing styles. Astonishingly the price of his limited edition prints are quite affordable, ranging from £50-100 for some very nice pieces.

The exhibition is still running for another few weeks, so get yourself down to have a gander at his work and peruse the wares of the shop.

Projector are currently: Waiting for the weekend.