We’ve recently been working with Leaping Cow to develop a new XHTML/CSS based website for Review Hair Salons in Petersfield and Waterlooville. Review has a well established team of creative hair dressers and stylists based in Hampshire. They recently won the national title of Salon Team of the Year in the prestigious British Hairdressing Business Awards.

Review’s existing brand indentity was developed for the website with a  focus on minimal design and high quality photography to show off the award winning hair design.

http://www.review-hair.com/

A selection of Review’s award winning hair design:

View the full gallery here: http://www.review-hair.com/gallery.htm

Third year students at The University for the Creative Arts are holding an online auction titled Beg, Steal or Borrow. The auction includes a great collection of design goodies that have been sourced by the students from notable designers and illustrators.

The money raised from the auction, which begins on 21st March and lasts for 10 days, will go towards funding the students end of year Graphic Communication degree show at the University and the D&AD New Blood show.

A great way to help support this years graduating students get some much needed industry exposure. Get bidding! http://www.graphicsfarnham.org/auction/

Some samples of the lots:

http://www.graphicsfarnham.org/auction/

We’ve recently been working with Claire, Sam and Vicki at the Balanced Wellness Centre in Langstone (Hampshire). Balanced improve the wellness of customers by offering a comprehensive selection of specialist treatments, products, training and services in integrated and holistic health. Agent8 was approached by Balanced to create a brand identity for the company, develop print collateral and design a content managed website.

http://www.balancedwellness.co.uk/

Balanced offer advanced training in Reiki and Kinesiology; Reiki is a form of natural healing which came from Japan in the early part of the 20th century. Systematic Kenesiology uses simple and painless muscle testing procedures to get to the root causes of imbalance. The treatments are offered in a warm, quiet and luxurious centre set in beautiful grounds in the coast in Hampshire. The Balanced team are always willing to offer help and advice.

It turns out that The Designers Republic as they’ve been known for the last 23 years shut up shop a few days ago. It’s a great shame. Although it sounds like it’s au revoir rather than a final goodbye:

“It does feel like the end of an era but really it stopped being DR two or three years ago. DR will go forward after this with me [under the same name] – whether it will be with a new team and a new office I don’t know.” – Ian Anderson, tDR

I’ve personally followed their work since I was studying at art college. After 23 years I really didn’t think they’d ever stop, let alone be victims of the current economic climate. You can read the full interview with Ian Anderson on the Creative Review Blog.

Agent8 has recently been working with Innovation With Substance to create a drug training pack for schools. The DVD pack is being produced for Schools in Southampton and further a field. The project includes a campaign to collect information directly from teachers via the Keeping it Clean website. These resources will shortly be used to create the drug training DVD pack for schools.

http://www.keepingitclean.org.uk/

Agent8 created a brand for the project including design of a logo and associated artwork to give the project a fresh modern feel. This was then applied to an HTML CSS website and associated print collateral to publicise the project. Stage two will include the creation of the Flash based DVD pack and redevelopment of the website.

I’ve just been pouring through the past blog entries of Tebe Interesno on his LiveJournal. He’s got a great imagination in his use of abstract characters blended into everyday photographic scenes. They’ve got a weird vibe halfway between cute and evil!

http://tebe-interesno.livejournal.com/

Watch out for the eyes blinking and antennas flashing in the Gif based versions.

Another year has shot past, there have been a lot of great projects completed and new friends made. We’re really happy with how business has developed over the past 12 months and the growth we’ve made. We wish all our clients, friends and colleagues a very merry Christmas and a happy new year! Roll on 2009!

Agent8 has recently been working with the Queen’s Nursing Institute on a project to commemorate one hundred and fifty years of district nursing in the UK. The District Nursing 150 website is a celebration of the vibrant one hundred and fifty year history of District Nursing in the UK, exploring stories, galleries and films throughout the history of District Nursing.

Visit the website launched today: http://www.districtnursing150.org.uk/

The Queen’s Nursing Institute approached Agent8 to help develop an identity for the DN150 project. This identity was then applied across print collateral and the creation of an HTML CSS website with Flash features. The project included the use of a rich collection of archive photography and footage from the British Film Institute National Archive.

‘I am delighted to offer my congratulations to district nurses on the occasion of their 150th anniversary. District nurses provide a vital service, particularly to more vulnerable people who may not be able to access other forms of healthcare. We have much to learn from you experience as more services are provided in patients’ homes. I salute the hard work of each one of the district nurses who have cared for Londoners over the past 150 years and wish you all the best for your anniversary celebrations and the future.’
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London

Featured photograph shows a district nurse visiting a patient at Loch Fyne, Argyll in 1959 (Crown Copyright).

I’ve been following Zhang Jingna’s portfolio for the last couple of years. There’s a really dreamlike quality to her photography. Twenty years old, born in Beijing and brought up in Singapore her commercial fashion photography and personal work has a great edgy feel.

Portfolio Website: http://jin.zemotion.net/

DA Profile: http://zemotion.deviantart.com/

‘With the festive end of the Beijing Olympics last week, athletes are now either still celebrating their triumph or already continuing their training towards the next Olympics. But here is a girl who had the potential of succeeding and climbing onto the Olympics’ victorious podium, yet gave it up for her long-living interest in fashion photography.

However, Zhang Jingna’s passion has brought her to make a mark in the photography industry in merely six months. The twenty-year-old’s portfolio includes photography works for fashion magazines like Harpers Bazaar and Men’s Folio. Soon, the portfolio will include her first solo photography exhibition Something Beautiful, which, to Jingna, captures the essence of high fashion and women.’

Interview: http://www.youth.sg/content/view/5916/51/

Helsinki Films are a small independant film company making documentaries and music videos. We’ve recently been working with Andy Boyle at Helsinki to put together a HTML CSS website to showcase their latest work. Videos featured on the site include artists like The View, The Paddingtons, Stagecoach and Tim Burgess from The Charlatans.

Using the latest in Flash video technology the films use the high quality h.264 video codec supported by the recent Flash Player 9 update. Work on the site included the development of a bespoke video player and Flash version detection script.

http://www.helsinkifilms.com/