martyn reding - juggling with water

Sent from my iphone

2009-11-09T17:51:00.000Z

It just occurred to me that the default signature on iphone emails, is probably the best advertising tactic i've seen in a long time.

Anyone who has used an iphone or received an email, sent from an iphone, will notice the default signature on any mail accounts is "Sent from my iphone".

At first it seems like a harmless little note, but if you consider how many emails are being sent from iphones all around the world right now, each one with that signature, then you can see what a brilliant idea it is. Everyone gets this subtle little ad for an iphone in their inbox.

'hey look how easy it is to stay in contact with my iphone! check me out emailing whilst sitting on the toilet'

It's not often you find people who choose to remove the default, because the iphone/apple brands are so strong that it becomes a badge of pride, as much as a signature.

Wolff Olins Blog | Our aim is to create better realities not just a nicer image : THE BIGGEST RISK IS TAKING NO RISK AT ALL

2009-11-07T08:53:00.001Z

Wolff Olins Blog | Our aim is to create better realities not just a nicer image : THE BIGGEST RISK IS TAKING NO RISK AT ALL

Posted using ShareThis

Amazon on the iPhone

2009-11-02T21:31:00.001Z

Amazon is a brand that you'd expect to be straight in with an iPhone app. Their app is well designed and comes with everything you'd expect. But the real gem is the 'remembers' feature. If yr out shopping and you see something, you can save an image in your Amazon app for later. They will even try using the pic to match it for you.

Clearly Amazon have a good insight in to how people use their service and shop online. This feature may not immediately seem of value, but as soon as you try it, you will see just how beautifully seemless your shopping experience becomes.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Love my brand

2009-11-02T12:56:00.002Z

Love is all around. All you need is love. Love is in the air.

When did branding and advertising get so loved up?

Have you noticed a trend in brands attempting to get in touch with their softer side?

Blackberry have got that loving feeling

It seems that lately planners and copywriters up and down the country have been tasked with creating campaigns that create love for their client's brand. It's true that buying patterns have shown an irrational loyalty can be a product of branding that connects on an emotional level, but this seems pretty heavy handed to me.

I won't deny that their are products and brands that i feel emotionally attached to. U'm quite sure i wouldn't feel the same way, had those brands told me to love them.

Even KFC have got the love

La la la la laaaaa I'm loving it.

This is Matthew Irvine Brown

2009-10-29T17:35:00.000Z

Way back in my Victoria Real days, when i was trawling graduate shows, i first saw the work of Matthew Irvine Brown. Although i didn't get to meet Matthew his work stood out a mile amongst the other Ravensbourne students.

If you've never encountered this talented young man i suggest you check out his portfolio and look out for him, next time he is speaking at an event.

His work spans service design, UX, identity, graphics, product, sound, installations and more. He appears to be one of those sickeningly gifted designers who works without boundaries and across many styles. Where else can you find the wonder of Singing Sock Puppets?

Until very recently he has been Lead Interaction Designer at Last.fm, but he is now working independently and if you get the chance you should hire him, clone him and destroy all other designers.

The best client brief...ever

2009-10-20T11:27:00.002+01:00

Not only is a lovely to see how open and welcoming the band were to anything Warhol came up with, but seeing the header with 'The Rolling Stones Ltd' just blows my mind.

(found via swiss miss)

Ladies & Gentlemen I give you Mr Peter Saville

2009-10-19T18:03:00.000+01:00

What a legend.
Photo by Antony Crook

Jamie Hewlett in Bangladesh

2009-10-16T09:15:00.003+01:00

One of my favourite artists Jamie Hewlett has unveiled an exhibition of beautiful watercolours created in response to a trip he made to Char Atra in Bangladesh with Oxfam earlier this year.

The exhibition is free and is called "Under Water Colours". It's being held at Dray Walk Gallery, Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL, From Saturday the 17th Oct 2009 to Saturday the 31st Oct 2009.

Photos from Jamie's trip and samples of his work can be seen on the Guardian site.

Work in progress

2009-10-15T16:49:00.001+01:00

We are putting together a killer self promotion piece right now. Here are some props from a recent development. More to come

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Virgin.com by Rokkan(?)

2009-10-07T17:47:00.000+01:00

The new virgin.com is awesome. Fact.

Everyone has been drooling over lately. By itself it's not so amazing, but when you consider how well it's designed for a corporate umbrella company, then you realise how brilliant it is. There are not many brands in the world who will put something so lovingly crafted out there for business to business and investor communications. Just imagine the amount of people involved in the client's decision making. It must have taken some brave moves by the marketing team at Virgin to get this through the board members and management structure.

Overall they have managed to create a rich site with a limited colour pallette. There are loads of beautiful litttle details, like the roll overs. And i'm a big fan of how high the twitter integration has made it up the priority level. Look! it's sat right there next to the logo. Show me another company willing to throw so much prominance behind their twitter feed.

As it turns out the site is the work of a US based agency Rokkan. I'll be honest i've never heard of these guys and i was expecting a much bigger, more notable agency to be behind it. However looking at Rokkan's site you have to admire the scale of projects and quality of clients for such a small agency (less than 20 people it seems). Good work Rokkan. All this and it seems to be without any Management other than a Creative Director.

Hats off.

Brighton wayfinding spotted

2009-10-07T14:13:00.001+01:00

New wayfinding system spotted in Brighton. Unusual choice to use the 'visit Brighton' URL on a sign in Brighton.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What can marketers learn from the Innocent brand backlash?

2009-10-06T13:05:00.000+01:00

Here is an excerpt from an article i wrote for the Preview site. I felt a little uncertain about writing it, as i genuinely like the Innocent brand and hold their business in high regard.

Your brand, your promise When you create and deliver a brand you construct an image, an image that customers will use to evaluate your business. That image has a number of different tasks, depending on your business objectives, but it’s fair to say that all brands should give a true representation of a business’s values. Your brand makes a promise to deliver on its image. However, if your brand image hides a different story, it’s very possible consumers who have bought in to your product or service will feel cheated. We all know that a cheated consumer is not to be messed with, as the web provides limitless outlets for customers with negative feelings.

You can read the rest of the article here.
Let me know what you think.

Bit slack - sorry

2009-10-05T08:52:00.000+01:00

Not a lot going on here lately. I've been pouring all my energy elsewhere lately.

Mostly in to Preview's marketing plan. I've been adding my bit to the Preview twitter feed as well as the news and views section on our website. We've also started planning on an exciting new community project, as well as finalising our birthday bash. If you're nice to me, you might make it on to the invite list!

I've also got a couple of side projects on the go, which involve a lot of organising and writing, but they are all put to bed, so i'll sort my act out and do more blogging. I've got a nice little blogger iphone app, so i'm going to give mobile blogging a good go.

Thanks for watching.

David Butler & Coke's Design Machine

2009-09-23T09:12:00.002+01:00

Fast Company has a really good article on Coke's Vice President of Global Design.

It details his role in the Coke brand and how he has systematically introduced design thinking at a global board level. Some of the projects detailed sound fantastic and i'm certainly looking forward to seeing the new vending machines coming up.

Overall it's a fascinating insight in to a design leader's work, but the part that really blew my mind was their 'design machine'. Coke have built an online tool which allows marketers and designers around the world to easily compile Coke branded artwork, (that meets brand guidelines), get it approved and send it to print.

In the past preview has built some pretty amazing digital guidelines and resource centres, but this sounds like the gold standard...

"Pick a language," Garcia begins. I have a choice of 36. Kazakh it is. "Now a product." Of the 100 options, I'm guessing Fanta is a favorite on the steppe. "Now an occasion," he instructs. At leisure. I survey the options, and pick an image of smiling people gathered around the table, hoisting cans of Fanta; above is the message, "Open happiness!" in Kazakh. A perfect banner for my little shashlik stand in Almaty.

I hit send and the machine zips my design for local approval and legal review, then sends it off to the printer. The whole thing has taken less than 10 minutes.

The machine, launched in 2007, holds more than 8,600 templates and is constantly being fed with new "best in class" materials generated around the world. So the smallest grocery store in Tokyo can take advantage of, say, the best of Turner Duckworth's work in San Francisco. And if a particularly clever designer in Guangzhou comes up with a great campaign for Chinese New Year, the work can be zapped around the planet."

Brand London Venture 3

2009-09-22T12:22:00.000+01:00

London based brand agency Venture 3 has posted shots from its recent pitch for the London brand brief.

When i first saw the logo idea, i wasn't blown away, but the execution is utterly faultless and any doubts over the design soon disappeared. Taking visualisation of a brand to this level gives clients a far better grip on how it would like in application. Overall it makes for a more convincing pitch than flat vector graphics on a board.

See the work here

Brighton Wayfinding

2009-09-21T08:41:00.000+01:00

Brighton & Hove City Council will be unveiling a new wayfinding and digital mapping system across the city today.

The design work has be done by London's Applied Information Group. Although I know AIG are a very talented design group, I find myself asking 'why no Brighton based agencies were used to produce this work?'. Brighton's rich community of designers and architects has once again been overlooked to bring in London based suppliers.

I'm looking forward to seeing the new work. I've been banging on for a while about Brighton getting its design work in order and this seems like a step in the right direction. My only concern is that this project won't do a great deal for Brighton's lack of identity. City branding is becoming more and more talked about as high profile projects are generating conversation across the design industry. I think it's time Brighton looked at it's brand and how it can be used to attract businesses and visitors alike.

Google Redesigned

2009-09-18T12:01:00.000+01:00

I love this. Pure, simple, intelligent design at its best.

I don't know who the designer is, but hats off to him or her (or them). It's only the homepage, but it really makes you consider how simple things can really get.

How Simplicity Can Help Creativity, Briefly

2009-09-17T17:18:00.000+01:00

I've got a fair few projects up in the air at the moment (a book project, an iphone app, my house redesign, tonnes happening at work etc) and at this point i'm feeling pretty good about how i've been managing my time and getting lots done.

Reading this article on 'How Simplicity Can Help Creativity' has really made me feel good about some of my working methods and help me push them forward to become even more effect.

If you're someone who 'juggles with water' I recommend you arrange some time to give it a read

Action Aid - Thank You

2009-09-03T18:26:00.001+01:00

I got this through the post a while back. It's from Action Aid and it's a beautifully simple idea. If you make regular or substantial donations you receive a personalised 'thank you' card, which details how your donation(s) have been put to good use. They show their work through individual case studies, which are backed up with photos and landing web pages, with further info on.

Such good use of case studies and personalisation are rarely seen in charity branding. The execution is also pitch perfect. The paper stock is suitable low budget, but the format, typography and rubber band binding gives it a strong feeling 'attention to detail' and craft.

I'm sure who is behind the work, but it's the best piece of direct mail i've received.

Click London goes retro

2009-09-03T12:03:00.000+01:00

The annual event showcasing the cutting edge of digital design and interaction has gone retro for this year's event (strange choice). The new mailers are printed on lovingly recreated computer paper, complete with dodgy perforations.

The line up looks great once again.

A brand for London - the blog

2009-08-28T09:06:00.000+01:00

Amazing piece of work here from the gang at Moving Brands.

They have decided to pitch for the London brand tender and they've have set about their pitch the manner which they intend to approach the project. Fully inclusively, online and inviting comment and conversation.

This is modern branding at it's best (aside from the not so subtle Wolff Olins bashing).
I'm gripped watching the project unfold.

Redesigning Craiglist

2009-08-25T12:50:00.000+01:00

I love this.

Craiglist is a cacky classified site from the states, that for some reason or other is very popular. The writers at Wired magazine are intelligent enough to recongnise the need for good design and they approach a small selection of designers and asked them how they would redesign it.

The results are fantastic, each one has interesting ideas and although i'm not in love with each one, i certainly have my favourites.

Hate something, change something.

Learn Graphic Design Fast!

2009-08-25T09:35:00.003+01:00

Saw this ad in the Metro this morning and i took me by surprise. Usually you see ads like this for journalism or creative writing, but graphic design? has it become a glamorous profession without me noticing? Since when has graphic design had a 'get rich quick' appeal to it?

I'm not against the idea of graphic design being accessible to everyone . In fact i'm all for demystifying the process.

The strangest thing about the ad is that is promises that after 3 months you'll have a full set of software skills. no mention of understanding the principles of design, no mention of learning grid systems, colour combinations or basic print techniques - just the ability to use software.

Rebranding London (or not)

2009-08-24T12:37:00.000+01:00

At the end of last week it was quietly announced that the office of Boris Johnson was 'inviting' agencies to tender for the design for a 'brand for London'. (brandrepublic article here).

The project sounds really exciting and if handled properly, could make for a stunning case study in effective destination branding. The 'invitation' uses great phrases like "Set the vision for London" and "Special effort will be made to engage with the public" - All good so far.

Now comes the REALLY exciting part of the 'invitation' - as a government organisation it has to open the 'invitation' up to everyone and consider all comers....

"The GLA is committed to maximising diversity and welcomes applications from all sectors of the business community including small and medium sized enterprises."

So this means that everyone has a chance to tender and all entries will be considered equally, no favours, no preffered suppliers, no big name policiies right? right?

Wrong!

A tender this big, a project this high profile and they release the information 1 day before deadline for entries. If they are seriously welcoming applications from all size of agencies, then why would the application process be so ridiculously tight? Why? Well let me hazard a guess; it's because they have to write that in the 'invitation' to tender (yes the clue to my feelings are in the use of inverted commas on the word 'invitation'). Clearly there is no intention to allow agencies to compete equally. I'm sure notice of the project was carefully circulated to a few key agencies a long time ago.

Now please don't think i'm naive, i'm more than aware that this is a not a logo design competition and that a project of this scale is as much about the ability and experience to deliver (and defend) the work, beyond the design and testing stage. It's clearly a project for a well resourced, well experienced agency. But i thought the point of Government organisations abiding by standards is that they could allow opportunities to all and avoid this kind of insular dealings.

Running the project is ex Saatchi man Dan Ritterband, so we can all expect the usual suspects to be involved. Probably Wolff Olins, Landor, perhaps Johnson Banks then maybe a supposed wildcard like Fallon. Nothing to write home about, i'm sure each one could do a supberb job, but perhaps without really going outside of the usual suspects they never create the inclusive brand that they have set out to make!

DBA event in Brighton

2009-08-17T09:22:00.002+01:00

The DBA and the SCDF are hosting an event in Brighton on Sept 3rd. The theme of the event is 'Communicating with and managing your clients'.

Tickets and full details are available on this (pdf) link

See you there.