I was studying Holocaust literature and film when I found Spiegelman’s Maus, A Survivor’s Tale on my reading list. Based on his own family’s experience as Jews during Hitler’s reign, it was described as a Holocaust comic strip (this made me slightly nervous) with the many victims depicted by mice and the Nazis as vicious cats. The fact that it was the only comic book to have ever won the coveted Pulitzer Prize only intrigued me more and it proved to be intensely moving and evocative beyond the lens of Spielberg’s Schindler’s List or the reams of concentration camp footage that has played out since the liberation.

Art Spiegelman also turns out to be the mind behind many other celebrated and diverse pieces of work. Long before Maus and his stint at the New Yorker, Spiegelman was employed by Topps Bubble Gum where he created sweet treats such as mini rubbish bins filled with candy but left due to not being paid his fair share of the substantial profits.

As well as depicting his own father’s plight as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor within the two volumes of Maus, Spiegleman found himself with another incredibly difficult task when producing the iconic September 24th 2001 New Yorker cover. The cover art was created by Spiegelman and his wife Françoise Mouly and it was voted one of the top ten magazine covers of the past 4 years by the American Society of Magazine Editors. Here’s how they described the haunting piece: “New Yorker Covers Editor Françoise Mouly repositioned Art Spiegelman’s silhouettes, inspired by Ad Reinhardt’s black-on-black paintings, so that the North Tower’s antenna breaks the ‘W’ of the magazine’s logo. Spiegelman wanted to see the emptiness, and find the awful/awe-filled image of all that disappeared on 9/11. The silhouetted Twin Towers were printed in a fifth, black ink, on a field of black made up of the standard four colour printing inks. An overprinted clear varnish helps create the ghost images that linger, insisting on their presence through the blackness.”

I mainly wanted to write this post to hopefully introduce a few more people to his career and the diversity of his work. The way that he has used his own deeply personal experiences to create such incredible and innovative pieces is what art and expression really means to me and from his success, what it truly means to many others.

Written by Ruth, our copywriter.

The Get On With The Game Kids website is an extension of the Premier League’s ongoing Get On With The Game initiative aimed at the younger audience of 8-11-year-olds. The new kids-focused website that we’ve created aims to capture the great enjoyment of football as a sport and social activity, whilst educating and engaging children on a range of social and emotional issues, including the importance of getting on with each other and respecting the ref.

The project involved us teaming up with our longtime collaborator The Boy Fitz Hammond to create the range of colourful characters and the interactive playground homepage. The site is also packed with animated games and quizzes, as well as resources for teachers that are linked to the SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) part of the National Curriculum.

Here are some lovely words on the project from Cathy Long, Head of Supporter Services at the Premier League: “Referees have to make important decisions all the time, and they use various man-management techniques to resolve conflicts and ensure that the game runs smoothly. The Get On With the Game Kids site realises the potential football has, and particularly refereeing, to teach children some valuable skills. We were keen to work with a young and innovative team who could bring our ideas to life, and Raw proved to be the ideal partner. The games and quizzes really engage the children and the caricatures of the referees make everyone smile! ”

Head over to the site to take a closer look and be sure to pay a visit to the Kick Off section to have a play on the games.

I had been looking forward to hearing what tales and advice she had to share after working under the wing of Paul Arden, the man whose inspirational books sit on my desk and are often read before big projects.

I don’t know quite what I was expecting as she took the stage but it certainly hadn’t been a royal telling off. According to Alex each attendee was supposed to supply a piece of work that had been art directed for her to critique on stage. This was the first I – and the rest of the audience – had heard of it but judging by her mood I doubt this would have been an adequate excuse. You could cut the air with a knife; I don’t think anyone dared breathe.

Thankfully this initial tension soon passed after she played an impressive showreel that contained clients such as the British Army, Castlemaine XXXX and Schweppes. The most impressive of which had been her work on the British Army campaign, which has now been running for a staggering 15 years!

It’s easy to see why she has picked up 4 D&AD pencils for The British Army campaign alone and 189 ‘in-books’ during her career. After watching a few more of the British Army adverts she took us through how the initial concepts became a reality. Alex explained her inner dialogue of constantly asking herself, ‘How can I make this better?’ and a clear example of this was the ending to the Army ads. Earlier on in the project the adverts simply ended on a black screen with the logo and copy left aligned. After going through her process, which often involves sleepless nights, the double foot stamp sound was added to act as a full stop to the advert. Perfect.

We then watched a series of other adverts, each focusing on involving the viewer by seeing the action through the eyes of a soldier. Instead of just watching a scene unfold you suddenly felt involved in it and began to appreciate the hard choices that many soldiers and officers meet.

Although we saw some great work the real point of the lecture was more about how to make your work better rather than most other ‘show & tell’ style lectures. Alex explained she got to where she is today by working with the best. When she first started out Paul Arden was, in her opinion, the best in the field so she made it her ambition to work for him at Saatchi & Saatchi. And she got there. It was here that she picked up Paul Arden’s mantra, ‘don’t seek praise, seek criticism.’ Her advice to us was when seeking criticism ask an Art Director you respect, not just one who is your friend and you know will give false praise. That way you will receive a truthful critique and you always have the choice to ignore it.

Often when presenting work to a client you’ll have to present it 10-20 times, so if you’ve not pushed it as far as you can and truly believe in your design, how can you expect the client to? It sounds like simple advice but I think the hardest part is being honest with yourself.

Alex joined the industry at a time when it was more about the craft, where print ruled compared with today’s technology-based design. I believe it is this insight and history that gives her the ability to think differently and deeply about problems, something that a new generation of designers starting out today can certainly learn a trick or two from.

The main image references Taylor’s work on the famous Silk Cut campaign.

Written by Toby, one of our design team.

After a trip over to New York to work with Hugo & Marie, Mike returned to rainy, autumnal Manchester to lend an extra pair of hands in the Raw studio. Here’s how he’s been finding life back up North with us:

“Working with the Raw team has given me further insight as to what studio life is like, and how working in a close knit team allows you to push the boundaries of a project further and further, the old saying two heads are better than one certainly plays its role here.

“I have been fortunate to work on some cracking projects, and learn some valuable skills along the way, all of which I’m sure are going to shape me as a designer and, fingers crossed, get me a job in a like-minded studio. The balance of work and play is reflected in the studio’s approach to everything, from pitch to delivery, the Raw guys know how to get a job done without losing your soul along the way. All in all, a great place to work, and a fab bunch of people. Raw – you will be missed.”

We’ve all been so impressed with Mike’s work and his print pieces have had us all mesmerised so we hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

Velocita Magazine

Celtics

Upper East Side Typeface

You can check out more of his work here.

It was really difficult to try and choose a charity when we started to plan the Raw 5 event as there are so many causes to support and messages to champion. It was the ever-helpful photographer Andrew Brooks who suggested we look into the work that Wood Street Mission carry out in and around Manchester.

We found that the charity was established in 1869 by members of Manchester’s business community who wanted to help local people living in poverty. After reading about countless families that have been helped and children’s lives that have been cheered by the work of Wood Street Mission, we let all of the Raw 5 contributors and guests know that the aim was to do our bit and raise as much money as we could to help their good work continue.

Day-to-day activities that are carried out by the wonderful volunteers such as sorting clothes, acting as collection points and gathering Christmas gifts for local kids all take time and cost money which needs local business support to grow and continue. It was great to discover Wood Street’s Creative Friends group which is made up of creatives from around Manchester who are lending their time and skills to help out as well, so our £600 contribution will hopefully be the first of many.

It’s not always easy to change the way people think and going green is no exception. Think Green aims to make the changes more than a set of green guidelines and create a community for staff, which encourages and rewards participation.

We collaborated with Salford-based digital artist Andrew Brooks to create unique pieces that capture the creativity of the orchestra’s music through a new, forward-thinking design.