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A Very Merry Christmas

Fri, 19 Dec 2014 16:00:00 +0000

Wishing you all the best for the festive season from all of us at Raw, including our latest recruit, Bruce the bear!

It’s been a busy year for us and we’ve been in hibernation mode recently, putting the finishing touches to lots of lovely new work for our clients.

The new year will be all about sharing some of our latest projects on an all singing, all dancing website which we’re currently busy creating. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the above nifty little gif from our very talented intern, Mr James Huson.

Have a good one!

Newbies

Fri, 14 Nov 2014 12:00:00 +0000

We've welcomed three new starters to the studio over the past month, taking us up to our largest team so far of ten. Designer Amy has joined us from Brass in Leeds and will be working alongside our existing design team on a number of upcoming projects, you can have a nosey at some of her work here. We also have a smashing new intern, James Huson fresh out of Shillington College who's been putting his animation skills, to good use for some of our clients. Last but not least, Emma joins us as Rob’s new Personal Assistant and she's also soon to complete her MA in Creative Writing, nothing like keeping busy!

The Science of Play

Wed, 22 Oct 2014 17:00:00 +0000

As the annual Design Manchester 2014 festival edges closer, with the main event kicking off on Friday 24th October, the series of surrounding exhibitions and events continues to grow around the city centre. Following on from the imagination focussed 10x10 exhibition in September, this Wednesday sees the Science of Play event open its doors, again at Federation House.

There’s a stellar list of contributors, all bringing to the party their own playful piece of design thinking – including our good selves – with speakers Matthew Kenyon, Mick Timpson and Fieldwork starting off the evening’s proceedings.

‘Make Work Play’ has become one of our favourite studio mottos, guiding our approach to the creative process and the attitude we like to show up with each day. Working as three separate entities or brought together with one meaning, these words have been played with and doodled on by over 30 people for this exhibition – from toddlers to middle-agers – with one brief: don’t overthink it and be playful in the moment.

Holding on to a sense of wonder and play within our work is why most of us ended up in the world of design and being curious and playful is one of the forces that, we believe, should never become dusty and overlooked. And finding some collaborators is always a good way to get into the right frame of mind.

Here are all of the contributions in high speed mode and a selected piece which will be framed – both of these can also be viewed as part of the exhibition.

You can find out all of the details here at The Science of Play The Science of Play site and some more about all the Design Manchester 14 events here.

The Science of Imagination

Fri, 26 Sep 2014 15:22:24 +0000

Following the success of the last 10x10 exhibition – the prelude to the annual Design Manchester event – this year saw another line up of Manchester’s finest creating and collaborating, including Angela Roche from Design by Day, The Neighbourhood, and our very own Jane Bowyer.

The Science of Imagination was the brief, which as you can imagine, meant an eclectic, colourful, sensory – The Neighbourhood’s Mind Wave Cave installation actually involved a brain sensor which could sense the colour and mood of the mind – selection of works.

Jane teamed up with fellow Islington Mill residents, Textbook Studio to plot and build the foundations, including the all important ‘minifesto’, for the School of Imagination which sees students embark on a never-ending, global adventure of thinking, collaborating, and last but not least, playing!

School logo etched onto slate

Here are just a few pics of the final installation which included some beautifully etched, rescued slates from the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) roof.

Now, where do we enrol?

Minifesto wisdom

Archimedes made the final cut

Create Salford 2014

Wed, 11 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Today sees the University of Salford's annual Create Salford festival spring into life at their new(ish) all-singing, all-dancing MediaCityUK campus. We worked with the University's team to create a look and feel for the arts and media festival, which includes a dynamic ever-changing 'C', an animated sting to showcase the diverse programme of disciplines, and a brand toolkit to give the event a strong and consistent presence, both on and offline.

We've been working with the School for the past six months to develop their printed materials and – with a couple of alumni from the School of Arts and Media in the studio – it's been a real pleasure to help shape the design for this flagship event.

Creating a platform for people to create something unique and personal to them was am important part of developing a feel for the festival. The dodecagonal grid which houses the 'C' offers a playground space, where the University and its students can create a range of shapes, patterns and illustrations to visualise the wide variety of creativity and talent on show.

We'll be heading down there tonight for the BLABMini talks and to check out The Create Cube which has an intriguing line-up of installations housed within its glass walls. For the full line-up of free events click here.

Every Meal Counts

Thu, 15 May 2014 17:00:00 +0000

We've just put the final touches to our very first campaign for the Vegetarian Society, Every Meal Counts. Our work with the charity all started following the success of our self-initiated festive project, Let's Talk Turkey, a website which shone a light on the treatment of factory-farmed turkeys in the UK. Our self-initiated work has always been at the heart of our studio so it's been such a great reward to work with a new client from one of our own 'for fun' ideas.

For this campaign we've widened our sights to the whole spectrum of meat, fish and seafood that make up many of our favourite meals, with a focus on the big impact reducing meat and becoming a vegetarian can have on the environment, personal health and animal welfare.

The animated videos follow the journey of Matt the cat man, Winnie the adventurer, and Alan the healthy-eating convert as they begin to introduce more meat-free meals into their week. Visitors to the site can also take the test by answering a set of simple questions which then provide each user with a set of personalised facts, from the water footprint of a piece of steak to the number of dolphins killed in mainstream tuna fishing techniques.

A big thanks goes out to all of our collaborators on this project too, from the Vegetarian Society team to James, our music man and Chris, our animator!

Jon joins the team

Mon, 12 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

With lots more digital projects in the pipeline we're very pleased to welcome Jon Halliwell, our new developer to the team. Jon will be working alongside Mike, our senior developer on some awesome new websites that we'll be sharing with you soon – including work for one of our first international clients based out in the Colorado mountains.

Here's a few words from the man himself on how he's finding studio life so far:

"Doing something you love for a living can sometimes turn into just another job. There's such a big difference when you are surrounded by other people who all love what they do as much as yourself, it shows even down to the smallest of details. That's the environment I've found here at Raw and I count myself as very fortunate to have found such a place. It's great."

Future Everything

Tue, 08 Apr 2014 10:12:07 +0000

Last week saw the launch of the FutureEverything conference at Manchester Town Hall which focuses on the theme 'Tools for Unknown Futures'. The festival explored how we can collaborate on new tools, devices and systems to transform many spheres of life, from the arts to democracy. A few of us from the studio managed to pop down to the 2 day conference and indulge in discussion, debate and dialogue.

Here's a round up of our highlights:

Mike

Monday morning's keynote saw the Head of Government Digital Services (GDS), Mike Bracken, deliver an insightful presentation explaining how government services have transformed over the last 18 months with the introduction of gov.uk and the key tools and surrounding platforms developed to create a truly digital government.

Whilst gov.uk is now out of beta and continually being improved with updates everyday, it seems GDS is now focusing on transactions — something which the government has failed to previously master. Taking the top 83 government transactions — from car tax, VAT and stamp duty — which accumulate to over 1 billion per year, GDS aims to transform these transactions, making them available online if not already so and ensure they are much simpler to use for the end user. Through the use of internal analytical software and open data from over 17 government departments, they aim to make what was previously invisible, visible.

Steve

The Space Lady is an inspiring lady. Listening to her talk about her life during one of the Fireside Chats at FutureEverything last week made me want to chase the hippy dream. She talked about being on the run from the US authorities in the 70s so her partner could avoid the draft, living hand-to-mouth in a cave, joining a commune and pursuing an ambition to travel to and scale Mount Joy in Canada, solely because of its name.

She got into music out of a need to earn money whilst living her nomadic years travelling across the States from city to city, supporting her musician partner. She would busk on the streets, eventually performing songs that her then partner would write with her. The songs developed a cosmic theme, fuelled by UFO encounters and a fascination with the sky at night. The name 'The Space Lady' would eventually be given to her by her expanding cult fan base.

This talk stood out for me at Future Everything because all the other speakers chose technical subjects such as data, connectivity, networks, horizontal data organisational structures and future cities. All interesting and relevant. But The Space Lady stayed with me. And since her talk I may have Googled Mount Joy and started mentally planning my own pilgrimage.

Hear her session on 6Music here.

Jane

Tuesday began in the Great Hall, with presentations on the creation of new tools and platforms for cities and the data economy. In the first discussion Dan Hill, Emer Coleman and Katalin Gallyas discussed the changing relationship between citizens and city councils and how this impacts the future design of a city and its shared spaces. In general it would seem that citizens are keen to take a more active role in shaping their future environment (and rightly so) and this is largely made possible through the Internet and social media.

Dan Hill talked specifically about how ‘Restaurant Day'—a volunteer project that encourages anyone to set up a restaurant for a day—has been adopted in Helsinki. Born out of frustration at how long it takes to open a restaurant in the city Restaurant Day or Ravintolapäivä allows locals to set up a restaurant in a park, in an office block or even from their bedroom window. There's even an app available so people can easily locate where the pop-ups are.

Another example of a platform that allows citizens to engage with the city was given by Katalin Gallyas during her presentation. Change By Us is an online hub run by the City of New York where people can share ideas for projects, resources and establish relationships with people who can help put their ideas into action.

By working with these new tools and platforms City Councils can face new challenges by involving their citizens in decision-making, helping to build momentum and giving legitimacy to causes which means citizens are more engaged with cities.

Designing Equality

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 09:22:17 +0000

A student recently contacted us without the usual question of a placement or the opportunity to come in and have a portfolio review – she wanted to discuss gender inequality within the creative field. As a studio that is predominantly male (75/25 split) we are often discussing the gender issues which surround the design industry and there were no shortage of views around the question when posed to the female members of our studio, as well as our creative director, Rob.

We don't profess to have all the answers but we thought it would be interesting to share our personal thoughts around the subject and hopefully open up a bit more of a debate.

Do you think that there is a gender inequality in the creative field?

Jane & Ruth:

Gender inequality is a undoubtedly an issue within the creative industries – one of the main barriers being family planning. The nature of a lot of agency work can be high-pressured, late nights, unpredictable etc. and women can sometimes be put off by it or forced out because 'they can't keep up with the pace'. Secondly, smaller agencies perhaps don't have the financial stability or workforce to let women, and men, have time away from their jobs to bring up their families.

Another issue is once women have reached Senior Designer level the next step is to move into management or become a Director and women are often overlooked for those kind of roles in all areas of work. Women often don't push themselves for these positions because they suffer from impostor syndrome (that 'I shouldn't be here' and 'sooner or later someone's going to catch me out as a fraud' sort of feeling). This can be linked to the fact that women arrived in the workplace a lot later than men – it's only in the last 30 years really it's been socially acceptable for a woman to work after having kids.

Being a female in a senior position without being stereotyped as 'bitchy' or 'pushy' is also a barrier for women who want to climb the ladder in design. There are amazing women out there in the creative world such as Jenna Lyons who are helping to break this image as well as initiatives like Sheryl Sandberg's #BanBossy campaign which aims to improve the situation for young girls and women across business.

We also feel that there's a real 'poster girl syndrome' within the design industry where a handful of female designers are rolled out at events and in articles – all very talented – but you can guarantee that their appearance and bodies are devoted at least a couple of sentences amongst the discussion of their work, which just doesn't happen to male designers.

In your experience as a Creative Director, do you think that women have a different approach to design than men?

Rob:

I don't see a different approach. Obviously, individuals are different, but I don't see a different pattern between genders.

Do you think they are less likely to be vocal about their work?

Rob:

Speaking from my experience here at Raw, we have two women who play a big part in the creative process and neither of them are afraid to speak up and express how they feel about an idea and they are as good as any two young creatives I've worked with. Both these women are extremely good at what they do and at young ages I'm already seeing potential future leaders. That gives me a tremendous amount of confidence for the future.

For me it all comes down to the environment that is created – if you are in a place where you feel comfortable to be yourself then it doesn't matter who you are, you'll find your voice. As a side note, we really feel that we need to address the feminine/masculine balance within the industry - and this includes both male and female attitudes and behaviours. Qualities like empathy, humility, generosity and patience are the characteristics which facilitate a healthier working environment and ultimately lead to better work. This is the only way we are going to combat the challenges we have in the world today. As this happens, and I believe it is, then then we should see a big shift in the design world and in every other area of life as well.

If you want to carry on the conversation be sure to tweet us @weareraw.

Inspired: Studio Weave

Mon, 24 Feb 2014 09:26:18 +0000

The magic of Studio Weave's work in the flesh is really quite breathtaking. We first heard their name on the shore of Kielder Water in Northumberland where they have crafted Freya's Cabin, a small structure come art installation which glistens gold on the outside, with an enchanted forest hidden within its gilded walls. The cabin is not only a beautiful place to stumble upon on during a peaceful walk but also carries with it its own narrative and central character Freya, whose story is written inside the cabin, and can also be found online here.

Keeping cosy in Freya's Cabin

The idea of juxtaposing modernist, striking art installations with natural surroundings could be seen as a bit 'old hat' within the design crowd but Studio Weave seem to breathe fresh air into the genre, creating a similar mix of intrigue and poetic beauty as Olivier Grossetête's hot air balloon bridge, Pont de Singe, which floated above Tatton's Japanese garden for the park's 2012 biennial.

Cities around the globe have also been touched by the studio's idiosyncratic installations, from the mind-bogglingly brilliant Lullaby Factory within Great Ormond Street Hospital, which soothes and excites the senses of its inhabitants, to the Shanghai Xintiandi Pavilion, which envelopes visitors in a stream of golden chains.

Lullaby Factory, Great Ormond Street Hospital

Xintiandi Pavilion, Shanghai

Other highlights are the colourful outdoor classroom in Dartford and the ultimate natural experience, the Fire Folly, which speaks to the outdoor adventurer in all of us here at Raw.

The Ecology of Colour, Dartford

Fire Folly, Studio in the Woods

Discover more of Studio Weave's creations - www.studioweave.com

Searching for: Web Developers

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 16:21:00 +0000

We're looking for a full-time developer and a talented bunch of freelancer web developers to work on our future digital projects. We're a small, independent design studio 10 minutes walk from Manchester city centre, working with a growing group of clients including the Premier League, BBC, and lots of charities and ethical brands that we really believe in.

If you join our team full-time you'll be able to take advantage of plenty of perks including conference trips, studio laptop, Cycle to Work scheme, healthcare plan and, last but not least, free car parking and a trip down our newly installed fireman's pole.

We're much more about meeting people and getting a feel for whether they're right for the role but here's a few unavoidable tick boxes that we'll be looking for:

A strong set of front-end skills (core JavaScript, CSS, HTML5)
Experience building responsive, device-agnostic websites (not just adaptive)
A good understanding of object-oriented programming and software design patterns
Experience with one or more PHP based Content Management Systems such as WordPress, Perch, Craft, etc.
Familiar with version control, particularly Git
Care and attention to code quality and performance
A sharp mind with the ability to grasp concepts quickly and work out logical problems
Not afraid to have some fun trying new technologies and processes

If you're interested in working with us as a freelance web developer or want to join our studio in a full-time permanent role, show us some of your work and a bit more about you in an email to jobs at weareraw.co.uk

Any questions? Give Mike, our developer a call on 0161 839 2260.

Hands of Hope

Tue, 17 Dec 2013 15:17:19 +0000

Each year we love to do something especially festive for our friends and clients, normally in the form of something sweet to eat or a Christmas tipple or two! But this year we have decided to put our studio skills to good use and try something different. Over the past few months we have been working closely with Hands of Hope Romania, a north-west based charity which provides much-needed support and care to the small community of Jibou, Romania.

Hands of Hope Romania is run by a small group of amazingly generous volunteers, both here in the UK and Romania, and they rely heavily on the support of donations, fundraisers and local businesses. We have helped the team by creating a new brand, website and printed materials just in time for their annual Box of Hope Christmas shoebox event which allows 400 more children to experience the magic of a Christmas gift.

Here's a few words from the team on how much the new website and branding will help them into 2014 and beyond: "We just want to say wow and thank you so much! To you it might be just what you do but to us it's massive and such an important step forward for us. We really appreciate all the help and you truly are an answer to our prayers."

We'd also like to say thank you to the good folks at Team Impression for offering all of the printing on the project completely free.

Let’s Talk Turkey

Thu, 05 Dec 2013 08:04:07 +0000

We made our minds up back in November that our Christmas festivities would follow Benjamin Franklin's great declaration that 'a good conscience is a continual Christmas'. This holiday season we're shining some Christmas light on the factory-farmed turkey industry with our new website Let's Talk Turkey which encourages visitors to vote with their forks and choose a free-range organic turkey or a meat-free alternative for their Christmas celebrations.

We have worked with food chains in the past but this year has seen a real shift in our own studio culture, with 4 out of 7 of the team being predominantly vegetarian, and with the horse meat scandal earlier in the year, more and more people seem to be waking up to the realities of the factory meat industry and looking for healthier, happier alternatives.

Around 90% of the turkeys that will find their way to the UK Christmas dinner table will have been produced in factory conditions, without many of us really knowing what goes on behind closed doors. With so much of the information online taking the shock approach, we really wanted to create something that was simple, engaging and positive, showing fellow festive shoppers that there are so many other options to choose from.

Turkey de-beaking can be as painful as losing the tip of your finger.

Let's Talk Turkey will also help you to learn more about the free-range and organic farming options, with a section for you to pledge your support by going free-range organic or choosing more meat-free meals over the Christmas period.

We hope you enjoy all of the animated characters and can join us in making a real difference this Christmas and beyond!

Sport & Design, United

Thu, 07 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Back in July we put a little post up on here, filled with fond farewells for our co-founder Ste Taylor who was getting ready to kick things off on a new sporting venture that he has been keeping under wraps for the past few months. Since his summer departure, we've been working with Ste on the branding, website and packaging for his new online store and design collective, Form and Glory, which brings together over 20 artists and designers to create a range of sporting products and prints (You'll find a few familiar faces selling their wares including Anthony Oram, Ben the Illustrator and San Francisco duo Art of Sport).

Launching today – just in time to solve a long line of Christmas gift quandaries – the website is filled with beautifully crafted prints and the odd wildcard gift for the hipster biker in the form of some handlebar taxidermy. Form & Glory's main aim is to bring together goods with real guts and imagination – the pieces that you'll never pick up in the club gift shop or the gimmick-ridden gift sites that a quick Google search will tend to produce.

It was really important for us that the visual language and tone of voice act as a stamp of quality for the well-crafted pieces that are sold within the store and to make customers feel more than mere transactions and part of a like-minded community. The identity takes inspiration from the classic, timeless style of sport and allows the flexibility to work alongside a range of sporting pursuits.

It's been a real pleasure to team up with Mr Taylor again and we're sure that the pieces will be getting adding to plenty of Christmas lists and Pinterest boards before the month is out.

Wanderlust

Thu, 17 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Now that summer is well and truly over and Salford is plunged backed into the cold and grey we’ve been looking back on all of the places and spaces we’ve visited and what we’ve absorbed over the past few months of wandering, exploration and proposals.

Jane

I've been lucky enough to travel to quite a few places this summer: Paris, Portugal, Barcelona and Stockholm. Each of these places have provided their own unique inspirational experience but one thing I've learnt collectively from my travels is how important it to take time-out, break out of your daily routine and go exploring. When you clear your mind of all the cobwebs, new ideas just seem to pop into your head.

Toby

I've done so much cycling this summer that it's hard to choose a picture to sum it up. One highlight was helping power the Radio 5 live show with my fellow Manchester Wheelers where we even got to catch up with an old Wheeler member, Chris Boardman! Something I will definitely miss is the glorious sunshine. Here's a pic from one of our hill rep sessions when we cycled until the sun went down/couldn't turn our legs anymore/passed out at the top of the hill.

Tom

My summer—well my entire 2013—has been dedicated to weddings. I got engaged in April and have attended 6 weddings this year (so far). My creative gaze has shifted slightly to flowers, decorations, cakes and pretty things. It's always good to broaden one's pool of inspiration.

Ruth

This summer I finally read Anne of Green Gables, ran along beaches in Cornwall, picked wild flowers and soaked up all of the sun and sea England and Wales had to offer. Escaping my multi-screened life and iPhone addiction in a tiny Welsh village with no wi-fi, 3G or phone signal was just what I needed to remind me that nature, good friends and family are still the stuff that brings the greatest inspiration and happiness.

Steve

I'm fascinated with street art - especially in Barcelona. Set against the city's unique architecture, the street art highlights the rich subculture that gives the city its edge.

Rob

What better way to bring the summer in than with a trip to Stonehenge for the summer solstice? So we headed south in the car (for 5 hours, mind) to get there in time for the sunset the night before, and stayed up all night with about 20,000 other revellers to watch the midsummer sun rise. I've always been in wonder of this megalithic monument and it certainly didn't disappoint, and boy did we meet some interesting folk down there.

Mike

Over the summer my partner and I spent a few days camping up in The Highlands. Perched in a two-man tent literally on the side of Loch Linnhe with views for miles and a roaring campfire on the pebbled beach, it couldn't have been any more tranquil. We also took a trip up to Rogie Falls and witnessed the beautiful waterfall, wildlife and huge salmon jumping upstream to spawn.

Jim's Scarf Project

Tue, 17 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

We first heard about 84-year-old Manchester-based artist and avid knitter Jim Giles last year when we went along to one of his art exhibitions at Islington Mill and it was his plans for a community driven art installation that really inspired all of us. Jim is currently creating - with the help of many kind donations - a giant 400m scarf to wrap up his residential home, Victoria Square in Ancoats, just in time for the winter chill.

Jim has worked with his hands all of his life, starting out as a photographic artist before he returned to the easel as a mature, 60-year-old art student in neighbouring Liverpool. He also recently graduated from The University of Salford with an MA in Contemporary Fine Art, and is a regular knitter at the Mustard Tree charity centre opposite his home.

Jim's scarf project has its heart deeply rooted in the warmth, comfort and security that knitting and social housing offer to thousands of people all over the country and it's these two strands which inspired Jim to start work on this ambitious idea. We've been working with him over the past few months to help create an online home for his scarf and to help more people discover the project and get involved by either knitting their own scarf to donate or volunteering at the event. The website acts, much like a scarf, as one long page for users to explore the different elements of the project and find their nearest knitting club.

Once Jim has reached his target of 400 metres of scarf he will be linking all of the pieces together temporarily and wrapping his entire building on Friday 18th October at 2:00pm in a celebratory Wrap Up event. Once complete all of the lovingly donated scarves will be separated again ready for a charity scarf sale on the day, with all proceeds and leftover scarves being given new homes courtesy of The British Red Cross.

Jim is currently looking for knitters to get involved and help him reach his 400m target in time for the big wrap and for volunteers to help on the event day. If you'd like to offer your support and get involved drop us an email or you can contact Jim directly on 0161 235 0728 or 07761054735.

Caring Never Grows Old

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

We've been busy over the last month helping Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (DCHS) to create a multi-channel recruitment campaign to attract over 100 nurses and health professionals to their Trust ahead of the winter period. At the heart of the campaign is a set of three documentary style videos, which were produced by our friends over at Maker Projects and feature real nurses from the DCHS team to celebrate the great work that goes on in the local community and inspire new people to join the team.

We have also created a fully responsive website DerbyshireDCHSjobs.nhs.uk which allows people to discover more about living and working in Derbyshire and register their interest in the roles available. The jobs are spread across Derbyshire and give applicants the option to be out in the community or within a special winter hospital ward to help manage the extra pressure at that time of the year.

Straight from the off we wanted to create a campaign that was considered and thoughtful, something that wasn’t your standard recruitment campaign. Our aim with the concept is to create a message that nurses and health professionals will feel really proud of and hopefully this shines through in the heartfelt videos and the photography that have been created for the campaign.

Since the campaign launched it has exceeded all of the Trust’s original expectations. Originally the target was to reach 500 interested parties, with the latest figures showing that over 6000 people had an expressed an interest in joining the team. The recruitment team are continuing to utilise the website, with more roles and events being added each month and social media is now a key part of their strategy going forward.

End of an era

Thu, 04 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000

We know all too well at Raw that nothing should stay the same, and design in particular is a world where we're constantly moving forward and looking for new opportunities. After founding the company with our creative director Rob Watson back in 2006, Ste Taylor, our managing director is leaving us this week to move on to pastures new and begin work on an exciting new venture (our lips are sealed for now on this).

Over the past year, Ste has taken a step back from the studio which has given him some well-deserved time with his growing family and the opportunity to explore new possibilities for the future, with Rob taking over the reigns for the running of the business and the studio's creative. After seven very happy and lucky years with Raw, Ste will be sorely missed by all of us at the studio, but as we've been such a close knit team over the years there's no chance of us losing touch and we'll look forward to seeing Ste's plans come to life over the months ahead.

Here's a few parting words from the man himself: "Raw has been such as big part of my life that in many ways it's a wrench to leave. I'm hugely proud of what we've achieved as a business, the work we've done and the clients we've worked with. The company is in great shape and I know Rob and the guys will continue to take Raw to new and exciting places. I'm now looking forward to pushing on with some exciting projects of my own and coming back to work with the talented folk at Raw...but this time as a client!"

We're also going to see our studio space changing and expanding over the next few months as we take over the rest of the Engine House space in Islington Mill which we are hoping to transform into a multiuse space for work and some new playful self-initiated projects. We'll be sure to keep you posted as all of this begins to take shape but for now we're off for some farewell, Independence Day beers!

Super Awesome OFFF

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

After over a decade of travelling through Europe and offering up its unique and playful take on art, design and all things creative, OFFF Festival returned to Barcelona last weekend, and the whole Raw crew jetted offf (sorry it had to be done) seeking sun, sea and some fresh inspiration.

Although we missed Thursday's heavyweight line up of speakers, we were treated to some incredible work and storytelling from Friday and Saturday's stellar selection of talks. Illustrator and all-round super dude Pat Perry kicked things off on Friday morning with a talk that took us through his incredible collection of sketchbooks and his penchant for sleeping under the stars as he travels across the world soaking up all of the inspiration that nature has to offer. His attitude to life and carefully crafted illustrations left us all feeling like taking some more time away from our screens and heading out into the great outdoors for a new perspective.

Pat Perry Illustration

Pat Perry's Outdoor Adventures

Saturday saw three of our other favourite speakers take to the stage, starting with Barcelona-based typographer Laura Meseguer who mesmerised us all with her exquisitely simple handmade typography and her explanation of the fine technical details and revisions which make her finished pieces of work appear so effortless and natural. She is also soon to release these A-Z type posters, which we cannot wait to get our hands on.

Laura Meseguer, Gladwell Icecream Branding

Moving from the calligrapher's pen to the possibilities of playing around with computer programmes, Esteban Diácono, an animator from Buenos Aries, shared with us how self-initiated work can completely transform a creative life. Esteban created the below self-initiated video at a difficult period in his personal and professional life and saw his whole world transformed when the featured musician Ólafur Arnalds decided to make it the official music video for the song. Esteban has continued to work with Ólafur and has also collaborated with the amazing Sagmeister and Walsh, proving that self-initiated work can be just as valuable as client projects.

Esteban's Ljósið Video

Finally, to bring ceremonies to a close was a double dose of fun from the onesie wearing Mingarro brothers, better known as illustration studio, Brosmind. We were all treated to some questionable Brosmind beatboxing before being submerged into the playground atmosphere that the brothers make their off-the-wall candy coloured creations within, including cushioned go-karts and miniature porcelain armys.

Inside the Brosmind

We think that the underlying themes of this year's OFFF can probably be summed up in two succinct thoughts. The more you say the words 'super' and 'awesome' (two favourites amongst the many American speakers) the better you'll feel, and always remember that things go grey when we forget to play, even in Barcelona.

Friday Film Club

Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Fridays are always a good day in the studio and once a month we've been taking the opportunity to kick back, make our own popcorn and watch all of those films that we've recommended to each other but never quite got round to watching. Four in and we've taken in a range of subjects from the New York underground art/illustration scene, factory life in China and the anatomy of a toothpick.

Here's a round-up from the last four months, along with some clips for your viewing pleasure.

Month 1, Steve's Choice - Edward Burtynsky's Manufactured Landscapes

Month 2, Toby's Choice – Aaron Rose's Beautiful Losers

Month 3, Rob's Choice – Gary Hustwit's Objectified

Month 4, Mike's Choice – PressPausePlay by David Dworsky and Victor Köhler

CR Annual

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

We were rather chuffed to see our work with Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) gracing the pages of this year's Creative Review Annual where we found ourselves rubbing pages with the likes of Pentagram, Google and The Guardian.

Being selected to be part of The Annual for the first time has been a real treat and it's been great to see the warm reception that the Wolves rebrand and stadium graphics has received since its completion back in October 2012. The initial, key involvement from fans and staff has made all of the achievements for the project feel like a truly collaborative process. We just wish we could have the same effect for them on the pitch at the moment but we'll have to leave that to the players!

If you'd like to see our contribution and the other projects featured in The Annual grab yourself a copy and a brew to sup on, of course.

Now Departing From _Lincoln_

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Written by our Senior Designer, Mr Tom Heaton

I studied at the University of Lincoln between 2003–06 and had three wonderful years, so it was a pleasure to be asked back to offer some help and advice to the upcoming crop of graduates. As I made my way across the snow-covered Pennines and glimpsed the Cathedral on the seemingly solitary hill in Lincolnshire, many a fond memory came flooding back. In fact the first section of the talk was dedicated to a brief summary of my three years including the odd piece of undergraduate work.

Rather than doing a standard 'show and tell', I decided to focus on delivering some tangible advice that the students will actually be able to use—specifically for the next couple of months as they complete their degrees and enter 'The Real World'.

After the talk and obligatory Q&As I stayed behind to do some portfolio critiques. It was great to see so much exciting work from the new wave of design talent. In fact I managed to get swept up with it all and managed a good few hours of critiquing. With work like this, it's understandable.

Christopher Algar - V&A

Dave Morris - Roses Student Awards

Leanne Kitchen - ISTD

Sam Weston - Roses Student Awards

Sunjay Morar - Divide Magazine photography

Thanks again to Sam and James for looking after me on the day.

The Value of Football

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Last week saw the internationally renowned football conference Soccerex pitch up in our already football-fanatical city for a celebration of the beautiful game and its strong link to business. Following our extensive brand refresh and environmental graphics work for Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (Wolves), we decided that the event would be the perfect platform to showcase the project, alongside the installation specialists Aura Graphics, who were our partners in bringing the Wolves supergraphics to life.

With a stand spanning over 18m2, and positioned just four foot from The FA Cup – which has also been inhabited by Tom's cat but that's another story entirely – we were in a prime spot to soak up the atmosphere and spot some of football's famous faces including Portugal's Eusébio, Bobby Charlton and Kevin Keegan who had his very own stand.

We teamed up with the ever-brilliant Newspaper Club to create some lovely pieces of print, which took our stand visitors through the entire journey of the Wolves project, from the beginnings of the brand refresh to the final finish on the concourse stadium graphics. The stand itself also demonstrated the high-quality finish of the supergraphics, with a finished wall of breezeblock in situ for our visitors to experience, which included the likes of Roma, Newcastle United and Valencia.

You can find out more about our work with Wolves here.

The Persuaders

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

From The Archers to Woman's Hour, both Toby and Ruth are keen Radio 4 listeners, so when we were asked to be part of the long-running Word of Mouth series with Michael Rosen of Bear Hunt fame we jumped at the chance to be involved.

Our particular episode explored the topic of propaganda and the language of persuasion, including the public health messages of yesteryear and the infamous AIDS campaign of the 80s. We were brought on board to share our own insight on modern public health campaigns and how the digital world has transformed the way we can communicate messages to the public.

We have a feeling the recording will be sitting on the Radio Four website for quite some time so if you'd like to take a listen just follow the link.

Live & Learn

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Our creative director Rob has been keeping himself busy over the past year working on a personal project called Live & Learn, which has seen his growing collection of quotes from great minds – famed and otherwise – given some loving typographic treatment before finding their way into a range of digital guises.

Maybe it was the big banks and their escapades or the thousands of people around the world who decided to get out and Occupy as an antidote to our lend and buy culture, but something in the general tone and feel of recent years has seen my mind searching for an alternative viewpoint.

From the wise old words of the Buddha to martial arts master Bruce Lee, the quotes that are at the heart of Live & Learn come from all kinds of people and places but for whatever reason they've all left a real impression on me and taught me to question everything and not be afraid to buck the trend.

Anyone who's a Pinterest or Tumblr user will know that we're never too far from our next affirmation but the challenge for me as a designer was to take the quotes that meant something to me and move away from the often sickly-sweet visuals that many quotes end up being swallowed up by.

For Live & Learn I have used some of my favourite typefaces — Knockout, Century Gothic, Gotham and others – to create typographic responses which I believe create a happy home for the quotes to reside and will help to inspire some more individuals, designers or otherwise.

The website will be updated regularly with new phrases and quotes, and all of the artwork is available to download for Smartphone, Tablet and Desktop, providing inspiration for work and life wherever people find themselves.

And like all of the collaborative projects I've worked on in the past, I'm keen for any like-minded people to share their favourite quotes with me so that the Live & Learn process can continue both ways.

The Things Ruth's Seen

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

As regular Blab goers we were very pleased to see our own Ruth Watson take to the stage for December’s Blab Mini at the newly opened Bench Self Made Gallery. Speaking alongside some other inspiring Mancunians including illustrator Stan Chow, photographer Pip Rustage and fellow Mill resident Anj Roche of Design by Day, Ruth stepped up for her 15 minutes to talk about the chosen talking point of ‘The things I've seen’.

Releasing her inner hippy, Ruth shared three of her favourite stories and projects from around the world, focussed on the central theme that the best things in life aren't actually 'things'. This theme included a trip to a squatted skyscraper in Venezuela, a cardboard arcade in LA and a world without words. Check out the full video here.

Powering down

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Christmas holiday is always a good time to break away from the computer screen and spend some much-needed time with friends, family and indulge in all of our favourite things. However, it seems that as we get the chance to leave our work screens behind, many of us automatically plug in more heavily to our old faithful television screens and smartphones, thus our weary over-fed minds never really get a break from digital stimulus. And it seems we're not the only ones that had been mulling this over (no wine pun intended) during the festivities as January has seen the topic of digital overload appearing everywhere, ripe for some New Year discussions.

More and more people are voicing concerns around the links our addiction and over consumption of digital goods has with the growing prevalence of ADHD, anxiety issues, and our ability to wholly concentrate on one thing at a time. If you're too engrossed in checking your apps in the morning to look out of the window, or art directing Instagram shots of sunsets is stopping you from actually sitting back and experiencing the view, then 2013 could be just the kick you need to redress the balance.

Here are a few of the ways we're going to be challenging the way we interact with our digital devices over the coming months, and hopefully making the time we do spend plugged in more worthwhile and most, importantly, fun:

Basket case

Create a tech-free zone in your home - or workplace if space allows – where phones and tablets are dumped at the door and you can give your full attention to other people, your books, making things with your hands or just spending some time reacquainting yourself with your imagination. Thanks to Treehugger for this tip.

Get bored

Being bored is like that old sociological nugget 'deferred gratification': sometimes we need to experience that fidgety state of boredom for our minds to take us off somewhere gratifying and unexpected. Cutting off from technology for even just a couple of hours a week is definitely going to help us with this one.

Retracing social media steps

Starting off by making a list of all the failed, dormant accounts we've accumulated over the past 5 years and then deleting and removing our information from as many of them as possible (we have already resigned ourselves to how arduous this task is likely to be but we hope like a January detox, we will emerge the other side with a glowing complexion and a new zest for life).

If you've got any other ways that you'll be powering down this year share your take on all of this with us (You can comment here, tweet us, or even better send us a little note in the post). And if you fancy more of a one-off, collective event to get started take a look at the Sabbath Manifesto's National Day of Unplugging, which is happening on the 1-2 March.

Lone female no longer...

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

As the new year approaches we thought it was about time we found a raw recruit to join the team for what we're hoping will be a lucky 2013. And we're now addressing the girl/boy balance, much to Ruth’s approval!

Jane has joined us from fellow Manchester agency Creative Spark and she’ll be bringing her design and illustration skills to some new projects that we'll be sharing with you after the festive break.

Here's a few words from Jane and a selection of her lovely work for you to admire.

Wishing you all a very merry festive break and a suitably underwhelming New Year!

"Since discovering Raw as a student I have been impressed with the work produced by the studio and so I feel very excited and privileged to be joining the team as their new designer. I also hope to bring to the table my skills as an illustrator.

"As a collective, there's a great understanding of the creative process and they’ve built a really beautiful and functional working environment at Islington Mill. I look forward to working closely with the rest of the team and I'm sure 2013 will be a fantastic year for everyone at Raw!"

Bringing home the chicken

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

As you've probably noticed by the appearance of stressed parents and lovable snow-covered consumers on our television screens, Christmas is fast approaching and the festive campaigns are snowballing. We're normally busy thinking up self-initiated ideas to spread some Christmas cheer but this year we've been lucky enough to work with the Nando's team on their festive offering, sans turkey obviously!

We've taken the traditional cracker pulling experience and given it a Nando's twist with our fiery little Crackalaka Boom app, which allows customers to pull a digital cracker using Bluetooth technology, along with a range of printed materials for the nationwide restaurants.

Once inside the app there are a range of festive treats including a Pull-a-Puzzle game; the North Pole-aroid camera where you can play festive dress up and then share your photos on Twitter and Facebook; and a selection of cracking jokes which are sure to provoke some familiar groans!

As well as working on the app with Liverpool-based developers Apposing, we've created a range of printed materials to promote the app and create a festive atmosphere within the restaurants, including large-scale window decals which should be popping up over the next few days.

If you fancy a go at pulling one of our Crackalaka Boom crackers download the iPhone version from the App Store or visit Google Play for the Android version.

This is the third job we've completed for Nando's since becoming one of their preferred design suppliers during the summer. Back in October we worked on the visual identity for this year's Skate Jam event which saw some sick (this is skater talk for good, in case you were confused) skaters take to the BaySixty6 Nike skate park in London for a day of flame-grilled goodies and happy half-piping.

We also went back to our student days for this year's freshers' fair activity which saw students braving the Nando's Spin The Bottle game and getting online to play our PERi-PERi take on the classic Beer Pong game.

Grand Designs

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It's become a bit of a British Institution over the last decade and the familiar, wise words of Mr McCloud have stirred the architect/builder/designer in thousands of people up and down the country, who are ready to lay the foundations for a new kind of living and building.

We're all fans of the show and myself and our Creative Director Rob (who also happens to be my better half) decided to head down to Birmingham to see if the Grand Designs Live Show could live up to the high standards of its Channel 4 roots. If past trips to the NEC were anything to go by, we were a little dubious on how 'high design' would sit in such a vast homogenous space.

When we arrived we really were pleasantly surprised, with plenty of bold type, a well-planned colour-coded system, and a central courtyard (well, it was more of a central caffeine hub) leading you off to the various design segments of garden, build, food and interiors.

The Grand Theatre kept us busy for much of the day, where we saw critics, homebuilders, architects and Kevin himself explore the complexities and accomplishments of self-build projects around the world. If we were vaguely interested in doing our own self-build when we entered the show, we were ready to find ourselves a plot by the time we left. The community self build in Ashley Vale, Bristol was a great example of what can happen when a bunch of people challenge the big shot property developers to create their own unique homes and a real sense of individuality and community.

Another amazing discovery from the day was the half-finished Torre David skyscraper in Caracas which was originally intended to house a financial organisation in the 1990s but after the death of the developer it was abandoned. Now it has become home to 3000 squatters who have tailored the space to their needs and the project was awarded a Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

The best part of the day had to be stealing a minute with the grand man himself for a book signing and a quick chat about his latest venture, the Man Made Home. If you're intrigued by the idea of self-build, or you just want to learn more about architecture and sustainability, we'd recommend booking your tickets for next year's show. On that note, we're off to hunt for plots.

Kickstarted

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

We've all been there with a great idea circling above our heads but not enough spare cash to make it into a tangible, and potentially profitable product or design. And that's where the beauty of the website Kickstarter can literally kick in and help you find the funders to bring your idea to life.

It's not exactly a new platform for creatives to seek funding, but for us as a studio it's become an increasingly popular subject on our group emails and we've started to contribute to some of our favourite ideas and gadgets.

Here's a quick round up of what's caught our eye of late:

Mike, our web developer found this Ostrich Pillow sleep device, which allows you to take a nap wherever you want, although you make look slightly eccentric/alien like in the process!

This ingenious little lighting device impressed Toby so much that he's forked out a hefty amount of dollars for just two light bulbs! It can sync the colour of your lights to the music you're listening to and dim and brighten to fit with your sleep patterns, all controlled by your iPhone.

For anyone who's still holding onto the magic of Polaroids and is substituting it with an Instagram addiction, this gadget will surely make it onto your wish list. Pioneered by The Impossible Project it turns your iPhone snaps into physical Polaroids without having to faff around and download them to your computer first. The lovely video also helps to get you hooked as well.

Finally, Rob started off our interest in Kickstarter with a contribution to illustrator Andy J. Miller's Nod project, which saw him bring lots of his colourful and characterful creatures from the land of Nod to the world of print. Rob even got his own Nod character from donating which you can take a look at here. It's a smaller and more humble project than some of the other gadgets we've talked about but still proof that big or small, Kickstarter is there for anyone who has an idea tucked away in need of some pocket money.

BLAB 12

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:04:49 +0000

We were asked by Mr Matt Booth, organiser of the ever-popular BLAB talks to create a limited edition print for BLAB 12 featuring photographer Kevin Meredith (lomokev) and founder of Poke London, Nicolas Roope.

The idea was to represent the two speakers simply through the numbers 1 and 2. These numbers also made a nice reference to the order of the speakers (although a coin toss on the night actually ending up switching the order)!

The 1 is based on a digital 1 that has been blown up to reveal the pixels. The various tones have then been replaced with patterns to reflect the style and fun that goes into all of Poke's work.

The 2 is created from rolls of films which have been manipulated (rather difficultly) into shape. These have then been photographed and converted to a bitmap to reveal a gritty halftone pattern. The clean cut vectors and bitmap image contrast really well.

We kept the amount of information to a minimum, with less emphasis on the location and the date as we really wanted people to see the print as a memento that they would want to hang in their home or workplace.

For any type/print fanatics reading this here's some spec details:

The poster is built on a 12 column grid
The small type is 12pt.
1 colour screen print
GF Smith Sorbet Colorplan
270 gsm
Printed by @savwo

Robyn Makinson

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 16:39:54 +0000

We've been lucky enough to have another wonderful and talented graduate join us for a month long stay. Robyn has just left Leeds College of Art with a first class pass and as soon as we saw her work we knew she'd fit right in at Raw (it was this Romy & Michele's High School Reunion piece that particularly impressed Ruth, our copywriter).

Here's what Robyn has to say on her time with us so far and you can see some more of her favourite pieces below:

"Having recently graduated I knew it was important to spend some time in a working environment, and open my eyes to the actual realities of the design industry. My time in the studio has been incredibly informative and rewarding. I have had the pleasure of working on live briefs, alongside high profile clients and solidifying my technical abilities.

“Working with a range of time restrictions, and the constant back and forth between client and designer, is experience that will prove invaluable. Added bonuses include incorporating my personal style with the pre-existing aesthetics of such high profile companies. Oh, and the food of course.

"Working in a creative environment surrounded by like minded, film-loving, popular culture centric individuals, was just an added bonus and has made these past four weeks all the more enjoyable. I know I will leave Raw with a much needed confidence boost, and insight that will stay with me indefinitely. I thank the team for being so friendly and welcoming, and for giving a timid new designer the chances I've been afforded. Romy & Michele's High School Reunion officially just became my favourite film."

Afrika

Los Pecados

Almodovar Collection

Main Image: Splendor Pelicula

Happy Snappers II

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:00:54 +0000

It's been a few months since we last shared our Instagram snaps with you all, so after a summer of somewhat rainy fun we thought it was about time we gave you an update on where we've been and what we've seen!

Main Images: Steve, our resident Studio Manager and photographer has been snapping away on his recent travels. Here is a very lucky phone box surrounded by lush greenery in Simonstone up in the Yorkshire Dales and an urban cat who doesn't get out of the city much.

Rob and Ruth took a trip to the Tatton Biennial where they discovered the Pont de Singe installation by Olivier Grossetete, which is part of the wider Flights of Fancy theme of this year's outdoor exhibition.

Mike brought Steve, his Arduino face-tracking device out of retirement for the Manchester Arduino Meetup he organised this month.

What do you buy the studio's lone girl for her birthday? A duck lamp, of course.

Do scarecrows actually work? Answers on a postcard please.

East End Gems

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 16:36:40 +0000

We happened to find ourselves in sunny Shoreditch last week, just before the Olympics mayhem landed in East London. After much joking about fake black-rimmed glasses and this suitably Shoreditch YouTube video, we had a great stay and discovered some friendly and inspiring faces, places and spaces.

First spotted was some Ben Eine’s typographic street art on Ebor Street just next to our abode for the weekend, the swanky Shoreditch House (see main image).

We also popped into the Handsome Frank Tweet a Brief exhibition in The Church of London’s basement gallery. All of the artwork on display was in response to a range of Twitter briefs, including Helen Musselwhite’s dolls house that had come to life and Stephen Cheetham’s 140 character illustration with some familiar faces.

Just next to The Church of London we stumbled across the type-filled headquarters of Glyphics, a sign-making studio with an impressive collection of retro shop letters, including our very own initials.

We’re already looking forward to our next trip East and hopefully the Olympic tourists will take some time out to explore the craftsmanship that really makes this area special.

Mike Takes Home a Little Chip

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:38:00 +0000

The Big Chip awards have always been a big deal in Manchester and we were lucky enough to bag a nomination at this year's proceedings for our FA Use Your Head animation. Mike, our web developer also find himself nominated for the Little Chip student award for his third year dissertation: Investigation into a monolithic approach to context-aware authentication (yes, we were a little stumped by the title at first, too)!

While we unfortunately remained a nomination in our category, Mike was crowned as the winning student, which put the smile back on everyone's faces. Mike's animated video basically summarises the idea of authentication and different ways of using context-aware information to improve authentication systems. Mike produced the entire video by himself, including all of the animation. We're all really proud of what he's achieved and he's also just found out he's graduating with first class honours, so it's clear to see that all the hard work has paid off.

Main image: Melbourne Server Hosting

Happy Snappers

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:43:00 +0000

Like most creatives we love snapping the little moments that catch our eye each day and Instagram is our favourite way to do it. Each month we'll be sharing anything that's inspired us on our travels, here's a few that we made earlier.

Main Image: 01 - Our lovely client Helen Musselwhite brought her Chocolate Labrador Earl along for a visit, here he is getting spoilt by Mike before raiding all of our studio bins!. 02 - Tom spotted this lonely little row boat on a weekend walk in Conwy, Wales.

03 - Toby snapped this awesome clothes swap shop on Brick Lane, London

04 - Great vintage sign found while catching the tube in East London

05 - During a trip to East London a few weeks back Steve, our studio manager paid a visit to a hidden secret bar – which brilliantly you enter through a decoy Smeg fridge. Once through said fridge you descend a dark staircase, lit only by this beautiful neon sign.

06 – To finish here's a foodie one of some delicious spiced carrot soup that we all tucked into recently courtesy of Ruth, our copywriter.

First Timers

Thu, 03 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000

Just as spring has supposedly sprung and the sun has begun to show its temperamental face, the vast array of design awards open up their trophy-lined doors for their yearly deluge of hopeful entrants. Soon after follows the flutter of mid-judging tweets before the checking of the inbox in search of that sweet congratulations.

After sending out our offering for this year's ceremonies we're pleased to report that we've received a few of those highly anticipated congratulatory emails: Design Week has shortlisted our work with the BBC Philharmonic and The FA in their Brand Campaign category and the lovely folks at Big Chip have nominated our Use Your Head video for The FA in their Best Animation slot.

It's always nice to take stock and look back on how we've helped our clients over the last twelve months, and as it's the first time we've been nominated for both Design Week and Big Chip, we feel proud as punch at what we've achieved this year. It's all fingers crossed now that we come away with some new silverware for the cabinet, we'll let you know how we fare when it comes to the big announcements.

Lost and Found

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:20:45 +0000

We've long been fans of It's Nice That's Things and Dentsu's Magic Carpet Bag feature so we thought we’d make a start on putting all the weird and wonderful pieces we've stumbled upon via Twitter, or the brilliant links that are too often lost in our inboxes right here on our blog for all to see.

This week is a mash up of old school photographic techniques, ingenious turntables and a humungous mouth-watering Creme Egg, along with a couple more gems.

Enjoy and don't forget to eat far too much chocolate this Easter weekend. That's an order!

Watch the ocean's currents in all their glory in this little video from space invaders NASA.

Payback is a new film based on Margaret Atwood's bestselling book Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth that examines our deep and often destructive relationship with debt.

Silver & Light is a short film by photographer Ian Ruhter which documents his journey on taking the camera to new lengths whilst coming back to its humble roots. Well worth the 9 minutes and 19 seconds!

Robert Howsare's drawing turntables make for a mesmerising watch and we’re now currently lusting over the resulting prints.

Finally, our Easter gift to you: the step-by-step creation of the giant Creme Egg. Click here to make your own.

Main image credit: Robert Howsare Drawing Turntables

The perfect pick me up

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:21:30 +0000

On March 22nd Somerset House opened its doors once again to the graphic art Pick Me Up fair for the third consecutive year, showcasing a wonderful array of work from a diverse range of artists, illustrators and designers.

I never fail to get excited when I see the dates appear for this art spectacle, I've been each year since it was first launched back in 2010 and it has never disappointed when it comes to great and inspiring work. The only downside is checking your bank balance the day after so make sure you set yourself a realistic budget before you go!

A selection of live art being created by various artists on the day

Once through the entrance the ground floor was filled with the beautiful work of the upcoming artists that formed the Pick Me Up Selects exhibition, which is made up of 20 rising stars’ work.

I really was overwhelmed by the pieces on show but I’ve picked out a few of my personal favourites for you to take a look at below.

This piece by Tim McDonagh, a graduate of the University of Westminster, really caught my eye with his use of vivid colours and mythical influences. I don't know what goes through his head when he’s creating these elaborate scenes but it works for me.

This cunning fox produced by Sarah Maycock was my favourite artist at the fair. Her paint strokes really brought the animals to life and she was definitely the talking point of the event. I just wish I'd had the bank balance to buy one of these incredible pieces as they were a little on the pricey side (around £300 a pop).

This was the first print I bought at the event by A Two Pipe Problem. It's the perfect motto to go next to my cocktail bar at home and you just can't beat letterpress for the beautiful texture it produces.

In one of the galleries you got the chance to produce your own one off print with the help of the Museum of Objects & Origins. Above is my attempt at creating a gallery worthy masterpiece. Any buyers?

Overall it was a great way to spend a weekend and see the up and coming Picassos of our generation, along with a chance to grab some great work to take home. I would definitely recommend it to any creative who fancies a whole day of print.

See you next year Pick Me Up!

Written by Ben Tustin, our current placement.
Main image credit: Mimi Leung

Mr Ben Tustin

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:36:26 +0000

We've had a bit of a lull on the placement front over the past few months so we thought it was about time we had a fresh face in the studio to bring in the spring. Ben joins us after graduating with First Class Honours from the University of Central Lancashire and a stint of placements everywhere from our neighbours The Chase to London's finest, The Partners.

Ben's clever concepts and impressive work have been recognised by D&AD a number of times and he's already a familiar face at some of the UK's best design studios. We've picked out a few of our favourites from his portfolio here or if you fancy a nosey at some more of his work head over to his website.

OXO Brings a meal together - packaging solution and advertising campaign

GG - Brand Identity and design for horse racing inspired waistcoats

Main image: Lemon cake recipe poster. Click here to buy your own.

Made North

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:36:45 +0000

On Tuesday Rob, Tom and I popped over to Liverpool for the Made North conference. We sat and listened to 15 — yes 15! — talented creatives talk to us about their work, designing the future and what makes the North so special. It would be an absolute mission to go through them all so I've picked out some of our favourites from the day to tell you about.

Kicking off the talks was Matt Clarke of United Visual Artists. Their studio seems to be made up of many skills from Art Direction to Stage Design, Architecture, Moving Image and Computer Science. It's through this hot house of diverse skill sets that amazing ideas grow and are shown in the work they produce. The work seems to constantly push what is possible and experimenting is key. A few examples of their work include four world tours with Massive Attack. During their first tour, new artwork was produced daily using real-time news to create a 'picture of now'. Other works include 'Canopy' (see video) that was inspired by walking through a forest with the light flickering through the tree tops. Two other projects worth checking out are Chorus and Volume.

Sticking with the Digital Installations theme we were then introduced to Eva Rucki, Co-Founder of Troika. I was blown away by the work produced by this collective, some truly captivating projects that left you wondering 'how does that work?'. Working from a railway arch they produce all their installations in-house. Here are a couple of examples of their work.

Thixotropes is a beautiful light sculpture that was commissioned by Selfridges London. It is constructed of thin steel bands that have been lined with strips of LEDs. The whole thing then spins on its axis at incredible speeds to create the illusion of a solid light sculpture. Truly inspirational.

Falling light has to be one of my favourites of the day. I love how the marriage of simple technology and minimal use of mechanics creates such a beautiful atmosphere. I wish I could have seen this installation in real life.

Cloud was one of their first major commissions back in 2008 for the BA luxury lounges at Heathrow Terminal 5. The sculpture is covered with 4638 flip-dots, the same mechanism that was used on 70s and 80s airport departure boards. The noise that it makes is synonymous with air travel and instantly evokes the feeling of going somewhere.

Anthony Dunne from Dunne & Raby took the chance to talk about some of his RCA students work in Designing for the Future. The two I loved were from James Chambers and both were based around machines having animalistic instincts to help prolong their own lives. The ideas are funny but I would actually love a floppy legged Disk Drive, if iPhones had legs the amount of accidental breakages would decrease dramatically.

To finish it I thought we'd bring it back to somewhere closer to home. Jason Iftakher, Co-Founder of Swifty Scooters gave us a quick talk on their company (that only launched in September 2011). Based in Salford, less than a mile from our doorstep comes a type of folding scooter that's proud to be made in the UK. After only a few months they are already racking up sales to customers and stockists around the world. The speed at which Swifty Scooters has taken off is incredible and just goes to show how a good design coupled with good craftsmanship can be very powerful indeed. And from the sounds of things there's many more exciting things yet to be seen from the company. Maybe after our trip to see their workshop you may find all of us at Raw scooting about Manchester on some shiny Swifty wheels.

Unfortunately I can't go through every single talk but here are a few others that I seriously suggest you check out.

Alexandra Deschamps-Sonjino's blog
Herb Kim - Thinking Digital
Sam Hoey from Jason Bruges Studio

Written by Toby, one of our designers.

Let There Be Light

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:22:04 +0000

Light installations are becoming more and more common, popping up in the most unlikely places (see one of our earlier posts on light installations in Derby). However, it was one of 30 pieces in Ghent, Belgium that had the whole studio mesmerised recently and eager to hop on a plane and see it for ourselves.

Over half a million people have visited this incredible LED-Light Cathedral which towers above one of the city’s main streets as part of the 2012 Light Festival. The imposing structure is made up of wood, which was then covered with 55,000 LED lights and reaches a huge 28 metres (92 ft.) into the sky.

Luminaire De Cagna, the official name of the installation, manages to use only 20 kWh of energy, which is pretty astounding considering the amount of lights that make up the design. It was created by an Italian family business of the same name that has been producing light displays since 1930. Starting with oil and carbine lights, the company then moved on to electric and, since 2006, has used LED-lights exclusively.

Find out more about the Light Festival here, we're definitely considering a trip next year!

Another year of refining our classical ear

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:15:52 +0000

2011 was a wonderful year for many reasons, but it was particularly lovely to be asked by our Salford neighbours the BBC Philharmonic orchestra to work with them on the visual identity for their 2011/2012 season.

Working alongside digital artist and photographer Andrew Brooks, we created the orchestra's season brochure, large-scale advertising and a range of other printed materials, all focussed on the exciting season of performances at The Bridgewater Hall.

The beautiful landscapes and epic interior images of The Bridgewater Hall, along with the simplicity of the design have captivated the audience’s imagination and we’re very pleased that the orchestra have asked us to work with them on creating the visual identity and advertising for their upcoming 2012/2013 season.

We already have some exciting plans and ideas to bring the upcoming concerts to life so we’ll look forward to sharing the new pieces with you over the coming months!

Take a closer look at the 2011/2012 visual identity.
Click here to see the orchestra’s upcoming concerts.

Happy Days

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:31:15 +0000

How happy are you?

What's the happiness index of our nation?

How to keep your husband/girlfriend/significant other happy.

The questioning and probing of how happy we deem ourselves to be is gathering pace with a new wave of government surveys and apps such as ‘Track Your Happiness’, which some may argue take the whole notion beyond a happy medium.

According to these recent surveys our happiness as a nation sits at 7.4 which will no doubt be given a boost for anyone that’s managed to pick up a copy of The Church of London’s happy January newspaper The Good Times, which was rather aptly published on the alleged most depressing day of the year, January 16.

According to the website, this new slant on the news is sourced globally through social media channels, seeking out the people and organisations who are giving us reasons to be cheerful about the troubled times we live in, covering everything from politics to the arts.

Put together in just a week, the newspaper is filled with beautiful illustrations and a healthy dose of good news to brighten up the dark days of January, which may otherwise be solely remembered for a fatally flippant cruise captain and another blow to our fashionable French neighbour’s credit rating.

If you’ve not managed to get your hands on a copy you can still view the online version here. Or, if you prefer your dose of happiness short and snappy we’d recommend investing in one of these cheery prints that we found during our own Google search for happiness.

Buy one here.

The Good Times images are courtesy of The Church of London and Creative Review.

Raw the bakers and Christmas treat makers

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:23:59 +0000

After the success of our Christmas by Colour project and last year’s 11 out of 10 poster, we thought it was time for a change so we decided to try our hand at a bit of baking for this year’s festivities.

Armed with the help of old faithful Delia and a few family favourites from the archive, we put on our pinnys and whipped up some suitably festive delights for our lovely friends and clients to enjoy whilst listening to a good bit of Wham.

Although we’ve been burning the midnight oil to get them all wrapped and ready, seeing the finished jars left us feeling rather satisfied and considering our chances in next year’s Great British Bake Off.

If you fancy trying your hand at making some yourself, we’ve popped the recipes below for you.

Gingerlicious Gingerbread Elves

140g unsalted butter
100g dark muscovado sugar
3 tablespoon golden syrup
350g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
3 balls stem ginger from a jar, chopped

Heat your oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Melt butter, sugar and syrup in a pan. Mix flour, soda, spices and a pinch of salt. Stir in the butter mix and chopped ginger to make a sturdy dough.

Wait until cool then roll out dough to 5mm thick and cut out the men. Lift onto baking sheets. Bake for 10 mins or until golden. Cool for 10 mins then lift onto a rack.

Festive and Fruity Florentines

150g dark chocolate
25g butter, plus a little for greasing
75g caster sugar
10g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
65ml double cream
50g whole almonds, blanched
and cut into thin slivers
50g ready-flaked almonds
50g whole candied peel, chopped
25g glacé cherries, chopped
25g angelica, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 190C/gas 5. Melt 25g of butter with sugar and flour in a saucepan over a very low heat until melted. Gradually add cream, stirring to keep smooth. Add the remaining ingredients, except the chocolate. Stir then remove pan from the heat and cool.

Brush baking sheets with melted butter and dust with flour. Place heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture onto sheets leaving an inch between each one. Flatten each one with the back of the spoon. Bake on a high shelf for 12-15 mins then leave to cool before adding melted chocolate to the base and a little drizzle on top.

Nut Cracking Cranberry Cookies

175g butter , softened
85g golden caster sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
225g plain flour
75g pistachios
75g dried cranberries
chunks of white chocolate (optional)

Mix butter, sugar and vanilla extract with a wooden spoon. Stir in flour then add pistachios and cranberries (get your hands in if needed to make a dough). Halve the dough and shape into 2 logs about 5cm across. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Slice logs into 1cm-thick rounds, place on a baking tray lined with parchment and bake for 12-15 mins, then leave to cool on the tray.

Grandma’s Snowy Irish Truffles

3 tablespoons of desiccated coconut
3 tablespoons of porridge oats
3 tablespoons of caster sugar
2 tablespoons of finest cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of milk
2oz of best butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Mix the coconut, porridge oats, sugar and cocoa powder together in a bowl. Melt the butter and milk together in a pan and pop the vanilla essence in. Add the melted mixture to the bowl of ingredients and stir together. Finally, roll into balls and coat with some extra coconut to make your truffles look like little snowballs. Pop in the fridge when you’re finished to keep them nice and firm.

The Artful Mr. Spiegelman

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

I was reminded by Guardian journalist Jonathan Jones last week of a name that I had last been aware of back during my final year of university. Jones’ article examined the underground comics and influences behind the current flourishing Occupy movement and amongst the V for Vendetta mask discussion was a nod to the work of artist and writer Art Spiegelman.

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.

D&AD President’s Lecture

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:28:00 +0000

Last Thursday I attended Alexandra (or Alex as we are now to call her) Taylor’s D&AD President’s Lecture.

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.

Michael Mercer-Brown

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:13:24 +0000

Following on from our last placement Mr. Wan, it’s been rather nice to have another talented young designer join our team, if only for a short while. Michael Mercer-Brown was the very-deserving winner of our type contest back in May with his beautiful Upper East Side typeface, inspired by the subway photography of Bruce Davidson.

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.

The Grand Charity Total

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:48:39 +0000

Raw 5 was not only an opportunity to celebrate 5 years in business and collaborate with hundreds of artists from around the world, it also allowed us to raise the rather lovely and, hopefully useful, sum of £600 for the Wood Street Mission.

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.

ISTD Awards

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:06:28 +0000

Tom and Toby headed down to the big smoke on Friday for an evening of typographic delights and to see if our own 11 out of 10 project had impressed this year’s ISTD judges.

The quality of work was truly outstanding and we were really honoured to be in such good company for what was a wonderful evening. We were awarded a Certificate of Excellence for 11 out of 10 so there were plenty of smiles in the studio on this rather gloomy Monday!

If you’d like one of the posters there are still a few left in our type shop for sale.

Afternoon at the museum

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 11:18:43 +0000

"That's the old logo!" I hear you cry. Well yes, it certainly is. However, this isn't a blog about Hat-trick's new identity for the Imperial War Museums, but a visit to IWM North in Salford. Plus, since the visit came before the release of said identity, let's take a leaf out of the subject matter and delve into the past.

Since joining Raw many moons ago, I've definitely done the rounds of Manchester's museums and galleries. Salford Quay's broken globe had — until last Sunday — evaded me. First of all, the building itself: renowned architect, Daniel Libeskind designed the building from a 'shattered globe'. The concept reflecting the effect that war has on the world. This concept has since been tweaked to form the basis of the new IWM identity that was released just this week.

Once you enter, the main gallery is like an aircraft hold. It's a huge hall that has been cut and divided into sections. It's a very impressive space, certainly more Eurofighter than Spitfire.

Despite the abundance of guns, tanks and even a Harrier jet, most of my attention was taken by the various prints and posters. I photographed everything that featured a typeface, however due to the low light and crappy 'point-and-shoot' most of my documentation came out blurry. Let this be a lesson to all.

Every hour the lights drop and a video plays all around the interior with dozens of projectors and ambient sound. The multiple projectors, unorthodox architecture and impressive sound system combine to create a dramatic experience. On the credits I noticed a couple of the videos were created by fellow Mill-ites, Soup Collective.

There was a special exhibition about the role of war media commentary. I had seen a similar exhibition in Amsterdam's Foam Gallery, but that was purely photography-based. This had a much more child-friendly approach with less focus on death and destruction and more on dressing-up like Martin Bell. Having said that, the final display was an infographic about how many reporters had been killed over the last decade.

The gift shop, always the best place to end a museum/gallery visit, was filled with the — hopefully soon to be out of vogue — Keep Calm posters, mugs, pencils, pregnancy tests etc. However, there were some great postcards of a similar ilk, including a great line that I may now live my life by:

"To dress extravagantly in War time is worse than bad form, it is unpatriotic."

Written by our senior designer, Tom.

Open Heritage Days

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:18:41 +0000

A bit late with posting this but a couple of us went on an adventure last Saturday for the Open Heritage Days. Our first stop was the Victorian Baths in Chorlton-on-Medlock. As well as the history of the Baths themselves there was also a Mecano exhibition going on which may have stolen our attention for some time.

Music by The Octopus Project - Truck

Other things that caught our eye were the hand painted numbers above each of the changing rooms, a room full of doors that was very Doctor Who and the opening sequence to a movie (which we didn't stay to watch).

Then a short drive across to Chorltonville to view Ecosperic's showroom for a very informative tour around a beautiful super eco home.

They also had some very cool Bengal cats.

We're 5 years old now!

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:25:56 +0000

After plenty of planning, Raw 5 is finally complete and, even if we do say so ourselves, it was a pretty good do!

We filled our home, Islington Mill with all our favourite people for an evening of birthday-themed collaborations, dancing and hog-feasting.

Over 70 pieces of birthday-themed artwork from designers and illustrators across the world were featured in the exhibition. Each unique canvas was up for sale at £15, with all profits going to our local charity for children and families, the Wood Street Mission.

Illustrator Matt Sewell also joined us on the night to create a giant birthday canvas, which one of our lucky guests won in the charity raffle.

To remember the occasion we decided to follow the royals’ route of a commemorative plate, illustrated by the wonderful Deanna Halsall, and featuring the seven of us in all our fifth birthday glory.

Most importantly, the event felt like, not only a great commemoration of our personal achievements over the past five years, but a celebration of what can happen when you get in touch with hundreds of creatives and see what you can all achieve together. The fact that we were raising money for the guys over at the Wood Street Mission really was the icing on our rather lovely birthday cake!

There are still some canvases available so if you’d like your own little piece of the collaboration visit the Raw 5 site from Tuesday to bag one.

Inspiration with every note

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:16:16 +0000

We are so pleased to be able to share this project with you all. It was going to be one of the first pieces that we featured on the new site but as everyone has been talking about it, we thought we’d show you some more of it now.

The BBC Philharmonic orchestra came to us looking for a new visual identity to bring to life their thrilling performances. We decided to team up with photographer and digital artist Andrew Brooks to embody the orchestra's progressive and inspirational work through beautiful images and a new simple, elegant design.

Our Creative Director, Rob Watson has thoroughly enjoyed working on this Salford collaboration: “Collaborating with Andrew Brooks has brought a great deal to the project as his work is all about bringing an atmosphere and feel to a picture, and we’ve really been able to capture the creativity of the orchestra’s music through the new design.”

Take a look through some of the new pieces here, we hope you enjoy them and if you’re inspired enough, click here to grab yourself a ticket:

The 2011-2012 season brochure

Mahler concert design

BLAB 8

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:52:26 +0000

After missing Blab 7 (which sold out in record breaking speed) we had all sat patiently around our Macs, constantly refreshing the Meetup page for Blab 8 to make sure we were one of the first to get our hands on those golden tickets.

The event started out as one of our Raw family outings, but by the evening of the event it was reduced to a skeleton party of 2! Our grumbles were short lived once we realised we could take the others beer tokens which more than made up for their absence.

Kicking off the night, no less than an hour late as standard Blab events go, was Studio Output. The studio was represented by the studio directors & comedy duo Rob Coke and Ian Hambleton, a.k.a loose cannon.

What was most amazing about the work from Studio Output was how varied it was, and their can-do approach to any brief. Just because they've never done something before or haven't a clue how to do it doesn't stop them from taking on interesting briefs. Their work covers a diverse range from solid graphic design (with a touch of purple marmite) for the Ministry of Sound to interactive packs for the Granimator App.

They even worked on launching Cher Lloyd after her time on the X Factor. We have to say, from the work we saw they have done a brilliant job of making her look 'cool'. They revealed to us their secret was to collaborate with all of the coolest people across the industry that they've always wanted to work with, thus making Cher look that bit cooler.

The second talk of the night came from the incredibly talented Ian Wharton. Not wanting to be trapped in one area of the creative world his work ranges from apps to websites and even to TV adverts. Probably his most well known pieces of work are the apps for Jamie Oliver, but his portfolio is a whole treasure trove of astounding projects. I personally love the Audi Economy Drive advert (devised by BBH London) and the game trailer for EA Battlefield 2.

Audi Economy Drive from Ian Wharton on Vimeo.

EA Battlefield 2 from Ian Wharton on Vimeo.

As we sat and listened to Ian it reminded us of how we felt back at University: fearless. His tireless attitude to work is clearly what has led to him becoming an experienced Creative Director at such a young age.

Coming away from the night it has inspired another new personal project as I'm sure it did for many others in the audience. Blab continues to grow in popularity and importance to the creatives in and around Manchester. We're already looking forward to Blab 9.

Raw 5

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:22:35 +0000

It’s hard to believe that Raw is very soon to be 5 and the studio is currently a hub of activity as we plan and prepare for our impending celebrations. Throwing a party should be simple in theory, however a team of designers and other creatives were never really going to go down the easy route.

We’ve been researching, posting canvases and creating a dedicated website for our Raw 5 party and exhibition which involves over 100 collaborators from around the world. All of the money raised from the collaborative canvases will be going to our local charity the Wood Street Mission, helping children and families that live in difficult circumstances.

If you’d like to keep up-to-date with the plans find us on Twitter or visit Raw 5 to check out some of the contributors.

Awards Time

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:44:12 +0000

After two successful turns at the Roses Design Awards we’ve been nominated for two more awards at this year’s big night. Firstly, for our stationery which we’re very proud of and secondly, our 11 out of 10 project which you can still snap up here.

If you want to see us posing with last year’s gong visit the Roses’ site and we’ll let you know how we fare on 13th October. Fingers crossed.

Mr. Tim Wan

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:05:42 +0000

After a lull of placements in the studio it was great to have Leeds College of Art graduate and D&AD New Blood winner Tim Wan join us for the past four weeks. After getting used to our questionable sense of humour and ridiculous tea collection Tim has settled in and we’ll all be sad to see him fly the nest and continue with his placements and job hunting.

Here’s a little summary from Tim on how he’s found coexisting with us all:

“Working with the guys at Raw has given me a taste of what it's like to work with a group of tea-drinking, calorie-counting and cat & dog obsessed people, who spend their time in a lovely minimal studio. I've been involved in a range of client and self initiated briefs, which is all pretty exciting stuff and Salford will be missed as I go on to the next place.”

As we’ve loved flicking through all of his projects so much we thought we’d share a few of his pieces with you.

Thought Publication

Stubburban

LCA End of Year Show

Main image: Predictions Visit Tim's site here

Anyone for a hot one?

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:19:07 +0000

I think it's safe to say that as a country we have always been lovers of a good brew and it seems that as coffee chains grow ever more prolific on the high street, the tea brigade are offering up a more stylish alternative to the British public.

From 2002 when Moby and Kelly Tisdale opened a tea cafe/restaurant in New York called TeaNY following a hangover craving for a decent brew from Moby, the movement has reached boiling point across the pond.

Manchester has created two tea shops for leaf lovers just around the corner from each other in the Northern Quarter. Mr Scruff, purveyor of fine music, has added tea to his talents with his cosy café Teacup where you can also devour a yummy range of foodie delights.

The new kid on the block is North Tea Power. They offer a great assortment of loose-leaf teas and you can try out weird and wonderful flavours such as popcorn alongside a nice traditional Early Grey. You can also order yourself a tea cappuccino as North Tea Power boasts Manchester’s very first espresso machine tea (yet to try it but it definitely sounds interesting).

If you prefer to enjoy a quality brew in the comfort of your own home then All About Tea by Moving Brands is a real treat. I have to say I truly love this logo. Maybe it's because I recognise the pattern from a utensil I overlook every single day, the tea strainer. It also references the leaves floating about in the water or in tea bags. A great identity that's not your average PG Tips.

Finally, a place that is close to my heart, the wonderful Imperial Teas. Situated in the old part of Lincoln, in the historical Norman House, this teashop houses more leaves than The New Forest. Maybe not as chic as the previous examples but back when I lived in Lincoln this was my favourite stop for all my tea (and coffee) needs. From floor to ceiling the walls are covered in black jars containing hundreds of teas, some even going for £100 for 100g!

Hopefully all this talk of teas has got you in the mood for a decent cuppa and a break from the comforting cocoon of the coffee house.

Working With Wolves

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:36:22 +0000

After a flurry of football wins we have secured ourselves another exciting pre-season contract with Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers, or as they’re more commonly known, Wolves.

We’re going to be working with the side to create and implement a brand strategy, which will include all of the club’s sub-brands and stadium signage and graphics. Work on the project has already kicked off with the first phase going live for the start of the new Premier League season in August. This will include developing areas of the club’s brand such as retail and family communications and a redesign of the stadium’s signage.

We were lucky enough to meet the Wolves team whilst giving a presentation to all of the Premier League clubs on the importance of environmental graphics, and the positive impact for both clubs and fans. Wolves got in touch soon after and we’re very much looking forward to working with them to create an experience that really engages and interacts with the fans.

Barcelona

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:18:26 +0000

Ahead of our first Raw wedding this weekend between our creative director (Rob) and copywriter (Ruth) we thought we'd share some of the design we did for Rob's pre wedding trip to Barcelona.

Rather than the traditional tacky t-shirts it was decided to go for a more subtle touch in pin badges, including a few helpful phrases to get us through the weekend. A flyer was designed too with helpful info just in case we misplaced anyone along the way (which we didn't, thankfully).

Highlight has to be watching FC Barcelona v RCD Espanyol, and seeing Messi & Co work their magic.

Grassroots football

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 08:53:47 +0000

As the football season wraps up ready for a well-earned rest, we’ve been appointed by The Football Association to create a range of marketing and communication training resources for grassroots leagues and clubs.

The online-based resources, including a range of animated videos, will take a look at key areas for the 1,100 leagues and 37,500 clubs in the country to focus on, such as sponsorship opportunities and increasing the club’s profile within the local community.

Darren Bernstein, County FA Business Support Manager said: “Raw understood our brief very clearly and presented us with a visual style that grassroots volunteers and members of the National League system clubs alike could really take ownership of and, most importantly, use to effectively market their clubs.”

We’re very excited about the project and we’ll look forward to sharing it with you all in October when it is due to go live.

Cannes: the glamour and evolving design on the Croisette

Mon, 23 May 2011 09:23:53 +0000

Each year the Cannes film festival seems to creep up as we see the first glimpse of a famous face soaking up the glorious sunshine and the clear blue seas of the Med. The festival is a not only a showcase for decadent fashion and film, it’s also an event, which although deeply rooted geographically, is keen each year to explore new themes and play with its visual identity.

The festival has just completed its 64th year and still holds the power to attract the world’s greatest filmmakers, actors and avid film-followers. After catching a glimpse of this year’s beautiful poster adorned with the iconic Faye Dunaway, we decided to take a look through the poster archives and see how a festival renowned for its charm and mystery has sold its own story to the world.

In the early years, Cannes focused on romantic illustrations and a rich, earthy colour palette.

’58 and ’66 explored the themes of typography and have a more abstract element than the earlier identities.

Here are two very different photographic approaches that both showcase the true allure of Cannes: the sea and the stars.

This year’s offering created by Jerry Schatzberg, a photographer and filmmaker, seems to perfectly combine the heady glamour of the Bardot and Dunaway eras with the cinematic dream world that we are still so eager to slip into for our dose of escapism and mystery.

All photographs are courtesy of the festival's official website.

Ladies and gentlemen that lunch

Tue, 17 May 2011 11:54:04 +0000

The advantages of working in a small studio is that we get to spend plenty of time as a whole team, and one of our favourite discussion points is food and how much we enjoy making it, and most of all, eating the finished article.

To silence our grumbling tummys we decided to embark upon a weekly lunch fixture, within which we all take a turn at producing some culinary delights for our Wednesday lunch hour. From pasta and pastries, to posh sandwiches the results have been pretty delicious and we thought it was worth sharing our home-cooked delights with you all.

First up, Toby cooked us a lamb hot pot with olives, tomatoes and spinach and Mike, our token veggie tucked into a roasted veg, harissa and chickpea salad plus copious amounts of bread.

Studio manager Steve introduced us to Mama Longbottom's French Spaghetti - a one-pot pasta dish, with tomatoes, parsley and cheese. The best bit was the crunchy crispy topping.

Our second Steve raided Chorlton’s finest deli delights and treated us to some yummy platters of just about everything.

Tom’s vegetarian lasagne was our next delicious treat. The secret is the homemade egg pasta sheets, rich white sauce and fresh organic vegetables.

Next up was a chorizo chilli from my good self with a slosh of red wine and plenty of bread to soak it all up.

Jamie’s black olive and feta cannelloni went down a treat with just a kick of chilli to fire us up for the afternoon ahead.

Our creative director Rob assembled a series of freshly made sandwiches including chicken & chorizo, goat’s cheese, spinach and chutney and a classic cheese and ham on crusty white bread.

Last but not least was Mike’s goat’s cheese and watercress quiche, 3 cheese & spinach filo pie (feta, ricotta and parmesan) served with two fresh salads and lots of bread. And, we were all treated to a raspberry cheesecake for pud.

Hungry yet? We certainly are.

Meaningful Spaces

Fri, 06 May 2011 14:35:22 +0000

We've recently been doing some really interesting work for the Premier League that involves looking at how we can make football stadia more positive and vibrant places. As part of the work, we've found some wonderful examples of how super graphics and signage can be applied to enhance the visitor experience.

Arizona Cardinals - designed by Michael Gericke and his team at Pentagram - have created a stadium experience that is a true celebration of the club and its values. The advantages of working with the architects during the design phase of the stadium are plain to see as each and every space is carefully considered, from the vast walls of concrete to the urinal floors.

High Endeavour Middle School, New York is another Pentagram masterpiece. The school was developed with the help of both teachers and pupils, and this collaborative approach has created some beautiful results. An old building that bore many of the drab aspects of school life - concrete pillars, grey walls, vast lifeless sports halls - has been completely transformed, using the simplest of methods such as block colours and typographic messages based on school mottos and teachers’ favourite sayings. The result is vibrant and exciting spaces where the architecture becomes part of the motivational learning for the pupils.

Back on UK soil, Arsenal were faced with criticism from their fans that the Emirates Stadium lacked the history, tradition and atmosphere of the old stadium (although the nickname 'Highbury the library' suggests otherwise). The club embarked on a mission to ‘Arsenalise’ the new space by delving into the history, tradition and past glories of the side, and by doing so, the designers have managed to create a real sense of pride.

Having had the opportunity to look around a number of Premier League stadiums - the world’s most lucrative football league - it is apparent that the majority of clubs have yet to grasp the potential impact of creating positive spaces for fans to congregate. Modern football fans come from all walks of life - male and female, old and young, multi-ethnic. They are a far cry from the hooligans associated with the game in the 80s but you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise if you glanced at the signs around Premier League stadiums. Not only does improving stadium artwork and signage give clubs a chance to celebrate their history, traditions and connect to fans, it also gives them the opportunity to make their lucrative league a worthy winner of the fans’ affections.

An Entrepreneurial Evening

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 08:52:05 +0000

We let you know a little while ago that we’d been nominated for two awards at this year’s Salford Business Awards and, after some interesting entertainment from Secret Millionaire Dawn Gibbons and meeting lots of our fellow Salfordians, we were very pleased to be announced the winners of the Entrepreneur Award.

The judges paid us some lovely compliments, describing our “drive and commitment to get to know our clients’ needs” as a really important part of our success. Spending an awards evening with so many diverse companies was a refreshing change from the design-only industry awards that we’ve become used to attending, and the night opened our eyes to all of the other great work that’s going on around our wonderful city!

Street Art

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:54:21 +0000

Street Art can be a divisive subject. It tends to be grouped with graffiti or tagging, but it can be a legitimate and powerful tool for expression of ideas and for breathing fresh air into derelict urban spaces. Personally, I find it exciting. By its very nature, it confronts you in your daily routine, and reaches out to everyone who passes by. It deserves credit for its ability to involve the public and challenge ideas, and even for just jazzing up a grey urban space.

Check out a few of these examples to see how artists around the world are shaping their streets.

An incredible project in New Orleans.

Impressive wall art from just down the road in Manchester.

Another beautiful example of how art can change the mood of an area.

Whether it’s on your doorstep or a trip to a new city, get outside, look around and find some near you. Or dare I say it, create some.

Pinteresting

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 16:26:48 +0000

I know Pinterest isn't exactly new but after so many of us here in the studio use it (actually, we’re rather addicted) we felt it was about time to do our bit and spread the word. In case ‘Pinterest’ is yet to enter your vocabulary, it’s a handy website which allows you to collect images from other users (whom you can add as friends), your desktop and other websites so that you can collect all your favourites together onto digital pinboards.

We've been fortunate enough to have had accounts from very near the beginning so have seen the gradual build up of users and the expanding variety of 'pins'. I know how frustrating it was to be a late arriver to the image bookmarking site FFFFound and being unable to create an account. Pinterest is similar to FFFFound in the sense that a user can instantly upload/link to an image but it also has some handy extras and a much more ‘homely’ feel that you'll wonder how you did without.

Pinterest seem to have created an overarching ethereal style that you could easily believe had been pinned by one mind, which may be down to the selective members process or just collective herding.

You'll find an instant fix from the vast amount of pins constantly being posted whilst you take 5 and grab a cup of tea. From interior design to quotes to live your life by, or tantalising recipes and stylish haircuts you can easily become lost in the plethora of pins.

Some of my favourites are: a bread crumb collector for birds;

holding hands mittens;

a beautiful wallet in its simplest form;

I even collect the odd image of a bear.

It can even stir up heart-warming memories from your childhood. Making dens in the living room from some old sheets and a bag of wooden pegs, or maybe even helping build one for your children.

The site is a great source of the weird and the wonderful where you will be constantly unearthing innovative ideas that leaves you thinking, 'Why didn't I think of that?'

Foolish Friday

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:27:40 +0000

Well, as today is April 1st, and we’re really trying to avoid ‘wedding fever’, we thought we’d share with you some of our favourite ‘fools’.

First up is BMW who took royal wedding hysteria and weaved it into a piece of April 1st trickery. The crafty car manufacturer announced this morning that they were offering drivers the chance to ‘marque the occasion’ with a limited edition BMW M3 Coupe in regal red, bridal white and imperial blue, all adorned with a commemorative ‘Will’ emblem. The giveaway was the contact email: pauline.yorlegg@bmw.co.uk.

Google opted for a type treatment trick by having its search results for Helvetica appear in Comic Sans. Although a slight failing was that many designers don’t have comic sans installed on their Macs so the joke didn't quite pay off.

Both the broadsheets and the tabloids have also had some seriously silly tales to tell including app-loving primates, enforced Labour street parties for the upcoming Miliband nuptials and the top ten silliest walks in Britain from Tory favourite, The Telegraph.

Finally, our favourite of the day has to be the brilliant Playmobil Apple Store from Think Geek, which comes complete with teeny tiny iPads and iPhones. We’d definitely be in the queue for this if it ever comes to market.

Manchester's First Design Symposium

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:22:11 +0000

Yesterday we had the pleasure of heading back to university for the very first Manchester Design Symposium. Although we weren’t able to enjoy the glorious Manchester sunshine, the afternoon of talks and discussions around the value of design still managed to keep us smiling. There was an impressive line up to enjoy including Eye magazine co-owner John Walters, legendary graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook and other greats that we’ll share later.

Illustrator Si Scott started off the entertainment, taking us through his impressive client list and sharing his thoughts on the well-loved computer: “I don’t like computers… and computers don’t like me.” Si also expressed his views on how subjective design is and we have to say that as much as we admire his commercial success and his technical ability, we were left a little in the dark to his thoughts on the value of design.

Next up was the talented writer and Eye magazine co-owner John Walters who talked us through his passion for print and touched upon the wide variety of essays and articles that Eye has published since it was founded back in 1990. There was plenty of note taking as he went through inspiring campaigns, books and films that we’re all eager to follow up in the studio.

Type Guru Bruno Maag took to the stage to end the first act, starting off with a semi-rant about licensing and then swiftly moving on to his belief in the hand drawn roots of design and how much value great fonts can add to the community. The sheer size of the projects that he works on with his partner Elizabeth Dalton at their studio Dalton Maag was both terrifying and inspiring, the Ubuntu typeface is a great example of the detail and level of work that goes into creating a new typeface for a wealth of languages.

After a swift coffee break, we headed back to hear Jonathan Barnbrook talk typefaces. It’s clear that Jonathan has done his share of talks and he talked simply and eloquently about his sources of inspiration, including stealth bombers, missiles and serial killers. It was a real pleasure to see more of his work and, totally off the ‘value of design’ focus, we think he’s a little bit like Robert Webb but maybe that’s just us?

Finally, Tom Dorresteijn of Studio Dumbar, who came all the way from the Netherlands, really focused on the value of design and the emotional nature of great work. He liked the phrase ‘turning people on’ and the more he talked about ‘touching people’ and turn-ons, the more we got an insight into how Studio Dumbar approach their work. His realistic views on finding a balance between ‘the heart’ and business probably summed up the value of design more so than any of the other speakers.

The inaugural Mancunian design symposium was a really enjoyable way to spend an afternoon and apart from misspelling Bruno Maag’s surname (Magg it is not) all of the organisers put together an interesting and diverse range of speakers, and the consensus from the day’s 'hashtagging' is an eagerness for more of the same. We’re sure to be there, even if it does mean missing a rare afternoon of northern sunshine.

The Beauty of Hanami

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:16:57 +0000

This ancient Japanese tradition is perhaps one of the most beautifully simple customs I have ever heard of. Hanami is an annual festival centred around the beauty of flowers. In fact the name Hanami literally translates as “flower viewing”.

Every year around this time, as Spring blooms into life, the Japanese monitor the weather forecasters as they try to predict when the blossom will arrive so that they can plan their parties.

The practice is many centuries old and is celebrated by gathering with friends and family underneath the Cherry Blossoms, with a feast and Sake. The parties also take place at night, providing an opportunity to adorn the trees with handmade paper lanterns.

Traditionally, poems would also be written about the blossoms, which were “seen as a metaphor for life itself, luminous and beautiful, yet fleeting and ephemeral”.

So I’m keeping my eye on the trees, and when the blossom arrives I’m grabbing a bottle of Sake and getting out there to join the celebrations. I urge you to do the same.

A Brief Encounter

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:24:02 +0000

Placements. You want one? Well, we can offer you one, but it’ll cost you… 1 creative project to be exact. Best case scenario, you’ll get a month-long placement and some recognition for your efforts. Worst case scenario, you’ll have a lovely new project to add to your portfolio.

As the origin of Raw Type is based on typographic experimentation, we thought we’d stick to our roots with an open brief encouraging the same process. We want you to create a typeface based on one of the following themes: time, sound, photography or light. As well as the typeface, we’d like you to create a poster promoting your creation.

Technical Spec
—
Themes: Time, Sound, Photography, Light
Typeface: A-Z and 0-9. Extra points for more glyphs, upper & lower-case etc.
Poster: A2 portrait/landscape
Deadline: 15th April 2011
How to Submit: PDFs, no larger than 5MB to submit@rawtype.co.uk. Must contain the typeface, poster and explanatory text about the idea and method.

We will pick our favourite from each theme and then open it up to the design community to select the overall best and winner of the placement. If you have any questions, use the comments below – that way, everyone can benefit. Have fun everyone!

Guerrilla Urbanism

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:22:11 +0000

On a mundane midweek drive home from work I found myself absorbed in Radio 4’s Four Thought programme, which focuses on stories and ideas that affect our future. Football writer and columnist David Goldblatt took to the microphone this week to discuss urban regeneration and the state of our urban spaces.

After a tirade on the ‘grotesque pile’ that is 1 Hyde Park, describing such developments - and our zeal to provide them - as a stark contrast to the deep-rooted social and economic problems that our country faces, Goldblatt introduced us to Stokes Croft.

On the outskirts of Bristol city centre sits Stokes Croft, the anti 1 Hyde Park and the home of a great example of ‘guerrilla urbanism’. Chris Chalkley, the founder of the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft, set about using art and Bristol’s great street art culture to transform the area and help the community shape its future.

Through Chris’s acts of guerrilla beautification and his drive to create an area that encourages community participation and celebrates historic local crafts, the area has flourished and developed in line with local people’s wishes. This approach particularly struck a chord with our studio as we find ourselves in the middle of the regeneration of Chapel Street and the council buy-up of many of our surrounding buildings in Salford.

We can only hope that the council seize upon the wealth of creative talent that has made Salford its home and embrace the power that the arts can have on effective urban regeneration. In the words of Goldblatt, developers and councils should learn to nurture the goose that laid the golden egg and not force it to take flight to new lands.

Listen to the show here.

Blab followed by a dose of Onedotzero

Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:19:16 +0000

After a period of hibernation throughout January we decided to leave the comforts of our studio and head out to listen to some great people chat about what they do and how they do it. Blab is a monthly event, organised by Manchester man Matt Booth. This month’s line up was too good to pass up with the wonderful Mr Bingo and developer Hoss Gifford taking to the stage. It was a great night with plenty of lager, laughs and rather a lot of 'See You Next Tuesday' mentions, surprisingly.

Hoss entertained and wowed the audience with his personal insights into the design industry and his beautiful, innovative work. Up next was illustrator Mr Bingo who proved that he could stand up with the best stand up acts around as he navigated through his illustrations and everyday musings with all the wit and craft of a honed comedian. We left 'biggin' up the bingo' with plenty of Hoss's thoughts scribbled down to digest the next day.

Our second lecture of the week was a D&AD President's lecture from the Founder and Creative Director of Onedotzero, Shane Walter. It's incredibly hard to sum up exactly what Onedotzero do without pigeonholing them into a specific area of the creative industry. Shane touched upon this in his lecture explaining that it's difficult to describe their many functions in an elevator pitch. They've organised a vast number of international festivals in over 100 countries; they’ve done their bit in the education sector helping young designers such as myself; and they've also worked with the Rolling Stones on their tour visuals.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to one of their Cascade workshops where I had the opportunity to work with some great likeminded individuals and listen to the advice of creatives such as Greyworld, Glue London, Quayola, Squint Opera and many others.

Even though in terms of studio output there's not much similarity between Raw and Onedotzero, we were really inspired as we walked back with just a blur of thoughts and ideas. Afterwards we completely lost track of time as we grabbed a bite to eat and got all of our ideas down on napkins 'Mad Men style'.

DNA

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 17:26:35 +0000

It's almost the time for another wave of graduates to descend on the design community; smashing against design studio barriers and often ending up in the longshore drift of disappointment - ok enough with these geographical metaphors.

Raw were once again invited to Designers Northern Alliance (DNA) to provide portfolio critiques to soon-to-be-graduates. It was held at The Soup Kitchen in Manchester's creative home, the Northern Quarter. We were only supposed to be attending for an hour, but 6 hours (and a few free Amstels) later we stopped to breathe and analyse the current crop of design talent.

Jehona Bogujevci presented a solid portfolio, but ended with the most personal and heart-felt project that I've ever seen. Her 'Evidence Book' is a collection of photographs of her mother and sister who were tragic victims of the war in Kosovo.

David Ryan Robinson is an illustrator that has already used his own initiative in getting a commission to design Allie Moss's debut album. He uses a limited palette and the warped realism is a mixture of humour and the grotesque. Looking through his portfolio, we discovered an illustration of one of his characters looming menacingly over our own studio in Salford.

Augmented Reality

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:34:29 +0000

We’ve stumbled across some intriguing applications of augmented reality recently, both in advertising and non-advertising entities.

You can see a great video of an event organised to create a buzz around the launch of Tron: Legacy in Australia. Developed by interactive design company ENESS, the event used infrared lights alongside a camera to track the skaters’ positions. The skaters each wore an iPod Touch with a custom-built app, which measured airtime and positioning, triggering and projecting different visuals to suit each person.

A slightly more sedate but equally impressive example of the use of the technology can be seen in this modern day pop-up book. Using QF codes and a web cam, the page literally comes to life. Watch the video here or, even better, try it for yourself.

If you’ve got the bug and want to see even more great examples of this technology, take a look at this clever idea from global brand GE showing how large established brands can utilise the power of augmented reality.

The opportunities for practical and aesthetic applications of augmented reality must be endless. This may be out of our own field of expertise but we’re really excited about its future and how popular it will become within the design industry.

Main image taken from: Between Page and Screen.

Snooping with The Selby

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:49:58 +0000

I can’t go a step further without first saying, ‘wow’. I’ve been following The Selby online for a few months now and I’ve always been fascinated by it. The obvious reason is that it allows you to snoop around other people’s homes from the safety of your own desk without the fear of being asked, 'What the hell are you doing in my house?' It also seems much more authentic and varied than most creative/interior blogs and Todd Selby’s interview snippets always make for a great read.

These glimpses into the lives of creatives seem to becoming an integral part of the design world’s culture. With more artists and designers extending their talents to the world of interiors it’s only fitting that their own homes are opened to our eager eyes.

Todd Selby's blog has become such a must-read that he’s chronicled his adventures into people’s lives in a lovely coffee table hardback. Now if you're like me and thought the website was good, you'll be blown away by the book. Somehow from being in print the profiles take on a whole new life, it's as if the images have been scaled up a 1000 times and you're now seeing details you had previously missed.

As you peruse the numerous profiles one thing is clear, every home is a seamless extension of its inhabitants. You can almost smell the ‘Sex Panther’ aroma in Purple magazine editor, Oliver Zahm’s French abode. It’s so easy to put yourself in the many subjects’ shoes, envious of their carefree outlook or that they live in a warm enough climate to sleep under the stars (try doing that in Manchester).

After reading through this book it has left me with an overwhelming desire to go out and explore, to see new things and return on Monday morning filled with my own collection of inspiration. That, and a new respect for my friends and what makes them different from everyone else.

Image credit The Selby

Raw go RAR

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 08:50:31 +0000

It’s always nice to be recommended and it’s especially nice when you make it into the top 100 recommend agencies outside of London. The Recommended Agency Register (RAR) was set up to help brands find reliable and independent details of good quality agencies that aren’t based down in the big smoke.

Our ranking of 86 is a nice pat on the back for all of the great projects we’ve been working on of late and hopefully the good work will continue in 2011!

Print Status

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 12:23:11 +0000

As a design studio, print is part of our souls and we’re great advocates of the process and the ties that bind us to childhood books and thumbed magazine editions. On the flip side, the leaps in electronic books and ingenious apps are fascinating glimpses into how future generations will experience story telling and how we ourselves will continue to expand our collections.

Unit Editions, a small publishing venture between Adrian Shaughnessy and Tony Brook of Spin, illustrates the difficulties that today’s publishers face. After only a handful of projects, the duo have been forced to turn to other avenues to share their works. Amazon’s crushing discounts and the demise of the paper and string traditional bookseller have made the internet and electronic options the only feasible way for them to survive, and hopefully thrive.

This trend is also echoed by the giants of the publishing world, The Penguin Group. We stumbled upon this wonderful piece of copy last year and it demonstrates that publishing houses are already finding intelligent and engaging ways to ease readers into the inevitable shift towards electronic, whilst retaining the tactile, deeply-rooted bond with the book in its purest form.

However many heart twinges and grievances the new electronic era throws up, it is equally exciting and intriguing to see a childhood classic reinvented through a new medium. The Tale of Peter Rabbit viewed through the iPad feeds the imagination and is a magical way for children to experience this great classic, without losing the story’s integrity.

It is with mixed feelings that we observe the changing landscape of publishing but as technology moves forward, we believe that, albeit on a smaller scale, the craftsmanship of print will continue to create memories and retain its space on the shelf. It might just need to get used to rubbing shoulders with a shiny new iPad.

Main image courtesy of Unit Editions.

Reinventing Letterpress

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:55:41 +0000

A couple of weeks ago a lovely little book on letterpress fell through our letterbox, something we're always pleased to receive.

Adam Hickman Ewing of Yee-Haw Industries - whose lovely Christmas cards I wish I had seen a few months back when I would have had time to purchase some - offers some lovely but shocking insights into letterpress's fall from grace. Some of the acts mentioned like printers burning exquisite wooden type for fuel during the cold winter months surely would have been blasphemous in any typographer’s eye in those days, let alone now. I am just relieved in knowing that the skill of the printer/typesetter never truly died out and amazing prints still surround us today.

The foreword follows with a short history of printing that covers all the basics so as not to exclude any potential reader. Designers probably need not read this section unless you wish to wander down memory lane to those days sat in Art History lectures looking at slides and making notes. The rest of the book covers a huge range of prints from invites and posters to good old type experimentation that reminds me most of days in the print workshop at Art School.

Although there is an obvious craft and beauty that comes with hand set movable type it is the more recent introduction of photopolymer plates that has made the process so much more accessible and is what probably draws more designers in. With photopolymer plates a designer can work digitally and simply send the job to print as normal and receive lovely prints with thick ink, deep impressions and a strong smell of fumes. This added to a creative mind, has led to a massive increase in experimental and illustration-based prints. In my eyes, this is what makes letterpress so much more exciting again.

If you fancy something small enough to peruse on the train down to the D&AD President’s lectures but big enough to excite your creativity everytime you open it, Reinventing Letterpress is worth a buy.

Elf-initiated

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:56:46 +0000

'Tis the season to do something self-initiated and once again design and advertising agencies have been producing festive cards, videos, games and posters to add to the postal backlog we're currently experiencing.

How important is this tradition? Self-initiated work is often great fun and an opportunity to produce something without constraints. The challenge of a Christmas-themed piece is to produce something great that hasn't been done before.

A couple of years ago we released our Pantone-inspired Christmas by Colour poster. It was really well-received, featuring on countless blogs and it even earned us our first Roses Design Award. It certainly helped to raise our profile within the design community and we've been on the look out for this year's assortment of Christmas crackers.

D&AD are currently in the middle of their Ad-vent calendar (kudos for the play on words) where they are celebrating some of the best Christmas-related design over the years. We highly recommend you have a look, but before you all rush off here's a few that haven’t had the yellow pencil nod.

Twitter Knitter by Saint and RKCR/Y&R has had half the design world wracking their brains for the best festive lines, hoping to see their yuletide tweets knitted onto scarves for the homeless in Camden Town. A great way to spread some Christmas cheer and increase brand awareness.

Quietroom’s Santa Brand Book is a lovely example of seasonal wit. The scatter and fen diagrams are particularly successful. You can peruse the document and check you are conforming to Santa™ brand guidelines here.

Love Creative are taking advantage of the in-vogue QR codes. Each day a code can be scanned to reveal a treat including vouchers or simply a cool YouTube video. We've also spotted this wrapping paper which seems to work in a similar way.

Magpie Studio have produced another beautiful piece of work with two old dears, Holly and Ivy as the stars of the show. Just looking at the party hat perched on the silver set reminds us of many happy Christmases with our grannies.

Also, just because they're fantastically simple – here’s The Chase’s postage stamp card and Volkswagen’s snowflake.

The Light Fantastic

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 11:11:51 +0000

We are starting to see more and more use of light art and projection mapping across the design and advertising industry. Huge impressive light installations have been used for town celebrations or opulent corporate launches, and there’s even a suggestion that this could be an indicator of what the city centre Christmas lights of the future may look like (bye bye dodgy Blackpool illuminations).

But it’s the prospect of using light art to promote brands that’s got us really excited. A couple of impressive examples include Ralph Lauren who ‘cooled’ up their brand by celebrating 10 years of digital innovation by bringing their London flagship store to life. And more recently Disney hooked up with Hewlett Packard and used projection mapping to promote their anticipated sequel ‘Tron Legacy’ via an interactive experience on London’s Southbank.

There was also recent news coverage of more regional use of the technology, like the above installation in Derby by Evan Grant and his tech-collective ‘Seeper’ which proves that even on a smaller scale, light installations can be a breath of fresh air from more conventional routes.

We know it's a bit early...

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 11:45:47 +0000

Christmas is fast approaching and Islington Mill will be hosting its annual contemporary crafts fair tomorrow to mark the start of the festive season. The event sees the wealth of creative talent based at the mill showcase their work and offer a range of unusual, one-of-a-kind gifts and treats.

This year’s event is extra special as the mill’s ground floor has been transformed thanks to funding from Salford City Council and Arts Council England. There will be a range of beautiful pieces available at the event, including home accessories by Mr.PS; Limited edition prints from our good selves; and soft toys and greetings cards from Nerissa Cargill Thompson.

As well as the wide range of crafts available at the Christmas fair, there will also be a feast of festive favourites for you to enjoy with mulled wine, homemade soup and mince pies all on the menu.

The festivities take place on 25th November from 5:00pm until 9:00pm, making Christmas at the Mill the perfect winter evening warmer.

Also, if you’re out and about in Manchester over the festive period be sure to check out Grotto , the one stop festive pop up shop that has been set up by our fellow Mill dwellers, one69a and friends.

Seeds of Change

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 14:22:51 +0000

We stumbled across this amazing building the other day on Creative Times and thought we just had to give it a mention. The UK Pavilion is the brainchild of Heatherwick studio and is one of the most incredible things you’re likely to view, just looking at it online is an amazing experience.

It was developed for the Shanghai 2010 Expo. The event is the largest Expo ever with two hundred countries taking part and over 70 million visitors expected. The theme of the Expo is “Better City, Better Life” and a key client objective was for the UK Pavilion to be one of the five most popular attractions.

In their own words 'The design has three main aims: the first is to be a pavilion whose architecture is a direct manifestation of the content it exhibits; the second is to provide significant public open space in which visitors can relax; the third is to find a simple idea that is strong enough to stand out amidst the busyness of the hundreds of competing pavilions.'

The Seed Cathedral is a 20-metre high building, made up of 60,000 transparent 7.5 metre long optical strands, each of which has embedded within its tip a seed. The interior is silent and illuminated only by the daylight that has filtered past each seed through each optical hair. With over 50,000 people visiting each day, the UK Pavilion is one of the most popular pavilions and it isn’t difficult understand why. Heatherwick have created a truly inspirational and entrancing piece of design that we would very much like to visit and experience.

Good to be Green

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 08:47:54 +0000

With all the talk of cuts and Quangos, the environment seems to have taken a back seat in many people’s minds, but over at NHS Derbyshire they’ve retained their green-spirited plans. As part of a four-year initiative, NHS Derbyshire are looking to cut their carbon emissions by 25% and we were more than happy to help them on their way.

The Think Green campaign takes a community approach to thinking green and everyone is encouraged to muck in and do their bit. Whether it’s sharing embarrassing CD collections during a car trip to work or pledging to get to grips with the conference phone, Think Green gives everyone the opportunity to help the environment and hopefully enjoy themselves along the way.

Have a nosey at the website and if you fancy a minute of green goodness take a peek at the animated intro above.

Rosy Glow (and a nod from DADI)

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:44:54 +0000

The Roses Design Awards celebrates the best of the UK design industry outside of London. The awards took place last month and we donned our best ‘Mad Men’ style for the glittering ceremony.

Our Summer Health Campaign for NHS Barking and Dagenham was up in the Use of Illustration category against some great projects from Design by Music, Buddy and LOVE. We were really pleased to walk away with a Bronze award for this small project, which has received such positive feedback, both on the awards circuit and from the target audience. We now have a lovely pair (of awards) on our studio shelf to remind us of a successful 2 years at the Roses.

We also received a nod from the DADI awards last week for our Cocktales campaign, which restored our rosy glow after a very busy month in the Raw Studio.

Fingers crossed for next year!

A new world...

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 12:17:02 +0000

Andrew Brooks is a photographer, conceptual digital artist and filmmaker living and working in Manchester (just round the corner and up the stairs from our studio to be precise). He has recently released an eBook showcasing his New World collection of images, creating another avenue for people to discover his breathtaking work.

Much like Andrew’s creative processes, the eBook does not follow the traditional approach of flick and look. Each image is accompanied by an embedded audio track, explaining Andrew’s inspiration and ideas, allowing the user to become involved in the great stories behind the collection. There are also two videos, one of Andrew discussing his creative approach and a music video produced for Last Harbour which both make welcome additions.

The multi-sensory experience really takes the concept of eBooks to a new level and Andrew predicts that in time eBooks will bridge the middle ground between an artist’s website and their portfolio. We asked Andrew to share with us his experience of creating his first eBook.

1. Why did you produce an eBook?
Over the last couple of years I have started giving talks about my work, and through this I have realised that a little background information on the ideas behind my work and telling the story of how I made the shots really brings the images to life for the viewer and adds a whole other dimension. When I read about how eBooks were evolving and allowing embedded video and audio on iPads and iPhones I thought it would be a good chance to use this new platform to put together an eBook of my photography with this added information.

Also I chose to make an ebook because as opposed to having work on a website, an ebook allows for more control over how you show ideas, with a specific order to the images.

2. How long did it take you?
It took me around a month to put together as I ended up working my way through a few bits of software to find the one that created what I wanted. Also the process of uploading to Apple’s iBookstore was complicated as their submission guidelines are changing all the time because of enhanced eBooks being at such an early stage.

3. What software/techniques did you use?
I started out using Adobe Indesign but found this gave me too many options and control over the layout, and when open in eBook format made for a confusing read. When building an eBook you have very little control over the layout as the ePub format is put together to work across many devices and screensizes, you can only really specify page breaks and what order the elements are show in a page. I ended up putting it together using iWorks Pages software, this has much less control than InDesign, which turned out to be useful when working on this ebook.

4. What kind of response have you had so far?
Very good, lots of creatives have asked how to make one themselves, as it’s such a useful way of presenting your ideas. Many people have enjoyed hearing more about the work and also watching the videos, which show more about how I put the shots together.

5. Did you collaborate with anyone else?
I worked on this alone, although quite often I posted questions on eBook forums and blogs for feedback and ideas for overcoming problems with the formatting and adding extra content.

6. What are you hoping to achieve?
I wanted to find a way of presenting my work with added information, as communicating the ideas behind my photography is very important to me as an artist. Also, with an eBook that is available through the iBookstore I can use this as a way of sharing my ideas around the globe.

7. Are there any other new technologies/outlets that you are thinking of utilising to showcase your work?
As my work is so detailed and high resolution, I have found that touch screen technology is such a great way for people to really explore and move round my images, so in time I want to find ways of showing my work through larger touch screen interfaces. I would love to have a gallery show with large touch screen panels on the wall, which the viewer can then zoom and pan round to really see the detail in the image. I feel that putting together this eBook is a step in that direction.

8. Any plans for future eBooks?
My next step is to put an eBook together looking at my Landscape gallery taking everything I have learnt from making this eBook to create a fantastic presentation of this popular strand of my work.

The Cocktales are on us

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 08:43:35 +0000

The Association for Healthcare Communications and Marketing held its annual awards ceremony last night and we were lucky enough to be part of the line up of excellent and effective campaigns. Our safer drinking campaign Cocktales, created for Derbyshire Community Health Services, was part of the Best New Media category and we had high hopes for it after its previous awards success.

When the envelope was slit and after the compulsory anticipation-building silence had passed, Cocktales was announced as the big winner and we felt very proud of our drunken revellers, Bloody Mary and Tequila Slammer.

Fingers crossed the upcoming DADI Awards will see Cocktales take to the stage again. We’ll keep you posted!

Computer Arts go behind our scenes

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:42:26 +0000

Computer Arts celebrates creativity and is a go-to magazine for inspiring design and sneak peeks at the world’s top design studios. This issue’s studio of the month feature showcases our own humble abode and why we love it so much!

With some great photography from fellow Islington mill resident Andrew Brooks, and the opportunity to find out a little bit more about what goes on in the engine house, it’s definitely worth a nosey.

It’s available now at all good newsagents so get out and bag yourself a copy!

The Secret Life of Raw

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 08:38:17 +0000

After our big studio move last October and a period of hibernation during the cold winter months, we are finally ready to unveil our new digs and we couldn’t think of anyone better than the incredibly talented photographer and digital artist, Andrew Brooks to snap us in our natural habitat.

We have been based at Islington Mill for almost 3 years, starting in a small, freezing studio in the main building before we moved over to the engine house, a hidden gem just across the mill’s courtyard. The bottom floor of the building is a yummy vegetarian café, with our studio occupying the top two floors.

Our space is all simple lines and original features, with a vast expanse of white set against the restored creamy Victorian ceramic tiles. The abundance of original factory features juxtaposed with the clean white lines of the conversion fitted perfectly with our design tastes and we knew that we could make the space the perfect studio.

In terms of our work, we have all found the vast amounts of natural light have improved our work day experience and the addition of an ‘ideas wall’, created using dry erase paint, has freed up lots of ideas and become the most successful feature of the studio. White might be the dominating theme but with flashes of colour provided by thrift store finds, typographic posters and Indian market finds we think it looks pretty good. Check the full set out on Flickr and let us know what you think!

Frogs 'n' Sprogs

Mon, 24 May 2010 08:36:08 +0000

As part of our new yearlong contract with NHS Barking and Dagenham we have become rather absorbed in naming Cockney dogs and contemplating the merits of hamsters’ oral health. This may seem rather bizarre, as at present the animal species of East London are not eligible for NHS treatment, however there is a method to our madness!

Under-fives and their parents will hopefully be introduced very soon to our East End animals – created by the very talented illustrator Deanna Halsall – and will find out more about their mission to improve the health and wellbeing of Barking and Dagenham’s young children.

The animal characters that we have been busy creating each highlight a specific health issue, ranging from healthy teeth to getting enough sleep. The animals are due to make an appearance on a range of health communications, from immunisation-reminder birthday cards to growth charts.

The project is still in its early stages but we couldn’t resist giving you a sneak peek at the baby birds Dee has created for us, and we’ll be introducing the rest of the gang very soon!

Just Like Heaven

Sat, 01 May 2010 10:00:25 +0000

October was a rather eventful month for us here at Raw with our first big studio move. Although we are still safely nested in our creative enclave Islington Mill, we are now residing in the Engine House, which is a pretty amazing space, even if we do say so ourselves!

The icing on the new studio cake is being applied as I write in the form of a beautiful wall mural by one of our favourite illustrators Matt Sewell. The mural runs up our entrance staircase leading you to the heavenly heights of our bright, white workspace. A big mixture of sweetie-coloured, rainbow-filled skies now adorn our walls, with a healthy dose of Salford’s industrial architecture thrown in.

Climbing the stairs will now be a joyous adventure filled with all of our favourite things: the trip up to work never looked so good!

If you’re wondering where the snaps of our new studio are, we’ve not forgotten to put them up, we’re just waiting for all those lovely, last pieces to arrive and then we’ll be sure to share the finished article with you!

Glory at Anfield

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:33:54 +0000

Liverpool may have faced some harsh criticism on the pitch recently but it was all praise for the reds at the Tactics 4 Families workbook launch, LFC’s latest community project designed by our good selves.

LFC work with local communities in order to strengthen family groups and encourage young people to behave responsibly. The Tactics 4 Families workbook is crammed full of energetic characters and handy tips to help local children make a positive contribution to family life.

With a thumbs up from the Premier League and a great response from local organisations, Mark Chester, LFC’s Family Officer, had some very kind words to say about our work: “The Tactics 4 Families Workbook Launch was a great opportunity to celebrate the development of a fantastic resource, which will have a huge impact on families in Merseyside and beyond. The highly illustrated, vibrant interactive workbook doesn’t just educate but entertains too. It was great to have Raw come and take part in the launch and for them to see the culmination of their hard work, flair and creative spirit.”

This is not just a Christmas card. This is a CBC Christmas card.

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:29:38 +0000

The first window of the advent calendar has been opened and Wham’s Last Christmas is creeping onto the radio: the festive period has arrived once more. With all the bearded faces and garish tinsel Christmas can become the season to be rather un-jolly, but here at Raw we hope our latest Christmas venture will bring a glow to your cheeks and a jolly grin to your chops.

After the success of last year’s pantone-inspired poster, we decided to let our loyal troop of elves choose their favourite twelve colours to create a set of festive Christmas by Colour greeting cards. With a list of 40 colours to choose from, the votes rolled in with an eclectic mix of kitsch and classic Yuletide paraphernalia making the final cut.

From Quality Street to The End of the Sellotape, our CBC cards are a great alternative to red noses and the three kings.

Click here to get your chilly mitts on a set.

Raw Roar

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:50:03 +0000

Okay, we’re probably jumping on the ‘blog wagon’ at a rather late hour and maybe we should be looking at more innovative ways of sharing our musings and opinions, but we’ve been lured onto it and this is our first post.

We hope that you enjoy what’s to come; we’ll try not to annoy you too much with what we ate for breakfast and how much we love brews.

Thanks to The Boy Fitz Hammond for the pair of bears, dickie bows are de rigueur in the Raw studio.