Archive for July, 2010

Connecting To.. branding pitch

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

connectingto...logo

Here’s a logo I designed as part of a branding pitch for a social care management company. Their business is based around bringing together all the disparate independent local care schemes and facilities which they then centrally manage. By doing so, members of the community would be able to go to one location or phone one number and be able to find out about the whole range of facilities in their area. This is way easier than the current system where people must research and contact each service separately, due to the independent nature of the services offered.

The angle they wanted to take on the project identity (entitled Connecting To…) was the idea of connecting; both services to one another and people to services. This served as the basis for my logo concept - connecting the letters which make up the words with light coloured lines angled at 45 degrees, echoing human script. The two blues are the corporate colours of the company.

I thought I’d hit the nail on the head with this one, but they had already started running with someone else’s offering so I missed out on the chance to really get it through the door. Though I did get to produce some photography and a brochure for them to use as part of their project pitch to the local council, so I didn’t totally miss out. I can’t show that here though, it’s not in the rules.

New Work: Designottingham

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Designottingham magazine

It’s always exciting to get a project back from the printers and actually have it in your hands, as opposed to seeing it only existing on screen. Last week was no exception when the first editions of Designottingham magazine were delivered.

Commissioned by Nottingham Trent University, the magazine takes a look at Nottingham’s design story and NTU’s role within it. Covering everything from the legacy of the local lace industry through to the university’s world-renowned fine art and photography courses as well as articles on technology and innovation, architecture, and designing sustainable futures,  its scope is broad and documents a city packed full of creative talent.

Designed and laid out by my good self, typeset predominantly in Gill Sans Light, the magazine features specially commissioned artwork from local design studio Seismik, who once again deliver a great combo of cover and centrespread designs . Here’s a detail of their cover artwork; a selection of locally designed objects arranged in a lace pattern…

Designottingham cover detail

The centrespread they produced takes the form of a double-sided gatefold pullout timeline which plots the milestones in Nottingham’s design history, touching on wide array of iconic objects and inventions such as the automatic traffic light, HP Sauce, the Raleigh Chopper, Nottingham Alabaster and Pugin-designed gothic cathedrals.

Printed by Pensord (who I highly recommend for their attention to detail and easy going manner) on 80gsm offset stock with a heavier cover, the magazine has a really nice tactile finish and is packed full of design details such as a spot gloss finish on the lace cover, as well as the gatefold pullout centrespread which is intended to be wall-hung.

The magazine is not available on general sale but is being distributed worldwide as a promotional tool. A download link for an electronic copy should be avilable soon.