Blog

Archive for January, 2009

Credit cringe


January 19th, 2009 by AJ

I hate to admit it but I do “read” the Moan on Sunday (well skim through really). But anyway what it does give us brand enthusiasts is an insight into those who are currently addressing the masses with their credit crunch defying ads. Generally speaking they’re all pretty much the same – i.e. in your face, shouty, repetitive and more than likely from DFS, SCS, Land of Leather, Furniture Village you get my drift. So this one from flybe did catch my eye. Firstly because it’s in mono (and they always go with colour which signifies a “we’re watching our media costs” approach) but secondly in my humble opinion because of its credit-cringeing, “book with confidence because if you’re made redundant we’ll refund you” sign-off. Reading the small print at the bottom of the ad gets more depressing with its redundancy-specific Ts n Cs relating to length of service, not applicable to self-employed etc. Okay I understand this could be argued as a reassurance message but surely not this blatantly? Perhaps when you book your flight you might be greeted with a reassurance message as part of the confirmation process but sticking it right there in front of our noses? Is this not going a little too far? Pushing the realms of credit-crunch marketing decency perhaps.

[Slashdot] [Digg] [Reddit] [del.icio.us] [Facebook] [Technorati] [Google] [StumbleUpon]

Don’t be a 24 carat plonker


January 17th, 2009 by Michael

Ten working days into the New Year and there appears to be little sign of the recessionary storm clouds disappearing over the horizon. Newspapers full of job losses, house for sale signs gathering cobwebs, the strength of the pound becoming something of a joke, end of year pension statements causing wrinkles.

All of it gives business strategists, marketing managers and even financial directors food for thought at a time of year normally reserved for vibrant optimism and renewed energy. But what level of optimism do you plan for?

“This time next year Rodney, we’ll be millionaires”

The vibe out there at the moment is one of cost-cutting, downsizing, outsourcing and at best consolidating. But is this the way to steer even the most unsteady ship through these rather murky waters. It might keep you afloat in the short term but is it the right long term recipe. For a minute, let’s look at the positives of the situation most of us outside Abu Dhabi are in.

(more…)

Why I like them chunky


January 17th, 2009 by Michael

I hate small type, there you go, I said it. Maybe it’s because I’m not a creative, or even a designer for that matter. No, I’m a communications person at heart. Effective communications essentially. And in my heart (and head actually) there’s rarely a time and place for type you can barely read or struggle to decipher. Terms and conditions usually or phone book entries. Beyond that, let’s chunk it up a notch. But designers love it small, love to work friendly, accessible brand guidelines as hard as possible. What do you mean 12 point? Uurgh. Can’t we do it in 8 point Helvetica Thin and hope that the design will wow the 75% of the audience who bother to read it that much, the other 25% hardly matter anyway.

Anything worth publishing through any media probably deserves to be read, not admired for it’s design integrity but ignored because the body copy has been produced in type that induces a headache to focus on. I cringe when I read recruitment adverts with type you struggle to read where the advertiser has attempted to squeeze the best part of a service contract into a 4 x 3col MEN advert. I cringe further when I see bus rears you can’t read from the car behind. Billboards you have to stop to read. Anything at all in print where white type has filled in. And not because of the poor chap printing the paper in the middle of the night but because a designer didn’t bother checking the production specifications of said newspaper.

So not for the first time today, I asked a designer to amend some type…

Chief Chunk: “What I want is for the message to be a bit more engaging. A bit more oomph. Bolder. A bit of stand-out. In your face…you know, a bit…?”.

Designer: “Chunky?”

Chief Chunk: “Yes, please”.

I really shouldn’t stick my nose in but I do love chunky type. Cue designer’s guffaws, comments…

[Slashdot] [Digg] [Reddit] [del.icio.us] [Facebook] [Technorati] [Google] [StumbleUpon]

New Year, new you??


January 12th, 2009 by Rachel

And so we’ve come to that time of year when we make (or rather should have made 12 days ago) resolutions for the rest of the year.  According to the NHS ad you’re 8x more likely to give up smoking if you do it in January, there’s a bit of positivity for you.  On the other hand I’m sure I, like thousands of others are going to be forced to suffer the indignity of failing miserably but this time last year I genuinely thought it was perfectly feasible to become a one woman acrobatic troop with a best selling novel under my belt, ahem….

Of course not being one to be discreet about such things our Operations Director made his ideas very public in the Drum last week; I sincerely hope he doesn’t think the relaxation promise will be kept a close eye on here at the office….. (more…)

New NIRAS website for AMEC


January 10th, 2009 by Nick

We’ve recently continued our work with AMEC by redesigning their NIRAS subsidiary website in line with AMEC’’s global brand guidelines. NIRAS is one of the UK’s largest commercial radiochemical analysis laboratories, providing independent testing facilities for all aspects of radioactivity analysis.

[Slashdot] [Digg] [Reddit] [del.icio.us] [Facebook] [Technorati] [Google] [StumbleUpon]