Falling to pieces!

When I was just a kid – yes my memory is still that good – my Grandmother was something of a jigsaw expert. In fact I think she may have graduated with at least a ‘Masters’ in the subject. She could put a jigsaw together in no time and she had a system. On one of the many rainy days in the North West of England she would carefully tutor me in the gentle art of creating pictures from a 10,000 piece puzzle. She may have been well into the autumn of her life but she was one mean hombre when it came to attacking this age old entertainment package.

Read More

The great debate

It was a regular Monday morning at Jack in the box. We had just finished our weekly team breakfast and were getting down to business in the boardroom. Up for discussion, a new client in need of some serious promotion. The creative department were on track with the new brand and the strategic department were working hard on the promotional plan, but then the media plan reared its ugly head. It was soon discovered that two consecutive 40 cm x 2 column ads had been booked in the local paper without consulting the creatives. The great debate was on. What should come first? The creative or the media.

Read More

Hard copy vs soft copy

A newsletter can be a highly effective tool in maintaining contact with a large database of clients, service providers, or industry alliances. One of the most common issues we face however, is deciding which newsletter format is the most effective for our clients – hard copy or electronic? More often than not, the answer is not crystal clear. Here are a few tips from a strategy point of view to decide on the correct method for you.

Read More

Pie in the sky!

One of my friends recently invited me to lunch. I always knew he had a reputation and to be honest my ‘empathy’ antenna was out and working, as I awaited his arrival. He is an analytic by nature; late thirties; single and I’m not sure, but I think he’s living with his Mum. All the signs should have told me he’s a ‘tight wad’. Not that every analytic, single, thirty year old, mummies boy is mean, but something about this guy just stinks of ‘miserly’. Sadly, I wasn’t mistaken and I suffered through the worst lunch I’ve eaten in twenty years at…? You guessed it ‘Harry’s Cafe de Wheels’. Apart from the fact that it was downright unhealthy – I’m into low cal – it was nasty, but it was, as he continued to tell me “a cheap meal”.

Read More

Paper, scissors, pdf

Sometimes I think designers today take for granted the technology and tools at our finger tips. It was not that long ago (well, just before my time) that a client presentation meant running around for hours with magic tape, glue, backing boards and laser prints in hand. Go back a few more years again and you would be in the age of Pantone markers, Letraset and clear overlays. These days it’s as easy as pulling together all your logo designs, livery and advertising into one sleek presentation template and making a PDF.

Read More