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The New Old 3 February —

In 2015 we worked with Spring Chicken to challenge the design community to redesign the ‘elderly people crossing’ road sign. The results were, frankly, amazing. We raised £10,000 for Age UK, made a book and held an exhibition alongside some fantastic partners and sponsors.

We were even more delighted when late last year the curators of the swanky new London Design Museum asked us to supply some of the redesigned signs for the latest temporary exhibition; New Old.

Curated by Jeremy Myerson, the exhibition examines design solutions for an ageing population, with themes ranging from community to identity. We’d recommend a visit; it will make you think twice about your own perceptions of ‘old age’ and really brings into focus the challenges and issues that brands will have to tackle in the coming years.

Alan

New Old: Designing for our Future Selves will run until 19 February 2017 at the Design Museum, 224-238 Kensington High Street, Kensington, London W8 6AG. Entry is free. For more information, head to the Design Museum’s site.

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They think it’s all over... 22 December —

We’ve closed the studio for a well-earned Christmas break. We’ll be back in action on the 3rd January. We hope you have a wonderful festive period and look forward to hearing from you in 2017.

In the meantime, why not join us for a game of Charades over on our Instagram page?

NB 

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Branding sound 22 November —

“When I was a kid, if you asked for Sonic Branding you’d get a clip round the ear - I don’t care who you are!”

These are the words of Nick Jowett, the fictional Head of Communications in the BBC’s ‘Twenty Twelve’ - a comedy about London’s 2012 Olympics. This clip sums up both the importance and ridiculousness of communicating a brand’s identity in 2 to 3 seconds, as well as the speed at which sound branding has become recognised as a ‘thing’ by mainstream culture.

If I told you to think of Nike, Apple or McDonald’s, I would hazard a guess that other than picturing several burgers, one of the first things to populate your mental image would be the little swoosh, a half-eaten glowing apple, or the arches of the golden ‘M’.

Of course, visual identity has always been of major concern to both brands and consumers alike. Sonic identity, on the other, has had to patiently wait its turn to bask in the limelight. However, that day may well be upon us. The anthropocene (the current geological age) is to brands and identities, what the big bang was to bacteria and organisms. With the internet acting as a cultural fertiliser, most industries now overflow with the noise of competitors all trying to shout the loudest. Representing yourself through sound has never required more careful consideration, yet most stores still play music from random CD collections or staff members' private playlists.

An Oxford University study showed that incongruent sound will reduce the impact of visual communication by 86%, while congruent sound would increase it by a staggering 1107%. Put simply, the brain really likes the right sounds in the right places. According to Steve Keller, audio branding expert and CEO of the IV group, 90% of the world's population recognise the five notes of the Intel sound logo. What’s more, he measured the levels of its physiological response and, amazingly, it was beaten only by the sound of a baby crying. Now, to have a sound that makes you think of the brand whenever you hear it - surely that is the holy grail of branding?

Joseph Smith, our guest blogger, is a composer/producer at music and sound consultancy Goldstein. 

Check out their score for Born A Believer at http://goldsteinmusic.com/

[nbstudio]

NB at Design Yatra 11 November —

Since 2006 Kyoorius has championed the creative community in India through programmes that inform, inspire and stimulate.

The Design Yatra run by Kyoorius is one of the foremost international design conferences, attracting creative minds from all over the world, with the primary goal of inspiring India's next creative generation. We had the wonderful pleasure of being invited to this year’s event, in the the beautiful and colourful city of palaces; Jaipur, Rajasthan.

This year’s theme was ‘Why am I here?’ a provocative title that resulted in thoughtful and revealing talks by speakers from all around the world.

Each speaker had a personal point to make, it wasn’t just about their work – this made us and the audience feel enriched and invited us all into their creative minds – understanding what made them tick, what inspired them and ultimately why they did their job.

One of my favourite speakers was the New York based Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu, (yukoart.com) who had the audience in the palm of her hand as soon as she walked onto the stage; a magical thing when you have 1,500 faces staring at you.

Apart from her work being spectacular, she really embraced the title and spoke from the heart. She evoked all the things that inspire NB – 'Creative Courage' literally flowed out of her and I loved the story about giving up on her old life in boring corporate Japan and coming to New York to study illustration at the age of 32, when the average age of her new art college friends was 18. We need more Yukos in this world.

NB had the pleasure of working with our actors David and Georgia who performed a perfect re-working of our Design Indaba play 'Turn-Table: The anatomy of a pitch'. It’s always a joy working with like minded people and we love being taken out of our comfort zone. It’s the first time in 10 years that anyone had made a play for Deign Yatra.

Turn-Table is all about the anxieties of being a designer and the pitch process, the adrenaline, the 'what ifs?’ It's about the relationship between designer and client and the magical ingredient that make us produce our best work – trust.

Finally Michael Wolff received a standing ovation – his thoughts and his big picture thinking overwhelmed the audience. "Its all rather simple," he concluded. "Design with kindness."

Amen and thank you Design Yatra.

Alan

[nbstudio]

What if?

Having previously passed through the stewardship of the Graphic Design course at The Arts University Bournemouth (AUB), you’d naturally believe I’m biased in thinking that it’s fast becoming one of the most reputable undergraduate design courses outside of London, if not the UK. However it’s an opinion based on more than alumni nostalgia as the class of 2016 picked up a total of 24 awards including 7 coveted D&AD New Blood pencils. The value of design awards will forever and a day be a subject for deliberation but the ‘slingshot effect’ they can have as graduate is undeniable. However, a single project doesn’t make a portfolio and when visiting the D&AD New Blood Exhibition at The Trueman Brewery this summer we were impress with the overall strength of the Bournemouth portfolios; a strong blend of thoughtful, conceptual, often socially conscience work with a diverse visual language. So when head of 3rd Year Graphic Design, Marion Morrison invited Olly and I to be involved in this years programme of work, we were quick to jump on a train down to Dorset.

At NB, as soon as a project comes into the studio we begin to ask ‘What if?’. It allows us to flex our creative muscles, and make our clients think differently or feel braver about what they’re asking us do to. 'What if’s' can range from the simple to the complex, from the sensible to the absurd. We’re arguably living in one of the most technologically progressive eras of modern history but this shouldn’t act as a distraction to designers and students alike who should trust an environment that is formatted to cultivate ideas, rather than placing a focus on learning the intricacy’s of software. Ideas that captivate people will stand the test of time; have you checked whether your Adobe Creative Cloud needs updating?

Acting as a springboard into this years RSA and ISTD competition briefs we challenged the students to ask ‘What if?’ in the context of their chosen brief, with challenges ranging from;

– Designing a way of ensuring that mothers and children in emerging markets have the greatest chance of survival in pregnancy and birth.

– Using the Dead Wood Archive to locate and celebrate a book it in any context.

– Developing a design solution that utilises ‘advanced textiles’ to improve wellbeing or quality of people’s lives.

– Designing a wheelchair of the future

– Designing a way for people to improve their financial capability and manage their money better.

Finding an entry point can often appear the greatest obstacle when attempting to dig your teeth into big issues. But the value of initially knowing very little about a subject, reveals a child like freshness, and by asking ‘What if’ the students were quickly able decrypt the briefs and make begin to make the intangible, tangible. Some memorable lines of questioning were;

– What if bank statements were edible? (Image Credit: Alice Pomfret)

– What if there was a new mass market, reusable and recyclable feminine hygiene product?

– What if the best pregnancy advice could be shared globally?

Olly and I will be heading back down to Bournemouth after the release of the D&AD New Blood briefs and are looking forward to casting our eyes over some potentially pencil worthy ideas.

Sam

[nbstudio]

40 years of the TypoCircle

In 1976, Maggie Lewis, a well-respected typographer decided that her skills were under-represented within the advertising industry. So she created a platform for people in her field to share their knowledge, work, and ideas. This platform was originally known as the Type Directors Club London, later to become the Typographic Circle. I wonder how lofty Maggie’s ambitions actually were? I’m sure she’d be astounded to see such an incredible history of speakers, from such a wide range of creative backgrounds.

This year, the TypoCircle turns 40 years old, and to celebrate, we’re holding an exhibition.

Working with our good friends at Sutherl& Studio, Mr Jon Bateson, and of course the committee, NB have been busy pulling together 40 years of TypoCircle posters and Circulars, as well as some incredible ephemera, diligently squirrelled away by past committee members for such an occasion as this.

The anniversary is also being marked by officially changing the name from The Typographic Circle to our more commonly known descriptor ‘the TypoCircle’. Together with Studio Sutherl& and Jon Bateson we have designed a new logo which has now been crafted to perfection by Bruno Maag.

A publication comprising of three parts has been produced to support the exhibition. The first section features an essay by the wonderful Lynda Relph-knight based on incredible research from TypoCircle’s very own Sallyanne Theodosiou. The second is dedicated to spreads from all of the Circulars produced by Domenic Lippa and his team at Pentagram. And the final section contains 40 individual posters from the TypoCircle archive. Copies of this book will be available at the show.

In typical TypoCircle style we’ve rallied our friends to put on what should be, a fantastic show. Now is as good a time as ever to say a big thank-you to all those involved, for giving so much of their time, resources and effort. I for one, am very proud to be part of committee as TypoCircle enters its 41st year.

Alan will be saying thank-you a few hundred more times on the night, but for now, you know who you are!  

Olly

Photography: Chris Arrondelle

Typocircle.com

Design Week

It’s nice that

Creative Review

The Brand Identity

[nbstudio]

Quick, name that car 9 September —

Is it just me or does everything look the same? Every curve of every car. Every blockbuster movie poster. Every stock image holiday destination. Every skyline of every major city. All sliding into a mush of homogeneity.

See this street of identical cars? Think of the impact of parking a 1959 Volkswagen Beetle in amongst these Ford Executrons and Lexus Penises. That's the kind of creative shock all designers dream of.

Now imagine you’ve just come up with the blueprint for a re-imagined 2016 VW Beetle. Right away, you’re heading for a collision with Legal and Compliance: “No way! You’ll have to make the front snubbier to meet European safety regulations and while you’re at it, flatten that roof to satisfy the Maastricht Rollover Protocol.”

Next, it’s over to the wind-tunnel to run a few aerodynamic tests. Here, your idea is in the hands of The Bots. They’ll probably knock all the corners off and add a wide back end to reduce drag.

By now your Beetle is looking more like a Kardashian. But there’s still time for a boardroom of executives to compromise your concept into utter blandness. Irving James, who coined the term ‘groupthink’, said: "The more esprit de corps between the members of a policy-making in-group, the greater the risk to independent critical thinking.”

As designers, we like to think we're daringly original but, in the real world, our ideas may be destined to turn out like everyone else's - which is why we need to be even braver to begin with. The greatest enemy of creative thinking is our brain. Let’s do everything we can to surprise it and give it permission to behave in unapproved ways. Think small.

This blog post was written by algorithm.

[nbstudio]

Growth 8 August — Working on the name, the symbol, the look and an election campaign for a radical Russian political party based in Moscow takes creative courage. Although we’d worked with Michael Wolff on various Russian projects before and risked freezing the tips of our noses with him in the -47 degree climate of Novosibirsk in Siberia, this was a different cup of tea.

This time we were working for Boris Titov, President Putin’s Commissioner for Entrepreneurship throughout Russia and a friend of Michael’s. Boris is also the leader of a political party he intended to re-launch. A modern party committed to making commerce easier and less bureaucratic. Russia needed to become less dependent on big oil and gas. Boris’s party would encourage entrepreneurship, innovation and design to achieve the growth of many more medium and small businesses and the successful export of new Russian brands.  

The proposed name ‘Growth’ went backwards and forwards between Moscow and London, as did our proposed symbol and all the different aspects of our proposed brand identity guidelines. We worked with Michael and plotted with bi-lingual Russian friends in London, as we perfected the details of our designs. Then, with the typical creative courage of our Russian clients, Boris and his team adopted our proposals with great enthusiasm.  

The party was launched and the look and feel quickly turned into T-shirts, banners and an enthusiastic acceptance and rapidly growing presence of the party’s ephemera on Instagram. The brand took off. We soon had to abandon control and let people make of it what they wanted. Guidelines were guidelines and not rules. We encouraged them to do what they chose to do with the symbol and colour we’d designed.

Sometimes it takes courage to let go and watch as whatever the public choses to make of our work just happens. Sometimes the evolution of design is best left to the imagination and creative courage of those whose acceptance we always have in mind.

[nbstudio]

Space is awesome 4 August —

Space - the final frontier. If I’m completely honest, I find it impossible to wrap my head around, but not for lack of trying.

I occasionally subject myself to Brian Cox’s voice explaining the laws of physics and space. I’ve tried to make sense of Stephen Hawking’s wonderfully mind-boggling Reith Lectures. I’ve even (half) read ‘A brief history of time’. Perhaps that’s actually what’s so captivating about space; the fact that it’s next to impossible to ever properly understand?

Clyde Space are one of the leading satellite manufacturing agencies in the UK. They specialise in the production of CubeSats; literally a 10x10x10cm cube brimming with technology. CubeSats can monitor ocean currents, transmit emergency weather warnings, deliver free internet content and pretty much anything else you can imagine.

The technology Clyde Space manufacture is about as advanced as it gets, with each tiny component costing thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of pounds. And it’s not only the technology that was exciting. From the get go, the people at Clyde Space were fantastic to work with. The company mantra of “space is awesome” set the tone for the whole project. It allowed us to have some fun, and create a brand that really expressed the character of Craig Clark; founder and CEO of the company and his team of self proclaimed 'super geeks’.

After a fair bit of musing, we realised that the common thread running through the complex world of Clyde Space was connections. From the micro; components being soldered together on circuitboards, to the macro; sending data across the globe. Not forgetting the people that make up the team there too. It made sense that their identity was a visual metaphor for this. We created a custom typeface, supporting icons and a flexible grid system.

So now, somewhere 450 kilometres up, there’s a cluster of little satellites with a brand new logo by NB.

We’re hoping to get some images of the satellites soon, but until then, see our new identity in action at Clyde Space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0QPabJe4NE

Olly

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The final show 27 June — No other industry quite anticipates (or in some case fears) the introduction of the latest crop of fresh-faced, fearless graduates in the same way as the design industry does. A year ago, after successfully making it through 990 days of university education, I was one of the first batch of graduates with £42,000 of debt hovering over my head, aiming to quickly overcome the inevitable “so what’s your plan now?” question. The degree show was the first real opportunity to peacock your way into the industry.

Over the past few weeks we’ve received invite upon invite through the studio letterbox. So, without further ado, here’s my round-up of some of this year’s best degree show identities:

final_final_final.show Visual Communication – Arts University Bournemouth – A playful and witty name that strikes home with designers.

– Largely typographic identity, which works in its favour as the identity doesn’t over shadow the work.

– A simple idea, executed well - especially across social media, where they’ve gone to town on the personalised gif animations, using the language of file formats.

– Unfortunately the identity is let down by the execution of the website which is far too busy.

Etc Graphic Design – Kingston

– Overall a well-executed identity, with a good mix of energy and seriousness where required.

– The best website of the bunch, it’s simple, clean and engaging.

– The introductory video gives you a good sense of the people behind the work, which is different from the usual; cheesy black and white head shots. I can’t help but think more should have been made of the visual language of the video, instead of the stretched typography which doesn’t feel quite as unique.

A Sum Of Parts Graphic Arts – Winchester School of Art – An intriguing name with good rationale (WSA’s Graphic Arts course allows students to choose one of 4 pathways, with the show being an amalgamation them).

– Playful animated typography reflects the idea of the courses and disciplines merging.

– A brave choice of Lemon Yellow as the main brand colour injects vibrancy and energy and certainly stands out against the other identities. – It can’t go without mentioning that they’ve also created a custom typeface named ‘ASoP MF Calport’. Top marks for commitment.

Shows from across the country, including some of those mentioned above, will soon be making their way to the Old Truman Brewery for D&AD New Blood’s annual showcase event. I have a huge admiration for the New Blood programme and I’m eagerly awaiting returning this year - in the hope of discovering exciting talent that pushes the idea of what graphic design currently is, or could be. For me, it’s all about the space between the disciplines, that’s where the best work in the world is happening.

See you then,

Sam

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It’s only black and white but I like it 21 June —

Question: What colour do you get if you mix all the colours of the visible spectrum? Answer: White.

Impossible! But I was amazed when during a colour lesson way back on my foundation course the teacher showed us a spinning colour wheel and it went white!

Black on the other hand is is the result of the absence or complete absorption of light – It’s a colour without hue.

White in many cultures represents purity, innocence, black represents darkness and is the symbolic opposite of white – and here endeth the lesson.

As a designer it’s the strongest and most impactful colour choice. It’s also the most neutral and that’s why we tell our designers to design in black and white first – It stops them getting hung up on colours and makes them see the purity of what they are designing. It also makes timeless design.

Black and white will never go out of fashion – Think the beautiful and timeless stripes of JOSEPH packaging or just imagine a chess set not in black and white.    

It also makes the best and boldest posters (and cheapest). Which leads me into a good excuse to show some recent NB black and white posters. Alan Dye

A rotten tooth for the Nifty – 50 charity auction A giant egg and sperm for the Spanish Laus competition (the brief was connection) A lightening bolt for the lighting designer Patrick Woodruffs TypoCircle Talk A giant BANG! for the recent Type Directors Club exhibition. And a Parrot for An exhibition in Mono way back in 2006

[nbstudio]

A magnetic personality 2 June —

I met David Kester years ago whilst he was the head honcho at D&AD, we pitched a fair few ideas to him over the years, winning him over with our irreverent solutions. You can see the fruits of our labour here. David went on to become head of the Design Council heralding a new era of British design thinking. Again our minds would meet around a challenging brief like this one.

Striking out alone a few years ago, David's been working under the radar without the need for a website to communicate his expertise. He’s been involved in change and design vision programmes for Thames & Hudson and High Speed Rail 2. And he's brought The DesignThinkersAcademy to the UK. Working with a small team of smart people, his client projects and his own initiatives have become too high-profile to hide under a bushel and eventually, he asked us to create a little identity and website for him.

After some musing about the name we settled on the simplest, 'DK&A’, a shortening of David Kester and Associates. The ‘and’ becomes an ampersand ‘&’ which we charged with a unique magnetism, a visual metaphor for what David does best, using his big personality to bring together people and ideas around a problem that needs a solution.

Illustrations are by our very own Sam Pittman.

Nick

[nbstudio]

Strange bedfellows wanted 27 May — Steve Jobs famously redesigned the offices at Pixar in California so that the computer scientists, animators and editors - previously housed in three separate buildings - would be forced to get on with each other. He knew that incredible ideas happen when you put dissimilar minds together in a space.

Meanwhile, over at Google in New York, the architects specified that no part of their office should be more than 150 feet from food, and built vertical ladder chutes between floors to encourage workers from different disciplines to collide.

“Coworking” is the new name for this planned serendipity: groups of people working independently, sharing the environment and some values. But the good news is you don’t need to rent a postage stamp in Peckham to experience it because NB are looking for like-minded people to share our generous studio space in Bankside.

We're nestled between Shakespeare’s Globe, the FT and the Tate Modern, close to the River Thames and Borough Market, and never more than 37 feet from porridge, tea and bourbon biscuits.

Although we’re making this formal for the first time, we’ve been practising recreational cross-fertilization with our friends since 1998 - but don’t let that put you off. Here in our studio you’ll find wi-fi and good music all around you and fresh showers downstairs.

If you’re seeking a place to work where there's space to think and the hum of healthy competition, we can think of nowhere better.

The truth is, we get by with a little help from our friends… which is the sort of thing those early coworkers Lennon and McCartney might have said.

Please get in touch and pay us a visit: [email protected]

Telephone [phone].

[nbstudio]

The Creative Courage of Patagonia 23 May —

I recently read ‘Let my people go surfing’ by Yvon Chouinard, the founder and owner of the outdoor clothing and equipment brand, Patagonia.

Like many, I was ‘aware’ of the Patagonia brand before reading - a pub conversation level competence - of their, shall we say, unconventional approach to marketing. But that’s really it.

I can confidently say it was one of the most inspirational things I’ve read. As a keen ‘outdoorsman’ I’m susceptible to a bit of nature porn, a campfire and the occasional surf, and I’m more likely to be found in a raincoat than a blazer, but the thing that really struck me in the book was the clarity and conviction of Patagonia’s purpose - and how it had infected every area of their business.

Firstly, Yvon and I agree on a couple of things: that business, for all it’s faults, also holds the key - “…produce food, cure disease, control population, employ people and generally enrich our lives…” And that no business, however committed, will ever be totally sustainable and completely socially responsible.

But as an employee of a company that preaches Creative Courage, what I love is the way Mr Chouindard describes his company ‘as an experiment’. And you’ll struggle to find a more purposeful purpose than “Patagonia exists to challenge conventional wisdom and present a new style of responsible business”.

It’s not just waffle, either; product-wise Patagonia pioneered the use of organic cotton at a time when it was a more expensive and less-good material, financially a proportion of their profits are donated to environmental causes and from a culture/employee level, the brand leads the way in terms of maternity and paternity support. The purpose informs everything. Patagonia encourages people to buy less, or not buy at all. And Patagonia had estimated revenue of $600m in 2015.

There’s one other thing, too. Towards the end of the book Yvon states: “If you want to change government, you have to aim at changing corporations, and if you want to change corporations you first have to change the consumers.” It’s this commitment to lead and to influence consumers - to set agendas, not follow them - that for me represents Creative Courage in it’s purest form.

Tom

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What if we ate more bugs? 11 May —

When Icon magazine challenged us to redesign something for their May edition, we chose Edible Insects (obviously). We asked, what if the biggest names in the food industry introduced bugs into mainstream eating? Could branding save the world? We’re heading towards a nutrition crisis. By 2050, we’ll have 9 billion mouths to feed. The livestock industry can’t cope. It’s swallowing up land and water, and farting out more greenhouse gases than all the planes, trains and automobiles combined. The answer is simple: eat more insects. It’s 20 times more efficient to farm cicadas than cows – and they taste of asparagus. Big brands aren’t into entomophagy – the practice of eating insects – yet. You won’t be tempted by bee larvae ceviche unless you’re in a Michelin-starred joint or a jungle-based reality TV show. But why shouldn’t McDonald’s use bugs in burgers? And how about an insect aisle in Tesco? We believe it’s time to normalise insect-eating, and that design can make the idea not just acceptable but appetising. Look at how meat protein is presented: a sandwich looks like a sandwich, not the beast inside. Fresh colours and familiar ranges give us the confidence to try unfamiliar foods, and branding can change preferences fast. What once seemed revolting – raw fish – is now happily eaten by almost everyone in our own studio as sushi.

Traditional cues can also be seductive. The NB team would willingly eat Hovis cricket-flour bread. Could heritage play a part in popularising insects? After all, the locust is positively biblical – as eaten by John the Baptist. Language matters too. The waxworm lives in beehives, eats honeycomb and has a delicious buttery taste. Some dub it ‘honey bug’, others ‘land shrimp’. We know which we’d rather eat. Flavour-matching has inspired our initial designs. Termites have a minty taste that’s perfect with a roast emperor moth. And who could resist the tang of a lemon ant? Or the aniseed thrill of a giant water bug? Remember, if you don’t eat them, they’ll eventually eat you.

[nbstudio]

London Mayoral Election: NB Votes 5 May  —

Today is the day. If you’re still undecided, a group of us at NB got together to examine the design approach of the Mayoral Candidates as witnessed in the ‘London Elects’ booklet...

Women’s Equality Party - Sophie Walker 
So bland we almost like it. Using the logo as bullet points loses points. The textured yellow is a bit much, and the party branding is a bit lost. Liberal Democrats meet JK Rowling?

CISTA - Lee Harris This looks like a family newsletter you might expect to receive at Christmas. About Cannabis. An editorial strategy has been deployed and there is a story to read - if you’re interested enough. The page is clean, but not memorable.

Conservative Party – Zac Goldsmith
 Repetition repetition repetition. There’s a lot to read here, bullet points on bullet points (with slightly patronising ‘ticks’). Pretty controlled use of colour and one typeface lends and air of authority. Slightly demonic photograph.

BNP - David Furness Inspired by the vernacular of tele-sales this is a smorgasbord, sorry, ploughman's, of graphic effects - drop shadows, borders, gradients, tinting. Multiple alignments of typography. The ‘letter’ is a nice idea, but poorly executed. Why has a child signed it?

Liberal Democrats - Caroline Pidgeon
 Initially jumping between a poorly cut out head shot and some MS Word Art, this hierarchy here is all over the place. There’s quite an emphasis on photography, but most of the images are rubbish. Pays homage to the Obama #yeswecan campaign, but doesn't convince. 

Britain First - Paul Golding
 This doesn't feel positive - which perhaps is the point. Could be a ‘Wanted’ poster for a criminal on the run. The tone is quite angry. There are too many type sizes and styles which makes us angry too. Slightly schizophrenic use of the underline tool.  
 Respect Party - George Galloway Lots of designer tricks employed here to get you to read (which is clearly the intention) but poorly executed. Pages feel independent of one another despite the colour and type. The black and white manipulated image feels like a 90’s CD cover/obituary.

UKIP - Peter Whittle Local estate agents meet Injury Lawyers for You. The typography here is all over the place, the emphasis and intent is obviously to use the equity tied up in Farage(!?) to connect with voters. A strange case of trying too hard and not trying hard enough at the same time.

Labour Party - Sadiq Khan
 The pages feel the wrong way around, but there’s a palpable sense of hierarchy. A touch of the BT Broadband with the wires/Thames graphic. Over indulging on bullet points, but get marks for the use of white space. The copywriting is frankly annoying.

Green Party - Sian Berry Organic Yoghurt anyone? A calming end to the onslaught. Although the awkward typography and icons that are falling of the page irritate. Seems as though the dreamy, ethereal portrait was picked first and everything else has had to work around it.  

Make sure you vote.

[nbstudio]

Commissioning 4 May —

At NB we love commissioning writers, illustrators, photographers, animators etc.

Collaboration has been a key part of our make-up at NB for the past 20 years and more importantly will always make the job better for our clients.

It can also be a lot of fun.

I love the feeling of the unknown, the unexpectedness when the first draft comes back. It’s rather like opening a present.

Over the years you get used to the various ways of commissioning - from detailed formal briefs, procurement teams and agents, all the way down to a quick chat, scribble and ‘off we go’.

When Nick and I decided to commission Paul Davis to create the opening slide to our Indaba play -The Anatomy of a Pitch - we did the whole thing over text, which I thought was brilliant.

Obviously you can’t always do this, some people want or need more information, whilst others are perfectly happy to ‘interpret’ a brief. And commissioning is a serious business; you are normally spending the clients money, so it has to be right. But I do think it is important to be as natural as possible and to enjoy the process, believe in their talent and trust them to deliver great work, as it can feel like Christmas when it comes back.

So if you’re a talented illustrator, keep an eye on your phone. You may be getting a text soon.

Alan