Style development

I don't have any real downtime these days. Every time I'm at the Mac, I'm working on some project or other. That said, whenever possible I still make the time to browse through graphic design resources and pick up on style trends. Keeping up to speed with current styles is so important. Not only does it inspire me, it allows me some fun time by recreating my own versions of the work I see. Like this illustration I created a couple of days ago. (I think I'll put this on a canvas for my home or possibly the studio)

Time for a coffee break

I can't believe its been two months since I last posted an update on our blog! Needless to say, D2s been busy, busy, busy and as always, your own stuff comes last.

We've been working with Magnox North (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority), Bangor University, JuicyWin promotions, The 12th Man and Formula TKA on top of presenting creative campaigns and costings for several other companies.

This week I was really pleased to be told that an identity we presented last year was going live. The finance for the project has been agreed and the wheels are currently in motion to get the thing started. It's called 'Room 1' and the its purpose is to give a soul to industrial and  business parks. A central location, geared towards casual business meetings and catch-ups with everything you need at hand to assist you. Free WIFI, note pads and pens etc

D2 is branding the site, wares and customer experience of Room 1.

Show off your business with a showreel

D2's latest self promotional showreel:

Trust D2 to deliver

Tea-rooms, restaurants, farm shops and all manner of food retailers and producers, the National Trust in Wales has a wide range of the very best seasonal Welsh food on offer.

The Trust has over 220 tenanted farms in Wales and works with its farmers to support diversification and to assist in marketing their produce. D2 was approached by the Trust to assist in producing literature for several such companies in time to be distributed at the Welsh national cultural show, The Eisteddfod.

We produced bi-lingual single sided A4 flyers with data capture sections. The flyers were also converted into HTML and offered to the companies for online publishing. 

The Management Centre

During 2007 and 2008 D2 developed and delivered a creative campaign to launch 'The Management Centre' (TMC) in North Wales. TMC is an new project supported by the University of Bangor and Bangor Business School. The aim of the centre is to improve and educate local businesses as well as selling its expertise overseas. The centre is a state of the art facility with high calibre luxury accommodation, aimed at attracting business and banking professionals from all over the world to advance their own careers and their companies successes.

Since its launch in 2007, TMC quickly established itself as the most successful Management Centre in Europe by attracting more Banking and Finance students than any other facility. We like to think that D2's input played a big part in this.

Because there are two Bangor's (one in Ireland and one in Wales) D2's approach was to 'quite literally' put the place on the map so as to avoid any confusion. Especially to overseas candidates who might be 'Googleing' for information. 

We developed the line "Go 53˚ North" as our campaign strap which instantly 'pin pointed' the facilities global location. The headline was then supported by calls to action, such as "Go 53˚ North... and discover high achievers belong here" etc, which we married with iconic local photography. Snowdon in that particular example.

D2's involvement was from the roots up and we implemented the creative across all communications. Course brochures, course folders, information leaflets, application and registration forms, accommodation (hotel) brochure, POS, press ads and stationary. As well as creating electronic P.C file versions of the stationary, application and registration forms and downloadable PDF's of the accommodation and course brochures.

Advertising

Back in 2005 D2 created a series of creative ad concepts for Real Crisps. Being traditional baked chipped potatoes, they have a thicker cut than fried crisps and therefore have more crunch. Real Crisps are made in Wales and are quite frankly, delicious!

Another identity by D2

D2 was once again requested to create an identity for a new business. It was for a keen photographer who wished to make his hobby his profession. After doing many weddings for friends and everyone being delighted with the results, it gave him the confidence to follow his dream. 

The photographer is based in Wales and mainly covers weddings throughout the Welsh counties, so he decided to call his business 'Cariad', which means 'Love' in the Welsh language.

D2 worked to a modest budget and tight deadline but both we and the client were very pleased with the result. The whole identity was given a very polished and up market feel as we printed it on Robert Horn, curious metallic (ice white) stock. You really do have to see it to appreciate the amazing quality this paper adds to the ink. Flat solids become deep metallics and glisten in the light.

I've just noticed that the last few entries have featured rather 'monotone' examples so I think I'll dig out some more colourful pieces from our archive for next time.

What makes a good gift?

Over the years D2 has thanked its clients by sending them a festive gift. We've sent the usual things like quality chocolate's and flowers but the most appreciated and commented on was the D2 wine! D2's main studio is based in Woburn, Bedfordshire which is famous for the Abbey and its herds of deer. 

The nice thing about sending wine, is that it keeps for a long time, so even if the wine isn't drunk for several months it's always there as a reminder of our business and the good relationship.

Fancy a stiff one?

It's not every day you get asked to revamp a box of Viagra!

The client approached us to redesign their existing packaging as they now felt it was lacking the professional and medical look and feel they desired for the product.  We faced limitations with regards to the colour palette (carried over from previous design) and also the packaging itself as the tooling was already in place to produce the carton.

In short our task was simply to improve the aesthetics and 'enhance' the products sales performance by making it 'stand out'. We also developed additional colour variants to allow for future product 'growth and expansion' which took the form of different colour swoops on the box front.

Going it alone.

D2 was registered as a company back in May 2005, but I didn't quit my job as a senior creative for BMB until Sept 2005 and that's when D2 really began to function. I think I'd always harvested the thought of going it alone, but as you climb through the ranks and become dependent on your salary to meet your commitments it becomes more difficult to leave.

However, I had quite an incentive... my wife was expecting our first child and I was working long hours on a very challenging project. Due to the pressures of delivering that hugely under resourced and under estimated job, I ended up in hospital! 

I'd gone to my GP as I was suffering with a pain in my chest (nothing to worry a healthy and fit young man I thought). She hooked me up to an ECG (all routine) but then started to look concerned. She made a call and then quickly penned a note and sealed it in an envelope before telling me that the call was for an ambulance as the ECG had picked up some irregular readings (ie heart attack). I'm pleased to say that after hours of observations and tests, everything seemed fine and the consultant put the episode down to a mixture of exhaustion and stress. 

It was at that point I said to my wife, "if I'm going to kill myself working this hard, I may as well do it for myself". So I handed in my resignation letter, which was a scary but strangely uplifting moment.

I can honestly say, that owning and running D2 is one of the most rewarding things I do and I now 'live for my work' instead of working for a living.

Local Food Talks!

In 2007 we produced a series of works for a campaign called "Local Food Talks". The project was a multi organisation collaboration between the Governmental Regional Development Authority, the Land and Food Trust, Atom PR and D2.

The purpose of the project was to create awareness of good locally produced foods and ingredients. To develop and maintain a localised network between producers and suppliers and to educate, inform and inspire by hosting regional workshops featuring guest speakers from the regions most successful sector businesses.

We designed the campaigns look and tone and coordinated the initial awareness door drop and regional press followed by the logistical management of the marketing props. Examples of which can be seen on our website www.d2creative.net

'Tis a thing of beauty.

We've gotten used to hearing about the humble VW Beetle as a design icon. Engineered and built for one purpose and one purpose only; to maneuver the folks! Basic, simple and mass produced; it's simplicity and functionality is what made it a design classic. It first hit the roads in 1938 and through time (in response to health and safety legislation and engineering advancement) has adorned many new additions which unfortunately (in my opinion) assassinated the original design.

Unlike other design classics from the same era, like the Marcel Breuer 'Wassily Chair' (1925) or Ludwig Miles van der Rohe 'Barcelona Chair' (1929) which remain unchanged, the beetle's design has suffered from the many alterations and only the early versions can seriously be considered design icons. Like the chairs, the early cars offered more than just practicality as the materials were tactile and engaging.

The pictures are of my friend James's car which he has lovingly restored over many, many years. To me, this car epitomizes how the design icon should be.

D2 Morrisons Campaign

D2 teamed up with one of our clients to assist them in producing an effective marketing campaign and presentation for Morrisons. Our client is a major supplier of apples and pears to Morrisons and other supermarkets and this was a two-way drive between them to increase sales.

With D2's experience of working with large scale retailers, we were able to guide our client through effective use of POS, regional door drops and integration into Morrisons existing literature.

Fitness instructor steps up a gear

At the beginning of the year, D2 was approached to produce a suitable identity for a fitness instructor who's ideas were as toned as her muscles.

She wanted to expand her activities into the corporate training, motivation and wellness sectors of the health and fitness industry. 

You can find out more about workplace wellness here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_wellness

D2 delivered a vibrant and energetic solution packaged within a familiar business format.

Advertising Uncut

This morning, I just happened to catch a programme called 'Advertising Uncut'. It's part of Channel 4's education programmes and gives a general overview into the advertising/ production industry. Interestingly, interviews with young audience (14-19) seem to show a preference for 'real' imagery and not CJI.

You can watch the programme again on Channel 4's 'On demand' application. Here's the link for those who may be interested:

http://www.4learning.co.uk/support/programmenotes/micro/advertisinguncut/index.html

Prestigious Arts Award

D2 prides itself on the calibre of it's people. With our team and network of talented individuals,  we can offer an extended array of services to our clients, safe in the knowledge that the quality and professionalism expected by D2 will always be upheld.

With this, I'm delighted to announce that D2's North West photographers are short-listed for the prestigious Liverpool Art Prize. The exhibition opens on Friday, March 13th (my friend Emma's wedding day!) until Monday, May 4th (be with you... old joke I know). There's a private view on Thursday, March 12th which I think I'm duty bound to attend to show my support (free bubbly has nothing to do with it).

Well done Steve and Steph.

AAAARRRGGHHH... bouncing MacBook!!

What a clot, I've just dropped my MacBook Pro!

It seems to work OK, although there's a rather unsightly small dent on the casing cover and the disk drive is making some odd noises when it's first fired up. 

I can't believe I did that!

Dyfi Valley Tender

These designs were produced in response to a tender application to promote an area of Wales known as the Dyfi Valley.

The brief was to promote tourism and the areas natural beauty along side sustainable resource.

We were informed that the decision of which studio to appoint had been narrowed to a two horse race that included us.

However, due to funding issues, the project fell at the final hurdle and neither studio was appointed. When you have dedicated time and resource into presenting your solutions, it's very disappointing when something like that happens, but over the years you learn not to dwell over it but instead, get back on the horse and move on to the next project.

Zest identity

Here's a logo we created this week for a service called 'CV Zest'. www.cvzest.co.uk

Time and money was in short supply on this project; allowing us only one day to deliver the goods! The client was delighted with our solution and as a result we have secured the contract to design all future marketing literature.

In short, a quick job, a good result and everyone's happy.