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blog http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/ Smith deliver new University magazine http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/smith-deliver-new-university-magazine/ <img class="left" src="http://www.smithltd.co.uk/assets/CAM64news.jpg" width="476" height="302" alt="" title=""/>
Smith delivered latest issue of multi-award-winning magazine CAM.
Produced for Cambridge University, this issue carries llustration montages and portraiture from a number of prominent creatives.
Chris Waddell and Sarah Hanson created illustrative montages to accompany articles on Coming of Age and The Arab Spring respectively. This issue also features photographic portraits by Charlie Troman of this year's footlights team; Professor Wendy Pullan who was pictured in the Department of Architecture; and Carl Tilbury - a university lacrosse player.
For 'History of a Friendship' Steve Bond photographed two senior ministers from the Indian and Pakistani Governments. He also took a series of images architectural shots documenting a little known Victorian greenhouse which used to belong to Charles Darwin's wife.
For examples of CAM visit our portfolio section Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:15:20 +0000 http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/smith-deliver-new-university-magazine/ Featured Creative 2 http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/featured-creative-2/ <img class="left" src="http://www.smithltd.co.uk/assets/tagliavini1503blog1.jpg" width="476" height="584" alt="" title=""/>
Featured creative 2 Christian Tagliavini
Born in 1971, educated in Italy and then Switzerland – where he now works as a graphic designer and photographer, Christian Tagliavini creates highly crafted images and tableaux that draw together his skills in costume and set design with a painter's eye for character, light and composition.
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'1503' is a series of photographic portraits inspired by paintings of the Renaissance. This is not a literal snapshot of the year but Christian's individual take on the period as seen through nine characters who showcase a range of spectacularly beautiful, subtle and at times outlandishly stylised costumes - all designed and made by Christian himself over a 2 year period. The final images are at the same time both formal yet intimate, old yet modern, fleeting yet still. As a moment secretly shared, they never fail to engage and captivate.
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www.christiantagliavini.com Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:53:25 +0000 http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/featured-creative-2/ Investing in the Talent Bank http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/investing-in-the-talent-bank/ <img class="left" src="http://www.smithltd.co.uk/assets/TBBlog1.png" width="476" height="324" alt="" title=""/>
Smith have delivered a visual identity and marketing collateral for a new initiative from The East of England Local Government Association (EELGA) and Improvement East (IE).
Called ‘Talent Bank’. The progamme will enable EELGA and IE to extend their existing systems and develop a joint bank of associates to work with local authorities and their partner organisations in the East of England.
EELGA is a membership organisation which brings together county, unitary and district authorities in the East of England to address issues of common concern and those that can best be tackled at a sub-national level. Improvement East is essentially part of EELGA but is funded separately. Both organisations can be the first point of call for authorities and their partners in the East of England when they need additional capacity or capability in key areas and this joint initiative will make it easier for authorities to access that support. Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:48:25 +0000 http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/investing-in-the-talent-bank/ Brand or Identity? http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/brand-or-identity/ Creating or evolving a brand or corporate identity is a common project for many design companies – and working with existing one's will frame many of the marcomms solutions that we deliver.
Even though they will never make up the shortfall from a defective product or dysfunctional service experience – these days we are all aware of the importance their contribution can make to the success of a business or service.
But, in our experience the notions of what makes up a brand or identity are often confused or simply misunderstood.
Here we would simply like to offer up two definitions that we use with our clients for what is a brand and what is an identity.
The Corporate Brand
Your corporate brand sets out your beliefs, motivations, aspirations and character traits. It will influence what clients or prospects think when they meet you and it will shape what they say about you when you leave the room. It is your personality.
<ul><li>It tells us in fact, what you are and why you are here – your mission (in life) statement</li>
<li>It tells us by way of aspiration where you are going – your vision (of where the company will be in ... years time) statement</li>
<li>It tells us what type of personality you have – your (organisations) values</li>
<li>And finally it tells us how you want to be known – your (big idea) positioning statement.</li>
</ul>The Corporate Identity
Your corporate identity is the physical manifestation of your business, in sound and vision. It is put simply, the way you look and sound to the world. It is the clothes and voice of your organisation.
At its broadest encompassing everything from your logo, signage, marketing, advertising, web presence, packaging to stationery, exhibitions, PR, van livery, sponsorship logos, partnership logo's, golf umbrellas and corporate merchandising.
It is made up from a variety of elements like, colours, typefaces, image libraries, tone of voice guidelines, on- and off-line grid and layout templates and print specifications and finishes.
And this is this important because...?
Clearly the two concepts are inexorably linked. To be effective a brand and its identity – must take from, and lead the other in their relative environments and must be simpatico for the full equity of the brand to be felt. Disengagement can lead to a lack of clarity in the corporate message or product/service offer and ultimately have a negative impact on reputation and bottom line performance.
So understanding and agreeing what a brand is and how it differs from an identity, before a mouse is twitched in anger, is an imperative for the accuracy of your quote, the success of the project, and ultimately the relationship you have with your agency. Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:14:59 +0100 http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/brand-or-identity/ Brand Positioning: A simple Smith story http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/brand-positioning-a-simple-smith-story/ <img class="left" src="http://www.smithltd.co.uk/assets/efacreblog1.gif" width="476" height="476" alt="" title=""/>
Brief EfacRe – an idea developed by an in-house think tank was aimed at streamlining R&amp;SA's re-insurance buying.
By placing its tendering online, reinsurance could be procured in a more efficient manner, at more competitive rates, and provide a safer, more comprehensive information and management resource to track policy process. The brief was to communicate this change of working method to a traditional and sceptical audience, internally and through their broker network.
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Solution Market research indicated the key barriers to adoption would be fear of complexity, breaches of confidentiality and a lack or transparency in the bidding process.
From this we created three 'values' for the new system; safe simple and open. These 'brand values' were then used to explain both the system benefits and how it actually worked. The product was to be called EfacRe – short for electronic facultative reinsurance, hardly a name to roll of the tongue so we developed a strapline which explained the idea quickly and clearly; 'Reinsurance reinvented' – this was used as the copyline to drive the whole campaign.
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Application Potentially confusing technical and financial information was communicated in a simple, clear and easy to understand style using a set of 'digital' illustrated characters. Designed to reflect the transition to working online, the characters were used to navigate the different audiences through step-by-step system walkthroughs on a bespoke micro-intranet site and to 'face-up' promotional materials. A secure intranet was developed to launch the new scheme and lead users through a simple click-through trial of the new tendering process. The site was part educational and part promotional. Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:07:06 +0100 http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/brand-positioning-a-simple-smith-story/ How to choose a graphic design company http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/How-to-choose-a-graphic-design-company/ George Bernard Shaw once said the world is divided into two groups those who look at the world and wonder why? And those who conceive of different world and think why not? At Smith, we believe that good design companies will design well but the best design companies think well. And the intelligence of the solution is what makes it memorable.
In a meeting or at a brief, isn’t yes always the favourite word? Yes we can do that, follow your guidelines, work to a template and use the right typeface. And yes we can deliver when you need it. But as designers, are we not duty bound to challenge a brief, ask a few questions, challenge some assumptions and consider the problem from our desk, not yours?
You see what you’re doing when you decide to hire a design company, a good design company that is; is hire a company with the implied permission to sit and think ‘what if...?’.
What if... we did it a different way?
‘What if...’ is telling a story rather than just listing the facts.
‘What if...’ is a surprise, something unexpected. A little magic.
‘What if...’ is choosing a different spot to pitch your tent, heat the beans, and say “what do you think, do you like the view?
Adrian Kimpton of Smith says “As commercial graphic designers, we all need to strike a balance between challenging preconceptions and clearly understanding our clients needs and resources. But we firmly believe it is our job to show, from brief to delivery, that we've been able to bring more to the table than we were asked. Businesses only really get the best out of their design spend when they start the commissioning process with the view that design companies can bring something intelligent, creative and of strategic importance to the table rather than an unusual typeface or an interesting paper stock.”
“The role of graphic design is now, more than ever, to help our clients retain distinction, in message, image and media, and maintain competitiveness in increasingly testing markets. And that applies however large or small a business they are. When the solution is both creative and intelligent, the message is much more subtle, the audience much more receptive. This in turn gives businesses the ability to position themselves apart from the crowd and set the pace rather than just responding to the competition.”
So remember, the next time you get the sell, when the folio gets whipped out and your taken reverentially through those nicely art directed packshots; they may not tell you everything you need to know. Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:34:51 +0100 http://www.smithltd.co.uk/header/blog/How-to-choose-a-graphic-design-company/