Latest news from Smith

The new issue of Smiths multi award-winning magazine for CAM

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

The latest issue of CAM magazine, produced by Smith for Cambridge University, carries illustration montages and portraiture from a number of prominent creatives.

Examples of the magazine design can be found at:

http://www.smithltd.co.uk/our-design-portfolio/award-winning-magazine-design/

This issue of CAM includes photography of the inside of Girton College church organ by Steve Bond, studio photography of Professor Cindi Katz on childhood by Charlie Troman and illustration by david semple outlining the ways CARO can benefit alumni.

Smith deliver new identity and website for Microgenius

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Cambridge-based graphic design company Smith have delivered a new identity and website for Microgenius, the funding website for sustainable energy

Smith were appointed by recommendation and delivered the site and associated identity over a month-long development process. The site is now live for registrations of interest at www.microgenius.org.uk

On the solution and working with Smith, Emily Mackay, Founder of MicroGenius said: “Appointing Smith was an exceptionally good decision. They've crafted a stunning brand and website in record time, and made the whole process seem simple. I've already recommended them to others"

Adrian Kimpton of Smith said of the creative solution: “The logo uses a computer cursor arrow to create an icon that represents the various processes that investors may fund through the micro generation process – for instance a waterwheel and wind and hydro turbines. This and the colour and typeface options were then applied to the registration website which used simple infographics to show how the process works from the investor and installer perspective.”

Microgenius aims to be the first place people go to find and invest in local green energy, such as hydro or wind turbines or renewable heating schemes, and a clever platform for cooperatives, community interest companies, and other projects to manage the investment process, cutting out administrative hassle and making management easier.

Smith design new corporate website for Maleon Consulting Engineers

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0100

Smith undertook an industry review, establishing basic principles for the design solution and delivered a new website at www.maleon.com that uses compelling imagery combined with simple and empathetic navigation, all based on an incredibly simple-to-use content management platform.

Alex Menhams of Maleon says: ‘Smith have done a fantastic job with the new website for Maleon. They quickly got to grips with the look and feel we required, and took the project through the detailed design process with an intelligent and practical approach.’

Adrian Kimpton of Smith says: ‘We wanted the site to reflect the design led engineering practice that Maleon is. This meant creating an intelligent interface that allows for a strong image-based approach that also delivered suitable space and flexibility for editorial detail on sub levels and pages.‘

Smith appointed to create new development brand

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Smith have been appointed to create an identity and marketing materials for a new luxury property development.

The development is a new exclusive gated development of four, individually designed luxury family homes. The brief includes naming the development and individual properties, creating an overall ‘look’ for the development and applying this to a range of marketing materials.

The appointment is consistent with Smith’s exemplary portfolio of design and marketing projects for prestigious business and residential developments.

Smith delivered latest issue of multi-award-winning magazine CAM.

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Produced for Cambridge University, this issue carries llustration montages and portraiture from a number of prominent photographers and illustrators.

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 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

Defining Brand and Identity

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

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.

It tells us in fact, what you are and why you are here – your mission (in life) statement
It tells us by way of aspiration where you are going – your vision (of where the company will be in ... years time) statement
It tells us what type of personality you have – your (organisations) values
And finally it tells us how you want to be known – your (big idea) positioning statement.

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.

Smith brand Talent Bank

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Smith have been appointed to develop 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.

Arts Corporate Review delivered

Wed, 05 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Smith have just delivered a new corporate review for THEATRE IS...

Smith have a long standing relationship with the arts and creative industries and this alliance is just another example of how strong this link is and how we extend and grow our client relationships. Smith have been involved with THEATRE IS... since 2005 when we came up with the name and brand and identity for what was then a new organisation.

Since then we have helped the organisation in all facets of communication and marketing including branding the new and innovative partnership ‘It's Our Theatre’ – a unique project designed to engage and encourage creative entrepreneurship in 13-19yr olds.

This new annual review focuses on how the organisation meets the needs of young people in the East of England.

Smith appointed by AXA UK

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Smith design have been appointed by AXA UK to design a series of intranet banners for its internal communications group.

AXA UK is a part of the AXA Group a worldwide leader in Financial Protection and employs over 8,000 staff in the UK. The banners will use a series of bespoke icons to communicate across a common theme and will focus on individual, group and financial issues.

Smith were appointed on the basis of their strong internal communications portfolio, which includes clients such as Egg, BAE Systems and Royal and SunAlliance.

What do you look for in a graphic design company?

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0100

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.

Smith design new lead generation website

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Maleon are an international building services design consultancy who provide bespoke engineering design and management solutions for blue chip clients such as Barclays and BP.

Smith have been appointed to look at a number of sites within the group. Their core services include service engineering, energy and sustainability, critical building resilience and management services.

Adrian Kimpton of Smith says: “The internet is a sterile environment, a computer generated window with little sense of human contact. It will be our job to help build some affinity with key stakeholders – get the positioning right, get it across and make it last, and, ultimately, design an experience for visitors who want just that – an experience not a chore.

"Online communication is always an opportunity and we are very happy to be able now to help our clients at Maleon maximise their online opportunities moving forward.”

Cambridge University appoints Smith for magazine design

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Smith commissioned by Selwyn College

On the back of their multi-award winning work with Cambridge University on their alumni magazine CAM, Smith have been commissioned by Selwyn College Cambridge to redesign their college alumni magazine.

The brief will be for Smith to look at all aspects of the magazine design including editorial structure, layout, grids and typography and overall visual styling. Once a new approach has been agreed then Smith will prepare the first issue of the new style magazine in the Autumn.

Sarah Harmer, Development Director for Selwyn College said of Smith’s appointment: “We were looking for a company who would use their expertise to take a fresh look, both at our design and our editorial, and who would work with us in partnership to create a magazine that would be genuinely appealing to our alumni. Smith's work on CAM has been fantastic, and we are very excited to be working with them.”

Adrian Kimpton of Smith says "We are delighted to now be in a position to help raise the quality of periodical design and production across the board with such an august institution. Our creative supplier network has grown enormously in the last three years and we are now working with some really interesting, talented and motivated creatives who contribute so positively now to our magazine portfolio."

New visual identity for biotech company TAP Biosystems

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Cambridge design company Smith have delivered for Royston-based international biotech, TAP Biosystems.

Phase one of the project involved consultancy services around the strategic development of the name (a further example of a naming projects) and styling of the business and creative development of a new corporate logo applicable in the first instance to corporate materials, signage and livery. The project will ultimately develop a new design styling and guidelines for all marketing collateral.

The brief to Smith was to develop a new visual identity relevant to a broad life sciences market (research, development, production and clinical) – and specifically for key new target markets, regenerative medicine (aka stem cell research) and bioprocessing (i.e. living protein based therapies). The solution also had to retain the important brand equity (retaining brand equity) that the previous business and identity still had in market – that of automation and engineering excellence.

This combination of engineering excellence and ground-breaking science is a unique message and drove the creative solution for the logo.

Adrian Kimpton of Smith says: "It was a highly technical commercial area, the business challenge was multi-faceted, new markets, products and potentially channels, and the timescales short. Overall we are delighted, but most importantly so are our clients and their customers."

Campaign literature for international children's charity

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Smith have just been appointed to create two campaign identities and legacy literature for international children’s charity SOS Children UK.

SOS Children look after children who have lost their parents through war, famine, disease or poverty. For nearly sixty years, SOS Children has developed an approach based on building a community for children who have nobody to turn to. Traditionally, they provide young people with a home, a family and a new mother in a purpose-built local Village, where they can stay until they are ready for independent life. Where family life is at risk, they run programmes to help strengthen families in the surrounding communities and keep children with their biological families.

On Smith's appointment, Director of Fundraising, Meryl Davies said: “ We are delighted to be working with Smith whose creative designs have helped to give clarity and impact to our campaigns and legacy material. ”

Adrian Kimpton of Smith says: "A fantastic project and opportunity for us to help such a worthwhile organisation. We are absolutely delighted to be able to contribute where we can."

Be part of Chipata

SOS Children is currently building a new Village in Chipata, Zambia and Smith have been commissioned to design an identity and materials for a campaign, ‘Be part of Chipata’.

The campaign has been set up across five specific funds covering: family and home; education; health; living with HIV, and sponsorship and regular giving. Smith’s brief is to design an identity exclusively for the Chipata campaign which will remain distinct and recognisable throughout its tenure, to work in sync with the global parent identity and across a variety of media.

Team SOS

Alongside the Chipata campaign Smith will also have a remit to design a bespoke identity for Team SOS which will raise awareness of the charity and its large network of supporters in the UK. It will encourage more people to take part in fundraising and volunteer events, providing support and a focal point for communication and joint action. It will have cross media elements, but will use Facebook specifically as a forum for communication and collaboration.

Legacy brochure

In addition, Smith will be designing SOS Children's new legacy brochure. Using case studies highlighting the varied work of the charity, it will encourage supporters give more children a loving home by pledging a gift that might be financially beyond their means in their lifetime.

Repackaging and promotions for US launch of drug discovery software

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0100

We have been working with Optibrium Ltd to for a major new release of their software – StarDrop.

Aimed at drug discovery scientists in the pharmaceutical industry, StarDrop 5.0 was launched at the American Chemical Society meeting in March 2011.

Optibrium’s StarDrop software helps scientists to quickly target and optimise high quality chemistries in the initial research stages of drug discovery. It works by evaluating complex and uncertain data to guide objective decisions on the design and selection of potential drug molecules.

Adrian Kimpton, Director at Smith said of the project: “The challenge was to back engineer the overall look of the software range using packaging design techniques to productise the software. We also had to raise the profile of the various modules within the range and introduce a new product for launch at the show – all based around a new product icon for the main software package. The new icon is based around a stylised molecule and the suite of bolt-on’s uses a variety of close ups from the master icon to create both a visual link and hierarchy.

It was a challenging brief, not least because of the highly technical nature of the subject matter. Smith undertook the writing of both the main campaign headlines and collateral so we had to understand the molecular chemistry of what the products did to simplify the step-by-step guides to the main software and associated bolt-on’s.”

Matt Segall, CEO of Optibrium, said about Nova "This unique module dramatically extends StarDrop’s capabilities, stimulating the search for high quality drug molecules by generating new chemistry ideas, prioritised against the profile of properties the user needs for a successful outcome". He added about the decision to appoint Smith "We were impressed by the combination of sound advice on how to clearly communicate our message with the striking graphic design that Smith offers; we are happy to be working with them on this important project".

Arts Marketing and Annual Report

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Smith have recently delivered the 2010 Annual Report and Case for Investment for theatrical production and curation house, Theatre Is ...

A review of creative output and prospectus to promote their work to potential partners both artistic and financial – the review centres around key messages and supporting statements from participants and clients, and images of the companies creative output over the last year.

Their work engages young people in innovative workshops, events and performances that help them find meaning in their lives, develop their talent, creativity and skills, broaden participation in the arts, and support them to become the cultural leaders and creative entrepreneurs of the future.

Adrian Kimpton, Director of Smith says: "Smith have been working with the team behind Theatre Is ... since its inception, and were responsible for initially naming and designing the identity of the organisation. So its highly gratifying for us now to be given the opportunity to help develop a consistent delivery of the organisations message and visual presence."

CMS, Information architecture, web interface and template design

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Cambridge design company Smith have just launched a new corporate website for world leading gel imaging and analysis systems company Syngene (www.syngene.com).

Director at Smith, Adrian Kimpton explains: “Over time the company had grown and expanded its portfolio and depth of market coverage to the extent that the previous site had become overly complicated and difficult to navigate. It also meant that the site was far from being proactive in representing the products and their applications to market in the most effective way. Our brief was to address these issues at the same time as looking at the overall visual impression.”

Jayne Arthur, Marketing Communications Manager, Syngene said: “We chose Smith out of four different companies we asked to pitch, as they really seemed to grasp immediately what we were trying to achieve. They came to the initial meeting after having taken the time to look at our industry and competitors and really seemed to understand our needs, whilst being very proactive in putting forward some great ideas.”

The design solution

The main difference with the previous site is a much cooler more technical feel was introduced alongside a stronger use of the corporate colour palette to reinforce the brand.

Syngene have a broad range of products and and even broader range of applications they can be used for. So on the home page we created a single large banner gateway to the site which acts as an overview not only to the broad range of products but also show cases some of the applications the products can be used for.

The site has also become much more intuitive – customers would know what they needed to achieve but maybe not know which product would be best for them. The site provides easily updated 'latest developments', free updates and “if you looked for that you may like this” techniques to make the overall experience for a prospect much more useful, proactive and efficient.

We also introduced features on lower level pages such as ' Other clients looked at' to help highlight and cross sell while an extended footer means your never more than a single click away from a specific product page.

The technical solution

We created a flexible set of page templates, style sheets and sub menus specifically so the site could expand within its own structure easily and seamlessly whilst retaining the sense of clear navigation.

Using our tried, trusted and hugely stable and simple CMS system means a very simple interface for the client, incredibly easy to understand site structure, and with the ability to view all previously used iterations of the site, add and re order pages and preview instantly any changes before publishing prompted this response from our client: “I am not an IT specialist and needed a CMS system which was simple and easy to understand whilst delivering a website that looked professional and I feel that with Smith we have really achieved this. Adrian, Ben and Julian have been very easy to work with and provide a very friendly, efficient and supportive service. I would have no hesitation in recommending their services.” Jayne Arthur, Syngene.

What we have now is a much more contemporary, easy to use and proactive sales and marketing tool that can start working much harder on behalf of our clients business moving forward.

Global engineering business commissions Smith Design

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The Colas Group have recently appointed Smith to produce a new corporate brochure for their rail group, Colas Rail.

The appointment was following an initial creative presentation. The new work is to design a more accurate positioning piece for one of Europes most prestigious infrastructure businesses.

Kash Ansari, Marketing and Communications Manager for Colas Rail said of Smith’s creative presentation: “Smith were on the ball, clearly very skilled, good listeners (so we felt we were heard and therefore got what we wanted) and recognised our needs as new clients”

Part of the French-owned Bouygues Group with an annual turnover in excess of €30 billion – Colas Rail is one of Europe’s leading suppliers of railway infrastructure services – providing turn-key solutions from high speed rail systems to light and urban rail.

With projects like the £177m rail extension to the Docklands Light Railway and installing the first high-speed line in the UK between Swanley and the Channel Tunnel they have a wealth of experience in delivering some of Europe’s most prestigious rail projects.

Adrian Kimpton of Smith added “we are delighted to be able to work with such a high profile client such as the Colas Group, and in a sector (rail) where we have such a strong heritage and interest.”

Great Ormond Street Commission Smith for art installation

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Smith have been commissioned to create a new art installation for The Somers Clinical Research Facility at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The work is part of an arts programme run by the hospital and the brief is to represent some of the children's art work as a wall installation. The children have worked with an artist to create artwork based on the theme of leaves and Smith will be working with that artwork to create the installation.

The installation will be used in the new Somers Research Facility reception and corridor areas and will look at using the childrens’ designs in a variety of ways and scales, to work from a distance and close up.

Vivienne Reiss, Interim Arts Manager at Great Ormond Street said of Smith’s appointment: "The children worked with the artist Lucy Fergus to create beautiful leaf artworks, Smith have risen to the challenge of creating a striking design that keeps the integrity of their work."

Adrian Kimpton of Smith added: “We are absolutely delighted to be working and supporting Great Ormond Street on this project, a great client for us and using the childrens’ actual drawings to create the final piece gives us and the project a really positive feeling all round.”

Naming and branding in public sector

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Smith deliver naming, branding and creative identity project for a new education college and enterprise park in Cambridge.

Following a competitive tender, Cambridge design company Smith have recently completed a project to name and design an identity for a new enterprise and innovation park for Cambridge called The Hive.

Designed for a generation of change, the Hive will work for the benefit of the whole community, pioneering business that's good for both society and the environment and delivered by an insightful partnership between local government, entrepreneurs and education. The first facilities will open in 2011 at a 1.92 acre site north of Cambridge city centre on King's Hedges Road between the Science Park and Orchard Park.

What will make it really different to other business parks is that its overarching focus will be on business that's good for society and the environment. The Hive will work with, and for the benefit of the whole community:

The project fell into two phases, naming and logo and organisational identity.

The naming and logo phase
Facilitated focus groups and a number of iterative stages of development worked through all the owned and unoccupied areas that the name could occupy. The client team finally settling on the name The Hive, the summary rationale being:

A hive is a traditional symbol for co-operation and a sustainable community
The honeycomb in a hive is made up of perfectly balanced units – reflecting the balance of interests combined in this centre
Bees are key to sustainable life on this planet - a fact that has been highlighted much by the media recently
Practically, the word is short and memorable.

The corporate logo is made up of three elements: the logo, the logotype and the strapline enterprise, education and environment which neatly sum up the three key pillars of the Hive's activities.

Smith's main brief was to communicate a busy and lively campus, a place made up of different buildings where people gathered together. The client didn't want a straight architectural representation of any buildings nor did they want an overtly 'eco' or 'green' visual styling. Smith wanted to avoid the obvious literal representation of a beehive. Director Adrian Kimpton said "we thought a relatively abstract approach would resolve these problems.

With such a strong name we decided we had to keep a kind of cellular honeycomb structure, but shaped it into an 'H' for Hive. We then extended this in a more irregular way to also create a converging 'swarm' or crowd of people around the central space. We 'pulled together' these two elements using a multi-coloured palette which is supposed to represent the variety of buildings and activities within The Hive and the diversity and individuality of the people inside". Kimpton went on to add: "I liked the way we were able to make something which was abstract yet also recognisable, I also like the way the logo implies a hub or meeting place just by using crowds".

The identity
The Hive needed a visual theme to help unite the partner organisations and bring the project to life in the eyes of peers and most importantly the local community. Given the diverse nature of the activities that would take place at the Hive and the reality that the Hive itself would be nothing but a building site for the next 2/3 years, an illustrative approach was adopted.

Through the illustration, the aim was to create a virtual environment where enterprise, education and environmental concerns lived and worked together in harmony. The broad colour palette drawn for the logo allowed each partner organisation / skills area to take control of a section of this environment while retaining a sense of unity. The simple, bold illustrative style is friendly and approachable, non-threatening, and the use of universally recognisable iconic elements (with a twist) means the diverse range of activities can be represented and built upon.

Multi award winning magazine design and editorial

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Smith win international design award for CAM, the Cambridge University magazine – in fact it's two prestigious international design awards!

The magazine has been named 2010 Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year, becoming the first ever non-US-based publication in the award's 67-year history to win this prize. The magazine also beat academic publications from around the world to win a Gold Award in the category of College and University General Interest Magazines with Circulations over 75,000.

The prizes are awarded by CASE, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, and judged by a panel of experts. This year, 615 higher education institutions from around the world submitted more than 2700 entries in the Circle of Excellence Awards programme.

"We are absolutely delighted to have won such a prestigious prize, and to be the first non-US institution to have done so," said CAM's editor, freelance journalist Mira Katbamna.

“Smith’s input has been absolutely critical to the successful redesign of CAM,” said Morven Knowles, Benefits & Communications Alumni Relations Manager at the University of Cambridge. “Their attention to detail, and commitment to pushing visual content forward, has been invaluable.”

CAM is published three times a year and is sent free to all University alumni. It is editorially independent, and is art directed and designed at Smith’s Cambridge studios.

Adrian Kimpton of Smith says: "CASE is one of the largest international associations of education institutions, serving more than 3400 universities, colleges, schools and related organisations in 61 countries – clearly this is a most prestigious and pleasing award to have. We are delighted for the client and the whole team who have worked so hard to produce a product of such obvious high quality."

PR week award Smith publicity campaign

Thu, 13 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Smith featured in PR Week when a review of environmental campaigns referenced our work on the community campaign Cut Your Carbon.

Under the heading "EEDA's Carbon Plan Was A Super Idea ..." the campaign created by Smith was applauded as engaging and effective.

Cut Your Carbon wanted to inspire and support communities in the east of England to reduce their carbon emissions. The team wanted a campaign that would engage communities in the often very dry and serious subject of climate change. The creative solution developed by Smith was a campaign based on a theme of everyday superheroes. This idea stemmed from the notion of ordinary people engaged in small, everyday energy saving acts that would ‘help save the planet'.

Adrian Kimpton of Smith says: "The juxtaposition of something large and earth-threatening with the small and individual went to the heart of what the client wanted to communicate."

Smith extended this idea by involving the public in the creation of the promotional materials. Members of the public were dressed as superheroes and placed in community centres, clubs and public spaces around the region creating not only a photographic resource for the campaign but also profile raising events in public spaces.

Since its launch, 116 communities have registered online and the most active groups have around 2,000 members in total. In total, nine community projects have been allocated funding.

The campaign won the Integrated Communications award at the CIPR East Anglia PRide awards.

Alex Menhams, Communications Manager for Cut Your Carbon said:

"The campaign concept that Smith developed and implemented for Cut your Carbon is working really well. It conveys the essence of a complex proposition and stands out well against the tide of greenwash all around us so we get instant recognition from everyone who has encountered the campaign. The approach is very flexible and we been able to apply the everyday heroes themes across all our collateral, media and field marketing activity. Smith worked very closely with EEDA to define the campaign identity and then applied this across a number of marketing channels. A critical element of the campaign was the requirement for high quality photography, and Smith creatively directed a range of photography both with models and real life communities which has become the main driver of our successful approach."

http://www.cutyourcarbon.org.uk/

Smith create theming for Climate Change campaign.

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Smith have been appointed to develop a campaign for the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership, to be launched at the Suffolk Show in June 2010.

As part of their stated commitment to becoming the greenest county in the United Kingdom, the executive at Suffolk Climate Change partnership (SCCP) and Suffolk County Council (SCC) identified the need for an ongoing communications campaign to raise awareness of environmental issues and to connect individuals, businesses and communities within the county with the goods, services and support on offer locally to help them make smart, sustainable choices.

From their work in this area with EEDA, Smith were asked to develop a visual theme to elaborate on key strategic aims for the campaign. The main concept will be around the campaign strapline "We're all at it" – a reference to pro-environmental actions – how it will be illustrated is as yet to be concluded, but the double entendre has been noted in studio.

The campaign will focus on getting people to take pro-environmental action at any level and encourage them to make more smart choices when acting sustainably. The campaign is to be launched publicly at the Suffolk show in early June 2010.

Adrian Kimpton of Smith commented: "Smith have a strong history of developing successful public campaigns and the challenges they pose offer a good fit for our ideas-led approach to design and marketing. We are particularly pleased to be back working with Alex and in an area which we are committed to promoting, namely environmental and sustainable best practice."

Annual Report design and production

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0100

'Transforming the Future" – Cambridge design company Smith have recently delivered the Cambridge University Annual Report 2009.

Smith were proud to be asked to design and produce the report in such a prestigious year for the University - marking 800 years of success and academic achievement this year, the report held a special review and account of the 800th Anniversary celebrations and marked the significance of this year by using an image from the light show of January of this year, designed by world renowned light artist, Ross Ashton as the front cover image.

Under the banner of "Celebrating the past, transforming the future", the Report offers a glimpse of life at Cambridge over the past year and gives an insight into the University's stewardship of its capital assets. Seen through the eyes, images and words of selected staff the report reflects on the Universities continued commitment to raising educational aspirations, knowledge sharing and widening participation, key investments in resources and infrastructure, its continued commitment to research into sustainability, climate change and conservation as well as its contribution to the local and global economy.

Adrian Kimpton of Smith said: "we were delighted to be asked to design and produce this report, as a design company based in the city we were very aware of the significance of this year for the University and to be able to contribute creatively to the year was particularly pleasing."

Smith designed, managed and art directed the process (see more), the main portraits were photographed by Mark Sims and the report was printed by Cambridge University Press.

Smith appointment to national design roster

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

After a national competitive design pitch, Smith have been appointed to the national Marketing and Communications Framework of the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Authority (QCDA).

QCA develop the national curriculum, which defines the knowledge, understanding and skills to which children and young people are entitled.

As published in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union Smith were one of just seven agencies nationally to be chosen.

QCA undertook a detailed review of all proposals and evaluated them against the a number of criteria including:

Ability to respond to client briefs creatively and with innovative ideas
Provides effective project management and client liaison services
Understanding of accessibility and usability issues
Experience and expertise in managing sub-contractors.
Working to a high standard of accuracy
Value for money.

Adrian Kimpton of Smith says: "We are absolutely delighted to be selected from such a large pool of design talent to represent such an august organisation on a national scale. Selection was based on strict creative, management and value for money criteria and our preferred supplier status is vindication of the high levels of design and management integrity that Smith puts into every project we undertake."