Bard of Bray
Brand visions
From two words that sum everything up... to a set of guidelines and principles that inspires every single employee in a large organisation to buy into a common vision... the ability to express what makes a brand stand apart is vitally important to help it... stand apart.
AQUAPAC – “IMMERSE YOURSELF!”
Lucid Design
Two words to convey the excitement of fully waterproof bags that allow you to take to the water with both your electronic kit and peace of mind.
DEW GIBBONS – “BEAUTIFUL THINKING”
Dew Gibbons
Two words to communicate the essence of a company renowned for producing exquisite design, particularly in the field of cosmetics and beauty, but design based in solid reasoning and commercial reality.
JOHN THOMPSON AND PARTNERS – “COLLABORATIVE PLACEMAKING”
Hat-Trick Design
Two words to describe a highly involved process developed and honed over two decades. John Thompson and Partners design entire new towns or master plan chunks of entire cities. Simple it’s not. But the essence at its core is – the result needs to create a strong sense of place, and essential to that is the involvement in its creation of the people who are going to bring it to life – those that live and work there. Collaborative Placemaking was the phrase used to help JTP stand apart.
INSIGHT INVESTMENT – “INSPIRED THINKING”
Kino Design
Two words to help an investment bank inspire its employees. On this occasion the phrase itself wasn’t generated by me – but the text and expression of it was.
CTRLPRINT – “HELL ENDS HERE”
Dowling Duncan
Three words to express the reassurance provided by CtrlPrint’s simple online tool that makes editing big documents like annual reports a whole lot easier. This line features prominently in their brochure and is earmarked for business cards (the above image is NOT part of that - click on it to see the Decisions Decisions mailer). Will they have the confidence to make it their full-time slogan in the long run? I hope so.
SALVATION ARMY – TESTAMENT
Hat-Trick Design Consultants
Six words to describe an ethos. The aim of this work was to help alter the perception of The Salvation Army as being outdated and out of touch. But the Army wanted to communicate that it was a church – they felt the public had lost sight of this. Could both things be achieved? By asking what the human values of the church might be – the human values of Jesus – we hit upon 6 words: believing, belonging, loving, healing, enabling, supporting – that summed up what the Salvation Army were all about in a way that united the visual elements, the modern, and the religious. Hat-Trick then designed a pamphlet that opened out into the shape of a cross. Deeply impressive people, I thought, every single one we met at the SA. You don’t always get to say that about your clients.
LAND SECURITIES – SPIRIT BOOK
Hat-Trick Design Consultants
Five words to ensure that the spirit behind Land Securities’ actions in London was the right one.
AUSTIN-SMITH: LORD
Zulver & Co
Five pairs of words to build on solid foundations. A high-profile architecture practice with 5 offices across the UK and one in Abu Dhabi, needing to modernise without alienating a strong base of traditional clients. The solution was to produce five pairs of words – challenging/respectful, instinctive/thoughtful, imaginative/grounded, inventive/experienced, elegant/practical – that extended the range of skills and attitudes ‘offered’ whilst retaining the ethos of security.
BOMBAY SAPPHIRE – MANIFESTO
Twelve
Even brands that are successful and growing strongly need careful management to protect their position – this small booklet – ‘Manifesto’ – helped Bombay Sapphire pinpoint what at its core was generating that success… to use as a springboard for future planning.
JUICY LUCY CAFÉ
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'Aricot Vert
Smoother than / Fresher than / Chunkier than... a brand that tried to be as irresisible as possible. Do bear in mind this was in the day when everyone insisted on sounding a little like Innocent Smoothies, and your lunch also had to be your best mate.
HDR LIGHTSTUDIO – “SEE THE LIGHT”
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HDR LightStudio
Three words to show that there’s a better alternative to going into a real studio – this amazing programme allows photographers to light images in 3D from their computer. Its saves time and money and improves quality – nine of the top ten car manufacturers now use it. Long discussions and thorough analysis of their previous communications showed that HDR’s considerable strengths weren’t being shown in… ahem… the best possible light. Part of the process of fixing that involved coming up with the line ‘See the Light’ – which is exactly what the programme does – you can fiddle and change until you’re happy. This line now features prominently on their website and mailer… it’s not yet made it into a fully blown tagline. But I’m working on them.
LUCID – “CLEARLY INSPIRED”
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Lucid Design
Come up with a strapline for a company called ‘Lucid’. That is as close you get to an open goal in copywriting.
TOM & OTTO
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Damn French. This was one of my favourite jobs of the year for over five or six years, a brand we built from scratch. All we were given was a name – ‘Tom & Otto’ – and we built the entire identity around the conversations between them. It evolved from being a scientist arguing with an artist (they only ever agreed on their paper) to two people with just one passion – paper – however hard they tried to convince the world otherwise. The brand was sold by McNaughtons to Antalis, and now, I understand, Tom & Otto have been taken to France. The new homepage is clearly not them speaking, that’s not their voices. Kidnap! We miss them. Bring them back!
WEDGWOOD – AUTHENTIC ENGLISH STYLE
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The Partners
This guideline brochure needed to work globally, from showing the Japanese that it was OK to be witty and daring, to reassuring the Americans that it was equally 'on brand' to be traditional. They just had to be authentic, English, and stylish. Easy. ‘Authentic English Style’ was the work of The Partners. I was hired to help express it.
MUSTARD
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Mustard
This is not in itself a ‘brand vision’ I suppose. No slogan or guidelines here. But in many ways the tone of voice – cheeky, approachable, irreverent… but discerning too – is a reflection of what makes Mustard itself one of the finest talent agencies for the creative world – it is a real ‘people’ business, an expert communicator, so how it speaks as a brand really is its brand. We’ve worked together since the start.
NICHOLS – “THE RIGHT WAY”
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Kimpton Creative
Like Mustard (see above) this isn’t strictly a brand vision. But like Mustard it is a people business – in fact it’s also recruitment – and its voice is equally important. This builds on the clever compass and mapping device designed by Kimpton Creative.