Fanatic.

Here's Dave's new assistant; Max! He is watching tractors on youtube - at one and a half he can also unlock an iPhone and load tractor videos from youtube!

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I saw this in Homebase. It strikes me as a great piece of  'putting your brand proposition where your mouth is'... If it’s too small to tell from the photo, it is a big green button, at the colour mixing desk. It times two minutes, and if you have not been served in that time they give you 10% off your bill.

So it looks a visible display of a brand proposition maybe to 'put the customer first'?? I am guessing, but it worked for us; we did not have to wait the whole two minutes...

I might try again after first setting up some diversionary tactics - see if we can get 10% off next time!!!

Oh and I love the man graphic, with the right aligned gill sans... Just my thing ;-)

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I was impressed with the style of this piece of brand communication. A line of Ryan Air jets all had 'Bye Bye [competitor name here]' written on them.

This one pictured says 'Bye Bye Easyjet', but what made me laugh was that it was written in the easy jet font Cooper Black, although they stopped short of using the easy jet orange corporate colour! All the other jets had other competitors written on them in the competitor's corporate font! Nice touch.

So they score themselves in brand personality highly for confidence and arrogance... and execute it with style! Sorry about the poor image, but it was taken on my camera phone on a moving conveyor.

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OK, so we are in a slowdown.  But the way we engage our consumers and the relationship with them should not be devoid of passion just because they are spending less on our stuff.   My own instinct would be to check competitor activity and attempt to wrestle budgets to just stay ahead.  If the playing field is empty, it is a cheap time to borrow money and with increased distance between you and the competition, imagine the results - financially, as long as sales can support your efforts, you've never had it so good.  This is a time to really focus on your consumers and your audience, to understand them and look long and hard at their response to your activities, to try new ways to enrich their experience of you and your stuff.  If we separate the current spending trends and look to the future for a moment, things are actually pretty good.

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January has seen a flurry of activity here in the studio, we've been rushed off our feet working on a wide range of projects, including some poster designs for various clients. It's work that we really enjoy due to way in which we can communicate messages strongly via eye-catching design, well chosen imagery and considered wording.

This poster was spotted outside a charity shop on our local high street, and I have to say, credit where credit's due (no credit crunch pun intended). Take a look at the clever typeface and detail on the fingernail!

Seems like everyone is cutting their prices in 2009, even the charities.....

As a tight team, we are able to be nimble, efficient and quick to respond to new challenges, we can pack a punch equal to the most expensive agencies.

Talk to Fanatic about your brand and where you'd like to take it in 2009.

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It seems Laura's been working so hard that she has been lacking in social interaction, and therfore taken to making her own company to chat to. Oh well it's almost time for a break at Christmas!!

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Most of us office based types spend 8 hours plus with the same view, all day, every day.

We recently spent some time and money investing in some new art to grace the walls, a magnetic board to leave each other 'colourful' messages, framed posters and prints. We also took the time and effort to have a big tidy up, moving our Macs from our desks onto the floor to create a cleaner, brighter working space. Clients and visitors often comment on the space we inhabit here at the Tobacco Factory, and we strive to keep the working environment a pleasant place. It can sometimes be a hard balance to strike; keeping a work space clean and tidy, when the work that you do constantly creates mess!

If your view could do with a bit of TLC and some inspirational decor, you'd do worse than to check out some of the following websites for prints, pictures and more... There are plenty of examples of contemporary and traditional office and studio spaces which have been given more than a new coat of magnolia.

THREADLESS

CORE 77

THE COOL HUNTER

Of course, there are some views that you can't change quite so easily!

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Is this just the finest advert of 2008 or what!

it accompanies the launch of the new visual identity for Barclaycard, and as far as brand communication goes it does not need much explaining with the metaphor of a water slide out of the office; breaking free, representing touch free credit card use. Well Ok it might be a bit tenuous but it is definitely eye catching, engaging and memorable brand communication!

This is work is from BBH London, the creative behind some of the most eye catching spots... take a look at the full length 90 second version of waterslide on youTube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DiAjL72FVE

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Whether conceiving a new brand, designing a piece of print work or creating a website, the colours we use in our designs are paramount in communicating the right message.

Colours naturally convey certain messages within our culture and therefore have an effect on how a brand, flyer or website is perceived. Red, for example has connotations of 'Heat', 'Anger' and 'Power' whereas Blue carries undertones of 'Cool' and 'Calm'.

With this in mind the team at Fanatic focus closely on choosing a palette to suit the client or piece of design we're working on.

Colour combinations or 'colour palettes' can provide a company with an identity which carries further than a logo. Virgin Media, for example are known for their Warm, Red based colour palette, O2 for their fresh blues.

We've found a fantastic site which users can upload their own colour palettes in a bid to inspire and motivate other creative types. (Also handy when you're thinking of redecorating the downstairs loo!)

Check out www.colourlovers.com and be inspired!

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We've been struggling to communicate what we do with a brand.  We help understand brands, we align them, we discover what the soul of a brand is, what it's essence is, what it's favourite films are and what defines a brand.  

Communications expertise aside for a moment, I defy anyone to come up with a single term that describes what we do for brands.

Branding is about being remarkable. Branding answers the question of why a company or product exists. Branding is the heart, the soul, and the essence of a company or a product. Without a brand, a company would cease to exist. Branding serves as the anchor, as the core … as the gravitational force that every marketing activity revolves around.

Marketing is the articulation of the brand. Marketing is about telling the story of about how/why a company or product is remarkable. Marketing happens at every customer touch-point from an encounter with a customer service rep on the phone, to a television commercial, to a conversation between a store employee and a customer, to an email from the company, to a conversation between two customers about a company or a product. Marketing is everywhere communication (verbal and non-verbal) about a company or product happens.

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