“Eeek! Templates!” I hear you think (a rare talent I have). Well yes and no. You see there are templates and then there are templates. You can choose a clone from a pre-existing library of “them”plates from any one of many websites. Alternatively you could have your email designed and built specifically for you each time. But, if you use a content managed email system (aka “CMS Emailer”) you get the best of both worlds—your own professional custom design that allows you to generate brand new emailers whenever you like, using your own images and text.

If you’re already on our newsletter mailing list then the proof that CMS emailers work is in the fact it may well have brought you to this blog now. And if you’re serious about getting something up and running quickly and affordably then give us a call for the obligatory “no obligation” chat.

No “them”plates, clones or drones here, just affordable, well designed and effective emailers tailored to meet your business’s exact needs. To deliver the emails, we can either pass the code to your data agency, your in-house IT department, or you can choose our own extremely cost-effective mailing option.

Sorry, slipped into sales mode for a minute there, where’s my blog head gone…

JP

Well, firstly, we’ve managed to get a proper office recycling system under way, and in the spirit of the “Three Rs” mantra (reduce, reuse, recycle) we’ve managed to reuse an old bin as our recycling container in order to reduce our office waste. It even has a green lid, which is very apt, if a little mucky (the green is a result of years of moss growth).

So recycling is now an intrinsic part of the day-to-day studio management here at Title Towers. I should know, I’m now the self-appointed “Junk Monkey” (aka. Bin Boss, Green Guru, Sheet Shoveler, Muck Monitor, Bag Boy, Recycle Michael, etc.).

One thing I’ve noticed in this newly co-opted role is how much waste is not generated by the business directly but by the people doing everyday normal people things, like eating. Actually that sounds like we’re mucky eaters, which we’re not (not all of us anyway). What I mean is, it’s amazing the amount of food packaging that makes its way into the office. But at least now most if it is making its way into the new green recycling system rather than the evil black bin.

On the subject of recycling, we narrowly avoided a major problem. It’s an issue I’ve been worrying about and warning people about for a long time, and now my worst fears have come true: they’ve finally started to force us all to use less carrier bags for our shopping.

Charging for bags to reduce their usage while raising money for charity is obviously a pretty good thing. In theory. But it does lead to the “Carrier Bag Conundrum”, which goes something like this:
You want to reduce, reuse and recycle the amount of plastics you use, especially those devilish carrier bags that seem to foul our landscapes by finding their way into our park hedges and country roadsides regardless of the proximity of the local Tesbury’s Megaplex.
But in order to keep your paper, cardboard, glass and metals all separate and nicely presented for Mister Council Collector you need those fantastically ergonomic, lovingly designed, handy little ultra-light plastic carrier bags. So how on this green Earth are we meant to keep our recyclable separate now?

But my fears have been allayed at the last minute. Just as the carrier bag charge hits town, the town council have just announced that they will now collect mixed recyclables, so we can just chuck it all in the same container and they’ll sort it out at the depot. Result. Fingers crossed, next time we all go on a long drive with the kids in the back, bored out of their minds, at least we won’t be playing (spot-the) ”Bag-In-A-Tree” much longer.

As a relatively small studio—we have a small core team and keep the local herd of specialist freelancers fed and watered where necessary—our waste levels are more akin to a domestic household than an industrial monster, but some of these links may prove useful to others:

http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk

http://www.recyclenow.com/

http://www.carbontrust.co.uk

AM

There isn’t, unfortunately, a one size fits all approach to writing great briefs. But there are key points along the journey that will help form a useful brief, one that will give you and everyone else involved a strong point of reference and control throughout the project.

And remember, a bad map will lead you the wrong way, wasting time and money. In a nutshell, the quality of the brief will reflect the quality of the message of the final piece.

Who Does the Brief Really Benefit?
You. The whole process of writing out your thoughts as a brief will clarify your thoughts, and the final project will then reflect that clarity. This benefits: you, the designer (who comes up smelling of roses), and the end user.

Start at The End. What Is the Success Criteria?
Avoid jumping straight into solution mode. Try and define the outcomes you require in broad terms. This is how you will gauge the success of the project (eg. increased sales, greater return on investment, create a dialogue with your customer, or improved brand awareness). What is the bottom line for this project? Write it down. Think about it. Talk about it. Re-write it again if needs be. But mostly… be clear about it.

Be Inclusive
Talk to all the internal and external parties that will come into contact or be affected by the piece you are aiming to produce, make sure they know what your success criteria is. So, for instance your sales team, the client/customer, customer services, the marketing team, management and of course your creative partner all need to be involved to some degree before anyone designs anything. Thrash out any potential problems or issues to overcome, and make sure everyone is aware of what you are trying to do and can contribute from their viewpoint. Take on board any ideas or restrictions that have come to light. Involving the others early on will get them on board and also avoid time consuming and often costly amendments later on in the process.

The Skeleton Brief
You will require different briefs for your catalogue project to, for example, your TV campaign, but there are core elements common to all, such as your corporate identity, brand guidelines, market sector, etc. Establish these and then tailor this “skeleton brief” for each individual project. This will save you a lot of time.

Essential Project Elements
Get as much of the technical details together and add them to your skeleton brief to create the unique brief for this project. Working title, campaign codes, response mechanisms, production and distribution details, contact details, etc. It’s all the vital stuff that needs to be either built in or at least considered from the very outset (we provide an online form for clients that holds the everyday questions that you can select from, so just ask if you would like more details).

The Creative
You should now be able to outline your requirements and any restrictions quite comprehensively. Give indicators of your creative expectations but try and avoid dictating in too much detail how things should look. However, insure the language used is not ambiguous. If the creative partner must/must not do something, be clear, but again avoid describing too narrow a creative channel. Your creative partner should provide the solution to your requirements that is compelling and original. After all, that’s why you commissioned them.

Key Points to Get You Started

• Item Description
• Purpose
• Issues to Overcome
• Project Restraints
• Target Audience (economic/customer lifecycle position etc)
• “Perception of Company” Guidelines
• Outline a Look & Feel Required (punchy/sophisticated/radical etc)
• Mandatory Content
• Major Copy Points/Communications Strategy (formal/casual)
• Specific Contact Details (drive to web/telephone etc)
• Do Not’s
• Campaign Codes
• Designs Required-By Date
• Artwork Delivery Date
• Technical Specs (if fixed)
• Distribution Considerations
• Notes to Designer
• Other Information

This list is not exhaustive it’s just to get you started. Remember, be flexible and establish what you need to for each individual project.

Try It Out
Ok, so this post is simply designed to help steer you in the right direction, you now have to enjoy the journey. A great brief will be rewarding for you on a personal level as you see your desires translated into an effective communications tool that all parties can be proud of.

All the very best with your next project.

I recently discovered on one of my surfing sessions (web not water) the truly brilliant and pioneering architectural firm MVRDV of Netherlands (http://www.mvrdv.nl) and in particular, a project of interest to me… typography within architecture.

The Alphabet Building was a creative and whimsical solution to providing office space for creatives in Amsterdam. With many design and architectural enthusiasts judging a ‘building’s soul’ by its windows (and light), there can be no doubt this building has a creative, larger-than-life persona.

Wouldn’t our cityscapes benefit from this approach to injecting life and fun, and in some cases a dialect, to our places of work and recreation?

Hailing from Cardiff (UK), we have our own typographical architectural statement found in the Bay area. The Millennium Centre is the home of the Welsh National Opera and has been inscribed in huge calligraphic windows with the words “Creu Gwir fel gwydr o ffwrnais awen (Creating truth like glass from the furnace of inspiration)” and in English only “In these Stones Horizons Sing” on the front facade. Stirring stuff.

Have you encountered any typographical architecture? If so, please leave a comment as we are always interested in true innovation.

GP

Millenium Centre image ©Pearl Bucknell, used with kind permission www.realimage.co.uk

That original vision has been born out as we’ve just completed our 200th project, not bad for a company set up by the team just eighteen months ago.

And when you take into consideration that many of those projects are catalogues and directories, we’re pretty chuffed with that number. But most of all we’re deeply thankful to the all our clients who made this possible.

Many thanks all.

Ever since then type has been of interest to me and grown to be a fascination. Why do we need so many fonts, how do we respond to them, as experts, as readers, as consumers, as viewers?

So where is this all leading? I recently had the pleasure to come across a little gem of a book dedicated to the world of typefaces.

If you’re not a type geek, no need to be afraid, this book is superbly accessible and entertaining. It’s also deeply insightful, and I think succeeds in raising the value of typefaces in our consciousness. But it also lavishes upon us the backgrounds of the people who came to design the fonts we use everyday (and sometimes) take for granted, not to mention the labour that once was needed to create the fonts we now almost flippantly drop down from our on-screen menus and use.

From the first font created for the Gutenberg Bible, to pariahs such as Comic Sans; the difference between readability and legibility; the peculiar, often sad, and sometime distasteful personal histories of the creators, it’s all here. You’ll be hooked from page one…I was.

JP

It was with deep sadness that we learned today of the death of Steve Jobs.

You could say that he was “simply” a businessman, but within that framework he brought true innovation and creativity into the computing, mobile phone, music and even design world through his imagination and almost unfaltering skill to get the very best out of those around him.

Outstanding design, the elegant user interfaces, the simplicity with depth beneath, those clean lines, the use of different materials, the ability to defy convention and shatter conservative thinking, these were just a small part of his legacy at both Apple and Pixar.

Steve was simply able to ‘think different’, to set the bar a little higher.

His restructuring of the architectural plans during the building of the Pixar HQ are legendary—simply putting the communal areas (washrooms, canteen etc) at the heart of the building so all staff would come into contact with each other and thereby share their thinking and massage the creative process. His dismissal of customer research—his view was simply that customers often don’t know what they want (or would prefer) until they see it—has produced innovative products. His embracing of how great design can change our lives has turned around the fortunes of the once struggling Apple into the empire we now see.

The iMac I type this on is not my first Mac. I came across the Macintosh too many years ago to remember and from that point could simply not fathom why everyone could not comprehend the simplicity of the user interface—the ability to just get on with the task, rather than fighting with the operating system to make it run. Through the years not all the products from Apple worked out (remember the cube?), but that’s a small price to pay for the inspirational products that also came.

So we’ll all be going out to buy and wear the obligatory black polo-neck jumper in honour of a true visionary within his field. We’ll remember waiting with baited breath for the ‘one more thing’ at the end of his beautifully delivered presentations. And we’ll be hoping that his passion for innovation, risk, and design lives on at Apple and Pixar.

Thank you Steve (1955-2011)

JP

And so after a few misses, I finally managed to make it to my first trackday. For those unfamiliar with what these are, they’re simply a day when you get the opportunity to spend 5-6 sessions, each 15-20 minutes long whipping around a race track at a speed that suits you, making lots of noise and trying not to scare yourself whit-less (not to mention keeping a bunch of like minded blokes, and occasional girl, off the roads).

Of course, there are some dangers to this activity (so Alun, my business partner, suggests going at least one a month, preferably when it’s raining), but out of 60 riders only one had the misfortune to drop his bike (limited damage, and more pain suffered to the ego than anything else).

What has this got to do with design. Completely and utterly nothing frankly. But it does reset the mind and make you feel alive and ready for the next challenge. After all, all work and no play…

Many thanks to Riders of Cardiff for a great day.

JP

The character that allows the typeface to spread it’s wings and express it’s virtues, the ampersand is a chance for the typographer to break out of the constraints of a given font and create something with a flourish that other characters in the font cannot hope to exhibit.

The symbol itself is a ligature* of the letters “e” and “t” (“et” being the Latin word for “and”).  In many typefaces it takes a bit of looking at to see this historical route, but in others it’s quite clear (see the image above for some examples.

Wikipedia has a nice page that shows examples of the ampersand’s evolution.

JP
*Ligature: a Ligature is a joining of two or more type characters to create a single “glyph”.

We’ll that went out of the window recently. In our defence it has been silly season at Title Towers with the welcome addition of two new clients.

So we’ll be back at the blogging helm shortly with some possibly mildly entertaining/useful blogs over the next few weeks. But, this sojourn outside the blogosphere has given us time to re-asses how we use our blog, and with that in mind it doesn’t hurt to keep up to date with developments.

An interesting snippet we came across was the feeling that the blog as a medium was dying because the number of comments left on all blogs has dropped dramatically. However, in a rebuttal of that view, in this article Margaret Adams argues the comments have simply moved onto other media such as Twitter and Facebook in the forms of “shares” and “likes”, along with the relative pros and cons these channels offer.

Personally, I think that we are all far from time rich these days in our business environment. Those trying to run smaller businesses have to keep so many channels open (websites, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, blogs, forums, not to mention the traditional media channels) that the plates can often only have a quick spin each.

So can this lead to a lack of focus on your marketing? Absolutely it can. The danger is we end up skimming the surfaces thinking we are engaged in a rich mutli-media campaign and we simply forget that the quality of each piece is paramount.

It is something we are faced with; clients simply unable to set aside the time many of the projects deserve—especially at the start of a given project. Time and again we see that the results of close collaboration with a client are huge. The client’s understanding of their business requirements, our understanding of the market and consumers needs (and fashions) come together to create a superior result.

So while it’s great to have all these different media channels open to us, it would be better to get a few things absolutely right, than many things just so-so.

JP