April, 2010 | Truly Deeply/Madly

Archive for April, 2010

04.30.10

Big Ideas, not Big Budgets are the Best Way to Make a Big Brand Impression

Working in the creative industry (in fact any industry for that matter) the one question that always seems to crop up at the start of any project is “what’s your budget?” Just once we’d love the client to say “hell, I don’t know – whatever it takes” but those clients and those budgets are few and far between. The ‘budget’ question is not without merit. If we know how much we have to spend (or don’t have to spend) then we can direct our creative juices towards the appropriate solutions. However, sometimes I wonder whether an awareness of budget restricts the creative brainstorm activity.

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04.28.10

Cross-Cultural Meanings of Colour in Brand Design

Colour affects us physiologically
and psychologically, consciously
and subconsciously. Colour is used
to shape and define our lives, our habits, our values and our feelings. The colours we choose to wear and
to decorate our homes give others personal insight into our emotions
and how we wish to project ourselves
to the world. Colour is a silent language that we all react to based-on our learned responses. Our learned associations are critical contributing factors in the way we perceive and attach meanings to colours.

Cultural Awareness
Colour is subjective. Although we may not all see the same colour, within our own cultural group the emotional response is surprisingly common. Colour is a powerful and important communication tool tied to religious, cultural, political, and social influences. While there are commonalities in the meanings of colours around the world, they may also differ greatly between cultures. It is important to be aware that different cultures attach meaning to colour in different ways. The cultural bias for colour symbolism can be very powerful. In China they use white during funerals as they associate white with winter time in which nature is dead; where-as in Western cultures black is used.

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04.27.10

Gelati Sky Packaging Design takes Paris by Storm

World Famous Brand Design
A while back Alexia Soyeux from Création Conseil Dessert in Paris got in touch to tell us how much she looooved our packaging design for Gelati Sky and to see if we could hook her up with some Gelati for her upcoming gourmet food event. So we did. The event took place in Paris last Monday and by all accounts Gelati Sky stole the show.

After the event Alexia emailed us to let us know; ‘We had the chance to show your packagings to some of our clients, some journalists and some trend agency : they all loved it. So much, actually, that they wanted to take one box home. Also, innovation director of McDonald’s France Mr Rouby was very interested in your brand.’ What can we say? those French have sure got alot of taste!

You can check their report on the Création Conseil Dessert blog: http://ccdessert.com/blog/2010/04/food-influences-n%C2%B01-bilan

If you’d like your product packaging design to bring you world-wide acclaim, just give us a call – it couldn’t be easier.

04.26.10

Absolut(ly) Beautiful Brand Ad

An Absolut(ly) Iconic Ad Campaign
Since my days at design school the Absolut Vodka ad campaign has been hailed as one of the most unique and identifiable brand campaigns in history. The campaign began back in 1991 when Absolut began an art commissioning program to select artists from all 50 states in the U.S. Absolut Vodka arranged to run full-page ads in USA Today with images of the commissioned works every two weeks. Artists selected included Romero Britto, Jon Coffelt, Burton Morris and Rev. Howard Finster. A limited edition of 300 lithographs of each work were sold to raise funds for Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS and a book called; ‘Absolut Statehood: 51 Painters, Visions of Their Home States’ was published. The flexibility and creativity of the campaign gave it longevity and made the brand instantly recognizable in any medium.

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04.23.10

Brand Claims – When Pigs Fly

All Food is not Born Equal
We are currently working with food producers around the Cairns region in Australia (Tropical North Queensland) to develop a proposition for their regional food brand. The region is a great reminder of the magic of nature. It is such an incredibly lush and fertile region with diverse eco-systems giving birth to an amazing array of fresh healthy food. A true Garden of Eden.

Great Flying Pig Photo: uk_serendipity (Flickr)

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04.22.10

Beautiful Brand Canvas – NGO Solidarites makes a splash with Aquascript

A Cut-through Brand Experience
NGO Solidarités International and creative agency BDDP marked the occasion of World Water Day with this innovative ambient display in the heart of Paris. These Aquascript water messages, designed to build awareness about the dangers of unclean drinking water globally, turned heads for a week in the City of Light.

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04.21.10

4 Tips on the Art of Business Card Design

I recently received my first ever, personalised business card due the launch of our exciting new agency brand for Truly Deeply. Up until this point I have been representing myself in meetings without a business card, believing my personality and designs skills would carry the day. The difference is amazing. A business card is nothing short of an essential first contact when meeting a client, or anyone else you’re going to be doing business with for the first time. It is an expression of you and your brand. It also has an enduring role as a reminder for clients of who you are and what position you have within a company.

Here are our 4 key tips on the art of business card design.

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04.20.10

3 Golden Rules to Unlocking the Potency of your Online Direct Marketing Offer

As a young direct marketer I was taught that in terms of the impact on response to your communication the ‘Offer’ is the most critical element. That doesn’t mean that the media you use, the format of your communication, and the creative idea are unimportant, just that getting the offer right has more impact on response than those factors do. After my recent musings on the eFuture of direct marketing I started to think about how that golden rule might play out on line. How effectively are offers being presented?

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04.19.10

Trend Report – The Visual Language of Brands (Chapter 6)

The Final Chapter in our Comprehensive Trend Report
Over the last month we’ve published the first five chapters of our research report into trends in visual language. This Monday and we publish the final chapter of the report. In this week’s chapter we’re exploring trends in brand visual language relating to colour, as well as posing the 10 most critical questions you should be asking yourself about your brand’s visual language.