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Described by many as the largest free festival of maritime music on the planet, the Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival is a three day event filled with live performances by dozens of groups from the UK and Europe. Working with Falmouth BID we've created a new logo marque for the festival to capture it's character and Falmouth's seagoing past. Tell me more!
We were delighted to be asked by the National Trust to help them create visitor interpretation for a new property in their portfolio. High Cross House, is situated in the Dartington Estate in Devon and is a true gem of the International Modern style, designed by Swiss-American architect William Lescaze in 1932. It was commissioned by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst as a ‘machine for living in’ for W.B. Curry, the first headmaster of Dartington Hall School. The house has had many changes of use from it's original residence for the headmasters of the school and the National Trust's aim is to recreate as much of the original furnishings as possible and our interpretation brief is follow a minimal, unobtrusive approach that retains the sleek lines of the space. Working to a fixed budget we have created external wayfinding, internal exhibitions and visitor information that push the National Trust guidelines into a direction that the Modernists would approve of. The house is home to visiting artists and the National Trust have a host of creative events planned at the property throughout the year.See http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/high-cross-house/
The MatthewAn atmospheric sight and nautical treat spied from the office window this morning. The Matthew is currently visiting Falmouth on her tour.More information on this beautiful vessel can be found on her website.
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OMC is the manufacturer of optoelectronic components and products that brings 25 years of experience in creating robust, high quality, cost efficient and sustainable solutions. We have recently launched a new website for them built using our CMS, along with a new logo and commissioned photography for their products. Take a look here: www.omc-uk.com
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We've recently had a re-shuffle of the studio and created some desk spaces which are available to rent. One desk has already been taken and there are two more available. Our waterside studio is situated in Events Square, Falmouth with great access to the town, close to the train station and good parking not to mention inspirational views. The £140pcm + VAT includes all bills, high-speed broadband and access to our A3 colour copier/printer. For more information: studio@gendall.co.uk or call 01326 316565
TLC - Championing Dignity Respect is a focus group driven campaign with staff and patients to encourage a better standard of communication in shared care environments. Freshly launched this month we have been working with the Primary Care Trust team from the ground up. We led five focus groups through Cornwall discussing with patients, doctors, nurses, carers and management staff the core problems that affect dignity and respect. Our research uncovered that the campaign needed to open clear, honest communication and encourage human contact between staff, patients, carers and people in care environments. The badge-like design is an indicator to show the wearer embraces the values of dignity and respect and is willing to share some Tender Loving Care.
Purchased a while ago now, this is surely still one of the geekiest games for us designers. Each card is designed to make the most of the particular font it features and we have picked a few our our favs to share...If you want your own check out typetrumps.com
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If there's ever a time to be certain of slightly more viewers than a BBC Cornwall documentary at 2am it's the Super Bowl in the US. Apparently a 30 second slot costs $3 million so advertisers better get it right and reach people quicker than they can eat their hot dogs. VW get it absolutely right on the money and appeal to millions of men across the world in an instant.
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Country View Cottages offer excellent Self Catering Accommodation in Cornwall. Their cottages are situated inland but perfectly placed to explore Cornwall. There are four locations which contain clusters of cottages: Pennance Barns (Falmouth),Tresooth Cottages (Mawnan Smith), Carnebo Barns (Gonnhavern), Trevarren Woolas (nr Newquay.) They are all barn conversions and have charm, quirks and character that you would expect from a traditional Cornish home...Country View approached us as they were looking to refresh and renew their current brand and apply this to a new website that allowed direct bookings for their cottages and conveyed a personality and service that wouldn't be found from the larger accommodation providers.The new brand is inspired by the doves that can be found at Tresooth and the leafy aspect that each of the cottages offer. Photography was essential to capture the quality of the surroundings and Matt Jessop and our stylist Natalie Bennet have bought the spaces to life. The website combines leaf textures and overlays to integrate the brand language created and emphasise once again the green surroundings of the cottages. The use of large images in the galleries keep a strong focus on the properties and the personal service Country View provide. www.countryviewcottages.co.uk
Simon Toft and Rosie Hadden have created a place where visitors can experience the very best of Cornwall - its amazing scenery, historic landscape, creative tradition and fantastic food and drink, without compromising its precious natural resources. This retreat is made up of a collection of holiday cottages, which generate their own energy and water - making them one of the most eco friendly holiday destinations in the country. Launched last week, the new website is inspired by the open, unique surroundings of the site and even uses Rosie's own illustrations to reinforce the notion of being close to nature. The website has also been built using our CMS system, meaning that Rosie can update her own images and keep in line with the changing seasons! Experience it yourself at http://www.littlewhitealice.co.uk
We have been receiving some good press for the tattoo inspired packaging refresh we produced for the Cornish Mead Company in Penzance. Since our write up from The Drum the story has been picked up by a fair number of websites, including Pitch Design from the Design Week group, design blog Core77, TrendHunter.com, and best of all in our opinion the website for tattoo magazine Inked!
We're delighted to share some latest packaging work that we've done for the legendary Cornish Mead Company. Back in November we won a three way pitch to look at the overall brand, packaging and marketing materials. Traditionally Cornish Mead had been enjoyed by older audiences at home and in Meaderies around the county but the 50 year old company wanted to appeal to a new, younger audience of drinkers between 18 and 30.The main challenge of the brief was that the company could no longer use the very characteristic bottle design that had made Mead unique for the last 50 years and instead were forced to use a bottle that had no unique shape. We felt that we had to capture something unique in the design. Our approach remained true to the traditional Cornish Mead values of myths & legends, good times & story telling and strength & flavour at the same time as looking modern and fresh, appealing to a whole new audience.A full wrap design across the range retained the existing crest shape and deep, rich colours from the original bottle. Illustrative designs include tattoo designs for the Mead products and fruit plants for the fruit wines. We have every faith that the packaging will be a success and look forward to working with the Cornish Mead Company on helping to promote the revitalised brand.
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Here's something quite nice from french artist Supakitch and graphic designer Koralie. The video shows the pair hard at work, creating a wall mural back in October at the VARLDSKULTUR MUSEET GOTEBORG in Sweden. The beautifully shot film features the artists using a variety of tools and techniques to create the large scale mural. It's our 25th year and we're thinking our studio could do with a refresh...
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So Christmas and New Year came and went. We're all back at the studio and working on some exciting projects for the year ahead. We'll keep you posted of course but check out the view first thing this morning... It could almost be summer.
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We had a bit of fun creating our Christmas card last week. Take a peek here and we'll see you in the New Year (we might have to work on our percussion over the winter break though).
It's been a week and we've now recovered from the annual event that is the studio Christmas party. Monday was not the most obvious night to party but we soon got in the flow, helped by an ingenious quiz and pub crawl! Our hosts (Martin & John) tested our addled brains with events ranging from Deal or No Deal to the Generation Game. Highlights included Martin's Noel Edmonds impression, the Intros round (Never Mind the Buzzcocks) combined with Mulled Cider and Call my Bluff – but let's keep the Lions story to ourselves. All topped off with a Nepalese Curry at the Gurka and the prize giving ceremony. An excellent afternoon and evening, with some well-judged Secret Santa's... but who did give Kate the mask? Censored photos included.
Here's some stunning work from mix media artist Gabriel Dawe, taken from his latest site specific installation at the Dallas Contemporary. As you can see the large scale pieces shown are aesthetically beautiful featuring bold yet gentle colours with some interesting geometric patterns woven and twisted to stunning effect.We only wish is that Gabriel could exhibits these pieces in the UK so that we may have the opportunity to experience the installation in person, but in the mean time you can keep informed of his works through his Website here.Here's a little bit more background on the artist taken from his Biography:Gabriel Dawe was born in Mexico City where he grew up surrounded by the intensity and color of Mexican culture. After working as a graphic designer, he moved to Montreal, Canada in 2000 following a desire to explore foreign land. In search for creative freedom he started experimenting and creating artwork, which eventually led him to explore textiles and embroidery - activities traditionally associated with women and which were forbidden for a boy growing up in Mexico. Because of this, his work is subversive of notions of masculinity and machismo that are so ingrained in his culture. By working with thread and textiles, Dawe's work has evolved into creating large-scale installations with thread, creating environments that deal with notions of social constructions and their relation to evolutionary theory and the self-organizing force of nature.
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Hot off the press are Visit Cornwall's 2011 guides. We have built on the success of last years design with fresh content that pushes the boundary of a destination 'brochure' whilst highlighting the best bits of our amazing county. The creative copy from Richard Barbary is entertaining with Dame Judy Dench sharing her love of lobsters and you can follow a Fifteen recipe from their head Chef. Once again we worked with some great photographers (thanks to Matt Jessop), commissioning fresh imagery which capture the personal experience of uncovering places that make memories from holidays. The design is deliberately simple and fuss free, hinting at the personality and charm that's on offer here. Over 120,000 guides have been produced and are available on request from Visit Cornwall and are distributed globally.
Japanese font makers Morisawa can spend up to four years and spend €800,000 on producing a typeface! They draw each character by hand with a basic Japanese font set containing more than 23,000 characters! Many designers today (across all disciplines) conduct their work on computers - making Morisawa a refreshing example of how traditional methods are still being used and just how effective they are!To see some of the finished typefaces visit their website
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This weekend saw the Falmouth Oyster Festival come to end. The festival celebrates the not so humble oyster, the start of the dredging season and in particular, one of the last remaining traditional oyster fisheries, dredging by sail and hand punt. Oh and you can eat a load and listen to some sea shanties too.
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Windows Phone 7 is soon to be released. Specifically, October for the EU, and November for the US.
With the rebrand of Accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Wolff Olins have created a flexible brand identity that adapts to it's application. The panes of colour scale to create endless varieties of brand expression. It's a lovely expressive brand scheme for the accountancy industry, that's filled with sans serif fonts and generally a blue colour spectrum. It will no doubt 'inspire' many design schemes to come...
Cornwall has long been known as a tourist haven, evoking childhood memories and rejuvenating the senses of weary visitors. Improved travel links to the county, top-notch restaurants and a plethora of luxury accommodation options are redefining the image of Cornwall and the expectations of visitors.
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