recently.
Our latest news and a sampler of recent efforts. Bear in mind that we’ve signed various heavy non-disclosure agreements and that some clients don’t like to let on that they’ve used a copywriter, so this is just a small percentage of the overall job sheet. If you click on the thumbnails to the left of the text, all being well you should get a larger, readable version of the image (where appropriate).
let the Games begin.
28/12/2011-
Another Royal Mail commission for Jim, this one a stamp presentation pack marking the issue of definitive stamps for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
Jim’s pack commentary considers the Games’ broad visual identity and how this reflects its ambitions for inclusivity and legacy. It explores the background and varied application of the much-debated Wolff-Olins designed emblem. It looks back to the circumstances and high points of previous London Olympics. And it picks out classic logos from the past — including every graphic designer’s choice, Otl Aicher’s black-and-white crown of rays for the Munich Olympics of 1972.
The pack was designed by Dana Robertson of Neon Creative, our first collaboration with the former Partners CD. The Olympic and Paralympic definitive stamps will be available from January until the end of the Games in July. And you can buy a copy of the presentation pack here.
designs of the times.
08/12/2011-
Back in October, totalcontent helped Nokia Design with the words for an absorbing exhibition called ‘People Made — Nokia Products that Changed the World’. It was held at the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London, and will form the basis for a larger event in Helsinki as part of the city’s World Design Capital celebrations in 2012.
As well as the catalogue, invite and posters, we wrote all the explanatory texts that appeared alongside the exhibits. These included large illuminated panels describing Nokia’s most iconic, breakthrough phones, and explaining why they made such a huge impact at the time of their release. We had to keep things suitably short and entertaining, but at the same time pin-point why and how these products were technologically significant. Our text also explored the four main themes of the show: mobility, patterns, sustainability, and craft.
This is the latest in a series of wonderfully simulating projects for Nokia we’ve helped with over the past few years. Most are covered by NDAs, so we can’t talk about them, but we’re hoping that one or two more will emerge from the woodwork soon.
a year in stamps.
14/11/2011-
For the second year on the trot, Jim has written the Royal Mail Year Pack. In case you didn’t know, this is the sprightly baby brother of the Royal Mail Year Book, and tells the stories behind the stamps in super-condensed form (click on the image for a closer look). For 2011, the typically eclectic subject matter included Gerry Anderson’s supermarionation series, William Morris, Musicals, Thomas the Tank Engine and the House of Hanover, all conveyed in a 100 or so words. The Year Pack was designed by our old friends Why Not Associates, and you can get your hands on a copy, which includes all the year’s stamps, here.
Jim also conjured up the introduction and design stories for the more substantial Year Book, designed with some aplomb by the super-talented Magpie Studio. He’d previously authored six entire Year Books, but this year Royal Mail decided to invite eminent subject experts to contribute individual chapters. Year Books are available from Royal Mail’s website.
mind the GAP Milan poster.
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Millington’s windows on the world.
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Millington Associates are designer/makers for retail environments. Based in south London, they more...
grand... Paul Thompson’s thousand words.
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size matters for Royal Mail.
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part of the furniture at Viaduct.
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It’s certainly not the most complex project we’ve been involved in. Even so, there’s a beautiful simplicity about the new more...