WMC - Breakin the Bay 2009

Over the last few years we have worked with Wales Millennium Centre on their Breakin the Bay season. It's an interesting brand that we produced around about three years ago now, and in some ways from people actually seeing it it is one of the most successful. Since the WMC's re-brand they have since appointed an in-house designer so this year we have not produced the visuals however the styling has been taken from previous years and made there own. 

What is interesting is how a design agency sees this. In someways you would imagine that we would be upset that we have not got the job again, but I personally see this as short sighted. We have worked with the WMC on the branding project and as well as the visuals from previous years we have been able to impart values into this years project, ultimately we have given them the tools and now they are making the brand their own. 

This is very much how we have worked with other clients, working with them to refresh and invigorate brands and then leaving them with an understanding and belief in their brand values so they may take ownership. Then at strategic times we come in again to review and measure the effectiveness of the work and move things on. Brands are constantly evolving so it always has to be monitored. To see some of recent work have a look at branding section on the Hoffi website.

DME award - WMC

It has been a busy week at Hoffi as well as arrange an event for designers and student of Cardiff we also visited the WMC for the DME Award ceremony. As previously mentioned in one of my earlier blog entries one of our clients had been shortlisted for his latest product. SoBor - fruit smoothies was noted as being a very strong entry and gained an honourary mention. It is a very busy time for SoBor at the moment as they have just managed to get orders in a number of independent boutique hotels and bars.

Some of the other companies that where either winners or honourably mentioned were, Virgin Atlantic, KTM and edf energy to name but a few. As well as showing all of the entry submissions after the award ceremony there were some of the products also there in particular there was a KTM RC8 bike which I am now officially in love with and have to definitely pass my bike test next summer so I can get on one.

Design Wales - Stefan Sagmeister talk - Wales Millennium Centre

Design Wales - Stefan Sagmeister talk - Wales Millennium Centre, originally uploaded by julian marshall sykes findings.

Just back from a talk by Stefan Sagmeister at the Wales Millennium Centre. I have seen a few talks by Stefan over the internet through sites like ted.com and of course the movie Helvetica, but I have never seen him in the flesh, so I have been looking forward to seeing for a very long time.

I always think these type of things are just as much about the anecdotes and stories as the actual talk itself. It was also really interesting to get an understanding of how his studio works. In particular for me was his decision to keep his studio small (generally only having himself, two designers and an intern at anyone time). It was particularly poignant for me as currently we are looking for our first employee, which would bring our company up to four. I have always been a real fan of the number as I once went to a talk which discussed the idea of the number 4 being the optimum number as it is the last time that 4 cells are in contact with each other, and so taking this further it is felt that four is the optimum amount of people that should be in groups together. It was interesting to hear how Stefan also seemed to feel the same in that he felt the size of the company allowed them to respond quicker and more effectively to clients needs. I suppose similar to the 'too many cooks' analogy.