NB Studio

Offset 
23 March 2012
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You’ll know when you have been to a great talk – when an hour seems to pass in just a few minutes. That was the feeling for many of the fantastic speakers Nick and I sat through at last weeks Offset convention in Dublin. Actually, during the hilarious and fun ’Friends with you’ talk we were dancing in the aisle, shaking hands and hugging with complete strangers! Loved their attitude to life and work – What fun!

There was so much genius all in one place, Offset really has become a World Class conference, set in the beautiful Libeskind built Grand Canal Theatre. Check out the speakers and book your place for next year. Apart from the talks, I found Dublin an incredible place. Karl Toomey, Dubliner, talented freelancer and friend of NB made sure Nick and I visited every bar in Dublin. We met lots of his friends and had they Nick and I in constant state of giggles.

I must finish this little review with Johnny Kelly, one of the most talented people Nick and I have ever had the pleasure of working with - and the reason why we were in Dublin in the first place. Every job he showed got a round of applause. The making of ‘Back to the Start’ for Chipotle left me breathless.

Thank you Johnny, thank you Karl, thank you Offset and thank you Dublin.

Over and out.

Alan 

The Year Ahead
5 January 2012
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Here at NB we’re always looking forward, so it’s only natural that after wading through our inbox’s and putting up our new Stendig Vignelli calendar we started to chat about the year ahead for NB. We’re entering our 15^th year of business and it’s a big one – some exciting projects lined up for our much loved clients, new and old.

We’re not just thinking about ourselves though, that would be rude. What does 2012 have in store for the wider world of branding and communication? With the Olympic games on the horizon will consumers finally reach breaking point, a saturation level after the incessant bombardment of Olympic tie-ins and special editions of everything, endorsed or otherwise?

There will be life after The Games, but what will it look like? Mind you, by the time the last firework in the closing ceremony fizzles into the clouds most businesses will be preparing their Christmas salvo.

Before all that of course we’ve got the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – 60 years of HRH and surely a prime opportunity for retailers and businesses to capitalise on. Whether it will spawn the same slew of illustrations, knick-knacks and things of beauty and humour from the design community as last year’s royal wedding remains to be seen.

On the subject of retail, December’s Portas Review highlighted the problems facing the High Street and perhaps an insight into it’s future, to quote Mary Portas; ‘…those who see high streets purely as a commercial retail mix need to think again.’ Interesting. The High Street could become a cross between The Tate Modern and Argos, with a Starbucks, obviously.

Will 2012 be the year of a revolutionary new product like Graphene or Sugru that changes our lives? Will 3D TV really take off? Will we keep everything in a cloud? Will we pay for biscuits with our mobiles?

As usual, there are more questions than answers. We’re looking forward to asking some more and answering a few in 2012. We wish you all a prosperous new year.

Christmas Crackers
22 December 2011
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And so this is Christmas. It’s been a busy couple of weeks here at NB, but every now and then we’ve taken time out to look and the plethora of Christmas related design that has been sent in and around the studio. As the Coca-Cola advertisement signals the start of the festive season for some – so does the John Lewis ad for a different generation. This year’s effort was a well documented success, we particularly like this version, set to music from The Shining. Sinister.  We also liked this one for Harvey Nichols, which relates the sad truth about xmas parties.

We get a lot of great cards every year from our friends in the design industry. These cards feature very different levels of humour, tone and foil blocking. The pressure to create an original and exciting Christmas card is one of the main reasons we at NB avoid doing it. Its not that we can’t, as in previous years we made these. Nowadays we concentrate our efforts on our ‘This Year…’ project that you can see here. Look out for This year 2012, currently in production!

Recently we worked with Sennep to create this card for the Design Council, with all proceeds going to The Alzheimer’s Society. Have a go, it’s good fun. Talking of fun, we had our party last week, which we just have to mention. We went off to Office Party at the Pleasance Theatre – it was excellent, do go if you get the chance.

And finally, we’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from everyone at NB. Here’s to a prosperous 2012.