300million : launch main site

300million down the tubes

Don't worry, recession vultures. The blog title above refers merely to our latest campaign for the London Symphony Orchestra, currently wowwing commuters from Highbury & Islington to Elephant & Castle. Flex your Oyster and check em out.

Gong!

We always enjoy receiving a new chunk of silverware for the 300million trophy cabinet. So we were delighted to receive a prestigious (and heavy) iSTD Premier Award on Friday night. The prize-winning project was our crafty folding book for word wizard Mike Reed, which has already clocked-up an 'in book' in this year's D&AD annual. The International Society of Typographic Designers is a body devoted to the celebration of excellence in typography, so we're especially gratified that our type-tastic book met with their august approval. Kern-gratulations all round.

Three Dee Hundred Million

300million took a trip to the BFI IMAX last night. Ostensibly to gain more of an insight into our exciting new clients the BFI... but to be honest, we just wanted to see Disney Pixar's Up on a ridiculously enormous screen. And what a screen! A five-double-decker-bus-tall monster with the most sophisticated projection system in the world. Plus rumble-rama 11,600-watt digital surround-sound. Zoinks. As you'll see from the shot above, we took great delight in the eye-boggling 3D and even greater delight in the Deirdre Barlow 3D spex.

The movie we saw last night is the latest in an ever growing slate of 3D titles muscling their way into the box office top 10. James (top of the world) Cameron's reputedly "game changing" Avatar looks set to cement 3D as the blockbuster movie standard. And whilst I can understand why the industry has returned so whole-heartedly to the 3D format as a way of fighting off attacks from the gaming industry and home entertainment, I can't help but wonder what the Pedro Almodóvar movie I saw on Saturday would look like in 3D. All kinds of wrong, I'd suggest. Donning those huge plastic spex for Mike Leigh's latest? I don't think so.

Does this disparity suggest that tentpole blockbusters in 3D will grow even further apart from smaller, 'independent' movies in terms of audience? Is the cine-ghetto looming for arthouse crossover pictures: smaller pictures which have been so successful at crossing over to a mainstream market in recent years?

Exciting times for the movie industry, certainly. We'll be watching closely. In 3D.

Still smiling in the mind

There’s been a bit of nostalgia kicking in recently for A Smile in The Mind, the Phaidon book that’s a bit of a staple for design students and professionals. There’s been a call for a second edition, an update or perhaps an online version on the forums. It would be something to consider: 2009 needs wit now more than ever.

Having been involved, albeit not nearly as much as others, in its production, I thought it would be worth sharing a few anecdotes.

The cover. I was a student placement at The Partners and so thrust into the book’s design and production that was well underway. I noticed they were struggling with the cover design. The current favoured idea was I think James Beveridge’s notion of a photo of a slice of Edam cheese. Neat enough in principle but maybe a bit surreal and didn’t really feel like a cover. Certainly, this was the feeling at the time.

I learnt one of my first industry lessons at this time that I’ve touted to all students and graduates since. Seize any opportunity. No one asked me to have a crack at it. But I took time out in the evening to bash out a few ideas and show them to David Stuart the next day. He was immediately taken by the type-only twist of the D smile. Brilliant, I thought. Better still, he asked me to develop it further.

I quickly learned my second and third lessons in professional design; reductiveness and getting the audience to do the work. I spent too long messing about with serif typefaces that looked a lot like dimpled smiles and wasn’t getting anywhere that looked attractive or balanced. After toiling, Peter Carrow took about five minutes with Franklin Gothic to make it work. No need to make the smile obvious: keep it simple, let them make and enjoy the leap.

Some months after, whilst back at college, I received a colour proof of the cover in the post. It was amazing to see – and ultimately my first litho printed thing ever [now there’s a nice studio conversation].

A year later, I was back at The Partners, amazingly still working on the book. This time it was helping out with the content. It was all hands to the pump. We couldn’t find the original floppy disk file copy for the snow man disk on page 156, so I got busy with Tippex and red sticky paper. If you look at it not even closely it’s obvious.

The publishers in Hong Kong handled much of the photoshoot stuff back then; pre-internet FTP. All well and good, but crikey what a hand model; check out the nails on pages 61, 75, 105! It was the source of much derision when the final copies were delivered. As though they’d hired Gollum.

The cost of production was really quite enormous. I recall seeing the little 12-page mock-up booklet that it started life as. From tiny acorns and all that. This may be the reason why a second edition won’t be around any time soon.

It continues to sell well. I got the calculator out and it’s sold more than two a day for the last 13 years or so. Maybe there’s no need for a second one anyway. Even now, every time I refer to it for blind inspiration, I’ll see something new.

Pop life

We love our tunes at 300million. Of all the activities we talk about on a Monday morning when the studio is back together after the weekend, music is always the common thread: gigs, new music purchases, even X-Factor (much to the chagrin of the mono-culture deniers). So it was with genuine interest that we read two poptastic news items in this mornings Guardian.

Article one concerns the launch of Cheryl Cole's solo album, which goes on sale today. It seems that the geordie warbler (along with Universal's marketing department) has been getting busy at the digital coal-face, granting exclusive interviews and special offers to Facebook, Twitter, HMV.com, Play.com, Amazon, Orange and iTunes. A sure sign that, in the face of plummeting profits and illicit filesharing, the pop music industry is finally shaping up.

Meanwhile, back on the beleaguered high street, article two covers the launch of HMV Curzon, an exciting new cinema venture by the music retail icon. HMV's team-up with Curzon Artificial Eye comes in the wake of its forays into the live music market, and suggests that Nipper the HMV dog still has a good nose for profitable industries (just ask our clients BFI about the success of IMAX).

Whilst many Millionaires here at 300million still struggle with the brand-y nomenclature ("I'm off to see the Butthole Surfers at the HMV Forum" doesn't trip so easily of the tongue... yet), we're all for the intelligent, savvy moves into new territory. And to be frank, anyone offering a genuine, accessible, mainstream alternative to the desultory cinema experience delivered by the likes of Vue gets our vote every time.

So, two encouraging stories that suggest there's still life on Planet Pop. As for other successful tales of brands diversifying, I'll leave you with this memory of a Melbourne laundromat/web café I used to frequent, whose typically blunt window display read: "Our internet connection speeds are so fast you'll sh*t your pants... and then you can wash 'em".

Litteral thinking

The ongoing Metro ad campaign supported by Recycle which informs commuters that leaving their newspaper on train seats is not only illegal littering but also a black mark against their carbon footprint credentials is due a rethink on a few levels in my view. Let's not forget that the Metro's mojo was built on the principal that a single paper might be read by multiple readers in any one day, a great form of recycling in itself. I also credit it with small contribution to greater social cohesion; 'Have you finished with that paper mate?', 'Do you mind if I read this if you're finished with it?' are amongst some of the politest exchanges I overhear on my way to and from the office. What to do about the litter issue though? Maybe talk to an anthropologist, think laterally about the issue rather than default to a one way polite notice which takes the moral high ground. There's a better way with the collective endeavor of train operators, TFL, Associated Press and of course commuters themselves. Rant over!

Our closest client

Our closest client in one sense anyway: Liv - the brand identity we've created for the hair and beauty team about 40ft away from our studio is being installed today.

It looks like it's already catching the eye of one of the myriad of fixed wheel fluorescent Clerkenwellites, doubtless with a Hoxton fin in need of a trim.

Come 'ed, soft lad

Discovered! A previously hidden linguistic link between the citizens of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and those of Liverpool, Merseyside.

Hell's teeth, I hear you cry, what could possibly link the Mersey Estuary with the Klang Valley? Well, the answer lies in a small but significant quirk of language. Locals in both Liverpool and Kuala Lumpur have a tendency to use the word 'lah' at the end of a sentence.

Like me, older readers familiar with the big-in-the-80s Channel Four soap Brookside will remember Jimmy Corkhill frequently uttering phrases such as "Ar ay, lah". And if, like me, you've ever attended a Coral, Shack or (whisper it) Cast gig, you'll certainly have heard the phrase "This is our new single, lah" slurred from the stage. However, the KL locals' use of this little word came as something of a surprise during the 300million trip to Malaysia last week. We were in town to attend focus group workshops with new client Lend Lease, and felt immediately at home thanks to the use of 'Lah' by our hosts. As an illustration of how commonly 'Lah' is used, the above shot was taken of an interactive display in KL's science museum, urging the visitor to 'Try, Lah!'. As one purpose of our trip was to immerse ourselves in Malaysian consumer culture, it was little observations like this that made the time we spent there extremely fascinating.

So, if blog readers have made similar linguistic discoveries on trips overseas (the use of "Ay up, me duck" in Ulaanbaatar perhaps, or an unexpected "Why aye man" in Bogotá), we'd love to hear from you, lah.

The art of apologizing

Just gone on to Twitter. It's down for some reason. Cue anger and frustration - or - be pacified by a few naive-style computer sketches of broken stuff? And, hey, it's all in nice, pastel shades.

When people are several times more likely to tell others when a brand has let them down then when a brand has done good, apology is the front line and repair is right behind it.

A recent email from iTunes to us here shows to the extent that consumer feedback is now more critical than ever. It's now the second most powerful internet advertising method [first place is recommendation from a friend]. Check out the voice of brand Cupertino here;

"Dear Xxxxx,
You're very welcome. I'm glad that I was able to make your experience with iTunes a little more enjoyable.
Nothing makes Apple happier than to hear our customers are pleased. It was truly a pleasure assisting you. I want you to know that you are a valued iTunes Store customer and remember, if you ever have any questions or concerns with Apple iTunes, please feel free to email us anytime. We'd be more than happy to help. Have a great day, Xxxxx!
Sincerely,
Lexi
iTunes Store Customer Support"

Note the word 'Sincerely'. 300m believe this is the key to it all.

Mixin' up the flavas

We've always been a fan of the mash-up, here at 300million. We take great delight in the collision between two seemingly incongruous or unexpected elements. So it was with some excitement that we accepted the invitation to combine two of our great loves: classical music (see our work for the LSO and the London Contemporary Orchestra) and Russia (see our ever-growing Russian comms brand, Yota). New client the Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg's cultural icon, approached us to help them create, brand and launch their nascent classical music label.

Named simply 'Mariinsky', and under the firm guiding hand of general director Valery Gergiev, the new label aims to publish a raft of recordings by the Mariinsky Orchestra. The label's remit is to take bold, unexpected steps in the selection of material it chooses to record and publish. An ambition evidenced by their initial release, Shostakovich's little-heard opera, The Nose.

Incidentally, the CD sleeve typography reflects the concentric, circular architectural motif of the new Mariinsky concert hall: a detail which had Mr Gergiev (a massive architecture buff) giving the concept his blessing.

So, if you're feeling in need of musical enrichment, you could do worse than buy the first release on Amazon here (or from your local independent retailer, shop-local fans):
http://tinyurl.com/mqkee7

Loadsa ideas

Sometimes it's deep, insightful brand consulting. Sometimes, it's a billion ideas on man-size sheets of paper. In amongst all the textbooks, it remains the most valid path to success: the only way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.

It would be nice to talk more about the ideas themselves, but alas it's all super confidential. Statistically, 3% of this blog's readership will blow up this picture in Photoshop and use the Sharpen filter to try and find out more. It won't work.

LSO Discovery - 20 years celebration logo

One of my favourite logo designs from our studio in the last few weeks, for the education part of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Good to see pencils and Adobe Illustrator working in design harmony. Lovers not fighters.

Bouncebackability

Apparently there’s a psychologist, George Lakhoff, who has conducted research to prove that not only do we use metaphors to get through the more abstract parts of life – but, astonishingly, that we actually use these metaphors to reason decisions.

This could be terribly distortive in business leadership. Are you poised to bounce back from the recession? Certainly, we’ve heard organizations that say they are. And they’ve based their business plans around it; structures designed to react Dan Ackroyd down a fireman’s pole style into a full order book.

At 300m we’re long in the tooth enough to experience downturns and cannot recall a moment when the economy ricocheted overnight like a tennis ball off a ball boy’s head. No boing or bounce. More often a gradual, weaving arc with a few false dawn burps and hiccups along the way. But that’s not such a handy or neat metaphor – but it’s the kind of unsudden actuality we recommend to our clients that they should plan around.

This research is also marvellous confirmation for brand believers though too. It’s not bottled water; it’s an elixir that will make you live young. It’s not the fastest sprint in the world; it’s a bolt of lightning. It’s not Mr President, it’s change. It’s not a blend of water, sugar and 10% fruit juice from concentrate, it’s Um Bongo. With healthy sales in the Congo, no less. And so on.

The set in stone principle that brands should come from a fundamental truth rocks a bit by this research. As to how much is difficult to say. Maybe it’s because we’re thinking about this issue as a hard consolidated mineral metaphor…

Wizard night out

300m were kindly invited to a special, hand your mobile phones in please preview screening of the new Harry Potter film - three days ahead of the rest of you muggles out there.

The event, a fundraiser for RADA, was a classy affair, with a mixture of some of the stars and crew dotted around. The night was introduced by Snape himself, Alan Rickman, who as you might expect, put in a great performance on screen exercising that technique where if you say something calmly with 100 yards in between each word it's somehow more unnerving.

It was very reminiscent of our first presentation of RADA logo development options when, like nervous, young wizards we asked Alan, vice chairman of RADA and former graphic design student, for his thoughts on the work. After a long wait, 'I like this the most', came his reply, his finger pointing past the four colourful options on display to the word RADA within the headline of our presentation front cover.

Suffice to say, we took stock of everything, got the Bumper Book of Brand Spells out back in the studio and potioned up more magic.

We have been watching...

Not sure if the people of London really care what we watch in an evening. But our television habits seem to have made the news this week....

Haiku like your tea?

As found in the 300m kitchen. An idea of how we like our beverages and inadvertent, haiku-like, profound prose.

Birds of a feather flock together...

...and like the rest of the world you can now find out about the word on the 'tweet' from the 300million business team. Follow us at;

http://twitter.com/300million

300million a top 100 agency…

Design Week has just published the 2009 UK design consultancy survey. (Did you know there are over 12,000 design firms?) We are identified as one of the fastest growing brand design consultancy in the UK and highlighted as one of the "ones to watch" in 2009.

Design Week said; “300million has a reputation for great creative work, but clearly means business.”

Bucking the trend matters to us. For our own business, and for the business entrusted with us. Thanks to all our clients, old and new and all our employees for your continued support.

Access all areas

We have just completed the first stage of re-branding work for Access Self Storage, one of the UK’s leading self storage businesses. After the developing the brand positioning last year 300million were appointed for the re-branding project in the new year.

Access Self Storage has grown at a very rapid rate over recent years, opening its 50th store in May, with further growth planned over the next 18 months. With this level of expansion in mind, the client wanted to develop a brand to ensure clear standout in the marketplace.

We have developed a brand which conveys what Access is all about – simple hassle free storage at excellent value, with a transparent, professional and friendly service. The work, which includes store branding, signage, customer information packs and website, will be rolled out over the year.

Read the full story at Design Week;
http://is.gd/N5YN

You're talkin' my slanguage

As you'll no doubt be aware, the annual celeb-and-croque-monsieur-fest at Cannes has just wrapped up for another year. In town for the film festival were trusty 300million clients The Weinstein Company and FilmNation. Consequently, I felt duty-bound to drop by for a couple of days. Both movie companies were enjoying a successful Cannes: the Weinstein's new Tarrantino picture 'Inglourious Basterds' scooped a Best Actor Palm D'Or, whilst FilmNation secured a number of significant but top secret deals at the film market. Pictured above is my slightly shaky snap of 'Desperate Housewives' star Eva Longoria (papped mid-swish on the Palias red carpet from FilmNation's balcony, enviously located above the Croissette).

As I've never attended the festival before, it was something of a voyage of discovery for me (though sadly not in John Travolta's yacht). Here's what I learnt during my visit;

- the more laminated VIP passes swinging around your neck, the more important you are.
- Unless you're really movie-studio-owningly, super-yacht-sailingly important, in which case you don't have any VIP passes swinging around your neck. People just know.
- Paris Hilton likes to play dominoes.

All very important stuff. For me, however, the most intriguing revelation was that the movie industry press (specifically Variety) has it's own disorientating language. I'll give you a few examples; a president is a 'prexxy', audiences are 'auds', 'boffo' means outstanding, box office is 'BO', a 'hardtop' is an indoor movie theatre, a western is a 'horse opera', Disney Studios is known as the 'Mouse House', and a PR firm is a 'praisery'.

As a result, a flick through the pages of Variety (a special edition of which is published every single day of the festival) regularly reveals sentences like this: "Mouse House prexxy Bob Iger was delighted at new horse opera boffo BO, thought to be a result of poor weather driving massive auds to hardtops over the opening weekend".

Whilst this kind of language is in equal parts fun and perplexing, it does have the effect of making the casual reader feel a little out of the club. It also made me think about the kind of language we regularly use in brand design and how disorientating that could be to the uninitiated...

Anyway, that's all for this post. I'm off to tweak some ligatures and check some scatters. Know what I mean?

Starchitects

It was an honor to have dinner with the nations finest architects on Wednesday evening at the AJ100 Awards. If you haven't already poured over the results in this weeks AJ then here is the very heavily edited highlights. Atkins take residency in the top slot after an 8 year reign by BDP, Foster + Partners' phenomenal Beijing Capital International Airport scooped 'Building of the Year' and current collaborators with 300million, Woods Bagot took 'International Practice of the Year'. Diversity and adaptability seemed to be key themes emerging for the profession in turbulent times with those on the front foot when it comes to sustainability forecast to be in demand for the long term. Seems like our work in the sector will be more relevant than ever.

Talking Italian

Matt maybe taking a having a fortnight's holiday, camping(!) in France, bucking the trend for the Staycation, but before he left he found time to talk to Italian website 'paper ideas' about the state of the creative industry. Fortunately it's in English.

http://www.paperideas.it/paperzine/news/3075-Matt_Baxter

ABRSM CDEFG

Today's the official launch of our branding work for ABRSM (the world's leading provider of graded music exams - see earlier post). To celebrate we've created a set of musical flutes.

Step one: open champagne. Step two: pour into glass. Step three: drink to the line on the glass indicating your note. Step four: tap lightly with a knife. Step five: drink more champagne to change the note (currently tuned to CDEFG).

We're not putting ourselves forward for a Grade 1 Flute just yet though.

Brit's got talent

This week I was privileged to be invited to the final year show for this years Brit School graduates. For those that aren’t up to speed, the Brit School is the only ‘free’ school for Performing Arts and Technology in the UK and in recent years has been responsible for Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, most of the female singers called Kate, The Kooks, The Noisettes and Adele (the multi-Grammy winning singer).

An inspiring combination of cover versions, original compositions and performance. The 17/18 year olds, who performed in various groups (jazz rock fusion, funk, dance, musicals, pop etc) certainly know how to perform in a slick professional way. If these guys had done Live Aid it would have been over within 2 hours .

No guarantees of what will become of them, but maybe check this blog entry again in 5 years time to see how Grant McNeill, Lula Bell Beggs, Chris Jacobs, Wilfred John Nash Petherbridge (The Third), Rosa Murdoch et al have got on, and let’s hope it not in to rehab.

The font and the fury

We're reasonable people here at 300million. Sure, we're opinionated. Yes, we'll argue our point if we feel strongly about it. Of course, debate might even get a bit heated at times. But we feel positively Swiss in our outlook compared to the indignant opinions currently being voiced on The Guardian's online 'Comment Is Free' forum.

The subject of today's frothily forthright forum? At the time of writing, there are 51 people on The Guardian forum getting hot under the collar about... a font. That's right. A font. But not just any old typeface. The subject of the forum is Comic Sans, possibly the most reviled typeface ever.

We are at once dismayed and heartened by the online outpourings; dismayed that people feel so passionately angry about a duff typeface and feel the need to express that anger in slightly iffy ways (one commentator likens Comic Sans to cancer... blimey); heartened that a seemingly niche subject once the preserve of typeniks can make it to a mainstream newspaper and cause such heated, sustained debate.

Apparently there's a rumour that the next subject of The Guardian's Comment Is Free forum is: 'PMS Orange 021c, feast for the eyes or migraine inducing aberration?'.

Information ain't communication

We've given it a month or so, but one of our most visited web pages - BBC's weather forecast - is getting unbookmarked here.

It has recently been updated and redesigned - badly. It exhibits the classic hallmarks of poor information design; overload and inaccessibility. Worst crime of all: it takes longer to load on mobiles than before, to the point of breakdown.

Our guess? It has been a project led by designers that have entered the digital design realm through the tech door, not the communications door; brandishing benchmarks of nth degree levels of detail when surely, truly, we just want to know if it's going to rain on Tuesday.

Stop local

300million is always keen to be in tune with the zeitgeist when it comes to lifestyle trends. So it is with great excitement that we can report that no fewer than three staff members (Katie, Gareth and Dom) are currently on/have recently returned from UK-based holidays. Not bleeding-edge enough for you? We can go one better, neologism fans. Nigel is currently keeping it even more local on his London-based staycation.

Here's a snap from Gareth's climb up Scafell Pike (England's highest peak) last week, proving not only that you don't need a pair of board shorts to have a good time, but also that 300million business cards are robust enough to stand up to the most extreme weather conditions.

Unfortunately, the satisfyingly low carbon footprint created by the above UK-based holidaymakers and staycationers is offset by senior designer Graeme, who just popped home to Melbourne for two weeks with his partner and new baby. Oh well. At least he cycles to work.

Revelling in it

Ten examples of inverse proportionality in the communications industry

The brilliance of an idea is inversely proportionate to the likelihood that it came from anyone trained in or aware of the communications industry.

The quality of an external consultant's presentation is inversely proportionate to the quality of the consultant.

The level of momentousness applied when someone reveals 'A brand is not a logo' is inversely proportionate to their importance in the meeting.

The reliability of the colour printer is inversely proportionate to the time left before the presentation.

The frequency of the words 'utilizing' and 'impactful' in a brand guidelines document is inversely proportionate to the usefulness and authority of the guidelines it advises.

The quantity of fixed-wheel bike riding employees in a communications agency is inversely proportionate to the amount of clean shaven employees in the same agency.

The quality of the sketched idea is inversely proportionate the quality of the idea.

The amount of fuss sorting out teas and coffees at the beginning of a pitch is inversely proportionate to your chances of winning the pitch. Interestingly, the reverse was true before the advent of the internet.

The degree of comfort expressed by the client over your next big idea is inversely proportionate to its effectiveness.

The likelihood of using a Moby track for your next brand mood video is inversely proportionate to that route being developed. Unless the video is being shown to a research group of MOTP.

It takes a (Film)Nation of millions...

We're delighted to hear from our clients FilmNation that they've finally unpacked the last box and de-bubble-wrapped the final Mac, and are now happily ensconced in their new home on West 22nd Street, New York: a short but significant move from their temporary Greenwich Village offices. With Cannes fast approaching and a raft of exciting productions to launch, the move comes at an exciting time for the movie company.

Rather than a new house plant, we decided that our housewarming present should be something a bit more dramatic. And so we got to work on the reception wall pictured above, featuring a 3D rendering of our FN logotype and a floor-to-ceiling FN 'funburst'©, all in the freshly minted brand colour palette.

We'll be popping in to see the FilmNation team and say hi with a packet of Chips Ahoy and a box of PG Tips next time we're in town.

Red Eye Day

The Comic Relief illuminated London Eye as snapped from the 300million roof terrace last night. Made me smile!

Crisis in advertising

The 'economic crisis credit crunch apocalypse' may be bad news for ITV and other businesses that rely on advertising income, but there's good news for our charity client Crisis.

Unable to sell advertising space on the new Piccadilly Lite ad space (available to the general public for about £1,000 per minute in 10 minute blocks), the owners have decided to give the space free of charge to the homeless charity.

When we were designing the Crisis brand last year we did all the usual things. Checked the clear space. Minimum use size. Ensured the resolution was suitable for on-screen use.

Not sure who's responsibility it was to check the reproduction out of 30,000 light bulbs though...but it works.

The Power of Music and the Power of the Press

ABRSM is the world's leading provider of graded music exams, conducting over 600,000 music exams each year in more than 90 different countries. If you've ever taken a music exam, chances are it was with ABRSM. The opportunity to re-define the purpose at the heart of this established organisation was a great challenge and something 300million was really suited to.

Back in 2006 when we started the project we had, amongst our employees; 1 Grade 5 Trumpet, 1 Grade 3 Trumpet, 1 Grade 6 Music theory, 2 Grade 5 Saxophone, 1 Grade 3 Tenor horn, 1 Grade 5 Clarinet, 1 Grade 8 Piano, 1 Grade 6 Flute, 1 Piano teacher, 1 Euphonium player, 1 self-taught guitarist and several recorder players.

So it's nice to see the work finally coming to light (Design Week 19/02/09). Thanks to Jane Wentworth who worked with us throughout the process.

NME tells retailers how it is...

This little news article appeared on NME.com today. I personally was never convinced by the Zavvi name, brand or store. I used to be fond of a trip to Our Price, put up with the limited choice in Virgin, but now buy all my CD's from Amazon and all vinyl from HMV.com.

Fortunately the headline disappeared nearly as quickly as Zavvi itself.

Recruiting

We are looking to boost the designer ranks here at 300million. We think we need someone with 3-5 years experience. More importantly though - we just want bright, interesting, unafraid people to join us. Email dom@300million.com with your details and weeny file of best work.

Making the logo bigger

Taking the infamous design industry song to heart - here is our latest folder design for RADA.

Brilliant Crisis management

Total bobble hats-off respect to the team at RAPP who managed to get this campaign for Crisis thought of and 'implemented' around town in the space of a short blizzard.

It's warming to see our brand design applied exactly how we had hoped - urgently and with marker pen. Inspiring stuff.

Berlinale is go

The 59th Berlin Film Festival - or Berlinale to aficionados - kicks off today, amid industry reports that the beleaguered film industry might just be showing signs of better health. (I'm sure there's a gag about 'green shoots of recovery' buried in there somewhere.)

Things are certainly looking peachy for 300million clients The Weinstein Company. Their 2008 picture The Reader is currently surfing a critical wave of appreciation, with a Golden Globe under its belt, and the BAFTAs and Oscars waiting impatiently in the wings.

Bucking the trend in an industry famed for caution and conservatism, we're helping Harvey and Bob Weinstein turn Hollywood heads at the Berlin event. We asked Stockholm-based artist Stina Persson to make a number of illustrations based on the current Weinstein 'slate': these fantastic, inky creations were then turned into huge murals by our man on the ground in Berlin, Florian. We also used Stina's work in this year's Weinstein brochure: a gorgeous piece of case-bound loveliness.

True to the Weinsteins' indie ethos, all of the above was done on a modest budget, in pretty short order and with minimum post-production CGI. It's a wrap.

Weather as brands

In the UK: snow = meltdown

Ta-ra Tony

The Million blog isn't known for it's thoughts on mortality, but we couldn't let this weeks death of creative uberlord Tony Hart go without comment.

Not only were all of the directors of 300million avid Vision On/Take Hart/Hartbeat viewers [along with an estimated 50% of the UKs five to 14 year-olds by the late 70s], it turns out that we all at some point sent our home-made artistic endeavors to the 'Gallery' segment of those shows. It's says something for the esteem in which we held Mr Hart that none of us took it personally when he and his Plasticine pal Morph chose not to include our creations in said Gallery.

Tony Hart (1925 - 2009), softly spoken artistic inspiration (and sporter of the finest array of cravats in British broadcasting)... we salute you.

January blues remedy - Image 01

Updated Work on main website

If you've got a minute or two to spare - please zoom into the updated Work section on the main website. Yep, click on the big grey words on the left here.

We've put our RADA, Crisis, Yota, Hertz stuff up there. We didn't fancy putting any new, long named clients on there – keeping things lean in 2009 and all that.

The Yota work has a little video on it with sound - so wear headphones or flick the mute switch or else you might risk people looking quizzically over at your desk not fully understanding that wandering around the web is actually a good example of Stage 3 in Webb Young's Technique for Producing Ideas and thus a damn good thing to do.

Lights, camera... Pretzel

A-a-a-and action!

Filming commenced today for the next stage of our Land Securities Dashwood project. 300million asked regular collaborators Pretzel Films to head-up the mini movie production. Consequently, a gang of Pretzel people with job titles like Key Grip, Dolly and Best Boy were scooting around the brand spanking new Dashwood building at an ungodly hour this morning, strapped into Steadicams and snapping clappers left, right and centre.

We're taking our mogul-like role in the production very seriously, you'll be relieved to hear. We're going to wait until shooting has wrapped, step in at the last minute, cut it down to half its original running length and turn it into a rom com.

2009

With the thousands of words written about how to survive and thrive in 2009 that we've opted for a picture-based approach here at 300m.

Here's our first one. Feel free to grab it and use it to help avoid slip ups wherever you are.

All aboard!

Happy new year, dear reader. We hope that your holiday was festive and fun-filled.

Here's a quick thought to kick off our blogular missives for 2009. As the pervading national mood spirals ever downward, we think that a few smiles will go a long way to keep customers happy this year.

I'll give you an example. The rail ticket pictured above took me from London to the frozen north of England on Christmas Eve, but it wasn't until today that I noticed the cute elephant-shaped hole that the ticket inspector had stamped out of it [rather than the usual regulation circular hole]. This little idiosyncratic blemish gave me a brief, but undeniable warm glow: not something you'd normally associate with our beleaguered rail service providers.

Make 'em smile: stamp a few unexpected elephant-shaped holes in your brand this year.

Wherever he goes, Rodrigo.

A big hello to Graeme Rodrigo - our newest, shiniest, close-cropped senior designer.

Graeme comes from Melbourne, Australia, and so bumps the 300m nation tally to eight. Meanwhile, his drier-than-the-Gibson-Desert Oz wit spikes the sarcasm tally here like Uluru jumps off the horizon.

Whatever, mate.

C the light

Bong! News just in. The inky, curvy marque we created for London print powerhouse Colournet just scooped an international design award. To be specific, the Colournet brand identity has been awarded a Gold in the branding category of the venerable US-based Graphis awards.

We're C-ompletely C-huffed. C-heers.

The big round thing in the sky, after the sun

Here's 300m’s first ever astropic - taken during the recent, larger-than-a-long-time, fullish moon, by the rather hi-tech method of sticking my snappy camera down the lens of the telescope. Note to Father Christmas: buy the million a camera adaptor.

A couple of interesting things here about how we process images in our mind; first of all - where's the man [face] in the moon? He's disappeared and turned into rock n' craters? He simply dissolves. By shrinking the same image down - it/he [yeh – it’s a he isn’t it..?] comes back together again. As mentioned before - we're always humanising objects - be it brands or planetary satellites. My old cookery teacher used to talk to her car. I don't think she's alone.

There's an interesting boundary where brands, products, stuff falls apart and floats between animate and inanimate. Our job here is moving those boundaries, increasing personality, bringing the moon closer to us and it still looking like a chubby-faced bloke who is looking slightly up, mouth making an ‘oh!’.

The other interesting thing about the moon from the Earth is context and impression. If you held a stone at arm’s length that perfectly eclipsed a full moon – how big do you think it would be? Maybe, the diameter of a soup tin? Maybe the size of a tennis ball? A golf ball? The reality is that a stone about the size of a pea would cover the moon perfectly. Try it next full moon. Small, huh? Its reputation in the night sky exceeds its actuality. Throughout history, from folklore of association with werewolves and insanity [hence lunatics] through to Elliot and E.T. fly-cycling [flycling?] across it with John Williams’ uplifting score – its brand has built steadily since we hesitantly stepped out of the caves under the illuminated night sky.

Double take

If you're out and about around London this week make sure you watch out for the latest ads we've created for the London Symphony Orchestra's 'Love Brahms?' concert series. Ellie, who features in the ad spotted one whilst Christmas shopping today and couldn't resist the double take photo opportunity.

All 45 D&AD Annuals. On a 340 pixel mantelpiece.

But why not try out the bigger version picture so you can marvel at how covers have improved, worsened, improved again, went a bit flat, was the best ever and now is all rather coolly done these days?

http://www.dandad.org/annualgreetings/

Thanks to D&AD for digging our idea and Photoshoppery. And for describing us as 'lovely people' on their blog.

Elementary, my dear brand

Here is the view of Guy Ritchie's, Robert Downey Jr's and Jude Law's double-decker trailer as seen from 300million today. They're filming Sherlock Holmes.

It's the most impressive trailer we've seen on these oft-filmed streets. We can barely make them out - though that hasn't stopped 50% of the millionaires here loitering locally at lunchtimes amongst the be-bowlered extras keeping warm at the canteen truck; in hope of a glimpse of an A-lister beau.

All this is timely, with 2009 ahead of us. In branding and within organisations, the talk is of going back to basics; focusing on core strengths; keeping it lean. What a lovely brand value 'elementary' would make then? The Oxford English Dictionary tells us: of or relating to the most rudimentary aspects of a subject; introductory, simple.

This year's 300million Christmas card

Kindly modeled by Adam.

Richard Wilson meets Richard Wilson

Our latest project with the Energy Retail Association launched yesterday on the South Bank. The Home Heat Helpline is set up to help vulnerable consumers out of 'fuel poverty' and assist with better insulation for those people whose homes need it most. British comedy legend Richard Wilson helped launch the helpline which gave our own Richard Wilson (lead designer on the project) a fantastic opportunity to share this special occasion with his namesake. All together now... 'I don't believe it!'.

Christmas at Woolies

Is it just me or is anyone else sad to see the collapse of Woolworths? I accept it's easy to be critical on many levels, it's brand, product range, customer service and that's just for starters. But it's important to me for nostalgic reasons. I bought my first computer game on cassette from Woolies (Spy Vs Spy for the Spectrum 48k for those that are interested), it was also always my first port of call for Christmas presents at that age when you have pocket money budget but Mum's let you of the leash to make your own decisions about what to buy Dad (A ballpoint Parker Pen with refill ink cartridges for those that are interested). I have similar feelings for C&A but the less said about that the better.

Ta da!

Recruitment legends Represent go head to head with Selfridges again this year with their Future Present advent calendar window. Agencies were invited to dream up sustainable ways to wrap Christmas gifts in order to avoid the tonnes of waste paper generated each year. Ever keen to do our bit 300million were delighted to contribute this silver serving dish adding both style and drama to present giving as well as being suitable for passing down the family line and lasting forever, or at least until the world ends! You can see other contributions at http://www.represent.uk.com/futurepresent/

Goat and see it

This Thursday sees the private view exhibition of good friend of 300m Andrew George Magee, a visual artist whose work couples design with his practice as an oil painter. His wallpaper, commissioned by Graham & Brown, was recently featured in Elle Decoration and his paintings are collected internationally.

His interest lies in the relationship between ‘concrete’ and imagined symbols. So, there are lots of analogies to us here in the commercial world in relation to product, brand, truth and marketing.

Andrew’s art results in repeated colour palettes and motifs, such as the goat-girl, lending a religio-mythical [his word and your word of the day] attribute to his branding as a contemporary artist. The coupling of baroque portraiture with his forays into the commercial arena, make Andrew one to watch. We’re proud to support him [by making promo badges].

He will be exhibiting a selection of paintings at the Rocco Forte's prestigious Lowry Hotel in Manchester, England from 27 November to 20 January 2009.

300million work on the telly!

Keen-eyed millionaire Muireann spotted one of our 'Space is Ace' Access Self-Storage branded London cabs in the latest episode of sit-com Lead Balloon.

Of course, 300million's work is always on the TV. Well, the small stuff is. The bigger guideline documents and so on tend to fall down the back and knock the SCART lead out of the socket.

Another fine Messiaen

What's got 62 legs, is under a year old and comes in a variety of colours?

The answer, riddle fans, was to be found last night in Covent Garden market, where friends/clients of 300million the London Contemporary Orchestra officially opened the Christmas lights at the central London cultural and commercial Mecca. Whilst Regent Street made do with the slightly lower-brow Sugababes, the Covent Garden audio-visual spectacular was devised by light surgeons UVA and soundtracked by a gorgeous 45 minute set by the LCO.

All of which makes the imminent festive makeover of our studio (a slightly shabby set of fairy lights and the Phil Spector Christmas Album) feel a little underwhelming...

Thanks to ace snapper Jane Stockdale for coming down to the market to capture the gig in glorious technicolor.

Let's Yota

This week witnessed a giant leap in the communications world as Yota, the innovative 300 million dollar [uncanny!] Russian mobile services company, launched the world’s first ever 4G phone at a huge event in Moscow.

300million are very proud to be part of this tech milestone. We had already developed the Yota brand, creating the ‘Nuf’ logo [our upside-down, super athletic cheeky chap] along the way. We have since named the device [Max], advised on the interface design and created the boot-up/boot-down audio and video animations. As well as all this, we've helped our Moscow and Saint Pete’s clients on the advertising strategy, subsequent messaging and ad design for Max, available now from all leading Russian retailers…

We also created the Yota theme music, ‘Joy’. It’s a three minute, 35-piece orchestration about our busy lives and represents the Yota brand idea of Enjoyment Unlimited. It’s a bit like a condensation of Jean-Michel Jarre’s 30-year old Equinox album that describes a day. But without the valves, theramin or Gallic pomposity. Inside ‘Joy’ there are four ringtones that I have been test-driving on my phone for some time now. Big thanks to Ste ‘Bam’ Bamber, friend of 300m and former keyboard player for Hooky and the Boys, for his massive musical efforts there.

So, in this consumer space race the Russians have beaten the Americans again. The American equivalent, the rather awkward [how-much-do-we-have-to-invest-to-get-people-to-say-it-correctly] Xohm brand is still gathering ice condensed from the liquid oxygen fuel tanks on the launchpad.

And now that Muscovites are getting mobile TV, unlimited music ['Nokia Comes With Music', your offer is so last Wednesday] and hard-to-believe unbroken connectivity of 8 megabytes a second at least all over the city, what about us Brits back here?

Well, it’s a complicated question, not easily explained on a blog written on the back of an envelope and three business cards [keeping it real despite the modern world on a train to work]. And we’re too busy [helping our Russian clients develop their status as the innovative global comms brand, crystalising the philanthropic brand idea for another client, discussing how 300m is a great partner to enhance the impact of Art in England and improving the logo for the Bulgarian barber down our alleyway]. Suffice to say, you don’t go creating a worldwide interoperability for microwave access network [and then brand] overnight in London and environs. And what if the tech-heads squeeze 3G LTE? Are the British that unhappy with the current 3G dongled lifestyle perception of Facebook-in-the-pocket promised marketing [even if the reality is a bit like that Not The 9-o-Clock News sketch where they skit Tomorrow’s World showing an amazing digital watch – and then wheel in the battery in a shopping trolley].

No, if you want to know more – call us. Better still, high quality video conference us on your slimmer-than-an-iPhone device, driving at 60mph along Red Square, without drop out.

Cheers for Obama

Congratulations to BO this week. We like to think our San Fran Barack/Hillary Democrat Convention beer brand ideas played their small part. Here's all our 37 ideas, albeit they're a bit too small here to appreciate some of the finer thinking.

Unfortunately, we never got to see the finished label over this side of the pond. And, following the celebrations this week, we doubt there's any left for our archives.

National Grey Humbug Day!

But only Mark and Nigel remembered...

RADA happy

As we start to collate our year's work for the Design Week Awards, it's the first time we've seen a lot of the RADA brand identity development work all together [Identity Programmes category].

With still a few goodly pieces of print to arrive, we're really rather proud of how it's all looking and talking. Ahead of a selection of updates on the Work section of our main website that'll be more detailed, I took a few phone camera pics and cobbled them together in Floatopop for a blog-friendly looksee.

Most importantly, we're getting great feedback from the client as to the success of the work. Well done to everyone involved.

The changing cliché of a brand designer

There was a time when a cartoon depiction of a designer would have a black polo neck, Andy Warhol hair and spherical thick-rimmed black glasses.

Latterly, he'd [for he is male] have come from Shoreditch, ridden around the studio on one of those little scooter things and done his best stuff under an army camo net marqueed around his 'bit'. Keep out.

Now, if Kipper Williams' cartoon from yesterday's paper is any barometer, we are seeing the emergence of some kind of hybrid when it comes to joe the plumber's perception of those that's in our industry. Y'know - like estate agents all have Premiership loud ties and wet-look hair gel.

A - The shaved bald head. It's the new 'grey hair in the room'. It says, 'I'm intelligent - look at my head - and I'm tough.'

B - The earring. A bit out-moded. I haven't seen an earring for a while in the biz. I think this is an allusion to a heady, rave-fuelled past. After all, our brand man is where he is today because of the mind-broadening counter-cultural life experience he's clocked up.

C - Still got the specs. They are thinner rimmed now though. The thick frames were getting caught up in his cycling helmet which dimmed the coolometer as he sped along Rosebery Avenue on his fixie.

D - Stubble. The stubble plays a vital role to communicate non-conformity. Like beer with a cigarette, we'll also see that he'll be wearing fat-laced old-skool Adidas to match at this meeting in a FTSE 100 bank. Classic white ones - the neon stuff is all a bit 2005. And his Converse had to go when Dr Who started wearing them too much.

E - The sweater is from Howies nowadays. Cool and slightly shapeless to hide Three Kings-related paunch.

F - Inane grin. I'm a bit lost on this one - although it could be a nod towards him being British, as your cartoon brander will be, hence wonky teeth.

Photographer = Matt Stuart

This is a great little fact. If you type 'Photographer' into Google [UK] - Matt Stuart, award winning snapping friend of 300m, comes in second with his website. As impressive is if you search the same word in Google [US] - his website comes in fifth.

Out of all the photographers in the world - Matt is coming in so high. Why? Obviously, the quantity of links and hits to Matt's site has elevated his status geometrically – and they're visiting the site to see his great work.

And we like to think that an eeny-weeny part of the success is due to the visual identity – one of 300m's first ever jobs. Matt Stuart gets clicks.

Bashing out ideas

Yeh - we freely admit we bash out ideas here. But it's often by the application of Paula's rapid-fire soothing hands.

Paula - our regular visiting massage therpaist - sees to each millionaire here. Grinding out those RSI quibbles, taking out the tension ahead of that big meeting – but perhaps less obviously, she helps us all to get away from the discipline of the desk to let those ideaettes in the back of the head bubble to the surface.

For more about this kind of creative energy building - have a butcher's at www.paulahatfield.co.uk

There are two eyes in personality

Why don't the people at the National Lottery just give their logo some eyes - it'd be instantly more friendly. Give him/her a name; a voice, an apology when you didn't win big... this time.

The Art of Winning Sideways

As Dr Pete Venkman once announced in Ghostbusters, 'We came, we saw, we kicked its ass.'. Yes, last night, a crack team of millionaires, plus independent print management supremo Peter Roberts, won a hard fought inter-design company general knowledge quiz, ably organised by Gavin Martin Associates.

It was by no means certain and after foolishly reckoning that the Russian October revolution is celebrated in October [it's November], things were looking bleak. However, all was to change when a missing question from the compere meant a spontaneous improvised question worth two points was to be given to the team who could shout the loudest. Enter Gareth 'You're the Voice try to understand it' Rutter. After this seismic blast, the points just kept on coming.

First prize was a signed copy of the late Alan Fletcher's epic, The Art of Looking Sideways - so full of interesting information it's arguably more useful than a covertly thumbed under-the-table Blackberry that some of the less proud teams were guilty of resorting to. Pah!

Opinions may vary

Well done to friend of 300m, Mark Boyce, who has released his informative, bold and dead useful new book 'Sizes May Vary' [Laurence King publishing].

The tome could be described as a homage to the Lord of Vector-Based Line Work. Actually, you could well imagine 'Vector' as the anti-hero in some 80s Filmation cartoon. That, or, the in-joke named little, placid studio mut of some West Coast Cali design guru. 'Fetch color swatch fan, Vector. Fetch!'

Anyway, the book is a must-have for orderly graphic designers who like their measurements down to five decimal places and who spend their working days working nose-to-screen at the 'enough already' level of magnification where Adobe Illustrator no longer puts the plus sign inside the magnifying glass symbol.

It's also the sort of book that will just bamboozle mums and dads and confirm that they'll never quite grasp what their children do for a living. We marvel at the audacity of a bold, wordless DPS of a load of 0.25pt rectangles – meanwhile, everyone else shuffles down befuddled to the Maeve Binchy section.

Passport, wallet, brand strategy, chamois cream

300m last night wished good luck to Helen, friend of 300m, client, and one half of 'I Love Home' interior design consultancy - as she prepares to embark on her EnduroAfrica expedition.

The eight day motorbike journey will take her through some of the roughest terrain Africa can throw at her whilst she raises the profile and donations for UNICEF and other worthy charities. We're not worried for her safety - as our very own Princes William and Harry will be flanking her. And their bodyguards.

Let's hope the ground is as smooth a process as the strategic work we helped ILH with and there aren't too many brand pillars, brand boulders, brand sinking sands or brand bandits to deal with

Bad habits of designers

A good example here - and a bit of a classic placement task to correct.

Even when a book is released with several ribbons tastefully included in it, designers will still tab pages with Post-Its and then put the books back in the library tabbed-up - cresting the shelves with a frilly fluoro topping.

If 300m designed the next D&AD annual, you bet it would come free with a pack of pre-torn Post-Its to help with the image locating and scanning process. Maybe D&AD could supply the placement to remove them?

Don't tell - engage

A fundamental ethos to all our design work is to create something that doesn't just describe a product or service – but gets the audience to interact with what they're faced with. Hence a pen with a spoon 'hidden' in it, for example.

Scientifically speaking, you're more likely to recall and enjoy these sorts of cognitive dialogues over brainless monologues.

I was reminded of this during the week at a client's conference in a country house, whilst walking through the grounds.

The Creativity Crunch

With all this talk of a Credit Crunch, it's a good time to consider us poor creative types who have been at the brunt of a bear market in innovation since man walked the Earth.

Apparently, 70% of all human thought is negative.

Think about that and weigh it up. When you look in the mirror - 70% of what you see is half a pint empty. Or, to be precise 70% empty - i.e. 397.78ml, if you want it metric. When you think about the day ahead of you, 1,008 minutes of it will be negative.

Specifically to a creative branding agency, it paints a world where every innovative, leading, new idea is potentially treated internally and to the client with a lolled head and a small 'hmmph… Not sure.'. It's got a name - 'Devil's Advocate' - a term which is a by-phrase for - 'I'm going to crush this fledgling thought'. Some creative agencies have even banned the expression. 300m are more diplomatic and insist on an 'Angel's Advocate' to ping into existence that has the right to wrap its harp around the Devil's horned head if it wants.

So, the next time you're developing a new idea, or being introduced to one, somehow find the 300million creative dollar injection to swing the the bear to a bull and think positively. You might just, literally, see your stocks rise.

If you could do anything in the North…

…what would it be?

This was the question kindly put to me a few months ago by the If You Could project, an internationally successful and worthy initiative aimed at promoting quality design and emerging creative talent [www.ifyoucould.co.uk].

It was also put to a hatful of designers from, or taught in, the north including Bryan at SEA and Heidi at Together - as well as eight recent northern graduate designers and illustrators. All the responses have been curated to create an exhibition at King's House, Newcastle-upon-Tyne that's a leading part of the North East's Annual Design Festival - starting today and running through til 26 October [visit www.design-event.co.uk for more details].

The private view is tonight, but here is a sneaky peeky at my submission. It doesn't have a formal title, just a quote from The Stone Roses' former frontman Ian Brown, 'Manchester's got everything, except a beach.'

Seven nation army

2008 will be seen as a period of sustained growth here at 300m. As we sail into stardate year six, ever keen to get stronger, stay on top of a constantly changing sector and crucially, keep relevant; it naturally means bolstering the team with some fine people.

Right, that's enough of the military-style rhetoric. Let's say howdy-doody to the four latest millionaires to order their own choice of Pantone™ coloured business cards…

Sick to the back fangs of Lord of the Rings trolls and retired couples mountain-biking in slow motion in front of jaw-dropping landscapes to the sounds of Crowded House, Kristina left nice n' quiet New Zealand, jumped on a plane and started applying her project management wizardry here in bustling Clerkenwell.

Former freelance designer Adam was welcomed on board full-time when he started to come into work dressed identically to Nigel. Verbose agencies out there might call this 'applied synergy'.

Richard joined us a fortnight ago as a former senior designer from Lippa Pearce and therefore latterly Pentagram. His position is very much about sharing his design knowledge, growth and development – although at six foot five – this had better be in step with our ability to make the doors a bit bigger.

And then Lance joined us as our first full-time artworker last week. Rock-loving Lance, as a South African, makes 300million a seven nation branding agency. Every single one's got a story to tell. Everyone knows about it. From the Queen of England to the hounds of hell.

The rise and rise of the people

As if you need this blog to keep banging on about it – in marketing, we’re going through a very ‘consumer is king’ [or queen] phase right now. It’s almost old-hat – Time magazine’s person of the year 2006 was ‘the consumer’.

The days of thinking that a nice rhyming couplet or woolly stuffed puppet could sell you a product seem to be fast disappearing. Now – it’s all about ‘you’. In the next few weeks, you’ll be able to walk past an Oxfam billboard that has slogans generated by the public, eating Walkers Crisp flavoured by a member of the public, talking on your ‘I am’ Orange mobile phone with a ‘For all you are’ Sunday Times newspaper stuffed under your arm.

You have to be careful though. The pitfalls are everywhere with this approach. Try too hard and your appeal might ricochet to the sound of, ‘Don’t tell me who I am!’. Be too open and you’ll risk being asked what your marketing department does for a living if it gets the target audience to do all the work. And what if those ideas are really, really good?!

Seriously though, the biggest danger is being cynical. It’s actually a fantastic stage in marketing and branding that we’re in right now where consumers and employees are being really respected. Let a consumer/employee ethos run truly throughout your brand and we’re confident only good things will happen. Adopt bandwagonism, or worse pretend – and feel the wrath of a million consumers telling you that your next crisp flavour should be strawberry & Swarfeega, that the phone plan you want is either Muntjac – or you’re off and that you’ll do your Sunday newspapers online from now on because the printed ones are too heavy for your sore back.

The 300million dollar question – where next? Well, once we’ve put our Sky+ remote controls down to consider this, we think we’ll be seeing – creatively – respect being given out to those that dare to use a good, old-fashioned sit-down and listen second/third generation of marketing sandwich board and Oranjeboom, Oranjeboom it’s a lager not a tune techniques. Regionally in the UK some of you have been exposed to our successful ‘Space is Ace’ work for Access Self Storage, for example. No – we weren’t referencing Frank Sidebottom’s sci-fi homage, by the way.

Culturally, what next? More honesty, more openness and eventually true, total transparency – though that is contentious and debated here at 300m like what would happen to atoms at absolute zero – you can’t quite describe it. One thing for sure though, those that don’t strive for true respect will wilt.

The A-Z of logos A-Z

You know what it’s like; you get the brief – and the brand begins with a H or a Q or W [yeh – OK – sometimes a number]. Regardless of the industry or purpose of the brand, the first idea on the wall is…

A – Upper-case. Turned on its side to look like an eye, like they told you to draw them in science classes as a kid
B – Upper-case. Du jour is to fill in the counters so it’s a solid blob of Bness
C – Made to look 3D by showing its depth and having the C itself blank to trade off negative space.
D – Uppercase. Roll it clockwise 90 degrees and there’s that smile. It was good enough for Smile In The Mind [my first printed idea] and it was good enough for our dentist logo last year. By all means resist using a serif face – yes, it looks more like a smile – but it never looks as well balanced as a bit of Franklin G.
E – Easy. Set it in Bliss Bold, lower-case. Rotate it about 10 degrees anti-clockwise. Bingo – a nice smiling Pac-Man sorta character. Would suit a pound shop or fried chicken franchise.
F – Lower-case. The top of the f curls around quite head-like – whilst the bar through the middle curls up like a person celebrating.
G – Ah – the ultimate. Yep that’s right – upper-case with that bar slightly pointed to make the arrow shape. Continuity, delivery – perfect for almost all sectors….
H – It’s just a Helvetica Neue Bold H. Uppercase. Brutal and minimal. And you’ll put a square full point after it too to stamp its authority.
I – Lower-case, with an eye picture for the dot. Geddit…
I [option] – Lower-case slab serif. With a quick nip and tuck – hey, it’s a little man!
I [option 2] – Upper-case. For reasons unknown, the I has acquired a shadow – voilá – a tick.
J – Lower-case. With the dot step-and-repeated to the left to make the inevitable Gonzo happy face.
K – Ah, the kicking k. Literally. You’ll tip him up a bit. Tip him up a lot. One way or another – you’re gonna give him legs.
L – Taboo and seldom seen – cos it looks like a learner-plate in upper-case and an I in lower-case. Any examples welcome.
M – Always, always, always a picture side-on of two people shaking hands.
N – Upper-case, keylined and then cross-bred with the Renault logo to produce a 3D effect thing looking all a bit StudioLine 1987.
O – A bit like the C, you’ll seek out endless negative space 3D options. And no one knows why…
P – Made up from a keyline square and dangly straight line to the lower-left corner. Techno techno techno techno.
Q – A perfect circle, really thick with the perfect echo of the counter as a tail. Or, as QuarkXPress and the Scottish Arts Council both discovered and got into legal hot water about, corner off the bottom right part of a thick circle.
R – Be a bit scripty freestyle with this little lower-case fella and you have a neat, little LS Lowry ‘bird’. Do three together for that Hilda and Stan Ogden dining room ducks effect.
S – S is for symmetry. Two equally opposite elements snaking together to make your symbol of connection…
T – You’ll just use a mathematical plus sign. Next…
U – Helvetica rounded. Chopped about a bit. Perfect smile.
V – Eek out the right-hand side a bit for that tick. Perfect for health and governmental bodies.
W – Inevitably Bauer Bodoni [is that an early Tears for Fears album name?]. You’ll want to do something just-so about it in a Pentagram/Napoli stylee. And it just might work.
X – See S above.
Y – Three same lines coming together 120 degrees from each other. Get that transparency tool in Illustrator fired up so you can show how three things coming together makes things – a bit darker…
Z – Worried about how jagged the lines could make the logo a bit sinister, you will effectively make it look like cheap, stringy sweets; a long, bendy, thick line. Bright pink.

Air Miles

Following hot on the heels of recent trips to Russia, the USA and... er... the Kalahari Desert, we've been clocking up the Air Miles again, this time a little closer to home.

Last week saw us jetting overseas to visit two beautiful cities as part of our on-going mission to spread the Million word. Take a look at the snaps above and have a guess where our meetings took place.

Clues you want? Oh, go on then. In city one, the faint tick-tocking of amazingly hand-crafted watches was just about audible as we stood at the lake's edge. And in city two, if we strained our ears from the roof-top gallery café vantage point, the jangly acoustic strumming of the President's wife was definitely in the air...

We are the goon squad and we're coming to town...

...beep beep.

A big thank you to Canon and all those that joined us at London Fashion Week on Wednesday. This is just the start for Canon, as we help them engage with the cream of our industry and work with them to discover how they can better connect with us hard-to-pin-down [or stitch, for that matter] creative types.

Tate Million

YCN is a network for young creative talent. It helps design graduates find gainful employment, it puts new illustrators and photographers in touch with art directors and agencies and it showcases emerging talent. In short, it's great.

Imagine our delight, then, when the nice people at YCN asked 300million to become part of their 'open gallery' project this month: called YCN Live, this scheme was hatched to allow the work of young creatives to be displayed in agency, retail and other environments. We happily agreed to hang work by recent design graduates Michael Mercer-Brown and Paul Ryding. Paul's lovely, politically motivated screenprints and Michael's equally topical (yet slightly bonkers) toy-soldier assemblage are currently wowing visiting clients at Million HQ.

We love the idea of using our downstairs studio as a gallery space. We've got the white walls. We've (very occasionally) got the reverential hush. And with our shiny new coffee machine, we could even have the overpriced and slightly stressful cafe.

Condensed cream

This week sees the launch of Distill magazine, brainchild of 300million pal Pete Bowker and his partner in crime, Chris Lockwood. As the name suggests, Distill is a boiled-down, edited, condensed, lovingly packaged mag compiling the very best fashion and style editorial from across the globe.

Pete and Chris (who work with the Million as business consultants and general all-round purveyors of sage advice) obviously have very well-stocked Rolodexes, given the veritable creative-industry who's-who of Distill contributors: issue one boasts Giles Deacon, Matthew Williamson, Stephen Gan, Deyan Sudjic and Colin McDowell.

All of which has got me thinking about an edited version of our blog. I'm sure that you, esteemed and extremely busy reader, could do with a shorter, snappier, shrink-wrapped, nugget-shaped version of these blog entries.

So, here's the Distill-ed version of what you've just read:

Distill Magazine.
Created by pals of ours.
Edited by famous folk.
Available now.

Buzberrrrrrrr...

We've had problems with our business land line recently so apologies if you've had trouble reaching us. This annoying situation has however given us the opportunity to put a nostalgic image of 'Buzby' on our blog, an interesting contrast to 'Yota', Russia's latest communications brand created by 300million (read more below).

Enjoyment Unlimited

Today is a very special day for us. We have just attended the press launch here in Moscow for Yota - one of the first WiMax brands in the world.

WiMax is a city-based mobile communications platform that allows for super-size broadband speeds. It makes 3G look like yesterday's news [making the current advertising rhetoric for 'rocket powered broadband in your pocket' look a bit out of breath]. We're talking the ultimate in connection. Forget about drop-out or spinning clocks here: it's 'instant' on-the-move YouTube clips, Facebooking, high definition video links to your friends, family and clients [so you can show them how beautifully kerned your 7-point text is], big fat files and movies in a snap. You get the idea. Liberating, totally flexible, life-enhancing, energetic. It's 'the last 100 yards in connectivity' as they say in the trade. Available imminently in Moscow and St Petersberg.

300million have worked very closely and confidentially with our client team here in Moscow and St Petersberg, working across a massive range of brand delivery. From creating the logo through to merchandising, from development of the ringtones to the rather funky packaging, from getting the light on the USB dongle to glow a nice, bright blue when you get online to helping the client and partners from Samsung put together the knockout press conference presentation we've [literally] just left.

Too many people at Yota to thank right now for working so well with us in the last few, hectic months. You know who you are! Keep an eye out for the more complete story on our website soon. At last we can talk about it! We're going to the evening gala now, where we'll be toasting our success with - of course - blue, energising cocktails (complete with on-brand cocktail sticks).

'Let's Yota', as the last slide in the presentation says.

Brainserene session

Our candidate for the most exotic ideas generating session in the world - this is the table in the luxury game reserve in the middle of the Kalahari desert where Paul and I were 'thinking outside the helicopter envelope box view push' this week - as is the parlance in many creative agencies.

Before you think we're cocking a snook to the much mooted economic downturn and spending funds willy nilly on a so-so project – we want you to know its strictly business.

And we're not blazing a trail here. Apparently JK Rowling once spent a month here writing one of the Potter books. That'll explain the strangely named Hogwarts pupils Cal A. Harry and Desmond Ert.

Life is sweet

As UK inflation continues to rise towards a 16 year high, it's good to know that some things in life are inflation proof. The price of a 10p Mix Up in Hartlepool's Indoor Market is exactly the same as it was over 25 years ago when I would regularly off load pocket money at this sweet stall. Last weekend whilst on a visit home I couldn't resist this nostalgic purchase, but fully expected to find a smaller yield inside the bag. Not so! The usual favorites where all there in full, milk bottle x1, shrimp x1, beer bottle x1, aniseed gobstopper x1, mojos x2, and a strawberry bootlace.

Beautiful art is made…

…when you FedEx a D&AD Annual to your Russian client, it doesn't find its way and gets sent back to Terminal 5, Heathrow.

It seems a shame to unwrap it. We think we'll just send another.

Where is everybody?

Feeling desk bound? Chained to your Mac? Lacking that vital SHA-ZAM of inspiration? Then go away. Go on. Shove off. Get out of the studio. Hop it. Skidaddle. What's more: get yourself over to Print Lounge in Shoreditch, Gavin Martin Associates' cornucopia of incredible printed ephemera. It's a veritable Aladdin's cave of inspiration in print.

Worried about colleagues wondering where the hell you are whilst you're there, soaking up the ideas? Fear not. We've just designed this handy piece of desk-top signage, printed on just two pieces of GF Smith's new wood-like board and foiled with the legend: I went thataway.

If you fancy paying Print Lounge a visit, drop Phil at Gavin Martin a line. He'll point you in the right direction:
phil@gavinmartin.co.uk

And that's magic.

Some time ago, friend of the Million and genius wordsmith Mike Reed asked us to help him create a self-promotional piece. Mike has harboured a long standing bugbear concerning the correct use of the word 'and'. People (clients, friends, passers-by) constantly inform him that he shouldn't use 'and' at the beginning of a sentence. And he argues that you flippin' well can.

Here's the resulting book. It took us a long, long time to work out the sneaky mechanism. It took Gavin Martin all kinds of head-scratching to work out how to print and finish it (thanks to Kerry's clever folding).

And does it settle Mike's 'and' argument? Well, we're convinced. Ask him for a copy and make your own mind up: mike@reedwords.co.uk

V for Vincent

For one day only, we have a special guest appearance on the Million blog. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Nick Vincent:

Thanks, Matt.
Today is my last day. Having lived and breathed the 300million 'dna' for the last 19 months, I sign-off with a tear in the eye and a lump in the throat, naturally.

My leaving gesture threw up an interesting design brief however. The design standards were simple.

1. Must be noticed and remembered
2. Must have a shelf-life
3. Must reuse all of those suddenly useless business cards.
4. Must be a blatant bit of self promotion for my new studio: www.vincentdesign.co.uk
(Cheeky I know!)

The results are above.

Many thanks to the ‘million massive’. It has been ace.
Nick.

Mad as a lorry

If you take a leisurely scroll down the length of the 300million blog, you’ll be reminded of the work we’re doing with classical young guns, the London Contemporary Orchestra. We helped the orchestra get up and running with a brave brand identity when they launched back in March.

I mention the orchestra again, as we just spotted them in an article in the July issue of Classical Music magazine (with a client list like ours, one’s reading list becomes healthily varied). Gratifyingly, the orchestra’s artistic director Hugh Brunt cited the advice we gave him and business partner Rob Ames right at the start of the project.

Here’s what the article says:

“As Hugh puts it: ‘We met with our marketing team, 300million, and they said, “Our spectrum for approaches goes from this end which is safe to this end which is brave-to-bonkers. Where do you want the LCO to be in it?” Rob and I went for the brave-to-bonkers end of the spectrum.’”

So there you have it. The Push It effect in action. We pushed them. They pushed us. We all ended up somewhere unexpected. And a bit bonkers.

Girls done good

Congratulations to the 300million All-ladies Urban Running Collective for successfully completing the Race For Life 5k charity run this weekend in Regents Park. Whole hearted thanks to all of the generous blog-reading sponsors out there: thanks to you, the fleet footed five piece comfortably exceeded their sponsorship target. The girls' best time was a rubber burning 24.5 minutes. Must have been the pre-run isotonic hot dog what done it.

Roadworthy brand

I've just got back from California where I spent last week collaborating with fellow brand designers C2. All told it was an invigorating and inspiring week. I was taken in for the week by a close friend and client of 300million who we helped create an identity for several years ago called 'Starbhanta'. It was fantastic to see how this translates to a Californian car registration plate. It certainly added to that feeling of pride as I maintained a very respectful 55mph on Highway 1 towards Half Moon Bay each morning.

Matt Stuart captures the Million

Top flight snapper, seasoned globe-trotter and all round good egg Matt Stuart was round our gaff last week. His brief: to spend a day with us, capturing the emotional roller coaster that is a day at 300million HQ. Of the several hundred fly-on-the-wall pictures Matt took, we managed to whittle down to a good four or five where we didn't look like complete idiots: this heavily Photoshopped short list will be appearing on the upcoming, redesigned 300million website (currently a closely guarded work in progress). That's right: you read it here first...

300million x 5k

If you find yourself in Regents Park this Saturday, beware of large numbers of stampeding lasses. No, it's not the Selfridge's Summer Sale causing a mass breakout of frenzied pavement pounding. It's the 2008 Race For Life, Cancer Research UK's massive annual fund raising 5k run.

300million are dispatching a small, crack unit (Muireann, Nat, Kerry and Jo M) to variously run/jog/amble the distance. If you're a client, a regular 300m blog reader, a design student, an ex-placement, an ex-employee... or just plain generous, please visit the official RFL website and sponsor our team.

Just copy and paste this handy link into your browser, and away you go:

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/300million

Go girls!

The Exmouth Tagger

I stumbled across Banksy's latest last night: a three storey stenciled behemoth, daubed across a gable end just off Oxford Street. Whilst I've never been keen on the clunky political statements, you've got to admire his/her/their chutzpah. The giant Banksy artwork had drivers slowing their cars for a closer look and passers-by (like me) snapping away on mobile phones.

Back on Exmouth Market this morning, a slightly less ambitious but no less intriguing piece of street art has appeared. Who is DB? And what's the significance of the wheelbarrow?

Now I come to think of it, 300million director Dom Bailey did look slightly furtive on his way into the studio this morning. And was that a smudge of green paint on the collar of his Fred Perry?

It's not all doom and gloom in the city

We were pleased to hear this week that Amlin plc has won an award from the Strategic Planning Society for their Annual Report and Accounts – ‘Best strengths and resources coverage by a FTSE250 Company’.

300million have been working with Amlin for the past 3 years, developing the brand and designing the annual report. Our objective - to make the reinsurance business more widely understood - seems to be working. Companies are becoming more accountable and are under increasing pressure to improve the quality of their strategic reporting, The SPS ‘assess the standards of communication and coherence, the content is only good if investors can make use of it’.

So as the debate around the lack of awards for graphic design in this year’s D&AD continues (see Creative Review) we are reminded that it’s the effectiveness of the solution for the clients’ audience that is important and great communication will always win the day.

Hungry like the Wolff

The D&AD Student Award ceremony took place last night at Shoreditch Town Hall, in London's fashionable... er, Shoreditch. As members of the D&AD Education Council, as well as being on the 2008 judging panel, 300million were invited down to the bash to quaff champers with the winners and offer the losers a conciliatory hanky.

Wandering amongst the assembled bright-new-hopes and next-big-things, we couldn't help thinking that everyone looked really... professional. Surely, we ruminated, when we attended our own D&AD Student Awards back in the early 90s, we were all scruffy, awkward gonks, gawping awe-struck at the award-winning work on display. I'm certain we didn't look as self-assured, as savvy as last night's winners.

However, in amongst the scrubbed-up, confidently networking graduates, it was gratifying to spot a lone crusader for the shabby-chic look we were lamenting. There, holding fort amongst a crowd of admirers was brand uberlord Michael Wolff resplendent in jogging trousers, Birkenstocks and trademark heavy-framed specs. He'd even gone to the trouble of putting on a wolf-emblazoned t-shirt, just to reinforce his own brand.

So, graduates take note. We're really impressed with your work this year. But get yourselves an animal print t-shirt if you really want to break into the industry.

Budgens of Tysoe Street

Budgens has always provided our team with a bit of a lifeline throughout the busy working day. Whether it's to get fruit for the week, the emergency milk run or the mid afternoon biscuit dash. Recently refreshed, the new identity system accommodates a special space for the location of each store. Everyone's a winner, 300million now enjoys chocolate Hob-Nobs from 'Budgens of Tysoe Street' don't you know. That's right, Tysoe Street, just off the world famous Exmouth Market.

Keep it real

Whilst in New York last week on a quick-fire blink-and-you'd-miss-it business trip, I couldn't resist snapping this cab-roof ad campaign.

I almost dropped my soy-wet-frappacini in amazement: hell's teeth, I gasped, surely the US networks haven't concocted a reality TV show based on the exploits of a gang of fame-hungry, ruthlessly ambitious graphic designers. It did rather appear so. The clues were all there in the ad: the bald/beardy design faces, the well-fanned Pantone swatch, the use of Avant Garde in the show's ident...

Back home this week, I Googled the show's title, Design Star. It turns out that the programme follows a gang of fame-hungry, ruthlessly ambitious interior designers. Much more conventional. But it did make me think that there's a tiny sliver of a gap in the reality TV market for an Apprentice-esque show about graphic designers duking it out for a well-paid job at a top branding studio.

In fact, I reckon that the four directors of 300million would make a great four-headed Alan Sugar. We're firm but fair. We're plain speaking. We know our onions. We've even got enough grizzly facial hair (if we all pool together)...

Round one

A big thanks to Peggy and the team at AAR for inviting us to their celebrated, trivia-busting quiz night last night. Fellow Millionaire Dom and I found ourselves in the fabulous Bloomsbury HQ of McCann Erickson, talking shop to the assembled branding and ad industry types.

You'll no doubt be pleased to read that, having been separated and ushered into two different quiz teams, Dom and I managed to help our respective teams come a respectable second and third in the final reckoning.

We might have made it to number one if we'd know that (a) red is the most frequently occurring colour in the world's flags and that (b) Queen's Greatest Hits is the best selling UK album ever. Now we know. As do you, fact fans.

Dashwood you believe it?

We all enjoy the occasional pat on the back. That's why we're extremely gratified by the transatlantic pat we've just received from the uber creative award scheme that is the New York Festivals.

The NYF has nominated our Land Securities 'Dashwood' book (you know, the one with an iPod cunningly housed inside the cover) for a prestigious Gold award.

We're blown away by the nomination. The winners are announced at a ceremony in NYC at the end of June: here's hoping for a gong on the big night in the Big Apple.

On a Wim

300million poured into the SEA Gallery last night, invited by friends of 300m; Bryan and the boyz at SEA, the bonny Tullis Russell tribe and GF Smith. We were there to see the private view of design guru Wim Crouwel's fabulous design work, part of SEA's Naturalis paper promotional material.

A good time was had by all, made better when they handed out a limited edition of 150 cardboard tubes that made excellent dummy bazookas [only boys do this].

Imagine our extra delight when we found they'd accidentally left an equally limited edition Wim Crouwel/SEA poster inside, exotically scented by screenprinting processes.

Thanks to the hosts for their generosity. And shame on those double-barrelled "And one for my friend over there [pointing vaguely at Geordie Dave by the drinks bin]" sneaky bazooka ebayers.

How big is 300million?

Clients' (and more often peer branding people) opening gambit when meeting up is to ask how many people currently work at 300million. Understandably, it's a seemingly good barometer of success. In reality, it's a slightly vapid statistic, out of context of turnover, profit, the healthiness of current client relationships and so on.

Better still, there are loads more interesting numerical indicators for success that seldom find their ways into charts (or conversations at private views). So, here are a few suggestions;

300million, we are...

15 pints of milk a week these days y'know?
4 commuting cyclists at the mo.
Ordering twice a week from Viking now, did I tell you?
'Doing 40 gigabytes' a month, thanks.
Skyping three times a week.
Getting a dig in the trade press about once every two months now.

And, since you're asking, 16 full time, 4 freelance. OK?

Big on numbers

Our second favourite number after 300 000 000, and one that you often hear on science TV shows, is 20 000 000 000 000 000 000 000.

Rather dull? On the contrary. Some bright spark, perhaps unknowingly skilled in the ways of consumer engagement, thought of this a while a go and rebranded it as 'the number that's roughly the amount of stars in the universe that's greater than all the grains of sand on the beaches of the Earth' – a figure thrown around school physics classes that we're a lot more aware of. It's more easy to comprehend when brought into a physical context. A good example of number branding.

Don't believe us on this statistic? Then look for it on the internet search engine 10 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 – sorry, I mean a Google, sorry, Googol – a number almost twenty factors larger than all the atoms in the Universe.

Bring-Bring your best ideas by audio

Think you've got a good idea? You could spend a lot of time developing and testing it. Or, just call the client up and explain it down the phone. This way, there's no pomp n' ceremony to distract the assessment of it or make them suspicious about its integrity. It's just presented to them in its stark, birthday suited brilliance. Or not.

There's a similar thing to be said for containing yourself to a Post-It note. But, some ideas are too wonderful to be visualised. Whereas a few words down the phone, like radio, paint better pictures.

The UK heart Hertz

Blog pictures that move – always more charming aren't they? Confound someone's expectations today.

We've been doing a lot of through-the-line work for Hertz – recently revealed as one of the UK's top 10 most loved brands. We thought our recent 'heart' campaign was an excellent symbol of this affection – made neater when we discovered that the heart shape was the original icon for Hertz 90 years ago.

The rise of Simple Bold

Apparently 2009 is going to be a tough year in marketing, if we believe what the media tells us. Every brand will have to make sure every penny of their marketing budget can stand up for itself and be accountable now more than ever.

Result? Simple Bold. Simple, bold type, colour, message, tone of voice. Unequivocal. Undeniable. Everywhere you look – from iPhone promos to British Airway's ads – we're seeing more simplicity that was previously dominant on wonderful 'value' own-brand baked bean tins and the like.

Here at 300m, when developing a communication, the first idea on the wall is simply the purpose of the brief inverted into the consumer's need and made big on the available space. 'You want to buy these shoes'. 'Leave our rival and choose us – we're much better'. Then, we go deeper, looking for more canny, wittier, more engaging answers. This way, every time a new idea comes along, it is litmus tested against the initial ideas to see whether it's anything over and above Simple Bold - or is it just Clever Clever?

Apparently, 300million light bulbs are sold in the UK every year. That's quite neat - as in a metaphorical way - lights bulbs are what we sell. And we reckon ours are all 100 Watt. Powered by renewable energy sources - like the Brindisa deli.

Thanks to Simon for the fact [source: Radio 4 - so it must be true].