Jonathon Bright

Swedish storybooks have inspired the new identity for a children’s literature prize

“Design studio Happy F&B has crafted a new identity for children’s literature prize the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, inspired by the eponymous writer’s own shorthand and stories.

As part of the rebrand, Happy F&B has created a new hand-drawn logo and a graphic pattern based on Lindgren’s handwritten manuscripts.“

The full article can be found on the Design Week website.

GSK’s Jerry Daykin on how to avoid the ‘slippery slope’ of digital KPIs

“The advent of digital marketing brought with it new ways of communicating with consumers, new ways of targeting them and new ways of reaching them across the customer journey. With that came shiny new metrics: clicks, engagement, viewability.

But as focus shifted to these online metrics, effectiveness started to fall, according to Jerry Daykin, EMEA senior media director at GSK Consumer Healthcare.”

 The full article can be found on the Marketing Week website.

Sports Direct Rebrand

“Sports Direct has revealed a rebrand in the attempt to unify the retailer’s identity and keep up with trends in the sports industry.

The work – which includes a new logo, name change and in-store details – has been carried out by London-based brand consultancy Venturethree.”

The full article can be found on the Design Week website.

Mark Ritson’s ultimate marketing bullshit top 10

“Do you remember ‘humaning’? The completely made up concept introduced by Mondelez at the end of last year.

Marketing Week columnist and Mini MBA founder Mark Ritson was not impressed by the snack giant’s plan to “stop marketing and start humaning”, calling it “utter bollocks” and giving it fast-track entry into his all-time marketing bullshit top 10, which we published in November.”

The full article can be found on the Marketing Week website.

Prince Philip: “An incredible ambassador of design”

“Following the Duke of Edinburgh’s passing, we look back at his contribution to design including the long-running designers prize that bears his name.”

 The full article can be found on the Design Week website.

Tesco deems marketing ‘mission critical’ following Covid sales boost

“Tesco says it will continue to put its faith in marketing over the next 12 months, following a year in which the supermarket managed to grow sales, gain market share and strengthen its brand in spite of the Covid-19 crisis.

Looking forward, the brand is banking on value, loyalty and ecommerce as key areas to drive further growth.”

See Marketing Week for the full story.

Coca-Cola warned marketing spend will be put on hold for markets with slower Covid-19 vaccination programmes and rising cases.

“Speaking on its Q1 2021 results call this afternoon (19 April) Coca-Cola’s CEO James Quincey said pandemic-related lockdowns continue to impact markets, which could greatly affect how it distributes marketing spend over the coming year.

‘If we see demand is coming in at the higher end and more reopenings [of markets] happen quickly and revenue starts accelerating, we will also likely re-accelerate the restitution of marketing spend,’ Quincey said.”

Full article from Marketing Week.

This flag has been designed to represent and protect Antarctica

“ ‘Flags are maybe the best example of effective communication design there is,’ says designer Evan Townsend. ‘I knew we could use a tool like that in Antarctica.’

Despite having been the subject of human exploration for 200 years, Townsend is the designer of Antarctica’s ‘first ever’ flag.

He designed True South while working there, providing support to a scientific research team during the continent’s winter, when the average temperature averages -49°C. “

Read the article on the Design Week website.

In-house design teams: how an internal studio keeps Wikipedia weird

“ ‘As part of our series looking at in-house design teams, we talk to Wikipedia’s Khanyi Mpumlwana and Zack McCune about ‘breaking’ the online encyclopedia.

Wikipedia turns 20 this year. The online, collectively-edited encyclopedia – which has always remained free – is one of the most visited websites in the world, familiar to students reading up on subjects, writers of trivia quizzes and fans of obscure culture alike. “

Full article in Design Week.

Attempts to update the four Ps are embarrassing – they’ve endured for a reason

This is a great article in Marketing Week where Mark Ritson casts a sardonic eye over attempts to revise a core concept of marketing.

“Whenever a marketer sets out to improve, augment or adapt the four Ps, they reveal the absurdity of the exercise and reinforce why product, price, place and promotion remain the core concepts of the marketing mix.”

The full article can be found on the Marketing Week website.

Going at it alone: independent female designers share their tips – part one

“ As part of our IWD 2021 coverage, four women discuss their tips for working alone, from reinvesting in yourself, to being prepared for dry spells and staying motivated.

Charlotte Coulais, founder of En Ville design studio : ‘Working independently means you can do what you want. I am in charge of my time, which is great when I juggle many projects at once while trying to find the right time balance with my family life. I love the direct relationship I have with the clients which allow more collaboration and communication. However, it also means you I have to do everything. I would rather spend more time on the creative side, but I obviously have to think about admin and new business too.’ “

Read the full article on the Design Week website.

Changes to IR35 are approaching (again) – here’s what designers need to know

“Changes to the tax legislation for freelancers and employers will come into effect from 6 April 2021 so designers and design businesses will need to be ready.

Named after the press release that announced it back in 1999, IR35 was originally adopted to stem the growing number of “one-man” limited companies providing services to businesses as freelancers – thereby avoiding a considerable amount of tax – while still maintaining a traditional employee-employer relationship.”

Read the full article on the Design Week website.

Interior inspiration: Design Week’s picks

“With hope of a return to public life in our minds we wanted to share some real world interiors projects have caught our eye.”

Read the full article on the Design Week website.

The death of third-party cookies is inevitable, the death of effective digital advertising is not

“Google’s update on 3 March on third-party cookies didn’t come as a huge surprise to many, but it has sent shockwaves through the advertising community.

Google had already announced it was removing support for third-party cookies in Chrome as of 2022, but it has now confirmed it will not build or integrate other forms of identifiers to track individuals browsing the web.”

Find out more on the Marketing Week website.

Why CEOs want marketing superheroes

“ The question of what CEOs expect from those running their marketing departments may never have been more pressing. In a time of rapid – almost rabid – change, those expectations have been changing daily.

While the CEO is ultimately responsible for the happiness of company teams, the CMO has a big role to play, according to Wagamama CEO Emma Woods.”

Get the full article on the Marketing Week website.

Industry looks to address diversity and inclusion problem with major census

Marketing Week reported on an initiative by The Advertising Association, ISBA and IPA to assess the extent of the industry’s diversity and inclusion problem.

“The three major marketing and advertising trade bodies have joined forces to launch what they hope will be the most comprehensive census of diversity and inclusion in the industry.

The move is a first from The Inclusion Group, formed last year by the Advertising Association, ISBA and IPA, and will form the basis of actions the group will ask the industry to take to make advertising and marketing more diverse and inclusive.”

The full article can be found on the Marketing Week website.

Twitter updates its identity to match the “complexity” of conversations today

“We are excited to announce that entries are now open for the Design Week Awards 2021, which will bring winning work to our biggest ever audience.

With so much uncertainty around live, real world events this coming year, we have taken an early decision to again celebrate award winning work across Design Week and its online channels, rather than through a live event.”

Full details and links on the Design Week website.

As millennial investment apps boom designers are meeting the demand

Design Week discuss the design challenges in a developing sector.

“While challenger investment platforms are reaching a new generation, there are plenty of design obstacles in the developing sector.

To meet its growing popularity, Robinhood revealed a new visual identity last year – a brightly-hued illustrative approach across all of its products, designed by New York-based studio Collins in collaboration with Robinhood’s internal design team. “We approached the project as reframing a driving need faced by Robinhood’s millennial audience – one they often don’t recognise or grapple with – into an unignorable opportunity,” Collins head of strategy Taamrat Amaize says.”

Read the full article on the Design Week website.

Coca-Cola tests paper bottle but is it the answer?

An interesting story from Design Week about Coca-Cola trialling paper bottles as it strives to head towards a zero waste operation.

“Coca-Cola will soon be trialling a paper bottle for its drinks, as part of its plan in moving towards what it calls “zero waste”.

In 2020, Coca-Cola was ranked the world’s number one plastic polluter by charity group Break Free From Plastic. This meant it contributed more waste than the likes of Pepsi and Nestle.”

Design Week has more.

Moving interface aims to provide hygienic solution for supermarket touchscreens

Fascinating story about how a company has designed a screen with moving buttons which could allow up to 50 people to use the screen an hour without touching the same spot on the screen.

“London design studio Special Projects has created a moving interface concept which aims to make touchscreens more hygienic in the age of Covid.

The studio says it was inspired by the widespread use of touchscreens – at supermarket check-outs, for example – where up to 30 customers can touch a screen every hour, often pressing similar areas. Research showed that viruses can remain active on surfaces for up to 28 days.”

Read the full article on the Design Week website.