Recently we created some corporate dressing panels and roller banners for Stanley Black & Decker. A series of stylised product photography follows the ‘gritty’ feel of their marketing materials. Whilst the products themselves are of top quality, when displayed at almost a metre across, a blemish can become a feature. Our careful post production ensured top quality reproduction on the finished print.
We’ve recently been commissioned to expand on the brand identity for one of Fluid Thinking’s oldest clients.
Back in 2005, we successfully pitched to the local charity Leicestershire & County Mission for The Deaf on a new name and direction. Since then, ACTION DEAFNESS – as it became following the rebranding – has continued to grow in services and stature.
With new commercial services launched, we are currently rolling out an expansion to the brand identity to create divisional identities. The first of these, ACTION DEAFNESS CULTURAL, caters for black, minority and ethnic groups within deaf communities, helping them to access and integrate within local communities. We’re looking forward to the further expansion of commercial services for ACTION DEAFNESS and the communication challenges they bring!
The new programme of city-wide coaching courses has been launched for 2010-2011 by the Achievement Project team.
We have produced the new A5 48 page course booklet that details all the courses available across the Leicester as well as information about available funding and how to apply. The booklet was created in conjunction with posters, flyers and roller banners that have been used by the Achievement Project team across the city to launch and promote this year’s courses.
As well as the brochure, this year has also seen the launch of the website www.achievementproject.org.uk created by one of our development partners, Credible Systems, that gives full course information and availability as well as allowing users to book and pay for their courses online.
The Joomla powered CMS allows information to be updated quickly and simply and outputs detailed reports of all the information – critical in a project where accountability to funding partners is so important and so time consuming if not considered and then set up correctly from the outset.
The Business Box in Braunstone, originally developed by the BCA and now managed as part of b-inspired, provides purpose developed serviced offices for start-up businesses in Braunstone and the surrounding area.
The site was designed to reflect the strong branding of the offices and fit into the modern and forward-looking approach of the residents and the management team, whilst providing information for potential tenants and existing residents.
As well as the services on offer, the building itself is a main attraction having been specifically re-furbished for the purpose so a virtual tour has also been incorporated, created by Michael Associates (themselves based at Business Box).
This summer, the World Cup will no doubt bring the country to a halt (for as long as England stay in of course!) but with all the excitement comes an increased risk of accidents through Drink Driving, potentially turning a celebration into a life threatening accident.
The campaign is based on ‘Don’t Let the Side Down’ and aims to remind people that it is all too easier to carried away, without thinking of the consequences. The campaign will feature heavily on bus rears, local advertising and outdoor around Leicestershire for the duration of the World Cup and is also being used as a feature campaign in Warwickshire, West Mercia and West Midlands.
Please note that as of w/c 1st August 2011, our new address is:
Fluid Thinking Ltd
The Old Rectory,
Main Street,
Glenfield,
Leicestershire
LE3 8DG,
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)844 244 9653
The font was designed in 1994 by Vincent Connare, a Microsoft employee engaged in developing educational software. Whilst reviewing a new program which was being designed to make computers friendly and accessible for IT virgins, Connare was alarmed by the Times New Roman which accompanied the animated dog called Bob. ‘Microsoft Bob’ was akin to the Micosoft paperclip animation, so beloved by users of ‘Word’. It’s purpose was to lead, through simple and friendly instruction, the user through the simple tasks of word processing and simple spreadsheets. The form & purpose where simply at odds with oneanother. Connare recognised the need for a simple organic type form and, inspired by the clarity and accessible look of comic strip speech bubbles. He set about designing a formal font with a strong legacy to the hand drawn letterforms more easily associated with Batman cartoons. The slight italic feel adds an immediacy to any text set in Comic Sans.
Unfortunately, ‘Microsoft Bob’ was not a success and was confined to digital oblivion – but not Comic Sans. Released as part of a set of supplementary fonts in ‘Windows ‘95’ the font was quickly recognised as an ‘anti font’ to the rigid strictures of Arial and Times Roman and absorbed into the ‘Desktop Publishing’ lovers toolbox.
In fact, Comic Sans has a serious side. Like another of Connare’s other font designs “Trebuchet’, it has been shown to be an excellent font for people with Dyslexia, where it’s clear and rhythmic form proves less confusing.
Next time you see it, however inappropriate – remember that it was orphaned early in it’s life and that it was designed with the very best intentions!
To keep pace with our growing workload, we’re looking for experienced web developers and designers to work with us on a freelance basis.
If you are an experienced wordpress or php developer or have commercial experience of site template design or flash animation then please get in touch.
Facebook and Twitter are all very well but any connections you build can quickly get out of hand and it’s value as a ‘business to business’ and ‘contact to contact’ tool can easily get lost.
We stumbled across LinkedIn a while ago and have just started using it more formally as a tool to build a network of clients, colleagues and suppliers. It is early days, so we will see it develops over the coming months but if you are already signed up and know us, make sure you drop us a message so that we can keep in touch with any opportunities! You can find us by clicking here.
Whilst paper sizes and formats can seem obvious for those of us who use them all day long, we should always try and remember that most people have better things to do than worry about whether B2 is larger than A2 and whether DL is a third or a quarter of A4.
To help make sure you specify the right format, here is a list of the standard sizes:
A Series:
A0 841 × 1189mm
A1 594 × 841mm
A2 420 × 594mm
A3 297 × 420mm
A4 210 × 297mm
A5 148 × 210mm
A6 105 × 148mm
A7 74 × 105mm
A8 52 × 74mm
A9 37 × 52mm
A10 26 × 37mm