Thompson Brand Partners

AnimAtion!

Just a little insight into some of the paper and plasticine fun we've been having coming up with the concept for a week of animation at the National Media Museum. Should be a colourful joy to behold when its finished so watch out for this one.

Adam.

LCM Prospectus Shots

Once again the mini photography studio was constructed at Thompson and I braved the sun-like temperatures of the lights to get some better shots of the Leeds College of Music prospectus...

Paul

Useful ghost information

Temple Works

I spent a fantastic hour wandering around the derelict Temple Works site in Leeds this afternoon.

Temple Works is a former flax mill that is based on the Temple of Edfu at Horus in Egypt (no really) which had a chimney designed as an obelisk (those Victorians). At one point, the main space in there was the biggest room in the world. It had grass on the roof to keep to aid retention of humidity and sheep grazed on it to keep it in check. The world's first hydraulic ramp was invented to get the sheep on the roof. English Heritage said that the building was "probably the finest example of a carved stone elevation in the whole region"

Since 1958, the mill had been used by Kay's catalogues as a distribution centre and its been derelict for over 5 years. There's interesting plans afoot to breathe life into the old girl again as a centre for arts and culture. 

When I walked around the mill this afternoon, it looked like the inhabitants had left a few weeks ago - apart from the fact everything is so old fashioned. It's like a cross between the Marie Celeste, Silent Hill and a future nuclear holocaust - Ben McKenna said Omega Man, and he's not far off. It'll be a shame to see it tidied up, it's very poignant to see it this way. All the evidence of working lives are there to see. The big clock in the main room was incredible - all those eyes worshipping it, wishing it to 5 o clock, day in day out, for over a hundred years.

Thanks to nualabugeye for the shots above. I couldn't resist the humour in the image below which I snapped on the iphone.

Metro Station Drassanes, Barcelona

An existing subway or metro station does not give much room to creativity. Drassanes is a metro station in Barcelona’s Ciutat Vella district at the old docks of Port Vell.

The original station was built in 1968. Eduardo Gutiérrez Munné and Jordi Fernández Río, the 31-year-old partners of ON-A Arquitectura WWW.ON-A.ES, had no other option but to accept the limitations of the constricted space and make the best of it by covering the old station with new surfaces. They decided that a subway car already has everything a passenger needs and proceeded to create a station that emulates the feel of (a) subway cars. Light-weight, white glass-enforced concrete covers the vertical surfaces and a resin component helps make the white floors vibration-proof. Via The Cool Hunter.

Ted.

It's not Tiffany's

The first time I saw U2 live was Tiffany's in the Merrion Centre in Leeds in 1981. Those of you of a certain age will recall the delights of the iffiest club in Leeds and it's fur coat and no knickers sister club, Bali Hai. Bands regularly played there as venues were pretty scarce.

It blew me away. As a young art college student at Jacob Kramer Art College, I'd not seen anything like it. They possessed the energy of recently deceased punk and the passion and belief of the post punk movement.

That was a long time ago and it's fair to say I've followed their development closely with something that's veered from a detached, critical eye to complete fan obsession. As I grew up so did the band. As I became more irresponsible, so did they. And when they were pompous and full of pretense, I had a go at that too.

I think they are one of the true 'Marmite' bands - you either love them or hate them. And with their lead singer further polarising opinion around the world, most people know where they stand on the love/hate U2 question.

Well, I saw the 360 tour live at Wembley on Saturday night and 88,000 left the stadium very happy indeed, safe in the knowledge that the biggest and best rock band in the world haven't lost their touch. The staging was truly incredible and in danger of overshadowing the band, but the heart and soul I saw in Tiffany's in Leeds in 1981 has been the one of the constants in a band never afraid to look radical change in the eye.

A lesson to all creative people: never be afraid of change - it you fail, move on and change again. Embrace it and in the end you'll ultimately succeed.

Metal Invites

Just got some little invites we've done for the arts organisation Metal. The fluorescent green and die cut logo turned out nice!

The Library, Morecambe

As part of an enlightened spot of gig planning, I saw British Sea Power play in the library in Morecambe on Friday night. 

This outrageous bit of promotion saw one of our most innovative and forward thinking bands play in a truly exceptional venue - an octagonal 70s library in one of the country's best loved seaside towns. Whilst the support played and the roadies tuned up the instruments, the tiny audience perused the thriller section and made the most of the well stocked graphic novel aisle. 

The band opened amidst the rock and pop section and ended the evening  with members of the audience wrapped in audience survey maps from around the country. As ever, the band played with real gusto and despite the fact there was no bar in sight - this was a library after all - it was a truly memorable evening.

Footnote: Morecambe has a brilliant memorial to Eric Morecambe (now you know) and a fabulously restored art deco hotel (The Midland) that has views to die for. Watch out for more library gigs - they plan some more - it's well worth the trip.

The beautiful game

Every so often a client comes along with huge ambitions for the future potential of their brand. That's what happened when we first started working with Prozone, so not being a football fan myself (gasp!) I have been through a much needed whistle stop tour of the beautiful game in the last few months. We've re-designed statistical graphs, translated a new brochure into 5 languages and done a fantastic photoshoot with Guy Farrow which involved lots of turf, white paint and moody lighting. It's been great fun and Prozone have come a long way, in a very short time. 

So here we are, in time for the new season with Prozone's brand new website, and lots of lovely pieces of print and stationery to arrive later this week http://www.prozonesports.com

 

Travelling Moleskines

We're involved in a fantastic art project developed by The Culture Vulture. It's called Travelling Moleskines - it's a very cool idea. Each Moleskine has a theme and you draw, doodle, whatevery you like in it and then send it on to someone else who will do something similar. 

At the end of their travels, they will arrive back in Leeds and form part of an exhibition and art event/party in September. Cool.

Find out more about it here. There's some fabulous stuff happening already - have a look at the flickr group here

And if you'd like one of our Moleskines to land on your doormat, let me know - we'd love you to contribute.