Thompson Brand Partners

Thompson Brand Partners rebrands national charity to Young Epilepsy

Thompson Brand Partners has completed the rename and rebrand of the National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy (NCYPE) to Young Epilepsy.

Young Epilepsy is the only UK-wide charity exclusively supporting the 112,000 children and young people under 25 years of age with epilepsy and their families. Young Epilepsy is a leading provider of specialist education and health services to those most severely affected by epilepsy and related conditions.

Thompson started working with NCYPE in late 2010 after winning a 4-way credentials pitch. Since then the project has included an extensive research exercise prior to the decision to change the name to Young Epilepsy, followed by the development of a new brand identity.

The new identity was officially launched on 1 November 2011 and Thompson has been working with the Young Epilepsy marketing team to develop a range of applications including signage, new web templates, banners, corporate brochure and newsletters, as well as a set of brand guidelines to help ensure consistency.

The idea behind the new identity was to create a logo that changes from time to time, because it includes elements that have been drawn by the students from St Piers School and the FE College, which Young Epilepsy owns and manages in Lingfield, Surrey. As well as creating an identity that is credible for a national charity, Thompson also delivered a practical solution that is not too expensive to implement. Stars were chosen, as the child is always the star, and a project was set in the school and college for the children to create the artwork for the stars.

Nick Ramshaw, Managing Director of Thompson Brand Partners has enjoyed working with Young Epilepsy throughout and is excited about the effect the new branding will have on the charity: “The organisation began to change from a location-based health and education provider in Surrey, to a national epilepsy charity supporting children and young people around 3 years ago. What we have been able to do is help them decide on a more appropriate name and then use branding to communicate this re-position effectively and imaginatively.”

Young Epilepsy Chief Executive David Ford said: “Thompson has been an excellent partner throughout the process, adding rigour and inclusion when we were considering the name and fantastic creativity when developing the new identity. Everyone here loves the new identity, understands what our new brand stands for and can’t wait to stand behind it.” 

 

History of Vegas in neon

I’m just back from our summer family road trip around California. There were many highlights, including Yosemite, Big Sur and San Francisco, but for me the most interesting was Las Vegas.

The city is going through tough times right now, with unemployment higher than ever and those much needed gamblers not coming in big enough numbers or with fat enough wallets. The Strip still shines throughout the night, but the number of dormant and half-finished casinos still surprised me, carefully hidden and only visible if you’ve got a long nose like me.

I am fascinated by the history of Vegas. How it grew to its heyday in the fifties, the gangsters and showgirls, and the fantastic design of the buildings, typography and incredible signage. The neon that has become iconic, plots the social history of the city, and still makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck when you first drive down the Strip.

I was delighted then to find the following article on the BBC website when I got back. If you’ve got 5 minutes, this is a fascinating film about how the old neon is creating a history, and provides an excellent insight into the marvelous Las Vegas.

History of Vegas in neon

 

Captured

I recently came across an interesting photography project called "Captured" on design blog  The Strange Attractor.

The idea behind this project was to select a number of fantastic photographers from throughout the world and send them a camera and film (that's right, no digital to be seen here). What's particularly interesting about the project is that it appears to take the photographers out of their comfort zone. For example, I was drawn to this article as it featured Greg White, whom I am a big fan of. White's style is typically clean cut and futuristic, so it was interesting to see him stripped of this comfort and still produce some great shots:

"Having seen the results I’m pleasantly surprised and sense that this is what lomography is all about, the fun of inaccuracy, that feeling of not knowing, the anticipation, relief and surprise when the film returns from the lab as well as the added bonuses of happy mistakes!"

I think thats it's great to see these accomplished photographers getting inspired by trying something new and really stripping their style back to a basic level, and am now ever more desperate to buy one of the Diana F+ cameras that I have been after for sometime. For now the instagram iPhone app will have to suffice, but wheres the fun in that?

–
Guy

Round the world in 98 days

My good friends Terry and June (no joke!) recently embarked on a round the world trip visiting some fabulous countries – often going off the beaten track – to see some wonderful sights and learn about different cultures.

Their trip took them to 12 countries and included 26 flights, 8 boats, 6 trains and a helicopter – no mean feat. The key countries include Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Brazil!

I’m sure it really was a trip of a lifetime although being a homely girl who likes routine, it wouldn’t be for me. However, I have to admit looking through some of the pics I did feel slightly envious – especially as I know I will never see these fascinating places.

I put a few of my favourite pics below – some of them are really mesmerising and I’ve studied them for hours. Let me know what you think, I think the images speak for themselves.

These are the ancient temples of Seim Reap in Cambodia – spooky I think.

 

Halong Bay in Vietnam. I think this is my favourite pic. Looks straight out of a film set.

 

Iguazu Falls in Brazil. Apparently it was a very wet experience.

 

Machu Picchu in Peru – part of the Inca Trails – absolutely fascinating.

 

The famous landscape of Shanghai, China.

 

Trekking in San Alfonso, Chile

 

Darling Harbour, Sydney

 

Terracotta Warriers, Xian in China. I felt really envious seeing this pic. I would really like to go.

 

Finally, what an experience. The Great Barrier Reef in Cairns, Australia.

2011. My Year of Adventures

2011. For me this means the year of more exercising, less cupcakes and probably more snow. Or at least that's the plan. The problem with that plan is that it all sounds so very dull, so I've decided to trick myself into moving more by renaming 2011, 'The Year of Fun and Adventures'. The clever part comes with the fact that, like most people, I am entirely skint this month and therefore all Fun and Adventures in the first half of the year must be free, and therefore outdoor pursuits will be coming into their own. Super sneaky.

I decided to put this cunning plan into practice on Bank Holiday Monday with An Official Adventure. We packed up the Fiesta with fruit and my two favourite people and drove up to Malham Cove in North Yorkshire. What ensued was my best day of 2011 so far.

For those who have never heard of this magical place, I shall quote Malhamdale.org.uk: "Standing some 80 metres high and 300 metres wide and north of the mid craven fault, Malham Cove is a curved crag of carboniferous limestone formed after the last ice age.". I shall also add this: it's one heck of a stair case up to what has to be the most unusual rocky surface I've stood upon. It also featured in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 (see photo below for reenactment) and is therefore cool in many different ways.

 

If you've never been, you must go - you'll stretch your legs, burn some Christmas pounds, have an opportunity for a plethora of beautiful photos with the camera you got for Christmas and also be able to walk back down the steps with the knowledge that there is a chocolate-box village and cosy pub waiting at the bottom. Bring on 2011.

Rachel x

Photos by A. Martin 2011.

More reasons to be cheerful - Snowmen!

 
To celebrate the wonderful white winter we are having I've sought out some of the funniest snowmen pictures I can find. Get creative and send us your photos! 

1: Dead Snowman

2: Hide and Seek

3: Run away!! Run away!!

4: All tied up

4: Snowman massacre!

5: Snowmen take over the world!

Coral

Fattening up for winter!

Good morning folks! I am in a great mood this morning. Surprisingly so as I am meant to have a day off but am instead in at work. I just love waking up in the winter to a blanket of thick snow covering our lawn. 

I love the cold, crisp winter mornings and I know that most of you will think I am mad but I genuinely love the way the cold makes your face red and how cuddled up and cosy you can get at home watching the snow drift past the window. This of course is helped by the fact that i live in a beautiful converted manor house which looks postcard perfect in the snow and my office is only a short walk away. I also think its because I am a southerner who still finds snow a rare treat instead of a nuisance like my northern colleagues who are used to this disruption, school closures and chaos. Plus not having kids helps! It means i can act like one instead which i inevitably will do at some point.

Anyway.. back to the reason I started this particular post. 

In the winter i get an overwhelming interest in food. Cooking in particular and stock pile various magazines, recipes and blogs from my favourite sources. It must be an innate desire to fatten up for winter... or at least thats my excuse. I also cook our family Xmas dinner so I spend the majority of Nov and Dec planning various meat and vegetarian main course and twists on the traditional spread. 

I use Google Reader as a resource to keep on top of all of my favourite foodie blogs and wanted to share with you one in particular that has continued to impress me with every new post for the past two years. Its called 'Canelle et Vanille' and is seriously one of the most beautiful blogs you can subscribe to. Each new post is not only skillfully written it is also accompanied by beautiful food photography and styling. The imagery in particular is what gives this blog stand out. If you like food and photography you have to check it out!

http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/

Coral

Car parks

Those designers out there will recognise the creative fetish for multi-storey car parks. 

This particular example in Leeds is a double whammy - it's underground and it's empty.

The ruins of Detroit

I cam across this set of haunting photographic images on FFFFound today.

There's something very moving about the desolation.

Candy Floss Sardine Bones

We're doing some work with the highly regarded Sheffield lensman Shaun Bloodworth at the moment and purely by chance he discovered our interest in all things food related. Now I accept the blog has become somewhat food obsessive, but I'll rely on someone else to address the balance (it'll sort itself out in the long run).

Turns out he's done plenty of food related photography of world famous chefs and supre interesting food scenarios...here's just a few examples, I was well impressed:

Salt cod in situ on a Norwegian archipelago

Foodie superstar chef Alain Ducasse in Paris

El Bulli's Ferran Adria demonstrating his latest technique for making candy floss sardine bones (really)

For more great shots have a look at Shaun's site here