Tag: The Loft

23
Jun

PACKAGING

‘BenRiach 10Yr Single Malt Whisky, trailblazing a new direction’

Speyside whisky distiller BenRiach re-launched as an independent distiller in 2004 and were looking to establish a new creative direction for their ’10 Year Old Single Malt.’ A very important project and one they trusted the loft with. The design was to be bold, premium and should signal a change of direction in-line with the company’s 10th anniversary. The loft team explored a number of different design themes, directions and concepts looking to bring the distillery to life on the packaging. Concepts created included experimentations with the barrels, the floor malting, and views from both inside and outside the distillery. Development focussed on the distillery itself where we played with a range of compositions, angles, and illustration styles. The team explored a number of paper and print finishes, eventually settling on a textured gunmetal grey with gold foil finish for real ‘on-the-shelf’ impact. The new BenRiach 10-Year-Old, Single Malt Whisky is the first of a series of BenRiach whiskies featuring the revised design direction. The project also represented a unique moment in the loft’s history as the company’s first labelling project. We were delighted with the final results as were BenRiach.

What The Client Said…

“The BenRiach 10-Years-Old is a key launch for us, as it marks a significant milestone; it is the first core range expression to be created predominantly from whiskies distilled at BenRiach since we took over in 2004. For this reason, we were looking for a striking new packaging design to reflect this important moment in the distillery’s history. We are delighted with the final result.”

Nicol Van Rijbroek, Marketing Manager of BenRiach

Contact the loft >>>
Find out more about the BenRiach 10 Yr Old Single Malt >>>

 

23
Jun

WEBSITE DESIGN

‘Consilium, getting to know the people behind the numbers’

In the Autumn of 2013, 6 Chartered Accountants decided to take the plunge and open the doors of a new accountancy firm – Consilium Chartered Accountants. The company was set up to provide a ‘people-focussed’ service for Scottish businesses, and we were delighted to be given the opportunity to work with Consilium to help them create a new digital presence. We wanted to get under the skin of the ‘Consilium’ team and learn more about their staff to find out what they were really about. We found, almost in every case, an emphasis on building proper relationships with clients and a desire to know the real stories about their businesses. “Getting to know the people behind the numbers” became the theme behind the entire project. This was captured with art-directed photography of the Consilium Partners, alongside some of their clients in their own work environments. The photography was an important part of the new site, each staff member was given pride of place on the website, with their own biography so that current and future clients could really get to know ‘the people behind Consilium.’ A clean, direct and engaging website was created. The authentic, personal and open feel around the company is portrayed in their tagline, as well as the focus being on image over words; which sets them apart from their competitors.

What The Client Said…

“The loft designed and built a tremendous website for Consilium which very nicely summarises who we are and what we are about. It was a fun process, the site works exceptionally well and we have received many compliments on its look and feel. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the loft to others.”

John Blair, Corporate Finance Partner of Consilium Chartered Accountants

Contact the loft >>>
Find out more about the Consilium website >>>

 

23
Jun

IDENTITY DESIGN

‘ABM Intelligence, a new brand representing a fresh start’

Scottish Investigation software provider Altia Solutions merged with Covert Intelligence Systems provider ABM in 2016. As part of an effort to assist ABM – we were asked to create a new brand for the Nottingham-based company. After having completed the strategic work of the brand – the loft were asked to create a new identity that would bring ABM more in-line with the brand and visual identity of Altia. The Altia brand identity, which had been established over five years makes clear use of a series of data strands which merge with solid objects representing the company’s commitment to managing and providing tools with data. The loft team explored a range of shapes – complex, simple, symbolic to best communicate what the company does. A simple circle was chosen for its universal appeal, a blue shade was selected in-line with the company’s requests for an element of continuity over the previous brand. Finally a new typeface was introduced which would bring it more in-line with the Altia brand. Something that is being introduced right throughout the group. The new brand nicely gives ABM its own identity whilst being part of a larger family of companies

What The Client Said…

“The loft helped us to create a new brand after our merger in 2016. They went to great lengths to talk to everybody in the company, they were always responsive with changes and both the identity and cultural aspects of the new brand have been a great help to us in re-positioning the organisation and getting our message across. We very much enjoyed working with them, highly recommended.”

Paul Hardman, Business Relationship Manager of ABM Intelligence

Contact the loft >>>

 

23
Jun

BROCHURE DESIGN

‘SOCEX 2017, a brochure that lives on, long after the main event’

We were given the opportunity to work with the organisers of the Serious and Organised Crime Exchange (SOCEX) for the third year in a row for the design of their 2017 brochure. The organisers asked us to be extremely bold in bringing the main themes of the conference to life, ‘Harm and Impact On Communities,’ whilst continuing to build on the secondary themes of the conference. The loft team made widespread use of a hooded figure throughout the brochure to reflect the effect crime has on communities. This menacing figure makes an appearance in various guises throughout the brochure and was particularly helpful to the event organisers as it avoided the risk of stereotyping race or gender in the communications of the conference. The front cover received careful attention with the hooded figure looking over a council estate in a scene reminiscent of Dali’s painting ‘The crucifixion.’ The background of the front cover included images which reflected many of the conference’s secondary themes including ‘slavery’ and ‘governance and coercion in communities, etc.’ We carried through the ‘network’ visual identity from previous conferences into the 2017 brochure. This was complemented with vivid page backdrops – each of which brings the different sub-themes of the conference to life. The brochure was incredibly well – received by both the client and also the delegates of the conference.

What The Client Said…

“SOCEX, Serious and Organised Crime Exchange. As a concept, the Conference title can spring up many images – whether coming from the dark world of blockbuster thrillers or gritty police dramas on TV. The loft managed to capture the seriousness of the subject matter being discussed across the two day conference while providing a document which will have a life long after the conference itself, capturing the core elements of the event in such a way that attendees and their colleagues will return to it as a vivid reminder of what took place.”

Martin Jack, Managing Director of Think Different Events

Contact the loft >>>
Find out more about the SOCEX 2017 Brochure >>>

25
May

16 Personalities

16 Personalities
Are you a commander, an executive or an advocate? Not a question we regularly ask ourselves but one that we were questioning this month. In an effort to get to know one another and ourselves better we all took part in the Myers-Brigg’s questionnaire and got up close and personal with our personality strengths and weaknesses.

It all started with 16 Personalities — which is a great website for breaking down your personality type and puts it into layman’s terms. Be warned though, it is incredibly fascinating and has become seriously addictive, all my friends and family have now taken the test even with all their protests.

Eager to find out more we invited Christine Penman into the studio to explain more about our personality types and focus on how we can work as a team even more effectively – not your usual Friday morning breakfast meeting! Starting off with a simple task to show how everyone thinks differently, we all closed our eyes and Christine said the word “horse” and then we opened our eyes and shared what we thought of. One saw a black stallion, another saw a horse in Spain and of course, thanks to my other half, I saw a horse in Hawick. Next, we broke down each personality aspect and learnt about what it means to be an introvert or extrovert, use intuition or sensing, are thinking or feelings led and whether you use judging or perceiving when tackling work. The most stand out difference is between being thinking or feelings led. In a task, we were split into our two groups and asked to write about how we deal with conflict when we are directly involved or not directly involved. For the feelings led group, we found that we tend to avoid conflict and can feel quite blind-sided by it. Whereas for the thinking led group, all the emotion is taken out of it and they like to get to the point and “explain to them 3 times why they are wrong.” All jokes aside, the full morning was great and we really did learn a lot about ourselves and each other. Being able to understand each other’s personality types and what each person brings to the team was very interesting and should enable us to work more efficiently as a team.

The aftermath — having access to all this valuable information, we wanted to find a way of communicating this quickly and effectively with each other so Nicola got her design on and came up with cheat sheets for everyone. These cheat sheets take pride of place in our studio and outline our personality stats, our ‘devine’ skills and how we activate these skills in a simple but incredibly effective profile design. They have been a talking point among us and clients, giving them a quick insight into the team and all our quirks.

WARNING: ENTERING THE LOFT MAY INVOLVE TAKING PART IN A PERSONALITY TEST

Check out the test>>>

Laura

25
May

SOCEX 2017

SOCEX2017

Sometimes we can’t help but do a little self-promotion and the production of the third SOCEX Brochure is one that we are pretty damn proud of.

The Serious and Organised Crime Exchange is an annual meet-up of the nation’s top law enforcement chiefs to discuss the issues of the day. Previous speakers at the conference in Chesire includes the previous Home Secretary – The Rt Hon Theresa May MP.

Well, this is the loft’s third year at developing the conference brochure after the design of the initial branding in 2015 and we believe this one is an absolute cracker.

Previous brochures were incredibly well-received but didn’t stray visually too far from the conference branding, this year the team really got brought the conference theme ‘Organised Crime, The Harm & Impact on Communities’ to life.

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Keep an eye out for a full case study but key features include the wonderfully haunting hooded man looking over a British Council Estate in a composition reminiscent of Salvador Dali’s painting of ‘The Crucifixion,’ the use of a mosaic pattern bringing the other conference themes to life within the visual style of the SOCEX theme and finally the introduction of key themes as backdrops to each of the speakers of the day.

SOCEXbIn terms of concept and execution, a huge step forward from previous efforts, and a testament to the huge amount of work put in by the team. They really did sweat every single detail.
Already looking forward to finding out the themes for the 2018 event.

Benedetto

 

25
May

By Design Grant

By-Design-Grant

This one’s been around a while and one we’ve already helped a few people with…

The ‘By Design Grant’ by Scottish Enterprise can contribute between £2000-5000 to help businesses fund creative projects. Some of the things the grant covers includes the design of branding, packaging and websites for new products. There is also assistance for existing products & services.

All things we know a thing or two about – hint, hint 🙂

Want to find out more, don’t take our word for it – Check out the link >>>

As always, there are conditions but who wouldn’t want the opportunity to find out more.

Give us a shout if there is anything we can do to help?

The loft team

28
Feb

MCR Pathways – Changing Perspectives

Right, this is my first blog post so go easy. I talk about the most inspiring three hours of my short design career so far – so here goes..

I arrived at work last Friday feeling rather different. The last time I walked into our studio feeling this nervous I was clutching onto my portfolio and CV, prepared to beg Benedetto for a job.

But why was I so nervous? Was there a 9am meeting I wasn’t prepared for? An impending deadline at my desk? Had trainer Jamie from Puregym made me want to vomit before work? No, not this time. In fact, today we’re ignoring our deadlines, meetings as well as Jamie and opening our door to four young students into our office for a ‘Talent Taster’.

This ‘Talent Taster’ was organised by MCR Pathways, a Glasgow based organisation that ensures young kids from disadvantaged backgrounds, remain inspired and confident about their future. These talent tasters are organised for secondary school students to learn more about the jobs they think they might want when they’re older. Which means a big part of what they do is help young people discover what skills and capabilities they have up their sleeves.

So back to that cold morning..

After a quick breakfast with the guys (becoming a Loft tradition), we had a team talk on how the morning would pan-out. I was still apprehensive about the idea, but I guess what excited me most about this opportunity, was the prospect of a young person leaving our little studio in Merchant City, on the right path, ready to take on the big design world.

Before I knew it, the team talk was over and the kids were arriving. One by one they hesitantly walked through the studio door. What I was looking at was four future Creative Directors, all be it slightly shorter than Benedetto (Only slightly), clutching onto their bags, lunch boxes and jackets.

After a brief introduction we dived from the highest springboard into the deep-end, head first. Each member of the team was paired with a student. I was picked last, something I remember all to well from the gym hall at high school.

My partner in crime’s name was Callum, a curious chap. Before I could show him some of my work for the loft he asks for a business card, obviously after some credentials – this young man means business.

Callum instantly comes out of his shell as soon as we start chatting and interacting. I guess this is what MCR Pathways is all about: Giving young people that confidence, especially when they get one to one attention from someone who cares.

We slowly make our way around the room as I show him some of our most recent projects. Callum seems not only enthralled but inquisitive. He kept me on my toes by asking loads of questions on concepts and design choices, which to be honest, I wasn’t expecting. This no longer seems like a Talent Taster experience but more like a discussion from designer to designer. It was lovely to have someone who not only wanted to hear what I do day-to-day, but to actually question it and offer opinions and ideas.

I turn to Callum and question his age, my jaw almost hits the floor when he replies with: ‘Fourteen’.

We grab a chair (I definitely needed one) and start the exercise I prepared on the bus into work. Our idea was to replicate the creative process, with one of the hardest briefs a designer ever has to face: Personal Branding.
It starts with a mind map where the creatives had to fill in the blanks. What’s your name? Hobbies? Your favourite colour? What’s special about you? What memorable logos can you think of?

Immediately after filling in the gaps Callum lifts his pencil case out and begins to sketch ideas, explaining his ideas as he does so. It feels like he understands the creative process back to front. I try to fuel his mind with some ideas to build on, but I see he’s in his own world so I let him be and grab a pen and paper myself. I glance over every so often, and see an intense look of concentration, matched with a smile.

What I remember most about this experience is being astounded by Callum’s sketching abilities, and how fast he was bringing his ideas to life.

With a dozen possible routes we head over to my Mac – we fire up Illustrator and after a very brief demonstration, get to work. This part of the process is where I’m needed most. Callum explains to me that his school doesn’t have a Adobe software such as Illustrator or Photoshop and he doesn’t have access to a computer at home.

My heart sinks a little.

With such a creative mind and with so much potential, I offer some advice on where he may be able to match his creativity with useful skills that could develop his ideas and take them to the next level.

You can see a light in his eyes as he watches me closely whip up some of his designs. There was an air of excitement in the room. Callum commented on how he loved how his design was coming to life and I explained to him that’s what I loved most about this job: that ‘buzz’. How our ideas start from a quick sketch and develop into finished brands, campaigns etc.

Before we know it, the experience is over and we’re saying our goodbyes. Callum and the other young creatives have something valuable to take back with them – a brand – but more importantly, a realistic view of what it really means to be a designer.

Reflecting back, I really got the feeling that some perspectives on life may have changed for the better that morning. Not just for the young creatives, but for ourselves as designers. It certainly made me stop and think. Think about the opportunities I’ve been given over the years, but think more about how incredibly lucky I am to be doing something I love each day – and earning a living from it.

I would urge any professional to get involved in MCR Pathways. I challenge you to find any other experience so moving and uplifting that will make you or your team feel this inspired. Good luck, you’ll need it.

Charlie

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Charlie is one of the new-generation of designers – equally at home online/offline. He has a wonderful imagination and is at his best when dreaming up brave, bright and beautiful ideas in the many sketch-books that he keeps.

A great conceptual thinker, with a special ability to solve challenging problems. Charlie is a real team-player too and most recently the brains behind ‘The Loft-Social.’

28
Feb

Bridge to The Future – ‘A Magical Evening at The Kelvingrove’

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I arrived at Kelvingrove Museum representing our team for the MCR Pathways event ‘Bridge to the Future’. Once registered, I made my way up the marble staircase to the museums main hall. The building was immense, but it had nothing on the positive atmosphere created by the hundreds of attendees raring to listen to the events talks.

MCR Pathways is an organisation designed to give a helping hand to disadvantaged young people starting out in life. They believe that having a role-model is incredibly important, and the mentors within the organisation fill this position perfectly, taking time out of their busy lives to help the young people fulfil their potential. I feel that it is the connection to a mature adult that the young people really appreciate the most.

It is a belief that all of us at the loft share, and we were delighted to strengthen our bond with the charity by joining other businesses who have supported the ‘Talent-Taster’ sessions which give young people an insight into the world of work.

As the event began; the crowd was quick to hush as the night was going to be predominantly hosted by the young people themselves. I would say that I am a confident person for the most part, but seeing the young people up on stage with hundreds of eyes watching them, I felt I had a lot to learn. Being that age talking in front of 10 people would be intimidating, so I was very impressed with the calmness, maturity and professional approach that the young people took whilst standing on the stage.

Multiple mentors were invited up for an interview, being questioned on how they have found the process, their best moments and why they decided to mentor in the first place. It was easy to see how much they have enjoyed the programs, with their passion shinning through genuine smiles that was spread across their faces.

Performances by the young people then took place, every piece symbolising different aspects of the organisation that had made a positive impact on their lives. Once again, I was thoroughly impressed by the confidence up on stage. It was clear that the MCR Pathways experience has had a massive impact on the young people and I could see that first hand.

Artist Gerard M. Burns gave a small talk on his piece titled ‘Bridge to the Future’ (of which the events name spawned from). The painting involved two young adults linked arm in arm, both reaching out in opposite directions, almost beckoning on the outside world, stronger united. I felt that it really summarised what MCR Pathways is trying to do for the young people of Scotland; build meaningful relationships to better themselves and their confidence in preparation for life after high-school.

As the talks came to an end, an opera singer and pianist took to the stage with beautiful performance. It was very fitting within the grandeur of the museum. An exhibition opened, showcasing featured work from our very own talent taster sessions that the young people had been a part of. We are extremely happy to have our work placed up on the wall, highlighting the excitement of the young people working in the studio. I felt a sense of pride for everyone attending the event, the energy in the room was profound.

We look forward to continue building a strong relationship with MCR Pathways and are delighted that we could be a part of the experience. It’s eye opening to see the difference that the charity has had on these young persons lives – one which was strengthened by the performance they gave at the Kelvingrove event.

I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Reiss

REISS

Reiss is a multi-purpose designer with a broad range of skill-sets.
He loves being a part of any creative activity — whether it’s mapping out a user experience, getting his hands dirty with some copy or even re-building bits of his motorbike.
A born people-person, Reiss is never happier when showcasing ideas from his vividly wild imagination and working with clients to see them through to completion. Once an architect, he has a keen eye for conceptual ideas and never tires of learning new things.
24
Feb

The Journey of Discovery

Design is never a fixed path. It twists and bends, branching off into different areas and adapting to its surroundings. In this sense, there is no ‘right or wrong’ within design, but a gut feeling that tells you that you’re heading in the right direction.

We met Stan, the founder of a company called Disruptancy. It was a very successful business; expanding it’s client base, continually working on new ideas. But something struck me as peculiar; it had lasted 10 years without any form of branding.

As we live in the information age, branding plays a crucial part to any successful business, yet Stan’s seemed to defy logic on this part. How could a company hold up against it’s competition for 10 years without any recognisable marks that are tied to the title?

Disruptancy works business to business. Organisations come to Disruptancy for a number of reasons — but usually to employ disruptive practises and methodologies to scale or turnaround.

We felt it was important to get to know Stan as a person for this exercise, because you could almost say that he was the current branding of Disruptancy. A lot of his clients came directly to his company not because of advertising, but through word of mouth and a trustworthy founder. The branding would be very personal to Stan and represent his idea of what the company stands for.

We began mind-mapping from a select list of words Stan had used to summarise the business. The mind mapping lead us to some interesting themes:

Integration / The journey / Creative pathways / Fluid movement / Turnaround / Expansion /  Adaptation / Evolution / Growth of a business / Personalised service / Company code

This section of the design process is always energetic; a lot of very initial thoughts with accompanying pathways. No idea has been anchored down to the ground so there’s always a feeling of continual momentum and fluidity.

These words lead us onto research, pulling inspiration from numerous sources; sculpture, architecture, art, print design.

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To convey to companies ideas and legacy, this key was crucial to the success of the branding. As long as the idea had potential, it was pinned up on the wall. As the wall began to fill, it was becoming more and more apparent that the team was all on the same track.

Themes began to naturally emerge, so it was time to categorise them. We collected the initial research in to piles based on their similarities. These similarities weren’t necessarily simply aesthetic, it was more conceptual ideas that tied them together.

After collecting and arranging, we discussed again in detail what the company stood for, what message they wanted to show the world. A good technique for this is summarising the companies themes in as few a words as possible. This then led us on to creating specific names for each concept our research had brought to us.

Conceptualisation was made a lot easier due to our initial research and theme building stages. Any form of sketch that was created was then pinned up (as rough as it may be). In many cases, if I drew a sketch that I wasn’t happy with, another team member may find some inspiration in it, leading us onto greater ideas. We’ve found that it’s always a good idea to put up every idea you have, as small as it may seem.

D_Scan_1

The presentation is dependant on the brief; with this brief, we wanted to present our concepts in a way that highlighted particular traits of our clients company. We chose to recreate the ‘journey’ aspect, and pinned up our concept on the wall, linking them together with red string.

Now that the initial concepts had been created, we felt it was time to bring our client back in to the studio to show the journey so far. After a brief explanation of each concept, we asked and answered questions regarding the ideas. Keeping an open communication is key to a successful project, especially in the early stages.

There were a couple of concepts that really stood out to Stan, one of them being ‘The Möbius Strip’ concept. I explained to Stan that a Möbius Strip is a mathematical object that has one side and one edge, known as being non-orientable. It can be recreated by taking a thin piece of paper, writing it once in the middle, then gluing the ends together. If you take a pen and draw a line down the path, it will cover all faces of the strip, meaning it has one side.

mobius3

But how does this relate to Disruptancy? Well, there were multiple connections that I found between Stan’s company and the mathematical shape:

A strip winds and bends, yet only has one side and one edge
— Disruptancy adapts based on it’s clients, yet only has one objective

A literal 180 degree flip
— The company is flipped on it’s head, with a new outcome

Any object that travels down the strip will arrive at the starting point inverted
— Endless possibilities at the end of the process

Cutting the strip down the central axis results in a larger strip; the strip expands outward and has obtained extra twists
— By disrupting clients’ companies, a dramatic change has been made, only to result in the growth of the business

Stan could see potential in this concept, so we took it forward and began developing this idea. A very important part of this stage is not losing the core meaning of the concept by covering it in an aesthetic facade. Always ensure that the developed idea fits within the mould created by that spark that started the journey.

The comparison of these connections to the initial themes we had thought of was interesting. As the concept begins to take shape, each point that it expresses is refined and sharpened. There were no longer any unanswered questions about the brand, myself and the team could confidently answer any questions regarding the meaning of the logo, ensuring a very clear message is sent across.

The team were very happy with the final design, as we could all agree that it summarised what Disruptancy was all about in a simple mark.

Disruptancy_Logo_Black

I feel that myself and The Loft have learned from the entire process of creating Disruptancy’s branding. I know now not to through away any ideas, because even the most ridiculous will have depth to them. To be honest, it’s usually the most ridiculous that are the most successful. Always stay true to that concept as it is so easy to take it on another path. Working close with the client and building a trusted relationship is key too, is it gives you as a designer freedom to make decisions based on your training and knowledge. Always be abstract and creative, never stop pushing to create something you and the client are proud of.

REISS

Reiss is a multi-purpose designer with a broad range of skill-sets.
He loves being a part of any creative activity — whether it’s mapping out a user experience, getting his hands dirty with some copy or even re-building bits of his motorbike.
A born people-person, Reiss is never happier when showcasing ideas from his vividly wild imagination and working with clients to see them through to completion. Once an architect, he has a keen eye for conceptual ideas and never tires of learning new things.