MarkThompsonDesign | Graphic Design | Northern Ireland

Out for a duck...

2011-11-16T20:28:00.001Z

Not saying much about this one yet. All will be revealed in 2012!

Peace

2011-11-16T20:13:00.001Z

The famous hexagonal Giant's Causeway stones, which of course I've used before, re-interpreted as a symbol of peace-building in the identity for this new organisation.

McKee's Country Store & Restaurant - Rural Retailer of the Year 2011

2011-10-28T13:09:00.001+01:00

Just finishing off the last few pieces of this year's Christmas campaign for McKee's Country Store & Restaurant. They've just won Northern Ireland Rural Retailer of the Year Award for 2011. Their annual Tasting Fayre is next Saturday, from 10.00am - 4.00pm. Congratulations to Colin, Linda and the team - a long-standing client and lovely people to work with.

Toat'ly Oaty: Easi-Cook Jumbo Porridge

2011-10-27T11:35:00.001+01:00

Brand name development, hand-drawn logotype, and packaging design. On-shelf now in Sainsburys and other stores.

SimplyFruit - Fruit Face schools promotion

2011-10-26T19:12:00.001+01:00

Sometimes you can play with your food! Simply Fruit is Ireland's leading fresh-cut fruit brand, and this simple idea was for a promotion aimed at schools and junior sports clubs, for kids to create their very own 'fruit face' character. Visit the website here.

Alexander Dickson Primary School, Ballygowan

2011-10-26T19:05:00.001+01:00

In between the big jobs, the small ones can be really enjoyable. And every parent knows that getting the kids out to school in the morning is hard work. So why not make school a more enjoyable place to be? Working with the principal and senior teachers, we even got the kids involved to draw themselves as what they'd like to be when they grow up. 'Helping small people with BIG ideas'. Shown here is just one of a series of signs which are now displayed around the school grounds, and the home page of the new website.

Hull's Sausages

2011-10-26T18:46:00.001+01:00

New brand identity for Northern Ireland's number one beef sausage, launched back in September at the annual Tesco Taste Northern Ireland event at Custom House Square. More to follow...

Studio36: pilates and wellbeing centre

2011-10-26T17:23:00.001+01:00

Visit the website here.

Wilson's Country - promoting potatoes beside the M1 motorway

2011-10-19T21:53:00.002+01:00

Here's the location, a field beside the M1 motorway between Lisburn and Moira where some of Wilson's Country potatoes are grown. What a spot for a large poster. If only we had the right message...

The target audience? Motorists with a sense of humour and a bit of local Northern Ireland terminology...

(for those who don't know, 'peelers' is slang for 'policemen' - and this section of the motorway is a notorious spot for police speed traps)

Then in autumn, when the potatoes had all been harvested, this new poster went up, revealing the fate of the spud family:

Feedback to these has been superb, the 'talkability' of the posters even got airtime one morning on CoolFM - the show's presenters had seen the posters and wanted to tell their listeners about them. Visual styling is important, but so is the verbal message. The right combination of words and pictures can be powerful. Nice to have a bit of fun with a client who's up for it!

> Visit the Wilson's Country website
> Find Wilson's Country on Facebook

McKee's Country Store - gift shop extension

2011-08-02T00:08:00.001+01:00

The new in-store graphics have just been fitted to the extension at McKee's Country Store and Restaurant. Some snaps below of the work in progress.

Contacting me.

2011-05-16T12:16:00.001+01:00

I've just moved premises - new landline and postal address are in the left hand column of this page.

Emphatic

2011-05-09T23:36:00.001+01:00

2011 has been a spectacular electoral success for the Democratic Unionist Party, securing a record 38 MLAs and (at time of writing, with counting not completed yet) 141 Councillors across Northern Ireland. I hope that the design input I provided played some role in ensuring their message hit home with the electorate. Well done to the team who ran the campaign, they did a fine job which couldn't have been any more effective. They have created, and are driving, what is now one of Northern Ireland's most recognised and trusted brands. Pic below is from the DUP Flickr gallery.

Care about the content

2011-04-20T22:25:00.001+01:00

Recently I've been asked to look at a few heritage projects where the initial design team has done an attractive job with the presentation, but has made a mess of the content. Content matters. Design is communication, not just decoration, and attractive design will never cover the cracks of badly-handled content, or factually incorrect content. So if you're commissioning design work, test your designer on how they handle content before you appoint them. Otherwise you might end up with a stylish sieve - nice to look at but full of holes.

New projects

2011-03-04T22:01:00.001Z

Thankfully the work keeps rolling in. Major projects ahead are two retail jobs (including a new exterior frontage for a delicatessen) five new ranges of packaging for three different food companies, one exhibition project (with two others in the pipeline) and three corporate identity jobs. It's all go, with an overhaul of my online portfolio due later in the year when all of this new work is completed and in the public domain.

McKee's Duck Egg labels

2011-02-22T00:21:00.001Z

In among the huge projects which take up most of my time, the small, fast-turnaround, jobs can be very satisfying. Here's a simple one. Better pics showing the boxes in-store will be added here soon.

Major news coming soon

2011-02-07T17:35:00.001Z

I'm not going to reveal too much just yet, but we presented this morning to one of Northern Ireland's biggest food producers and have won a major redesign project of their two most prominent brands. The projects will be rolled out in GB as well as NI & RoI, with phase one to be on shelf by the end of May. It's yet another example of a major client being disappointed by a series of "big agencies", and who recognise that top-quality creative and design can be delivered elsewhere.

Busy busy busy!

2011-01-20T12:30:00.001Z

Thankfully, it's been a great start to 2011 and I've never been as busy. Lots of work pouring in from lots of sectors - education, food & drink, heritage, tourism, lifestyle - it's go, go, go! So no time just now for any uploads, but I'll try to add more work when I get a breather.

Wilson's Country - Christmas eCard and animation

2010-12-20T19:23:00.001Z

The very simple animation below is based on the Wilson's Country potato family, which have been the focus of their advertising campaigns for the past 18 months or so (all created by AskEvolution). 200 corporate customers were sent the graphic-rich email shown above, which then linked to the animation. Technology by Being.

A few tasters of 2011

2010-12-14T17:43:00.001Z

Here's a sneak preview of a few projects that will be appearing here next year.

The finished article

2010-12-10T12:34:00.000Z

"The Covenanters in Ireland - a History of Congregations" is now printed and is available here for just £15, which for 464 pages is superb value for money. I'm very pleased with how it has turned out, the tactile matt finish gives the book a high quality feel. Thanks to Geoff Allen for being a client with an excellent eye for detail, a critical factor in the success of any design project. (Click the pics to enlarge)

Presbyterian Church - BMI website

2010-11-22T17:43:00.002Z

This simple graphic refresh job for the Presbyterian Board of Mission in Ireland has just gone live, and includes a branded YouTube channel and a design update for their weekly e-zines. The updated site is a central "hub" which brings together all of online activities which BMI had grown into over recent years - blog, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube - to one central location. Technology by Being. Visit the website here.

Home page

YouTube Channel:

eZine template:

Book cover design: "The Covenanters in Ireland: A History of the Congregations"

2010-11-17T22:57:00.002Z

I don't have a "house style" for my work, but rather I design in a way which is project-appropriate, not imposing my own subjective tastes upon my clients. This book cover design is radically different than the cover below for "Turas", but is equally as effective. The blend of historical imagery and the blue silk background gives this a formality which its 400 pages deserve. Click to enlarge.

Book cover design: "Turas - a story of strangers in a strange land"

2010-11-17T00:09:00.001Z

I created this cover design for a former client and now friend, Colin Neill. It's his first novel and I expect that it'll attract a lot of interest. The cover blends the three identity symbols of the storyline into one simple, memorable icon. It's at the publishers now (Matador Fiction) with a 2011 release date planned. Click to enlarge.

DUP billboard poster campaign

2010-11-15T18:58:00.000Z

This 48 sheet poster campaign coincided with the annual DUP party conference in November, along with a party political broadcast (which you can watch here) and an A4 insert which was distributed provincewide with the Belfast Telegraph on the Friday of the conference.

Published!

2010-11-02T16:31:00.002Z

(Click pics to enlarge) I'm delighted my BElfaST logotype has been included in the third edition of Type Rules! The Designer's Guide to Professional Typography by Ilene Strizver. Published by John Wiley & Sons in New Jersey USA, my complementary copy arrived last week - it's a great book. Sadly I couldn't make it to the New York launch on 30 September. Many thanks to Ilene for rating my work highly enough to be included in such an important volume. Order on Amazon.

McKee's Christmas Fayre event

2010-10-26T09:41:00.001+01:00

This year's event happens in about ten days' time; the marketing strategy is to drive people to the website to watch the video that was shot at last year's Fayre, making them familiar with the site and warming them up to the possibility of shopping online. There's an "eshot" campaign to the McKee's email database, and a press/PR campaign running alongside the advertising, with a programme of ads and editorial planned between now and Christmas. The Fayre is a great event and if you're in the area be sure to call in - but get there early if you want to get a parking space! Click to enlarge.

SimplyFruit - website refresh

2010-10-22T19:01:00.006+01:00

Based in Co Armagh, Orchard County Foods supply a glittering array of famous brands in GB, NI and RoI with fresh-cut fruit for their own label ranges. In 2009 Orchard County Foods launched a new brand of their own, Simply Fruit, and earlier this year RodgersThompsonPartnership were invited to refresh the original website. Built around a bank of new product photography the reworked site is more commercially-minded and product-focussed than the previous one. You can see the new home page below. Click here to visit the site for yourself.

Verbatim Communications - corporate identity and stationery

2010-10-14T14:07:00.002+01:00

I really enjoyed this recent project - the corporate identity itself is strong, but it's not often a designer gets to use custom shapes, embossing, and a touch of creative copywriting all on the same project. We had hoped to die-cut the speech commas, but found they were too small to be cut as accurately as we wanted, so embossing was the answer. (Click the pics to enlarge).

Regent House Grammar School - redesign of crest

2010-08-30T12:18:00.006+01:00

(Click the pics below to enlarge)

As a former pupil (1983 - 1990) it was interesting earlier this year to be asked to work on a refresh of the badge for Regent House Grammar School. The pedigree of the school is without doubt, yet the branding had deteriorated over the years with multiple suppliers interpreting the badge in a range of different ways - the result was inconsistency and an image which fell short of the school's own excellent reputation and heritage. The refreshed badge design has initially been applied to sports kits (including the new Kukri range) and honours badges for the highest achieving pupils. Full credit to the embroidery company for the standard of their work, which brought excellent definition to the revised badge. The new range is effectively launched tomorrow with the beginning of the new school year.(additional reference pics below showing some of the versions which had developed over the years)

Presbyterian Special Assembly - University of Ulster, Coleraine

2010-08-13T20:26:00.003+01:00

(Click the pics to enlarge) Just back from a site visit at UUC this afternoon; I've been working with the Presbyterian Special Assembly "Confident in Christ" project team for over a year on this. Today the marquee, audio visual and set installation firms all arrived on site to bring the event to life for the opening next Monday - the pic above shows the work in progress. Over the course of the project we've produced general event branding, quarterly information sheets, information booklets, delegate packs (with personalised printing), a set of Powerpoints, and a wide range of on-site signage (internal and external). Expected audience size is around 650 delegates per day for the four days.

Wilson's Country wins top marketing award!

2010-04-23T23:04:00.001+01:00

One of the RodgersThompsonPartnership clients, Wilson's Country, has just scooped a major marketing award! The Ulster Grocer Marketing Award for Best Brand Re-Launch / New Product Launch. Our friends at Evolution handle all the above-the-line advertising for Wilson's, whilst we do all of their online web and below-the-line design work. Design awards don't really interest us - client achievements is what our work is all about - and the sales figures show the results.

Pictured below, receiving the award at the Culloden Hotel, are (left to right) David Maxwell (Evolution), Joanne Weir and Lewis Cunningham (Wilson's Country) and Glen Rodgers.

DUP Westminster 2010 - Let's Keep Northern Ireland Moving Forward

2010-03-25T17:08:00.001Z

Some pics from today's campaign launch at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. Click to play the slideshow:

Hungry House Foods - the return of a great local brand!

2010-03-23T22:43:00.003Z

At the IFEX Show in Belfast today, yet more RodgersThompson work was unveiled when Hungry House returned to the convenience foods marketplace! We've been working with this client since just before Christmas, and today the work went live. The revived brand has a new identity, packaging, label designs and on-pack messages. We also created a new suite of corporate materials such as stationery, portable display stand, sales brochure and website holding page. With thanks to Hand Drawn Creative for doing such a fine job on the wolf! Keep an eye out for the distinctive sunrise packaging as it hits the shelves over the coming weeks. (click on the images to enlarge)

> Visit Hungry House
> Visit Holmes Delicatessen

McKee's Country Store - online shop now open

2010-03-13T11:27:00.002Z

This is the second phase of the McKee's website, again by Rodgers Thompson Partnership. The online store (with RBS WorldPay secure shopping) has over 500 products, and a back-end system that allows the McKee's team to manage their online and real-world stores simultaneously. Free home delivery available with orders over £30. Visit the site.

New Wilson's Country website is live

2010-03-12T21:16:00.002Z

It's been bubbling, simmering and steaming away for some time, but the new Wilson's Country potatoes website is now served and ready to savour! It's another Rodgers Thompson Partnership production. Visit the site to experience it for yourself. (TV advertising and potato family characters by our friends at Evolution).

SD Bell's Speciality Tea Bags

2009-12-24T11:21:00.002Z

SD Bell & Co have been producing tea in Belfast since 1887. 122 years later, this packaging project has just been printed - a generic 25 tea bag pack using three spot colours, with overprinted gold labels applied to denote each of the eight varieties available in the range, and each tea bag individually wrapped and tagged. Click the pics below to enlarge:

McKee's Country Store - new website

2009-12-16T21:15:00.002Z

For bigger projects I bring in a bit of additional expertise. This is one of the first projects to be delivered by Rodgers Thompson Partnership - we have some very talented and clever people working with us. Below is a graphic of what the McKee's Country Store and Restaurant wesite was like before we overhauled it, and also a graphic of the new home page. But the best way to experience the new McKee's site is to visit it - we believe it's the best possible "online experience" of McKee's Country Store and Restaurant. Don't just visit the website - visit the place and experience the real thing for yourself! The online shop will launch in early 2010. Click to enlarge

BEFORE:

AFTER:

DUP - Building on Success 36 page brochure

2009-12-04T13:09:00.002Z

A big message requires a big format - this 36 page brochure is 297mm square (that's the long dimension of an A4 page). Launched at the DUP conference in mid November, the Belfast Telegraph described it as "...the party’s glossy new brochure Building on Success... the DUP is also not short of a bob or two, as the lavish Building on Success publication shows...". Effective design creates impact, and can often make people think you've spent a fortune when in fact all you've done is invested wisely in quality communications.

Presbyterian Women - Deaconesses Pocket Guide

2009-11-04T12:16:00.002Z

This booklet is to help promote the work of the Deaconesses within the Presbyterian Church. It folds down to a handy A6 (pocket size), includes a daily prayer diary, and opens up into a poster for church notice boards.

DUP North Belfast Bulletin

2009-11-04T12:15:00.002Z

Every home in North Belfast should be getting a copy of this over the coming weeks - a simple 8 page A4 full colour newssheet. This is the second edition this year.

McKee's Country Store and Restaurant - Christmas Fayre

2009-11-04T12:06:00.002Z

Shown here are just two examples (Ulster Tatler full page ad, and A5 card with spot silver ink) from the promotional campaign for this year's Christmas Fayre at McKee's. More examples to be posted here soon - the event is this weekend!

As part of the campaign, a new gift voucher format was created. It's a simple 1/3 A4 wallet, printed in metallic bronze ink, inside which is a card with a till receipt (to the value of the purchased amount) neatly slotted in to two diagonal cuts.

WhySolar identity

2009-10-23T18:35:00.003+01:00

This is a new identity for a UK-wide energy company, supplying a solar panels system that's been specifically designed for the UK climate by a leading continental manufacturer. WhySolar install in one day, with minimum disruption - giving homeowners 70% of their hot water every year.

New site now live!

2009-10-16T19:24:00.001+01:00

If you've made it this far, the chances are that you've clicked through from the revamped www.markthompsondesign.com. It's dead simple, really just a large image gallery with 16 examples of work from a cross-section of my portfolio, plus a series of links that direct you off into different areas of my online activities. Hopefully your arrival here also means that somewhere among those 16 projects you saw something that impressed you enough to find out more. I've got lots more work that I need to update here to the blogfolio sometime soon. Keep checking back, and get in touch.

Exciting news!

2009-09-25T15:55:00.001+01:00

I've been asked if some of my work can be included in the forthcoming third edition of Type Rules! The designer's guide to professional typography! I'm honoured (maybe as it's an American book I should spell that as honored?) to have been approached by the author, Ilene Strizver - the book should be out in March 2010. The current edition is available here on Amazon.com.

Coming soon

2009-07-03T17:49:00.001+01:00

This book will be printed over the summer and launched in early Autumn. A nice opportunity to do some more heritage based design work. Click the graphic to view at a larger size.

No explanation needed...

2009-06-24T10:31:00.001+01:00

This is a developing logotype concept for what will eventually be a high-profile project in Belfast city centre...

Keswick at Portstewart 2009

2009-06-23T20:11:00.004+01:00

Rebrand and new publicity materials for this year's event. Includes a new website/blog, and on-site signage. The advertising campaign is on busbacks, 48 sheet posters and telephone kiosks along the North Coast. Some pics below:

Scots in Ulster - Surname Map

2009-06-23T20:10:00.002+01:00

Produced by Tourism Ireland and the Ulster Historical Foundation for the Stone Mountain Games in Atlanta, Georgia in October 2008. These A1 (folding to A5) maps list almost 300 names of the first wave of Scottish settlers who migrated to Ulster between 1606 and 1641, all researched from the surviving documents of the time.

Presbyterian Church - A5 folder pack

2009-06-23T20:08:00.003+01:00

"Tell It Again" is a pack of six congregational mission plan booklets produced by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland for individual congregations to use as a planning tool and resource kit.

Ulster Defence Regiment

2009-06-23T20:07:00.002+01:00

Promotional materials for the Coleraine branch of the Regimental Association of the Ulster Defence Regiment. The branch provides welfare support to former members and their families.

Amy Carmichael Commemorative Project

2009-06-23T20:06:00.003+01:00

Logo design, printed literature and three large external graphic panels at Cambrai Street, Belfast. The client was Upper North Belfast Community Empowerment Project, working with a group of local stakeholders including the people at the Welcome Hall, Cambrai Street, which Amy Carmichael set up in the late 1800s as a support mission for the millworkers. She then went on to establish a similar project in Manchester before moving to India where she became a renowned children's activist. With huge thanks to Janice Beggs and Jonathan Clarke.

Keswick at Portstewart (blog)

2009-06-23T16:50:00.000+01:00

This blog is part of the wider 2009 rebrand project. Technology by Typepad, enabling the client easy control of content and fast updatability.
> visit the blog

UlsterVirginia.com (website)

2009-06-23T16:49:00.000+01:00

This site was created as part of a wider campaign on the run-up to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival of 2007, in which Northern Ireland was one of the three participating regions. Technology by being.
> visit the site

Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland (website)

2009-06-23T16:48:00.000+01:00

Website redesign. Technology by GCD Technologies.
> visit the site

Democratic Unionist Party (website)

2009-06-23T16:47:00.000+01:00

Technology by DITM.
> visit the site

Presbyterian Church - MissionIreland (website)

2009-06-23T16:46:00.000+01:00

Technology by being.
> visit the site

Robert the Bruce 700 (website)

2009-06-23T16:45:00.000+01:00

Technology by being.
> visit the site

Presbyterian Church - Awake '09 (blogs)

2009-06-23T16:40:00.008+01:00

Two blogs as part of the Awake '09 campaign. Technology by Typepad.
> visit the Awake09 blog
> visit the YouthAwake09 blog

Sacred Scotch Solos (blog)

2009-06-23T16:40:00.007+01:00

Personal project to catalogue a collection of old Scots language songs. Technology by Blogger.
> visit the blog

Mayfly Lodge (website)

2009-06-23T16:40:00.006+01:00

Website for a weekend cottage in County Fermanagh. Technology by DITM.
> visit the site

Hamilton & Montgomery 1606 (website)

2009-06-23T16:39:00.005+01:00

Technology by being.
> visit the site

Northern Ireland Bureau in Washington (website)

2009-06-23T16:39:00.004+01:00

Technology by Delivery & Innovation Division, DFP.
> visit the site

Covenanters in Ulster (blog)

2009-06-23T16:38:00.007+01:00

Blog as part of a major 2008 project. Technology by Typepad.
> visit the blog

Department for Employment and Learning (website)

2009-06-23T16:38:00.006+01:00

Technology by Delivery & Innovation Division, DFP, and Media & Marketing Unit, DEL.
> visit the site

So remind me...

2009-04-29T19:45:00.001+01:00

Here's a simple job, an A5 6 page leaflet for the Presbyterian Church's Board of Mission in Ireland.

ReachOut Magazine

2009-04-29T19:27:00.003+01:00

This is a long-standing project of mine, which has just undergone a design refresh. Pics of the first two new editions are below:

DUP European Election Campaign 2009

2009-04-27T22:05:00.006+01:00

More images coming soon....

Melting Pot - handmade fudge

2009-04-01T14:42:00.003+01:00

Blackthorn Foods produce award winning handmade fudge. I've just completed a rebrand of their "Melting Pot" premium range, including a new logotype, pack labels, point of sale and promotional brochure. The results? 50 new store listings within the first two weeks of launch.

The new logotype:

Product labelling:

Point of sale basket and liner...

...with a message at the bottom!

Promotional brochure

Melting Pot award winning fudge is available at premium food stockists throughout the UK.

Trinity College Dublin & University of Manchester - "Royalist and Radical Religion 1642-1660" conference poster

2009-02-10T00:31:00.003Z

Sometimes a relatively small, fast turnaround project can give lots of satisfaction. This poster is a blood-red depiction of one of the most famous events of the period that the conference will be examining - the beheading of King Charles I. Click the image below to view it at a larger size. Find out more about the conference events here.

Presbyterian Church - Awake09 & Youth Awake

2009-01-30T22:45:00.002Z

I've just completed this project - designing all of the material for this year's Awake09 initiative, and its youth version Youth Awake - for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. As well as a mountain of print material there are two blogs - here and here. Awake09 has been created to mark the 150th anniversary of the 1859 Revival. 100,000 copies of the 40 page prayer diary booklet have been printed and delivered to every PCI church on the island. The Prayer Room (in the Spires Centre in Belfast city centre) was opened by Ulster Television presenter Lynda Bryans, and the campaign goes live this coming Sunday.

And here are screenshots of the two blogs, both built on Typepad:

Chief Executives' Forum

2009-01-11T20:07:00.001Z

This organisation is an advisory membership network for all 200+ CEOs in the public sector in Northern Ireland. Find out more about them here. The new corporate identity was launched in October 2008 at the Forum's AGM at the Belfast Hilton.

Heritage Trails

2008-12-14T23:19:00.000Z

I designed both of these for the annual theme story I introduced to the Ulster-Scots Agency's programme. In 2006 it was Hamilton & Montgomery; in 2007 it was Robert the Bruce in Ulster. 2008's is the Covenanters in Ulster and another heritage trail is underway for it too.

Shankill: Original Belfast - Since 455AD

2008-11-29T16:44:00.005Z

This identity project was launched on Tuesday 2nd December in the Shankill library to an audience of about 70 local people, community groups and the tourism industry. I had a 15 minute slot in the middle of the event to explain the process from start to finish. Thanks to everyone on the Shankill who has been so supportive throughout the three month project, and so enthusiastic about the finished job.

Thanks also to the News Letter and Belfast Telegraph who gave the project good coverage the following day. However it's a shame that the picture editors of both papers chose to use the red-white-and-blue and Union Flag press photos, because there's a much bigger, richer story to the Shankill than just those, and which the overall project demonstrates.

The brand is built on these six values - loyal, resolute, tough, authentic, nostalgic, warm - a consistent Shankill logotype underpinned by the message "Original Belfast - Since 455AD" - with a family of 16 different symbols.

> Download Shankill Brand Guidelines ( PDF - 1.3mb)

Golden Wonder - WholeHearted

2008-07-30T22:59:00.000+01:00

This is one that got away, but I thought you might be interested in seeing the work anyway. It's one of those tales of great brief from a big brand > pitched strong ideas (below) > won the work - but then a change of marketing manager client side > project goes on hold > new person makes changes to company strategy > project scrapped. So it could have been a big high profile job, but it wasn't to be.

Hope you enjoy the creative work shown below - three different design treatments for the initial two varieties in the WholeHearted range.

Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band - Re:Charged CD Packaging

2008-07-29T23:48:00.000+01:00

Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band approached me last year to create some graphics for their showpiece "Re:Charged" concert in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in August 2007, to be applied to a range of concert marketing collateral and a new range of promotional clothing which was launched on the night. It's great to work with the best in the world.

The concert was a superb success, and just a few days later they won the RSPBA World Championships at Glasgow Green (I was there - we went to Gandolfi Fish to celebrate). They then asked me to create the packaging for their "Re:Charged" audio cd and dvd releases. The pictures here give you some idea of the design treatment - the band's business team is delighted with the final product which, in addition to looking good and sounding great, has been a commercial success. I've done further work with the band since then - here's hoping they can retain the RSPBA World Championships this year.

You can buy the "Re:Charged" audio CD on the band's website for just £12 plus p&p - click here to order.

I also designed the DVD packaging, which you can see here.

Northern Ireland - Take a Closer Look

2008-07-29T23:45:00.000+01:00

This project for the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister is an 88 page promotional brochure for "Northern Ireland PLC". It was launched at the Northern Ireland Bureau in Washington DC on St Patrick's Day 2007. You can order a copy here.

Trinity College Dublin: School of English

2008-07-29T20:00:00.000+01:00

This pocket-sized foldout leaflet promotes opportunities for research at the School of English at Trinity, and folds out to reveal the famous Jonathan Swift bust in the College collection.

Irwin's Bakery - Nutty Krust plain batch bread

2008-07-29T19:43:00.000+01:00

This is one of my favourite pieces of work. A great product, and (I think) the packaging design is pretty close to perfect for Nutty Krust. We managed to source the only surviving photograph of plain batch loaves being baked (thanks to the bakery historian James Davidson of Lisburn), which features on the packaging to reinforce the heritage and provenance of plain loaf. The colour coding distinguishes the white and hi-fibre varieties.

Northern Ireland Executive

2008-07-29T18:42:00.000+01:00

Not many designers ever get the opportunity to rebrand an entire government. This hexagonal symbol, inspired by the structure of the Giant's Causeway, is now seen by everyone in Northern Ireland every day, applied to everything from large scale signage on public buildings to the back of car park pay and display tickets. The project outcome was consistency and cost saving for government, presenting a "joined-up" face to the public and dramatically reducing the running costs of what had previously been 11 completely different Departmental corporate identities. The output was an 80 page corporate guidelines manual, with an accompanying CDRom of over 400 master files for every permutation and print application of every logo.

Rankin Selection

2008-07-29T17:00:00.000+01:00

I developed the brand identity and packaging design for the complete Rankin Selection range for Northern Ireland's celebrity chef Paul Rankin - for breads, then sausages and then potatoes. This used a ground breaking combination of printed paper and polypropylene, and won silver in a major European printing award. It was also shortlisted (and finished second) in the Institute of Irish Designers Awards back in 2003. The packaging has recently been updated.

GOLI - new promotional brand identity

2008-07-29T16:05:00.000+01:00

This new brand identity for the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland was launched at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC in June 2007. The Orange tradition has an astounding visual heritage of banners and a wide variety of insignia. However, it had never created a simple promotional brand to enable it to communicate effectively in the modern age. This new brand identity is based on Luther's Rose - a classic emblem of the Protestant Reformation dating back to 1520, the Orange lily, and the Orange standard banner.

It's important to say that this is not a replacement for the Order's historical insignia (such as the Bible and Crown), its' ceremonial symbols or emblems, but has been designed to communicate the Protestant heritage of the Orange Institution in a modern and appealing manner, enabling the Order to easily brand a wide range of commercial items and publications clearly, consistently, effectively - and profitably. A comprehensive set of 44 digital files in both Macintosh (for printers and designers) and PC format (for home and office use) was created and was issued with a 24 page usage guidelines document.

ReachOut Magazine

2008-07-29T15:37:00.000+01:00

Formerly the Christian Irishman, ReachOut was born in December 2005 as a new magazine for the Board of Mission in Ireland for the Presbyterian Church. To date I've designed 14 editions (thumbnails of all of the covers are below), with each edition since December 2007 being full colour throughout. It now also includes a central pullout section called "ReachOut Connect". PDFs of the more recent editions are available to download here.

Democratic Unionist Party

2008-07-29T14:02:00.000+01:00

I designed the DUP's corporate identity in 1996 - just goes to show that graphic design can indeed be built to last. The DUP have retained me to work on every election campaign since then from the 1997 "It's Right to Say No" Referendum campaign which opposed the Belfast Agreement, right up to 2007's "Getting it Right" which saw the DUP become the biggest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and take the First Minister's position, which is now occupied by Rt Hon Peter Robinson MP MLA. I've also branded 22 of the DUP's constituency advice centres across Northern Ireland using a consistent internal and external signage system, and have done everything from satirical cartoons to "battle bus" livery in between. A big portfolio of work and a good client.

Fane Valley: Speedicook Porridge

2008-07-29T13:00:00.000+01:00

Simple and effective - an update of the previous packaging design which had been around for probably 20 years. This is one of the few times where it was pretty much right first time, we presented a range of options and this one won hands down, with only fine tuning from initial concept to printed job. The project included the development of a new brand identity for White's, which was then applied across their entire product range.

Fane Valley: White's Toasted Oats

2008-07-19T13:00:00.000+01:00

This is a premium oat cereal product in a resealable pack. Starting as two varieties (apple & cinnamon, and wild fruits), the range now includes strawberry and banana. From hand-drawing the logotype on the front of the pack, to art directing the photomontage background I designed the entire pack, with finished artwork by Jason McFarland and Glen Rodgers. You can buy Toasted Oats in most supermarkets in Northern Ireland.

The Ulster Society - promotional brochure

2008-07-19T12:42:00.000+01:00

This simple A5 format brochure uses a collection of images of ephemera to create a sense of an ongoing heritage. The Ulster Society's roles is to articulate that heritage in a variety of ways from acting as historical advisors to a programme of talks and lectures. The main cover image is a traditional Ulster linen table setting, with the Red Hand intertwined with shamrock, thistle and rose.

Presbyterian Church - MissionIreland.org

2008-07-19T11:00:00.000+01:00

MissionIreland is the new website from the Board of Mission in Ireland of the Presbyterian church. This simple logotype, supported by imagery of a red haired girl with her laptop in an emerald green landscape, was created to promote the site, which is a resource platform for churches within the denomination.

Prestige Insurance - promotional brochure

2008-07-19T10:00:00.000+01:00

This brochure offers high net worth clients a complete portfolio of harmonised insurance products and services. The white space and classical music theme positions this for that élite target audience, people who expect the standards of personal service that Prestige Insurance offers, and the convenience of combining all of their insurance needs in one package.

Presbyterian Church - Keswick at Portstewart

2008-07-19T00:40:00.003+01:00

Keswick at Portstewart is the Northern Ireland version of the world famous Keswick Convention. For the past three years I've handled all of their design and advertising needs - 06 and 07 were reworkings of the GB material, and 08 was a completely fresh approach. I'm not so sure if Portstewart was actually as sunny as the advertising imagery was hoping for!

Peter Robinson - DFP Ministerial Christmas Card

2008-07-19T00:37:00.002+01:00

When Peter Robinson was Minister of Finance and Personnel, I had the opportunity to illustrate his personal Christmas card (December 07). Here it is - he liked it, and it got a fair bit of media attention as well.

Irish News 24.12.07 "Festive Peter plays his cards right"
Irish News 19.12.07 "Cartoon Robinson spreads festive cheer"
(The BBC and Belfast Telegraph online articles about the card seem to have gone)

McKee's Country Store & Restaurant

2008-07-19T00:02:00.004+01:00

This project was a refresh of work I'd done a few years ago. The business has grown, and the identity and communications material needed to change to reflect the new offering at McKee's. No longer just a farm shop, but a "Country Store and Restaurant", yet retaining the core commitment to locally grown produce which in most cases is grown on the McKee's own farm. So whether you enjoy their food at home, or in their restaurant, it's always "from our farm to your table". In-store signage has also been installed, featuring a huge floor-to-ceiling image of the Scrabo hills and other promotional messages.

Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band - DVD Packaging

2008-07-18T23:07:00.000+01:00

Following on from the RE:CHARGED cd packaging, the REWIND:REPLAY DVD contains extra tracks from the concert, an 8 page booklet and a series of interviews charting the entire history of the current RPSBA Grade One World Champion pipe band.

[Like the "Re:Charged" audio CD, you can also buy the REWIND:REPLAY DVD on the band's website - click here to order.]

GOLI - 1690/1795 Comic Booklet

2008-07-18T21:14:00.002+01:00

This project for the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland is a credit-card sized folding booklet which explains the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and the formation of the Orange Order in 1795. I didn't do the illustrations, but the final result worked out well. The booklet has gone down a storm with school groups across the country, in the controlled, maintained and integrated education sectors.

Fresh Irish

2008-07-18T21:09:00.003+01:00

Every now and again it's possible to stumble on a visual gem - a "smile in the mind" is how one of the best design and creative textbooks describes it. This is one that I'm really proud of.

Department for Employment and Learning

2008-07-18T20:04:00.005+01:00

Following the launch of the overall Northern Ireland Executive and departments corporate identity system in September 2003, the Department for Employment and Learning commissioned me to manage a major review of their own communications. Working with Jeff Peel of Quadriga Consulting, we held workshops with every branch within the Department which had a marketing function. Over a year later the outputs from the project were - a unified corporate identity under the theme People:Skills:Jobs:, an 80 page corporate guidelines manual; a complete set of digital artwork templates and a new corporate photographic library. The Department was a client for three years, work I thoroughly enjoyed and which brought the results they had wanted to deliver.

RSPBA (NI) Brand Identity

2008-07-18T20:04:00.004+01:00

This project was commissioned in 2007, to enable the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association (Northern Ireland Branch) to market themselves more effectively, especially to younger audiences, and to produce a range of branded merchandise. A 16 page usage guidelines document and a set of 38 digital files for Mac and PC platforms were produced. The identity is being rolled out through the piping competition season of 2008.

Irwin's Bakery

2008-07-18T20:03:00.002+01:00

This identity for Northern Ireland's largest independent bakery was designed when I was just a pup in my first few years at GCAS. As you'll see from other projects on this blogfolio, I also created a huge range of packaging design for Irwin's, including Nutty Krust and Rankin Selection breads. A great brand with a heritage to be proud of. Website here.

DEL - Update Magazine

2008-07-17T22:18:00.000+01:00

Update is the staff magazine for the Department for Employment and Learning. I designed 12 consecutive editions from Jan 2004 - Jan 2007. Here are six covers and a few sample spreads to give you an idea of what it looked like.

Strategic Investment Board

2008-07-17T21:23:00.000+01:00

SIB commissioned GCAS Design to handle all of their launch materials, annual review & accounts, stage sets, powerpoints and website. I got the job, and worked with a great guy called Andrew Gibson who was their marketing man for a few years - I'm sure he's gone on to bigger and better things! Here are a few sample spreads from the annual review.

Fane Valley: Cool Moovz

2008-07-16T21:46:00.002+01:00

This product is gone now, but I enjoyed creating the packaging (including the cartoons of the weightlifting cows!), so here it is - a flavoured milk drink aimed at children. It tasted really good too!