Pantone has announced 15-5519 Turquoise as its colour of the year for 2010.

Mimosa is, like, so this year. In 2010, Pantone tell us, turquoise is going to be everywhere...

Pantone’s vice-president of strategic business development Helmut Eifert says, ‘Turquoise occupies a very special position in the world of colour. It is believed to be a protective talisman, a colour of deep compassion and healing, and a colour of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky.

‘Through years of colour word-association studies, we also find that turquoise represents an escape to many – taking them to a tropical fantasy that is pleasant and inviting, even if only a fantasy.’

Hmmm how do we feel about Pantone 15-5519?

Christmas Review 2009 in progress

It has begun. The Vivid team is searching the Christmas shops for the best, the worst and the rest. All to be compiled into a colourful review of Christmas 2009, planned to be finished in January 2010.

We Won!

Vivid Brand Consultancy GOLD
for Design Effectiveness

Vivid Brand has won the Point-of-Sale Gold Award at the 2009 DBA Design Effectiveness Awards for their work within the lighting category for Philips Consumer Lighting.

Vivid Brand recognized that the growing concerns over climate change presented an unique opportunity for Philips to establish itself as the leader in Energy Saving Lightbulbs.

Creating project 'Make the Switch', Vivid Brand produced an in-store communications plan for major DIY, Hypermarkets and Supermarkets across Europe, presenting shoppers with the benefits of different energy saving bulbs and clear choices to ‘trade across’ to higher value products. This compelling, communications-led strategy turned lightbulb purchasing into a rewarding experience and resulted in Philips total sales performing twice as well as the rest of the market, reaching its highest market share in Italy and France and reversing all distribution fears.

Gideon Karmiloff, Managing Director of Vivid Brand says: “Success was created on many levels; genuinely working in partnership with the client on a strategic level, with their customers (Retailers) across Europe to ensure successful implementation and crucially by planning and creating an in-store communications strategy around shopper insights that influenced shoppers at their moment of decision.”

Hein Van Gorp, Vice President and General Manager of Philips Consumer Lights says: “Make the Switch' has driven such important increases in sales and brand share that it is now one of four key growth engines in Philips' future strategy”

Andy Scott Chairman of Vivid Brand says “The shopper at the heart of design solutions is what Vivid Brand is all about. In-store design has worked twice as hard in this instance, firstly by simplifying a difficult category for shoppers wishing to buy the right energy saving light bulb for their home and secondly, by creating a category story that European retailers want to buy into, thus increasing customer trade-up and therefore their bottom line.”

For further information please contact Gideon Karmiloff, Managing Director: gideon@vividbrand.com

Do your xmas shopping on Lambs Conduit St!
(We've heard there'll be loads of food and drinks as well...)

Visit Ryan-town

Illustrator and papercutter Rob Ryan is a name worth knowing. His amazing work can be seen at any Starbucks as part of their christmas campaign and in Ryantown on Columbia Rd, a shop entirely dedicated to him.

Have a sneak peek

Lewin in Packaging News

9 November 2009 | Packaging News


Our own Stuart Lewin features in the latest Packaging News to discuss the state of today's packaging industry.
'If the industry as a whole were given a school report, it would be told could try harder.' says Lewin in his article arguing that the business has made a drastic decrease in creativity.

Click here to read the full article

Free brand managers
for design to flourish
Stuart Lewin of packaging and brand consultancy Vivid argues the industry's clients should take the lead on encouraging creativity in design

It has become increasingly difficult to sound positive and constructive about a part of the design industry that now has some serious issues.

Put simply, packaging design needs a new direction. The market is filled with practitioners performing work that is just good enough to impress undemanding clients, but no better. Diligent designers who take pride in challenging preconceptions and create good packaging design are few and far between. That is not the way things should be. If the industry as a whole were given a school report, it would be told could try harder.



It has been said that clients get the designers they deserve. Behind a truly smart design there is often a smart client, one who knows what is really needed for their brand. These clients take time to find the right designers for a job.
So clients must take responsibility. They should challenge agencies about their creative processes. An economic downturn can make managers, already fearful for their jobs, understandably less brave at taking risks.

The paradox is that in a downturn they really need to be braver than ever. But before we pass the buck to clients, it has to be recognised that they themselves are often wearing a straitjacket foisted on them by the practices of big business.

The corporate roster system, whereby a brand manager must choose from a pre-selected list of approved agencies, cements this lack of real objectivity by agencies. It rewards design agencies for fitting in, and for meeting narrow ideas of what is right in terms of creativity. But packaging designers should always challenge orthodox thought.

The packaging of a product is the final touchpoint for a shopper, a final opportunity to seduce the shopper before they place the product in their basket. It can make or break a sale. Good packaging design is a vitally important part of a product’s communication arsenal. So how can it ever be left to a company that has not got under the skin of a shopper and researched fully what they want and need?

By their nature, big companies attempt to regulate things. Establishing a roster of design groups ensures a degree of consistency and a safety net for clients. It takes a leap of faith for brand managers to demand more. But given the freedom to challenge wisdom of their senior management, they could achieve far greater sales. 


Unfortunately, getting access to brand managers is becoming increasingly difficult. The crux of the matter is that brand managers are the one link in the chain able to drive change. It is not their fault that company structures restrict their choice of design agency.But they stand to benefit the most from a move away from the status quo. 



Stuart Lewin is creative director at marketing, packaging and brand consultancy Vivid Brand.
Contact him at Stu@vividbrand.com

Need inspiration?

5 November 2009 | Design Week

Inspired

Nikki

Nechvoglod

Our own Nikki Nechvoglod features in the latest design week to discuss ways in which she finds inspiration.

Click here to read the full article

That ‘scared feeling’. There’s a lot to be said for fear. The gut feeling when you’re doing something new and pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone - you’re terrified of failing, but you know you might succeed.

Don’t get me wrong. Contentment and satisfaction are comforting, but they’re nothing compared to the motivation and inspiration that come with utter panic.

I’ve felt it when I snowboarded down a near-vertical mountain in Canada, when I arrived at London Heathrow airport from Australia without a job or a home to go to, and when I snorkelled with sharks. I felt it when I first presented my consultancy’s work to clients, wrote a copy line that made the client laugh, or came up with a concept that I knew was good.

I felt it recently when I pitched for and was accepted into the D&AD Design Workshops. Each week of the course, the fear of failure was a constant companion, but it ultimately inspired me to do some of my best work.

Even if you fail, it’s in the process of trying new things that you learn the most.

There is a common belief that fear is the enemy of progression. Far from it. Fear is its best friend.

Nikki Nechvoglod