Snowflake Trail launches in Liverpool!

This Christmas we had the awesome job of creating the design and look of the Snowflake Trail in Liverpool, a Christmas treasure hunt throughout the city.  Part of the brief was to create a Jack Frost character and a band of ice sprites who would transform the city centre into a frozen wonderland of festive fun for young and old. 

Organised by Open Culture, we designed a trail map that allowed people to explore the city along the Snowflake Trail, feasting their eyes on sculptures, light projections, street art and magical window displays in some of the city’s best shopping spaces.

 

The designs used icy blue snowflakes in combination with warm, bright Christmas elements and a hand drawn looking typeface to create a winter wonderland paper cutout effect. The designs have been used across the city, in shop windows, as light projections, as the big Christmas tree surround and as big floor vinyls to point the way!

Rather excitingly we had our first 'Penny Crayon' moment where we saw our Jack Frost character come to life at the Trail launch!! Click here to see some more photos from the launch.

photo by Pete Carr

Character designs of the snow sprites above, trail map and floor vinyl below.

Season's Greetings from Firecatcher!

Wishing you a wonderful, warm, wintry season filled with merriment and joy!  Here are a few freebie gifts from us to you, our chums, for your delectation and delight...

 

Enjoy this delicious mulled wine with a good Christmas film (we suggest Scrooged or Elf, or The Young Sherlock Holmes, which isn't all that Christmassy, but takes place in winter and is amazing) and of course the ubiquitous gaudy patterned jumper.

 

We've designed some festive gift tags to brighten up your wrapping! Simply click on the image above to download it direct from Dropbox!

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy, very successful 2015!

Sam, Tom and Bex x

See you in the Spa!

We love working with Beauty Temple and Owl House Spas, based in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, as not only are their offers so enticing, but they also allow us to get creative with their marketing materials! Here are a few pieces we've loved working on this year... Why not give them a call and book in a relaxing treat?!

 

 

A new direction for curerett.org

We are very proud to have just launched a brand new website for the charity curerett.org The charity works to raise awareness and funds for Rett syndrome, a rare, genetic neurological disorder that occurs almost exclusively in girls. It effects nearly every aspect of the child’s life: speaking, walking, eating, even breathing.

We're hoping their new website will help them in their mission to raise funds for research for treatments and a cure for Rett syndrome. 

 

 

 

As well as designing the website, we also rebranded the charity; creating a contemporary yet friendly new look with a warm colour palette and a series of characters to take the viewer through the website and various brand touch points. As the girls are very much at the centre of the charity we created a character to be the face of curerett.org, with a group of family and friends around her supporting, raising awareness and fundraising. We are very proud to be a part of this incredible project, and hope the charity goes from strength to strength!

Visit the website by clicking here, and show your support!

 

New work at the Children's Emergency Department, Royal Derby Hospital

We were recently asked back to the Children's Emergency department at the Royal Derby Hospital to create some artwork for their new paediatric observation unit. We first worked on the ward back in 2010 creating hand painted seaside themed designs. This time, still in the same theme we were asked to incorporate Cedric the seagull, department mascot!

We looked at creating a series of designs which followed 'A day in the life of Cedric Seagull' through a collection of decorative and detailed illustration, allowing the viewer to piece together a story. We also hid a selection of colourful shells within the images so that there were elements the patients could find and interact with.

The designs were printed onto vinyl and wrapped to boards that sat raised slightly away from the wall, creating an interesting installation as you walk down the corridor.

 

As well as our own designs we were asked to incorporate the work of local school children into the scheme who had been invited to create nautical-themed artwork for the new unit. The hospital staff selected three winners and together with a selection of runners up work we had their designs printed onto vinyl and mounted in the same way.

We created a Winner's badge (above) featuring Cedric Seagull himself.

Two of the winners opening the unit with the Mayor, hospital staff and former Derby County player Ian Taylor.

Derby Film Festival Launches!

 

 

 

 

 

After working on ID Fest for 4 years, we were absolutely thrilled to be asked to work on the next iteration for the wonderfully creative film festival held at QUAD every year.  Now simply called 'Derby Film Festival', this ten day celebration of film is sure to be a wonderful event!  Special guests include the inimitable John Hurt, Phil Davis plus lots more!!

Our approach to the project was inspired by the work of the legendary Saul Bass, whose graphic design for opening sequences was so integral to the movie industry in the 1950s & 60s, working with greats such as Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorcese.  This look is still as relevant and popular today as it was then.  We felt this, along with a limited colour palette and bold typography created a strong brand identity for the festival that exuded intrigue, fun and entertainment, whilst being a contemporary and innovative place to celebrate the movie industry.

The website with the full festival programme can be viewed here.

Summer Nights Film Festival 2014

 

 

 

 

We were thrilled to be asked for the third year running to create the marketing materials for the 2014 Summer Nights Film Festival, run by QUAD, Derby.  This year we were excited to create a dedicated website for the festival, allowing visitors to book tickets, find out what's on and get useful information for their visit.  Using the wonderful photography by Graham Lucas Commons, we're so proud of this scheme and can't wait to kick back with a picnic basket in front of one of these fantastic films!

Visit summernightsfilm.co.uk for a list of all the films and info on how to bag your seat!

Click here to view an online version of the brochure.

JBA Consulting Illustrations

 

We were thrilled to be asked by the lovely people at JBA Consulting to create a series of 12 Art Packs to compliment their 12 service streams and sectors during the redesign of their website.  We visualised the incredible work the company does in research, development, software, training, and consultation within the Renewable Energy, Transport, Utilities and Water sectors.  Using a limited colour palette, the designs gently explained the processes and ideas for the company.  Look out for their re-vamped website soon!