Long time no blog, sorry! I've been busy working with Paul Hewett to build up the Zeno Marketing project list, and things are bubbling along nicely now. If I haven't told you about Zeno yet, remember to ask me next time we speak or visit www.zeno-marketing.co.uk

But the reason for the latest post is to congratulate Clive Thomas and all at Watkins & Gunn Solicitors for their recent win at the 360 Legal Awards in the 'Most Innovative Marketing Idea' for the blue man concept.

For those of you who haven't yet seen the blue man (or blue person for the more PC among you!), he's a very busy little boy, representing the multiple facets of Watkins & Gunn's services and occasionally representing ideas, articles and marketing opportunities they may have. You can see how he's doing at www.watkinsandgunn.co.uk

The brief was to avoid the classic stock photography representation of their services and make them stand out from their legal industry competitors and give their brand a memorable personality. I developed the concept of the androgynous blue man, but much credit must go to W&G for how they've taken the ball and run with it (all the way to the Millennium Stadium!), using it for sponsorship of local sports teams, Wales international rugby matches, in local newspapers, internal magazines and across their wide range of marketing materials. The blue man is now the memorable face of the company, even though he has no face!

So if you need to add some character to your marketing, then give me a shout!

Most designers will eventually settle into a particular 'style'. Some find that illustrative graphics are their thing, others develop a very clean minimal style, and everything inbetween. Good designers are usually able to move between styles depending on the client, rather than enforcing their own prescrpitive style on a job.

I like to think that I've been able to do what's right for my clients, finding the right approach for each client. However, I recently found myself a little bit out of my comfort zone on a recent project - a 180 page coffee table book for lovers of a vintage lifestyle. 

The book is Pretty Nostalgic Home, and was written by Nicole Burnett and Sarah Legg, who run a vintage and artisan market in South Wales. The book is a must for those interested in developing a vintage home, from the kitchen to the garden via celebrations and tips for buying the right stuff.

As you'll see from the images, the book required a very distinct visual identity. The writers wanted to create a  'scrapbook' approach, with the photos and annotations appearing as if they've been stuck in with love. To further develop the scrapbook illusion a handwritten font and cut out bits of paper were used to good effect.

However, as most of my clients have had at least some semblance of a corporate edge I had become accustomed to certain 'givens' in my design approach - I expect everything to line up nicely where required, I still enjoy using white space to direct the eye (my instructions for this even included not leaving any white spaces!), I expect there to be a distinct focus on each page - but on this project I almost had to unlearn many of the things i've learned in my professional career and take a step back to my days of keeping a sketchbook on art A-level and the like.

Having gone through that process I'm very pleased to add the project to my portfolio, not only as a creative success, but as a lesson that an old dog can learn some new tricks, making sure I keep on my toes and not take any styling issues for granted.

You can purchase the book on Amazon  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pretty-Nostalgic-Home-Happy-Vintage/dp/0957133901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331300928&sr=8-1 . Please let me know what you think of it.