The typeface that is geometrically impossible

I love a new typeface, and what better than one that is geometrically impossible!
The graphic artist behind 'Frustro' likes to create mind-bending works. Hegedus has applied the Penrose triangle concept to this font, taking the top left and bottom right portion of each character from a 3D typeface and combining them into the impossible as it seems to be facing two different directions.
I piece of art that makes you stop, look and then look again - I like it a lot!

Can't see the wood for the trees

Last year, Woodreed published a thought piece which we called 'Bursting the boardroom bubble'.  It focussed on the importance of employee engagement and just what an important contributor it is to an organisation's bottom line.  Lots of facts, lots of proof points.  We asked has the message reached the boardroom agendas of UK companies.

The answer appears to be mixed. For every client who 'gets it', and they are increasingly out there, we come across headline stories like Goldman Sachs, News Corp, RBS et al where the culture appears to be far from healthy.  What some of these worst examples share is an inability to see what's going wrong. Without kissing and telling we've sat in a meeting in the C-suite of one of the headline grabbing organisations and been assured in all seriousness and with a total commitment to the party line that everything in the garden is rosy.  More than rosy, positively blooming and sweet smelling.

Sometimes it's a refusal to accept that perhaps, just perhaps, top leadership is sending out all the wrong messages. A company culture based on a load of vacuous words on a poster which, even if they are robust and grounded, nobody in the senior team is seen to live.  Is anyone walking the walk or are they just talking the talk?  Are they even doing that?

And even if they get all this are they prepared to invest the time and money to do something about it? Disappointingly those of us who practice in this area still come across senior managers and executives who say they've got far too many pressing operational issues on their plates just now to bother about employee engagement.  Employee engagement is all pink and fluffy after all isn't it? 

Well no. Wake up UK plc and smell the coffee. What's pink and fluffy about a cost to the UK economy of £64bn?  Yes, £64bn.  The annual cost to the UK economy of disengagement.  Pink and fluffy?  I think not.

So what's the answer? It lies in your brand.  It lies in a commitment to create and lead a brand-hearted culture from the very top of an organisation.  If you want to know how to go about then read Bursting the boardroom bubble

Why firemen are cool

We had a very dramatic incident a few weeks ago when my wife accidentally set fire to our chimney, where-upon a fire engine and 7 burly fireman turned up with the utmost dispatch.

As they commenced trying to save our chimney (and house), I watched and listened to them intently. Based on their behaviour, I slowly started to determine what their brand values might be.

Professional, urgent, focused, authoritative, methodical and assiduous.

Even though we were very worried that our cosy house would burn down, (and the fact that my wife asked probably most stupid and embarrassing question to the lead fireman "Do you want to borrow our ladder?"), the event was amazing.

To see these guys living out all these supposed brand values was particularly re-assuring, and I was genuinely so grateful. But they had one more value to offer.

Whilst the lads were supping their well earned cup of tea (not one of them asked for Earl Grey!), the lead fireman got his clip board out and educated us about what we could do to prevent a further fire.

"Would you like us to put up two new smoke alarms? he ventured.

In no time at all we had a new smoke alarm system fitted and working for free!

I wonder if any of my brand perceptions fit into any charters they might have. After all, they are a brand just like any other service provider.

Since then, I have been trying identify what the brand values might be of other ancillary service providers.

The police: Rigorous, sensitive, confident, reactive, constructive and stoical.

NHS: Any ideas?

Who let the dogs out? Insurance advertising's gone to the dogs (and pigs, cats and mice and wolves)

Never work with children or animals, so the old adage goes. Clearly something that's passed the chaps tasked with creating insurance ads by. What is it with this animal obsession? Swiftcover's dodgy dogs and Gocompare's homage to loony tunes to name two of the worse offenders. Actually it's pretty easy to see why. It's all down to a meerkat called Aleksandr Orlov. Advertising can be a pretty me too arena and I think since compare the market's meerkat first hit our screens (and subsequently our vernacular and high street, entering our public consciousness in a way that only truly big advertising ideas can) the competition have been scrabbling round desperate to recreate even a tenth of the magic of that phenomenon, with little success. John Heggarty said at a recent IPA lecture that around 95% of all advertising was shit (he did fail to tell our esteemed MD Jo Moffatt when she innocently enquired at the same lecture what proportion of his own body of work he deemed shit, but that's another story). It's true to say that it's once in a blue moon we are treated to something as big, magnificent and truly mind blowing as the meerkat. It's anything but simples.

Who would have been your favourite?

We all have a favourite animated character from our childhood and it's always a good topic to debate and reminisce amongst friends.

Paddington Bear was named Britain's favourite animated character at the British Animation Awards which were held last night after an online public vote.

The bear; with the hard stares for anyone that he didn't approve off, whose favourite food was marmalade sandwiches was adopted by the Brown family and got his name after arriving at Paddington Station after travelling from deepest darkest Peru. I can still remember the title music and am humming the tune to myself whilst I'm typing (think it's been a bit of a long week!!).

Some of the characters on the shortlist were: Roobarb & Custard, Bagpuss, Wallace and Gromit, Danger Mouse, Penfold, Timmy from Timmy Time, The Snowman, Mr Benn, Count Duckula, Morph, Super Ted, Postman Pat, Tiny Clanger, the Soup Dragon, Noggin the Nog, Uncle Nogbad, Lola from Charlie and Lola, and Peppa Pig.

I would have been torn between Bagpus, Roobard & Custard, Morph and the Clangers...........So who would have been your favourite or can you think of any others that should be on the shortlist for next year?

For any of you Paddington Bear fans I've attached a link to the Official Paddington Bear site http://www.paddingtonbear.com/home.html

Are you on first name terms?

"Have you noticed how everything seems a little impersonal nowadays? We've all become user names, reference numbers and IP addresses. That's why at Starbucks we've decided to do things differently. From now on we won't refer to you as a latte or a mocha, but as your folks intended - by your name. It's only a little thing. We're Starbucks. Nice to meet you."

These are the words from the ad voiceover on the new Starbucks TV ad. You can view it here http://starbucks.co.uk/ Yes it is only a little thing but how marvelous, a personal touch always goes a long way in my book. Perhaps it's this much faster paced, technology driven world we live it but I do remember the day when Mr Frank as I used to call him, who ran the corner shop near my parents home would actually say, "hello Catherine how lovely to see you, what would you like today?" now it's self serve checkouts at the supermarket that talk to you!

If only there was a Starbucks round the corner, i'd definitely be popping in to introduce myself for that free latte today.

Mirror, mirror on the wall…

Oh yes, it’s finally happened girls and boys, a magical mirror that removes the pain of trying on clothes.

Say goodbye to sweaty changing rooms, harsh lighting and a bored partner who has to wait for you while you stress that you can’t find anything to wear for an imminent party.

This revolutionary mirror uses 3D technology to offer you a virtual trying on experience. Outfits from multiple retailers can be sampled all in one place quickly meaning you can make faster decisions about your purchase choices.

Ever seen Sabrina the teenage witch? I loved it as a teenager, especially when she was able to look in a mirror and magically change her outfits to see what best suited her. Now I can be Sabrina! Hurrah!

Sluts unite

There's no beating about the bush with Sir Richard's condoms 'Sluts Unite' campaign.  It's clear, direct and straight to the point and will have the right wingers in the US choking on their pretzels.


Woodreed pitched a similar approach to Schering years ago for the launch of the morning after pill.  Showed a nice looking 'girl next door' type under the headline 'SLUT' - the idea being to debunk a few myths and demonstrate that anyone can find themselves in need of the morning after pill - not just those stereotyped as promiscuous and undeserving of precious NHS resources.


Needless to say it was an idea far ahead of its time and a zillion steps too far for a cautious pharma client.  Let's hope slutsunite.org fares better.

And those whose names were never called...

...When choosing sides for basketball (At 17, Janis Ian)


Dutch airline KLM is testing allowing passengers to pick who they'll be seated next to by using Facebook and Linkedin profiles.  Passengers have to opt-in to share their info and can then see where others who've also shared their profiles are seated so they can choose their preferred flight buddy.

And it goes further. Hawaiian Airlines, amongst others, use 'Satisfly' software to seat flyers 'intelligently' according to their preferred choice from four options - 'business networking', 'social networking' (I think that used to be known as 'being amenable to the person next to you'), 'business alone' or 'relax alone'.
My choice? On occasions when I fly alone, which is almost always on business, it comes as a welcome relief from the usual trials and stresses of travelling with kids. The joy of an uninterrupted film and a well-mixed Martini!
Anyway I'm not sure I like the idea of being sought out as the ideal flight partner, or worse still, horror of horrors, being rejected as unsuitable and of insufficient interest - socially or professionally.  Haven't most of us only just got over the anguish of school sports teams selection?  Where do they put the no-hopers that no-one wants to sit next to?  All along the back row next to the galley and the toilets?  No thank you.

Raspberry Pi

Yesterday was the launch of Raspberry Pi. Now, when I first heard about this new computer a couple of months ago I was a little sceptical, maybe it was down to my extremely non technical dad always getting blackberrys and apples muddled up with raspberrys (the phones i'm referring to here,) but I may now have been converted. And that's all down to a radio interview with a 14 year old boy who has been completed inspired by this £22 computer. For those that may not have heard of it, the Raspberry Pi is credit card size, and is intended to inspire a new generation of schoolchildren to learn to program. Raspberry Pi is a charitable foundation set up by an engineer who found it worrying how many people didn't see seem to know what a computer really was or how it worked. When I asked myself that question - I know what a computer is but I really wouldn't know how it works. Perhaps I need to invest in one.

Many suggest we are moving into a world that will eventually be controlled by computers so to be able to control a few of those computers ourselves may be very beneficial indeed! This may even be the catalysit the UK needs to regenerise the British computing industry. I'll be watching Raspberry Pi's journey with interest.