The Hunt is on!

Client: Carlton Books

As of September 1st people all over the world are turning pages, scrutinising co-ordinates, checking Google Earth references, flicking fingers on iPads and speculating online about exactly where 50,000 Euros of virtual real estate is located. This is the Great Global Treasure Hunt, devised by Piers Murray-Hill of Carlton Books, written and created by Tim Dedopulos and lavishly illustrated by our CD Jon Lucas.

The Advantage designed book which comes in standard and deluxe editions, is available through Amazon and all good book shops. Additionally it is available as a highly rated eBook via Apple’s iBooks. Advantage also created two Quicktime VR panoramas for the stunning and immersive digital edition.

We’ve got a deluxe copy sat here at the studio and have to say that it’s breathtaking.

The Daily Telegraph has been announced as the project’s media partner and, following their explosive front cover launch on August 27th, is releasing clues every week in the Saturday edition.

To purchase:

> Standard edition
> Deluxe large format edition
> Digital edition

"The project sounds fantastic and I’m sure will do very well."
- Stephen Fry

See also:
jointhetreasurehunt.com

QuRious about codes?

You may see them everywhere but do you use them?

In case you don’t you may want to give it a go. These ubiquitous little symbols have been around for some time in Japan – a versatile method of delivering timely promotions, offers, information or links to phone numbers, vCards, URLs and email addresses.

They are QR (Quick Response) codes and they can be scanned using most smart phones and tablets equipped with an autofocus camera.

Scanning apps are available on most platforms but you can try Red Laser or i-nigma which are both excellent.

Once downloaded, place the scanner (your camera) over our codes above and see what happens. You can also use the software to scan regular barcodes for pricing and other information, such as food ingredients and environmental credentials.

For more information on how to make use of this technology for your business (and to customise your codes) just scan away.

Biggest Band rocks Wembley

Client: The Biggest Band

Wembley Arena played host on Friday to The Biggest Band – a gathering of some 6000+ excitable children and adults who, together (and in full voice) broke the world record for the most people simultaneously broadcast live on radio.

The event went off to rapturous applause with a roster of acts including Twenty Twenty, Everybody Looks Famous and Twist & Pulse. But the highlight was undoubtedly the Biggest Band itself performing East 17’s 90s hit ’It’s Alright’, this time featuring Alexa Goddard.

After a few run-throughs, guided by a masterful Mike King, the whole arena geared up for the record-breaking performance on live radio, followed swiftly by the actual recording for the charity single. The subsequent track was released on Sunday and is available for download via iTunes, from which 100% of proceeds go to the project’s main sponsor, Save The Children. Other sponsors include Merlin Groups, Top Trumps and the Glow Company.

Advantage was responsible for all the branding, collateral (which included a programme, banners, posters, flyers), on-screen ident sequences and the official event photography.

CLICK HERE to download the single NOW for Save The Children...

At the Biggest Band we believe there’s nothing you can’t achieve if you put your mind to it. We’ll not only be achieving our goal of getting a chart-topping hit but also supporting a worthy cause in the process. This was a big challenge! The expertise Advantage brought to the brand enabled us to express exactly the vibe and desired scale of things.
- James Farrell

See also:
www.biggestband.com

ANT marches on

Client: ANT PLC

Our friends at ANT PLC, providers of embedded software solutions, are still going strong with an Advantage designed corporate identity created over ten years ago. We take great pride in seeing how our clients adopt and develop the brands we create and ANT have gone from strength to strength.

Since the identity’s inception in 2000 ANT’s CEO Simon Woodward has led the company to a successful floatation in 2005 and continues to drive the company’s strategic and commercial objectives.

The logo was designed to avoid the assumption that ANT is an acronym, thus the lowercase logotype.

See also:
www.antplc.com

Fluid ID

Client: Freemove

Advantage has created the visual identity and video intro sequence for parkour park design specialists Freemove.

Leading industry animation software Lightwave 3D was used for the modeling and animation.

See also:
http://youtu.be/CzwduogBfk8

A sustainable future?

Client: University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership

Over the past two years Advantage has been commissioned to update the CPSL brand, its publications and website. It is a task which has been a fulfilling one, such is the affinity we have with its subject matter. The team is proud to be associated with such a proactive organisation in this important field.

A new publication has just been completed for CPSL, entitled; A Journey of a Thousand Miles: The State of Sustainability Leadership 2011 which brings together the best in cutting-edge sustainability thinking.

This inaugural publication presents CPSL’s model of leadership for sustainability featuring: articles on the context in which leaders are operating today; the characteristics of leaders; leadership action. Contributions come from leading players in the business community as well as prominent academics.

It is a remarkably positive outlook on the future of sustainability and we would urge everyone in business to read the publication and, if possible, follow the lead taken by some inspirational people.

For further information download A Journey of a Thousand Miles: The State of Sustainability Leadership 2011. A hard copy can also be purchased from the CPSL website.

See also:
www.cpsl.cam.ac.uk

A juicy brand with a tasty website

Client: The London Fine Meat Company

Advantage has recently completed the brand identity and website for newly launched online fine meat provider The London Fine Meat Company.

The scope of the project encompassed flyers, posters, vehicle livery and a full e-commerce website.

The service provides top quality, considerately farmed British meat to discerning customers throughout London.

See also:
www.londonfinemeats.com

If anyone can, Foucan...

Advantage are in ’The Times’ today. Well actually it’s Jon, our Creative Director, who has a series of photos published on a double-page spread in today’s Times (pages 54-55 if you have a copy to hand). Jon has photographed the world’s leading Freerunning practitioners over the past 5 years, including Sébastien Foucan (featured in the article) who is credited with pioneering the art of Parkour. If you don’t have a copy of the Times you can view it on their website (subscription required).

The interview coincides with the launch of the Parkour and Freerunning Awards 2011. Go to www.parkourawards.com to check out the identity and website we designed for the awards.

"Sébastien and I worked together in London and his home town of Evry, near Paris where he developed his unique variation of parkour. Despite his status as a world renowned freerunner and Hollywood movie star Seb is a gentleman and very, irrepressibly funny."

Jon Lucas

See also:
www.parkourawards.com
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/columnists/rickbroadbent/article2885636.ece

What will your company wear for 2011?

Your visual identity is often the first contact that people have with your company. Just as the phrase ‘you are what you wear’ rings true in social situations, so people will form a quick judgement on your company from its appearance.

So how do you compare when it comes to first impressions? Naturally, we have many ways of evaluating how your visual identity is performing, but a quick and simple method of gauging your company’s prominence in the marketplace is as follows:- take a blank page in your chosen DTP application, place your current logo in the middle. Then, visit your competitors’ websites and grab their logos, drop these onto the page around your own. This is a simplistic approach but it can be useful. You may be pleasantly surprised, or you may discover that your competitors have the edge in terms of impact, aesthetics and conveying their business personality.

If you sense that your brand needs some attention, give us a call and we’ll be happy to give you a free consultation. Call us now on 020 7613 3933.

Landscape Photographer of the Year 2010

Our Creative Director, Jon Lucas, is garnering praise and press coverage for his submissions to this year’s Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. His action portrait of world-renowned freerunner Daniel Ilabaca (above) won the Runners-Up prize in the ‘Living the View’ category, whilst two other images were highly commended in the ‘Urban View’ and ‘Living the View’ categories. Jon commented, ‘I’m delighted that three of my images were recognised in this way. Photography is a great passion of mine, and to be recognised by one’s peers is extremely rewarding.’

The images are on display in the ’Take A View’ exhibition at the National Theatre on London’s South Bank until Sunday 16 January 2011 (admission free). You can purchase a selection of Jon’s images as prints, canvas mounts and acrylics at Gallerarti (see link below).

See also:
www.gallerarti.com
www.jonathanlucas.com
www.take-a-view.co.uk/2010_winners.htm

Seasons eStings

Client: Norton Rose

We were commissioned to produce a Seasonal e-Card for leading law firm, Norton Rose. The challenge was to convey the global reach of the firm, and recognise the latest acquisitions in Australia. The solution was an animated sequence that depicts birds from the continents of Europe, North America, Africa, Asia and Australia, coming together under the umbrella of the Norton Rose brand. The eCard will be sent to over 10,000 clients and stakeholders of the firm in the run-up to Christmas.

See also:
www.nrseasonsgreetings.com/index1.asp