This section gives you a snapshot of what's currently going on in the heads of all those who sail on the good ship PKD.
Intended to stir the soul and encourage further investigation it's always worth coming back to see what's flicking our switches.
…following the last post it’s not all bad news for designers these days. Back in the old days you’d spend all day working on an illustration concept only for it to be rejected out of hand, never a good thing. All hail, then, our friends at istockphoto and shutterstock - take a screenshot, get outline approval, then work up and customise for the required purpose. Happy days.
Busy times ahead for Milltag, after an enjoyable research trip out to Slovakia to meet with our production team in December (mmm..beer), it’s down to work creating the new range for 2013. With our first export order to Japan in the bag, interest from a pan-European distributor and a deal in the offing with a large online cycle store things are looking rosy for our a little baby project. Allez, Allez, Allez.
For the past few years we’ve printed an offer voucher based on old French bank notes, a different one each year, as a ‘bounceback’ offer for Brasserie Blanc customers to tempt them back in over January. Alas, no more. It’s all online these days - still, a nice design but I wonder how many other old favorites will go digital this coming year?
Like most people we love Christmas here but, if you work in the restaurant business this means hard work, and for us the hard work starts in July when we get the commissions for their Christmas campaigns. So, on the hottest day of the year we rediscovered this beautiful twilight winter image taken on location in Norway, and this became the basis for this year’s White Brasserie and Brasserie Blanc festive menus and promotion.
Over at Milltag a busy year concludes with this lovely item produced for the Herne Hill Velodrome Trust, the organisation set up to protect and develop the iconic South London venue and home to the ‘48 Olympics.
Out now and selling quicker than a stolen bike bike on ebay, grab one now - all proceeds go to the Trust.
We’ve always loved an integrated branding campaign, big or small. So when start-up construction management business Capital Project Solutions approached us with a brief to create their identity we were thrilled at the prospect. They have big ambitions but to start with we developed the logo and formal corporate identity elements before starting on their website. Using their corporate blue as the key identifier, we’ve kept the layout neatly pared-back to allow the photography to convey their story.
A small but perfectly formed microsite for the traditional French Creperie situated on the ground floor of Brasserie Blanc in Opera Terrace, Covent Garden. We wanted a snappier feel to this site to reflect the informal nature of the offering - the result is a single page website, all information neatly categorised and delivered in a simple, uncluttered format. Some nice javascript touched keep the navigation interface oncsreen at all times, as well as providing in-page galleries, maps and menu downloads. A winning formula which provides a modular template for other single-unit outlets.
I had the pleasure of working as a Volunteer for this Summer’s Olympic Games. My role was as a driver taking IOC officials from our base in Park Lane to the Olympic venues. The whole experience was fantastic, from the people I met in ‘in the back of cab’, my fellow volunteers and being part of a truly global experience at the Olympic Park. During the first week it was pretty quiet so I had a chance to visit a few venues pre-competition and take a some photos. I’m hoping to publish these online as a short film capturing my take on what was a truly memorable summer… a little project for those dark winter months.
Back in September last year we started work on a project for BT capturing their ‘journey’ as official telecoms supplier to London 2012. This involved photographing a series of test events and training days and creating a visual narrative as they prepared for the greatest show on earth. The proofs have just arrived from the printer and we’re delighted with the results - the grey linen bound cover with white deboss type sets the tone for an understated yet powerful series of images, with page dividers that reflect our recollection of the games themselves and the spectacular use of colour throughout the London 2102 Olympic livery. One for the portfolio, more images to follow soon.
It’s been a pretty busy first few months at PKD HQ but I managed to slip away last week to ride in the beautiful, majestic Pyrenees, traversing France from the Atlantic to the Med. I’ll be making a film of the trip along the lines of last year’s ‘Towards the Ocean‘, slated for release in late June. The climbs were at times brutal, and the descents epic in every sense but the landscape was the real star of the show. All in the name of research you understand as I seek out classic French Typography for a new restaurant proposition.
