Well the dust has settled and we have got our breath back from a very special event that we have been working on for the last month. Through our good friend Peter Masters we were commissioned by SparkleStreet Creative Events to work alongside their team on the branding and construction of visual elements for the Adidas Coronation street party. This involved bespoke classic Adidas posters, creating new fake walls and turning a shop into a giant Adidas shoebox amongst other things. It took us just under 2 days to install in some surreal surroundings including a few hours of classic Manchester rain the night before.

As the event was held on one of the most iconic streets in the country there was a real street party feel, featuring live music from New Order, Badly Drawn Boy and The Whip. Video messages were sent by Snoop Dog and Ian Brown and guests were treated to cocktails served in teapots, even when some rain did fall we handed out branded Adidas umbrellas ensuring the whole street felt like a real brand event.

As we left the event I saw Craig Charles djing at one end of the street joined by 4 breakdancers whilst guests danced up and down on the cobbles and outside Rita’s Kabin eating Adidas shoebox-shaped cake, something you don’t get to see very often!

Check out the official adidas originals Coronation street party video above…

See our behind the scenes pictures including images by Shaw & Shaw here — eskimo Flickr

Nice event review on Manchester Confidential here — adidas Coronation street party

We welcome design graduate Alex Farrall into the studio this week, he brought us all chocolate hob nobs in so he has obviously been doing his design studio homework. Alex has some solid work on his site and we’ll be nurturing that talent to produce research, ideas and design concepts over the next two weeks. We’ll also get Alex to add a blog post about his time and experience with us, hopefully it’ll be all good and positive, no pressure Alex!

alexfarrall.com

Friday morning + fake wool beard + camera and some of Manchester’s finest – Natalie Gray, Matt Booth, John Owens, Andy Myers and myself… fun project targeting designers and creatives by design student Oyunga, check her site at www.ongidesign.co.uk

nice.

I met Adrian 9 years ago when he was heading up Intro and I was a bright-eyed student; they were at a turning point from finishing working with Primal Scream to starting work with Deutsche Bank. I remember the studio being packed with staff and Adrian proudly showing us work they had undertaken for the NHS, a far cry from the Roni Size sleeves I had back home but a real wake up call to what commercial design meant to a studio and the chances of me designing a record sleeve when I graduated were very slim.

So fast forward to May 2010 where last week we attended the D&AD Lecture by Adrian Shaughnessy and Tony Brook of the newly formed Unit Editions. I bought Unit Edition’s first publication ‘Studio Culture’ and many of Adrian’s previous books are on the eskimo shelves so I was interested to see how two figureheads of British design started such a venture and how their careers had landed in publishing.

The talk consisted of them both explaining their careers and studios respectively and then realising after designing many books (Logo, Sampler series) for other publishers the real challenge was creating your own; not to mention financially it makes more sense. Both designers are in a position where they can call upon great designers to collaborate and also promote virally about new works so the business model seems pretty solid. Their recent ‘Design / Research’ papers show a real passion for design, unearthing unsung heros of design and showcasing some hidden gems.

Overall it was a great lecture for fans of Adrian and Tony’s work and their passions, not too sure it gave a real insight to running a publication but more touched on it but I left feeling that I’m glad someone is putting the effort into producing really good design publications to counter all of the crap out there.

Unit Editions

A massive welcome to John Owens who joins eskimo creative as Senior Designer.

John is an award winning multi-disciplinary designer and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the studio. He has extensive experience designing for many sectors from architectural to the public sector including design for print, web, exhibitions, illustration, typography, signage, branding and apparel. Most recently John has completed works for recent Imperial War Museum exhibitions, worked on the Metrolink brand and re-branded Arts About Manchester.

email John at john.owens@eskimocreative.com

The studio is buzzing at the moment and gaining momentum. We have been working hard, meeting new people, working on new creative relationships, winning new clients and work and expanding our creative offering. Can’t reveal too much at the moment but will have exciting news and some great projects to shout about soon.
]]> http://blog.eskimocreative.com/2010/04/studio-vibes/feed/ 0 http://blog.eskimocreative.com/2010/02/salinger-by-design/ http://blog.eskimocreative.com/2010/02/salinger-by-design/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:51:24 +0000 Andy Myers http://blog.eskimocreative.com/?p=41

I can never quite pinpoint my favourite song, film, food, whatever. But ask me what my favourite book is and there’s no hesitation: The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. I was sad to hear when Salinger recently passed away – moreso knowing that he hated any kind of media attention. I’ve long admired his decision to shun the limelight and maintain strict control over all aspects of his work, including book cover design, so it was a surprise to discover that just before his death he had approved a new set of designs created by type designer Seb Lester. Even though I prefer Lester’s unchosen option (right), the new approved cover style (left) exemplifies the beauty in type and I hope will carry Salinger’s legacy even further.

Something I have been meaning to start for a while now. An ongoing personal project taking portraits of the rich and interesting people I come across in my everyday life. #1 is from the archives, an image of Sifu Billy Davidson, my Wing Chun Kung Fu instructor. Simply put, Billy is a living legend and never ending inspiration.

A little late posting this but we recently launched a micro-site for Visit Manchester’s January Sale campaign. An effective 3 & 4 column page design able to accommodate and display plenty of information on all that’s happening across Manchester in January. Check out the events on the what’s on page, still lots happening early this year.

www.visitmanchester.com/jansale

Hello and welcome to the new eskimo creative studio blog. We’ll be exhibiting the work we do as a creative agency starring the people who make it happen and generally keeping you good people informed of all the latest and greatest. We’ll be posting inspiration and associated projects from our network of like-minded partners and coconspirators and various other items of design related stuff as the mood takes us!

Tell everyone, bookmark this blog, subscribe to the RSS feed, enjoy and leave nice comments!

Love eskimo creative.