January 27, 2012
Feel Every Word
Yesterday I found myself in between meetings and in Piccadilly. I headed off to Waterstones. As the ‘wordy’ one of the With Relish partnership, a trip to Waterstones or indeed a local independent book shop has always been a bit of a treat. I love to spend as long as my to-do list allows me, browsing the books, taking in the book jacket designs, reading staff recommendations and continually changing my mind before paying for my basket full and heading home to indulge in some escapism. I do, when necessary, resort to Amazon but it doesn’t provide the same experience. Even though Amazon offers up potential alternatives to those already searched and bought, it doesn’t throw the curve ball of walking past a table crammed with books you didn’t think would interest you and finding a gem that you just can’t put down.
I made my way through five floors of books and for the first time I saw in situe, the Waterstones strap line – “Feel Every Word”. As I continued to browse, I understood just how clever the phrase was. At a time when we are all hooked up to a screen for most of the day, when even reading has become a reason to fire up yet another screen, I think some of us have lost a bit of the “feeling” of reading. Remember the feel of a new book with its cool, crisp jacket and pristine pages? The feeling of wanting just 10 more minutes to get to the end of the chapter (there’s never the same sense of “chapter closure” with a Kindle), the panic when there’s only a few more pages left and you wonder how the story could possibly be resolved on such a small amount of paper? The sense of loss when the book is finished, a little more tattered than at the outset but with the story and characters etched into your head and heart?
January 20, 2012
Design a postcard for London 2012
The Random Project 2012 was launched this week. It will showcase a growing collection of postcards which are created by all of us. These will celebrate the spirit of London 2012 and enable us to visually document the shared cultural experience as the year unfolds – we will all become the artists-in-residence for a historic year.
The project is open to everybody to take part in; from artists to school children to athletes. Each postcard is designed in response to a randomly assigned word relating to either 2012, London or the Olympics.
January 18, 2012
Before the internet?
Do you remember how we used to live, before the internet? It’s been changing our lives since the 1990s and many of us are now connected to it throughout our waking hours. It’s only when there’s a power cut, the battery runs out or our provider has a problem that we fully appreciate it, through its absence.
UK Wikipedia has blacked out for the day today to raise awareness of legislation being considered in the U.S.
Are you aware of how many times a day do you look at Wikipedia, or use information that has been sourced from it? Much as we realise the information may not always be accurate, the collective nature of the information also makes it an impartial and evolving resource. We’ve come to rely on this instant information for researching through to resolving debates in the pub. A day without it will be a powerful reminder of the access to knowledge we take for granted.
We’re going to plan an internet free day here at With Relish, a day to use phones and books, close the browsers and turn off wifi (yes we appreciate the irony of announcing this on our blog). Would you like to join us?
SH
January 13, 2012
With Relish Round Up of the Week
The first full working week of 2012 is drawing to a close and it’s been a busy one for the team at With Relish. Here’s a few of the things that made us smile.
Waterstones punctuate a debate
The Waterstones branding has been the subject of much conversation in the studio; the move from Baskerville font to a rather inelegant sans serif (causing the w to look a little like something that would be naughtily drawn on a school desk). Now it seems Waterstones will revert back to the use of Baskerville for some stores but without the apostrophe at the end of the brand name. Creative Review launched a ‘Save the apostrophe!’ campaign which was also taken up by BBC breakfast this morning. We agree, as a bookshop they should be preserving punctuation and not worrying about the economy of reducing it down to a tweet.
Creative Review’s coverage of this shows the logo development and their campaign to save the apostrophe.
Olympic Buzz
Everywhere you turn, someone is talking about the Olympics. Love or loathe the idea, the Olympics is coming to London town in 196 days. Our Creative Director Sarah continues her challenge of creating a logo a day out of found objects. Next week she’ll be announcing a new design initiative to coincide with the 2012 Olympics. Follow @randomproject on twitter or check our blog next week to be first in the know.
January 11, 2012
Getting Wild
Our Creative Director (and kick-boxing enthusiast) Sarah Hyndman has been a fan of Wildfitness holidays for a number of years now, so we were absolutely delighted when they approached us to deliver their brand refresh.
It’s been one of our favourite projects to date. Not only has Sarah had the opportunity to emerge herself in Wildfitness as part of the day job but I’ve had the chance to chat to Wildfitness first-timers, advocates and coaches to hear more about the transformative nature of the holidays. I love conducting perception research, it’s a good excuse to meet to new people and have a good natter about what is important (or not) to them about a brand.
January 8, 2012
Short and sweet – independent film ‘Buon Giorno Sayonara’
With Relish has created the promotional materials for award winning independent film Buon Giorno Sayonara, a romantic comedy written and directed by Karen Hope. The materials include posters, postcards and button badges which are distributed at independent film festivals as the film tours around the world.
The film is a short romantic comedy in which romance bridges the language gap in a short-but-sweet encounter between two foreign tourists. It has been screened at film festivals across the USA and Europe and won the Best Comedy award at the Hyart Film Festival, USA.
December 5, 2011
Dog Bingo: Online Pup-up Gallery is open for business
The Dog Bingo Online Pup-up Gallery is now open for 2 weeks only. New prints will be uploaded every day, each print features a unique combination of dogs – no two are the same.
To purchase one of the prints shown please email studio@withrelish.co.uk.
Tell us the reference number of the print you would like. We’ll put a ‘reserved’ sticker on the print and send you a Paypal link.
£10 from each print is donated to The Mayhew Animal Home, registered charity, no 1077588.
November 30, 2011
Relish The Christmas Shop
We’re now in the final countdown to our Winter Open Studios and The Chocolate Factory N16 is a hive of activity as everybody gets ready for what promises to be a busy weekend. With 27 studios, there will be plenty to look at and lots of creative gifts to be bought.
November 25, 2011
Dog Bingo
A Dog print is for life, not just for Christmas
With Relish has created a series of dog portrait prints as part of its Dog Bingo series, and is selling them to raise awareness of animal shelters as well as raising cash for the Mayhew Animal Home in north London.
The driving force behind the Dog Bingo project has been With Relish’s studio terrier Pip, who was rescued and rehabilitated by the Mayhew Animal Home.
Dog Bingo is inspired by the assortment of dogs encountered by the With Relish team while out walking Pip in local parks…
November 22, 2011
Dog Days
I think it would be fair to say that we love our canine friends here at With Relish. Since adopting Pip, our studio dog, we’ve become even more mutt mad. Pip is an eight-year-old Yorkshire terrier, rescued and subsequently rehabilitated by The Mayhew Animal Home and a loving foster carer. The Mayhew staff and volunteers do a wonderful job and re-home thousands of stray and abandoned dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs every year.
As part of The Chocolate Factory N16’s Winter Open Studio’s, With Relish will be raising money for the Mayhew. We’ll be playing Dog Bingo and selling these limited edition lino prints, inspired by dogs we’ve met on our adventures around Stoke Newington and Dalston. £10 from the sale of each print will go to The Mayhew as well as all the proceeds from Dog Bingo.
Come along and support The Mayhew too. Visit us in Studio F7, The Chocolate Factory, N16 7SX on Saturday 3 December and Sunday 4 December. We’ll be here between 11 and 6 each day. You might even get the chance to meet Pip.
If you can’t make it to the studio visit the Dog Bingo Online Popup Gallery which is open until December 16th.