2014 was an exciting year in the CG studio. Two new designers, Dan Evans and Karl March joined us bringing with them great additional skills and experience to the digital design capability of the studio. Demand for our design services have gone from strength to strength in the past year. We love every challenge and are proud of the award we won in October.
In this article we've picked out some design highlights to show you, looking at key sectors from education to business, arts and culture to marine.
CG has been working in the education sector for many years helping universities, colleges and schools communicate with their complex target groups. 2014 saw us give a big refresh to an old friend and working with two new schools.
We have worked with City College Southampton for many years and every so often a new approach is required to refresh and reinvigorate the marketing material. 2014 was the perfect time to put a new twist on the college's prospectus, outdoor advertising, print and digital advertising and a complete range of promotional collateral.
South Wiltshire UTC is a new type of school opening this September in Salisbury. There's an awful lot to think about when opening a new school and CG has supported the principal and the board from the outset with strategic thinking, planning and the implementation of carefully targeted tactics including advertising, large-format material and, of course, the school's first prospectus.
Where it all began…
CG’s very first client 20 years ago was Fairline Boats. From that flying start we have continued year on year gaining vast experience in this exciting sector.
During 2014 we worked with ABP Southampton and DP World to help launch their new £150M container terminal. We also developed a full brand refresh for ABP later in the year, not to mention our usual support including promotion of the ABP Southampton Half Marathon and 10k, taking place in April this year.
2014 saw the end of an era, with PSP's last year as title sponsor of the PSP Southampton Boat Show. We helped them go out with a bang with a completely new stand at the show that included a '4D port experience' complete with cranes, shipping containers and seagulls.
We also started working with Dartmouth-based Ribeye RIBs — updating its marketing literature and producing top-level creative for the launch of its latest PRIME Series RIB at the CWM FX London Boat Show. The concept and design was rolled out across advertising, social media and large-format print for the show.
CG works with a diverse range of B2B clients, from SMEs to global giants. Creative plays a key part in the marketing mix to differentiate and ensure our clients stand out in their crowded market place.
Acando UK is a company of programme managers, project managers and business analysts working for large multi-national corporations. CG provided marketing strategy and design services to promote Acando online, at trade shows and through printed literature.
Boyle and Summers is an architecture and masterplanning studio based in the heart of Southampton. Following an amicable management buyout from its parent company, we stepped in to help Boyle and Summers with a new brand, stationery and website.
CG has worked with Diametric since 2011. The company produces industrial badges, labels and nameplates for some of the world's best-known brands such as Jaguar, Triumph Motorcycles and Rolls Royce. 2014 saw us produce a short video and mini campaign to bring Diametric's products and services to life.
Ordnance Survey was looking for cover concepts to re-brand its Explorer Plus range of maps to a younger generation. CG obliged with a selection of bold and bright covers that would stand out on any shelf.
Theatre, arts and culture
We're a creative bunch at CG and love working with arts and culture clients. 2014 was a year of new opportunities to get our creative juices flowing.
In 2014 Hampshire County Council released control of its major arts and heritage sites to a charitable trust, aptly named the Hampshire Cultural Trust. CG was on hand to help HCT roll out the new brand across multiple sites around the county and produce signage, way finding, uniforms, advertising and stationery — among many other elements.
Best known for its box-office shows and university graduation ceremonies, Portsmouth Guildhall also has a selection of amazing spaces for business meetings, functions and weddings. We teamed up with its marketing department to produce a new brochure for corporate events and room hire. Using a limited colour palette and foil-block print-finish we were able to match the brochure to the luxurious surroundings of the Guildhall.
Carswell Gould
Finally, we had great success in 2014 with our own marketing. In February last year we launched Creative Dates, a Valentine's day themed new business campaign which won a CIPR award for best corporate communications campaign.
In September we launched CG adventures, our activity-based marketing product inspired by the success of the GORE-TEX Arctic Challenge and our very own Ed Gould's trip to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
This last year has been a fantastic one in the studio and we're all looking forward to new and interesting challenges in the next. If any of the above work has inspired you to kick-start your design and marketing, get in touch today and you too could appear in our 2015 highlights.
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