Thompson Brand Partners

Remembrance Day

This time of year, every year, I really struggle with the job I do. Much as I constantly strive to make things better, simpler and more interesting for everyone whose lives I touch, I can’t help feeling a bit ineffectual. Seeing the sacrifice that generations with a less-informed and more innocent outlook on life made to give me the life I now have, is a leveler and an annual source of guilt.

I want what I do to have the power and significance of the poppy, a visible reminder of the losses, on all sides, which we suffered, and still do. Simple, poetic, poignant and it will always matter.

The poppy's significance is a result of John McCrae's poem ‘In Flanders Fields’. A Frenchwoman, Anna E. Guérin, was inspired to introduce the widely-used artificial poppies given out today after Moina Michael, an American, distributed 25 silk poppies based on McCrae's poem to attendees of the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries' Conference. In 1921, Guérin sent her poppy sellers to England, where they were adopted by Field Marshall Douglas Haig, founder of the Royal British Legion. Of course, some people choose to wear white poppies, to emphasise a desire for peaceful alternatives to military action. Some people regard this as being offensive. It all sounds good to me.

This is how powerful symbols used to come about before branding people (like me) arrived. It’s honest, simple and more powerful than any logo I know.
Here’s another design on a related subject, although one which I’m glad I had nothing to do with. My namesake John T. Thompson invented the infamous Thompson (‘Tommy’) submachine gun in 1919. Although it’s associated with prohibition-era America, it was widely adopted by the allied troops in WWII where it was also known as the ‘Trench Broom,’ or ‘Trench Sweeper.’ It’s portability and rapid killing power was unrivalled at the time.

So, you ask, what am I saying?

Well, being a designer, although I’m rarely making the scale of contribution to humanity that I really want to, I’m always trying hard to work towards it in everything I do. And, at least I’m not using my passion and skills to generate negative impact on the world and my fellow humans.
For the moment, it’s the best I can do. And, I know it’s not the end of the story.

Type Trumps.

After spending the best part of 2 hours wading through hundreds of posts from the best art and design blogs on the web (with the Vicar of Dlibley and Xfactor begrudgingly on in the background), these fantastic cards caught my eye. They fused two loves of mine from past and present, top trumps and typography, one of those... how didn't I think of that moments! I remember every lunch time sitting on the playground floor learning more about cars I'd never drive or planes I'd never fly than whatever was going on the class room! Anyway these beautifully designed cards are available to buy from face 37 and I reckon I know few type nerds that would love these for Christmas! Check them out and enjoy your Mondays...

Ted.

XXX: Get off at Edge Hill

Last week we took a trip over to Edge Hill station in Liverpool for the grand opening of Metal's newly renovated exhibition space and offices. That was being launched with an exhibition titled 'XXX: Get off at Edge Hill' – 'A site specific group exhibition exploring sexual and industrial metaphors in painting, sculpture and film.'

The exhibition featured work ranging from text pieces by Marcel Duchamp to sound scultpures by our very own resident artist Hayley Goodsell.

In amongst all the art, was some of our new Metal signage vinyls and print pieces, which were dotted around the place. With some very nice black and green bags to take away your print goodies.

The exhibition is open until the 5th December, and is definitely worth a look. Check out the Metal website for more details. (www.metalculture.com)

(p)Ad

Yorkshire Forward

Good afternoon from the Old Stables! Here's our recently finished campaign for Yorkshire Forward and we're loving it! Massive thanks to Rich Deighton at www.nuyustore.com for the illustrations, Shaun Bloodworth at www.shaunbloodworth.com and Kerry Harrison www.kerryharrisonphotography.com for their photography and finally Colin Renwick at www.synthesisimaging.co.uk for his retouching skills! A job well done, hope you guys like it!

Ted.

Paul Smith Mini

If you've not had the chance yet, pop along to the Victoria Quarter and see the Paul Smith mini in all its stripey glory. It's appearance coincides with Leeds Shopping Week, which is happening right now.

We had the notion to bring the mini to Leeds a while ago as part of raising awareness for the Leeds store and the guys at Paul Smith have been waiting for the right time to bring it up the M1 from its home in Nottingham.

It's a complete one-off and although there were limited edition Paul Smith minis created this is the only one that's got the trademark stripe paint job. If you're smitten with it (as we are), there are die cast model versions available in the Paul Smith store around the corner!

LCM Further Education Prospectus

Just got the FE prospectus in for LCM! Here's a coupe of quick dodgy shots of the cover with its magenta foil...

Paul

Yearbook!

Get yourself onto www.yearbookyourself.com and create an outstanding set of photos. Here's the Thompson Family (almost). Absolutely brilliant!

Ted.

Light Night

Last weekend venues in Leeds that are normally closed at night opened up late to host a range of cultural events, displays, shows, exhibitions and tours providing bizarre, unusual and out-of-context entertainments, designed to celebrate the wealth of creative and cultural activity in the city.

Lumen curated a large-scale projection onto the front of Civic Hall in Millennium Square. My short film Bus Meeting was part of that programme and was screened in the city centre til 5am the following morning. Apart from a short bout of rain, the evening was a great success. Video coming soon...

Hayley

 

Village Green - UnFamily Portraits

Here are a few shots in and around the UnFamily Portrait booth at Village Green a few weeks ago. After a shaky first half hour of trying to convince people to come inside (and that I wasn't going to steal their souls) streams of people wanted to have their very own UnFamily, it was relentless! Some UnFamily portrait participants include The Mayor of Southend, MP David Amess and Jude Kelly. It couldn't have gone better, the photographs and openness of the participants were truly amazing. UnFamily images coming soon...

Hayley

Laban

A new business meeting saw us yesterday in South London at the stunning Laban Centre, designed by renowned architects Herzog and de Meuron (the guys that designed Tate Modern and the 'Birds Nest' stadium in Beijing.

The building is absolutely beautiful and delivers an array of different experiences to the visitor. from the stunning curves externally to an entrance space that definitely echos the drama of the turbine hall at Tate Modern. It seems like the architects have got the right combination of practicality and design, with every corner turned delivering 'moments'. 

Even the meeting room we sat in was an enjoyable space. That sounds a bit sad, but I've sat in some properly horrible rooms in my time. It makes meetings a pleasure.

Apologies for the iffy quality of the shots - off the cuff iphone shots only I'm afraid. I think we'll be returning with a proper camera at some time.