If you’d like to get involved, the process is simple. You just go to the Red Logo Associates website, and:

— Fill in a creative brief. Tell us about yourself, why you’re so special and why you think you deserve one of our logos.
— Donate a fee. While money can’t buy happiness, it certainly gets you a perfect logo.
— Receive your logo. This is where it gets interesting. Our team will articulate your very essence into a single marque of the very purest form. 

Your logo will then be added to the Red Logo Associates hall of fame. You will not be disappointed.

Why not join in? You’ll receive a personalised interpretation of yourself from one of a team of highly respected designers, at the same time as helping to transform the lives of vulnerable people in the UK and across the world.

If you do join us, please get in touch and let me know what you think of your logo!

For the past few months, members of the Design Brighton committee (Gem Barton, Tim Mitchell, Lori Pinkerton-Rolet, Jim Stephenson, Frances Tobin, Paul Zara and me) have been working feverishly to set the organisation up and put on the first events.

In December we held our launch party, with a knees up at TOM (The Old Market) that was attended by over 130 people, eager to find out what we have planned for 2013.

— Kyle Bean talking at the January event.

Our first ‘inspire’ event took place last night, featuring two speakers. Deyan Sudjic OBE (Director of the Design Museum) discussed his education and career as a design critic. He charted the history of presenting design in a museum/gallery context. He explained how the Design Museum grew from its base in the boiler room at the V&A, to getting its own home at Shad Thames in 1989, right up to today where development of the New Design Museum at the Commonwealth Institute on London’s Kensington High Street are well underway. As Deyan puts it; “We see the new museum as being a centre for British design, a place where tomorrow’s designers can learn about the design industry and be inspired to work within the design sector.”

— The new Design Museum on Kensington High Street

The 2nd speaker was Kyle Bean, a Brighton based image maker whose images combine concept and craft. He spoke about how honesty and artistry guide his work, shared some of his recent projects, and took us through the processes involved in finding a solution.

— Kyle’s ‘Soft Guerilla’ images for Cut Magazine.

The aim of our first talk was to inspire, and both speakers really did this. The sold out event was really well received, and we are now working on the program of events for the rest of 2013.

We have a Design Quiz scheduled for Monday 11th February and an illustration event in March, where Brian Grimwood will be talking to Alex Leith (Viva Brighton) about his work.

As part of the committee, I have been involved in all aspects of Design Brighton’s inception, particularly on the graphic design side of things. I created the visual identity and worked on the positioning and structure of the organisation. I have also designed the posters, flyers (both expertly printed by Generation Press) and a holding webpage for each event. I intend to talk in more detail about creating the Design Brighton identity in another post, so watch out for that.

Events are split into three types.’Connect’ events aim to bring Brighton’s creative community together, and offer an opportunity to network and meet new people.’Inspire’ events feature people talking about their work and inspirations, and ‘create’ events offer the chance for people to come together and make something.

The whole committee has worked really hard, and we are looking to keep the momentum going through the year. If you’re in Brighton and are interested in joining us, you can find out more information about the next event on our website: designbrighton.org. Come along and say hello.

Instagram is one of the few social media applications (along with Twitter) that I use or check on a daily basis, but it wasn’t always this way. When I first downloaded the app in 2011, I felt unsure of the filters users apply to their images. To me (and I know most people will disagree) even though they often improve the look of a photograph, they felt a little false; “I’m capturing this image on a brand new iPhone, but I’m making it look like it was taken on a 1960′s Polaroid camera”. I like to think that honesty and clarity are import elements in my work, and I tend to steer away from decoration, so after using the filters for a while, I stopped.

Once I started using the app I was hooked. The simplicity of Instagram is what makes it. Having the ability to easily share images and view other people’s lives in pictures is both interesting and rewarding.

Cropped image taken from iPhone camera

Same image with Instagram filter applied

Occasionally I will upload images of work, but generally I use Instagram to share moments in my life. Recently, my stream has been filled with images of the house I am renovating. I also share images of Brighton/Hove beach taken as I run in the morning, images from visits to galleries or random typography finds.

After using Instagram happily for the last 12 months, I am now at a crossroads. In the summer Facebook acquired the app for $1 billion, and now it wants to recoup some of that outlay. This is understandable, it wouldn’t have valued the business so highly if it didn’t think it could be ‘monitised’. What users are annoyed about is the way that Instagram/Facebook intends to generate income from the service.

Unfiltered Instagram image.

In December, changes to user terms and conditions were announced, which included the following sentence: “To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.”

Unsurprisingly, this was badly received by users and Kevin Systrom, co-founder of Instagram, later tried to calm the storm by saying they were listening to users’ concerns. “Advertising is one of many ways that Instagram can become a self-sustaining business, but not the only one. Our intention in updating the terms was to communicate that we’d like to experiment with innovative advertising that feels appropriate on Instagram. Instead it was interpreted by many that we were going to sell your photos to others without any compensation. This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing. To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos”.

“The language we proposed also raised questions about whether your photos can be part of an advertisement. We do not have plans for anything like this”

In response to this, copywriter Nick Asbury wrote an interesting piece about the language and tone used in the original terms and conditions and the way Instagram responded to user backlash. Pointing out that saying “it is not our intention to sell your photos” is very different to “we will not sell your photos”.

Only a small percent of the value of a social media brand like Instagram is in the platform itself. You could liken the platform to an art gallery; when empty, it’s just a room of no interest to anyone. But fill it with interesting artwork and people will want to visit. Investors look at the number of registered users and amount and quality of their uploaded content, because that is where the value is.

Bath Abbey

Social media businesses must balance profitability with providing their community of users with a service that they are comfortable with. And this can be difficult. Before Facebook bought Instagram, it was a loss making venture.

A possible model for Instagram would be the freemium model (free + premium). This has been employed by several tech businesses such as Skype and Spotify. A feature limited version of the service is offered to users free of charge, (in some cases, supported by adverts). Alternatively, for a small charge, users upgrade and have access to advanced features without adverts. This payment model allows new users to try the service for free, but regular users can pay for a better service. In both cases, there is an income stream for the operating business, but real financial success relies on them up-selling the premium to enough people.

I would be happy to pay a small monthly subscription and have an advert free service, without having to get bogged down in terms and conditions. But I’m not sure if that’s the case for most people.

Facebook has a history of changing user terms and conditions, then backtracking when users don’t like what is being proposed. Because of this, it isn’t particularly well trusted as a brand. There was some suspicion when Facebook originally bought Instagram that changes would be made to the service and users’ information would be sold. And some users left immediately, but others (like myself) decided to wait and see what happened.

While writing this, I have been trying to decide whether I should retire my Instagram account, or continue using the service. If I close my account, I would lose the community of followers and people I follow. There is the option of moving to another service, but the community would have to do this collectively for it to really work.

And where to go? The terms of service of rival photo sharing service Flickr allows users to set usage permissions for each individual picture, which is good. But their recently launched application, with its groups and sets, isn’t as simple as Instagram. And I can’t get round my own mental image of Flickr as a place to share images with more photographic merit, and Instagram being a log of daily life, where the quality of the image isn’t as important. But again, that’s just the way I see the services.

For migration to another service to work, it would take a tipping point of users leaving. Judging by the rate people are uploading images to Instagram at the moment, and the amount of people who recently started ‘an image a day’ projects, I can’t see this happening.

My procrastination time is now over. The new terms and conditions came into effect yesterday (Sunday 13th January), and I’ve not deleted my account yet. I think I’m going to stick with it and see how things go. And if you see an advert using an image of someone stripping wallpaper, it’s probably mine!

I suppose I should drag out the old design joke… My new years resolutions? As always, 72ppi and 300dpi! (Can we add Retina display to that too?)

Actually, my new years resolution this year is to write a minimum of 100 words every day (well, Monday to Friday). I plan to do this before I start any work or check any emails in the morning. I’m thinking that it can’t be too difficult to do—100 words is the equivalent of about 5 tweets. And I’ve hit my target just getting to this point. The main challenge will be having the discipline to write every day, even when I’m really busy.

I have decided to do this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, when I am busy I rarely get time to post to the News and Views section of the website. Writing a post may take me a couple of hours including; checking facts, finding links and images and editing/revising etc. Because of this, writing often falls down my to-do list, with client work taking precedent. Consequently the time between posts to the website increases, which I always feel frustrated about. By attempting to write a small amount every day, I’m hoping that by the end of each week, I should have enough written content to create a post. Secondly, I’m hoping that the practice of committing words to page on a daily basis will increase the speed I think/write/edit, which can’t be a bad thing.

To help me in this exercise, I recently downloaded iA Writer, a great application which really simplifies the writing process by presenting the user with just their words. Font choice, size and colour are all predefined so there’s no messing about getting the page to look right (something I used to always do in Microsoft Word). Focus mode helps further by dimming out all but the sentence you are working on and you can see the read-time and word-count as you go. Since I started using iA Writer, I have found it much easier to process words without distractions. For the bargain price of £2.99, I’d definitely recommend it.

Anyway, that’s 370 words. I hope to keep this momentum going!

The Miniclick Photography Talks are a series of monthly, free photography and film-making events based in Brighton. Under the curatorship of Jim Stephenson, they have been running for two years and have become an important fixture on the Brighton photographic scene, with monthly events very well attended and special one-off events happening outside of Brighton, including a panel discussion at Somerset House during Sony’s 2012 World Photo London event.

Previous speakers include Ewen Spencer, Peter Dench, Jonathan Worth, Maja Daniels, Leo Maguire, Laura Pannack, Ben Roberts, Chris Floyd, Jason Larkin, Harry Hardie, Bruno Ceschel, Murray Ballard and Luca Sage. The talks also work regularly with Pecha Kucha, Hungry Eye Magazine, Portrait Salon and Photo Book Show to put on special events.

The Brighton Photo Fringe runs from October 6th to November 18th. The first Miniclick event is on October 9th and events run right through to the end of the festival.

The events are as follows:

Phoot Camp Pecha Kucha Talks Night

Tuesday October 9th, 7pm / Free Entry / The Old Market
An evening of Pecha Kucha talks by 12 Phoot Camp participators from around the world, both in person and via satellite link. Pecha Kucha is a format of short, snappy and informal presentation whereby the speaker is allowed 20 slides and 20 seconds on each slide, resulting in a series of 6 minute, 40 second talks.
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Maciej Dakowicz and Peter Dench, in Discussion

Tuesday October 16th, 7pm / Free Entry / The Old Market
Maciej Dakowicz speaks to photojournalist Peter Dench about his work, to coincide with the launch of Maciej’s first book from Thames and Hudson, “Cardiff After Dark”.
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A Weekend of Workshops

Saturday October 20th and Sunday October 21st / £48 each / Create Studios
Miniclick collaborate with Create Studios to present a weekend of workshops by previous miniclick speakers Laura Pannack, Rhiannon Adam, Ewen Spencer, Luca Sage, Emma Critchley, Jean-Luca Brouard and Murray Ballard.
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Laura Pannack Full Day Workshop

Saturday October 20th / £90 / On Location in Brighton
Miniclick are pleased to present a full day workshop from Laura Pannack, exploring how we approach, interact and engage with our subjects. Saturday October 20th, on Location in Brighton.
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MacDonaldStrand Artist Talk

Tuesday October 23rd, 7pm / Free Entry / The Regency Town House
To coincide with their exhibition for the Brighton Photo Fringe, the miniclick photography talks present an evening with MacDonaldStrand (Gordon MacDonald and Clare Strand) talking about their latest body of work and newest projects.
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Luca Sage Full Day Workshop

Sunday October 28th / £90 / On Location in Brighton
Miniclick present another full day workshop, this time featuring acclaimed photographer Luca Sage on Sunday 28th October, on location in Brighton.
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Simon Roberts Artist Talk

Tuesday October 30th, 7pm / Free Entry / The Old Market
To coincide with his exhibition for the Brighton Photo Fringe, the miniclick photography talks present an evening with Simon Roberts discussing his latest project.
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Laura Pannack and Aaron Schuman Artist Talk

Tuesday November 06th, 7pm / Free Entry / Venue TBC
Laura Pannack and Aaron Schuman will be discussing their own practices and exploring the relationship between the photographer and the subject.
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Slideluck Potshow comes to Brighton

Sunday November 11th, Midday / Free Entry / The Green Door Store
The miniclick photography talks and Slideluck Potshow London team up to present a Sunday afternoon of food and photography as part of the Brighton Photo Fringe.
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Miniclick Pecha Kucha Talks Night

Tuesday November 13th, 7pm / Free Entry / The Old Market
An evening of Pecha Kucha talks in association with Brighton SOURCE by 14 of the UK’s best photographers, including Jooney Woodward, Laura Pannack, Peter Dench, Chris Floyd, Tim Bowditch, Holly Oliver, James Kendal, Kristina Salgvik, Ondra Loup, Natasha Caruana, Stuart Griffiths, Jamie MacGregor Smith, Jonathan Hyde, Jack Latham, Ed Hepburne-Scott and Hin Chua. Pecha Kucha is a format of short, snappy and informal presentation whereby the speaker is allowed 20 slides and 20 seconds on each slide, resulting in a series of 6 minute, 40 second talks.
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The Short Film Loop
Every weekend, 10am ’till 5pm / Free Entry / The Old Market
The Old Market have been host to the monthly miniclick photography talks for a year now and for the Brighton Photo Fringe, the venue’s Dry Store screening room will being showing “The Short Film Loop”, a collection of short films by young and upcoming photographers and film makers curated by miniclick and Hungry Eye Magazine.
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As you can see, there are some excellent talks and events lined up. Definitely worth a visit.

The Noun Project
A project aiming to develop a global visual language through an ever-increasing collection of pictogram.

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It’s no biggie
Lovely scribbly animated situations by Thoka Maer.

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How to get people to love your brand

David Hieatt writes about love, ideas and having fun in his list of 23 ways to get people to love your brand.

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Why the best companies make you feel something
John Kearon talks about the use of emotional states such as surprise, sadness, anger, fear, contempt, disgust and happiness in marketing.

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The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar
Former Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats shares her narrative wisdom.

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From certainty to doubt
Mark Purdom’s photography project explores how manmade items sit in natural settings.

Click the links above and have a look for yourself. Thanks to anyone who shared the links or images above.

It has been claimed that three is a magic number.* Well I’m not sure about magic, but it’s certainly a milestone. Today Very Own Studio celebrates its third year in business. The last twelve months have flown by; so maybe it’s time to reflect, and then look to the future.

Over the last year I’ve continued to help new brands like Shoot Boutique, Alternative Bike Co. and Be-Jewel to launch and establish themselves. I was involved with all three of these businesses from an early stage: working with them on naming the business, positioning the brand, and developing the visual look and feel by creating the logo, designing stationary, websites and marketing materials. I also designed the user interface and photo booth for Shoot Boutique.

As well as working directly with start up companies, I have continued to work with larger intermediary communications agencies, producing design for established brands such as AstraZeneca, Barratt Homes and Unilever.

I have also worked on the re-branding of smaller businesses, such as Vada Media, a Brighton based company working with companies and organisations to help them find new ways of communicating and thinking about their work.

It has been great to be a regular contributor to the Eight:48 publication over the last year, to have my work exhibited in the Celebration of September exhibition convened by Mortar&Pestle Studio, and to design a commemorative poster for an event held as part of the Brighton Fringe.

There’s an exciting twelve months ahead for Very Own Studio. I’m looking forward to working with Julia Chanteray from The Joy Of Business on how to further develop the business, maximising its potential and possibilities for growth. I’m also excited about some new collaborations in the pipeline and launching the new Very Own Studio website later in the year.

I would like to thank all the businesses I have worked with during the last twelve months. There’s also a high five to the people I have collaborated with, be they web developers, printers or photographers.

Here’s to the next three years…

x

*Three Is A Magic Number was originally written in 1973 by Bob Dorough for the album School House Rock. De La Soul used a sample from the chorus in their song The Magic Number, which was released in 1989.

On Sunday 13th of May, Jim Stephenson’s always excellent miniclick photography talk joins forces with Hungry Eye Magazine to present Anton Corbijn’s Ian Curtis biopic, “Control”. The film will be screened at The Duke of York’s Picturehouse as part of the Brighton Fringe and will be followed by a discussion on the aesthetics of that era with Stephen Mallinder from the band Cabaret Voltaire.

To commemorate the screening, Jim asked four Brighton based artists to design one-off special edition posters. Graphic design is represented by myself and Chris Harrison of Harrison & Co with illustrators Billy Mather and Ryan Gillett making up the quartet.

For me, the film offers a bittersweet insight into Ian Curtis’ world. While he and the band are finding fame and adulation, Curtis is depressed and going through a failing marriage. He is also diagnosed with epilepsy and is suffering from the side effects of the drugs prescribed to help him. A line in the film stood out for me: “It’s a matter of trial and error until the right drug or combination of drugs are found”. This illustrates how far medicine had yet to develop on managing epilepsy, and brought home to me the confusion, despair and disappointment that Curtis must have felt after diagnosis. According to the Epilepsy Society, seizures may induce, among other things, visual disturbances such as flashing lights, hallucinations and the feeling of a ‘wave’ going through the head. With the poster, I wanted to visually depict the sensations that Curtis may have experienced as an epilepsy sufferer, giving the viewer the same sort of unease. The poster is also intended to represent the tunnel-like dark loneliness that sufferers of depression report.

I wanted to build layers of meaning into the image. So for example, the image is made of 23 concentric rings, each representing a year of Curtis’ life; almost like the rings of a tree. There are also 80 segments to the circle as the film ends with Curtis’ death in 1980. I hope the poster does justice to this beautiful and moving film.

The posters have been limited to 30 prints of each design and are printed on heavyweight A3 recycled stock. The set of four posters is available to buy for the bargain price of just £20 (plus £5 p&p in the UK). Please email: jim@clickclickjim.com for more information. For information on the screening and details on where to get tickets, click here.

I usually try to post something to the News and Views section of the website at least once a month. As you can probably see, my last post was in December, which shows to how busy I’ve been recently. But just like with buses, you wait ages for one to turn up, and then two arrive at the same time…

The final issue of Eight:48 (in its current guise at least) is now out. The closing issue was inspired by an article from Avant Garde magazine entitled ‘Tomorrow’s Classics’ which was originally published in 1969. In this return to the topic for today’s generation, I was one of 38 creative practitioners asked to answer the question: “what, in your opinion, that has been designed within the last few years, will stand the test of time and prove a lasting legacy for this generation of creatives?”

The issue contains the work of Spin, Julian House, Craig & Karl, Norm, Why Not Associates and Non Format, amongst many other designers, illustrators and studios. If you’d like to know what I nominated you’ll have to buy the magazine, which is available here.

Céline and co have done a great job with Eight:48 over the last eight issues, (I could have nominated the magazine itself) so I’ll look forward to seeing what comes next.

Here’s to a well deserved Christmas break. I hope you enjoy Christmas and new year, and that you return feeling refreshed. This year’s Christmas cards were foiled onto candy pink GFSmith Colorplan stock and are now in the post, so if you’re a client, colleague, collaborator, comrade or crony you should hopefully receive yours soon. If not sorry, I blame Royal Mail!

With thoughts for those not as fortunate as ourselves, Very Own Studio has made a donation to Crisis: The national charity for single homeless people — who are very busy at this time of year.

See you on the other side.