Ideas | Stuff | Creative | Goodness
AUGUST 2014
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Hello there! Welcome to the 1st edition of the SLICE – a newspaper designed and published by Toast. What is this? We hear you say. Well, we’ve created SLICE to interest, excite and inspire you, keeping you updated of all Toast’s, news, views and opinions. Overall though, it’s a bit of fun and a creative showcase from the designers here at Toast. We hope you like it!
Ian Humby and Jon Teeluck approached Toast with an exciting branding project that had a fixed launch date (1st July 2014) with a ‘yet unknown’ set of requirements. The first thing Toast did was sit down and establish exactly what the known parameters were – literally the: who, what, where and why! By doing this, Toast very quickly understood that they needed to help define the positioning, naming and branding of a brand new catering venture being created for the new Cornwall Services on the A30 just outside Roche.
Quote from Ian Humby, Director at The Open Oven Pizza Company.
The senior brand team in Toast, Chris Tymon and Simon Browne, sat down with the clients and as part of the initial branding brainstorm & research, identified that the user experience of the customer would be a crucial factor. This is due to the nature of the product and cooking process which form an essential part of the brand experience.
This was then used along with all the research and understanding from the earlier stages to create a suitable visual identity and logo.
To understand this Chris sketched out rough ideas of what the customer would see as they entered the Cornwall services and how they would interact with the USP – a full sized open pizza oven. In doing this we could ensure that any naming, positioning and subsequent branding reflected the experience – which is always difficult when creating something for the very first time. Having established a better understanding of what the experience would be like allowed us to refine the keywords that we would associate with that experience. Several concept ideas were discussed and developed further, the strongest idea emerged and ‘The Open Oven Pizza Company’ was created. 2
“I was really impressed by the ability of the guys at Toast to take the information, ideas and dreams in my head and make them real as we spoke. To be involved in the creative process at this level was exactly what I needed to feel connected and committed to the creative solution and the brand it created”
Having created a comprehensive look and feel for The Open Oven Pizza Company, the earlier sketches were then used to brief the team that were going to build the catering unit in the service station. This again confirmed Toast’s long held belief that, if you get the initial branding idea right from the beginning then all applications flow easily from it – from the look and feel of the kitchen to the signage and staff uniforms. This consistency of message through every element of the branding allows for a much more fulfilling brand experience for the customer and avoids any of the contradictions that some consumers get from larger fast-food brands that promise one thing and deliver another.
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in july
What We’ve been up to
The Open Oven Pizza Company turned up the heat on Toast to create an authentic brand with everything on it, on time and on budget. What was delivered put a smile on everyone’s face.
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1. Final brand identity. 2. Initial sketched idea for the retail space from the brand workshop. 3. Final retail space. 4. Branding on aprons. 5. Branding on the back of the uniforms.
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6. Pizza box design.
What else we’ve been up to in July 2 / AUGUST 2014 / SLICE
Chris, Adam and Andy attended Peach Pubs Summer Party, working the bar with other suppliers. A great time was had by all and many eyes opened!
Toast joined the ranks of great design agencies at Creative Brief. View our profile here: www.creativebrief. com/agency/feed/22365/toast-design
We’ve started to plan some exciting developments to Toast, including a special event for clients and suppliers later on in the year, watch this space.
8 8 tips on building brand awareness from top UK growth hackers
When you’re looking to create something that gets maximum exposure for your brand, nailing the headline is essential. At Upworthy, the curators need to come up with 25 headlines for every piece of content. They then select their favourite four, and the managing editor selects the final two to experiment with.
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Upworthy Cofounder, Eli Pariser, also says:
“We go for visible, shareable stories and really stay away from doing more typical, text-driven articles and blogging. We lean into images and videos.”
Lesson: Don’t Be Boring
Innocent Founder, Richard Reed, says:
In order to build brand awareness, your content needs to be remarkable and shareable. For that to work, you can’t be doing the same thing as everyone else in your industry. Do something quirky that shows off the personality of your brand. Experiment with videos, infographics, and more visual content that can really grab attention.
“Remember that every business in the world started small. M&S began life as a market stall, and YouTube was started by two friends in a room above a pizza takeaway. Even in today’s heavily competitive world, little can still get big.”
Lesson: Think Like a Publisher
Innocent has really adopted the publisher model of marketing -- they’ve published multiple recipe books which have had a huge impact on their brand growth -- plus they’re not just seen as a company who want to sell a product to make money. Instead, they’re seen as a company that helps people live healthier lives, and one that is socially and ethically responsible.
They also maintain a popular blog on which they write valuable content that helps their readers live a healthier life, which enables them to attract and engage an audience. Additionally, 10% of Innocent’s profits go to charity, so they also use their blog to highlight important news from their foundation, and how they are making a difference in poverty-stricken countries.
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“A good headline can be the difference between 1,000 people and 1,000,000 people reading something.”
Lesson: Experiment With Your Headlines
randing tactics have drastically changed over the last decade and marketers have had to learn a whole new playbook -- a playbook that is constantly evolving with new technologies and social platforms. It’s increasingly difficult to build and reach new audiences without a solid content and social media strategy in place. In fact, 70% of marketers say that content marketing has actually increased their brand awareness. (iMedia Connection)
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Upworthy Cofounder, Eli Pariser, says:
Socialable Founder, Lilach Bullock, also says:
“Social media can play a huge part in growth hacking and really build brand awareness for companies. The trick is to make sure you get the balance right between simply broadcasting and real live engagement.”
Lesson: Don’t Social Spam
When it comes to social media, “good” is far from good enough for getting your brand messaging heard over all the noise out there. Thousands of brands are vying for the same audience’s attention. People are beaten over the head with product information, promotional offers, and branded cat memes.
Innocent Community Manager, Joe McEwan, says:
“The key to Innocent’s success has been a consistent tone of voice -- one that’s natural, honest, and engaging -- making social activity feel like a natural extension of the company’s personality.”
Lesson: Find Your Tone of Voice
Find the tone of voice that works for your audience and maintain it in all of your communications. Remember, you are marketing to people, not companies, or robots. The first step to getting this right is in creating your buyer personas, and knowing what their goals and challenges are. This will tell you who your audience is and will enable you to change your tone of voice to what resonates best with them.
Socialable Founder, Lilach Bullock, says:
“It’s important to have a variety of different types of content that has the shareability factor.”
Lesson: Create Shareable Content
Creating educational and engaging content can help you become an invaluable resource to your target audience. Giving your network exactly what they want will help you grow an organic audience who engages with your brand on your website, follows you across social, and helps your brand grow its reach by sharing your content with their friends and peers. You should always be thinking about how shareable your content is. Ask yourself: “If I read this, would I share it with my friends, colleagues, network, or family?” If the answer is no, go back to the beginning and rethink it.
Author/Speaker Brian Carter says: “If you can’t spend $30 per month ($1 per day on Facebook Ads), you shouldn’t be in business.”
Lesson: Invest a Little
With Facebook organic reach at 6.15% and expected to decrease even further, more and more companies are investing in paid content distribution on the platform. With very targeted ad campaigns, great content, and even the smallest amount of cash to spend, companies can reach their current fans and more on Facebook.
Intercom Managing Editor says:
“Journalists bring a lot of skills to the table -- writing, editing, research etc. But for content marketing natural curiosity is probably the most important.“
Lesson: Journalists Can Make Great Content Marketers
Whether working for a traditional media outlet or in-house, a journalist’s job is still the same -- to figure out what makes an interesting story that people are going to want to read about. Good journalists ask questions and challenge assumptions, not just in terms of what your company does but also others in your industry. That’s what produces content that people will want to read. Article courtesy of www.hubspot.com
Some of our recent branding work:
OvaFlow
Haddie & Trilby Bakery
Mama Eti’s Indonesian Street Food
The Honeymakers
The Bell at Selsley
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What we love THIS MONTH
july
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3Doodler Pen
The World’s First 3D Printing Pen. Dave: “Saw this on firebox. I so want one!! 3D sketches on client work!” www.the3doodler.com
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Spark for the Fire Book
Read this book to help you think more creatively. 2
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Chris: “I read this book a while back and fully recommend it. It’s about the power of youthful thinking – how most of us are on auto pilot most of the time in how we tackle tasks, we’re risk averse and that stops us from being creative.” www.ianwharton.com
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Cat and Printer
Simon: “It’s a classic but always makes me smile!” www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSK1D3bZhRs
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Google Design
Well worth a look. Dave: “As so many people use Google, it’s worth taking a look at this as what they are doing is going to influence a lot of shit – both off and online.” www.toast.tips/google-design-well-worth-a-look 3 8
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Yoast
Visually direct and captivate your visitors. Laila: “An interesting blog from Yoast. Watch the second clip, did you see it? I didn’t!” www.yoast.com/visual-attention
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A Droid a Day
Chris: “Love this guys illustrations style, ideas and dedication to draw a Droid a day for his blog.”
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www.adroidaday.tumblr.com
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The Shock of the Fall
Laila: “I’ve just finished reading this really great book by Nathan Filer. Written by a mental health nurse from the patients point of view, it’s a really good read!” www.nathanfiler.co.uk 5
Team instagrams of the month
4 / AUGUST 2014 / SLICE
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8 A ‘floating’ billboard that is capable of absorbing pollutants from a river.
Chris: “This is a great idea – solving two problems at the same time. A perfect example of creative thinking pushing the boundaries and doing some good.” www.fastcocreate.com/3031514/this-floatingbillboard-is-cleaning-up-a-polluted-river-inmanila?partner=rss
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New Creative Tools on Instagram.
Some great new tools and filters on Instagram. Laila: “We love Instagram – who doesn’t!” www.blog.instagram.com/post/87703266532/ new-creative-tools
10 SEO mistakes to avoid During Your Next Website Redesign Article courtesy of www.hubspot.com
1. NOT THINKING
ABOUT SEO FROM THE START
2. NOT DOING
AN AUDIT OF YOUR EXISTING SITE
3. FAILING TO IDENTIFY
(AND INCLUDE) COMMONLY SEARCHED KEYWORDS
4. NOT SETTING UP 301 REDIRECTS
5. FAILING TO
CONSIDER YOUR URL STRUCTURE
6. LEAVING SHADY BACKLINKS IN PLACE
7. NOT IMPLEMENTING RESPONSIVE DESIGN
8. FORGETTING TO UNBLOCK SEARCH ENGINES FROM CRAWLING YOUR SITE
9. FORGETTING TO
ADD ANALYTICS TRACKING TO YOUR SITE
10.FAILING TO THINK LIKE A HUMAN
SOME OF OUR RECENT WEB WORK:
www.lovekeepcreate.co.uk
www.racheljeffrey.co.uk
www.oxfordcomputergroup.com
www.bluestarleasing.com
www.cleanmyteeth.co.uk SLICE / August 2014 / 5
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1. The Brief
ie al br
n nter The i
f
2. Ideas
and paper) (we start with pens
How We created SLICE
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3. Development and planning
(once the direction is agreed only then do we jump on the mac)
r Bette • Make
p o • Devel e • Revis
SOME OF OUR RECENT PRINT WORK:
THE Art Curator 8 / AUGUST 2014 / SLICE
Kohler
Barnsbury Apartments
Love Art fair
Housing for women
Play England
If you always do what you’ve always done you’ll always get what you’ve always got Henry Ford (1863-1947)
Need Strategic Thinking or just a common sense approach? At Toast we do both.
www.toastdesign.co.uk/ strategy-and-planning
SLICE / August 2014 / 9
IF toast did...
This the first of the “If Toast Did.....” projects. Where we feature a “made-up” product to show our creativity and passion to create something different to the norm that is out there, have some fun, do what we want, with very little restrictions but show our thirst for the IDEA. For this one we have branded and labelled a fictional British Spirits brand. Tooley’s Premium British Vodka. Designed by Andy Illingworth, Junior Designer at Toast.
...a spirits brand
3. FINAL Logo and Bottle Cap
1. Ideas and concepts:
C17,M83,Y98,K7 R194,G66,B27 C0,M0,Y0,K0 R255, G255,B255 C8,M23,Y25,K86 R65,G56,B50 Bottle Cap
C17,M83,Y98,K7 R19 C0,M0,Y0,K0 R255, G C8,M23,Y25,K86 R65 Bottle Cap
4. FINAL bottle DESIGN:
2. DEVELOPMENT: The brave look for the unexpected
Oxfordshire Vodka
Premium Oxfordshire Vodka
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PRINT IS
DEAD?
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*Well welcome to heaven. If various sources are to be believed, then print has been ringing the death knoll for years! Here at Toast we have been creating exciting and innovative print, in every possible format, since 1997 and we haven’t seen any death throes! That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been change though, we have led the way in evolving print, continuously using advances in paper, inks and processes to ensure we stay brave and push the boundaries of what can be achieved. It was this passion to evolve the possibilities of print that led to Toast applying their years of experience in creating design solutions for print to interactive PDF’s – the next step in print evolution. We believe this was the right way around – it’s essential for the design fundamentals to be done properly rather than being driven by technical advances. A beautifully designed brochure or piece of print will only improve when interaction is incorporated rather than the technology trying to make up for bad design. Talk to Toast today to see how we could help you take advantage of the latest technology available to you. Check out our blog for further information www.toastdesign.co.uk/pdf-brochures
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Contact us
Toast Design 16 North Bar, Banbury Oxon, OX16 0TF Call: 01295 266644 Email: hello@toastdesign.co.uk www.toastdesign.co.uk facebook.com/wearetoast twitter.com/toastdesign