A well deserved congratulations to Oviso… who’ve just been named as Best Protection Intermediary in the UK. The award (from the Financial Times Adviser Magazine) is added to their ‘Highly Commended’ nomination at the Health Insurance Awards and their title of ‘Most Promising New Business’ at the Derbyshire Chamber of Commerce Awards. Something tells me Sarah, Lee, Matt & the team may need a new shelf!

A couple of Sundays back, I headed over to the V&A in London to have a look at their latest exhibition; British Design: 1948–2012. The exhibition showcases some of the most exciting and cutting edge creative work from across the design spectrum throughout the past 60 years.

The exhibition takes a rather general look at all creative disciplines, from a room filled with how computer game design has developed since the 1970s (that includes Derby’s very own Lara Croft), video footage from the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, to Damien Hirst’s Pharmacy Restaurant from Notting Hill (which for saying how short-lived the venture was, it got allocated a great deal of floor space!)

For those more drawn to the graphic design element, Design Research Unit and their impact of transport design in the early 1960s and Peter Saville/Factory Records iconic music sleeve design in the late early 1980s are notable inclusions.

Whether you’re professionally engaged in the design community or not, I’d recommend this exhibition to anybody. There is plenty to inspire, excite and question – though It does get particularly busy at weekends. Get yourself along… you’ve got until the 12th August!

The Global Technology Cluster will become a world class showcase for the UK in the support of open innovation practices and their commercialisation within the automotive, rail and aerospace sectors.  The GTC board comprises of Derby City Council, the University of Derby, research intense Universities, the site developers and client companies.  The brochure will be used to help promote the site, generate more interest and bring more innovation into Derby.

Our client Boxframe have just taken delivery of their new business cards. The cards are duplexed with GFSmith ColorPlan Dark Grey and Factory Yellow to create a stunning first impression.  We have already re-designed the Boxframe logo, letterheads, CD’s and compliment slips and a new website is in development due for release very soon.

National marketing magazine The Drum has featured our project for Nestle UK.  The project completed in 2011 featured a set of materials including brochure, invites and mini site to attract developers to bid for the site.

We were really happy with this project and it’s great to have it featured in such a well recognised industry magazine.

We have been working with local artist Paul Cummins to develop an identity for himself and his art.  Paul will be producing Around 15,000 hand-thrown ceramic blooms to create a quintessentially English flower garden at locations around the country including Chiswick House and Gardens, House of Commons and the Southbank Centre.

Paul Cummins is a Midlands-based ceramic fine artist with a fast-developing reputation. He is known for his distinctive landscape installations and traditional earthenware pans. His work features exuberant flower glazes and the signature flower heads and vessels are reminiscent of ceramics from the Mediterranean.

You can find out more about his work on the london 2012 site.

The Revolver Revolver studio have been working closely with sculptor Louise Plant an Elected Associate of the Royal British Society of Sculptors and recipient of the prestigious Brian Mercer Award, to develop a visual identity that will help her publicise her unique sculpture all over the world.

Creating a logo for an individual presents unique challenges as the work becomes incredibly personal, while also needing to represent the completed, current and future works that wil be produced.  We spent a day with Louise and her team talking about her work and taking a trip to her rural studio to get a real grip of how we would present this in a graphical format.

The result is a strikingly simple shape constructed in very definitive angles and treated in classical black and white, which won’t detract from her sculpture but adds value and creates a starting point for us to develop her marketing materials.

You can see more of Louise Plants work at www.louiseplant.com

DG Scott are a steel fabrication and engineering company based in Alfreton, Derbyshire. Working in collaboration with fellow Friar Gate Studios tenants Essential Marketing Solutions, we are giving DG Scott a new identity, design strategy and approach to their marketing materials. DG Scott’s new identity is a perfect fit for their industry, and a design we’re proud to have produced. As you can see from the before shot, their old logo was tired, and just not up to the job. We’ve simplified the design, and given it a feel that more than fits their needs and target market.

Boxframe Motion Design are an internationally-renowned team of video and animation designers. We have been working with the Derby-based team on a new identity, stationery set & website (due early 2012). We’re pretty chuffed with the result, and literally cannot wait for the full website launch!

If you have noticed an increase in the amount of people growing a moustache lately, don’t worry, its not the latest trend, the month of November has been dedicated to moustache growing by the charity Movember.

It’s a great cause and we have taken part in the efforts this year along with several tenants at the place we call home Friar Gate Studios.  You can view our weekly progress at cactusimages.com/movember where fellow tenants Cactus Images have been snapping everyones progress.

To date we have raised £962 in 18 days which is a sterling effort, however if you want to sponsor us you can find our pages at mobro.co/chrisrevolver and movember.com/m/1280834

Some words from the Movember page about the cause; The funds raised in the UK support the number one and two male specific cancers – prostate and testicular cancer. The funds raised are directed to programmes run directly by Movember and our men’s health partners, The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together, these channels work together to ensure that Movember funds are supporting a broad range of innovative, world-class programmes.