eatsleepblog

Welcome To The New eatsleepthink Blog

Hi there my name is Matt and I am the new blogger for eatsleepthink

I have now been working at eatsleepthink design limited for 5 weeks. I have already been given free reign of the eatsleepthink blog. As I am new to this I am feeling a little apprehensive and nervous at the moment about what you the readers will think to my blogging skills. Hopefully I will not disappoint! Over the coming weeks and months during a cool period in the studio I will be online putting across the points of view of not only myself but my colleagues at eatsleepthink Mike Marshall (the boss) and Gary Jones. I will be blogging about all kinds of topics ranging from the latest events across the world as well as more local community based topics. Who knows I may even give you lot an insight into our little world, that is eatsleepthink!

 

Matt

FASTRACK for Dow Coating Materials

Last month saw a the studio of eatsleepthink design in Sheffield producing a range of materials for Dow Coating Materials for their attendance at the ATSSA Convention and Traffic Expo in Phoenix, Arizona between the 13th-17th February 2011. FASTRACK is the name for Dow Coating Materials' road marking technology and they have recently produced a new resin to go into the FASTRACK technology which reduces the reliance on ingredients such as TiO2 and Latex which are less sustainable resources and this was being showcased at the ATSSA Convention for which we produced the materials for. Therefore we received a brief from Dow Coatings Materials for a splash design similar to Four pillars splashes campaign linked to my article here, however tied in with the usage of the FASTRACK technology which is road markings. Here is the splash design what we came up with which was used throughout most of the materials.

The first image above is the splash itself which was produced initially, after feedback and proofing this was the final design which was signed off. We were now able to implement our Route 66 Splash design into throughout the materials for the show including the above which when printed was a 2ft x 3ft board to promote a survey for customers to complete and that they would have the chance of winning a 16GB Apple i-Pad. For emphasis we used the green colour from the FASTRACK logo on the main details of the board to catch peoples attention that they could win a Apple i-Pad.

Also here is the FASTRACK E-Blast which was emailed to all of Dow's relevant clients and associates and is informing them where to find Dow Coatings Materials at the show, directs them to their website for further information and also introduces the FASTRACK technology to the show and gives a brief explanation to the reader of what benefits the new technology brings to the road markings world. Below this is a web banner which would have been used on a website as a advert and a click through to receive more information on the FASTRACK product.

I hope you like the designs of the materials and also think that the splash design works well.

Matt

Osprey Tour Bus

One of our more unique jobs going through the studio a short while ago was for one of our clients Osprey Packs, who are a backpack production company. The agenda behind the tour bus was for them to push themselves out into other markets in particular mountain bikers, cyclists. In the past Osprey have solely focused around the climbing and mountaineering sector, which has always been a reflection on the quality and robustness of the backpacks that they produce. Therefore eatsleepthink design were set out with a brief for us to produce a graphic design to go on the supplied bus. This should focus around the fact that the tour bus would be touring many cyclist sites across the UK, therefore we produced graphics which focused around the backpack with colour flowing from the backpacks creating the effect of cyclist moving whilst also giving us the opportunity to add some colour into the design. This can been seen throughout the graphics of the Osprey Tour Bus, as displayed below.

I'm sure you will agree that this looks great and that the graphics detail everything needed and meet the brief set out by Osprey without going over the top and filling the bus with too much information or imagery. We were really pleased with the results of this project and really enjoyed the opportunity to produce something at the forefront of our clients new business venture.

We would love to hear what you think of this, and maybe you have seen this driving around or parked up at a cyclist attraction somewhere in the UK.

Matt

Wiseman Milk Supports Volunteering Week

A couple of weeks ago saw the annual running of Volunteers Week by Volunteering England where everyone is encouraged to do their bit and help out in the local community by Volunteering a few hours of their time. This is an excellent cause and helps many people and communities in general, this is why Wiseman Milk felt it necessary to support Volunteers Week by offering space on the print on their milk bottles. Here is the artwork on the milk bottles below promoting Volunteers Week 2011.

The milk was actually produced like this and on the shelfs for two weeks, the week of Volunteers Week (1-7 June) and also the week before. Although we didn't actually produce the artwork on the labels, we have produced other documents for it as requested by Volunteering England and have been involved in developing Volunteers Week. Therefore we were very pleased with how this turned out as we felt the look of the label artwork did the importance of the event justice.

If you bought one of these bottles of milk we'd love to hear from you.

Matt

A Chameleon of a Logo

This is a really quite unique logo which eatsleepthink have been recently working on for a new consultancy agency set up by Rob Jackson (indicated by the logo) who has just recently left the a third sector business to set up his own business and now have the opportunity to pass on his wide range of knowledge of all aspects in business. Rob Jackson is not limited to certain sectors or areas of business and can adapt his consultancy to fit any business across the country. This we felt was the ideal opportunity to create a different logo which is eye catching and not in the run of the mill logo's which just blends in with all other logo's. Here is the logo designed for Rob Jackson, hopefully this logo will bring great success to his business.

The idea behind the Chameleon was that we believe it is a well renowned fact the Chameleon's are one of a few animals on the planet who are able to adapt themselves to their surrounds, so that they perform at their optimum best. This is therefore the message which we want the logo to relay to customers of Rob Jackson without them having to actually speak with or receive any information from Rob.

Please let us know what you think of the logo and maybe we can produce another logo shortly featuring another animal of the planet.

Matt

European Coatings Show Final Day Video

How time flies it doesn't seem two minutes since we were in the full flow of the European Coatings Show in Germany, but it is actually now six days since the close of the Show and you still haven't had opportunity to see the final video from the Show. As I knew you'd be eagerly anticipating the arrival of the video from the Friday the 1st April (April Fool's of which I am not ashamed to say was one of the victims) I couldn't keep you waiting any longer. If you've not yet seen the videos I uploaded last week please follow this link to the first few videos from the ECS and therefore giving you the full experience of Dow at the European Coatings Show and much of the work which we produced for them. Here is Day 3 from the European Coatings Show 2011.

 

Well that's it, the last video from the European Coatings Show. It feels like quite a momentous occasion for us as by the end of the Show last week and throughout this week we've had nothing but great feedback on the Show as a whole and what an amazing experience it was to take part in. So it feels really quite special to everyone at eatsleepthink to have been involved in creating this event for Dow, it's just a shame that we didn't get a trip to Germany to experience the atmosphere for ourselves but you can't ask for everything, plus who would have been here to update you with the latest videos if we'd have been in Germany.

I hope you have enjoyed watching all of the videos uploaded from the European Coatings Show and welcome any comments you may have for us.

Matt

European Coatings Show Youtube Videos

Over the last month or so the studio of eatsleepthink design agency has been at its top capacity and as we say it was all hands to the pump for us to produce almost everything in a design aspect of the Dow stand at the European Coatings Show which is being currently held at the moment in Nuremburg, Germany. We were asked to produce graphics that showed how all five of the different Dow team's are all linked together, we produced a Flow design which as the name indicates is a graphic which creates a flow effect and is made from different images from the five different Dow teams, to tie them together and show that together Dow advance. Not only did we produce this artwork but also the Mind Map of Dow which features on one main wall, this led to us also producing the designs and layouts of three of the five individual booths with the posters.

 

This video is for Dow Coating Materials and is a video that invites customers to visit Dow Coating Materials whilst at the European Coatings Show, but with a slight twist of creativity in it whereby the Splashes artwork we created a few months ago is made into an animation, bringing the paint splashes to life, to jog your memory here is a link to the Splashes Campaign artwork.

 

The video above was shot the day before the show started therefore giving a better view of the stand itself compared to when the ECS is in full swing and packed with people wanting to speak with Dow.

The next video is from day 1 of the European Coatings Show where it was already clear that the stand and Dow were making a big impact at ECS. In this video you will see many of the graphics on the walls that we have produced for Dow as I talked about at the top of the page.

 

And finally for the moment we have the video filmed on day two of the Show (Wednesday 30th March). Once again this will allow you to see much of the work that eatsleepthink have produced for the five different teams of Dow to present themselves to their customers.

 

We are now in the final day of the show and all the feedback that has been received has been very positive so therefore we are looking forward to seeing the final day's video. Please check back soon as I shall also be uploading this video in a new blog once it is ready.

We hope that you like the graphics on the stand.

Matt

10th Anniversary for SVW

Who's SVW you may ask. Well its not the nickname of a person if thats what you are wondering, SVW is a strand of Volunteering England after originally being launched in 2001 to encourage students to do good work for and get involved with their local community throughout the Student Volunteering Week. The latest document that eatsleepthink design agency based in our studio in Sheffield is the Student Volunteering Week History Document, which as you may have gathered from the documents name is a document which runs over the details of the important moments in the history of the Student Volunteering Week since it was set up in 2001. Here is the front page design of the document which is based on the usual Volunteering England style and branding also with the main colour of VE orange being used. Here is the front cover design.

 

You will however note that despite as I just said above the VE orange colour being the main colour used there is, also the use of the light blue colour as per the colour of the SVW logo seen above on the front. The use of this light blue is implemented as per the guidelines for the use of the colour throughout any document that refers to the Student Volunteering Week.

Finally here are a couple more pages of the document just for show, as I do recognise that these are pretty similar. Therefore this actually shows how through the production of brand guidelines by a design agency like ourselves can create a document that keeps its identity throughout despite different pages having different amounts of copy and more or less illustrations/images. As I am not a designer I hope I am actually correct in what I am saying here, I am reasonably confident as I do seem to actually be able to pick up small details whilst in the studio.

Well once again I hope you like what we have created for Volunteering England, and if you have any comments they are welcome.

Matt

Is It Mi Book's Website or Yours?

No it's Sheffield Futures' website, it's not eatsleepthink's or mine or indeed yours. Last week we got the go ahead to launch the Mi Book website which is essentially the electronic version of the Mi Book that we produced last year for Sheffield Futures. The Mi Book was launched as a pocket sized document that young people (under 18's) could get there hand's on to help them through any possible problem that they may have in their life (well not every but a large percentage). When we produced the Mi Book itself I did blog about this at the time click on this link to look back at this. Following this it has taken a while but we have now got this up and running online where the site visitor can read the book through an online flipbook or alternatively the whole Mi Book can be downloaded. The design of the website to keep continuity is very similar to the actual printed Mi Book itself, we have grouped together a large number of what we call YOUP's or Mi Book characters, without making it clutted. So that you actually have an idea what I am babbling on about please following this link to http://www.getconnectedsheffield.com/mibook/. Or if you just want a quick look at the site layout etc here is a screen shot of the site which I am proud to say I did myself!

 

So there's a couple a pages of the site, hope you like. If you've actually visited the site you should have hopefully used either the flipbook facility which actually makes it look like you are turning the page over with the curvature of the page, it really is quite cool. If you didn't check this out you really should. Or you may have downloaded it which will enable you to now do whatever you would like with this i.e. print it out yourself.

As always I welcome any comments on our work.

Matt

A few changes at eatsleepthink

During the prolonged period of inactivity here before my blog about computer design in 1984 yesterday, there have been quite a number of changes in this Sheffield based design agency. After coming back from the Christmas and New Year holidays it seems like we have grown so much as a business. Due to the work that we were getting through Mike (Managing Creative Director) felt it was time to bring in another member of the eatsleepthink team, in the form of Brad. This now brings me onto the very sad note that the Three Musketeers are now officially at an end. On a more positive note it has been noted that we can reform as the Fantastic Four which is even better as now we all have our own supernatural powers. Another change during this time is that is that I have now fully completed my apprenticeship which means that thankfully Mike felt I had become a part of the team at eatsleepthink and that I was worthy of becoming a fully fledged employee, which of course I am extremely happy about and hopefully you are too as your wouldn't have had my blog to fill your days with a bit of humor and information at the same time. Due to these changes it was also felt that the titles of Mike and Gary needed to change. Therefore if I ever now refer to our Managing Creative Director this is Mike and Art Director is now Gary's new title whilst Brad is a Creative Artworker. 

I will shortly have some new pieces for you to view as we have been creating some lovely pieces of work recently and it is a while since I last did a post about some eatsleepthink work.

Matt

Rolf Harris Demonstrates Graphic Design in 1984

Trawling around the BBC news website last week Gary (Art Director) found this astonishing and quite unbelievable video of computer design on a Commodore 64 in 1984. This video of Rolf Harris Demonstrating Graphic design on a computer in 1984 is certainly a massive eye opener for in particular Gary and Brad who are two of the younger Graphic Designer's for eatsleepthink. They have not really experienced software and computers so deprecated and unsophisticated as this. This is the link to the video on youtube, once you've seen this I'm sure you will know what I mean. The host on this program seems absolutely amazed at the character drawing that Rolf Harris is able to create here, but for everyone in this design agency in Sheffield we can't quite believe looking at this how much computer graphic design has progressed in a quarter of a century. Although I must point out that I do love the 

I will be happy to hear what you think of this.

Matt