Identica and product design and development consultancy Hyphen have formed a collaborative partnership to proactively explore new ways of developing brands and products, both for their existing client base and to look at generating their own product and brand IP.

Where existing clients of either agency are interested in exploring new areas and potential product and brand innovation, each agency will assist the other in bringing new ideas to launch. In addition the two agencies are exploring ways in which they can develop their own IP, which they will then either bring to market themselves or sell on to interested third parties.

Each agency will retain its independence of the other and there is no exchange of equity involved in the arrangement.

Commenting on the move, Richard Morris, Managing Director of Identica said:

“I’m continually getting asked by Venture Capital companies we work with what other ideas we have – and I wanted to be able to give them some concrete answers. Working with Hyphen, we’ll be able to start putting practical proposals together for developing new brands and products, as well as offering our client base the opportunity to develop new ideas. It’s an area rich in potential for us as well as a chance to show that we can not only talk the talk, but also that we walk the walk.”

Mike Elam, joint owner of Hyphen added…

“We’re very excited to be working with such a like-minded agency. We are actively building a collaborative network of like-minded associates who all play a part in bringing great products and great ideas to market, and we feel a tremendous fizz with Identica. Watch this space. I’m sure there’ll be some innovation sparks flying.”

The two agencies have agreed to start work with one existing client immediately on brainstorming new ideas and will be announcing further initiatives shortly.

Visit hyphendesign.com >

Identica has hired Giles Hardy as its new Head of 3D Creative as it continues to cement its credentials in 3D design.

Hardy has over 15 years experience creating brand related consumer experiences across a broad range of sectors including retail, exhibition, hospitality and workplace environments in the UK and internationally.

Previously holding Design Director positions at Fitch and most recently Household, Hardy has worked closely with Identica’s Creative Director Sam Stone on numerous branding and retail projects. He has worked with clients as diverse as Tesco, Harrods, STA Travel and Vodafone.

Commenting on the move, Richard Morris, Managing Director of Identica said:

“Identica has a rich history in 3D design and we are currently working on projects with some of Britain’s largest retailers. I believe we have an opportunity with the team we are building at Identica to do something special in this field I wanted to ensure 3D had the best personal leadership. And Giles is certainly that”.

Sam Stone, Creative Director at Identica, says: “Giles is a true 3D specialist who loves form, structure, product, environment and experience. He undoubtedly understands how brands can come to life within their environment and his retail knowledge will bring an exciting new dimension to our agency”.

Giles Hardy added “I’m particularly excited with the opportunity of developing another discipline within the Identica offer. It’s a great chance for us to create holistic 2D-3D experiences for our clients across a wide range of sectors. I thrive on the idea of scale, taking a brand or proposition or idea across many different formats”

Identica is delighted to confirm that John Wigham is joining the agency as a Design Director, as Creative Director Sam Stone continues to bring exciting new creative talent into the agency.

With over 10 years experience in the design industry, John has been building corporate brands across a wide range of sectors with a specialism in lifestyle and fashion brands, including the design of a new Umbro kit for the England team.  John’s 360 degree approach to branding will be invaluable to Identica.

John joins Identica from the boutique design agency, Design Friendship, where his work for a new premium artisan absinthe was awarded 3 golds across a range of awards.

Sam Stone, Creative Director at Identica, says: “John’s arrival bolsters our continuing commitment to employing highly creative and conceptual designers into our growing studio.  John is a multi-talented creative thinker who will strengthen our offer with our clients and within the agency”

Identica has created the designs for the PIP Kids range of chilled organic drinks for children.

The work follows Identica’s rebrand of the PIP Organic range last year.

Identica says it developed the designs around the concept of ‘good, fruity fun’.

The consultancy has retained the pip logo window from the parent brand and introduced a series of ‘cheeky’ characters and bright colours.

Identica creative director Sam Stone says, ‘Our aim was to create a playful, slightly mischievous design that would appeal to kids, while simultaneously reassuring parents about the quality of the product.’

Pip Kids is available in three different flavours and is going on-shelf this week.

Which?, Europe’s largest consumer organisation, is to begin rolling out a new logo and visual identity system, developed by Identica.

Identica were tasked with creating a visual identity which spans across the many activities Which? deliver for all consumers, helping to bring the organisation together in one brand identity. This diverse set of activities includes anything from expert product testing and campaigning right through to publishing and personalised advice services. The brief was to create a stronger and more modern visual identity that increases Which?’s brand stature but is also flexible and adaptable enough for them to present their many products and services both online and offline, now and in the future.

In a world where consumers are overwhelmed by choice and where so much ‘helpful’ information can actually be biased or misleading Which? has never been more relevant. Working with Which? Identica’s aim was to create a visual identity system that shows Which? can rise above a constant torrent of information and through its publications, advice services and campaigns can deliver information and guidance that make consumers lives easier and better, both now and in the future.

This work follows on from brand language guidelines developed by Quietroom in 2011 which defined a new tone of voice and communications style for Which?. By combining the language guidelines with the new visual identity Which? hopes to build a stronger, more impactful voice with consumers, colleagues and key opinion formers.

Chris Gardner, Commercial Director at Which?, said: “Which? already has a strong brand, but we need to keep it fresh and relevant for all our audiences. It’s important to have a coherent visual identity across all our communications, whether it’s to our members, members of the public, politicians, or businesses.”

Sam Stone, Creative Director at Identica, said: “Our approach was to add impact, modernity and relevance to the Which? brand by creating a visual identity system that helps distinguish the organisation from the torrent of information available and strengthen their position as the consumer champion, committed to unbiased advice”

Philip Clarke, Tesco’s chief executive, has already drawn up plans for bringing the shoppers back.  Clarke’s vision is a Tesco that offers value, friendlier, more attentive service and an enjoyable shopping environment. “It’s when you go into the store and it’s got very clear pricing, a great range and good presentation. It should make you feel warmer,” said Clarke.

Tesco’s new look store at Tooley Street, near London Bridge

Leading branding agency Identica has launched a new website for the innovative cleaning and household products company Ecozone.

Ecozone was born of a desire to help reduce consumption of environmentally damaging products by promoting more earth-friendly alternatives.  Its product portfolio includes a full range of washing and drying consumables, cleaning products and other quirky and innovative household gadgets.

The new design and build of the website capture’s the brands positioning of ‘Make your home an Ecozone’ and the overall effect combines utilitarian style and a playful attitude. Identica wanted to create a website that is friendly, challenges the category norms and perceptions of Eco-FMCG and tells the Ecozone story, whilst at the same time be intuitive, informative and helpful on a functional level.

This work follows the recent brand overhaul by Identica that included positioning, visual identity and design of a sustainable packaging solution across a range of 28 SKU’s.

The new website launches this week.

Sam Stone, Creative Director at Identica, said: “We have really enjoyed working with our Ecozone team. They have been bold and brave in pushing for a change in perception in this category. Our approach breaks with the traditional cues of green leafs and craft paper and proves that you can be eco-friendly and stylish”.

Simeon Van der Molen, Managing Director, Ecozone, said: “Our plan was to carry over the synergy of the iconic brand design and ‘make it happen’ on the website. Following our success with Identica on the brand packaging, we reunited with the team to create a stylish and modern site that visually translates the Ecozone tone of voice. We are delighted with the result.”

A remedy for January blues and a New Year’s Resolution

A recent design industry survey suggested that many agencies feel their clients not only want more work for less money but perhaps more concerning for us creative types is that they also appear to want much safer design solutions as well. These are solutions that won’t cause too many difficult conversations within the business nor do they result in additional challenges over and above those dealt with day to day. We all know that safer solutions will not enhance, our own or indeed our client’s reputations and that ‘safe’ will ultimately not make the world a more interesting place to live.

It all seems a little depressing but it is against this backdrop that I can’t help thinking we all need to dig deeper and push ourselves to create braver, more perception changing work. This in turn will open all of our minds to possibilities, to encourage bravery, freedom of expression and wonder in our everyday work.

At Identica we have recently taken the view that laughter may be the call to action that we all need and of course a really good remedy for our January blues. We recently hosted an Improvised Comedy training session with a well-known scriptwriter and comedian. Improvised Comedy can simply be about making someone laugh, smile, or to stop and notice the world around them. Done well, it can move an audience and change your life.

Our host showed us how to transform daily experiences into amazing stories. Very quickly we were all firing off a rapid series of one-liners that built into totally unpredictable stories with hilarious results. He reminded us how to open our minds and allow the creativity of thought to flow, to think laterally not literally and to say ‘Yes And’ to each other rather than ‘Yes But’. We were encouraged to use our natural intuitive thinking, to listen, to trust and to allow our imagination to wonder. Most importantly it taught us not to ‘block’. When you censor yourself and others, fresh ideas struggle to happen.

In short, it was brilliant and it was just what we all needed – an enlightening session on communication and ideas through comedy where the original, the stimulating and the memorable happened spontaneously with no constraint or judgment.

And so to our own New Years Resolution, despite the doom and gloom and against the backdrop of uncertain times and decreasing budgets we will continue to push ourselves and challenge our clients to be braver this year, to improvise with our ideas and thinking and make sure we can all having some fun whilst doing it.

So when you next sit down at your Mac remember these wise words from Jean Houston .… ‘At the height of laughter, the universe is flung in to a kaleidoscope of new possibilities’ ….. and boldly go forth into a colourful and fresh 2012.

17 October 2011| Franco Bonadio

It’s official. The banking revolution’s underway. George Osborne has said so. The angry mob (us) smell blood and this time we want justice and nothing short of a revolution will do.  Deep down however, we fear we’ve heard it all before. Sure the banks and bankers get a ‘public’ slap but as changes to banking practices become drawn out, the ‘big idea’ is inevitably watered down and when (finally) put into practice, we (still the angry mob) won’t feel or notice a thing.

To their credit, they have tried hard to change the way they present themselves.  We have banks promising to be more helpful, banks trying to be warm and wise and banks trying to be funny (ish), but are they fundamentally changing? Great brands are built on truth and trust and we can be forgiven for not trusting and believing the banks right now as no matter how good the promise, if it is not born out of the behaviour of the organisation, it is worth nothing.

So why don’t we switch banks? We know why we don’t (and they know too).  Because it’s too much hassle and we think there is very little to differentiate them anyway. Which is a terrible indictment for banks to have labelled against them.  Same banks, different logos.

So we stick to the devil we know and spread negativity at every opportunity.  Hardly brand building stuff.

Is there another way (to paraphrase one bank’s promise)?   Of course there is.  First Direct proved that 20 years ago when they launched and they continue to be the bank that inspires genuine, emotional loyalty. I count myself as one of their fans.  I actually hear myself occasionally telling complete strangers that ‘I love my bank’.   I love First Direct because it tries to look at the world from my point of view.   I want simplicity and I get an online interface that is beautifully simple, plenty of white space, no shouty messages or annoying graphics trying to up-sell and no fiddly device to stick your card in.  The customer service is equally good.  There is no automated menu, you speak to a real person (hooray!) who is always delightful and will go out of their way to sort out your problem.   And they’ve kept it up for 20 years.  No clever reinventions, just a clear vision and a commitment to the customer.  Easy to say, hard to do.  Well done First Direct you deserve all the brand loyalty you get.

Interestingly this trend towards simplicity, plain speaking and giving the customer what they need is starting to manifest itself in a more graphic way.  Recently I bought a book called ‘Information is Beautiful’.  It followed an inspiring programme I watched on BBC 4 called The Joy of Stats by a Swedish chap called Hans Rosling. He’s sold his business to Google, I believe. Anyway, what it did was transform the way I think about numbers. It made them tangible and visible and articulated them beyond the spreadsheet which is a no brainer really. And I realised that this could transform the way we think about our money. Lloyds TSB has gone someway to exploring this notion with their online Money Manager tool. The idea being that if we can visualise money in simpler more meaningful ways, we will be in more control rather than the other way around. Taking this one step further, imagine a graphic diagram of a table with a variety of food on it symbolising the different things we spend our money on. Then imagine a hotdog representing the amount of food spent on eating out and an apple representing the money we spend on healthy food.  Big hot dog, small apple? I made that up obviously but I think we can see how data and information could be made more accessible, understandable and ultimately more manageable.   But maybe it’s all a bit too creative for some.   I admit I may not be your average banking consumer.. maybe I’m a bit too niche or arty?   They said that about Apple users of course. They said just nerdy designers use Macs and it would never catch on. I haven’t forgotten that.

So what about the mass market consumer? A mass brand like Tesco?  We know that £1 in every £8 is spent in their stores so that’s a lot of customers and I reckon they know a thing or two as to what the average consumer wants.  There has been much in the press recently about Tesco Bank and I can tell you I have seen the future of banking.   Here is an organisation that is built around the idea of ‘Every Little Helps’.  And while some may despair over Tesco’s taking over the world, the reality is they know what their customers want and customers appreciate it back with their loyalty.

So with Tesco Bank, what can you expect? Expect a bank that’s great with deals, expect convenience and expect Clubcard rewards. Expect to see simple information, friendly and helpful staff that knows the difference between the customer (you) and the service (them) they provide for us.  And expect them to be sticking to good old customer service and value.  It’s a quiet revolution and it might take a little while to get going.  But in a few years we will notice the rest of the banks have changed because of what Tesco’s did to their world.  For sure you know there will be no investment arm with champagne drinking-bankers to tarnish their image and take all our money and I don’t think they’ll need the government support to bale them out of trouble either.  Instead they have an enormous pool of customers whose trust they’ve already won and as long as they are adding value, expect the changes to reverberate around and change the banking industry for good.

Sometimes it takes an outsider to truly change the system.