We have just created the identity for edupics, a brand new subscription service aimed at the education sector. Over 500,000 rights-cleared images are available for teachers and academics to use in lessons, lectures and research. This content is categorised into ‘channels’, covering areas such as History, Art & Civilization and Science & Technology.

The identity needed to be simple and iconic, yet with the ability to convey a huge range of imagery in a visually ownable style. We also needed to find a way of catering for the different image ‘channels’ in a consistent way.

The answer was in the ‘e’. We took a 5×7 rectangle to represent an image, and using only two sizes, built a totally unique letterform. The resulting icon represents both the brand name and a collection of imagery, whilst also referencing education and e-learning.

The 'e' can then be populated with real imagery, with the content breaking out of the picture boxes in places for added dyanamism. We created four, one for each image channel. More 'e's will be created as the collection expands.

We can also zoom into the 'e', creating a huge variety of potential compositions. This allows for fresh and vibrant communications while maintaining brand consistency.

We were proud to see one of our start up brands from last year in pride of place on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth. Food IS art, it’s official.

Scratch are a great young company helping busy Londoners cook real food. Their meal boxes contain all the fresh ingredients you need to cook a fantastic meal… from scratch.

At the heart of the brand is the product, and we wanted to elevate the honest, fresh ingredients along with the brand name. To achieve this we built the identity around a simple idea: everything the company produces – from meals to business cards – comes ‘from scratch’.

On products this creates a useful double meaning. The description of the meal to be cooked ‘…from scratch’ simultaneously delivers the logo and the idea that this is a product from the Scratch brand.

Beyond the product the brand idea continues, injecting even corporate stationery with a touch of wit.

When is a business card not a business card? Answer – when it needs to be carried by a personal trainer.

Natalie Harman – Brandy’s official personal trainer (!) – gets all her new clients while she’s out training her existing ones, in the park or down the gym. So when designing her business cards we had to think a bit laterally. They needed to be carried easily by her and by those out running or working out. The silicone wristband was the perfect solution. All details are pressed into the bands and she can wear a wristful at any time, ready to hand over to prospective trainees.

Finally we asked the question, ‘If you were a colour, what would you be?’. ‘Black & white stripes with red lipstick’ was the answer. The rest was easy.

Ralph Pool Management is an up and coming music management business. They asked Brandy to create an identity that would reflect their deep knowledge of music heritage, with a contemporary twist.

The gem in this brief was the name – abbreviating to the fantastically appropriate acronym ‘RPM’. The vinyl record reference here (33rpm, 45rpm etc) was too good to ignore – the perfect symbol of music heritage.

The next step was to give the vinyl a contemporary edge. So we melted some old LPs in the oven and shot them with a great photographer to create a suite of abstract brand imagery. Vinyl reinvented.

Onto the logotype. We started with pure circles – to reflect the shape of records – and built the letterforms by changing as little as possible. The simpler the logo, the better.

Bring it all together and you have a powerful and distinct brand identity that works consistently across all media.

TalentMax is a talent retention consultancy – they help businesses identify and keep the talent in their workforce – ultimately creating leaner and more efficient organisations.

Our task was to help define what the brand stood for and to turn that into a powerful, cost-effective brand identity. Our answer was simple – what TalentMax really do is make companies fitter. By maximising talent, they reduce inefficiencies. They increase company muscle, which reduces the fat.

This idea gave us an ownable brand language system: “MAXIMUM abc / MINIMUM xyz”. While one thing goes up, another comes down. Visually this created a distinctly recognisable typographic world for the brand.

This brand mechanic also comes alive through motion graphics, as in this looping brand animation.

And finally for promotional merchandise the ‘organisational fitness’ idea translates nicely into personal fitness giveaways – again reinforcing the principle behind the brand. Overall the identity was hugely differentiating in the market and very cost-effective to roll out and keep fresh.

When creating the identity for this massage therapist we wanted to avoid all the graphic clichés associated with the market – candles, wavy lines, dreamy overlaid typography etc. Instead, we thought about the essential nature of massage therapy. It is a physical, tactile therapy that is purely about applying pressure to the body. Why not create an identity the same way?

All elements are simply pressed into rich, tactile material with a skin-like tone – a mirror of the massage itself. Nothing is printed.

We have designed and produced the Autumn / Winter 09 lookbooks for Damaris, the high-fashion lingerie house. Perfect bound and finished in ultra gloss to bring out the rich, evocative photography.

A functional buyers’ reference section occupies the second half, reproduced on contrasting paper stock to separate it from the fashion imagery.

What do you do with a database of 10,000 fax numbers? Use it and see what happens. We recently created this fax design for Blue Cherry Telecom to this very end, an interesting experiment if nothing else to test the effectiveness of this apparently obsolete route to market. And what happened? Get in touch and we’ll fax you the answer.