Margin London

Margin London

BRANDING, IDENTITY, LOGO, & GRAPHICS.

Started back in 2002 as an affordable tradeshow for new & young designers, Margin wanted a to update their branding in 2006 from the previously neutral beige palette to something more colourful to accurately reflect the diversity of clothing & accessories brands the show presented to buyers and press.

Margin London VennCMYK, the four key colours used when printing (Cyan Magenta, Yellow, and Black), were selected for their versatility and freshness along with the inspiration of pop-art, half-tone dots. Versatile and fresh when used online (the website & banner ads) and in print (invitations & magazine adverts), the branding has helped spread the word about the show and made it stand out on social media.

286Blue also designed the artwork for the promotional music CDs given to visitors of the exhibition. Artwork Record labels included Tru Thoughts, Catskills, Jalapeno Records, Ubiquity, and Nouvelle Vague.

Margin London

 

The original Margin logo, which was strong and instantly identifiable by previous visitors & exhibitors, was refreshed to reflect the brand update by replacing the solid drop-shadow shading with pop-art print-inspired dots, and a CMYK Venn diagram was appended to the logo. The Venn represents the cross-over opportunities the Margin tradeshow provides for buyers to interact with brands, brands with press, and press with buyers via the promotional shop tour videos.

Margin CDsThe clean palette of CMYK offered a striking and memorable identity that has proved to be enduring and timeless, as well as influential within the fashion industry (fashion trade magazine Drapers have adopted the CMYK palette for their 2012 redesign as well as using a CMYK Venn diagram, a mirror image of the one that 286Blue developed for the Margin logo, to punctuate the end of their feature articles).

 

WEBSITE.

The CMYK colour palette proved striking and effective on the Margin website. The memorable colours came into their own against the 4-colour dotted background, the strong headline font of Arial, and the stylish use of Georgia, normal & italics, as body text.

The layout of the website was redefined to make it intuitive to navigate, and update, so visitors could find the information they required as quick as possible, as well as get in touch easily with the show for information about exhibiting or visiting. Facebook “Like” and Twitter “Follow” buttons were added on every page to gather followers & fans, as well as “Share” buttons which have been well-used to spread the word about various pages or blog articles on Facebook, Twitter, or via email.

Pages were optimised to rank higher on search engines which resulted in an increase of enquiries and mailing list subscriptions after the striking redesign.

www.margin.tv

 

Margin Website
CONTENT.
Copywriting:

Margin London 10 Year Book286Blue helped Margin to set the relevant tone for all marketing materials, writing copy for all communications such as invitations and the exhibitor preview email newsletters. Professional yet sometimes irreverent to reflect the off-schedule nature of the event, the exhibitor preview email newsletters became eagerly anticipated by buyers and press as an indication of what to look forward to at the exhibition.

A major project that 286Blue wrote the copy for, as well as laying out the graphics for print, was the 10 Years of Margin London Book, a free publication distributed to press & buyers at the 10 Year edition of Margin in February 2012 as well as available for iPad from the Apple Bookstore. 286Blue designed and laid out the book, drawing on 10 years worth of information and photographs, as well as writing the content to convey the influence and effect the off-schedule trade event has had on the fashion industry.

Video:

Rather than producing a multitude of tradeshow videos, which are ultimately no more informative or engaging than a moving photograph with some backing music, Margin needed a more innovative way to feature video and interact with it’s audience of brands, buyers, and press.

As well as providing an affordable platform for independent new & young designers, the idea to help promote the core constituency of independent stores that regularly visit Margin was important.

Shop Tour Videos provided a window into diverse retail universes, from directional streetwear stores to elegant boutiques, and generated excitement amongst brands who could now see where their products were stocked (or where they wished them to be stocked) as well as helping to promote the boutiques themselves to consumers, via the Margin website, Facebook, YouTube, and Vimeo.

Savvy buyers from featured stores embedded the video on their website to give customers a taste of what their store has to offer. The Shop Tour videos were also featured on numerous blogs and websites, including Drapers, and shared heavily on Facebook & Twitter.

Block Headwear

Block Headwear

BRANDING, IDENTITY, LOGO, & GRAPHICS.

Established in May 2000 in New York, Block Headwear was aiming to fill an important niche in the accessory market with a unique take on men’s hats.

BLOCK HEADWEAR LOGOBlock Headwear outer B Woven Label286Blue named the brand, created the logo & graphic identity, and produced the initial website & catalogues for the first five years, ahead of the company’s acquisition by a larger corporation who wanted to buy into the strong brand that had established itself in stores such as Fred Segal, Nordstroms, Selfridges, Urban Outfitters, Beams, and many others globally, and was worn by celebrities (on and off duty) such as Will.i.am, Tom Cruise, and Will Smith.

Block Headwear Catalogue SS03Block, the name, is all about headwear & it’s location. A New York city block of course, and a hat-block: the name given to the piece of carved wood that hats are moulded around with steam to give their shape (they are “blocked”). The strong simple logo echoes the piece of wood that is used to produce the hats – an uncomplicated graphic that proved instantly recognisable in it’s simplicity and has endured for over a decade to date.

Block Headwear TrilbiesTo target the menswear market, 286Blue utilised a modern, masculine font that referenced varsity sports, and a clean & simple black & white scheme was used for the logo, swing-tags, and labelling. 286Blue created the artwork for the catalogue line-sheets (look-books) distributed to buyers and press, and graphics for advertising.

Block Headwear Inner Woven Label

CONTENT.

Copywriting:
286Blue assisted in the crafting of press releases and copy for other promotional materials to promote the brand across the UK, Europe, Japan, and the USA.

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Stradd

Stradd

BRANDING, WEBSITE & VIDEO CONTENT.

STRADD The indie shop search app for iPhone & iPadStradd is a mobile App for iPhone & iPad to help consumers find their nearest independent store and to help promote indie shops & boutiques. 286Blue named the new brand Stradd, essentially an abbreviation for STReet ADDress, created the brand identity, registered the domain and social network names, and hosted the site.

Stradd

Stradd is the first App of it’s kind to help consumers find their nearest independent streetwear store or stylish boutique. The App features information about stores, such as which brands are stocked, along with their address location in Maps, and incorporates the use of Store Tour Videos for App users to watch in-App.

Using a solid, streetwear-influenced font, the Stradd logo is authoritative and recognisable. A striking shade of turquoise blue was selected to help the App stand out in the populated App Store, and was used for all elements, such as the App itself, the website, banner ads, and printed promotional materials.

286Blue.com created the website and branding, as well as registering the domain name and hosting the site. The website is formatted differently for desktop and iPhone so it’s easier to navigate and read on mobile devices.

www.stradd.com

Mappliqué

Mappliqué

Mappliqué
A local artist commissioned 286Blue to produce the brand identity, logo, and website for their new range of wall art. Mappliqué handcrafts maps from fabrics which are available as original fabric artworks as well as reproduction giclée prints.

286Blue created a logo with art-deco and “Ordnance Survey” influences to reflect the map background of the project and used a vintage-style functional typewriter font that referenced maps of the 1930s and the hand-made nature of the maps.

286Blue created a clean and stylish online store in classic black & white, with soft greys, which allows the colourful artwork to stand out as the star of the website. The web store is responsive, which means the layout adjusts to the size of the device the site is viewed on, to look good on all screens, from smartphones and tablets to desktops and laptops.

www.Mapplique.com

Mappliqué  website by 286blue

Corrigan Jewellery

Corrigan Jewellery

Corrigan Jewellery
An independent jeweller with a background in antiques commissioned 286Blue to create their new brand identity, as well as an online store to house their growing collection of fine antique and vintage jewellery.

Corrigan Jewellery website & Branding by 286blue286Blue created an elegant logo that reflects the luxurious curves of fine jewellery with a gold coat of arms to impart experience and authority.

286Blue produced a signature palette of battleship grey with touches of gold for use on stationery, business cards, and online, where elegant fonts are used in print and throughout the site to compliment the luxury offering.

286Blue assisted in securing Corrigan Jewellery’s presence on social networks as well as creating a compliant mailing list to gather subscribers via the website and Facebook.

286Blue created a clean and stylish online store with a responsive layout, which means the site adjusts to the size of the device it’s viewed on, to look good on all screens, from smartphones and tablets to desktops and laptops.

www.CorriganJewellery.com

Corrigan Jewellery website & Branding by 286blue

AllGoodStore.com

AllGoodStore.com

BRANDING & WEBSITE.

AllGoodStore.com

A contemporary online store, AllGoodStore.com is a clean & simple e-commerce site that allows the product to take centre-stage. 286Blue.com created the website and branding, as well as registering the domain name and hosting the site.

Reflecting the current need for online stores to highlight specific products or brands, the home page of the site displays a large slider as well as smaller display graphics to drive shoppers quickly to the promoted items.

AllGoodStore.com iPhoneWith the use of a mobile stylesheet, the website displays differently on mobile devices such as the iPhone, to enable better navigation and see the products more clearly without having to zoom in and out. Visit www.AllGoodStore.com on your computer and then your iPhone to see the difference.

Shoppers can browse by brand, Latest Goods, or product categories such as Accessories or Clothing, All Good Store is a stylish webstore with integrated shopper accounts, newsletter sign-ups, and quick share buttons on product pages (so shoppers can share items they like on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus, and email).

286Blue can create an online store similar to AllGoodStore.com that can be customised with your branding, colours & logo (or we can help you to create these if you don’t have an established brand identity in place). Based on easily update-able software, adding a new product is as simple as writing an email and attaching a photograph.

The administration section of the online store provides all the information you would need to add products, track orders, stock, and site visitor numbers, and can be integrated with various different payment gateways such as Paypal, Worldpay, Amazon Payments, Sagepay, and many others.

www.AllGoodStore.com

AllGoodStore

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My Vintage Affair

My Vintage Affair

What started as a passionate appreciation for the craftsmanship and skill that was needed to create clothing from previous eras, has developed into a business for one lover of all things vintage.
My Vintage Affair organise fairs in London, and further afield, where they can display their global vintage finds from around the world.

My Vintage Affair LogoThe branding needed a refresh to accurately reflect the personality and product offering so 286Blue created a new set of graphics to strengthen the brand. My Vintage Affair travel the world to source vintage clothing & accessories so 286Blue created the strapline of “Global Vintage Finds” and incorporated an airplane into the logo, reworked in a vintage-style font.

286Blue will also be designing the business cards & company stationery, and providing design guidelines and artwork for future promotional materials.

My Vintage Affair Mobile Website286Blue has designed a new-look website reflecting the new branding, and will be developing the online store which My Vintage Affair plan to launch soon. The site is “responsive” which means it will display differently on mobile devices such as the iPhone or iPad, to enable better navigation and see the products more clearly without having to zoom in and out.

Shoppers will be able to browse by era, Latest Goods, or product categories such as Accessories or Dresses. My Vintage Affair will be a stylish webstore with integrated shopper accounts, newsletter sign-ups, and quick share buttons on product pages (so shoppers can share items they like on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus, and email).

286Blue can create an online store similar to My Vintage Affair that can be customised with your branding, colours & logo (or we can help you to create these if you don’t have an established brand identity in place). Based on easily update-able software, adding a new product is as simple as writing an email and attaching a photograph.

The administration section of the online store provides all the information you would need to add products, track orders, stock, and site visitor numbers, and can be integrated with various different payment gateways such as Paypal, Worldpay, Amazon Payments, Sagepay, and many others.

My Vintage Affair Website by 286Blue

Status Barbers

Status Barbers

A simple & clean website for a newly-opened Barbershop, Status already had their branding in place but required an online presence that reflected their business.

286Blue created a stylish & informative site using elements of the shop decor, as well as helping Status get listed on Google Maps and other search engines to generate visitors from mobile & desktop searches.

With a Facebook “Like” button to gather fans for the already-established Facebook page, the site features a link to maps to help customers find directions to the location easily, and the build allows expansion of the site in the future.

www.statusbarbers.com

StatusBarbers.com

286 Blue

286 Blue

BRANDING, IDENTITY, LOGO, & GRAPHICS.

286Blue It would be remiss of us not to include our own graphics, branding & website. We wanted a clean & simple identity that was instantly recognisable through a strong use of one colour; namely, Pantone 286.

Pantone 286Pantone is the leading colour authority globally that print and fashion designers use when specifying particular colours. There are many variations of the colour blue for example, so the Pantone system enables designers to specify the exact shade of blue required, such as number 286.

286Blue Pantone Business CardsNaming our company after a Pantone colour number meant, of course, that we had to have our 286Blue business cards printed in the exact same shade.

We simply love the colour. It reminds us of elegant French street signs, Yves Klein’s saturated artworks, vibrant brushstrokes, Greek-island rooftops and wooden doors, Yves Saint Laurent’s Moroccan gardens, the Mediterranean Sea, sunloungers, Portuguese tiles, and the colour of beachfront railings and lampposts in Eastbourne, East Sussex, our home town.

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WEBSITE.

The website has been kept clean & simple to allow the work we’ve created for clients to shine through, with an elegant use of Art Deco, graphic, and artistic fonts against a backdrop of clean white and deep blue brushstrokes. With the use of mobile stylesheets, the website displays differently on mobile devices such as the iPhone, to enable better navigation and see the work more clearly without having to zoom in and out.

286Blue Website on iPhone286Blue.com Website

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