First sight of my Christmas mailer

And as many of you know, that's Christmas '07, not '08. Still, it's turned out beautifully, thanks to the very generous hard work of 300million (design) and Gavin Martin (print).



Naturally, I'm not going to spoil what I hope will be a very nice surprise, which is why you're only getting this sneak peek through the packaging.

It's not really a Christmas mailer any more, of course. By force of circumstance it's become a general purpose promotional piece. And to be honest, I'm delighted about that. I haven't done any proper self-promotion for ages. So I'm cleaning up my database, as they say, and will be dispersing little grey boxes across the land (even the world) very shortly.

Climate Change Festival photos

I popped up to Birmingham last week to see my work for the world's first Climate Change Festival in action.

It was quite a thrill to see my words plastered all over the city centre, mainly on the big, pink and orange benches (designed by Mark Garside and Violetta Boxill, who also did the identity).

The benches point you to key views of the city - or, as left, in the direction of the Festival's centrepiece installation - and include a chunk of explanatory copy.

You can see lots more pictures of the benches, and other bits and bobs, on my Flickr page.

Good news from Sightsavers

I've had a nice email from Sightsavers, with whom I've been working on some major donor fundraising materials for the Bangladesh Childhood Cataract Campaign.

Their latest appeal pack recently hit expensive doormats up and down the land, and the results are very satisfying. Sophie from Sightsavers writes:

"We've done a quick tally and to date the latest BCCC appeal has raised £-------, which is the top end of the 'target scale.'

A big thank you and massive well done, we're delighted!"

The BCCC is a wonderful programme that's bringing sight to thousands of children, often in remote areas of Bangladesh; children who would otherwise almost certainly be blind for life. So it's very nice to know that we've helped secure some more funding for it.

I worked on the materials with freelance designer Piers Rutterford, and fundraising consultancy the IFC.

Hello, johnson banks

A very welcome addition to the client list this month, in the form of celebrated design consultancy johnson banks, creators of brilliant branding and graphics and home to one of the most engaging design blogs around.


Johnson Banks' recent splendid stamps celebrating 50 years since Lennon met McCartney.

I'd love to be able to add to this news with details of the branding project Michael Johnson and I have been collaborating on, but it's super-confidential. Suffice it to say that it's really rather big.

First work with CABE

I'm delighted to say that I've started working directly with CABE - the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment - on a couple of projects. The first is CABE's own corporate leaflet, which is being designed by my old friends at 300million. And the second is a very exciting event: the world's first Climate Change Festival.



Climate Change Festival identity by Violetta Boxill

I've been asked to write a variety of things for the Festival, not least 15 new benches that will be installed around Birmingham for the week of the festivities. These benches will be strategically placed to give views of specific parts of the city, each relevant in its own way to the climate change issue. And each will carry a little bit of explanatory Reed Words copy.

This is no finger-wagging process: the point is to be positive about how we can create cleaner, greener, more inclusive and happier cities for the future. It's about making a better world for everyone rather than the usual doom and gloom.

Anyway, watch this space for more on the Festival, and my part in it.

Big bid binders win the day

Some great news about the presentation materials I did with 300million for property developers Cathedral: we won!

This was Cathedral's bid to develop a new library, leisure centre and residential accommodation in the heart of Clapham - where I spent much of my London life before upping sticks for Surrey family life.

I wrote and edited the (pretty extensive) documents in double-fast time, and they were delivered to Lambeth Council in the very nick of time. The result: Cathedral, very much the underdogs, won the tender. And won it by a country mile, I'm told.

No doubt this was due primarily to the extraordinary scheme Cathedral proposed, including a spiral library reminiscent of Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim in New York. (To read more, click 'Projects' on the Cathedral site.)


The library interior (image pinched from Cathedral's site with the best of motives)

Even so, Cathedral believed in the value of a professional, original and consistent brand even at this tender stage - including a strong tone of voice. And they've been generous in their apportioning of credit in 300million's and my direction. Which is very nice of them.

Cardiff Waterside website goes live

The website I wrote for Cardiff Waterside, a major business property development in the Welsh capital, is now live.

The designers were Brownjohn (their debut on my client list) and my old friends at Bounce. A lovely job they both made of it, too.