Back in April we won a pitch for an adoption campaign for Somerset County Council. So with a spring in our step we set to work creating a brand identity, advertising, a website and a whole load of marketing collateral. We have really enjoyed the challenge, and with the website going live yesterday we thought you might want to take a look – www.adoptioninsomerset.org.uk. The lead on the project was Somerset County Council’s PR and Communication Officer, Lyndsey Mayhew, here’s what she had to say about the process, “It has been a pleasure to work with DNA on the adoption campaign. Right from the start, I felt DNA really understood what we wanted to achieve and I was impressed with the background research and the ideas that were developed beyond the creative brief. The creation of the site and campaign tools could not have been smoother and the account team were excellent, always on the end of the phone and with no request too difficult!” Thanks Lyndsey! Next up we’ve been lucky enough to secure the Fostering in Somerset campaign too! Watch this space for updates on how we get on.

This is the first advert we’ve produced for our new luxury brand client, Ettinger. The ad was designed specifically around Ettinger’s range of luggage and was placed in the travel section of Country & Town House magazine.

Our initial intention was to photograph the luggage against a fairly plain background, thus focussing the attention on the quality and detail of the product; however, as an alternative, we printed out a large format version of an antiquated world map – not only giving the image some context, but also alluding to the heritage and traditional values of the brand. This was the preferred option.

The advert is essentially a brand builder, although it incorporates clear calls to action – driving potential customers to Ettinger’s e-commerce site and London showroom. Both worth a visit if you’re into English luxury with a twist!

An article that was recently printed in the Herald Express, showed that the campaign run by Torbay Council and designed by DNA Advertising has proven to be a great success. The latest progress report for Fit for the Future, a scheme to encourage youngsters to join a gym, shows it has been enjoyed by 1,112 people.  The scheme, which has been running in Suffolk, Newcastle, Bristol, Manchester and Torquay had a target of recruiting up to 1,000 youngsters per district. Torquay has smashed that target, with three months left to run.

DNA carried out research with a select audience, then presented our initial concepts. This research helped us refine the final design, which we rolled out across promotional literature and banners that were strategically placed around the Bay.  DNA also encouraged the council to use bluetooth phone technology to deliver the message to a wider audience.  The combination of using new technology and targeted design has clearly helped to make this campaign a great success.

[Update: Paul Mabin - Creative Director]

The new Exeter Phoenix events brochure has just hit the presses and it’s the result of a lot of hard work and a completely fresh approach. When we started working with Exeter Phoenix a few years back we transformed their ‘DL’ events leaflet into an A5 landscape booklet, giving much more space to the visiting artists and performers therein. Well, this time we’ve gone one better. Not only have we reviewed the entire Exeter Phoenix brand architecture (always an interesting challenge when working with so many passionate, creative people and departments!), but we’ve also created a new sub-brand structure, we’ve designed a new visual identity and we’ve transformed the events brochure into a quarterly magazine format.

The brochure contents has been reordered to make the information more logical and therefore more accessible, while the clean, fresh style lends itself neatly to the creativity, vibrancy and friendliness of the organisation.

Exeter Phoenix is one of our design team’s favourite clients. Their work always provides an interesting mix of challenge, creativity, flexibility and style, and there was a surprising amount of ignorance, even locally, about all the exciting events, music, art, performance, cinema and education going on within those (slightly imposing) four walls. Since then we haven’t been there once without seeing something amazing! Check our their website for a closer look or better still, download the brochure!

RS Academy is the only supercar club that runs its supercars exclusively on racing circuits – and not just any circuits, RS members have access to the Nürburgring Nordschleife, Spa Francorchamps and the Ascari Race Resort. Nice. Let us know if you’re interested and we’ll put you in touch by clicking here.

Building yachts in excess of 160 metres Devonport requires quality marketing material to match the specialist service they provide. When tasked to create a presentation box intended to house the finer details of the Devonport offering, we set to work and came up with a variety of deigns. We were very happy with the final result – a high quality presentation box, containing a bespoke business card and branded USB stick, sourced especially for the event. The USB stick contained a full-screen interactive Flash presentation with video footage and boat specifications, as well
as a screensaver. Initial feedback is that the boxes have been well received in Monaco; take a look at the photographs and let us know what you think.

So I went out last night for a spot of grub and when ordering at the bar I spotted a small green Buddha smiling at me from the fridge. Of course, being an enthusiast of Japanese and Chinese lager I had to snap-up a bottle of Lucky. Lucky – an Asian style lager, is owned by Barons Brewers of Australia, is bottled in China and consists of rice flake, malted barley and Czech hops. But all of that is insignificant – it’s the unique bottle that sold it for me. With design emphasis on the bottle rather than label graphics (although the logo is pretty vintage-cool),
the bespoke beer bottle features the seated, laughing Chinese character Pu-Tai, holding a large gold ingot above his head. “Many believe this figure of a Buddha to be a symbol of wealth, happiness and life fulfilment. We consider him to be the enlightened good-time guy”. In Eastern culture it is considered good luck to rub the Buddha’s belly, I decided to just take the bottle home instead… is that sad? (No comments on this post please.)

Lucky isn’t a new beer on the market but is apparently quite hard to find, despite it reportedly being sold in some supermarkets. Find out more here: www.luckydrinkco.com

(Opinion: Jon Price – Designer)

RS Academy is a unique track-based supercar club that allows its members to enjoy the world’s best performance cars at three of Europe’s most highly acclaimed circuits: the Nürburgring Nordschleife, Spa Francorchamps and Ascari Race Resort. Our experience of designing for luxury brands and our knowledge of automotive marketing meant we were well positioned to provide RS Academy with their promotional brochure: a brochure that would blend energy and excitement with an air of sophistication and exclusivity.

We began the project with the brochure content – working with RS Academy to select imagery and define the story and key messages, then drafting text which would communicate a professional message in a personal, relaxed, yet not overly familiar style. We then designed and produced a limited run of the brochure, in a format that could either be posted at minimal cost or handed out at events. With in-house brand strategy, copywriting, image retouching, graphic design and print management, we made certain that all contents were as polished as the bonnet of a freshly waxed Porsche 911 GT3 RS!

See a wider selection of the work on our website: www.dnaadvertising.co.uk

The latest Princess Yachts brochure suite is now doing the rounds – here’s a selection of the latest work, released at the Southampton Boat Show (see previous post). As in previous years’ work, DNA revised the design style, art directed boat and lifestyle photography and implemented copywriting and translations throughout seven languages.