Popi were asked to come up with a bespoke invitation for an annual event held by Rayovac to announce the winner of the 2011 Audiologist of the Year competition. Taking place on a royal backdrop, it needed to be classy, fit the occasion and give the recipient the feeling of being invited to a prestigious occasion.

Working with the client our conclusions drew us to an elegant design using a scripted typeface resembling that of a royal letter. Produced on keaykolour parchment with a matching envelope, the look was finished off with a bespoke wax seal carrying the flash emblem that makes up part of Rayovac’s logo. The names were hand brushed in by Peter, co-founder of Popi and lettering artist by trade for a great portion of his career which bought an authentic old school edge to the final project.

The result was something striking and high impact, with a range of talent and skills being bought into motion to create the final project. It was reported back to us that the vast majority of recipients commented on how well they fitted the theme, with particular interest being drawn the seal. The invitations helped set the tone for the event and both the client and recipient’s expectations were exceeded.

If you think Popi could help enhance the impact of an event you are holding, or you would like to add an extra dimension to your invites or any other project using the Popi touch, please get in touch!

Woody

Being a designer, I pride myself (rather sadly) on the fact that I can recognise and name a wide range of common fonts quite easily. This goes back to my days as a junior working with a guy called Jon who seemed to know everything about typefaces. I thought it was really useful that he didn’t have to spent ages tucked into the linotype book trying to find a font whenever he had something to reset and so I took it upon myself to become like him and learn… Anyway, I found this quiz today on thenextweb.com, focussing on the most famous font of them all… Helvetica.

See how you get on, I got 5 wrong out of 20 and clearly am not as good as I think I am!

Woody

Take the quiz here http://www.ironicsans.com/helvarialquiz/

Popi win Whitehead Monckton Brand overhaul

The Maidstone based Lawyers and Investment Managers came to us asking for a minor makeover, freshening up their brand to encourage more enquiries from a wider audience. Currently their branding focusses heavily on being unique to Kent and they have set us the task of expanding the message of being able to offer their expertise nationally whilst being unique to Kent.

Popi Sponsor Maidstone Rally Driver

Here at popi we do love a bit of home grown talent, so when 23 year old Rally Driver Louise Cook from Maidstone came knocking at our door asking for sponsorship we were keen to get involved. Anyone willing to hit a blind crest at over 100mph on gravel is alright in our books, and worthy of sponsorship!

Louise is competing in The Dulux Trade British Rally Championship. She dreamt up and implemented a campaign called Promotion50 which encourages local businesses to sponsor her at £50 a go to help raise the £25,000 needed to keep her rallying. Louise (or Cute Cookie as she is commonly known on the Rally Circuit) currently lies 5th in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy, top 10 in the F2 Championship and is leading the BRC Ladies Cup. You may have spotted her on the television in the winter offering driving tips in the snow, or even at Eagle Heights in Eynsford in Kent where she raced a Peregrine Falcon and a Cheetah in a Celebration of Speed! (pictured).

Some of the guys in the studio are keen motor-sport enthusiasts and have previously designed the vehicle graphics for the Varta sponsored rally car driven by Ryan Champion in the 2008 WRC Welsh rally. We felt that sponsoring Louise and helping her to realise her dreams was the least we could do. We will be following her progress and wish her the best of luck with her campaign!

To find out more about Louise and her rally driving exploits please visit http://www.cutecookie.co.uk

Cheers,

Woody

Popi rebrand

You will notice in the coming months a reinvention of our published items, be it print or web based. The current look has been in place for 3 years now and while it still looks fresh (well we think it does!) we are in the process of giving it an overhaul. One of the beautiful things about being in the position we are in is the ability to use ourselves as a showcase for our talents. This is a great cross selling technique as it gives our designers space to flex their creative muscles and also the printers and finishers to shine with their production expertise. Expect some fresh looking materials from Popi by the middle of the year!

Woody

New website for popi

For those of you that haven’t looked lately, we have updated our website. The new look brings back into focus what we are all about; the personal touch. The thing that separates us from the likes of a high street printer or a net based service is the human interaction on the way. Time and again people comment on our personal service and the feeling of caring that is had when dealing with us. So with that in mind we have freshened up our online presence, showcased some new work and added in some trivia about ourselves. Please have a browse and let us know what you think.

Cheers!

Woody

Towergate Insurance

We are also pleased to welcome on board Towergate Insurance, the close of 2010 and beginning of 2011 saw us carry out the creative for 16 newspaper adverts showcasing several arms of the Towergate empire as well as several brochure designs and accompanying flyers. It’s not just a one way business though, I have already changed my house insurance over to Towergate! We are very much looking forward to working with them throughout 2011.

Woody

Landing Kingfisher in the net

Popi are pleased to announce they now have Kingfisher Lagers on board as a client. Kingfisher, who have an office just 5 miles from us were looking for a reactive agency who were able to turn briefs around in a tight timescale with some solid creative ideas. Our first couple of projects has seen us create a high end flyer for a lager promotion and a large format poster advertising their sponsorship with the Force India F1 racing cars.

Woody

Tharstens

In November 2010 Tharstens Product Management software was installed at popi. This investment has streamlined our purchase orders, invoicing and job booking system giving us a much better work flow. The new system has also meant less down time and has lowered our outgoings through a much more calculated consumable ordering system, not to mention the increased control of projects we are handling. It has been a sharp learning curve but the overall benefit is much more consistency and a noticeable increase in productivity and order handling. Looking further ahead we plan to evolve the system to be integrated with our website so that clients may obtain a quote for simpler items such as stationery or flyers. They will also be able to upload their artwork and even pay all from the luxury of their own desk.

Woody

Mactastic update to the studio!

Popi have invested in all new, state of the art Apple Power Mac towers and the latest Creative Suite software for the designers. This means faster processing power and a more stable platform on which to work. This move has seen a 30% rise in computer based productivity which, in turn has allowed us time to better plan our projects where the designers have been able to liaise more with the senior creatives. The result has been more considered campaigns and an increase in first time approvals.

Woody