PS Design Group

PS Design present at Energus.

2012-01-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

PS Design Group presented themselves and their work to the Britain's Energy Coast Business Cluster at the multi-million pound 'Energus' Building in Workington, West Cumbria. The presentation started with a slight glitch due to the lack of cable accessories for Macs, but hey, what can you do. So although the presentation wasn't the full exciting visual experience it could have been Paul managed to battle on regardless. "It was really great to present to the BECBC and have an opportunity to show the strength and depth of our work for business and organizations throughout Cumbria and across the UK. Although there are several creative marketing businesses in the county we felt that there was a gap in West Cumbria especially for a design, brand and marketing agency, with a strong track record for delivering highly creative communications in print and online to SME's and the Nuclear and Tourism industry which is obviously so prominent to the area. Our brand experience and client background really sets us apart from many marketing companies and we hope to continue to grow and create more successful brands in the West of the county". If your business would like to speak with us about your brand or creative communications then we would love to hear from you.

Paul Smith is available for talks and lectures to Businesses, Schools and Universities throughout the county on Design, Branding and Creativity in business. Simply get in touch.

Dragons Den success

2011-12-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

Rollersigns (Featured on Dragons Den this year and invested in by Peter Jones) have commissioned PS Design Group to work with them on their creative communications for their clients. "This is a major ongoing project and it's something we are extremely proud to be part of". Working closely with their London sales team we are creating visual graphics that will help win more contracts and add real value to their communications. For a Cumbrian business to be involved in what could possibly be one of the biggest types of media product in the UK and possibly the world is a true testament to our creative skills, our quality of service and quick delivery.

Whitehaven Festival

2011-06-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

Just finished off the design for the 'Best Dressed Boat' competition at this years Whitehaven festival. My wife's uncle David Allan (ex-harbour master of Whitehaven) asked me to help him promote the competition as he is one of the judges. I will be heading down this year to experience the festival and hopefully get a few cooking tips from Jean-Christophe.

Envronmental Branding for David Allen

2011-05-24T04:01:00.000-07:00

David Allen Accountants were allocated a booth at a local Agriculture Auction House and asked us to refresh the environment so it was 'on brand' , eyecathing and suitable for one-2-one discussions with clients privately. We used simple visual devices that drew the eye to the booth and with the fresh green colour palette we gave the environment a lift.

From initial consultation and design concepts, we then supplied finished artwork files to AST Signs who then printed and fixed the graphic panels and frosting to this rather dated looking booth. We also designed supporting posters and leaflets to promote this installation and inform potential customers about it's location and benefits it would bring on a personal level to the agricultural community.

If your business has offices, or spaces that require a lift or need to be more 'on brand' with your business then please get in touch. PS Design Group can add real value to how your environment looks and engages with your customers and your staff.

Bad Copywriting is bad for your brand.

2011-05-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

Not my words, but I come across it and I thought it was worth popping it up here.

What's bad, boring, and barely read all over? Business writing. If you could taste words, most corporate websites, brochures, and sales materials would remind you of stale, soggy rice cakes: nearly calorie free, devoid of nutrition, and completely unsatisfying.

One of my favorite phrases in the business world is 'full-service solutions provider'. A quick search on Google finds at least 47,000 companies using that one. That's full-service generic. There's more. 'Cost effective end-to-end solutions' brings you about 95,000 results. 'Provider of value-added services' nets you more than 600,000 matches. Exactly which services are sold as not adding value?

Who writes this stuff? Worse, who reads it and approves it? What does it say when tens of thousands of companies are saying the same things about themselves?

When you write like everyone else and sound like everyone else and act like everyone else, you're saying, "Our products are like everyone else's, too." Or think of it this way: Would you go to a dinner party and just repeat what the person to the right of you is saying all night long? Would that be interesting to anybody? So why are so many businesses saying the same things at the biggest party on the planet -- the marketplace?

If you care about your product, you should care just as much about how you describe it. In nearly all cases, a company makes its first impression on would-be customers or partners with words -- whether they're on a website, in sales materials, or in e-mails or letters. A snappy design might catch their attention, but it's the words that make the real connection. Your company's story, product descriptions, history, personality -- these are the things that go to battle for you every day. Your words are your frontline. Are they strong enough?

Unfortunately, years of language dilution by solicitors, marketers, executives, and HR departments have turned the powerful, descriptive sentence into an empty vessel optimized for buzzwords, jargon, and vapid expressions. Words are treated as filler -- "stuff" that takes up space on a page. Words expand to occupy blank space in a business much as spray foam insulation fills up cracks in your house. Harsh? Maybe. True? Read around a bit, and I think you'll agree.

Written by Jason Fried.

Harrison Northern Ltd New Logo launches

2011-05-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

Well known local property development firm Harrison Northern Ltd came to us through' The Brand Group' (our partner) to give their rather tired looking brand identity a new lease of life.

After initial consultation and a branding workshop to help develop their meaning, vision and values and much more, it was time to get on with their logo and visual identity to bring this revitalised brand to life. There is a full rational behind the design of the logo and I will post this up in due course, but for now feel free to comment on the above re-design. The new website is currently under construction, but new stationery, office signage and vehicle livery and much more brand elements will be rolling out over the coming weeks and months. We have also put in a 6 month and 1 yr brand and marketing strategy that will bring real meaning and results to this business over time.

Welcome to the new PS Design Group Blog.

2011-01-04T04:16:00.000-08:00

Happy New year to you all. I guess most of us are back in the swing of things today (although very miserable wet and windy weather here in Carlisle so not the best start to get the January juices flowing).
Welcome anyway to this new blog of 2011. We previously had a blog: paulsmith-design.blogspot.com, but we have now moved this to a new address: www.thebrandgroup.blogspot.com. So apologies for the confusion, but don't visit our old address as there is nothing there now.

The new year sees 2 businesses forming in Carlisle - The Brand Group and PS Design Group. It's going to be an exciting year in which we hope to be delivering some amazing brands to Cumbria and other parts of the UK. The Brand Group will be focused on Brand Consultancy, working alongside our creative partners (some very talented people in Cumbria) in the print and online fields to deliver these brands to market.

The point of this blog for PS Design Group is to show our clients that PS Design Group will be one of the creative partners of The Brand Group - it's graphic design partner if you will. The aim of this blog is also to constantly show meaningful and valuable ideas and projects we think may be interest to our clients, our friends and anyone else who wishes to get some inspiration and neat ideas on all things design. The main website www.psdesigngroup.co.uk should be live by the end of January (sorry, there has been a few delays due to some festive holidays creeping in). In the meantime you can take a look at our partner company The Brand Group for some useful insight into our brand consultancy services and recent work along with some branding tips and hints and useful story's which we think will be of value to businesses large and small - view their blog to : www.thebrandgroup.blogspot.com

So there you have it, I hope I have cleared up any confusion and I hope you all keep checking back or even bookmark this blog (and The Brand Group blog) as a source of inspiration for the coming year.

I will also be holding a number of talks and lectures in the coming months on business branding, and will confirm the exact dates and venues in due course. They will be fun, helpful and also insightful and I do hope you can come along and join me. There may even be the odd glass of vino and grub as a thank you for attending.

Thanks very much for a fantastic 2010 and here's to a better 2011 for business in Cumbria.

Cheers - (he salutes the screen holding a fresh cuppa)

P