First Fridays is a monthly, free to attend, fundraising surgery where charities of all sizes meet to discuss their fundraising issues with International Fundraising Consultancy (IFC) founder, John Baguley and his colleagues.

John asked Piers to create an IFC sub-brand that had a chatty, informal tone of voice to match the atmosphere at the meetings.

He designed the logo and created the typographic campaign seen here.

The meetings have become such a success that at times it’s standing room only.

The relationship with John and the IFC goes back many years and everyone in the collective has lent a hand in support of its aims and produced some outstanding work along the way.

Here’s what John has to say about working with Piers on this project in particular.

David has re-designed FlySoup’s web site to coincide with the addition of three new services: Search Engine Optimisation and Marketing, Competitor Benchmarking, and SEO training.

FlySoup is still providing a first class web analytic’s service but during its four year’s of operation there have been an increasing number of requests for more than simply tracking. The new services make use of all the statistical information delivered by FlySoup’s web tracking and helps build more traffic as opposed to simply measuring the current flow.

We thought we’d do the dreadful puns before someone else did. One of Mike’s most recent projects has been to name a new, and highly environmentally friendly, tissue brand. ‘Papura’ toilet and facial tissues are made from bagasse, a by-product of sugar production.

This leftover sugar cane, normally destined only for dumping, can be turned into high-quality paper without any of the harsh bleaching or disinfecting required for normal recycled paper.

These qualities made it, Mike felt, a purer form of paper. And it wasn’t far from that to the new name, Papura. The name in place, Mike also wrote the copy for the packs, which explains the story behind the brand in bold, simple terms and creates maximum impact on the shelf.

Papura has been taken on by that smartest of supermarkets, Waitrose, and is now available in selected stores. So go and grab yourself some and do yourself, the planet and Mike a favour.

We have been working with Jane Wake to develop a web site for Baby A-Wake, a new venture that builds on Jane’s well established fitness consultancy, Body A-Wake. Since 1993, Jane has been leading a team of highly qualified and experienced fitness practitioners and has now developed a service for mums and mums-to-be.

Citing her son, Daniel, as her inspiration for developing the consultancy’s new division Jane says “We are appealing to Mums who often have careers and find it especially difficult to juggle home, work, and baby. We aim to provide a safe and comfortable environment where Mums and Mums-to-be can exercise safely but also share their ideas and feelings at this very special time.”

The new site has been built to be search engine friendly, easy to navigate and simple to update. Alongside web based marketing activity we are now working with Jane to develop her off-line marketing material.

David and Associates has been helping bag retailer TinTac with all its branding and communications. This month sees the launch of a web site for this new entrant to the market, competing with the likes of Crumpler, Tumi and Jack Spade.

The first two offerings are the Hoxton – a cotton-canvas messenger-style bag in a range of muted colours with contrasting vivid linings – and the Bloomsbury – a workhorse of a bag that started life as a DJ’s vinyl tote.

The musical heritage is no accident as TinTac’s founder, John Wright, was also the man behind DJ emporium City Sounds – something of a mecca for the UK’s DJs from the early 70s onwards.

As part of the launch celebrations, we have been invited to extend to all our visitors the offer of a 20% discount on all purchases from the web site up to the 31st December 2007. To take advantage of this, please key in the Discount Voucher code: TT004 when prompted on the checkout pages.

www.tintaclondon.com

Mike has written the brochure, billboards and website for Ruskin Square, a major mixed-use development in Croydon.

The project, designed by Foster + Partners and Faulkner Browns, is managed by developers Stanhope, and will create an entire new community, with homes, offices, shops, restaurants, bars and even a GP surgery. It is also providing a stunning new home for Croydon’s famous Warehouse Theatre.

As its name suggests, the development has been inspired by the ideas of John Ruskin, who believed passionately in the power of architecture to transform lives.

We recently completed our first project through Africa Practice – the specialist strategic communications and investment publisher – for JETRO London (Japan External Trade Organisation).

We designed and produced this digitally printed 36-page study, The impact of the Chinese Presence in Africa (Click on the link to download a pdf of the finished piece – 528kb). The whole document, complete with diagrams and maps, was produced in a very short space of time from receipt of final draft to finished bound copies.

The report studies local and international responses to China’s recent push into Africa – a move fuelled by a growing need for oil and industrial raw materials, an urge to deepen and enhance its global standing, and a desire to encourage a more international outlook from Chinese companies.

The report shows that while there are mixed views both in Africa and more widely, the majority of Africans believe China’s influence to be ultimately positive, despite certain business and aid practices. The pervasive view from the international community, meanwhile, appears to be that China is harming efforts to bring economic and political sanity to the region’s trouble spots.

“The Chinese are making great strides into Africa, and this report makes sense of a complex situation with concise writing and clear design. Due to its ever-changing nature, the research is being continually updated and the report had to be completed swiftly to create an accurate snapshot: the team worked well together to produce an excellent and impactful report, which will contribute greatly to the ongoing debate about the Chinese Influence in Africa.”

James Laing, Africa Practice

According to POPAI, 75% of shoppers make their purchasing decisions in the last 4 feet of the shopper journey, thanks to Point of Purchase (POP) material. Hence the name of SMP Group’s recently launched in-store arm, the last 4 feet.

We’ve been working with their marketing team to develop a database-driven web site for the new venture. You can see the results by clicking on the link above.

As well as setting out the company’s stall, the site introduces POPwatch – a bespoke tool that helps clients understand their current ROI on POP spend. POPwatch is also the title of the news section, which provides a round up of what’s new in the world of POP and in-store marketing.

Business Unit Director of the last 4 feet, Neil Johnson, said,

“We engaged David and Associates following a comprehensive selection process, as we wanted a web designer who both understood our business and brand values as well as being very creative. The group’s experience with other clients such as Breed, IBM and BAA certainly offered a pedigree we could trust, and they have really delivered. I believe the site not only communicates our USPs, but also sets us apart from other POP businesses in terms of look and feel – our fresh “agency style” approach really comes across well.”

Mike has written the new website for regeneration consultants Hunt Dobson Stringer. The consultancy works with both private developers and local authorities to balance commercial and social needs, and ensure a successful outcome for all.

We’ve just completed a new web site for Los Saguaros, a luxury front-line golf villa overlooking the second tee on the Peter Mcevoy designed Indiana course at Desert Springs in Almeria, Spain.

This golf resort is the closest thing you’ll get to Arizona-style desert golfing in Europe.

The site has been designed to make it simple for the owners of Los Saguaros – John and Penny Stuart – to update themselves.

Apart from taking bookings they’re keen to build links to the site from other golf related sites. So if you know of anyone who would welcome a reciprocal link from this stunning villa, please get in touch.