I’m probably just echoing your own thoughts but… that was a long week! Coming back to the studio, fully laden with good cheer, cold turkey and trimmings! Quite a culture shock, but 50 Emails in and everything is back to normal. Hello 2015.

The New Year is all about taking stock and addressing issues that we’d allowed to slide in 2014 and resolved to put right. Time to have a hard look at what we’re doing, analyse what worked and areas we need to strengthen. Accepting the status quo is never acceptable, as designers we need to continually strive for better, stretch ourselves and reach new heights. Remember “A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there!”

Hope Santa was good to you all, here’s a present that delighted our clients, James Gibb residential factors - lovely new livery design for their car fleet. It’s always a rewarding challenge, designing for something that’s not necessarily folded and saddle stitched.

New Year, new you?

Welcome to the New Year. January, traditionally a time for us to reflect on our past year’s behaviour and resolve to make positive lifestyle changes to reinvigorate us for the year ahead. The mouldy training shoes get an airing, we make empty promises to read more obscure Classic novels, the cork goes back in the bottle temporarily and we sign up for Weight Watchers. Easy.

What about our business though, are we happy with the bottom line? Has our business moved on but the brand is still stuck in the past? The market may be getting tougher and we need to reach a new audience but is the brand up to it or does it need revitalised? Like people, the company can start to look jaded, worn out and not feeling particularly energised.

Let's get fresh

Completely rebranding is not always a good option, it's expensive, time consuming and risky. Instead we can put a fresh face on the business with a brand refresh strategy. What's this?

As we prepare to close the door to the studio for the holidays and look forward to opening the new door of opportunity in 2015 - here’s a look back to some of the highlights this year.

The big story is that we moved to bigger premises. The new studio is bright and spacious with enough room to swing as many cats as we like (metaphorically of course!). We also expanded not only my waistline but a key addition to the team with talented web developer Neil joining our merry band.

Continuing our weekly mini round up of what's been happening behind the doors at the Lennon Design studio.

Deadlines, deadlines...

Heads down this week keeping the balls in the air, plates spinning and other such metaphors to describe advancing our ongoing projects as we head into the festive season. Many of our clients have objectives they wish to achieve before the end of the year and with the holiday season looming these deadlines become all too real. Our job is to make it happen for them and so careful planning and prioritising of work is essential. We always start our week with a team meeting, coffee in hand, to discuss the projects on the go and the week ahead.

Our weekly round up of what's been happening in the Lennon Design studio.

Photography

We've been speaking with a photographer about some shots for a client's website, we set a pretty broad brief (we need a fair number of photos) and we recieved some excellent shots that we can use. We can't say too much more but we'll be sure to mention it when the site launches.

Meetings

We've been busy talking with various clients and friends this week - from an eLearning platform to a much needed update for a local counselling service. We don't have much we can share but we're getting ready for some big things on a few fronts.

It's Friday, the week's not quite over but inching closer. We've been working on a few things, here's a selected few for you.

PCHP

We launched PCHP.org.uk this week, a full, fresh and informative digital hub for one of our favourite clients. It was unveiled on stage at their AGM to what we can only assume was rapturous applause.

The Annual Report is a bright, friendly publication and was launched in time for the AGM - it provides a breakdown of their successes, articulates how PCHP have developed as an organisation and outlines their vision for the future.