News

Local school, Milwards Primary, gets a new identity. The school which originally opened 30th April 1973 will soon be celebrating its 40th birthday! Blue Pig were asked to create a new logo identity, and the 3 final designs were put to the vote by way of an official ballot. The winning logo has since been adapted to most of the school's promotional material including the uniform, website, signage, and badges for all staff and pupils http://www.harlowstar.co.uk/Education/Education-News/School-celebrates-its-40th-birthday-with-a-new-look-20130306140150.htm

The first ever white pencil has been awarded. An esteemed panel of judges at the Royal Institution in London chose the first new award in D&AD's history - created to reward an idea that has a genuine social impact. The inaugural White Pencil, was won by Leo Burnett Chicago, for their project Recipeace, a social movement designed to bring people together over a shared meal. Recipeace's aim was to help to establish September 21 as the UN's global self-sustaining annual day of peace.

The Museum of Harlow will be holding a special fundraising day on Saturday 15th December 10am-4pm, at its beautiful home on Muskham Road, CM20 2LF. Come along and join in the festive day, with mince pies, mulled wine and fun activities. There will also be Christmas workshops for the children and an opportunity to take a sneak peek at the new exhibition: Harlow and the Horse. Please join in to help put Harlow Museum back on the map. Admission is FREE for all the family - find out more here: http://www.science-alive.co.uk

To celebrate 65 years since the birth of the New Town, here’s a show that all of Harlow can be proud of! A fantastic showcase of the very best talent the town has to offer, Harlow – Pride and Joy provides an opportunity for talented performers to represent both their groups and the wider community. Prepare for a fabulous show full of hugely entertaining performances that young and old alike will remember for a long time to come. With plenty of fun and variety and loads of entertainment, this is sure to entertain the whole family. Be proud of Harlow and give this show your support! Harlow – Pride and Joy is being staged in support of the Chair of Harlow Council’s chosen charity Accuro. Harlow Playhouse is the hire venue and ticket agent for this event. Date: Sunday 18th November 2012 / Times: 3:30 and 7:30 / Ticket Price: £11. Booking Office Tel 01279 431945 or online at http://www.playhouseharlow.com

We're now listed in the Harlow Directory http://www.harlow.co.uk it's free, so why not sign-up too. Come and check us out, you can also enter a review of our services for us.

The next art exhibition at Parndon Mill is one of exciting paintings by Jane Lewis and new work by Marilyn Andreetti, earthenware dishes decorated with landscapes which compliment the paintings. The exhibition opens Thursday 16th, but as August is such a popular holiday period, the Private View will be on Thursday 6th September 5-8pm. We hope you come along and join us for a nice glass of wine. http://www.parndonmill.co.uk/next_exhibition.html

The diversity of creative skills at Parndon Mill formed part of the inspiration for this exhibition which has been designed to complement the Open Studios event here in July. Collaboration between artists and designers became part of the theme, and as this mostly resulted in various constructions, STRUCTURE became the subject of the exhibition. Not only examples of architectural and engineering structures are being exhibited, artists have contributed work based on natural structures such as rock strata, bones, trees and even viruses. Many different art forms and media are included and artists from the surrounding area join the resident artists with a wide approach to the theme. http://www.parndonmill.co.uk/next_exhibition.html

Digital media is a new frontier and the first to be out of the complete control of the brand owner. The internet is democratic, so ownership is moving from the brand (owner) to the consumer (user). It’s far more complex than anything we’ve known before in its power, reach and nuance. With this comes the need for brands to listen to their stakeholders with unprecedented attention and intelligence and to be fully accountable – whether for social responsibility, environmental impact, sustainability or even local economic issues. Brands have longwatched their consumers. Now consumers are watching the brands and their behaviour – and they are harsh critics. The customer really is king. See here for further details: http://designerbreakfasts.net

Saturday 24th November 2012 is Buy Nothing Day (UK). It’s a day where you challenge yourself to switch off from shopping and tune into life. The rules are simple, for 24 hours you will detox from shopping and anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending! Everything we buy has an impact on the environment, Buy Nothing Day highlights the environmental and ethical consequences of consumerism. We all know recycling is OK for the the environment, but consuming less is better. To find out more go to http://www.buynothingday.co.uk/index.html

Six Impossible things, is the suitable title of next week's exhibition here @parndonmill. Superb and precisely balanced glass work by internationally acclaimed artist Heike Brachlow will be here on show from 1st March until 8th April 2012. For more info click here http://www.parndonmill.co.uk/next_exhibition.html or you can find out more about Heike and her work at her website http://www.heikebrachlow.com

The Gallery here at Parndon Mill has a new art exhibition with work by Linda Anderson and Deidre Shepherd. The show's called TREES AND BOGS and displays new bodies of work inspired by the earth's rich palette of colours and textures and its seasonal changes. It opens 11th August and continues until 18th September 2011. For more info click here http://www.parndonmill.co.uk/next_exhibition.html If you visit then please do drop in and say 'hello' to us at the Blue Pig studio.

The Design Business Association (DBA) have been championing the role of effective design in business for over 20 years. It’s the only award scheme that uses commercial data as a key judging criteria. Case studies on their website demonstrate how a well thought out design strategy will deliver that important return on investment. The DBA Design Effectiveness Awards are both prestigious and authoritative. For info on this years winners and entry details go to: http://www.effectivedesign.org.uk

For those of you who need to know paper sizes, point sizes, tints and text and types of folds, then this handy little companion maybe just the thing for you! Featured in Creative Review’s blog earlier this year, we were instantly drawn (no pun intended) to the attractive little device. We love printed material and this booklet has lots of little bits of know how for a very reasonable price...it’s also very nicely printed and put together by designers for designers :) For more details and to order your copy go to: http://www.printhandbook.com

D&AD has launched the White Pencil, an award for a creative idea that changes the world for the better. To win, the idea must demonstrate the ability to influence real and positive change in the world. D&AD is a British educational charity, which exists to promote the excellence in design and advertising for more info go to http://www.dandad.org Partnering with D&AD for the White Pencil award is Peace One Day http://www.peaceoneday.org a non profit organisation which has established a day of peace each year, and this has been adopted by the United Nations as 21 September.

The boys at St James, a local primary school, needed a coach to train them at their weekly football club. The importance of community is one of our fundamental values here at Blue Pig, so we happily stepped in and filled the gap. Seeing years 5 & 6 enjoy a good kick about each week is very satisfying. We believe in doing something of value with our skills and giving something back into areas where there is need...not just in business, but in the community.

The Gallery's next exhibition CLIMATE CHANGES, which starts on 7th April, shows works of art based on the controversial problem of man's ongoing effect on the world and its climate. It includes paintings, prints and drawings and some wonderful textile wall hangings. We hope you will come to see this interesting show of work and if possible join us at the Private View for some networking on Thursday 7th April from 5–8pm. For more information click here

Weddings are awash with opportunities to get creative. From the invitations to the dress, the table settings to the floral arrangements, getting it right becomes the be all and end all. And that’s just the average wedding. With the eyes of the world watching it’s no doubt that Kate and Wills wedding will be the biggest event in 2011. So apart from the complimentary day off work what delights are emerging to celebrate this rather royal event? In true creative style British designers have been turning their prowess on the imperial occasion. Take a look at these designer plates featured in Creative Review's magazine & blog click here

Harlow Cultural Venues (an NFP organisation) approached us when they didn’t have an identity with which to promote their cause. So we happily met with their chairperson and committee and discussed a way forward. On a very tight budget we created a logo and designed a 12pp full colour brochure for them, both of which have been well received:

"Blue Pig have done a wonderful job for HCV and we now have an effective identity with which to market ourselves. We are extremely grateful for their ability to have turned around this work so swiftly and on a very limited budget too. They also produced stunning graphics for the ‘Celebrating Lucinda’ campaign. The mission to restore a major sculptural work was on behalf of one of our member organisations, The Gibberd Garden Trust, and was so beautifully presented by Blue Pig that we accomplished our goal in just two weeks." Roger Lee – Harlow Cultural Venues

The Mill here has its very own art gallery http://www.parndonmill.co.uk where local and national artists regularly exhibit their splendid artworks and craftmanship. There's a new exhibition opening 24/02/11 which runs until 03/04/11. It's called 'Things I wouldn't want to see in the sky' and features abstract paintings by Chris Roskell. So please do come and visit....be sure to pop in and say hello to us too!

Essex Police approached us with a community initiative called ‘Love Harlow’ (a project which encourages and utilises the time and efforts of school children and youth to help clean and tidy up specific needy areas within the town) we were on board! They needed a logo identity together with posters, flyers, t-shirts and large railing banner, all of which we had the vision and drive to deliver. Funds were very limited so we happily decided to become one of the sponsors for the project.

"Not only did the design exceed my expectations but the turn around of printing t-shirts, posters, leaflets
and a banner arrived within my short timescale. I cannot praise Blue Pig enough." Robin Hance – Essex Police