1. “If you don’t know where you’re going, every road will take you there.” (Arnaldo Hax)

2. “You’ve got to think about the big things whilst you’re doing the small things, so that the small things go in the right direction.” (Alvin Toffler)

3. “If you cry ”Forward” you must be sure to make clear the direction in which to go. If you fail to do that and simply call out the word to a monk and a revolutionary, they will go in precisely opposite directions.” (Anton Chekhov)

4. “You can’t row a boat in two directions at the same time.” (Anon)

5. “The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” (Don Williams)

Borrowed with pride from all over the place.

Yet again we have had the honour to contribute to a set of articles published in The Grocer in the last couple of weeks.

Alex Waters, director of Capabilities, comments in last week’s article “Can new campaign resolve the binge drinking problem?” written by Nicolette Allan and Richard Ford (25th July 2009). The article discusses whether the latest campaign against binge drinking (which will favour subtle persuasion over scare tactics) will work. For an extract of what Alex has to say please see below and the full article can be found on The Grocer’s website.

The week before, our director of Closeness, Anna Eggleton, comments in an article written by James Ball entitled “Clear Skies for Brands; Heavy Clouds for Own Label” (18th July 2009) discussing the performance of the 150 top UK’s food and drink manufacturers in the current economic climate. The piece examines which companies are rising to the challenge – versus own label and smaller branded companies that are struggling. Anna advices that middling brands have to out-think their bigger rivals, as they can’t outspend them. She adds that planning a riskier but well-targeted campaign is better than spreading a small pot of money thinly. Please find Anna’s full comments below, and for the entire article please click here.

And all good things come in threes: Richard Oldham, director of Innovation comments in the article “It’s not for men” written by Nicolette Allen on 27th of July. Nicolette questions brands such as beer and pizza, that have traditionally been the preserve of men, being targeted at women. Please see Richard’s thoughts below – the complete article can be found here.

This week’s Design Blog is about the work of Alan Clarke, as featured in the July edition of Creative Review.

I was very impressed with this work , particularly in the clever way in which each poster managed to communicate its message powerfully through the intelligent use of space, simple graphic shapes and low key yet intelligently placed type.

On his website Alan Clarke states that, “The designs focused on the movement and speed of the athletes equipment. They were used to help travelers associate relevant tube stops with the Olympic events that are being held there”.

This is just as well, as I feel that each poster works best when displayed on its own; thus avoiding any conflict between the colours (which are not only vibrant contemporary in feel but are also cleverly chosen to associate with the sport in question).

The power in these posters are in their simplicity and clever use of shapes which convey a subliminal feeling of movement and energy. Further clarification is given by the name of the sporting event displayed in the top right hand corner and the well known Olympic rings in the top left corner of each poster.

Alan also states, “I have come to believe in clear, considered, communication solutions, simplicity and great ideas”. In my opinion he has achieved this with elegance and great composition in these striking posters (which won Best in Show at this years D&AD New Blood exhibition).

Well done to Alan – and great to see the Olympian brand being interpreted in a distinctly London style.