Our Logbook

OK, it’s less of a crack and more a gaping hole. Holes plural. Yep, we’ve got the builders in and it’s getting a bit messy. In 2007 we took a space across the corridor at 1.02 where we built meeting rooms and extra desk space. It wasn’t an ideal solution to split our space in two, but it meant we could expand quickly without looking for another whole space. Finally our friends at Bonar Floors have moved out from next door (we started by asking them, then begging them, then bribing them, then playing the music really loud. In the end they decided to move anyway) so we are creating one big space. And as anyone who’s ever had building work done knows, the hardest part is finding a non-dusty place to put the kettle on.

Everyone’s been very patient with our ever changing space, encouraged by seeing the new space emerge. Sian, who’s been managing the whole thing whilst still being our FD, is looking forward to not being asked “What is that going to be?”.

1.03 looking to our new space emerging on the left.

The new space coming together. Looks like Aaron’s desk on a good day.

In recent years, there’s been something of a surge in sites taking musicians and having them record live sessions in unusual environments.

The most well-known of these is probably The Black Cab Sessions which lives up to it’s namesake. Although Phosphorescent gives a heartbreaking version of ‘Wolves’, David Thomas Broughton is my personal highlight.

Take-Away Shows from French blog La Blogothèque throw all your favourite (indie-folk) superstars into warehouses, parks, bars and elevators. Don’t miss improvised instrumentation from Animal Collective, Liars in a lift or a harrowing solo performance from Alan Sparhawk.

They Shoot Music, Don’t They are based in Vienna, and like to record everywhere from museums to launderettes. My personal favourites are from Daniel Johnston, Xiu Xiu & Tortoise and Parenthetical Girls.

Daytrotter is still the winner of the bunch though. The amount of talent on their roster is astounding so make sure you have a good browse – I recommend the Doveman, Phosphorescent (1), (2) and Viking Moses sessions as good starting points.

Skittles – Official website
What’s this? Modernista’s website? No, a major confectionery brand that uses nothing but already existing social networking sites mashed together to create their official website? Crazy!!! Skittles has had quite a lot of interest from the re-launch of skittles.com at the beginning of the week. The site features content about the candy created by its consumers on a host of social media sites, including Google’s YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Yahoo’s Flickr photo site. On Monday, the content of the site was pulled from Twitter. Any Twitter user who mentioned the word “Skittles” was featured on the Skittles home page. How much can the brand trust their consumers that they will say good things about them?

Beate-Uhse Erotic TV – Advert
Warning, the following contains material which may offend some viewers. “You’ll see it, your kids won’t” Very cute!

Jag Black – Interactive photoshoot
I really enjoyed playing with this site, you basically choose a model, take shots of them wearing Jag, put the photos into a magazine layout and send the magazine to a friend. I like the use of the scroll wheel, the way you take the photos, to the very smooth papervision in the preview of the catalogue.
My magazine

MIR:ROR Violet – The first mainstream RFID object reader
The Mir:ror will connect to your computer via USB. It will read RFID tags placed near it and can perform actions based on them.

Our new advertising for Betfair Poker is finally live this week.

It’s been a long time in the making, but we’re really pleased with the result. It’s the first poker communications we’ve seen that doesn’t just do product shots and poker clichés. We were aiming for something a lot cleaner, and with a strong attitude.

Thanks to Albion creatives Clive & Andre and Nick & Jules, photographer Samuel Hicks, and illustrator Frazer Irving. (Frazer’s a comic book artist who has done work for 2000 AD, fulfilling some of our team’s boyhood fantasies.)

See the other ads in the campaign in our work.