British Council opens fashion exhibition in Kazakhstan

The first venue for the British Council's touring exhibition, Reconstruction: Cultural Heritage and the Making of Contemporary Fashion is the Central State Museum in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The exhibition features seven of the UK's leading fashion designers and offers a snapshot of some of the traditions and cultures that inspire these designers.

The British Council says, 'The launch kicked off with a packed press conference attended by Kazakhstan’s leading TV Channels and newspaper titles followed by the official opening by the British Ambassador and the Director of Central State Museum. 600 people attended the opening to see the work of seven of the UK’s leading fashion designers: Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood, Hussein Chalayan, Marios Schwab, Peter Jensen, Sophia Kokosalaki and Osman Yousefzada.'

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Gamezone instant win promotion adds theatre to Travis Perkins

Following a very successful Summer Scorcher promotion through merchants Travis Perkins in 2009, The Think Tank was asked by AkzoNobel to develop a new sales promotion that would again engage customers and increase sales of Dulux Trade, Glidden Trade, Polycell, Hammerite and Cuprinol products.

The 'Gamezone' promotion was created and actioned across the Travis Perkins estate, bringing the products to the forefront of the store and offering customers the chance to instantly win a range of prizes related to the theme. The promotion created a sense of theatre in-store and encouraged recommendation by branch staff through a back of house promotion.

Read and see more here

Villa Ronde provides an organic flavour

This amazing building, set on the coast of Japan, houses a private museum, a guest house and a resort. It has been designed to allow a free organic space to be created, with rooms opened or closed to the internal patio area. The circular design captures the best of the views whilst also helping to resist the strong typhoon winds.

An amazing design and a great space that works with its environment whilst optimising views and offering resistance to the elements.

It was designed by Architects Ciel Rouge.

Read more on Arch Daily

Images © Henri Gueydan

Creating a profile for Permasense in the Oil and Gas Sector

Permasense is an offshoot of Imperial College London that has developed a unique inhospitable wireless monitoring system to accurately measure the corrosion of pipes in Oil and Gas processing.

The Think Tank created a range of marketing and presentation materials to launch the company, including web site, sales brochure, presentation tools and video. Working with BP we then promoted the technology and company through the use of PR to a global industry sector.

This resulted in a successful launch and the trial of the system by many of the world's leading Oil and Gas players. Interest in the product is significant and has led to the rapid growth of the company.

See and read more here

Vintage Festival comes to the Southbank

The Vintage Festival ios coming to the Southbank, London in July celebrating vintage Britain - an event not to be missed!

This is what they have to say about the event,

'Whether your thing is swing, rockabilly, mod, soul, funk, disco, ska, electro, cabaret, film, art or design, or if you just want to dress up and get an authentic make-over for a day, Vintage at Southbank Centre is a sensual delight, a big dressing-up box, a collector’s dream and a joyous creative feast for all ages. For one glamorous weekend we celebrate the music, fashion, film, art , design, and dance from the 1920s to the 1980s (and maybe even a peek at the early ‘90s) that has made Britain the world’s creative and cultural hotbed....

The event takes place over the three days at the Royal Festival Hall which will be set dressed across the six levels. It will be transformed into a multi-venue playground where pass holders can ‘learn the dances’, enjoy a makeover take in the live performances, exclusive DJ sets, catwalk shows, wonderfully conceived food and cocktails, the cream of the crop vintage retailers and surprises galore. Vintage favourites The Soul Casino, Let it Rock, The Torch Club, The Leisure Lounge and The Warehouse are amongst the ten nightclubs contained within Royal Festival Hall.

To find out more visit their web site.

Prototype Desert House Interacts with Views

A prototype house by Marmol Radziner has been built to capture the views of San Jacinto peak and the surrounding mountains near Desert Hot Springs, California.

The Desert House works with the landscape and includes a covered outdoor living area, 2000 square-foot  of interior spaces and a detached carport that allows the owners to “leave the car behind” as they approach their home.

The house is built with prefabricated technologies comprising twelve feet wide modules that can extend up to sixty four feet in length and which can use any type of cladding, including metal, wood, or glass.

Find out more on ArchDaily

© Joe Fletcher

Using Social Media to Promote the News

Retail news aggregator My Retail Media approached The Think Tank to raise their profile online and to build awareness of its services and content.

The Think Tank developed a social media campaign, based around a retail news blog, to publicise this groudbreaking web site which sources retail news from around the world. Providing an outlet for unique content, the blog was then publicised through social media channels such as Twitter and LinkedIn.

Having set up the social media channels and started the process of building a following, The Think Tank provided training to My Retail Media to allow them to manage the content delivery themselves. This has resulted in a significant increase in new traffic to the web site and an increase in subscriptions.

Try My Retail Media for yourself - click here