High Line: The Inside Story

The road to creating one of New York's most beloved parks was sometimes just as tough as the unruly terrain that Friends of the High Line co-founders Joshua David and Robert Hammond were determined to transform. Stretching from the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, the mile-and-a-half-long elevated park represents the extraordinary rescue of an abandoned eyesore by two inexperienced but dedicated individuals, and the rally of strong community involvement. A new book, "High Line: The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky," chronicles the behind-the-scenes of the epic ten-year restoration project.

In overcoming all the adversity which faced them, David and Hammond have created a park that stands for so much more than a respite from the urban jungle. Today, the High Line is home to more than 200 species of grasses, wildflowers, shrubs and trees, hosts more than 300 public programs each year, from stargazing sessions to yoga classes, provides a setting for site-specific art installations and receives at times 100,000 visitors in a single weekend.

With the forthcoming relocation of the Whitney Museum to the park's southern terminus and the adjacent Hudson Yards development on the horizon, the High Line engages with an important area of NYC's rapidly evolving urban environment. "High Line" is a thorough and enlightening read for any park enthusiast or 'yet-to-be-known-nobody' seeking a little inspiration. Hammond sums up the project quite simply in the book - "I hope the High Line will encourage people to pursue all sorts of crazy projects, even if they seem, as the High Line once did, the most unlikely of dreams."

To find out where you can purchase High Line: The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky or to find out more, visit Cool Hunting.

Installation for California Design, 1930-1965: "Living in a Modern Way" Exhibition

On view until March 25th at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the installation for California Design, 1930–1965: “Living in a Modern Way” Exhibition has been created by the Hodgetts + Fung Design and Architecture Studio. These are the names behind a number of Los Angeles landmarks, including the renovated Hollywood Bowl and Egyptian Theater. The design for the exhibition is inspired by California’s unique style, with lithe, sensuous lines carried throughout the installation, including the display cases and a helical construction that soars through the center of the exhibition.

This is the first major study of modern California design which really examines the state’s key role in shaping the material culture of the country at mid-century. California Design features more than 350 objects in wide ranging media, including furniture, textiles, fashion, graphic and industrial design, ceramics, jewelry, metalwork, architectural drawings, and film, as well as two period re-creations—most notably the living room from the home of renowned designers Charles and Ray Eames.

Photography courtesy of Hodgetts + Fung Design and Architecture.

To find out more about the designers and the exhibition visit Arch Daily.

Inftatable Mobile Architecture Competition PFFF

CityVision has collaborate with FARM to announce a new international competition called PFFF. This is an architecture competition focused upon the design and realization of an inflatable mobile pavilion to embody the spirit of the FARM project.

The pavilion will be used many times and it will have to be easily transportable and installable in squares, parks, meeting places of different cities and FARM Cultural Camp tour’s stops.

Find out more on Arch Daily

Zaha Hadid Architects designs new Roca Gallery in London

Zaha Hadid Architects has designed the new Roca London Gallery located in Chelsea Harbour. Roca is a leading bathroom brand which, has developed many technologically advanced products that continue to inspire the industry in design.

See more of the new showroom on Contemporist

Photography by Luke Hayes

Is online advertising worth the money?

At a recent Construction Marketing Conference The Think Tank was asked to discuss Digital Advertising and why businesses still pay for online advertising in a world of Social Media.  
The topic created great interest at the conference and stimulated many questions.
To view the full presentation, which includes some interesting insight into digital advertising, please click on the link below.


Paying for Digital Advertising.pdf (829 kb)

Air as Architecture - a talk by Yuki Sumner

Yuki Sumner considers the emerging design trend from Japan of making air an integral part of work when she talks at the Barbican next week.

Join writer and critic Yuki Sumner as she investigates how air manifests through contemporary Japanese architecture, art and fashion.

'The airy, weightless, fragile work being produced by young architects such as Junya Ishigami, cutting-edge artists such as Akiko Ikeuchi or ground-breaking fashion designers such as Rei Kawakubo and Issey Miyake, is beguiling but what is exactly being produced? Air seems to be an integral part of their work. What if we say that it is the air itself that is being moulded and created? Is this a new trend emerging specifically out of Japan?'

An interesting perspective on Japanese design. 10th October, Barbican, London

Click here to find out more

A new media neutral idea for Glidden

The Think Tank was invited, through a formal pitch process, to develop a new media neutral (MNI) idea for the Glidden Trade which would support the marketing and positioning of the brand over the next few years.
This MNI would be required to work across a wide range of marketing channels and collateral including advertising, point-of-sale, direct marketing, digital channels, social media and sales collateral.

See how we got on - click here

A security solution for vacant property

The Think Tank has recently developed a marketing campaign for Clearway Services, communicating their vacant property security solutions to the property sector, which included a unique keyless door and wireless alarm system.We developed new brands for key products in the offering and a micro-site and marketing campaign to communicate the benefits of the products to property owners and developers.
See more here

Paper vs. Digital Direct Marketing

Earlier this year Liam Bateman, Director at The Think Tank, was invited to make a presentation to marketing professionals at the RIBA Insight Conference, considering the merits of Paper v's Digital Direct Marketing. The presentation was well received and discussed the pros and cons of using direct mail and electronic direct marketing to reach target audiences.
To find out more and to download the full presentation please click on the pdf below.

Paper vs Digital Direct Marketing.pdf (2220 kb)

Research suggests that video content increases press release usage

A recent newsletter that the Think Tank PR team received contained research showing that a press release with video content is three times more likely to be published. And that started a discussion in the team.

The research was based on a sample of 124 news releases that included related video content that were distributed and tracked by RealWire during the period September 2010 and July 2011. The combined editorial and blog coverage these releases achieved was compared to the results of 965 news releases that didn’t include video content.

Adam Parker, RealWire’s chief executive, commented: “The coverage analysis implies that including video content with a news release dramatically increases its impact. In part this may be related to its ability to make your story stand out and at the same time provide another form of content for people to find and share in relation to it. Certainly with YouTube being the second most popular search engine it is not surprising that in over 94 per cent of the releases studied that included video, PROs opted to host their related video on a social media sharing site and then embed the content in their release page.”

However Parker is not convinced that this is the whole story. “Another reason for the enhanced coverage could be that video content often seems to accompany news releases that are broader in interest and more conversational in nature compared to the majority of corporate announcements. This suggests that it isn’t simply the act of adding a video that potentially leads to improved coverage in many cases, but also the nature of the underlying story itself.”

And therein lies the key – to misquote a phrase “it’s the story stupid”. While we now need to consider with each story or announcement the possibilities of bringing it to life using all available channels and techniques, it’s still a matter of judging what the right channels are to best get the specific message across, and of course combining that successfully with content.

Have you say.

The Think Tank joins Formica Team at the Great North Run

Kelly-Anne Steenbok and Michelle Plett joined the Formica Team at the Great North Run on 18th September 2011 to raise money for Shelter. Along with 50,000 runners they took the half marathon challenge and have so far raised almost £4,000. Well done to all.

If you would like to support the team please visit www.justgiving.com/team-formica

Five ways to double your profits - Real Business Article

IronmongeryDirect doubled its profits this year, turnover is up 25 per cent and the firm has just moved to bigger premises - a great success story.

Raising the profile of the company within the business press is one of the objectives of the PR campaign that The Think Tank has been managing for IronmongeryDirect over the past couple of years.

Looking for opportunities to communicate the impressive growth and success of this business in a very challenging market The Think Tank secured a feature article for MD Wayne Lysaght-Mason in Real Business Magazine looking at five secrets to fast growth.

This great opportunity follows articles and comment in a range of business publications, including Marketing Week, raising the profile of the business beyond the Construction and DIY sectors.

Click here to view the full article.

Reputation - 'lost in the blink of an eye'

While preparing a communications workshop to be delivered to a client, the Think Tank PR team got into a discussion about reputation management.  “Reputation, like trust, takes time to build but can be lost in the blink of an eye,” says Neville Bain, Chairman of the Institute of Directors in his foreword to the recently published Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ Reputation and the Board - Guidance for PR Consultants and Board Directors.

Paying attention to the long term value of a brand is often overlooked, particularly in tough times, when the attention is on the short-term sales cycle.  But it’s also worth considering that creating perceptions of a product or the service that supports it, or a service itself, is not just about communications.  It needs to be locked into the whole business process.

Today, and tomorrow, with increasing access to information, everyone it seems is an ‘expert’ and takes what you say at face value.  Trust has to be built in every aspect of how you do business.

There are some interesting recommendations about managing reputation in this guidance document and the CIPR is asking Directors and Board Directors for feedback.

You can download the PDF at here

Always Coca Cola. Or rather, Diet Coke.

A new intriguing packaging for the Cola family and guess who is behind it? Turner Duckworth of course.

After recently repackaging Coca-Cola, and winning multiple awards for doing so, Duckwoth has created a new look for its younger sister, Diet Coke.
The graphics are substantially a crop of the logo, which is then wrapped around the can. Two cans together form the word "OK".

This limited edition will soon need to populate our fridge, as there are some Diet Coke fans amongst us. No offence for Pepsi lovers of course.

However, talking about graphics is only half of the job. We advise you to take a look at the other images on Creative Review.

British Council launches ADF Papers

The British Council has launched the ADF Papers, a series of documents that explore new directions in British architecture, design and fashion.

They commissioned experts in the various sectors to write on particular issues that were key to current UK practice. They say that, 'Each paper includes an introduction, case studies, examples of recent projects and links for further information. The aim is to share our understanding of our sectors with our Arts Managers all over the world as well as design professionals abroad and in the UK.'

The papers were designed by objectif, and printed on Colorplan paper by GF Smith. Axel Feldman at objectif had to develop a unique typography for each of the papers.

Read more on the British Council website

A Design with a Moral - Busan Opera House

In Korean design, a design without a moral is meaningless. Relating with the concept of "Chun" (heaven), the deep benevolence of Korean life and with a very human knowledge of oneself, Task Architects proposed this work of art for the Busan Opera House Competition.

While the aim was to produce an "Iconic" structure, the project includes 3 main halls - from an impressive 2,000 seat great hall to a small 300 seat theatre. All the components are housed under one large universal space, which maintains a sleek and simple look far from more traditional views of highly decorated opera houses.
Simplicity also provides memorable moments to its visitors, from the entrance space with its paths under the huge cantilever to the sky terrace at the very end of the cantilever itself. This is design we admire.

Renders courtesy of Task Architects.
Via +Mood.

Forum/11 - Design Brought to Chelsea Harbour

As we are always on the look-out for opportunities to explore the world of design, the next appointment appears to be Forum/11 at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour.

Over four days, 25th-28th September, it will just be a matter of chosing between design lectures (featuring also Barbara Hulanicki!), book signings and the 90 exhibitors who will be present.

Check all the details here.

A New Museum of Art for Taipei City

This remarkable project is architects' OODA proposal for the New Taipei City Museum of Art. The brief was to create pioneering and innovative design, which will "stand as a new-age landmark".

The structure is a hypercube - an applied mathematical form that relates to a big volumetric cube with a smaller inner structure cube.
Better than any description, the incredible images will tell you how this entry won the Merit Award in the competition to give voice to Taipei City new spirit.

Read more on ArchDaily.
Image courtesy of OODA.

An Eco Skyscraper for India

Combine aesthetics with attention to the environment. This is the concept by Indian architect Vikas Pawar. Eco Skyscraper, to be built in Noida, India, is not only original, but is bound to be totally self-sufficient. Harnessing energy from the sun and wind is half of the job, with enormous wind turbines to be erected on the walkways of the upper level.

The second marvel is that the spiral shape turns this skyscraper into a vertical farm, with each rooftop used to grow food. The topping of the cake is that the building will use hydrophonics system to convert humid air into water, fit for human consumption.
Read more.

The Think Tank shortlisted for Best Brand Campaign at B2B Marketing Awards

The Think Tank has been shortlisted for Best Brand Campaign in the B2B Marketing Awards 2011 for our brand creation and development work for Biome Technologies Plc, a leader in the provision of bioplastics.

Following a brief from Stanelco Plc, Biome's previous name, we developed a new brand to promote the bioplastics bias of the business, developing a new brand identity, collateral and web site and then promoted the brand and business to a diverse customer base through PR and electronic direct marketing.

Biome has seen great results since its re-launch and this recognition of the strength of the new brand is great for both The Think Tank and Biome.

Fingers crossed for the Awards in November.

For more information about The Think Tank's work on the Biome brand please click here