Meet BOB

We worked with United Welsh to create a bespoke character called BOB, a happy chappy whose role is to demonstrate how tenants can learn about and get ready for Universal Credit.

BOB is short for Banking, Online and Budgeting which were the main points that needed highlighting to tenants.

The character was initially sketched using pencil and paper with the lifework and colouring then developed in Adobe Illustrator. We used the vibrant palette from the United Welsh brand guidelines to enhance the positive and friendly approach.

The evolution of BOB

BOB’s simple and friendly illustration style makes him a versatile and dynamic character that can be used in a variety of different situations and poses.

A leaflet was then produced to illustrate the key messages of universal credit in an engaging but informative way.

The leaflet design needed to strike a balance between appearing professional and allowing the simplicity and ease of the new benefits process to shine through.

The leaflet has been such a success it has been reproduced for other organisations to help more people get ready for Universal Credit.

Universal credit leaflet for United Welsh

In addition we have gone on to create a series of graphics using BOB to reinforce the information about Universal Credit on social media. These images have been able to reach wider audiences using the hashtag #belikebobUC.

If you are in our area you can even see BOB on the back of a Cardiff Bus spreading the word about Universal Credit!

BOB the universal credit character for United Welsh

House of MinaLima

As we all know January can be dark, dull and depressing. So to cheer myself up I took a little trip to London to see an exhibition by award winning design studio MinaLima. MinaLima created the graphic art for the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and more famously the graphic art for the Harry Potter film series, of which I’m a massive fan.

MinaLima is the creative collaboration of Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima. The duo met on set of the second Harry Potter film and after a decade of designing the details that make the magical world that is loved by so many come to life, The House of MinaLima showcases their work with four floors of distinctive designs from all of the films.

House of MinaLima

The first floor was dedicated to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. As the film is set in the 1920’s the graphic design styles look distinctly different to the designs from the Harry Potter films. You can clearly see how they had been inspired for their typography and illustration from Art Deco styles of the time. The posters featured in the film were so charming in real life I was so tempted to buy one of them!

The second and third floor were all about Harry Potter. On display was Marauder’s Map (a particular favourite of mine, the map was also printed onto the floor of the house), letters that are famously part of the plot, book covers, the famous set of wanted posters, the proclamation posters, signage, and packaging for potions and other wizard ephemera. It was complete magic (no pun intended!).

MinaLima-1
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MinaLima 2
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MinaLima-3
MinaLima-6

As MinaLima designed the prop for the book called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which was part of Harry’s curriculum at Hogwarts, it seems only right that MinaLima continued to design for the spin-off wizarding world. The most interesting of all the designs were the newspapers which are well known in both films, ‘The Daily Prophet’ and ‘The New York Ghost’. The duo had to create mastheads, layouts and even their own headlines, apart from the ones which are part of the plots. It was said that the designers would sneak in their own logo or names of their family and friends into the artwork, which of course you can’t spot while watching the film, but I loved this fact nonetheless!

The House was due to close on the 4th February, but remains open until further notice – hurrah! So if you love Harry Potter, or you just love design, I highly recommend you take a visit.

by Aimée

The New News

What better way to kick off the beginning of our blog, than with the launch of our brand new website!

We actually began creating our new website last year in response to our developing and growing brand. Creative Loop was expanding, our logo and brand were refreshed and our digital presence was widening so the website needed to be revamped to reflect this.

Website on an iPad

We started out researching by the bucketful looking at tone of voice, layouts, fonts, function we dug deep into the core values of Creative Loop and what messages we wanted to portray. After many team discussions, pouring over visuals and chocolate breaks later, we finally began creating a strong and bold style which reflects our tone of voice and how we’d like to be perceived, as well as representing the people who work here and the clients we work with and ones we have yet to meet. Our main aims whilst building our website was to have an easy to navigate site where the design was minimalist with engaging clear copy so that our work and imagery is the main focal point of our site.

We expect Creative Loop to continue to thrive and develop in years to come which means our branding will never stop evolving while we continue to grow, but the end result of our website represents Creative Loop as it stands: Bold, intelligent design + experienced friendly people = Creative Loop.

Creative Loop stationery
Creative Loop icon design
Be bold or italic, never regular

Take a moment to explore our new site, perhaps bookmark us or connect with us on social media to stay up-to-date on all our news. We will be updating this blog on a regular basis to keep you in touch with all the new things happening at Creative Loop and in the wider world of design – there is plenty we want to tell you about!