Sally A Turner

This woman isn’t easilydefined by one label. In her own words Sally describes herself as “Artist, Poet, Teacher, Painter and Mis-cheif Maker.” I take it a fair few of those comments were from other people? “I’d like a website that shows community artists in a different light- there’s so many rubbish ones out there! People think it’s all potato prints and collage. I’d like the kind of webiste that appeals to other artists, writers, teachers, councillors even local MPs.”

Thinking of starting something revolutionary there Sally? (It sounds like breaking the mound with your website is a good place to start)… We’ll have to see what we can muster but I’m sure it’ll be an effort to keep Sally’s ideas to the space of one site… Her life story, interest and passions drawn on many themes and anecdotes relating to nationality, identity and femininity. It’s a diverse and rich story to tell but we look forward to the collaboration.

Hannah Atkins

Ok we admit it’s a bit early to be letting you in on this one but we’re very excited and couldn’t wait!  The Big Picture has been asked to create a site that mixes film and animation. Our client asked us to find a musician to work on the accompanying soundtrack. Ooooh! We reckon we’ve found the perfect creative match. Hannah Atkins is a Manchester singer songwriter whose looped melodies and heartfelt lyrics fits well with the dreamlike, imaginary website that will be launched next year. I know… it’s slightly premature but we’re very happy to be working with this talented lady and she recently performed at Matt & Phreds for her album launch ‘Falling.’ Go check it out (and for a limited time you can get the CD in a Fair Trade cotton bag- nice!)

Watch Dreams sung by Hannah at home

Ice Tray 24 Hours by Chris Bird-Jones

Chris Bird-Jones and Karen Heald are two artists who’s paths were bound to cross at some point. A fascination with the trace of something, the underlooked and beauty in the details, forged the basis for the pair’s working relationship. Karen and Chris have created artwork in some interesting locations to date: a Spanish Castle, a Mongolian artist’s space and glass blowing in a wheelbarrow… sounds intriguing? You have to see their work to guess the context and find out more.

Beth by Karen Heald

The best place to see the results of their collaborations are in the flesh- and thankfully The Big Picture has the chance to keep you in the know at BirdJonesandHeald.co.uk… don’t look yet- there’s nothing there. We’re working on it at the moment. When they are ready to launch don’t be surprised if you have to take a second glance, something very subtle is in store. In this case whispering is better than shouting about great ideas.

Kuel is best described as a forward thinking illustration agency with its roots in modernist design. Snappy description?! Well you can have a look at their showreel here. Kuel needed a means of showcasing the best of their design, art direction and illustration for high street and fashion retailers. Elegant peek-a-boo windows reveal a big on colour attitude and illustration with finesse. The Big Picture was more than happy to help get Kuel’s marketing strategy kick-started.

Alternative education for Leeds teenagers

What a project: a client with a big vision, a chance to create something new for a grass roots organisation, and building a people focused theme. That’s a winning recipe for a Big Picture collaboration! Involve help young people in South Leeds get on the right footing with their education if they leave a mainstream school. Involve have hit the ground running and are gaining a good reputation fast. The Big Picture has been part of the journey, creating a memorable brand identity, website, stationary and signage… they loved their new image so we got to deliver the whole sherbang!

We’re rather pleased with the results!

The National Centre for Diversity (NCFD) is a people driven organisation, awarding businesses’ recognition of multiplicity with the Investors in Diversity kitemark. The Big Picture was delighted when marketing agency Xsolve got in touch requesting the website redesign for NCFD. Their site currently attracts over 11 million visitors a year and they wanted to develop their brand identity, get a whole new look and breathe life into the diversity story.

This was a real before and after story

The National Centre for Diversity's Old Site

The Big Picture gave a major makeover treatment, rebuilding a new site onto the existing CMS so the folk at NCFD still had complete control over their content.

A key focus of their business is the Investors in Diversity kitemark, an award the organisation was keen to promote, and therefore a service to take centre stage on the website.

Using the analogy of a journey to communicate the Investors in Diversity process, The Big Picture created illustrations depicting people from all walks of life in settings from the urban jungle to rolling hills. The site has great functionality as well as looks, with a fully editable content management system, latest news feeds and an email sign up.

The results have seen increased click throughs onto key pages, and has raised the reputation of the brand in line with the values and vision the company pride themselves on.

Well I never. Salford Council called The Big Picture and they weren’t checking if the rent was late, oh no! Quite the opposite, proudly annoucing The Big Pic as a prize winner for the Aspire to Enterprise course that is run with Salford 100 Venture for new businesses.

So what did they like about the proposal? Full of ideas, energy and the Japanese travel connections impressed. The prize money won’t be spent on next month’s rent payment, but on a rather useful design book showcasing our work, and getting the word out about The Big Picture’s services.

Dare I say it… Karen Heald’s site is ready! The artist in residence is leaving residence from The Big Picture’s wing and flying out onto the creative scene armed with her new site, business cards, and stationary. Already making a splash with her new brand, Karen won a prestigious placement at Glan Clwyd Hospital, Bodelwyddan, North Wales, working with patients and introducing them to the fascinating world of sleep, dreaming and film that Karen inhabits. Pop in for a cuppa still to keep us updated won’t you?

She's worth it

Karen Heald is someone worth waiting for… her website has been a year in the making! Ok not to big us up too much, but actually she is a very busy international artist who has been in the thick of researching sleep for her PhD, travelling a lot and making interesting films. Karen might sound like an academic diva but in real life she is a very down to earth, talented, funny, thoughtful lady.

Her artistic endeavours began in painting, and although these days she’s much more likely to be creating conceptual films, performances and photo shoots, her work keeps a painterly, light quality. You can experience her work on a beautiful, peaceful level… but if you delve a bit further there’s so much more to do with our psyche, needs, human make up and identity.

Have I spent too much time talking art with Karen? most probably.

Am I a fan of her artwork? more so now I’ve had time to understand it.

Someone good to make a website for? definitely, a pleasure to work with and a great client to share and learn ideas from. It flowed!

I love the mischievousness of this one… At the time of searching I found this subversive site under ‘google adwords’ (on the 1st page of google of course). To my surprise (and joy at being taken off track) I discovered this was not some adwords stats boffin but someone writing poetry published as a google ad!

Picture the scene you’re searching for ‘Money saving tips’ and then see this lurking on the right of your screen:

Adword Poetry

Ok it might make you laugh, might raise an eyebrow in annoyance or at worst make you think… hmm someone’s seriously lost it on the wrong page. What was really interesting was this chap’s research into how much google charge for popular keywords… anyone going through the process of optimising their website or spending cash on a adword campaign knows their presence makes the right ripples if the keyword is a popular one. (’Design Manchester’ is over £1 for each click through.. eek!) Click on the link and scroll down near the bottom of this page and see the costs of making adword poetry (including famous people’s names) for yourself:
www.iterature.com/adwords/index.html