AWOL Studios is one of the biggest studio groups in the UK – with 77 Studios and over 120 creative people. It provides space for a diverse range of creative individuals and businesses, including artists, graphic designers, film makers, fashion designers, interior designers, photographers, jewellery makers  sculptors and many more.

AWOL Studios residents, Transmission, were challenged to reflect this eclectic mix of disciplines within the promotional material. The brief outlined two key objectives, firstly to capture the creative essence of the mill and secondly, create a long term, sustainable concept which could become synonymous with AWOL Studios.

Transmission’s Creative Director, Grant Mitchell, explains how the intriguing design originated. “We simply used the number of the open evening, in this case ‘5’, and interpreted this in a creative way. So we begged, stealed and borrowed items to reflect as many of the creative disciplines within AWOL Studios. Pencils, paint, tools, letters, fabric, and many other items were arranged them to form a number five.

Other residents will be invited to contribute their skills and talents in the future, by interpreting the number of the open evenings in their own style. It’s going to be really exciting to see how the idea develops and how other creatives interpret the brief,” added Grant.

If you want to check out the best up and coming creative talent in Manchester come along on Friday 2nd December 2011 from 4pm. And make sure you pop in to say hello to us!

Click here to view the work in our portfolio section

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Transmission Creative ‘bagged’ the job with Staffordshire-based, leather design and manufacturers, Lichfield Leather.

The task was to propel three of their brands to new heights; Tumble & Hide – a collection of Italian-inspired handbags, wallets and accessories; Yoshi – a quirky, youthful line of women’s handbags and purses; and Detour – an urban range of trendy bags and wallets for men.

The aim was to give each brand more personality and its own individual identity – in order to differentiate each brand and maximise impact and appeal.

After building well-defined, unmistakable brands, Transmission’s Business Director, Paul Haworth ensured a strong marketing strategy was implemented for Tumble & Hide, Yoshi and Detour, including advertising, promotional material, trade shows and websites, to launch in September 2011.

“I was impressed with how quickly Transmission got to grips with our brands, gaining a thorough understanding of how each brand functioned and who it was aimed at,” said Giles Heathcote, Lichfield’s Proprietor.

“Transmission’s creative thinking really opened our eyes to the potential of what could be achieved, and we’re already feeling a positive business impact from the new material they’ve produced,” added Giles.

Grant Mitchell, Transmission’s Creative Director – who has been recognised with awards and nominations from D&AD and Design Week, amongst others – was intent on giving each Lichfield brand a strongly recognisable and individual identity, to maximise impact and appeal.

“Lichfield Leather is already a successful, well established business. So it’s a fantastic challenge to see how our creative thinking can really help take these brands to a higher level,” said Grant.

Lichfield Leather has been established for over 40 years, and are the UK’s leading supplier of designer leather handbags, purses, wallets, gifts and accessories. It is also home to such brands as 1642, Safari, Harness, Saffron Hill and Lyla and Tilly. Lichfield also makes bespoke goods to individual specification.

To check out the work in our portfolio click here.

Transmission Creative was commissioned by Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO), to give them a fresh new look, by updating the branding and logo of the organisation.

Greater Manchester’s voluntary sector comprises over 10,000 organisations, employs 67,000 staff, and contributes £1.6 billion a year to the local economy. GMCVO plays a vital role in this sector, by representing the views and needs of people involved in local voluntary groups, sharing ideas and brokering relationships.

GMCVO believed their existing identity and branding was no longer fit for purpose. As a result, the organisation selected the award-winning team at Transmission Creative to create a more appropriate, modern identity, which better reflected the values of GMCVO.

The Manchester-based design team started work by conducting in-depth research to establish how GMCVO’s stakeholders and customers perceived the organisation. Following this, the team came up with a main logo, and suite of sympathetic logos to reflect different areas of GMCVO’s work.

Transmission Creative worked with GMCVO to develop the strap-line: ’supporting voluntary action in Greater Manchester since 1975′. This helped to demonstrate that GMCVO is an established organisation within a sector fraught with change – further cementing the values of trust and stability.

Transmission Creative also developed a complete range of stationery, new signage, templates for advertising materials and a suite of publications, redesigned the GMCVO website, and provided a brand guidelines document.

Andrew Ward, GMCVO Marketing Officer, said: “From the start they (Transmission Creative) developed a professional approach, working hard to establish our needs before progressing to the next stage of brand development.”

“Transmission Creative produced a simple but effective solution to the brief, which we feel reflected the values and image we wished to project. The impact of the process can be seen from the many materials now produced, but in particular the design for the website has given us the uncluttered image we were looking for,” added Mr Ward.

This successful re-brand has enabled GMCVO to communicate more effectively their values, and accurately reflect what they do, which is vital at this challenging time for third sector organisations.

To see more of Transmission’s work with GMCVO click here to visit our portfolio section.

Transmission’s Creative Director, Grant Mitchell comments “As Staffordshire graduates ourselves, both myself and Business Director, Paul Haworth were delighted to give students the opportunity to gain some valuable experience. It’s great to see those students progress and develop into really talented designers. We attended the final year show recently and the standard was exceptionally high.”

The voyeuristic theme behind this open evening is to to take a peek inside the minds and studios at Manchester’s leading creative space.

Awol Studios is home to over 50 creative individuals and businesses practising in a diverse range of disciplines including fine art, ceramics, photography, graphics, fashion, crafts, jewellery, sculpture and many more. The open evenings give you the opportunity to meet the creatives in their working environment, purchase work, be inspired, socialise and celebrate Manchester’s finest artistic talent.

So come down on Thursday 24 March 2011 from 4pm onwards to Awol Studios, Hope Mill, 113 Pollard Street, Manchester M4 7JA

For more information contact either;

David French
T 0161 637 7004
M 07906 736191
E david@awol-studios.co.uk

Phil Walton
M 07968 361506
E phil@awol-studios.co.uk

www.awol-studios.co.uk

Brand design studio, Transmission Creative, are causing a storm of interest in the unique club night, My Generation, organised by Manchester music venue Band on the Wall, with a specially designed tartan shopping trolley.

Grant was delighted with the reaction to Transmission’s latest creation, Lucille, he added:

“Lucille has had an amazing response from everybody who has seen her. Everybody wants to have their photo taken with it. We really hope that it will provide a real talking point to help promote the club nights and give Manchester’s older generation a great excuse to reacquaint themselves with their city.”

My Generation club night offers the chance for those aged over-50 who may feel excluded from the modern club scene to enjoy classic tunes in central Manchester as part of a great night out.

Clubbers can relive the old days at clubs such as Jungfrau, Oasis, Top Ten Club and The Twisted Wheel.

The club night has been supported by the Valuing Older People Unit at Manchester City Council and North Manchester Regeneration Team.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE WORK >>

Company Director, Ben Capper, approached us with the concept of creating a bespoke family album to both celebrate the company’s 35 year anniversary and to act as their submission for company of the year. With 3 weeks and no previous relationship with the client we really had our work cut out!

But just in the nick of time we produced a beautifully crafted, individually boxed momento of the company’s rich heritage within interior design.

We were flattered to hear the Judge’s praise prior to presenting Ben with the award… “We have been genuinely impressed by the standard of entries we have received for these awards. Of course the quality of presentation of an award entry is far from the be all and end all of our judges decision-making process. One entry however, stood out for us in terms of presentation and also content.

The Mix Interiors Company of the year award winner is… Ralph Capper Interiors.”

Congratulations to Ben and his team on this richly deserved recognition.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE WORK >>

NEPHRA, based in New Moston are a group of hardworking, dedicated volunteers, most of whom are retired. The group exists to improve the quality of life of local residents by recreating the long-gone community spirit of yesteryear. One of their most popular activities is a weekly over 50’s luncheon club, and this provided the inspiration to create a cook book of simple, healthy, wholesome and affordable food for all.

Transmission worked closely with the group to accurately reflect their spirit, energy and joy, commissioning photographer Ed Swinden to successfully capture these emotions.

Transmission’s Creative Director Grant Mitchell outlines the studio’s approach. “We wanted to create a cook book to rival anything produced by some of the more famous faces in cuisine and it was imperative that the design reflected the simple, wholesome and down-to-earth nature of NEPHRA.”

All proceeds from the sale of the cook book are used to help NEPHRA continue their outstanding work. To buy a copy please visit www.nephra.org.uk

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE WORK >>

The combination of a series of new account wins and the opportunity to design our own space within which to better serve our clients, and the fact that we only had to move up to the floor above was just too irresistible to turn down. We share the 5th floor with other creatives including fashion designers, photographers and sculptors plus we even have our own permanent gallery space!

Please note our new contact details, particularly our new telephone number, which we will be using from Monday 6th December…

Transmission Creative, Studio 513, 5th Floor Hope Mill, 113 Pollard Street, Manchester M4 7JA.

Our new telephone number is 0161 637 0043.

Hosted by local green champions, MERCi, the conference comprises of an extensive series of talks, workshops and activities debating how Manchester should develop from a sustainability perspective in the next few years.

Transmission’s Business Director, Paul Haworth comments, “our aim was to create a simple, easily recognisable and iconic brand identity for Future Manchester 2010. The symbol is made from a swatch book containing a variety of textures relevant to the future sustainability of Manchester, from bicycle tyres to green spaces, and we’re hoping it will provide not only a distinctive look but will act as an inspiration for new ideas be generated by the conference attendees.”