We’re hiring!

It’s great to be busy, but it’s time to bring in some new people. If you’re committed, creative and looking for your next career move we may just have a job for you…

Art Director/Senior Print Designer
25-30k (depending on experience)

Must have agency experience and a portfolio of big-brand conceptual thinking and application.

Experience with Quark, Illustrator and Photoshop essential.

Successful applicants will have a portfolio of big brand IT focussed direct marketing and be able to talk in depth about their work and explain the ideas behind it as well as the techniques used to create it. They will be experts in selling off the page, and a mine of creative ideas and solution.

Email cover letter, CV and folio examples to Ben Brown

Junior Print Designer
15-18k (depending on experience)

For this role we’re looking for a bright, vibrant graduate who can demonstrate a good portfolio of marketing design with a mixture of clients.

Knowledge with Quark, Illustrator and Photoshop essential.

Successful applicants will understand how to work creatively within restrictive guide lines, have a keen interest in design and be dedicated to learning how to grow within Creation DM.

Email cover letter, CV and folio examples to Ben Brown

Web Designer/Digital Designer
20-25k (depending on experience)

We have an opportunity for a committed and skilled middleweight digital designer/web designer to work with our enviable list of business and consumer client brands within a busy but enjoyable environment.

Typical projects include online advertising, email marketing, online advertorial production, marketing micro sites and web based sales tools.

Projects tend to be short and sweet rather than lengthy web development projects. We’re a marketing agency, not design and build, so focus on projects which raise brand awareness or sell products. However the successful candidate will also get involved in the development of bigger projects and must have some understanding and an interest in data driven sites and tools.

These qualities will go along way…
• Creative, inquisitive, intelligent, confident, use initiative.
• Understand that design has to work.
• Appreciate that thinking is as important as doing.
• An interest in brands, marketing and advertising.
• Attention to the bigger picture and to detail.
• Tidy code. Please.
• Every project is different, so an ability to find solutions and learn fast is as important as what you already know.
• Applicants must have a passion for emerging technologies and looking for ways to apply them.

Essential Skills…
• HTML, CSS, Fireworks, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, some Flash.
• Some understanding of SEO, usability and accessibility issues.
• Mac literate.

Nice to haves…
• Strong knowledge of SEO, usability and accessibility issues.
• Actionscript, PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, XML, AJAX…

Email cover letter, CV and links to Tom Marrows

Creation produces new Asda games magazine

We are excited to announce the launch of the new Asda Games Magazine, a collaboration between Asda and Creation Agency.

Family gaming in particular is being touted as a high growth sector, and we wanted to add value by producing a focussed publication that talks directly to Asda shoppers about gaming. The magazine is just a part of Asdas Games First strategy, and sits alongside larger ranges, more space and new in-store fixtures.

This is the largest circulation of any games magazine publication, issue 1 has had over 2 million copies produced. It will be a quarterly publication, and the first issue goes out in the August Asda magazine as an insert.

The Asda Games Magazine has a true magazine look and feel with:
• Games features, previews, advertisements and competitions (we have a laptop, Wii, DS and games up for prizes in issue 1)
• Educational hardware and accessories features
• Reviews and contents written for Asda families
• Guest family and Asda colleague reviews

For a flick through the magazine visit www.asdagamesfirst.com

Summer campaign for Chevrolet

Over the last few weeks we’ve been working with our friends at BBC Worldwide on an integrated campaign for Chevrolet. They’ve launched a new little car, the Aveo, positioned as a great value small family car under the campaign strapline of ‘Get Real’.

The campaign is running in BBC magazine properties and a dedicated micro-site with traffic drivers on radiotimes.com.

A series of UK city guides will be added through the course of the campaign and mapping on the microsite allows visitors to get directions. A competition page gives participants 10 chances to win the city break of their choice to one of the featured cities.

We’ve also embedded the new Aveo tv ad.

www.radiotimes.com/chevrolet

Add a little Salt

Ever wonder who directed the Cillit Bang ads? We’re delighted to have been selected by SALT to build them a new CMS driven website.

Following some enjoyable creative sessions and intense questioning they decided we were the right people to work with. The new site will reinforce the SALT brand and help position them in the industry as a company that can ‘add something’ to the mix.

It will also allow them to maintain an up to date book, biogs and password protected client pages so all projects can be reviewed in high quality video online.

We’re enjoying the process so much we’re already looking at projects we can collaborate on, so look out for some hook-ups in the future.

www.salt.tv (new site coming soon!)

My new benchmark

It’s always fun to pick holes in things you don’t like, but usually more useful to learn from things you admire. My current favourite is Japanese clothes store Uniqlo. It does everything you expect it to do, but it does it consistently. It’s not designer clothing, it’s better than that. It’s a company that has embraced design and made it core to its business. Great for those of us that believe design is about much more than aesthetics.

If you want to know more about how they’ve done it there’s a great post on Creative Review.

Creation Direct Marketing arrives

Today sees the launch of Creation Direct Marketing, the new name for all our print and online integrated marketing.

Why the change?
This isn’t about looks, it’s about being really clear about what we do and how we do it. You may or may not know, but Creation Agency offers a range of services outside Direct Marketing. We’ve grown in size and complexity and feel it’s time to refocus our core offering – Direct Marketing – as a standalone service.

So, what’s changed?
You’ll still get the same strong creative, quick turnaround and enthusiastic team. But you’ll get a little more of it. We’ll be even more dedicated to your campaigns. And with improvements to our project management systems and account direction we hope we’ll be more dependable, accountable and communicative than ever before. Please let us know how we get on!

More creative space!

It’s always important to give your ideas space to develop. So we’re delighted that having grown to fill our 3000 sq ft offices at The Observatory we’re adding some more space. We’ll be adding a new reception area, great new studio space and two more meeting rooms. If you need to discuss your marketing, why not come along and help us try them out. We’ll be starting the fit out soon, so keep an eye out for more posts as it progresses.

RSPB online advertorial for BBC Worldwide

Creation has over the past year developed a close and productive relationship with BBC Worldwide, partnering on the delivery of their online advertorial offering. These are either standalone online pieces, or complimentary to content in BBC Worldwide Magazines, including Top Gear, Good Food and Gardeners’ World.

The focus is on rich content making the most of the online format. Our latest piece is a photo competition web site and supporting directional media for RSPB. Take a look at bbcmagazines.com/rspb and if you’re feeling inspired by nature you can enter the competition.

Exhibition mania

The opening of the Maps ‘We Can Create Exhibition’ has passed and the main thing is I had a good time. The work looked great, it was surprisingly busy and I met a fan all the way from New York, which was really nice. Incidentally there were more former Creation employees there than current ones, so thanks ‘friends’.

Thanks to everyone who did make it on the day, and if you didn’t, it’s on until 7th Feb at the Art Vinyl Gallery, 20 Broadway Market, London. You can see some photos from the day here.