It is apt that our first Thought of the year is about the Nature Brand Book since it is a ‘fresh new year’ type of project…encouraging everyone to just get outside! Project Wild Thing, which inspired the Nature Brand Book and video, has published a guest post from us and MediaPoondi has also written a … Read more

With Christmas and 2014 fast approaching, here at Grain we’ve been trying to pin down our new year’s resolutions…along with working on amazing branding and design projects, wrapping up our secret Santa pressies and eating mince pies! The usual ‘work harder’, ‘do more exercise’ and ‘give up the mid-morning snacks’ (that we’ve come to enjoy … Read more

“No artificial reverb added.”

I will trust the BBC in not capitalising ‘union jack’ — please comment below if you have any idea why it’s not capitalised. It is slightly premature to redesign the flag without Scotland in it, but some of the ideas are funny and apt like the roundabout one, worth having a look.

I could safely make a bet on which part of this phone box is used more. I love how this iconic but now outdated object has been given new life and purpose. Many phone boxes now offer free wifi, another way to update the telecoms and communication offering. The phone box is also relevant to … Read more

Creating company and product names is a specialism of ours here at Grain. Check out this infographic for some tips on how to create a great name.  

What does your logo say about your company? Here’s a brief guide, infographic-style, on typography, colour, shape and semantics.  

Because we just used an Eames image for the Brand Attributes of one of our clients I was thinking about this film, made by the Eames office originally in 1968 (final version in 1977) for IBM. It’s a beautifully crafted short film about the relative size of things. Warning: will make you feel very small! … Read more

I enjoyed watching this lecture by Anthony Burrill at the Walker Art Center: I find him to be an unassuming but brilliant man. Image credit: Mark B. Schlemmer CC 2.0

Fish and chippies must have the monopoly on wordplay, as shown by ‘The Cod Father’ in this Guardian article on restaurant naming. How about ‘Oh My Cod’, ‘The Fish Plaice’, ‘Codfellas’, ‘Frying Nemo’, ‘Codrophenia’, ‘The Frying Scotsman’, ‘Northern Sole’…ok, ok we’ll stop now. The article does cover much more upmarket venues like the Wolseley and … Read more

3D printing looks set to take a much bigger part in the way we create our products, even our buildings. The construction method means that prototypes can be constructed quickly and easily so that the finished items can be made perfectly to our standards. Structural weaknesses from other construction methods can be eliminated too. Holland … Read more