When Julian asked me to give Gary Numan a call about some illustrations, I was unimpressed. Partly because I’m often the butt of the practical jokes round here, and partly because I’m more of an Ultravox man myself.  So it was with some apprehension that I went back to my desk to make the call. As I dialled I decided I’d play it safe: skip the musical chit-chat and get straight down to business, which turned out to be a wise move when illustrator Gary Newman – and not the King of synthpop – answered the phone.

A pioneer of doom-laden electronic music he may not be, but Gary Newman is one of the UK’s top illustrators. His signature style is zesty, hedonistic, jet-setting. Just the kind of thing we were looking for to add some wow-factor to a “WIN YOUR DREAM HOLIDAY” DM pack.

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Who’d have thought a Swedish furniture shop could provide the ideal location for a gripping melodrama?

I thought it was just somewhere couples went to have arguments.

Ikea Heights is a spoof soap opera filmed entirely at the Burbank store in California without the store’s permission. It’s really well done too. Customers are milling around in the background, busy deliberating whether the BILLY or the FLÄRKE bookcase would better complement their lounge decor… blissfully unaware of the scandal and intrigue unfolding around them.

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According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), illegal downloading of music is solely responsible for a 23% decrease in worldwide sales of music CDs between 2000 and 2006. And in 2008, music sales fell from 449.2 million in 2007 to 360.6 million in 2008, according to Nielsen Co.’s SoundScan service.

It will come as no surprise then that people’s attitudes towards illegally downloading music have changed dramatically in the last few years. Researchers in the UK from the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property (SABIP) found that 1.3m people used one file-sharing network on one weekday, from that they estimated that over one year these downloaders would have free access to material worth £12bn. And there is no sign of attitudes changing towards illegally downloading music.

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It’s not often you purchase a book so big that it comes with its own display stand. Believe it or not the version of Sumo that graces our reception is the mini version… the original release was so big that it came with its own table and broke records for weight, dimensions, and resale price!

I first came across Helmut Newton’s work when I was studying photography and was immediately captivated by his distinctive, seductive and original style. I hunted down images created by him and even had a scrapbook dedicated to images that I had found by him… images that I would try my hardest to emulate.

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Red C’s Mystery Tipper campaign for Swinton’s Taxi Division has been selected as one of the finalists for the overall Diamond Award, at this year’s IDM Business Performance Awards.

The IDM Diamond Award is the most coveted prize in direct marketing. It celebrates the long-term contribution direct marketing can make to the success of a business. So it’s fair to say we’re pretty chuffed to be nominated. Read more…