Started in 2002 as a design agency with a three dimensional focus, Grain has expanded to a full-service branding agency, focusing strongly on brand strategy, identity, name generation, websites, ecommerce, social media, packaging, environments, campaigns and communications. In 13 years, Grain has grown in both scope and scale. Our work has become more strategic, providing a long term partnership for many of our clients. Grain has…
Kent at the Selfie Station, where every guest could take as many pictures as they wanted. Facebook’s B2B offer has shifted its focus from corporations to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as their main market this year. Facebook held its first-ever UK event aimed at the business backbone of the country: how Facebook can help SMEs achieve their business goals. On January 26th I attended…
The client: Newland College in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire a new independent co-ed secondary school teaching the International Baccalaureate. Grain has been working with Newland College for close to a year on creating the brand from scratch and on creating a dialogue with local parents. Having held several successful Open Days throughout last year supported by different campaign activities, our aim for the beginning of the…
Do you know one thing that most successful business people share? They read at least 30 minutes a day. Reading helps you sharpen your thinking and it gives you new knowledge and skills for life and for business. We recommend that you start 2015 with these 3 must-read books that will help you excel and succeed. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by…
…not only an important North American holiday but a good time to take a moment and look back at the past year. For Grain, 2014 has been incredible. It has been a year of change for us, with Daisy leaving our interior design team after four and a half years (sniff!) and two of our – evidently very well trained – junior designers moving on to Saatchi…
At Christmas time, everyone gets excited to see the high street campaigns. Brands love doing creative ads to generate extra buzz and therefore ‘free’ media coverage and the viewers have something to look forward to apart from shopping! As there are so many debates going on about this year’s spots, we’re picking the best Christmas ads which perfectly reflect brand values. John Lewis Christmas TV…
I am now one month in as a designer at Grain. Previously I was a designer at Champneys Health Spa and before that I worked for myself, as a partner in small T-shirt printing company. Now reflecting back on this journey I can say that I spent too long working away from other creatives and now I am enjoying being in the company of other…
Grain’s recent project, Next Gen Skills Academy, has just been featured in the Guardian on 23rd September, praising the programme as “a fresh route into the games, animation and visual effects industries through apprenticeships and dedicated college places.” The UK is one of the world’s leading forces in gaming, animation and VFX. A collaborative venture between further education, higher education and the industry’s most recognised…
I am a designer at Grain and just finished my BA (Hons) in Graphic Design at the University of East London. I’d like to share my views on what it’s like to work in the design industry and how Grain is helping me build up my skills and experience in the profession. What may have been the quickest three years of my life have now…
Our Grain Team at the evening reception at the Houses of Parliament (from left to right): Jacob, James, Sam, Christoph, Madelyn, Juli, Daisy & Kent Last Friday, the Grain team and clients attended TEDx Houses of Parliament. Our biggest take-home from this incredibly inspirational event is the passion for what we do, and believing in ourselves. Speakers ranged from entrepreneur Sherry Coutu with her stories…
From Fraser Brydon: After the completion of my GCSE’s at Dr Challoner’s, it was time for work experience and where better to enjoy a week of learning than at Grain. Although having learned about Grain for a brief day last summer, I decided it was time to renew my interest and learn more about the people and processes behind Grain’s successful branding and design. Firstly,…
Fraser Brydon, who is carrying out a work placement with us this week, has written about ‘The Importance of Branding’: • Branding establishes a relationship between the company and the customer through the product. Successful branding of a well-perceived product creates loyalty to the company. This means that the customer is more likely to pursue another product offered by the company as either a replacement…
We simply cannot stop talking about them. You already heard about Newland College when we announced the launch of its website. But now we are another step closer to the dream that kids from the age of 12 years upwards can enjoy this fantastic new school. Grain has created the identity, website, uniforms and now the signage and interiors for this ground breaking school. Tomorrow…
Does London have enough coffee shops nowadays? Maybe. Does London have enough exquisite coffee shops? Certainly not. Competition is getting pretty tough though. This is why our friends Sarah and Charlie came to us to ask for some help to create their new coffee shop. Grain helped shaping the new brand experience and creating a strategy which allows the team to roll out the very…
A lovely, whimsical bunch of colour characters to brighten up your day! Explanation and comments are here.