Carys Bradley-Roberts, Creative Cardiff Manager
“Since introducing monthly themes at the start of this year, never has a theme aligned more perfectly with our internal activity at Creative Cardiff than ‘branding’!
As we approach our 10th birthday, we’ve been thinking of various ways to mark the occasion, including implementing a temporary brand across our channels to tie into this milestone year. In the Creative Cardiff spirit of collaboration, our approach to developing a brand has been underpinned by our partnerships with our creative community.
We kicked off with a branding workshop involving three brilliant students from the MA in Creative and Cultural Industries (Brett, Katie and Danielle) and representatives from Cardiff University’s design team (Barry Diamond and Chris Smith). This was an open, collaborative session, where the students shared their insights and ideas for our birthday brand. You can read more about this session in Brett’s reflective article.
As Brett said himself:
It was really interesting to glimpse into what helps to inform certain decisions and how off-hand remarks can lead to incremental tweaking and refining that had everyone present engaging with the brand in a way that felt open whilst still being thorough.
We came away with a clear direction and core logo which we used as a basis for a creative commission. We asked four artists to digitally reimagine our logo in line with our core pillars (Connected, Collaborative, Creative, Cardiff) to help tell the story of our work for the birthday and beyond. We can’t wait to work with the artists once selected!
During this brand refresh, we had the benefit of hosting events facilitated by fantastic brand experts Mark James and Toward – which helped clarify our approach and direction and provided us with endless inspiration! I’ll let Tori and John talk more about that…”
John Evans, Events and Projects Officer
Summer is in full swing – and so are our events! After a bit of annual leave to recharge, I was dropped straight back into the Creative Cardiff deep end – and what better welcome back than to see the words ‘eat cock’ boldly projected on screen at our Creative Cardiff Classroom session? A chicken shop brand concept courtesy of the brilliant Mark James – and let’s just say it definitely made me feel back at work.
Mark brought humour, honesty and an impressive portfolio to our Classroom session, which offered a fascinating look at how brands are built through personality, provocation and precision. His candidness about still experiencing imposter syndrome – even after decades in the game – struck a chord with attendees and reminded us that confidence wobbles are normal, even for the pros.
Later in the month, we headed to the beautiful Norwegian Church Arts Centre for June’s Creative Cuppa, where Tom Lloyd from branding and web agency Toward shared insights on building a personal brand in an oversaturated and fast-moving world. One message that stayed with me was that simplicity, clarity, and consistency are often more powerful than constant reinvention. A particularly valuable reminder for anyone trying to stand out (and stay standing) in the creative industries.
It’s been a real treat this June to tie our events into the wider conversations around branding happening internally at Creative Cardiff – especially as we prepare to celebrate our 10th birthday later this year. I was pleased to be part of the collaborative branding workshop alongside Cardiff University’s design team and the MA Creative & Cultural Industries students. It felt like a true embodiment of the way we work – building with and alongside our community.
As always, it’s been a jam-packed month, and branding has felt like the perfect lens through which to reflect on how we present, position and evolve our work as a creative network. Bring on the next chapter – logo refresh and all!
Tori Sillman, Digital Communications Officer
I was super excited for this month's theme and the programmed events within it! I’ve always had a bit of a geek streak when it comes to branding and identity, especially so after studying a degree in Advertising Design. One of the highlights was welcoming Mark James to speak about his work for this month’s Creative Cuppa. Being an admirer of his work for a while, I was chuffed to be in the room – and hearing him talk through his creative process (and how he handles some seriously massive clients) was not only inspiring but surprisingly reassuring too.
In the spirit of looking ahead, we also launched an open call for artists to reimagine the Creative Cardiff brand as we gear up for our 10th anniversary. I can’t wait to see the submissions, it’s a brilliant chance for local creatives to get involved, and we’re buzzing to share what comes in with the wider community!
