Archive for
November, 2008

Type of Style

I am pathetically excited to have won an Imperial Good Companion typewriter on Ebay for the unprincely sum of £6.28. I don’t even care if the thing is clearly a 1960s model, and not from the ’30s as advertised — at six quid it’s still a bargain.

When I was about eight, I used to have Silver Reed Silverette, in the exact same shade of blue as this fellow’s. I liked it well enough, but it was nowhere near as fun (or as eye-wateringly beautiful) as my grandfather’s Olivetti, which was the machine on which I learned to type with two fingers rather than one. Heavily.

Even today, it’s quite obvious from the way I hammer and pound on my computer keyboard that I taught myself to type badly on a manual machine. So, rather than risk wrecking my Good Companion, I’ve been hunting around on the web for advice on typing techniques.

I found this.

It’s a delight. The presenter, Miss Lenore Benton, is much addicted to issuing stern warnings (adopt the wrong posture and it’s rounded shoulders and a flat chest for you, m’dear) – but, boy, can she type. She taps those keys with a sound that’s as quick and stern as machine gun fire hitting a cow.

Still, whilst no-one expects a U.S. Navy film to be anything other than worthy, I can’t help feel that they failed to capture the glamour of typing. When I think of typewriters, I conjure up images of Hemingway in Cuba, William Burroughs in Tangier and — well, to be fair — something rather more like this:

So, if you’re a North Meadow client and you want to make me very happy indeed, ask for your copy to be typewritten. I might even let you have it a little cheaper.

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 28th November, 2008 at 12:20 am in Blog.
Tags: good companion, imperial, olivetti, silver reed, typewriter, typewriting
Comments: No Comments »

Papermen’s Paper

This video on I Love Typography not only made me want to jump in a time machine and win an apprenticeship as a compositor in 1940s America (possibly after taking a detour to 14th-Century Strasbourg to pick up Gutenberg and his pals), but it also reminded me of this:

I particularly love the first section, with its cheery propaganda for an employee magazine at a paper manufacturing firm:

“Here’s a postman in Hamilton, Ohio -- although it could be any town -- delivering one of the outstanding publications in the country. It’s called The Log. Ever heard of it? Well… that’s possible, for The Log is a company employee publication -- one of 5,000 sponsored by American business firms. This one is published by, and for, The Champion Paper and Fibre Company.”

Apart from the fact that the spelling snob in me is overjoyed to see an American firm carve ‘Fibre’ rather than ‘Fiber’ into its headquarters, it’s amazing to see an in-house paper with its own editor, division editors and the rest.

I’ve not written for proper in-house publications -- by employees for employees -- but I have interviewed staff for their companies’ external magazines and newsletters. I’ll always remember one who said, when she read the article I’d put together about her: “I never thought I could appear to be so interesting.”

I’d love to revive the vogue for these publications, especially for firms who want to keep up morale and avoid the expense of having to recruit for empty posts quite so often.

Any takers?

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 25th November, 2008 at 9:22 pm in Blog, YouTube.
Tags: in-house publications, ink, manufacturing, paper
Comments: No Comments »

Shedding Convention

Journalist Alex Johnson has a thing about sheds. So much so that, on any given day, you’re likely to find him sitting in his shed, writing about sheds for the benefit of people who, er, work in sheds. It’s an obsession, but the thing is – even if you think you’re indifferent to the small buildings in your back garden – you’re almost certain to find Alex’s blog Shedworking a lively and compelling read. And even if you don’t, he’s staked out a bit of the web that’s devoted to bookshelves, so there’s no excuse not to take a look at his stuff.

North Meadow Media’s Ben Locker asks Alex whether a life spent in sheds has the foundations for a successful career.

Why a shed? Why not a tree house, an Anderson shelter, a loft conversion or another space in or near your home?
To be a shedworker you have to have a garden office, and in that respect I’d argue that a tree house and Anderson shelter are ’sheds’ – I regard ’shed’ as a flexible concept rather than a concrete architecturality (i.e. if you think it’s a shed, then it’s a shed). While shedworking bears strong comparison to loftroomworking, spareroomworking and kitchentableworking, there are some key advantages:

• physically, it’s easier to prevent – or at least restrict – your children, spouses and pets invading your work space if you’re based in a garden office (although admittedly I get more bees in here than I did when I worked in the dining room).
• there’s no need to double up on spaces. With a shed, your third bedroom remains modem free and your dining room table is not deluged by paper.
• a shed keeps you away from the fridge so the temptation to nibble and grow obese is more remote
• financially, it adds value to your property: up to 5% according to some reports,
• it’s also a great place to meet clients. I’ve had several meetings in my garden office and every single visitor has been at the very least intrigued by the arrangements and most are positively impressed.
• psychologically, shedworking marks a clear difference between where you live and where you work – there’s no taint of work attached to any part of your home. Instead all the taint is in the shed.

I’d add that shedworking is as much a statement of intent as it is a piece of architecture: John Ruskin argued that our buildings must mean something to their inhabitants, that their spiritual concerns are as important as the material ones. Shedworking is just plain more fun, adding a certain pizzazz to your working life.

Do you miss working in the same room as your colleagues?
No, although I do miss the option of nipping out for a swift half sometimes. I spend time with people I actually like now rather than those whose paths accidentally intersect with mine

(more…)

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 18th November, 2008 at 3:32 pm in Blog, The North Meadow Interview.
Tags: age concern, alex johnson, designer breakfasts, interviews, journalism, national association for colitis and crohn's, sheds, shedworking, the bookshelf blog
Comments: No Comments »

Created for Diana

The Diana Award – formerly the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Award for Young People – gives recognition to outstanding young people aged 11-18 who make selfless contributions to their communities and invest a huge amount of energy and compassion to improve the lives of others.

The Award is a long-standing client of Barry Lowenhoff, who has for many years designed its Inspire! newsletter, as well as its nomination forms, guidance notes and a range of publicity material. Ben Locker also has a long association with the Diana team, and is now responsible for writing publications such as the vital Award guidance notes, as well as writing material for (and updating) www.diana-award.org.uk.

An Award with this level of prestige needs the best possible publications. We are proud to work with the Diana team to provide them.

Posted by: North Meadow Media
Published: 16th November, 2008 at 2:19 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: charities, copywriting, diana award, newsletters, princess of wales, publications, publicity material, websites, young people
Comments: 2 Comments »

Acknowledge: KCL

Acknowledge is a publication designed by Barry Lowenhoff for King’s College London Business, featuring news and information about research and innovation at KCL. Targeted at business, industry, the public sector and at academic colleagues within King’s and elsewhere, the publication religiously follows tight corporate design guidelines.

Posted by: Barry Lowenhoff, MCSD
Published: 16th November, 2008 at 11:05 am in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: kcl, king' college london business, publications
Comments: No Comments »

First Impressions

Palladian Press rightly takes its place in the front rank of East Anglia’s printing firms. Established in 1995, the Colchester printer has since won a place in the prestigious Printweek 500 and carved out an enviable reputation as a company that puts quality and its customers first. North Meadow Media’s Barry Lowenhoff and Ben Locker collaborated to produce the first two issues of its industry-leading newsletter, Palladian Impressions.

Both issues contain a lively mix of news, interviews, staff profiles and features. Ben Locker was responsible for the research and writing, which gave him the chance to speak to a broad cross section of Palladian’s clients and explore their relationship with the printing firm. Final articles put the following companies, organisations and individuals in the spotlight:

• Colchester United FC;
• Karen Taylor Contemporary Art;
• Fisher Jones Greenwood LLP;
• Coco Ribbon;
• Emmaus Colchester;
• Colchester’s Lemon Tree Restaurant;
• Bestselling author Kes Gray; and
• The University of Essex.

Barry Lowenhoff acted as art director, working closely with Harland Payne Photography, and was responsible for designing the two publications. His creative vision sends out a clear message that Palladian is an up-and-coming company, fizzing with all the ideas and energy that are the hallmarks of the print industry’s biggest hitters.

Palladian Impressions was very well received by the firm’s clients, and it doubles up as excellent marketing material. To download copies and read testimonials, visit the Palladian Press website.

Posted by: North Meadow Media
Published: 14th November, 2008 at 1:03 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: colchester, copywriting, essex, journalism, newsletters, North Meadow Projects, palladian impressions, publications
Comments: 1 Comment »

Setting for Majesty

St Paul’s Cathedral is one of the most iconic buildings in London: it is one of the principal places of worship in Britain and has assumed a symbolic role that has been entwined with the history of the monarchy. It has been the backdrop for thanksgivings, commemorations at times of national importance and the scene of royal marriages. This exhibition, Elizabeth to Elizabeth, was designed by Barry Lowenhoff and vividly acknowledges the unique relationship through elegant design, colourful images and lively text.

Posted by: Barry Lowenhoff, MCSD
Published: 13th November, 2008 at 2:00 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: exhibitions, heritage, royalty, st paul's cathedral
Comments: No Comments »

Bittersweet

Once again joining forces as History by Design, New Meadow Media’s Ben Locker and Barry Lowenhoff created a poignant exhibition on the links between slavery, food and Wales on behalf of the Gateway Gardens Trust. Ben was responsible for researching the material in conjunction with GGT, and then writing it to a visually logical format. Barry Lowenhoff was the creative force behind the exhibition design.

The exhibition was launched to great acclaim in October 2008. Gateway Gardens Trust Chairman Bettina Harden was thrilled with the response it generated:

The Chairman of HLF said he never expected [the exhibition] to be as good, look so great and relate such difficult issues to people’s everyday lives. [Dr] Chris Evans LOVED it and is really looking forward to having it at the University of Glamorgan Library over the winter… we will feature in the Big Issue with some of our ex-homeless guests on the visit from Dragon Arts — and their response was so enthusiastic. Finally, the Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council wants to get it on the Vale’s website, so tremendously positive all round.

Ben and Barry are looking forward to working with the Gateway Gardens Trust over the course of the Bittersweet project, and are already thinking about how best to do its final exhibition.

Posted by: North Meadow Media
Published: 12th November, 2008 at 1:00 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: bittersweet, copywriting, education resources, exhibitions, ggt, heritage, history by design, wales
Comments: No Comments »

National Trust

A testimonial: “Barry Lowenhoff has recently managed the design and print of our Regional Learning Leaflets. We are delighted with the end product and have received positive feedback from colleagues and partners.

Lynsey Thorpe, the Regional Publications Officer and I enjoyed working with Barry. He brought some fresh and vibrant ideas to the project and worked through the process calmly and efficiently. He was also able to accommodate our requirements and any changes we requested swiftly. There was a tight deadline for the project and this presented no problem.

I would be pleased to work with Barry again and would recommend his work to others.

Karen Chancellor
Regional Learning & Interpretation Officer
The National Trust
East of England Regional Office”

Posted by: Barry Lowenhoff, MCSD
Published: 12th November, 2008 at 12:59 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: education resources, heritage, national trust, publications
Comments: No Comments »

Goy Next Door

In October 2008, community newspaper The Hackney Citizen published a thought-provoking article by North Meadow media’s Ben Locker and Orthodox Jewish blogger ‘The Shaigetz’. The piece, which takes a fond and wry look at what it is like to be a gentile – or goy – living amongst the world’s third largest Orthodox community, is given added sharpness and balance by The Shaigetz’s perspective from within ‘the square mile of piety’.

The Hackney Citizen’s editor, Keith Magnum, was delighted with the response the article generated. As he said after publication: “The responses I’ve been have been… things like ‘amazing’, ’sensitive handling of some difficult issues’, ‘brave’”.

The full article is reproduced below:

The Goy Next Door

I made my home in the heart of Stamford Hill in 1999 becoming, as I put my foot on the property ladder, goy next door to Europe’s largest settlement of Orthodox Jews. Over the years, I’ve observed the observant in this ‘square mile of piety’ and relished those moments where our lives collide.

It always made me nervous, as a kid, when new neighbours moved in, especially if it was goyim. You never knew in advance what threat they might bring. Would they have kids who would shout ‘Jew Bug’ when we came home from school? Worse, would they have a dog? (more…)

Posted by: Ben Locker
Published: 12th November, 2008 at 12:59 pm in North Meadow Projects.
Tags: copywriting, hackney, journalism, judaism
Comments: 1 Comment »

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