This weekend sees the launch of Wedgwood & Bentley at Frankfurt’s Ambiente. Positioned at the very top end of the Wedgwood range, these hand-crafted, artisan pieces celebrate a golden age of British industry. Josiah Wedgwood’s partnership with merchant Thomas Bentley in the 1700s inspired some of the most unique pottery ever created. Today’s collection, using the same hand-crafting techniques as in Wedgwood’s day, demonstrate that high-end British craftsmanship is alive and well.

BuroCreative have been working with Wedgwood on the development of the brand, bringing these iconic products into a contemporary context – the first fruits of our labour being an iPad app showcasing beautiful pieces and bespoke services.

Wedgwood is such an inspiring figure in English history and we’re proud to be involved in bringing one of the UK’s iconic brands back to the fore. More to come…

A preview of an identity redesign we completed over the summer for Interiors UK, Britain’s largest interior design show. Catering for a more design-conscious audience in 2012, the show is vessel for a multitude of products and styles – divided into distinct areas. The new identity, therefore, is based around a flexible logo that “reveals” the different halls, features and aspects of the event. The work was applied across global advertising, direct mail and event literature. We’ll be visiting the show on Wednesday 25th January (to buy one of those huge anglepoise lamps) so perhaps we’ll see you there.

Last night BuroCreative swapped the studio for the kitchen of Food@52 (www.foodat52.co.uk), in celebration of the festive season. As we’ve been working on lots of projects within the restaurant industry, we thought we would have a Christmas party with a difference – putting our money where our mouth is and getting creative in the kitchen.We prepared and cooked five wonderful courses, whilst learning useful cooking tips and trying out some nifty but risky knife skills. A few of the team shone with their ravioli making and chopping skills, whilst others wrestled less successfully with peeling a butternut squash. What took took quite a while to make was devoured in no time at all, leaving us all very full, but very impressed with our newfound kitchen skills. Huge thanks to Jon and Jackie at Food@52.

Even since the deluge of applications for our recent job vacancies we’ve been attuned to the subject of unpaid internships. Whilst the compelling comparison between glitzy fashion houses and their unpaid interns grabbed headlines recently (www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/2011/dec/08/fashion-labels-warned-unpaid-interns), it’s clear that unpaid internships have become a way of life throughout the creative industries (i.e. Jobs that a lot of people really want to do) – including design.

There is a clear difference between a few days work shadowing (for which payment is not expected as the benefits are clearly in one direction) and a placement where an applicant with a degree actively contributes to a studio (whether this work is used or not is a moot point, as design can be an inherently wasteful discipline). BuroCreative will always pay interns above the minimum wage. The majority of applicants we interviewed however, had been through unpaid internships, some with serious consequences on morale and attitude, others on placements of up to 6 months without pay – a long time to be work-shadowing and making tea.

Design blogs are often full of protestations at the industry not being taken seriously – from attacks on “amateur” designers undercutting professionals, to calls to end free pitching. It would be a gross hypocrisy if these were the same companies taking on interns without paying them. If businesses don’t have a moral obligation to consider how tough it is for young graduates, then they should at least have the professionalism to be run as a business – not exploiting a false economy of free labour. Our industry shouldn’t wait to be told off by HMRC, and instead act like the professional enterprise it claims to be.

A big welcome to two new junior designers at BuroCreative, Jonathan Jarvis and Katy Smith. Jonathan, a graduate from Falmouth, proved himself during a month’s internship which included some high-stakes impromptu artworking on-site at Wahaca Bluewater. Chilli lover and tequila connoisseur, Jonathan brings foodie knowledge, typographic flair and his own habanero sauce to the team. Katy, a recent Nottingham Trent graduate, produced some stunning work in response to our interview challenge. Making the big step from home in Birmingham down to London, Katy has an approach to design that fits perfectly at BuroCreative – bold, characterful ideas underpinned by excellent illustration skills. It’s vital to have a range of perspectives in the studio and, even if they have already cruelly exposed the fashion and social-media naivety of older members of the studio, it’s really exciting to have such talented, inspiring young people joining the team. Here’s to creating some great work together.

A preview of work celebrating the 55th running of the iconic Hennessy Gold Cup. The illustration was foil blocked on VIP invitations, to be sent to the royal family no less.

When we heard that our favourite mobile eatery* was going into storage for winter naturally we were horrified. However, it soon became clear that the Mexican Street Kitchen was remaining very much open for business. Panic over, we set up about designing some snappy graphics to adorn the walls of its temporary new home. Cue shameless festive puns and wintry wordplay galore!

*note: van may not be mobile

Well, it’s that time of the year again when a certain member of the team locks himself away in a dark cupboard for the weekend before emerging on Monday morning bleary eyed with blistered fingers and a strong sense of self loathing.

Here’s the fruit of my labours (in this case a pumpkin). I think you’ll agree, seven hours well spent!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

6pm, Friday 23rd September, and we sent our ad for a Junior Designer down the wires. The following Monday, we had close to 200 responses. By last Friday’s closing date, there were nearly 600. It’s a situation that brings daily news of economic difficulties into context and our overriding emotions, when faced with this bursting inbox, were of sympathy and trepidation.

It’s a frustrating situation for everyone. Whilst senior staff spent the entire weekend and more looking through every single CV, it would take weeks to respond to each individually – despite many valid requests for feedback. It struck us, however, as we waded through the good, the bad and the occasionally unsettling, that it was important for those looking to start or further a career in design to understand the reality of the job market at present and for us to offer some words of constructive criticism and encouragement. What follows is not copy and pasted from some jobs site, but borne out of reactions to these recent applications. It’s important to ask, therefore, when reading, is this me?

For feedback, read on…

Our final comment would be one of hope and encouragement. The skill set we were looking for was specific to our current needs. On this search, we saw some great talent, which, while not appropriate for this role, we were sure would find the right opportunity to shine. And we were happy to hear from candidates who had managed to secure jobs or placements elsewhere. Young, enthusiastic, creative minds will always be needed. 

BuroCreative is looking for a talented Junior Designer with the proven ability to generate wonderful ideas and concepts, as well as execute them beautifully across print and online.

You could be a recent graduate with a strong portfolio or someone with experience, looking for the next challenge.

You will need to…

• Have passion and flair for design craft (branding, typography, layout) and a way with words wouldn’t be wasted.
• Feel comfortable working in a small team, taking direction but also responsibility for your work.
• Be enthusiastic, open-minded and curious.
• Have a preference for a quiet working environment and be interested in the world outside of design.

If this sounds like you, send a CV and pdf portfolio to jobs@burocreative.co.uk by 14th Oct 2011.

No agencies please.

A day sampling fine food and drink? Oh go on then.

The annual Speciality & Fine Food Fair came to the London Olympia on Tuesday. But while this fantastic emporium of tasty morsels sounds like play, it is very serious business indeed.

This year, there was much to be optimistic about. In particular, the proliferation of exciting start-ups and small producers underlined the trend towards “real” food and consumer interest in artisan brands – a world away from slick industrialised processes and mass production.

Happily, being authentically “artisan” does not have to be at odds with modern design and polished branding. We found that the busiest stalls contained products with most stand-out in a sea of homemade labels. Here are a few examples. 

Here are some cool pictures of our ghoulish graphics at the new Wahaca restaurant in Stratford. Such is Wahaca’s popularity, it seems that these locals were prepared to wait a LONG TIME for a table! 

Here’s a little peek at Wahaca’s latest offering, the Mexican Street kitchen.

Part heavy armoured vehicle, part ice cream van, this (not so) mobile burrito van opened its shutters on its residency at Canary Wharf this August. The reaction? The queue says it all.

Buro takes full responsibility for its design including menus, uniforms and fetching paint job. We even found time to go down and perform an all important taste test. Delicious!

One of those makes-you-smile jobs.

Friends of up & coming wine maker Henry Laithwaite (Son of Tony), took their annual trip to help with the harvest to the next level with the production of their own vintage. BuroCreative were only too happy (payment in wine!) to create packaging that mirrored the spirit of their adventure: “Fine French wine by five British bluffers”.

This from the happy team: “Can’t thank you enough for these. So brilliant. So impressed”.

Delicious little project completed for Hennessy in association with Damian Allsop luxury chocolates.

Luxury and POS frequently share an uncomfortable (oxymoronic?) relationship. We tackled this with high-spec materials and print finishes to create a subtle, elegant serving ritual that emphasised Hennessy’s relationship with these fine chocolates.

Many thanks to Claire Li at Hennessy for the tickets to the Gold Cup racing at Newbury.

On a bitter winter’s day, Buro sought the sanctuary of the members enclosure (after checking out our branding for the event) where rumours circulated of epic cocktails, laced with gold leaf. All true…

Wahaca’s annual DOD celebrations were marked with special shirts for staff, illustrated by Peter Ryan at Buro.  

Buro digital director Philip Koh manfully volunteered to attend Veuve Clicquot’s Gold Cup Polo tournament. Not for the champagne or social caché of course, but merely to make sure everything ran smoothly with the debut of Veuve’s concierge service app feature.

Thankfully the day was a huge success, so Phil was able to relax for a cheeky round of petanque.

Building Design the leading trade publication for the architecture industry recently ran a profile of Wahaca Canary Wharf. Buro’s 50ft chain screens obviously caught their eye!

When Buro heard about Wahaca’s inter-restaurant football tournament, we  jumped at the chance to live out an all-time ambition and design a football kit. When waitrose Food Illustrated found out about two groups of chefs, dressed in pink and turquoise, battling it out for first dibs at the bbq buffet, they jumped at the chance to grabs some brilliant photos (by Jenny Zarins)…

From Mark: “Guys, Thanks for everything yesterday…the barrels and shirts looked amazing and got everyone very excited. Thanks for making the effort to come down as well…greatly appreciated. Let me know when you have the buro team in place!”