I have to admit that I was a bit late discovering the tv series Mad Men but after receiving the box set for my birthday I am firmly hooked. The intriguingly flawed, charismatic and amoral characters set it well apart from most of the rubbish that can be found on the 100+ TV channels we get these days.

While browsing in a bookstore recently I was very interested to discover the book that inspired the whole series. The book is "From those wonderful folks who brought you Pearl Harbour" and is written by the great Jerry Della Femina, one of the few surviving Mad Men from the 50s and 60s. Jerry mentions that there aren't many of his contemporaries around and if you've seen the way they drink, smoke, work and live in Mad Men then you won't be too surprised.

Jerry writes about the advertising world he moved in during this golden era, a time when the industry was much more accomodating of the various eccentric and sometimes, deranged characters that were attracted to it. This was still the case in Dublin up until the mid 90s in my opinion but sadly things have tamed down a lot since then.

Some of the anecdotes are unbelievable - the book's bizarre title relates to a headline that Della Femina came up with as an icebreaker during a fraught meeting to discuss Panasonic televisions. Some of the other stories he discusses involve nearly breaking a client's kneecap with a projector during a presentation and practically getting chased from a pitch meeting with potential clients in the hotel industry.

I'm not going to give anymore away but if you have any interest at all in the Advertising industry you really need to check this book out.

Posted in Television, Madmen, Jerry della Femina, creativity, advertising

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Scapegoat Design is sponsoring a new initiative - The Irish Innovation Centre and we aim to provide out of the box design solutions initially with many more ideas in the pipeline once The Centre has launched. So what is the IIC all about?

We don't want to give too much away at this stage but we will soon be inviting people to 'come and play'. If you have an idea and you think it can be built in three months, let's give it a go. Collective expertise and networks will get this economy moving again. Who's behind the IIC? An eclectic mix of personalities from many different industries, all of whom are giving their time for free to this project.

IIC will be launching soon and You will be invited to get involved. In the meantime here's the first draft of the logo posted above. Certain elements may be subject to change but we'd like your feedback. Love it? Hate it? Let us know. The design rationale is creativity, thinking with heart as well as the head, all directions are possible and it's inspired by the wonderful Joan Miro and Cesar Manrique.

Posted in Scapegoat Design, Logo, Irish Innovation Centre, Graphic Design agencies, Graphic Design, design, creativity, branding

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...then you really should check out Scamp, an Irish illustration blog. It seems to feature plenty of guys from the Illustrators Ireland website and they always showcase loads of interesting work as well as plenty of links to interesting and thought provoking art from around the world.

Definitely a great way to spend a lunch break!

(Image copyright of Illustrators Guild of Ireland).

Posted in Illustrator, Illustration, Graphic Design, creativity, artist, Art

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Every cloud has a silver lining and one positive of the recent tough economic situation is increased value for the consumer and businesses. Prices have definitely come down and the buyer now has all the power. I'm all for this and for too long we haven't been getting good value for goods and services in Ireland. But when is cheap too cheap and why is the cheapest option sometimes more expensive?

In my opinion we have now reached the bottom and businesses have reduced their prices as much as possible. Graphic Design is no exception and studios are running on very, very tight margins with little or no room for further reduction or sustaining slow paying clients.

What we do in general is come up with a fair price and quote on this basis but some businesses are going for the cheapest possible option. Yes, there will always be someone cheaper but do you really want 'Fred in the Shed' designing your corporate logo? You're going to be stuck with it for a long time. And is it really a good idea to get that guy doing work experience who knows a bit of HTML to put together your company website?

For me this is a false economy. You might get it done very cheap but how much is it going to cost you if you have to get the work done again in 2-3 months because your site doesn't work properly or your logo looks shoddy and embarrassing? Are you missing business opportunities because your website isn't attracting new customers and is it in effect costing you money? How many potential clients have dismissed your business due to poor and ineffective brand positioning?

All these skills take time and effort to acquire. They require investment in training, software, equipment and ongoing learning on the part of properly run graphic design companies. If a quote seems way too cheap there's probably a very good reason for it - don't forget the maxim: "Pay Cheap, Pay Twice!"

Posted in Small Business, Scapegoat Design, print design, Marketing, creativity, Client, branding

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A lot of our clients often ask us about Social Media. Is it worthwhile having a Facebook page? Should we be on Twitter? What about LinkedIn? We often advise them that they can be useful but a lot of it is dependent on their business.

Scapegoat now have a Facebook page - we're not 100% sure what to do with it yet but I guess it is a chance for us to put our money where our mouth is! If any of our readers could 'like', 'become a fan' or just have a look at the page that would be very much appreciated.

You can click on this link and see what's going on. And please feel free to make any comments but no profanity!

Posted in Social Media, Graphic Design agencies, Graphic Design, Communications, Business

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