Journal

Illustrating sustainable travel

We worked with Bournemouth University on a cover illustration and supporting graphics for their sustainable travel plan 2019-25.

The plan aims to showcase sustainable travel both on and off campus, creating a visual representation of locality and activity to represent the University and city with students and residents cycling, walking, using local and University buses, plus trains, car sharing and also digital working.

The sustainable transport illustration was based within a geographical context featuring local landmarks including the Bournemouth Pier, the New Forest landscape and the university gateway buildings.

The design worked with a select colour palette to create an distinctive illustration that represented Bournemouth in a vibrant and eye-catching way.

View the full illustration

The Round Table on Responsible Soy’s annual conference, RT14

The Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) hosted its annual conference in June at the Rabobank headquarters in Utrecht. 

With a record turnout, this year’s conference focused on demand for Responsible Soy, policies and finance with leaders and influencers from across the supply chain meeting to share information, contacts and practical strategies. 

As an important event in the RTRS calendar, we supported the team with PR and communications around the conference, preparations for the inaugural RTRS Annual Awards, filming, photography and a written summary of the conference. With a number of important leading figures in the industry gathering in Europe at the same time, we also set up and filmed a number of interviews throughout the conference. 

Find out more about the conference on the Responsible Soy website. 

DNS network

We met up with our peers in the DNS network at the Ecoavantis headquarters in Córdoba, Spain in May. 

The DNS is a network of agencies based in locations across Europe that are linked by our sustainable and ethical outlook. The latest meeting in May was an invaluable opportunity to meet with other like-minded agencies to share ideas, cross cultural experiences and innovative solutions in the surroundings of the historic city.  

You can find out more on the DNS website.

Creative Concern is on the move

After sixteen years in the Northern Quarter, we’re upping sticks and moving to a new office on Sackville Street. 

From 6th May 2019, our new address will be: 

Creative Concern 
Fourth Floor, Fairbairn Building 
72 Sackville Street
Manchester
M1 3NJ
Our phone number stays the same: 0161 236 0600

Please update your records and pass it on to anyone else you think might need to know – thanks!

And feel free to pop in and say hello – we’d love to see you.

 

See more photographs

Greater Manchester Green Summit

The Innovation Zone was one of three main breakout areas for the second Greater Manchester Green Summit. The area was co-ordinated by The Growth Company, the North West Business Leadership Team, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Creative Concern, with the opening panel chaired by Andy Burnham.

The objective was to engage business, academics, policy makers and other delegates in a creative dialogue to discuss innovation programmes for Greater Manchester to nurture in the immediate future. Professor Michael Shaver from the University of Manchester’s Henry Royce Institute delivered a keynote talk on the topic of plastic waste and material sustainability.

Following up from the Summit, we are co-creating a report that will chart our route to a zero carbon city, supported by the kind of innovation the city of Manchester is famous for.

See more photographs

Lakes International Comic Art Festival competition

We are once again very excited to be working with the Lakes International Comic Art Festival team to promote another weekend festival, showcasing the best comic art from creators around the globe, in the Lake District town of Kendal in October.

One of the feature events at the festival this year is a special Hellboy exhibition, curated by artist Duncan Fegredo. To coincide with the exhibition, we are working with the festival to coordinate a student competition – HELL OF A COMIC ART CHALLENGE.

A tribute to Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, a loveable horned half-demon, students are challenged to create their own new character who despite emerging from the hellish heat and fury of the underworld is, like Hellboy, a cool force for good.

The competition is now open for entries so if you know any budding artists or comic art enthusiasts!

Find out more

Together Trust fostering campaign

We are proud to be working with Together Trust, an amazing charity providing support and care for 3,700 vulnerable young people and adults across the North West.

We are currently working to support the charity to recruit foster carers. Foster carers provide safe, caring homes for children who need them and our campaign is showcasing how brave and brilliant foster carers really are. Being a foster carer is rarely given the recognition it deserves and our campaign is a celebration of how important they are.

The campaign is currently running across programmatic and social media advertising.

See the full story

Cause4 website and Arts Fundraising website

Cause4 is an award-winning social enterprise that helps charities and organisations to thrive and innovate. The organisation and its partnership programme, Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy (AFP) were looking for a complete re-development of the Cause4 website and AFP website.

We undertook the two projects simultaneously, starting with research and insight and then developing both sites in line with user expectations. For both projects we aimed to streamline the user experience by integrating the sites with external e-learning platforms and improving navigation of large volumes of information.

We used infographics and animation to bring the online experience to life. 

On common ground in Istanbul

Creative Concern’s partner agency in Turkey, Myra, staged its fourth annual conference on communications for social good in December 2018. Our CEO, Steve Connor, took to the stage to give one of the day’s keynotes entitled 'How to make mistakes if you don’t include emotion in your campaigns'.

Themed around ‘The School of Hard Knocks’ and how we learn from our mistakes, the event featured 17 speakers from NGOs, corporations and the creative sector, with 200 participants including academics, CSR managers from multinational corporations, NGO reps and communication/design professionals from 150 different agencies. 

A number of speakers from our European partnership of sustainability-focused agencies, the DNS network, featured on the roster. The conference also presented the opportunity to launch the English/Turkish edition of our network book, 'Be Good', which showcases the network's collective portfolios of responsible, sustainable and ethical creativity.

See more

Forestry Commission Centenary launch

2019 marks the Forestry Commission's centenary year. To celebrate this achievement, the programme launched with Turner Prize winning artist Rachel Whiteread who was co-commissioned by the Forestry Commission and 14-18 Now to mark the centenary with one of her sculptures in Dalby Forest, North Yorkshire.

Nissen Hut is a concrete cast of the interior space of a Nissen hut, the distinctive military structure invented by Major Peter Nissen during the First World War. These prefabricated steel structures were easily erected and had a variety of uses, such as field hospitals, housing and even churches.

Nissen huts were used to house labourers on Forestry Commission land after the organisation was established in 1919. These labourers helped to replenish the nation's timber reserves, which were almost entirely depleted following the war effort.

Creative Concern worked with the Forestry Commission on regional PR for the event. There’s more information about the project and visiting the Nissen Hut on the 14-18 Now website.

Arrive Happy

Our Arrive Happy campaign continues with the launch of several short films promoting the benefits of cycling and walking into and around Liverpool City Region as part of a healthier, happier commute. 

Made on behalf of our client Merseytravel, the films were produced and edited by Creative Concern and feature our Arrive Happy ambassadors walking and cycling around the city region, with dynamic scenery shots and on-screen messages explaining that whether you’re looking to get fit, clear your head, or boost your mood, walking or cycling as part of your daily commute could help to make all of that happen. 

The films were shared across the Arrive Happy Facebook and Twitter channels and promoted via advertising. From a modest budget the films have so far achieved 23,000 full-length views and a reach of almost 100,000 on social media alone.

The campaign is still in full swing, with lots of exciting projects planned for 2019.

Watch the Arrive Happy Film.

Discover more on the Arrive Happy website.