A guide to briefing designers – Getting the most out of us

September 2nd, 2010 by Mat Dolphin

We started the Mat Dolphin blog as a simple platform to share information – we’re constantly consuming design and we meet a great number of inspirational people involved in our industry which gives us plenty of design-related ’stuff’ to share. However, as well as having this dialogue with our peers we always saw the blog as being a great way to converse with clients. From previous experience working in design agencies, there’s all to often a barrier between client and designer that, in our opinion, doesn’t need to be there.

With this in mind, we thought it would be a good idea to write an easy to follow ‘guide to briefing’ to make the process easier for clients and designers alike.

The design process starts and ends with the client. A person or organisation has a design requirement and approach the designer – so far, all simple enough. The next stage, the client relaying exactly what it is they want to achieve, can be a bit more complicated.

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Good Times

August 31st, 2010 by Mat Dolphin

To many Londoners the August Bank Holiday means only one thing, Notting Hill Carnival. I’ve been going for a number of years now and really like how the yearly event is a cultural mix of people, music and food.

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Ten Questions 005 – Panda Yoghurt

August 26th, 2010 by Mat Dolphin

Douglas Bowden is a UK based illustrator and designer working under the name of Panda Yoghurt. His work for high profile clients including MTV, Computer Arts magazine, Wired magazine, Vodafone and Ninjatune has seen him develop his style into a unque blend of fluid illustrations and typography mixed with photography and collage. He was generous enough to take some time out to get involved with our ‘Ten Questions‘ blog series. Read on for his answers and some great examples of his work – more of which can be seen here.

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Five Things 006

August 24th, 2010 by Mat Dolphin

Here we go, five more creative and inspiring things that have been spotted around the internet over the last week. Without further ado, here they are…

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Kubrick by Design 003 – St. Albans Museum

August 12th, 2010 by Mat Dolphin

Kubrick: A Film Maker’s Odessey is an exhibition on display at The Museum of St Albans, a few miles away from the former home of the man himself.

We decided a Mat Dolphin field day was in order. Last weekend saw a trip to St.Albans to check out the exhibition and get a first hand look at some behind the scenes photography, original props, concept sketches and other Kubrick-related artefacts. Curated by The Museum of St Albans and University of Hertfordshire, the exhibition was fully supported by the Kubrick Estate and the Stanley Kubrick Archive at the University of the Arts.

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Five Things 005

August 3rd, 2010 by Mat Dolphin

Five Things part five! The next installment in our regular blog series. We’ve been super busy of late what with new client wins and a much needed overhaul of our site but a few things have come to our attention over the last week or so that we thought were worth sharing.

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Ten Questions 004 – Mr.Bingo

July 13th, 2010 by Mat Dolphin

Mr. Bingo is a vintage postcard-collecting illustrator based in East London. He describes himself as having a ’slightly smaller than average head’, ‘girl’s arms’ and ‘the same haircut as his mum’. His distinctive drawing style, filled with clever details and dark humour, has gained the attention of clients such as The Guardian, GQ Magazine, Oxfam, Tate, The New York Times and Microsoft.

He kindly agreed to take some time out to answer our questions.

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