December 2009

As we draw close to the end of another year, it has certainly been a busy and interesting one for Smart ideas! Time has certainly flown and it doesn't seem like 5 minutes since we were putting on our red noses in March!

We have worked on some exciting/creative projects this year including a couple of nice initiatives for Staffordshire Police, firstly a new brand and style for the Neighbourhood Watch campaign and a new brand and style for JIGSAW (Justice Information Guide Supporting and Advising Witnesses) complete with DVD artwork, posters and banner displays. We don’t want to go through every piece of work we have done so you can head on over to our portfolio section [here] to see some of what we've been up to this year.

Our offices will close at 1pm December 23rd when the team will head to Tumbledown farm for our annual xmas lunch and festive drink and we re-open Monday 4th January 2010.

We would like to close by wishing all of our clients and suppliers and very very very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

See you in 2010!

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March 2009


RED NOSE DAY



Well we bought our obligatory ‘Red Noses’ and couldn’t resist the temptation for the creative photographers amongst us to get cracking....

In the images, just so you know who is who left to right, we have Designer James Merrick, MD Philippa Smart (does she look like an MD at this moment?), Production Manager Matt Poole who looks like he has lost the will to live, Designer Alice Terry, Digital Whiz Rob Huntley and Accounts Supremo Gwynne Kelly.

Unfortunately we were so busy that we didn’t get chance to do anything else apart from support the superb Red Nose Day appeal with a £100 donation. I think we all cried and laughed at Comic Relief that evening; how great it is to see how so many people and organisations get involved. At the time of writing the amount raised is £65,699,850!!!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET SIXTEEN

By Philippa Smart

And no that’s not me who is 16, unfortunately… or perhaps it is fortunately because I don’t think I would care to be 16 again…6 maybe but not 16!

Can you believe it? It is 16 years ago today (to be exact) since I started Smart Ideas…. Back in the day when we were just starting with Apple Macs and still knew what cut and paste for real was all about! What we did with cow gum and gouache was unbelievable… a scalpel and an old spray booth which has only just been dispensed with. I remember ‘bromides’ and ‘Camera Ready Artwork’ (CRA)! Business plans were written on the back of fag packets and many a night spent in the pub after work discussing the events of the day…

"They were the days” she says as she reminisces… early mornings, late nights, mobile phones as big as bricks and couriers in and out all day long….. Health and Safety was a dim and distant future and we just got on with it. But boy have we had a good time…

I have seen some things over that time – people come and go… mostly good but hey the majority were stars and will always be remembered fondly. We have had, and continue to have, some great clients who appreciate our skills and the not so good ones we politely left along the way. To those clients who have stuck with us over the years and those who are newer to Smart Ideas we thank you; we thank you for your faith, your continued support, your smiles, your laughter and your money lol.

There have been smiles and laughter and some tears, particularly when I didn’t know if I would ever come back to the business through illness in 2001….but we made it! We got where we are now and intend to keep going for a lot longer. We have some great plans and some great ideas coming up this year so watch this space. We will still be focussing on providing that creative service that gets you results….never fear that will not change.



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January 2009

SNOWED UNDER!

Yes snowed under in a different way this time. Wow! What a really pleasant surprise to come back to work on the 5th January and be greeted with this beautiful blanket of snow.... So much so that James our resident photography magnificio got his Brownie out and took some fantastic images.... Enjoy!














August 2008

Smart Ideas detained by the rozzers! As part of a new campaign Smart Ideas were successful in winning the single non-emergency number campaign for Staffordshire Police. Launched in September 2008 following Ofcom guidance, the new single non emergency number was established to help eliminate public confusion over call costs. The choice of the 0300 123 4455 number was based on how easy it is to remember and dial.

June 2008

The seventh annual report for Family Housing Association is launched at Hotel Du Vin. We have a very good and long working relationship with Family Housing Association and the flagship document for the year is their Annual Report. We took a retro look to this year’s report – a look that you just would not expect from a Housing Association.

This was also the last year for the Chair Martin Chambers who hands over to Tony Wehby. Martin is the new project director for the development of New Street Station in Birmingham. (Pictured – James Merrick, Philippa Smart, Martin Chambers)





June 2008

It’s official - we have a new meeting room! To some of you this will sound rather strange but those that visit us will know that our offices in the beautiful Gailey church are open plan on two floors, with the top floor having a very high apex ceiling with exposed beams.

The new meeting room has been built in line with the style of the rest of the building with natural wood and ceiling height glass windows that allow as much light as possible to circulate on the ground floor.






23 April 2008

Happy St Georges Day!




2 January 2008

Happy New Year! We hope 2008 will bring health, wealth and happiness to everyone. We enjoyed our christmas meal at Tumbledown Farm, along the A5 near Cannock, a great time was had by all!

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3 December 2007

We would of course like to take this opportunity to wish everyone we work with either as a client or a supplier, a great Christmas and a fantastic 2008. It's been another busy year for Smart Ideas with the launch of our new identity in October.

Our offices will close at 1pm on Friday 21st December 2007 and re-open at 9.00am Wednesday 2nd January 2008.

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1 October 2007

New Smart Ideas identity launched…more info coming in our October newsletter. We have also revisited our own corporate style and you will see many of the items being launched over the next couple of weeks, one of them being this new website.



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24 May 2007

New President for Chase Division of Southern Staffordshire Chamber

At a divisional counsel meeting of the Chase division of Southern Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 27th March, Philippa Smart formally took on the Presidency of the Cannock division.

Philippa said 'I am extremely pleased to have been elected to this position as I want to ensure that the needs and concerns of Chase businesses are fully understood and raised with Local and Central government. In fact I would really like to hear from anyone in business with a particular view or concern that they would like addressing in our policy group. I can be contacted on 01902 797970 or stars@smartideas.co.uk'

Philippa would also like more of the Chase business community to become involved as divisional counsel members and would be happy to hear from them on the contact details above.

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12 February 2007

Our very own Philippa Smart had her fifteen minutes of fame on Friday 9th February when she appeared on the GMTV sofa with Penny Smith and Doctor Hilary to talk about using the internet to find cures or treatments for life threatening illnesses.

In 2000 Philippa was diagnosed with a spinal cord tumour, which if left untreated would result in total disability and probable death. Philippa did not accept the normal route of referral to a local neurosurgeon and those of you who know her will know that is Philippa down to a tee!. Instead she used the internet to find a top neurosurgeon that she knew would succeed in the difficult task of removing the tumour from a very awkward place. The operation was a success with Philippa surviving the eight hour op and recovering over the next year. She retained total mobility with a small amount of numbness in her feet and in parts of her body.

The story was then followed up that evening in greater detail on ITV's Tonight programme with Sir Trevor McDonald.

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Happy New Year!

We would sincerely like to wish you and your family and friends a truly memorable and prosperous 2007.

Remember, what we do for ourselves dies with us, what we do for others echoes in eternity...

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12 December 2006

Once again we would like to wish everyone we work with, either as a client or supplier, a great Christmas and the very best for the 2007. Smart Ideas have got some very exciting things coming up in the New Year and we will update you on this site, so keep checking back. We would also like to advise you that our offices will close at 5pm on Friday 22nd December and re-open again at 9am on Tuesday 2nd January 2007.

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22 August 2006

Major new launch of T7 – a fusion of creative services. t7 was formed by local business professionals including Smart Ideas, to provide a fusion of creative services in Staffordshire. We provide all the same solutions as a marketing agency, but we choose to work differently – so you get all the same benefits of working with an agency, but without any of the negatives! The services offered are marketing, design, pr, websites and exhibitions – everything you could possibly need from a full service agency. More information www.t7creative.co.uk.





Vacancies

We currently have a vacancy for a designer to join our design team. Because we are multi-disciplined, we need someone who can demonstrate full flexibility and experience of different types of projects from corporate identity and corporate style to literature, packaging and advertising. Ideally you should be fully conversant with Quark, In Design, Illustrator, Photoshop, Freehand, Flash and Dreamweaver. Web design skills are an advantage although the build will be undertaken by our sister company. ***POSITION NOW FILLED*** (1.10.06)

***NEWS FLASH***

We would also like to announce plans for our acquisition of a Surrey based web design consultancy. This will offer our Southern clients the opportunity to work with a more local office if they require, as well as offering all of our clients a full web design and build service. More information coming soon…

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May 2006

Can we firstly apologise for the lack of updates since the early part of the year. The design team have been pretty much flat out since January!

We have been working on a wide range of projects including a complete new identity and style for Motionworks an exciting new video production company; a new identity for a major initiative within National Grid along with two further additions to their internal networking groups, and completion of the print management for the new flagship Ramada Encore Hotel in Walsall. Alongside this we have just produced an exciting new Annual Report for Family Housing, the sixth we have done for this client. This project does indeed prove that ‘we’re a little bit different’.

We will be updating our portfolio with all this exciting new work very soon!

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7 February 2006

The start of 2006 has been fantastic for Smart Ideas; we are currently working on a number of exciting new projects (hush hush!) so watch this space. Current projects on the go are a large exhibition as well as a major new identity. As well as extending our client base, we are also continuing to work alongside our existing clients – this relationship is very important to us and we invest heavily in the time spent understanding our client’s businesses.

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22 December 2005

We would like to wish all our clients and suppliers a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year. Here’s to a creative and profitable 2006! We would also like to advise you all that our offices will be closed from lunchtime on 22nd December 2005 and will re-open again on Tuesday 3rd January 2006.

Merry Christmas!

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29 November 2005

National Grid unveils new Women in Networks (WIN) identity

The new networking group for employees of National Grid has been in planning for three months and Smart Ideas were asked to create an identity that would be fitting for a company of National Grid’s status. The launch event for Women in Networks took place on 29th November where the identity was also unveiled to more than 300 enthusiastic new members. The new identity and style was also carried across onto membership cards and posters.



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18 November 2005

Smart Ideas launches NEW website!

We thought it was well overdue a revamp so, today, Smart Ideas launched its new website.

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17 November 2005

Blazing direct mail

Watch out for our direct mail project! A clever piece of marketing, it is quite simply based on ‘there are two ways to set your business alight, either use the match or contact Smart Ideas’ and the two page A5 mail out has a safety match attached to the front. It already seems to be catching people’s attention….



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1 November 2005

Gary joins the team

We would like to welcome Gary Whittaker to the Smart Ideas team. Gary joins as Account Manager so no doubt you will all get to meet him at some stage – Gary is a real character but also very good at looking after his customers as we well know.

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12^th September 2005

Stafford Champions

On 12^th September, Philippa Smart was inaugurated as a Stafford Champion at Shugborough Hall the ancestral home of Lord Lichfield. Her brief as a newly appointed Stafford Champion is to promote the town using opportunities as they arise to ‘spread the word’ about the borough and its advantages as a location for living, working and learning. Philippa is also a partner in a retail business called The Angel House in Stafford, which is well renowned for selling beautiful interior design accessories.



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August 2005
New Vice President at Chase Chamber

Philippa Smart has been appointed as Vice President of Chase Chamber. She gives her time free of charge to help direct and develop the Chase division of South Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce in order that members continue to gain fantastic benefits.