The Sketch Collective supporting Cher Lloyd

ITV's X Factor finalist Cher Lloyd, with mentor Cheryl Cole, visited her home town of Malvern today, and we were 'front row' to support our local talent! Cher was met by crowds of fans outside her home and then again at The Three Counties Showground for her performance this evening, where she was welcomed with fireworks and more screaming fans.

Since amazing the judges at the audition with her rendition of Soulja Boy’s 'Turn My Swag On', Cher has gone on to make it through to this week's final, to compete against Matt Cardle, Rebecca Ferguson and One Direction. The Sketch Collective are keen supporters of any local talent and wish Cher Lloyd the best of luck in the Final this weekend.

We LOVE our Local shops

Shop locally, shop in Ledbury!

Enter your favorite local shops for The Telegraph Magazine Shop Awards 2010!

With Supermarkets and chain stores taking the independent shop owners regular customers, it is more necessary than ever to support our local retailers. Our local town is Ledbury in Herefordshire, a historic, picturesque market town filled with unique and traditional stores. Within Ledbury you will find shop owners with great personality and character, selling exceptional quality goods, who know there products inside out. They may not be able to beat the prices, but the wonderful service and choice of goods that our local shops provide is something you will want to go back for again and again. The majority of our clients are local independent traders and we would like to support them as much as we can. The voting for 'The Telegraph Magazine Shop Awards 2010' ends December 10th, so dont hang about, get your votes in now!

Click here to submit your votes!

Branding

As a start up company forming just over a year and a half ago, we have now realised how crucial it is to get the first stages of your business set up correctly from the word go. Particularly researching your target market and representing your business to signify 'who you are', 'what you do' and very importantly 'who for' and to consider if this target market is located near you.

These are hard questions to ask a start up business when you are trying to specify your prospective clients. As a design company we understood the importance of a good branding strategy, however, if you are targeting the wrong market or route the whole branding concept changes.

It is understandable for new business to be indecisive about the target market they are trying to approach as the first few months is a lot of trial and error and testing the water.

When we first speak to our clients we ensure we arrange a meeting at their business premises, get to know them, get to know what they do, to identify the character of the business. We will then go through a process of questions that leads to the design concepts and ideas enabling our client to be 100% involved and put their ideas across. That way they will not end up with a generic branding that could apply to anyone. It applies to them and them alone.

If you would like to see the kind of branding work we have done please view our portfolio at www.designsketch.co.uk

Make your website iPhone friendly.

In this day and age technological trends seem to come and go. The mini disc lasted but a second before being replace by the CD which is now being slowly replaced by the digital downloads. One trend that does not seem to be disappearing is the iPod and iPhone. More and more people are buying into the Apple web.

Not only can the iPhone make calls, store your music, store applications it can also browse the web. People are logging on to the internet with their iPhones and iPods. In fact it is predicted that within five years internet usage on smartphones will rival that of desktop PCs.

With the iPhone an easy and convenient way to find the nearest restaurant, nearest bakery, nearest cinema etc whilst on the go you need to make sure your business is creating an accessible and easy to use iPhone version of your website.

If you come to us for a website we can offer you a full iPhone version of your site to reach those customers that would otherwise go down the road to your competition.

Getting behind big ideas...

A London based company caught my eye the other day, a creative marketing consultancy firm that get behind and help those people with Big Ideas that can transform companies and create opportunities.

Launching the 'Ideas Awards' has meant anyone with an idea can post them to the blog and get them heard. My girlfriend's family are constantly coming up with new and innovative ideas such as 'City Sheds' - cupboard sized sheds to store anything from tools to recycling for those who haven't got space in the garden to put up a full sized shed. Perhaps then this could be the outlet for these ideas, get them heard and get recognized for the potential genius within.

I salute this company for getting people talking about their ideas. Who knows perhaps that idea you had but never shared could lead to big things so get posting on their blog and see what comes of it. You could be the next John Harrington (Inventor of the Toilet)!

http://www.allabouttheidea.co.uk/

Tom

John Nash Interiors and Antiques

One of our most recent client's new website is now online today. John Nash Interiors and Antiques in Ledbury provides customers with bespoke interior and furniture design alongside their renowned & firmly established antiques showroom.

Business partners John Nash and Louis Calleja wanted all the works that The Sketch Collective have to offer from stunning photography to show of the vast collection of antiques and products to a full re-design of their website.

The design brief was to create a very user friendly, eye catching and professional website. It had to show every part of the business and case histories of their most recent projects in a stylish and modern way. Working closely with John and Louis, the Sketch Team have created a website to the exact requirements set out.

To view the website Please Click Here.

Flash

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9180776/Web_multimedia_6_reasons_why_Flash_isn_t_going_away

The fight to save Flash lives on!

Thom Williams - Wedding Photographer

Check out the new wedding photographer in Ledbury, Herefordshire

thomwilliams.co.uk

Our New Website!!!!!

The Sketch Collective are proud to announce the launch of our new website.

Please feel free to take a look around.

http://www.thesketchcollective.co.uk

Telegraph feature Jack Wilesmith

The Sketch Collective recently worked with furniture designer Jack Wilesmith to produce company branding and website for his latest show, now featured in the Telegraph.

Click here to read the article.

Shire Guide: Festivals

Not content with being a land of rolling hills, beautiful scenery and fine ale, Herefordshire also boasts some of the most eclectic and diverse range of music festivals this side of Glastonbury. From folk to techno, contemporary to pop, there’s something for every music fan in Elgar’s (neighbouring) county. So read on as we try to cover all the essential festival stops this summer, all right here on your doorstep.

Wye Side FestIval (18 – 20 June, Sutton st. nicholas, tickets £54)

This year sees music legends The Stranglers, The Animals and The Wurzels along with Bellowhead (4 time winners of best live act at Radio 2’s Folk Awards) perform in the Shire. Add to that a great mix of local talent and you’ve got yourself a right ol’ knees up. Proper job!

Ledbury Poetry FestIval (2 – 11 July, ledbury, tickets varied)

In the same vein as Hay, just that little bit smaller, the Ledbury Poetry Festival offers many of the same attractions as its slightly more established elder brother with great poets, music, readings and atmosphere. Last year saw jazz group Polar Bear play an incredible set. Arab Strap front man Aidan Moffat offered his views on the world in the intimate Burgage Hall. All this together with many established and world-renowned poets and writers who continue to view the festival as a prestigious event. This year the poet in residence is Billy Collins and all the line-up information can be found at www.poetry-festival.com. And just for good measure this is from our current poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy: 'A rare genuine joining of place, poetry and people' and this from The Guardian: ‘This celebration of verse is the largest of its kind in the UK and also the most energised, giving a real sense of poetry as an important living, contemporary literary form.’ Praise indeed.

Nozstock ( 9 – 11 July, Bromyard, tickets £65)

Starting out as a family barbeque, Nozstock is the quintessential ‘grassroots’ festival. Set in the heart of a 17th Century farm with barns reverberating to the sound of pounding basslines you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a rave in the middle of nowhere. And you’d be right. Sort of. The core of this weekend is it’s drum’n’bass, dubstep and psytrance (headliners this year include SubFocus, High Contrast and Caspa) yet with it’s ever-growing reputation has come more of a conventional approach with last year’s headliner’s The Buzzcocks and this year’s The Blockheads bringing their legendary sounds to the Bromyard hills. Party-goers this year will bounce to anthemic sounds from established rock outfits alongside a smooth brew of up and coming indie acts as well as the usual heady mix of dance and old-skool raving. In their own words ‘Thanks to its late license and homegrown venues, Nozstock gives its punters all the fun and frivolity of a true festival, without the corporate sheen.’Not to be missed.

The Big Chill (5 – 8 august, eastnor, ledbury, tickets TBC)

Probably the most famous of all the festivals in the county, The Big Chill is also the largest. Set in the beautiful deer park of Eastnor Castle in the shadow of the Malvern Hills, this hugely diverse festival has its roots set in dance, electronic and house music. But don’t be fooled as the Chill also showcases the very best in nu-folk, jazz and world music as well as a few pop surprises (a relatively unknown Lily Allen appeared on the Castle Stage in 2007). Previous heavyweight headliners include last year’s triumphant reunion of 90’s rave legends Orbital, Basement Jaxx, David Byrne, Trentmoller, Leonard Cohen and The Cinematic Orchestra. Often coming out on top in broadsheet reviews of the best festivals the country has to offer, families, ravers, folkies and all those in-between chill, relax and party for 3 days. ‘There’s something for everyone’ has never been more apt.

The Green Man (20 – 22 august, brecon, tickets £120)

Ok, so it isn’t technically in the Shire (it’s right on the border) but who cares about technicalities? The Green Man has fast become one of the best small festivals in the country and to prove that you only have to take a look at previous and up-and-coming acts to perform at Glanusk Park; Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Animal Collective, Joanna Newsom, The Flaming Lips, Jarvis Cocker, Four Tet to name but quite a few. It’s pedigree for showcasing folk, indie and electronica is second-to-none. Add in the beautiful Brecon Beacons as a back-drop and you have the makings of a truly wonderful festival experience.

There are of course many other music and literary events occurring all over our green and pleasant land throughout the summer and no doubt somewhere near you, it’s inevitable. So, whether you take our advice or not, get out there, get involved (and drunk) and enjoy what this remote county of England has to offer. You’re spoilt for choice!

James Batley

The Sketch Collective Helps L'oreal

Working closely with RDA we produced a poster above and a presentation board for L'oreal.

They specifically wanted to use Hayley's Illustrations that they had seen previously.

The concept behind this poster was to have a make up aisle turn into a party atmosphere.

Steve Jobs: Flash Is No Longer Necessary

Steve Jobs has just posted a long open letter on Flash, listing all the reasons why Apple has decided not to support it on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

The letter is a clear, sober, in-depth view in all of Flash’s defects from Apple’s point of view, and while we’re sure it will be dissected over and over again in the upcoming days (especially the part about Flash not being open), you have to admire its frankness.

Read more.....

Tessa Frith - Fear of Invasion Music Video

Tessa Frith - Fear of invasion Music Video now on Youtube and don't forget he album is available for download from iTunes!!!


The Sketch Collective produce Tess' first music video for the single Fear of Invasion. Filmed in Gloucester director Thom Williams captures the song's fears, climaxes and beauty

Aestival 2010

The Sketch Collective join forces with Aestival to help launch and promote the Aestival Festival Weekend. June 19th 2010. Click here to check out the new website!

Aestival brings you a nonprofit festival put on by friends for friends and to raise money for charity. Performers and crew alike volunteer to bring you a tiny 500 capacity festival celebrating performance in every form. Expect some of the best music, visual arts, performance and dance, brought to you by one of the smallest boutique festivals in the UK.
Featuring music, installations and performances from…
Amoss, Boys in the wood, Ragtime Ewan, Cool Cat Collective, Pry Media, Chris Munton, Ben Young, Cut La Vis, Violent Disco, Tree Frogs, Carl Kirby, Larsey, T-enz, Plaebac, Winstan, DJ Cheat, Rootkit, LaDyBird, Teleport …Plus much more!
Visit the ‘Line Up’ page for more Artist info.
This year’s event revisits the beautiful, secluded yurt village location, tucked up in the furrows of Fromes Hill. By day the main stage will feature an amazing and diverse collection of live performances from European, Moroccan and local UK artists. Genres will range from Folk, Acoustic Reggae, Roots & Indi pop to Jazz, Ragtime & Traditional Moroccan. By night, two contrasting venues, each offering something unique will show case some of the best electronic music this world has to offer from a range of up and coming DJ’s.This is a ticket only event. In order to attend this event you will need to purchase a ticket in advance.

The Sketch Collective helps local furniture designer

Jack Wilesmith - Furniture Designer
Website Now Online.

Jack came to the Sketch Collective for help branding his freelance company.

Click Here to see his website!

Tessa Frith - Mindscapes Out Now!!!!

Tessa Frith Website Now Online

http://www.tessafrith.com

Audio Sketch Record Label

Audio Sketch Record Label - Now open for business.
Check out more on our Website.

Parkour Motion Reel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMqFhRCD1fU

More than Just Hobbits and Fields?

Come on people!
As much as we love warpandwoof we want more nights our in the shire.

Prove the shire is more than hobbits and fields!Even if it's a night in with a cup of tea and your beloved dog Rover.
Get thinking and we hope to hear all your suggestions soon.

The Sketch Team
info@thesketchcollective.co.uk

We Love warpandwoof

We are supporting warpandwoof event nights. Here's one coming up. We'll be there.....will you?

16th FEBRUARY WARPANDWOOF @ The Jailhouse, Hereford

MUNGO'S HI FI & DUB BOY £6 Entry

Following a blow-out set for W+W last year, Bristol legend and Ruffnek Diskotek/Karnival main-man Dub Boy returns to the Jailhouse with his distinct blend of Ragga, Bashment, Karnival, and UK Funky sounds. Joining him this time are none other than the huge reggae soundsytem Mungo's Hi Fi! These Glaswegian veteran selectors have long been producing tracks for play on Jah Shaka's mammoth rig, and have garnered support from a wide range of heads, from the late great John Peel to Mr Scruff. This, their first return to the shire following their Big Chill appearance last summer, is sure to be unmissable!

Aaja / Amoss / Pressure / Larsey / Rootkit / LaDyBird / DJ Cheat

Room 2 - Drum & Bass / Dubstep / Tech Bass Music

Herefordshire Top Nights Out.

Post your favorite night out in the shire on our facebook wall!

Click here for Sketch's Facebook Page

Results will be revealed in the first issue of Le Zine.

Thanks!

The Sketch Team.

Le Zine Competition

As part of our Magazine Launch in April we are offering the chance for one of you to write an article in Le Zine Magazine.

All you have to do is email a short article on whatever you like to us at info@thesketchcollective.co.uk.

Articles have to be no more than 200 words.

We will then pick the best article and the winner will then be able to write a full length article in our online magazine.


Happy Writing!
The Sketch Team

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year
From all at The Sketch Collective.

To view our January Newsletter please Click on the link below.

www.thesketchcollective.co.uk/jannewsletter.pdf

Thanks!
The Sketch Team