Our 2023 round up
WRITTEN BY: ALISON JOSHI, DIRECTOR OF JWJ DESIGN
As we wave goodbye to the last working days of 2023, it’s the perfect moment to reflect on a year that started with a slow burn but evolved into a symphony of creativity, collaboration, and groundbreaking ventures at JWJ Design.
Beginning of the year
January 2023 feels like a very distant memory now but at times feels like only 5 minutes ago!
The first month of the year can be a slow start at JWJ Design as many of our client’s re-set their marketing budgets and recover from all the mince pies and prosecco consumed over the festive period. Global unrest and economic uncertainties added a layer of hesitation, casting a shadow over serious business investments. But as the saying goes, “slow and steady wins the race.”
At JWJ Design we were lucky to work with 2 new exciting clients on their brand creation; one a conductor rolling out an education programme for orchestras and a GP looking to provide advice on the benefits of moving to a plant-based diet.
Whilst the new projects were under way we were also in the throws of designing different seasonal campaigns for our leisure attraction sites, gearing up for the different holidays that were just around the corner.
Spring shoots
The weather in the UK does have an affect on people’s moods, and the slightly warmer weather was just what everyone needed to get going.
At JWJ Design we had landed another lovely brand creation project for a small legal and HR advice business. We helped with the naming of the business as well as their brand positioning and visual image. The final result is one of our favourite projects of the year, an icon representing growth whilst the colour palette feeling calm and reassuring.
Another rewarding project we were involved with was a direct mail campaign for NRAS (National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society). They were running a webinar for healthcare professionals highlighting the online support programme they had just launched. The campaign creative worked across mailers, letters and online communications.
Seasonal clients
Our half term and Easter campaigns were well under way and we were also reviewing our client’s directional signage with site walkarounds, ensuring that everything looked in top condition for the imminent peak events.
A new visitor attraction
At the beginning of the year we landed a new leisure client; Watermouth Castle in North Devon. The new owners wanted to refresh the current style of this rather dated tourist attraction, JWJ Design were asked to update the current branding; to modernise and smarten up the current logo and explore a more sophisticated colour palette along with complimentary graphic assets.
The new owners wanted to immediately open the site for the peak season so plans for further onsite design work is now planned for 2024; and we can’t wait to get started!
Behind the scenes
As well as all the lovely day to day brand and design work, a few exciting projects were in fruition behind the scenes.
One of the items we launched this year was our Campaign Calendar for businesses who run seasonal events or offers. This free calendar download is a one-page A4 document that is designed to be printed out and stuck up. It outlines when you might need to start thinking about the next seasonal marketing opportunity, when you need to be briefing a designer, print deadlines and the last opportunity to launch your campaign.
If interested you can still download it here: Campaign Calendar > it runs across 2023 and 2024 so a great asset to get you organised for 2024.
Canva shop now live!
Another product we launched later this year was our pre-designed Canva templates. We have created a series of campaign ready designs for Halloween and Christmas. There is every layout you need for a full marketing campaign:
– A4 poster
– Social square layout
– Social story template
– Newsletter banner
And with a choice of 4 or 5 designs to choose from you would have enough here to last several years.
We will be adding to our collection so do keep an eye on our social channels.
The year ahead
As 2023 comes to an end it is only natural to start thinking about the coming year. We have some exciting projects concluding this month which we can’t wait to share on our social channels plus we plan to expand our pre-made Canva templates for businesses in the leisure and visitor space, adding Easter and Spring designs.
We are also in the process of setting some exciting goals for 2024 and expanding the JWJ team! So watch this space…
Have a great Christmas and see you in 2024.
The January schedule is already starting to fill up so do get in touch if you have a new project or idea for 2024 so we can arrange a time to chat through your ideas.