Co-operatives

These Birds ain’t Flying Backwards

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

Co-opsUK&C14Logos

Here’s a new set of marks, developed by Calverts for the UK’s co-operative trade association and campaigning body.

 

We’ve almost finished a new visual identity for Co-operatives UK. Brand extension includes print, website, display and enews communications, plus design and collateral for the first ever Co-ops Fortnight, which ran from 19 June – 3 July. It’s been a rollercoaster, but also very gratifying to be able to put our creative and productive capacity behind the business and social movement we’re part of. We’re waiting on research which should show how much we actually raised awareness of the sector among the public, business and government - but people are telling inspired stories, so fingers crossed it will be proved a worthwhile investment.

In addition to the Fortnight campaign website, Calverts designed and produced a bulletin, information pack, badges, stickers and leaflets. We also created formats and layouts for the New Insights and Thinkpiece series of pamphlets, the Co-operative Call to Action and the 2010 Review of the Co-operative Economy, which shows how co-ops are taking market share and growing quickly in a number of areas. Heady stuff.

You can download an ever-expanding list of publications, including the brilliant and provocative pamphlet series from the likes of Ed Mayo, Carey Oppenheim and Dave Boyle, here – or you can email news@calverts.coop for one of a limited number of copies, expertly printed with vegetable oil based inks on Paperback’s Context FSC (75% recycled) papers.


The Birds are Coming!

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Logos_4_blogFor your consideration: three new marks which Calverts developed for the UK’s co-op trade association and campaigning body.

The first Co-operatives Fortnight will run from 19th June to 3rd July 2010.

Commissioned by Secretary General Ed Mayo, our brief was to simplify, modernise and energise the image of the organisation. For ease of use and recognition, black replaces dark blue in the typographic element. It’s still based on Bliss Bold, but now in upper case throughout and without the old superscript ‘UK’. The other new element is a group of three ‘contrast birds’ in co-ordinated flight, symbolising mutual aid and energy in nature.


There IS an Alternative

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Coops14Pack.jpgHere’s a sneaky peek at some of the printed elements in the new Co-operatives Fortnight toolkit. Designed and produced by Calverts, the pack is made with Paperback’s exclusive range of recycled papers and boards, and printed using Bio vegetable oil based litho inks. The leaflets and posters are on 150gsm Context FSC 75% post-consumer recycled, a premium shade and grade white uncoated. The pack folder is on 350gsm Multi Grey, an unusual 100% recycled greyboard with white blade coating on the inner side. In addition to leaflets and a set of posters, there are sheets of 37mm stickers and premium quality button badges.

As well as working on logos, key messages and print materials, the Calverts team also designed the front end for the Co-operatives Fortnight Drupal-powered website, where there are downloadable resources and a style guide for partner organisations wanting to co-promote the event.

We’re delighted to be working on the C14 campaign, which will continue to build between now and the Fortnight of June 19th – July 3rd. It’s not always easy to measure the impact of communications design and and print, but we’re confident the pack, resources and website will help win over diverse audiences to the key message of this first Co-operatives Fortnight: ‘There IS an Alternative’.


Up the workers, says David Cameron

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

You may or may not know that Calverts is a co-operative, which means the company is co-owned by our creative and production teams. For 32 years, we’ve successfully managed the business by democratic consensus. The co-op ethos of respect, service and equality is expressed in our relationships with clients, who often testify to the benefits of working with an agency that’s genuinely open, ethical and accountable.

Earlier this week, David Cameron’s Conservatives said they intend to turn large parts of the welfare state – everything from schools to care homes to NHS bodies - into worker co-ops! Within hours of the policy announcement, a Channel 4 News team arrived at our place in Bethnal Green, wanting to have a look at a real life co-operative and get our views on the Cameron policy. You can see the resulting pictures and interview 1:38 mins into the video below.

Needless to say, the Calverts team would be delighted to help the new Cameron co-ops with their rebranding, from honing their public service messages to designing their websites and printing their annual reports. We were really looking forward to pitching to the Metropolitan Police, where we could help them use the top level co-operative internet domain extension, .coop, and register a new domain for them – londoncop.coop, perhaps? Then we found out that the police and armed services are among the services which will not be eligible for co-operative status. Shame.

Building on the hullaballoo, Calverts is also published in today’s Daily Telegraph (about 11th letter down on the web page), where we explain why David Cameron’s misconception about co-operatives puts him in danger of being seen as the heir of Joseph Stalin.

Anyway, here’s that video!

   


Co-operatives proving resilient

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

A new report shows that co-operative enterprises around the world are proving resilient to the global economic crisis.
The report provides historical evidence and current empirical evidence that proves that the co-operative model of enterprise survives crisis, but more importantly that it is a sustainable form of enterprise able to withstand crisis, maintaining the livelihoods of the communities in which they operate. Read the full report.