October 2011
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Stills does the Taff Trail
5 hours and 17 minutes is how long it took the first half of the Stills pack to complete the Taff Trail. The stragglers came in a whopping 2 hours later but we’re blaming our bikes. And the wrong turns.
Hundreds of fundraisers congregated outside Theatr Brycheiniog on Saturday morning to take part in the bike ride held in aid of St David’s Foundation. The four (wo)man strong...
September 2011
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August 2011
1 post
Stills does Vintage
What better way to celebrate our 30th anniversary than at Vintage, the festival run by Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway held at the Southbank Centre last month.
The festival is a celebration of music, fashion, film, art, design and culture from the 1920s to the 1980s and took the Stills team back in time with dance lessons and old school arts and crafts. Any excuse to dress up.
June 2011
6 posts
Tata Kids of Steel
As partner of the British Triathlon, Tata is committed to the development of British sport. They run various community-based projects including the popular Tata Kids of Steel events, which have introduced triathlon to thousands of schoolchildren across the nation.
We created the illustrations for the Tata Kids of Steel campaign, the three figures depicting the three sports performed in the...
Photomarathon 2011
12 hours. 12 topics. 12 photos. This year was enjoyable thanks to the sunshine but it certainly wasn’t easy. ‘Element’ was one of the easier topics but Super Powers? I have a dream? Check out our Flickr stream for some of our ideas.
Judging the Mixology awards
Chris had a great day looking at the future of the furniture industry as a judge at the MIxology student awards.
Chris and his fellow judges at the KI showrooms on the Strand. From left to right: Grant Gibson, Andrew Bartlett (Tilney Shane), Chris Carpenter, Nigel Coutts and Chairman Cherrill Scheer.
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Inspiration from Milan Furniture Fair
If you just want to look at office furniture go to NeoCon or Orgatec, if you want an exciting, inspirational experience which stimulates all your senses, then get yourself to Milan. I’m not talking about the main show ‘Saloni di mobile’ but I do mean the ‘temporary design museum’ and the rest of Via Tortona; where mainline corporates such as Poltrona Frau, Canon, Lammaults and...
All hail Wayne Hemingway
Chris, Dave and Wayne Hemingway before his inspirational talk at the University of Wales, Newport. The event was held this morning in conjunction with Stills and the M4 Business Network.
Milan Design Festival 2011
Check out all the amazing sights from this year’s festival on our Flickr page!
April 2011
5 posts
1 tag
In conclusion: The epic cycle ride
It was a glorious sunny afternoon as we welcomed Chris and the other cyclists as they arrived at Cardiff Bay. After four days and 260 miles, the team had endured persistent rain, gale force winds, hypothermia, seemingly endless uphills, accidents and landslides (yes, really) blocking the way, detours - but also experienced the kindness of strangers, sunshine, incredible landscape, team spirit, a...
Day 3 of Chris' cycle ride
After two days of horrible weather conditions the team is relieved and excited to wake up to sunshine in Aberaeron. Glorious countryside, winding roads and gentle climbs inspired us to stop every 5 miles but we were better than that and wanted to keep going towards Brecon. Some of the team couldn’t resist stopping to take some photos of the gorgeous views.
One of the team hit a pothole and...
Day 2 of Chris' cycle ride
Yesterday Chris and the team were on the road from 8.15am until 10.30pm covering a hugely impressive 90 miles in the process. Unfortunately a fatal accident ahead of them blocked their route causing a slightly shorter but much hillier diversion.
By the time the team reached their destination of Aberaeron the only place still open to grab some long-needed sustenance was a burger bar. Non...
Day 1 of Chris' cycle ride
The team are off to a flying start and Chris is making it sound easy. 8 hours in the saddle and 65 miles covered into 35mph wind and rain. A whopping 5200 calories have been burned.
Chris finished at 6pm with the comment that it’s ‘actually not too bad’. We’ll have to send him further afield next time. Check out photos from the first day here.
March 2011
4 posts
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Sneak peek of Serennu interiors
We are excited to be finishing off interiors for Serennu, a purpose built centre that will help children with complex disabilities receive treatment, care, information and consultation all under one roof. Above is a sneak peek showing a colourful nebula overlooking a stairwell – there will be a lot of space sparkle elsewhere in the building.
The centre is due to open in a week’s time - so...
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Intersections 2011 conference
A few weeks ago I was lucky to take part in Intersections 2011 conference courtesy of the lovely people at Ecodesign Centre Wales.
To be honest, I wasn’t very clear on what exactly the conference was about to start with but gradually started to understand what the title was referring to - emerging connections in a multidisciplinary context of business, design practice and changes in our...
Happy Birthday Wales Air Ambulance
On 1st March Wales Air Ambulance celebrated it’s tenth birthday. The charity is a vital service for those facing life-threatening illness or injuries who either live in an isolated area of Wales or need to get to a hospital faster than a road ambulance can take them. Wales Air Ambulance operates three helicopters that can reach any area of Wales within 20 minutes. The charity is funded...
Cycling Diary pt 4: Caldicot Castle
This weekend I cycle the St. David’s Foundation Caldicot Castle ride with Joe. Unfortunately, we were the only two from the group to turn up but we had a great ride and thanks to Joe who was an excellent partner. The ride was billed as 40 miles although my GPS said 37 miles and we did it in 2 hours 55 mins.
We went passed Severn Bridge tolls and across the Gwent marshlands - all flat....
February 2011
3 posts
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Cycling Diary pt 3: Blaenavon
I cycled to Higher Blaenavon from Caerleon and back on Saturday - 39 miles. First bit to Griffithstown was on the canal and then it was along the old railway track – Sustrans 49. It was an amazing ride only downside was the slow uphill 11mile section from Pontypool to Blaenavon.
Then on the way home I got a puncture and had to stop every 10 minutes to pump up my tyre, still I got home without...
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Cycling Diary pt. 2
Feb 12 I did 38 miles on Saturday from Caerleon to Caldicot picking up sustrans 4 in Newport, through the marshlands, out past the severn bridge tolls on to Caldicot and back in 3hrs 15mins. Lovely day mostly flat but into a headwind on the way home.
Sustrans 4 actually goes from Fishguard to London – maybe that one is for next year! I am just riding on my own at the moment, so I am looking...
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Cycling Diary part 1: the training starts!
As our Managing Director Chris Carpenter will be cycling from North to South Wales for charity in April, we wanted to share his efforts with a regular diary here on our blog.
For the next few weeks Chris will be posting regular updates on where his training has taken him to - hopefully adding to the donations and inspiring budding cyclists to get on the road. You can sponsor Chris at the...
January 2011
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Expert branding advice
How much value does your brand bring to your business? Read Chris’ article from Business Insider to find out how you can make your brand work harder.
December 2010
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Orgatec, Cologne 2010
Chris and Dave recently took a trip to Cologne for Orgatec, the European fair showcasing the work of international contract furniture manufacturers.
It was exciting to see some really inspiring furniture concepts, from prototypes to new industry products.
With so many exhibitors at the show we were reminded of the importance of being an industry leader; with so much choice available and a...
November 2010
2 posts
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Sparkling in South Wales
The Sparkle Appeal is a South Wales based charity with the aim of raising £1.5m to equip a purpose built centre that will help children with complex disabilities receive treatment, care, information and consultation all under one roof.
In addition to helping children aged from 0 to 18, the centre will act as a support network for the family, enabling them to socialise together thanks to the...
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Show me the way to St David's
Stills has designed and produced a range of branded wayfaring signs for St David’s shopping centre and car park. A variety of applications have been used from stenciling onto the walls of the car park to applying vinyl direct to the glass front of the shopping centre.
Large scale bilingual signs welcome visitors to the car park and enable them to navigate through to the different parking...
September 2010
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Anyone for chess?
As part of the St David’s redevelopment, concrete and marble chess tables were commissioned in the area surrounding the Hayes Island Snack Bar and Stills were engaged to produce the chess pieces.
The wooden pieces are branded with St David’s colours and are housed in wooden boxes finished with St David’s branding. A set of pieces can be hired out for a £10 deposit so maybe we’ll see...
August 2010
1 post
Ergonomics is a waste of time
A bold title to the article written for Mix Interiors by Chris Carpenter but that’s the kind of guy he is!
Our Director is passionate about the well being of anyone who spends long periods of time working at a desk, as the wonderfully comfortable chairs at Stills go to show.
Find out what exactly he has to say on the subject of ergonomics in the article published on our furniture site.
July 2010
2 posts
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Showering gifts
Today is the last day for Anna, one of our experts in brand strategy, before she goes onto maternity leave. Last week we surprised her with a good ol’ fashioned baby shower with balloons, cakes, lots of presents and guessing who’s who in a mix of baby pictures of our team. We wish Anna all the best with Baby Lewis, coming to the world soon!
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How to bid farewell in style
When you send someone off, do it with style. Or with an amazing cake.
We bid farewell to Terri, the guardian and caretaker of Stills’ finances after 20 years of looking after us. It’s also Terri’s 70th birthday, hence the congrats and details on the cake.
Congratulations and we wish you well, Terri!
June 2010
3 posts
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Photomarathon 2010 - 12 hours, 12 topics, 12...
The first ever digital Photomarathon took place in Cardiff this weekend. 400 of us met in the Millennium Centre at 10am to be briefed on the simple rules: 12 hours to take 12 pictures on 12 as yet unknown topics. Sound like fun? The first topic set looked like this:
1. My entry number/Giant
2. Aroma
3. On a shoe string
4. Inspiration
We though it was going to be a little easier this year...
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Thoughts on Clerkenwell Design Week
We’re still buzzing about Clerkenwell Design Week 2010. The great and good of the design industry got together in Clerkenwell, the heart of London’s creative home, for 3 days of inspirational design showcases, exhibitions, informative discussions and of course some socialising; we particularly enjoyed the Hog Roast on the final evening hosted by Ahrend and Boss Design.
We attended some really...
May 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Award winning Cardiff Central Library. Shh!
We feel as though we’ve helped create a little piece of history after working on the interior of the iconic library building at the heart of the recently developed city centre.
Stills created the way finding and signage system that navigates users around the building. The signage is of course bilingual but something less apparent is that the braille has also been translated into Welsh.
...
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Click. Connect. Discover.
The newly branded Click. Connect. Discover. website is now live http://www.clickconnectdiscover.org/
Stills got involved in this project right at the start, creating the name, logo and developing the look and feel for Click. Connect. Discover., an initiative set up by the Wales Co-operative Centre to help communities benefit from digital technology.
This brochure we created helps demonstrate...
April 2010
3 posts
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Interiors project wins award!
We’re thrilled to announce that the Winter Rule offices in Truro won the Michelmores Western Morning News Commercial Property Award for Project of the Year under £3million.
As well as being tasked with the interiors project, we started right at the beginning with Winter Rule, working with them to develop an effective brand. We’ve ensured this brand is reflected throughout every aspect of...
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Pick Me Up offers affordable graphic art
by Laura
Last weekend I had a chance to visit the Pick Me Up: Contemporary Graphic Art Fair at Somerset House in London. After wading through the London Marathon crowd I was greeted with a corridor of bright colour block signage leading to the exhibition space.
Hvass&Hannibal
The idea of the fair is brilliant - see something you like? Just jot it down, take it to the order desk and soon...
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Cartier, champers & curlers – fashion shoot at...
We wanted to share some of the behind the scenes pics from our recent photo shoot for Hayes Apartments.
There was a pretty large team working hard to make the magic happen - a photographer and assistant, hair stylist, make up artist, several stylists plus the eight models, not to mention the clients and the team at Stills. Everyone did a fantastic job to create three different shots in the...
March 2010
2 posts
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The @ symbol: now part of permanent design...
It is the only free acquisition in MoMA’s history - the @ symbol. An underused symbol on the keyboard, the @ symbol was elevated to a new level of meaning by Ray Tomlinson, a computer engineer who gave us the email address. As with many symbols, it has a different description in different languages. Some of the favourites:
Klammeraffe = hanging monkey (Germany) arobas / petit...
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John Lewis car park signage
We’ve recently been working on signage for the new John Lewis and St David’s carparks. And this week our work has been coming to life thanks to some very patient and talented stencillers. It was pretty painstaking stuff because of the detail of some of the brand elements, but the result was well worth it!
Check out more photos on our Flickr page and see more of our work on our website.
December 2009
2 posts
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“A message needs a recipient that wants it. Otherwise it’s completely...”
– John Maeda (Twitter)