Branding

Navigating the Freelance World with Martin Philpot of Pure Graphic Design

Navigating the Freelance World with Martin Philpot of Pure Graphic Design

Navigating the Freelance World with Martin Philpot of Pure Graphic Design 850 446 martin

In the latest Website Planet interview, Martin Philpot, the founder of Pure Graphic Design, shares his journey from a side hustle born of necessity to a full-time freelance career built on versatility and expertise. Martin opens up about the pivotal moments that shaped his business, the diverse services he offers, and his ongoing mission to balance private client work with high-profile design contracts.

Read the full interview by:  here:

Read the full interview.

Print making an impact

Print making an impact 2048 2048 martin

I have been in love with print since the start of my career, now in the digital age a beautiful piece of print is priceless in terms of making an impact and holding retention with your clients – nobody will want to throw ant of these into the bin.

Here’s a gallery of all the print projects I have produced, in partnership with my trusty craftsmen, foil block printer, Ian Stopford – check his beautiful work out here: instagram.com/istprinting

Beautifully printed cards for London Concepts

Beautifully printed cards for London Concepts 2048 2048 martin

These beautiful business cards were printed with black foil onto 700 gsm weight black board (very thick!)

The front side was printed using white foil. They made for a very dramatic keepsake for their new design, build & construction business.

London Concepts business cards

Pure Graphic Design foil block mailers

Print is not dead

Print is not dead 2000 1225 martin


Beautifully printed stationery

To fully launch my full-time freelance career this month, I invested in designing some beautifully printed business cards and A6 mailers. My passionate printer lovingly printed them in white foil block onto an array of different coloured high quality board. White foil was used for the mailer details and the business cards whilst the front of the mailer, that featured the word ‘Flourish’ was printed in holographic foil, so it catches the light and gives off lovely incandescent colours. So much marketing is done purely digitally these days, I think it is lovely to receive something tactile that’s been created with love and care that you will want to keep hold of and not discard.

My goal is to use my design & website skills to help you grow your business and flourish.

Investing in business collateral that eschews quality speaks so much about you, your business and how you approach your work – it really is money well spent.

Branding a movement: Extinction Rebellion

Branding a movement: Extinction Rebellion 593 596 martin

Campaigners have issued three core demands to the government: to “tell the truth about climate change”; to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025; and to create a citizens’ assembly to oversee progress.

With such a clear and strongly communicated set of demands it is no surprise that XR’s other communications have also been equally well thought through. People were already activated but not organised and the XR movement has acted as a powerful force for bringing people together under a shared identity – something bigger than themselves that they can be part of.

 

Trust

A well-developed brand proposition can also engender feelings of affinity, belonging, and trust. This is important if you aspire for an existing network to evolve into a real movement. You are inviting people to activate and demand change whilst holding a banner with your logo on it. Do not underestimate the level of trust that is required for this to happen.

 

The brand toolkit

A huge amount of planning has gone into the Extinction Rebellion visual execution. They have an in-house art group, made up of graphic, fashion and stage designers and artists, who have created branded protest materials. Born from a strong visual foundation, they have expertly created a wider toolkit that is both recognisable yet adaptable.

The Extinction Rebellion logo was designed by a street artist who wishes to remain anonymous. The logo features a stylised sand-timer set inside a circle, representing the planet and is a clear symbol that time is running out. This references the warning from the United Nations that we have just 12 years to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or risk catastrophic changes to the planet’s climate.

This sand-timer logo combined with the language used throughout the campaign clearly highlights the scale and urgency of the climate crisis.

 

The simplicity of the logo has meant that it has been recreated on streets all over the globe in protest art and is instantly recognisable. It has been available for people to add to their facebook profile images, spreading the message further.

By contrasting the bold black logo and typeface with colourful graphics this works to give the movement an energetic and dynamic look and feel, emphasising the organisation’s passion and anger at the government’s in-action on climate change.

One of the most important things was that this movement needed to feel really inclusive. A lot of eco movements feel a bit hippy and exclusive, and not particularly urban. It was important to have a consistent look, so we could be an umbrella movement that everyone could come underneath.
Clive Russell, Graphic Designer at Extinction Rebellion

Pushing boundaries of design

Another great way of making the organisation inclusive and accessible has been the free availability of their protest graphics to download from their website, provided they are used strictly for non-corporate purposes. This open-sourcing of their graphics has allowed people to take a sense of ownership over the rebellion by making their own protest materials.

Maintaining a co-ordinated graphic identity in the corporate world is tricky, but this more spontaneous way gives the movement a stronger, more vibrant visual identity. It’s anti corporate subversiveness is what makes it so engaging and striking, lending itself to quick adaptions, home-made slogans and graffiti and that’s why I love it so much.

Click on the images to enlarge

RealGroove

RealGroove 801 801 martin

Logo design for RealGroove record label