Mary Graham of Suffolk brand communications agency Yellobelly reflects on the successful brand identity project her team worked on for the launch of Suffolk’s film office Screen Suffolk
What was the project?
In late 2016, we were awarded the contract to design the brand identity for Screen Suffolk and to come up with a suite of products to launch the brand and ensure swift and significant impact.
Screen Suffolk was a brand new organisation set up by Film Fixer, a London-based locations agency, which had just won the contract to be the dedicated film office for the county, tasked with attracting film, TV, photography and advertising productions to the region.
It was also to be a one-stop shop for whatever those productions need, including locations, permits, catering firms, accommodation for casts and crews, extras and to smooth the way for all the other logistics involved in filming.
This was a fantastic and exciting creative project for us to get involved with from the very start.
What was involved?
Suffolk was then still relatively undiscovered by location managers, despite the wonderful wealth and variety of locations we have to offer as a county: idyllic Tudor houses to edgy industrial buildings; vast seascapes to rolling countryside; Martello towers to medieval castles and much more.
We needed to come up with a strong new brand identity to represent this offering and its good value and to bring it all together. This included producing a logo, designing and building a website and producing exhibition, print and other promotional materials.
What were the particular challenges?
This is a very competitive and global market. The decision-makers have a huge choice of great locations from across the UK at their disposal and it can also be very difficult to lure production teams outside the M25.
We needed to create a really strong brand, one that would make a serious impact, and one that would tempt location managers to cast their net further afield - and specifically towards Suffolk.
The timings for turnaround were also quite tight, but together with the Screen Suffolk team we all ensured that it all went very smoothly and ran on time and to budget.
What was the finished result?
The bold typography and simple colour palette that we came up with really packs a punch – though we say it ourselves!
They work together very well and look strong on a variety of print and promotional materials, which is always a designer’s dream.
The website neatly carries through the bold brand theme in conjunction with an array of location images.
We are also extremely proud of the set of promotional postcards that we came up with, which have been used very effectively for various marketing purposes.
These cards play on famous film titles and handily illustrate the amazing and gorgeous variety of locations that Suffolk can offer.
How do you feel when you see the success that the campaign brought?
We feel enormously proud to have played a part in such a big success story.
Screen Suffolk smashed its first year targets – achieving over 150% of its target filming days.
They have brought in no less than three blockbusters to the county including Ridley Scott’s All the Money In The World in 2017, which featured Elveden Hall in west Suffolk, and Armando Iannucci’s Personal History of David Copperfield, which shot film in Bury St Edmunds. Most recently Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis’s Beatles inspired film - Yesterday - which will be released later this summer was filmed partly in Halesworth.
In addition, all manner of other television projects, adverts and fashion shoots have taken place across the county over the last couple of years - including “that” Ed Sheeran video.
Figures show that the assorted productions that have come here since Screen Suffolk’s launch have contributed as much as £7.3m to the economy in Suffolk.
They now have over 110 local facility firms on their books and more than 365 locations on their database.
This is all fantastic news for Suffolk and very rewarding for us to have devised the gateway into such a successful programme.
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