Birthday book

Manchester-based consultancy Love has created a tenth anniversary book for Scandinavian textile design group Korpi & Gordon, which is best known for its work for Ikea. The book, which launches on 12 April, was created by Love designer Emma Morton and head of copy Dave Bevan, who travelled to Stockholm to gather inspiration from traditional Scandinavian design.

Ex-Innocent smoothie group finance manager Reece Howe has called on Magpie Studio to design the identity of his new venture Kirkwood Care, which tailors private healthcare for the elderly.

Approaching the consultancy directly in February, Howe tasked Magpie with addressing a dual audience – the elderly, and children faced with considering care plans for their parents.

Keen to move away from ’clichéd photography of old people with young nurses’ having carried out an audit of business competition, Magpie Studio director Jamie Elull says the brand comprises a typographic identity supported by calligraphic illustrations, created by illustrator Alan Levett. The effect is to ’give the feel of a premium fashion label’, Elull says.

Cutaways in the identity mirror the unfinished lines in Levett’s illustrations, which represent points of communication between nurses or carers and the elderly, according to Ellul. ’Cooking, having tea, playing chess – they’re all objects or things you might do,’ he says. ’Showing them in this way allows us to move away from the people themselves.’

Taking an illustrative route will allow Howe to evolve the brand easily if he expands it into other areas of care, Elull says. Branding will be rolled out across leaflets, a website, uniforms and banner stands. Supporting typography uses a Caslon serif font. The uniforms will use one of Levett’s illustrations as a point of reference. ’There’s a nurse’s pocket watch in one illustration which can be embroidered on to the tabard,’ Elull says.

When finished, the website will aggregate news pertinent to care for the elderly, acting as a resource as well as advertising the care service.