Speech!

It would appear I have gone and agreed to take part in an event organised by She Says Scotland. Which involves me standing up and talking. In front of potentially quite a lot of people I don't know. And attempting to sound like a grown up and a professional who knows what they're talking about.

Ah crap.

Oh well.

The event asks the question 'Where do good ideas come from?' and myself and a number of other ladies in the creative industry up here will be attempting to answer that with reference to our own personal experiences/disciplines.

Helpfully, I gave a talk recently within Frame that was sooorta in the same territory. So some recycling may occur. Although I am going to add in a couple more slides that relate to stuff that stuck with me after reading Steven Johnson's marvellous "Where do good ideas come from?' (that I also helpfully read not so long ago).

Pray for me. Or at least keep me away from the bar until after I'm done speaking.

RBS, Edinburgh Airport

So NOW you see why I've been so quiet. Two major campaigns going live in the space of two weeks. Oooft. This was was another belter though. We were asked by RBS Group to produce a new campaign to populate Edinburgh Airport with. They have a great deal of media space there and wanted to use it to talk about The Group, their heritage, and their powerful connection to Scotland.

We produced the 'This is Home' campaign. The work was designed to illustrate that RBS Group, having been based in Edinburgh since their inception in 1727, know Edinburgh as well as anyone, all its little foibles and idiosyncrasies and adorable faults, all its nooks and crannies. They call it home.

The photography was meant to feel like an Edinburgh resident's own snaps of their home city, while avoiding the usual picture-postcard cliches. So naturally I turned to the best photographer I know. The awesome Miss Jane Stockdale. Who pinballed wildly around edinburgh from dawn to dusk on the longest days of the year, taking snaps of the city she too once called home. And the results were bloody fabulous. Natch.

The campaign went live last weekend. I reckon I might just have to jump on a flight somewhere so I can go check it out. In the meantime, if you're jetting off anywhere nice - have a look and tell me what you think.

The National Museum of Scotland Reopens!

Goodness. I have been quiet haven't I? Not like me. But I offer up the usual excuse. I've been a busy busy wee bee. All big and exciting stuff though, and all the hard work is starting to go live and get great reactions. So it has all been worth it, I swear.

One mammoth project was the launch campaign for the newly reopened National Museum of Scotland. The old part of the museum was closed down three years ago, and treated to a world class makeover. We, the Framees, were tasked with producing the campaign to announce its impending reopening.

The Very Clever Types at the museum really wanted to emphasise the huge range of exhibits, the fact that a great deal of them had never been see before, and the thrill of discovering something new every time you visit. We produced a series of fun, bold juxtapositions that collided exhibits together; bringing to life the unexpected connections you may make at the museum and the sheer range of things on display. It was a fun, easy-to-get, populist campaign that spoke to everyone. And got some great reactions on twitter and facebook when it went live.

And we fair painted the toon! Six sheets, bus sides, banners, window displays; the work was EVERYWHERE. And the response was ace. People had really missed their museum and the campaign seemed to really fuel the excitement on the lead up to the grand reopening on the 29th of July.

The opening day was a runaway success. The museum surpassed their visitor targets three times over. While an animatronic t-rex, acrobatic gargoyles and japanese drummers welcomed them through the doors, once inside, the building and the exhibits required no such pizzazz. The transformation is truly world class and I feel so, so proud to have played a wee small part in that.

Congrats to all at NMS and pats on the back for my fellow Framers. * superchuffed *