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Public bodies' tendering processes

etterscab

By etterscab,
in Shetland News

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JustMe

JustMe

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From the Make Happy website

We are happy to announce that we have been appointed by The Shetlands Arts Council to work with them on the new launch of their arts venue in the capital of the Shetland Islands; Lerwick.
Well if they cannot even get the name of the people employing them right I have grave doubts about how well they will do with "branding" Mareel.

 

That said if they do come up with something way better than what could have been done locally then maybe it is worthwhile spending whatever will be spent on this. I presume the cost is already in the Mareel budget.

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Twerto

Twerto

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^^ Im not sure you can blame Makes happy for the spelling mistake i presume that is the articles fault.

 

I dont really see what the problem is here, appears to be someone jumping to conclusions without knowing facts again.

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JustMe

JustMe

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Twerto wrote

Im not sure you can blame Makes happy for the spelling mistake i presume that is the articles fault.
I am sure I can as my quote was cut and pasted from the Make happy website. Anyway it is not just spelling. So far as I understand "The Shetland Arts Council" does not exist.

 

Of course the moan was a bit tongue in cheek and I did go on to say it was worthwhile expenditure if the come up with something better that what could be done locally.

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Styumpie

Styumpie

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They could save a heap of cash and just use simple branding, Something simple like this for the logo would be perfect. Not much difference in terms of shape to the ingenious "pride of place" one they spent a small fortune on.

 

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs50/f/2009/304/0/e/White_Elephant_Logo_by_Mehranmahmoudi.jpg

 

http://www.shetlandmarketing.org/images/logo_pride_of_place.jpg

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Ghostrider

Ghostrider

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I'm just somewhat surprised and shocked that Shetland Arts, considering the wealth of artistic talent they assure us is alive, well and thriving in Shetland, couldn't manage to put together an "in house" logo design and marketing package using the aforementioned local talent.

 

It rather sends out mixed messages. On one hand we're assured the talent is there, on the other as soon as they need something artistic, they hire foreigners. I'm confused, do we have talent in residence and available, or do we not. :ponders:

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Gwilym

Gwilym

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A little factual point. The Make Happy support Shetland Arts secured was to help with the brand ideas for Mareel - its good to get an external view for these things. Jono Sandilands Shetland Arts' Graduate Placement Graphic Designer has been and continues to be heavily involved in the design work (as you would expect). Jono has worked closely with a London based designer so that we could come up with ideas that reach a range of audiences.

 

So in short we have some great local design talent. We have one of them and we have ensured Jono was right at the heart of this piece of work.

 

We hope to start using the brand around Christmas time - it currently being used to design signage in and around Mareel.

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etterscab

etterscab

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Can't be bothered with the anonymity of this, and I'm pleased to see that Gwilym can't either.

 

I'm just flabbergasted by this latest piece of nonsense, really. There is such evident graphics/design talent in Shetland, and the choice of this firm seems, to be charitable, odd. Especially as they don't appear even to know the correct title of the organisation they'll be 'branding internationally'.

 

So why this company, Gwilym? How much are they being paid? Was there a bidding and tendering process, and if not, why not? Is the fee included in the already up against the buffers capital budget for Mareel, or is another part of SA's budget being used?

 

Tom Morton

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Gwilym

Gwilym

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Tom in response to your questions: I have been working with a couple of agencies linked into the broadcast and film industries in London, specifically chosen for their contacts. Make Happy is one of those. No open tender process but handled within our procurement procedures relevant to the level of cost - read on and all should make sense. Make Happy have not designed our identity. No huge amounts of money have been spent on them, they have just helped oil the wheels and provided some help specifically around forming design briefs. The branding story out in the Marketing media is one of these stories that has changed along the way. I can assure you and others that Make Happy know our name. Having said that they are not marketing us so it doesn't really matter. The design of the Mareel identity is part of the design of signage for Mareel, so capital budget yes. On cost, I'm not going to get into that, or specific costs of other parts of the Mareel construction other than to say its within budget and on time. Lets all judge the final building on the whole thing; not pick at elements and get excited about costs of various items out of context, not suggesting you will Tom - but others might.

 

The important story here is that a young highly talented Shetland designer has developed this piece of work in collaboration with another internationally established designer. I know it was a great learning opportunity for both of them and I am really pleased that we have been able to offer Jono this opportunity as part of his Graduate Placement with us. Make Happy's last bit of work for us is to complete a tender brief for the Mareel website that will be out for tender for one and all to bid for in the next month or so. We are all very stretched at Shetland Arts HQ, so a helping hand with this piece of work has been most appreciated.

 

Shetland Arts is planning a update meeting for Mareel stakeholders in early December - date and time will be published on our website if anyone wants to come along and hear how things are going. Forgive, me if I don't engage fully with this thread, my intervention here was just to try and counter some misleading reporting, which rightly has been picked up by those above. Anyone wanting more info can just give me a call on (01595) 743843, Regards Gwilym.

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Guest posiedon

Guest posiedon

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Gwilym

The Make Happy support Shetland Arts secured was to help with the brand ideas for Mareel -

Not sure if there's a grammatical error here or just poor punctuation, I had to read it three times to make sense. :?

 

I had a poor education doon Sooth :wink:

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Stirrer

Stirrer

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I hope that whatever logo is proposed for Mareel, the committee take some more time to approve it than they did with their own logo.

 

A design which had the ability to be truly great now makes me cringe every time i see it. Has anyone else ever noticed that there must have been a lot of drink taken at the keel laying, given the strange twist it takes between the stems!

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Guest Anonymous

Guest Anonymous

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th damn lace hasn't even opened for business yet but already they have their hand out looking for subsidy. this is only the begining. and who wants to take a bet that gwilliam is of to pastures new before the second year in business is even under way.

 

http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2010/10/28/shetland-arts-seeks-advance-on-one-off-mareel-grant

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etterscab

etterscab

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I haven't the time to pursue this, but if I were, I'd want to see these 'procurement procedures' and how they square with 'Best Value'.

 

At the very least, this all looks absolutely awful. When local and national public spending is going to hell in a handcart, someone at SA is frolicking with obscure London agencies on an informal, non-accountable basis, discussing amorphous design and marketing ideas which change with every piece of reportage on the subject.

 

And now there's an apparent need for a 30 grand advance on a subsidy for the first year's running costs, also for 'marketing'. No connection, obviously.

 

We're all 'stakeholders'. And we deserve much better than this kind of patronising obfuscation.

Tom

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EM

EM

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I hope that whatever logo is proposed for Mareel, the committee take some more time to approve it than they did with their own logo.

 

A design which had the ability to be truly great now makes me cringe every time i see it. Has anyone else ever noticed that there must have been a lot of drink taken at the keel laying, given the strange twist it takes between the stems!

 

Yes indeed. Just as you say, it has a lot going for it as a logo, but unfortunately the curves are abominable.

 

The overall concept is very good in that it blends two of Shetland's most noteworthy design classics; the Shetland boat, and colourful knitting patterns. As a "brand" logo it certainly works.

 

The problem is that the logo's curves subvert the key essence of why Shetland boats are so elegant. It is a real shame, but not unfixable. Logos typically morph with time, so hopefully the next version of the logo can be tweaked to restore the lost elegance. I made this suggestion to Mr G a few years back. Time will tell ;-)

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