This summer has been packed with inspirational design projects.

Without doubt the the Merchant City Properties tiled mural in Glasgow was a historic landmark project to work on.

Merchant City Properties Entrance

Previously managing the design and installations of two signage projects for the Merchant City Properties we were approached on how to brighten up the entrance to their offices.

Byblos Exterior Signage

Having successfully completed two large scale full colour tiling projects for North Lanarkshire Council we thought the external space would be the perfect setting for another of our graffiti resistant tiling concepts.

The design made use of historic images of the Merchant City as a major trading area with a thriving fruit and vegetable market. Through co-operation with Glasgow institutions, the Burrell Collection, Culture and Sport Glasgow (Museums) and the Mitchell Library, we gained access to some great images from the past to create the mural.

Urban Artwork Mural

Please feel free to have a wonder up Albion Street in the Merchant City next to the side entrance to Merchant Square to have a quick look back in time.

Front cover of the Drum 31.7.09

The Macaulay team are delighted with our recent presence in this week’s design trade magazine, the Drum.

The article highlighted some of our strongest and most exciting work including the Motherwell underpass project and our recent rebranding of the Royston Stress Centre to Lifelink.

Our Motherwell underpass project was selected as the front cover of the who's who in Glasgow section

Our rebranding work for Lifelink was also featured

Bruce and Kristina even had the chance to put their journalistic attributes to the test as they were quoted on their thoughts on the Glasgow design industry, the recession and and how to proactively ride out the credit crunch.

“Glasgow needs to understand that any creative centre status can be easily lost, with so many dynamic forward thinking cities on the continent. While a great pool of talent is evidently here, to fully thrive we need to see a determined programme to energise SMEs. As they are such a dominant part of the economy, we need government based help to encourage them that great design and marketing are key to breaking through the glass ceiling of ambition that seems to be so prevalent in Scottish society.

We must get to a point where private enterprise rather than the public sector once again becomes the driving for of the Glaswegian economy.”

If you could offer three pieces of advice to other marketing services companies what would they be?

1. Financial and non-financial performance indicators should be devised to monitor the effectiveness of the marketing practices and employee efficiency.

2. Ensure that your pricing is reflective of the quality and service provided.

3. Be prepared to adjust pricing structures across the different product ranges and market sectors, this is critical in delivering value and building trust with your customers.

The article highlighted Macaulay Creatives commitment to our clients to work in partnership with them to get noticed and grow even in these tough times, through effective, pragmatic creativity.

Macaulay Creative Advert in The Drum

Guests enjoyed a short talk from author Paul Henke! To be honest it was hard to stop him. Paul has been described as Britain’s hardest working author and he shared the simple secret of getting out there and plugging yourself, something that is easy to forget in the world of online networking.

However all this hard work has paid off, and he now has a loyal band of readers, who snap up his latest books the day they are released.  Check out his website to see what all the fuss is about.

Paul Henke

Susan Sheridan of Scottish Epilepsy Initiative also  gave us all an opportunity to spend next February trekking the sun scorched Sahara rather than a rain soaked Sauchiehall Street. And you’ll be supporting a great cause!

Susan Sheridan from Scottish Epilepsy Initiative

Our next event is planned for September, and you’ll find out about it on the blog first!

More photos here on our Flickr page….

Small businesses in Glasgow were urged to name names to help survive tough trading times at the latest of a series of city centre networking events this week.

More than 60 professionals from a diverse range of sectors attended the seminar in the city’s Baltic Chambers, hosted by leading design and brand consultants Macaulay Creative and property management firm Stelmain.

Adopting the theme ‘Branding for Business’, the event, which took place on Friday 8 May in the relaxed surroundings of Baltic Chambers’ intimate Fifi and Ally Baby venue, highlighted the invaluable need for small businesses to identify, develop and protect a strong brand as the battle for customers intensifies day by day.

Bruce Macaulay spoke on the importance of branding for small businesses

Led by Bruce Macaulay, Managing Director of Macaulay Creative, the evening saw questions and answers on the importance of branding fly thick and fast. The mixed backgrounds of those attending – from energy consultants to chauffeurs – reflected small businesses’ realisation that building and maintaining a strong identity is vital for continued growth in the current economic climate. 

Rod Jamieson spoke about Fortunetwork

Speaking after the event, Bruce Macaulay said that businesses were beginning to focus on how best to protect themselves against economic decline: “In times of recession, it is vital that companies look not only at how to continue trading in a difficult market, but also how to develop their identities in order to attract new customers as well as to retain their existing client base.

“A strong, positive identity is vital in times such as these and the large numbers who attended the event are proof of this – business people are actively looking towards recovery and investigating how best they can develop and grow their futures.”

The event also saw the launch of a new programme of ongoing educational events for business owners, with future topics including brand development for small and medium sized businesses and identifying online opportunities.

Host Kristina Macaulay

Kristina Macaulay, Director of Macaulay Creative, explained: “Knowing how best to communicate with clients – and understanding what is distinctive about the services they offer – is an essential tool for all businesses. We’re confident that this programme will translate a lot of questions into an informed strategy which will position Scotland’s business to deliver a sustainable future.

“In order to increase the potential for ‘recession-proof’ businesses, we’re looking forward to welcoming a wide variety of professionals from all sectors, keen to learn how best to recalibrate their business focus. The areas that will be covered will address a variety of pertinent points for businesses and start up companies in an informative and relevant way.”

The evening ended with a chance for those attending to network together, creating several new relationships – and generating lucrative new leads.

As Scottish businesses continue to battle in a testing economic environment, making new contacts and generating support from the wider business community is becoming more important than ever – as the success of Macaulay Creative’s enterprise demonstrates.

Photos courtesy of Stewart Cunningham. http://www.stoppressmedia.com/

We’ll be up and running very soon…