All this week soon to be graduates, Shaun & Tom are doing some shameless self promotion, displaying themselves in a shop window. Their idea is “To collaborate, to use words, to interact, not just to design but to create. To be on constant show, to prove to the world that the creative mind is always doing”. We got in touch to say hello and they’ve done their own interpretation of our ‘spark’ to spruce up their window display!  Keep Us Busy

Everyone at Creative Spark would like to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Thanks to Laura for the illustration!

Recently we had a client asking about just how environmentally friendly recycled paper is, as they’d heard that the sheer volume of industrial chemicals used in the recycling process outweighed the benefits.

We felt we had the responsibility to do lay out the facts to help point our customers down the best path.

There are a few different methods for creating recycled paper, some of which are more environmentally-friendly than others. For print-quality recycled paper, the ink has to be removed from the pulp through either washing, flotation or both, neither of which are particularly damaging to the environment. The ink removed in the process(es) can then be put to various other uses including compost or road material.

The issue comes when the paper is then bleached to get it as white as possible. The idea of this being environmentally-unfriendly comes from when chlorine bleach was most commonly used; nowadays the most common agent is hydrogen peroxide which breaks down to water and oxygen and is much kinder to the planet.

Where possible we use environmentally-friendly recycled or FSC-certified paper.

For most people it’s not all that common to get very-raisiny spotted dick and a trophy in the same night but here at Creative Spark, it’s all the rage, at least, it was on Thursday when we won a silver award for Best Use of Illustration at the Fresh Creative Awards. A big thanks and well done to Deanna for working with us on this.

As some of you might already know, last week ourselves and Laura were taking part in YCN LIVE. Here’s some pics of the lovely things she did for us.

We are currently taking part in YCN LIVE! It’s a chance for emerging talent to showcase their work in agency, retail and other environments; to inspire its audience and showcase its originator.

Laura Siragher, a student from Leeds College of Art & Design, has very kindly come in to decorate our office with her cute illustrations. She is also putting together some prints to brighten up the office and toilet, but her work is far from bog¹ standard!

Check back soon for the results.

¹ Brilliant joke copyright Andy Mallalieu, 2008

The nominations were released yesterday and our Moving Video has been nominated for the Dadi Awards in the Best In-House Website or Campaign category. The winner will be announced at the awards on the 31st October. Fingers crossed!