Author: Paul Spiers

I first discovered David Bowie as a young teenager during his Serious Moonlight tour of New Zealand back in the early 80s. He had gone to visit a Marae and meet with local Maori representatives in Porirua – just north of Wellington, where he was set to play a few days later at Athletic Park. In my local newspaper, the Kapiti Observer, there was photograph of the Thin White Duke, slight of frame, bleached hair, sitting with a tartan blanket on his lap amongst the kaumatua (elders of the tribe) and smiling.

Author: Patrick Anderson

At last month’s relaunch event of the Carbon Balanced Paper initiative at PwC’s swanky riverside office in London, Mark Thompson, PwC’s Director of Sustainability and Climate Change, said: “The current crop of job applicants we speak to have a clear idea of the type of company they want to work for, and that’s one that represents their own values, especially in terms of the environment.”

Author: Daniel Porter

As a recent migrant from the book publishing world (having worked in the industry for nine years), I followed coverage of The Bookseller’s recent FutureBook 2015 conference with great interest.

Author: Michael Grass

Unless you’ve been living under a crash-landed Star Destroyer for the past 12 months, you may be aware there is a new Star Wars film coming out. But of course you know that. Ever since the teaser trailer debuted online over a year ago, it was obvious the film studios were not going to allow you to ignore the imminent release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the seventh chapter in the ridiculously lucrative saga.

Author: Paul Spiers

Last month, I attended the Dynamic Enterprise Summit and Round Tables in London hosted by London Loves Business. It was a pretty impressive line-up on the panel and speakers’ roster for the day including Pimlico Plumbers’ Charlie Mullins; Tim Weller, founder and CEO of Incisive Media and Simon Woodroffe, founder of Yo! Sushi and Yo! Hotels.

Author: Paul Spiers

Today, we’re very pleased to be unveiling the next step in the ongoing evolution of AD Communications: our brand new website. The unveiling of the new site – still at www.adcomms.co.uk – is the first in a series of initiatives we intend to roll out over the coming months, all focused on making the industries we serve more aware of the depth and range of services we offer and how we work with clients to help make their brands the best they can be.

Author: Patrick Anderson

Last month marked the 50^th anniversary of the British road signage system. Unless you work in signage, visual communication or design – and/or happen to be a British road sign aficionado – you can be forgiven if this news passed you by.

Author: Joanna Muggeridge

Working at AD has become synonymous to me with visiting Düsseldorf every four years for a certain print show. But two weeks ago I was back at the Messe for a completely different type of event altogether: A+A, one of the largest Health & Safety exhibitions in Europe.

Author: Paul Spiers

As a proud New Zealander, last weekend was one of the biggest in this year’s calendar: the final of the Rugby World Cup 2015 in the UK. The contest in the final was immense, as the two best sides in international rugby battled it out for 80 minutes for supremacy in the last game in what was, in my view, one of the best World Cups ever held.

Author: Louise Lazell

Halloween excites me. Every year I look forward to carving a pumpkin and spending hours painstakingly attempting my best cat-pumpkin design. Unfortunately, they do not always have the realistic look I hope for. While there are some extremely talented artists who are able to carve 3D masterpieces by hand, alas I am not one of them.

Author: Cerys Traylor

With research showing that 63% of Facebook users gather news information via their feed, Facebook and Instagram has introduced a tool for journalists to collate stories, gauge public reaction and discover what’s trending.

Author: Michael Grass

Being a self-professed exhibition junkie, I was lucky enough to attend not one but two shows in September – Luxury Packaging London 2015 and Labelexpo Europe 2015. Given the close connection between the packaging and label markets, I thought I’d share some views and impressions on the two shows.