Paragon is a full-service communications firm, focused on building leaders and leadership in the financial industry. Headed by Simon Hylson-Smith (the former Head of Global Communications for TradeWeb), they provide support in four key areas:

1. strategic planning,
2. content creation
3. media and public relations
4. marketing services.
   

Both Paragon and Form Advertising are companies with a wealth of experience behind them. And in business, there is little more important than trust and reputation.

Company director David Webb-Birch says

The partnership of our two companies brings our clients an exciting new opportunity. When it comes to visibility and market positioning, we have the ability to deliver on all levels.  It enables clients to receive unprecedented exposure when launching a new brand, something that even the best identities and campaigns cannot deliver solely on their own.

Form are currently looking for a talented Graphic Designer who can bring a touch of flare and creativity to the financial sector.  Your role will give you creative freedom and allow you to push the boundaries in search of effective communication.  You will be expected to be fully conversant with the Adobe suite and Quark and will ideally have knowledge of EDM creation and HTML coding.

Your role will not only be limited to artwork creation, but you will be expected to be part of the creative think tank for brand and campaign creation.

If your looking for a creative challenge with the added bonus of fantastic offices and no London commute then please send your CV to enquires@formadvertising.co.uk

PLEASE NOTE  - WE DO NOT ENTERTAIN RECRUITMENT AGENCIES, SO PLEASE DO NOT ENQUIRE ABOUT THIS POSITION.

Form have recently completed the new brand identity for Central Markets Investment Management (CMIM).  They required an identity the gave a feeling of pedigree and standing to the company.  Dealing within the HNWI networks, the new corporate identity uses spot golds on cream and white to reinforce the feeling of wealth and class.  The brand has been rolled out over corporate literature and email campaigns.

Form have been involved the the branding of a cool new website called user.ly.  The site enables start up businesses and individuals to test their ideas within the real world – enabling them to gain valuable feedback before launch.  We realised the potential benefits to our clients and indeed to ourselves by using this medium to test the target audience reaction to campaigns and brand concepts before we present.  We can then go to the client confident that we have statistical backup and measured results for our designs and campaigns.

With User.ly we give clients statistical data about the likely success of our designs

Form Advertising, now run a quick project on User.ly targeting to the precise market of end-users that their client wants. The feedback is then used in Form’s pitch book showing the client how people react to the designs.

We usually create a range of solutions for our prospects and then test them on real-world users

New clients receive a FREE iPad 2*

At Form Advertising we do more than just make pretty pictures! We are rewarding new clients with the opportunity to win an iPad 2 for their company.

Let us show you what we can do and I’m sure you will be impressed by our results, plus you’ll also have a new toy to play with!

So what have you got to loose? You get fantastic work, great service and a free iPad* thrown in as well!

Please take time to browse our portfolio or contact us with any enquiries.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

* Offer is subject to a total amount of £4000 being invoiced direct to the company. The offer is open to new clients only and cannot be repeated for the same client.  The iPad will be presented to the company. £4,000 to be made up from creative spend only and  not to include any third party figures such as image license, printing, hosting or any other external source of income.  Ipad presented will be a iPad2 16 gig wi-fi version.

These campaigns for IBM are some of the cleverest uses of negative space that we have seen.  Not only are they extremely clever, but they get the point over with a clever use of style and colour.  This definitely has to rate as one of our favourite campaigns, we are not sure who the illustrator was on these adverts – but a big thumbs up from us for such inspiring creativity!!

View the video

Good brochure layout captivates the reader

A good brochure must be clear and attractive to the intended audience. Think of the brochures that you or your friend kept from an event you went to, or a place you wanted to go. You may not have identified exactly what design aspect made it unique, but these brochures definitely captured the essence of the event or the company. The ability to embody the spirit of the client and the idenity of the company in a mere paper brochure is what makes it memorable, and is proof of a good design.

A brochure must carry across the brand values of the company and correlate closely to the web and media presence. It is a within the brochure that the core brand elements are most apparent.  Typography, tone of voice, imagery and colour all conjoin to deliver the required message and positioning. However, great brochure designs take these elements one stage further, by ensuring a clean and decisive layout and introducing an element of style through clever usage of paper and finishing such as die cutting, stamping and varnishing to name but a few.  In order to make a brochure stand out from the crowd, bespoke packaging may also be designed, such as slip cases, boxes, bags or even specialist wrapping materials.  Of course the design process is constrained only by the budget of the client.

The design studio at Form Advertising are one such creative agency that take the art of brochure design to its furthest limits.  Creative layouts and typography are combined with in-house photography and clever usage of materials.  Specialists in creating innovative brochure design and layout as well as brand books and Annual Reports, Form Advertising pride themselves on creating the most effective brochure designs for a clients budget.

The consumers perception of a brand is crucial to its success. Brand values can be divided in to categories:

Core brand values

Recognition/awareness
Trust/reliability
Quality
Value/price

Service Support values

Availability/distribution
Product design
Product range
Innovation
Professional expertise

Branding in the financial sector has its own characteristics, the crucial element being consumer trust, after all the institutions are handling your funds. For this reason in most cases the brand and the institutions name are and the same, as in the case of those quoted in the top 75. Brand and reputation management are thus closely interlinked, forming an essential part of business strategy, with staff training on brand values an important support function.

The necessity to maintain long term customer relationships and to provide high quality advice are also key to successful brands in the financial sector.While there’s increased pressures for smaller companies in the current climate, periods of turbulence also bring opportunities. New markets appear and smaller companies can be well placed to serve them. There’s opportunities for the smaller, specialist company to link up with the major distribution networks but to do so their own brand must be well defined. In addition to outside activity, communicating effectively with their own customers is likely to show a decisive element for success in future financial services marketing. This is something giant institutions are not usually that great at. Sound advice, explanation of the changes in the marketplace and of the benefits of compliance, transparency in pricing and an understanding of customer needs are now more important than ever. A powerful brand will reflect this and add actual value to the business.