We’ve just completed a new social networking and e-commerce site for The Leadmill – the legendary Sheffield live music venue which is now celebrating its 30th year. As part of the contract we also undertook a complete rebrand producing a new logo and brand guidelines.

The Leadmill has a particular significance for Dom Raban, our MD. In the early ’80s he rented an office upstairs where he produced ‘Proper Gander’ a well-known fanzine of the time and documenter of the burgeoning Sheffield music scene. Later that decade The Leadmill became his first client as he embarked on a career as a self-employed designer producing posters for its club and gig nights.

Dom says: “Not only is this a great win for Corporation Pop but it’s also a very special project for me. The Leadmill was my social hub in the 80s and it’s great to see it entering the next stage of its history with an attitude just as young and fresh as it was back in the day. The only downside is it makes me feel incredibly old!”

Visit The Leadmill website.

We’re currently looking for a Head of Digital to join our fast growing team. This is a very exciting position which offers the chance to join our senior management team and help shape the future of the company. For more details go to the work with us section of this site.

Every so often we all down tools and take a day out of the studio with the aim of being inspired. We call this our ‘cultural day out’ and the brief is that we visit someone or something that is creatively stimulating but not directly connected with what we do. Previous ‘days out’ have included David Mellor’s cutlery factory in Hathersage and limited edition book publishers Incline Press in Oldham – both hard acts to follow. But our most recent excursion didn’t disappoint!

Yesterday we hooked up with Nick Roberson of Roberson Stone Carving. He arranged for us to have a behind-the-scenes tour of the fabulous John Rylands Library, a little known Mancunian gem which took ten years to build but apparently only two weeks to design! Nick’s knowledge and enthusiasm was enthralling – it was the incredible quality of the stonework here that first inspired Nick to become a stonemason. After our fascinating tour we all piled in to a minibus which took us back to Nick’s workshop. Here we learnt about the materials and techniques that Nick uses in his work and witnessed some of the beautiful projects that he’s working on at present.

In our computer focused world its very easy to loose sight of ‘craft’. Yesterday (and our other days out) serve to remind us why we were first inspired to become designers and keep us in touch with the true master craftsmen. Its their singularity of purpose and devotion to their craft that enables them to produce truly remarkable work.

Here’s Nick carving a Trajan letter ‘R’ for us. You can see the rest of our photos from the day here.

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve just appointed Mark Gorman as a Board Advisor. Joining the team to drive Corporation Pop’s business and marketing strategy, Mark will be integral in shaping the growth of the company over the coming years.  Mark has been working with us informally since last spring and has already made a real impact on refining the direction of the company. This appointment marks a cementing of the relationship.

With more than 20 years’ experience in the marketing services industry, Mark is proprietor of marketing consultancy, Think Hard. Previously he was Group Account Director at The Leith Agency before leaving to form his own highly succesful agency, 1576 Advertising. Mark is also Chairman of Scottish Marketing Association.