Old news:
16/08/10 | Luke Willetts joins Code.
When Code Computer Love asked us to help them find some hot new talent we were delighted to introduce them to Luke Willetts, one of the Hot Grads we've featured this year.
Luke starts his new role today and we think Code have just got their hands on one of the industries top young designers - we're sure it'll prove to be a great start to Luke's career too.
28/07/10 | Yorkshire Day celebrations.
Print Yorkshire are hosting a free networking event to coincide with Yorkshire Day on 30/07/10 over at the Alea Casino in Clarence Dock, Leeds.
There's a key note on social media and then a chance to mix with a load of, Yorkshire based, print pros - what could be better!
Here'a a link: www.printyorkshire.com
26/07/10 | Creative Networks - picnic in the city.
This coming Thursday, Creative Networks are hosting an interesting event over in Granary Wharf - creativenetworkswestyorkshire.co.uk.
Live music, tours of roof top gardens - sounds like it'll be good fun!
20/07/10 | Mobile Manifest.
Screen Yorkshire are hosting an event on mobile apps - what's out there and which ones are the success stories.
It's on tomorrow afternoon in Barnsley - here's the link: mobilemanifest-dmc.eventbrite.com
13/07/10 | Betta Kultcha.
Betta Kultcha III is on tonight down at Templeworks.
Always entertaining and a great chance to brush up those presentation skills, check out the link: www.bettakultcha.blogspot.com.
28/06/10 | Sh! Awards.
T'was the Sh! Awards last week and it turned out to be a great night down at the increasingly popular Templeworks.
16/06/10 | Our blog hits The Drum and bitique.
Darren's recent post offering advice for design graduates has just been picked up by The Drum magazine and the design blog, bitique.
We're obviously made up and you can click here to take a look at The Drum, or here for bitique.
11/06/10 | University of Leeds Degree show.
Hunting for the lastest industry talent? The private view for University of Leeds' degree show was last night and we went alone to take a look - click here to see a quick blog entry.
27/05/10 | Creative Networks Business Fayre.
Creative Networks is holding a business fayre instead of guest speakers tonight. We'll be there and as far as we know it'll be an open house.
Click here to find out more.
19/05/10 | New blog post.
Just graduated and looking to break into the design industry?
Click here to take a look at Darren's latest blog entry for some advice on how to open those doors.
18/05/10 | Your Brand: your secret weapon.
This was an event organised last night by Thompson Brand Partners alongside The Business Desk that sought to educate business leaders of the (potential) power of there brands.
There were 3 speakers, all with something interesting to say and, if you click here, you can now read a review from out blog.
27/04/10 | Kind words.
Over the years we've been lucky enough to hear a few people say some lovely things about us.
Yesterday was especially good though because, whilst checking out our google rankings, we stumbled on this review by Matt Saunders: www.qype.co.uk and, as if that wasn't enough, we then spotted this quite superb blog entry from Matt Pallatt: www.26point1.com.
It's always great to hear that people like how we do things - we'll be doing our best to keep it up.
Thanks a million guys!
26/04/10 | A busy week...
Betta Kultcha Tuesday, snZero Wednesday and Creative Networks on Thursday makes this a week jammed full of good stuff for us.
Drop us a line if you're about for any of them or, if you're interested in finding out more about them, have a click through to their various web spaces.
26/03/10 | Creative Networks.
Some feat by Creative Networks getting Sir John Hegarty as a speaker last night.
If you missed it, check out the blog to read what Darren thought: A "knight" with Sir John Hegarty.
08/03/10 | New Business People - where are you? (in a Delia Smith styley!)
Regular visitors will know we're not really involved in the "suits" side of agency life but, so far this year, we've been hearing about some fantastic design houses looking to bolster their New Business teams.
This then is a call to all the creatives reading these pages; if you know someone who's great at New Business, without the cliched "sales" attitude, point them our way and we'll let them know about some cracking opportunities.
03/03/10 | Betta Kultcha.
Last night we went along to the first ever Betta Kultcha night at Templeworks in Leeds where speakers were asked to talk passionately about something using 20 slides, each shown for 15 seconds.
We learnt all sorts from; steam engine espionage, the joys of being in a band, the 10 dimensions of space through to the pitfalls of an arranged marriage!
A great laugh and chance to meet some really interesting (and passionate) people. Follow @bettakultcha, @RichardMichie and @ivortymchak on twitter for news of the next one.
01/03/10 | Creative Networks Yorkshire.
CNY is a networking group for all creatives in Yorkshire and each month they bring a guest speaker from one of the creative sectors - this month's is none other than Sir John Heggarty.
Click here to jump onto their facebook page to find out more.
14/01/10 | New jobs.
After a somewhat staggered start to the year we've finally added a couple of new roles to the job board - a Senior Designer and a Senior Digital Project Manager - both based in Manchester.
To take a look at a more detailed description have a click on the current vacancies button to your left, and keep your eyes peeled for more juicy roles soon.
22/12/09 | 2010-Twenty Ten. Year planner.
Fresh off the press our new year planners have arrived from the printers and could be winging their way to you in a matter of days!
Take a look by clicking the 2010-Twenty Ten link to your left and drop us a line if you'd like to bag yourself one - hurry though, we've only got 50!
07/12/09 | Emma Fairbrother joins driven.
Senior Designer Emma Fairbrother is the latest recruit for Wilmslow based driven - with a little help from Character.
Although they're known primarily as an ad agency, driven are building an impressive team of designers too as Emma joins up with Cathryn Ellis - a previous candidate.
You can check out driven here and see Emma's work here - be sure to keep your eyes peeled on the creative press to see what they create together - we can't wait!
26/11/09 | Designing Demand.
We were in Knaresborough for one of the Design Council's Designing Demand events yesterday.
The idea behind it is to help convince small and medium business owners the value of good design - and ultimately get them to sign up to one of their programmes.
You might not learn lots but it's a mine of potential new clients - rich pickings for all you freelancers out there.
Link here: www.designingdemand.org.uk
04/11/09 | Leeds Film Festival - Art and Copy.
It's the 23rd Leeds International Film festival this month and there's stacks of cool stuff happening across the city.
We'll be at the 7 Arts bar in Chapel Allerton on Thursday the 5th to see Art and Copy,
click here for more on that, and if you click here too you'll see what else is going on.
29/10/09 | New Blog entry about our EXTRAORDINARY freelance offering!
The way recruitment agencies handle freelancers is changing (we hope) - click the link to see the light!
Click this link and add a comment...
27/10/09 | NEW ROLE - Senior Art Director
We've just been briefed on a corker of a role over at a Cheshire based ad agency.
If you're interested in reading more, check out the current vacancies page (look left). REF:1185.
We're looking forward to seeing your stuff!
03/10/09 | Sagmeister at TED 2009
Stefan Sagmeister talks at TED 2009 about his year off in Bali - apparently he's been taking a full year off every 7 years - now there's an idea!
30/09/09 | snZero
Matt Pallatt of Twentysix fame presents social networking zero for the first time ever this evening.
His plan, to gather the best and brightest of Leeds' digital community together in one place to share ideas, dreams and a few drinks.
Should be good fun and hopefully the first of many.
14/09/09 | Digital Designer
Are you a belting mid-weight designer?
If so check out the latest role on the board. REF: 1184. It's an opportunity not to be missed!
11/09/09 | TEDx Leeds
Like every new blog we've started with a flurry!
It was TEDx Leeds last night and Darren's written a blog entry about it - to check it out click here.
10/09/09 | You can't beat a good book...
We all know jobs are tough to find at the moment so check out Darren's new blog entry aimed to give you some advice on putting together a portfolio. You never know, it could make all the difference.
Click here or use the link to your left.
All comments and feedback are very welcome!
08/09/09 | Tedx - Leeds.
Tedx - Leeds is a TED (www.ted.com) inspired event happening right here in Leeds. Tickets are free and we think there's a few left.
It's happening this Thursday night so for more info click here.
31/07/09 | New roles.
It's all kicking off in the North West at the moment!
We're looking for a cracking mid-weight designer and a top PHP developer - check out the specs on our current vacancies page.
07/07/09 | Packaging Designers.
We've been doing stacks of business with packaging specialists already this year and yesterday another role came on the board (REF: 1179).
Take a look at our current vacancies page for more details and drop us a line if you're up for hearing more.
25/06/09 | SH! Awards.
Tonight the night for BRAHM's annual student awards, the SH! Awards. To find out more check out the site here.
Good luck to all those taking part.
15/06/09 | More "hot grads".
The link's to your left - have a click and take a look - this year's crop seems to be shaping up nicely!
09/06/09 | Creative Protege.
Andy Hardwick popped in a couple of weeks back and told us about Creative Protege - a not-for-profit company formed to help design graduates gain some experience.
We meant to mention it earlier but now seems a pretty good time anyway!
Click here to find out more.
25/05/09 | Welcome Brand.
A big thanks to James Young of Welcome Brand for mentioning us in his design blog last month - totally unprompted too!! Click here to see.
If you're in need of a freelance digital designer he's well worth checking out!
28/04/09 | Two new Hot Grads added.
Take a look at Callum and Felicity's stuff by following the Hot Grads link to your left
Good stuff.
02/04/09 | Transfixed Motion exhibition launch - tonight in Sheffield.
Another exhibition launch at the Furnival Gallery in Sheffield.
This will be the 3rd we've attended in the last couple of months and, as the title suggests, focuses in on a bunch of moving image/motion graphic artists.
It's not the usual fare for us but we're looking forward nevertheless. Check out the link to this event, and other up-and-coming ones here.
02/04/09 | Business Link course.
We made it along to the first of 5 free Business Link courses this morning, this one was on how to market your business.
Whilst it wasn't rocket science, it was great to be reminded of some of the basics and a good chance to get in a room full of other small business owners.
Worth a look if you're a freelancer or even running a small agency. Here's the link.
27/03/09 | Attik's Noise 5 book launch.
We were over at the Green Sands Foundry last night for the official launch of Noise 5. Can you beleive it's been 8 years since the last one?!
Anyway, what a great night. Stacks of people made it along and everyone we've spoken to was hugely impressed by work that's gone into getting it onto the shelves.
Definitely two thumbs up from us!
Check more bit of it here and visit their online store.
24/03/09 | Twentysix on our freelance deal.
"Character has found us a number of super talented creatives - all of whom have been in for extended runs. Not only has this deal saved us stacks in recruitment fees but they genuinely seem to get what we're about too." - Matt Pallatt.
If you're a freelancer looking for work or an agency boss trying to cover workload, take a look a look at the freelance link (to the left) and give us a call - pretty soon you could be as happy as Matt!
23/03/09 | Noise 5 - the launch.
It was well over a year ago that the boys and girls at Attik told us about this much anticipated book so it great to hear that, after all this time, it's finally ready to present itself to the world.
We've heard plenty of good things already, read the posters and now we can't wait to get our hands on a copy.
The launch party is this coming Thursday 26/03/09 and you can see a sneak preview here: Noise 5
20/03/09 | New jobs - a few of them too!
It been the busiest week in a while here - today alone there's been 2 new URGENT briefs land on our desk, Ref: 1170 and 1171.
If you're a young web designer/developer or a .net developer looking for a break take a look and get in touch.
17/03/09 | Graphic Design Monography and Critical Practice Exhibition.
We're in Sheffield again tonight for a lecture followed by an exhibition preview - should be interesting.
Check out the link here: www.shu.ac.uk/art/gallery/monography.
09/03/09 | The Met Club - any good?
Actually it was. A room full of blokes in suits made it fairly intimidating to begin with but everyone was very friendly and it looks like we may have made a couple of good new contacts.
Whether you're a freelancer or company director we reckon it's worth giving it a try. Here's the site again: themetclub.co.uk.
05/03/09 | The Met Club.
Tonight at the Hotel du Vin in Harrogate. The Met club is a place where business people come together to discuss, well, business apparently.
We're not used to all this pro networking stuff so wish us luck and pop back soon to see how we did!
If you're interested in coming along to one check out the dates on their site here: themetclub.co.uk.
27/02/09 | Designing Seeds.
We went along to the Designing Seeds exhibition preview in Sheffield last night and saw some very interesting stuff.
The body of work on show has been developed by the collective expertise at Universal Everything so if your in town we'd definitely recommend you take a look.
The work's showing until the 4/03/09. Here's the links: Universal Everything, Designing Seeds.
27/01/09 | Oren Lavie video.
Never heard of this dude until earlier today but found this video and loved it!
Check it out here.
27/01/09 | David Carson.
Found a very entertaining lecture by Mr David Carson on TED talks earlier.
Check it out here.
26/01/09 | Freelancers.
Calling all freelancers - we're helping loads of agencies find top quality cover at the moment and we've got a fairly unique way of doing business too.
Check out the freelancers link to the left and get in touch.
10/01/09 | Design Forums.
Greg dropped us a line the other day to tell us about his new site Design Forums. There's already quite a few people on there and it's well worth checking out for some friendly feedback or advice.
23/12/08 | New Blog.
Neil Ramsbottom dropped us a line last night to tell us about a new blog he's running alongside long time collaborator Ben Palmer - bitique.
There's already some great stuff up there so take a look around and add them to your bookmarks.
17/12/08 | Christmas by M&C
Check out this online video from M&C Saatchi:
Beats a run of the mill Christmas card.
Merry Christmas to you all.
29/10/08 | Steve's blog.
Check out Steve's take on last weeks D&Ad President lecture:
23/10/08 | Liverpool Design Symposium.
We're heading over to Liverpool this afternoon to listen to Matt Pyke of Universal Everything speak as part of the D&Ad President lecture series.
There's a whole load of other things on too including a display of this years winning work from the Roses Design Awards so if you're in the area it's worth popping over and taking a look - here's a link.
15/10/08 | Storyhunters tonight at Seven.
If you're reading this and at the same time wondering what you're gonna do tonight check out this link and get yourself down to the Seven Arts Bar in Chapel Allerton tonight.
From what we know Storyhunter's are 2 chaps telling amusing tales about the world around us.
Apart from that we have no idea - it should be an interesting alternative to the footy though!
03/10/08 | Twentysix moving in party.
A big thank you to everyone over at Twentysix for the invite to last nights moving in party.
We weren't too sure what to expect but after several pints of Leeds Ale, copious amounts of finger food and even an agency band we were all pretty impressed!
Good luck to Luke, Adam, Dan and Mike (the 4 flash guys we helped Twentysix find). We're definitely looking forward to next time!
Check out the twentysix site by clicking here.
26/09/08 | Adeaters
We've just been invited down to the Night of the Adeaters event at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London.
Tickets are 25 quid each (a tenner for students) and in return you get to see some of the best TV and cinema advertising from around the globe.
Check the site out here.
Looks like an interesting event.
29/08/08 | New jobs!
We've just started working with one of the design world's most famous names. Check out the lastest job listings and get in touch!
01/08/08 | Will's on board!
As the economic forecasters predict impending doom, we've taken the brave step and taken on another body to help us navigate these troubled waters.
With a good few years in the industry behind him already Will's knowledge and contacts should definitely help keep us afloat when it comes to the production end of things.
If (for some reason) you want to take a look at the man himself, simply click your way over to our Facebook page here and take a look in our "team" photo album.
With any luck you'll be hearing from him soon!
03/07/08 | Firefox 3.
We're still having issues getting the site working properly in IE so if you've not already done so, click the button below and get yourself the lastest version of Firebox 3 - the best yet!
23/06/08 | DIGITAL COPYWRITERS - WE NEED YOU!
One of our biggest clients urgently need a new writer for their agency.
If you're reading this and thinking you could do better then it may well be the role for you!
Take a look at vacancy number 1136 on our current vacancies page (look left) for a few more details and give us a call to tell us a bit more about you.
19/06/08 | Thank you.
A big thank you to all those that turned out for Stopping the buck last Thursday.
The night turned out to be pretty well attended and some interesting points were raised.
Pictures are now up on here and on our Facebook page.
12/06/08 | Stopping the buck. Tonight from 7.00pm.
Many of you will have already heard of tonight's event taking place at the the Oracle Bar, Brewery Wharf, Leeds.
Come along and have your say on a subject most designers have had to deal with at some stage in their career.
It's free entry and everyone is welcome. More info can be found at the link to your right.
See you tonight!
04/06/08 | Adrian Shaughnessy.
We (Darren and Steve) managed to make it to Newcastle on a frankly horribly wet evening last night to listen to Adrian lecture us and 150 others in what it takes to be a successful graphic designer.
This was the first time either of us had been to one of Adrian's talks and we both left thinking he was a nice guy - perhaps too nice. He has opinions but he's very diplomatic in delivering them so no real controversy.
We'll have a blog entry up soon with a proper write up so take a look when you get the chance.
22/04/08 | Stopping the buck.
Some of you will have already heard a bit of our up coming event, now officially known as, Stopping the buck.
It's an evening of lively debate around the difficulties young designers face when trying to get their first break in the industry and hopefully a chance for some of them to build up new contacts.
We want designers from all levels involved on the night so click here to find out a bit more about the awesome panel we've lined up. If you're on Facebook, click here and show your support by letting us know you're planning on coming along.
14/04/08 | New faces.
Fresh off the back of our office move Character Creative welcomes two new faces aboard.
Steve's in to help out on the admin side and Julie's here as part of her Masters in PR and Communications - keep your ears to the ground for exciting news relating to this soon.
We've got a couple of pictures for you to see over at our MySpace and Facebook pages so if you're itching to see what we look like, come over and take a look.
07/04/08 | driven capture new designer.
One of this year's most talked about new agencies, driven, today welcomed designer Cathryn Ellis to their ranks, via Character Creative.
Cathryn's one of the most promising designers we've seen in a long time and, with news of some significant recent account wins, we're pretty sure her and driven will go on to do great things together.
Take a look at driven's site here and keep your eyes on the creative press for more news of them.
25/03/08 | We're in!
Furniture is built, lines are installed and the coffees' on at our new place on Dock Street in the centre of Leeds.
The walls are still a little bare so we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for some nice design pieces to stick up - if you've got any ideas or want to sell us something (donations are very welcome too!) then please get in touch.
Our new number is now on our contact page but if you're in a rush here it is anyway: 0113 2443033.
Next post will be about something other than the new office - we promise!
17/03/08 | We've found somewhere!
The search was barely a week old when we stumbled on our perfect new home in Leeds city centre.
Half way between The Adelphi and The Oracle bar our new place on Dock Street couldn't be better located and we're already up to our elbows in flat pack in an attempt to get the place looking more homely.
The move should be pretty much complete by the time everyones back from the Easter weekend so if you're in the area pop in for a brew.
05/03/08 | Looking for office space.
Because of a cracking start to 2008 Character's on the hunt for a new home.
We're looking for somewhere that's warm and friendly, with hopefully a few creative individuals about the place too.
So if your business have a spare office going (or you know someone else's that does), ideally in Leeds city centre, with room for 2/3 of us, give Darren a call or drop us a line here.
It's nice to have a building with a bit of Character! (sorry)
20/02/08 | Browser issues.
Since we launched the new site we've been having a few problems getting it to work properly in pesky Internet Explorer. Despite several tweaks this is still the case!
So, if you are viewing through IE, do yourself a favor and download Firefox - we promise you'll love it and you'll get to see our site in all it's glory!
Simply follow this link.
15/02/08 | Character Creative on MySpace and Facebook.
Our MySpace page has been running for over a year now, come over, read our blog and check out some of the other stuff we're up to.
We're on Facebook now too. Not sure what will happen with this yet but come over and look at a couple of reviews, contribute to discussions and share some inspiration.
See you there.
4/02/08 | New Site Launched!
After over a year of Character Creative it was about time we gave our site a fresh coat of paint.
With more than a little help from the Inexhibit forums Darren managed to create all this in just over 1 weekend - not bad!
So take a look around and let us know what you think.
We're going to keep this front page updated with news too so pop back from time to time to see what's going on in our world.