Tandem

Ulster's Sporting Heroes

The Ulster Sports Museum Association, comprised of Ronnie Spence, Dame Mary Peters and Nigel Carr among others, are the driving force behind the campaign to tell the story of Ulster’s top sportsmen and sportswomen.

The exhibition tour started in the east entrance of Belfast City Hall, and because the foyer space contains many entrances and pillars, we chose the modular mila-wall® system for the exhibition walls. Because the module walls are so lightweight, this allows for the exhibition to be split into smaller sections, each to be transported or displayed separately as and when the Association require.

The exhibition was divided into key sports sections with an additional 'Telling Your Stories' section, where visitors could leave feedback on which sportsperson or sport they’d like to see included in an Ulster Sports Museum, or comment on a memorable sporting occasion. LCD screens and digiframes of varying sizes were fitted to the exhibition walls, affording the opportunity to have screens dedicated to each particular section.

We worked closely with the Ulster Sports Museum Association to define the key artefacts and memorabilia to go on display alongside the exhibition panels, which ranged from various trophies and caps, to George Best’s shirt and boots, Dawson Stelfox’s Everest climbing suit and the bronze bust of Dame Mary Peters. Due to the significant monetary and sentimental value of some of the artefacts, we produced plinths of various sizes, featuring display cases, with all cases locking together for extra security.

Scope

Identifying the theme
and sub-themes

Defining and researching
key stories

Allocating and prioritising budget to various and most appropriate delivery mechanisms

Copywriting

Image and memorabilia
artefact selection

Design of space and interpretation

Production of still
image movies

First use of mila-wall system
in Northern Ireland

Grey Abbey Visitor Centre

NIEA manage a number of key sites across two of the five Signature Projects identified by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board in 2004 – the Causeway Coastal Route and St Patrick’s Christian Heritage Trail. One of the NIEA sites included in the St Patrick’s Trail was Grey Abbey, and it was felt that the display in the visitor centre could be enhanced to further improve the visitor’s appreciation and knowledge of the Abbey and also encourage visits to other St Patrick’s Trail and NIEA sites.

We began by redefining the content and planned for the visitor centre to be divided into two distinct spaces, with one room focusing on Cistercian Monks and life in the Abbey, and the other concentrating on the work of Stone Masons and the construction of the Abbey – our main focus was to represent the many different aspects of the narrative through a layered and linear approach, which intertwines key facts and content in a connected and comprehensible way.

We produced wooden puzzles with different difficulty levels, and visitors can also take rubbings of different stone masons’ marks, and leave a permanent record of their visit by designing their own mark in the Stone Masons’ Ledger.

The Abbey stones were wall mounted alongside illustrations showing them in their original position, giving them context, and we updated the mode, producing a clear perspex casing that features a plan line drawing of the Abbey in coloured vinyl to indicate the original layout of the Abbey as well as the present day remains.

Scope

Identifying key stories

Allocating and prioritising budget to various and most appropriate delivery mechanisms

Planning space & content

Mounting of artefacts

Design of interpretation
and interactives

Lighting

Discover Lifelines in
The National Library
of Ireland

The National Library of Ireland contracted Tandem to design an exhibition to commemorate the immense success of the Lifelines project, started by English teacher Niall MacMonagle and his Fifth Year pupils from Wesley College, Dublin in 1985.

The students wrote to famous people asking for their favourite poem and the reasons for their choice, with a view to donating any money raised to the Third World. They received hundreds of replies from people as diverse and renowned as Mother Theresa, Bertie Ahern, Graham Norton and Judi Dench and compiled the responses into
a book. By 2006 Lifelines raised over €100,000 for Concern and
has been dubbed 'the best poetry anthology ever'.

The exhibition begins at a 6m long wall made up of 13 panels with three recesses, two of which have a built-in desk surface each with lighting, for visitors to read copies of the New & Collected edition in more detail. It continues across the second feature wall featuring excerpts of letters from famous people. Other features include an
area for sharing a favourite poem.

To encourage a flow throughout the small space, we avoided designing the exhibition in a linear sequence, instead affording
visitors the ability to start at any point and move from one section
to another without the narrative flow being lost.

Scope

Defining key stories

Allocating and prioritising
budget to various and
most appropriate
delivery mechanisms

Copywriting

Image research
and selection

Design of space and
interpretation

Waking a Giant
in Belfast City Hall

To enhance the tourism potential of the City Hall, Belfast City Council thought it appropriate to theme a new coffee shop area to highlight Belfast’s evolution into one of the UK’s foremost industrial cities, notably during the 19th and early 20th centuries, extending right up to the present day. The City Hall was one of the most appropriate places to pay homage to the tens of thousands of workers who helped build Belfast because it provides a tangible and unique link to our industrial past that even today is seen as a symbol of Belfast’s position in the modern world.

We were briefed to design an exhibition space that celebrated and illustrated the contribution of ordinary working people to the development of the city via their employment in the heavy industries, notably shipbuilding, engineering, rope manufacturing, linen & textile manufacture and export, tobacco processing, glass making and similar related industries. The space functions as both a coffee shop and exhibition space, so it was important to achieve a balance between the coffee shop space and a full scale interpretative exhibition. The exhibition covers a broad range of industries, from the well known to the obscure, and presents information in ‘digestable’ paragraphs, which aim to make the whole exhibition flexible in terms of the order in which it is approached, and accessible to a wide range of abilities and interests.

Central to the exhibition are two curved walls facing each other, telling the story of Belfast at the start of the 17th century and the story of Belfast’s biggest, and interlinked, industries that produced linen, iron, ships and rope. A high-level timeline featuring key industrial dates in the history of Belfast runs across three walls in the room and is of a size and position to be viewable from any part of the coffee shop, remaining visible even if the coffee shop is full. A main feature of the space is the stunning ‘Faces’ wall, which features a blend of portraits of the well-known businessmen and industrial figureheads, combined with striking images of the anonymous workers at the shipyards and foundries, mills and factories. The wall itself consists of 68 individual boxes of differing depths, with the faces literally representing the building blocks that make up the city.

Scope

Allocating and prioritising budget to various and most appropriate delivery mechanisms

Scripting and copywriting

Image selection

Design of space and interpretation

Lighting & colour scheme consultation

Production of still image movies

Famous Faces in
Belfast City Hall

The ‘No Mean City’ Exhibition is a celebration of the famous faces either from or associated with Belfast over the last 100 years. ‘No Mean City’ was a Belfast City Council project that previously existed as a temporary exhibition within the City Hall before it was closed for refurbishment.

After we were contracted to design the interpretation and branding of the Coffee Shop space in the City Hall, Tandem were briefed to design a permanent exhibition space for ‘No Mean City' in a small room just off the 'Waking a Giant' exhibition. We felt the original exhibition didn’t do justice to the world class photographic portraits, so we recommended some new additions and selected the final 68 portraits that make up the striking picture wall, choosing people from a broad and diverse range of disciplines and backgrounds.

The end result is a visually stunning exhibition complete with an interactive facility, which utilises touchscreens to tell the story of each of the subjects who range from sporting stars and singers to artists and poets. We were careful to position the two touchscreens at different heights compliant with disability regulations and ensure that this exhibition would be accessible to all. In the centre of the room is a panel that features information on the 'People’s Choice', Joe Kavanagh, and we've also included a blank space among the photos so that visitors can stop to think about the next successful son or daughter of the city who will grace the same wall in the future.

Scope

Allocating and prioritising budget to various and most appropriate delivery mechanisms

Image selection

Design of space and interpretation

Lighting & colour scheme consultation

Your Space or Mine
Exhibition & Report

We were commissioned to develop a series of Interpretative Panels and accompanying report for the ‘Your Space or Mine?’ project, about interface communities and property developers at loggerheads in Londonderry. The aim of the project was to listen to what each party wanted from their built environment, which was undertaken by Architecture Research in Tensioned Societies (ARTS) at the University of Ulster. We decided that for the printed material, maximum impact would be achieved with a double-sided A1 document that folded down to A4 size. Combined with the panels, the printed material worked well to present all the information in a manner that was easy to digest, whilst staying within the constraints of time and budget.

Scope

Interpretative consultation,
design and art direction

A1 summary document

New Ulster Hall Brand
Rolled Out Across Range
of Print Collateral

Along with developing the branding, we applied the new graphic style to the new season events programme, site hoarding, building banners, stationery, civic re-opening souvenir programme, tickets and audio tour guide. To top it all off, the lead architect also contracted us to develop the internal wayfinding signage.

Scope

Opening Season Event Guide

Fringe Festival Event Guide

Civic Re-opening
Souvenir Programme

Audio Tour Guide

Titanic’s Dock & Pump-House
Key Stage 2 Education Pack

Shortly after completing the Titanic’s Dock & Pump-House interpretative project, we made a successful tender application to the Northern Ireland Science Park to develop an Education Pack for
Key Stage 2. Working with our education consultant, we explored the cross-curriculum education links, building on the recently completed interpretative project. Our knowledge of the subject was already quite extensive, and we used our previous experience with the subject matter to help us pare down the technical content to a level and design that was suitable for 9-11 year-olds.

We developed and designed a promotional PDF and email banner, pre-visit, during visit and post-visit pupil’s activity sheets, teacher’s notes and a number of additional indoor and outdoor activities. We also rendered two CGI characters, Jonny the apprentice and Mr Morris the supervisor, for an educational film, making savings on the budget by featuring re-edited sequences from the interpretative movies.

Scope

Teachers' Pack linking to
NI Curriculum Key Stage 2

Pre-visit & Post-visit
Activity Packs

'How the Pump-House Worked' Movie

'Outdoor Quest' Walking Quiz

'Quizdom' Interactive Quiz

Cast Bronze Interpretation
for Mountsandel Wood

Through careful planning we produced a robust outdoor interpretative trail which is sympathetic to its surroundings and merits the Mountsandel site’s historical and archaeological importance.

During the 1970s, excavations found evidence of an early Mesolithic site in Mountsandel Wood dating back to around 7000BC, making it the oldest archaeological site in Ireland. We were contracted by Coleraine Borough Council to design and build an interpretative trail following our creative pitch – we felt that the significance of the site deserved interpretation that was unique and built to last, so we decided to utilise native oak structures to support bronze cast panels.

Scope

Interpretative consultation,
design and art direction

Research and defining
the story to be told

Sourcing of materials

Managing the project, budget
and multiple sub-contractors

Interpretative Fit-out for
Restored Ulster Hall

The ‘people’s music venue’, now affectionately known as the ‘Grand Dame’, is without doubt one of Belfast’s key heritage assets and the site of major political and entertainment landmarks that have shaped the city’s cultural identity. With an £8.5m refurbishment underway, Tandem was brought in to tie the separate strands of many varied stories together into a unified interpretative experience.

The Ulster Hall is still a working building so we decided that an audio tour, narrated by the Grand Dame herself, was the best way to tell the seven key stories without physically encroaching on the building. We designed a listening point for each story, featuring a short narrative and listing the other tours available to encourage visitors to delve deeper into the building’s many other fascinating facets.

Designing the space for the newly restored JW Carey paintings, valued at £850,000, proved to be one of the project’s more challenging aspects. We worked closely alongside the council’s heritage officer, the architects and the builders to appropriately present, conserve, display and interpret these valuable works of art.

Scope

Interpretative consultation,
design and art direction

Researching and defining
the key stories, scripting
and copywriting

Researching and sourcing
of all images

Reporting to stakeholders,
liaising with architects and builders

Production of audio tours

Managing the project, budget
and multiple sub-contractors

Northern Ireland
Museums Council

The Northern Ireland Museums Council was established under Ministerial order in 1993, composed of representatives from the regional museums in Northern Ireland, the National Museums & Galleries of Northern Ireland, District Councils in Northern Ireland, nominees of the Minister of Culture, Arts & Leisure, a nominee of the universities in Northern Ireland, and representatives of the independent museums.

NIMC approached Tandem in 2002 having identified a need to develop a corporate style that could be rolled out across their numerous publications. The need for a corporate style that not only delivered on fundamentals such as clarity of information and wide user appeal, but also on longevity was the basis for the subsequent style that was implemented.

Scope

Stationery
Annual Reports
Collections Audit Report
Mapping Trends Report
Museum Calling Cards

'Your Place or Mine?'
Yearbook

PLACE is an acronym for Planning, Landscape, Architecture, Community and Environment, which are all key elements in the work that PLACE does. PLACE aim to improve the built environment in Northern Ireland, enabling better public awareness and promoting higher standards, by providing a flexible space for exhibitions and events on all aspects of the built environment.

PLACE contracted Tandem in August 2007 to produce a Yearbook to review their first three years. The book is a record of reviews, events, activities and exhibitions organised by PLACE since being established in September 2004, and provides an insight into their philosophy and achievements. Your PLACE or Mine? was designed in two parts as a tumble book format, divided into two main sections - Essays and Exhibitions. Tandem were heavily involved with the photography used in the book and worked in consultation with PLACE to create a stunning document that has an oversized format and uses a variety of different papers to separate and define the different sections of content.

Scope

'Your PLACE or Mine?'
Yearbook

'Your PLACE or Mine?'
Yearbook CD and Packaging

Launch Invitation

Feedback Form

Promotional Flyer

Human Rights
Consortium

The Human Rights Consortium is dedicated to campaigning for a strong and inclusive Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. Its membership is drawn from a diverse range of sectors and constituencies, including non-governmental organisations, trade unions and community and voluntary groups.

As the content of the Bill of Rights is still under development and will only be defined through consultation with the population of Northern Ireland, it will evolve and change over the years until it becomes established. Tandem’s brief was to develop a strong graphic style that could be applied across all media that would become instantly recognisable and promote the more positive aspect of what HRC are trying to achieve.

Scope

Branding Concept
Stationery
Folder & Inserts
Exhibition Stands

The Open House Festival 10

The Open House Festival takes place annually during September in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter. Open House is a genuine boutique festival and with nearly 50 events each year offers cutting edge music programming bursting at the seams with the new wave of American Roots Music, Old-Time, punky Bluegrass, Cajun & Creole, Punk Blues, Irish Traditional Music, Alt Country and even a bourbon-soaked, snake-charming rock’n’roll cabaret, as well as the recent addition of the ChilliFest, which features 3 days of red hot American Music, food and ice cold beer.

Scope

Festival Programmes
Flyers and Posters
Press Advertising
Chilli Sauce Bottle Labels
Invitations and Postcards
T-shirts

Brand Overhaul for
Heritage Lottery Fund

Heritage Lottery Fund briefed us to deliver an invigorated, new corporate identity that would increase the effectiveness of their communications in line with their new 2008 strategic plan, and ensure that Lottery players could better see and understand how their money is being spent. One of the most challenging aspects of the brief was to reconcile the HLF supporting funder logo with the National Lottery ‘crossed fingers’ logo without compromising on the brand’s own visual identity, which the previous logo had failed to do.

We worked alongside HLF’s Head of Information & Publication to make sure that all staff and members of the board were fully on-board with the new concept – initial testing of the branding by Opinion Leader confirmed that we’d achieved one of the highest acceptance rates ever recorded from both employees and members of the public, something we’re very proud of. Since launching the brand, we’ve developed a complete set of guidelines and continue to work with Head Office to ensure that consistency is maintained across the board.

Scope

Re-branding of organisation

Establishment of guidelines
for roll-out of brand

Development of 4-tier
corporate literature

Advisory role to HLF on
environmental issues

Project management and
print procurement

Art direction of all media

Landmark Interpretative
Fit-out for Titanic's Dock
and Pump-House

The project centred around the Thompson Dock, the Alexandra Dock and the combined pump-house. Tandem won the contract after a tender process which culminated in a presentation to the selection panel where we received a unanimous verdict.

The entire fit-out was implemented over a 6 month period and included management of the budget, the entire AV, sound and light installation, image and story research, interpretative panel design and manufacture, scale referencing for the dock and all animation and movie presentations for the experience.

What resulted is a visitor experience that educates, excites, encourages repeat visits and engages with a broad target audience ranging from locals to overseas tourists of all ages.

Scope

Defining and communicating story to be told

Researching and sourcing all imagery

Allocating and prioritising budget to various and most appropriate delivery mechanisms

Script and copywriting

Advisory role to NISP on project

Management of project and all sub-contractors

Art direction of all interpretation

Portrait of a Nation Brand

Portrait of a Nation was a nationwide campaign that was run in 2007 and 2008 by the Liverpool Culture Company, member cities of the Cultural Cities Network and the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the European Capital of Culture 2008 celebrations. After winning a national creative pitch, we developed a strong and cohesive brand that not only participants but general members of the public could identify with. In addition to this, we developed a series of regional sub-brands and complete set of guidelines, and delivered a presentation to all participants on the importance of consistency in the implementation of the brand and guidelines.

Scope

Branding, Guidelines and
Web Consultation

The North Sperrins Heritage Trail and The Limavady Heritage Trail

The North Sperrins Heritage Trail was developed as a driving trail that closely follows a section of the North Sperrins Scenic Route with the aim of providing visitors with easy access to a range of heritage sites. The project was an initiative of Feeny Community Association in partnership with Limavady Borough Council.

The Limavady Heritage Trail was developed by the Causeway Museum Service to draw people’s attention to sites of historical interest that have previously been overlooked and to encourage more people to take part in and enjoy their heritage.

Scope

North Sperrins Heritage
Trail Map Guide

North Sperrins Heritage
Trail Guide

North Sperrins
Interpretative Panels

North Sperrins Map Panels

Limavady Heritage Trail Pack

DV8

DV8 is a leading UK retailer of branded clothing, footwear and accessories for fashion conscious men and women. DV8’s aim is to deliver the latest high street trends with a range to suit all budgets, and are continually expanding their brand portfolio, currently stocking much sought after brands such as Henley’s, Bench, Firetrap, K-Swiss, Converse, Timberland, Gio-Goi, Only and Vila.

DV8 are fast becoming one of the leading branded retailers on the high street in the UK, with currently over 20 DV8 stores throughout the UK and Ireland, as well as an online store.

Scope

Store Design
Branding
Promotional Branding
Bags
Seasonal Window Graphics
Point of Sale Material
Gift Vouchers
Stationery

Causeway Museum Service

The Causeway Museum Service was established in 2000 and is a partnership of four local authorities established to develop and deliver museum services. Coleraine Borough Council is the lead partner with Ballymoney, Moyle and Limavady Councils.

Causeway Museum Service has grown since 2000 through strategic planning to develop and deliver policy, temporary exhibition programming, collections care, community outreach, collections development, publications and to secure partnerships, external funding and promotion.

Scope

Series of Touring Exhibitions
& Publications

McQuoids

Established in 1938, McQuoids is an independent firm of Estate Agents and Chartered Surveyors specialising in all aspects of commercial and residential property, having built their reputation on honesty and integrity. Ben McQuoid is the third generation of surveyors in the McQuoid family, and is now supported by a dedicated team of property professionals offering a complete general practice surveyors and estate agency based on an extensive knowledge of the local market.

Scope

Branding and Stationery
Property Brochures
Internal & External Signage
Internal Design & Fit-out
Building Wrap
Sale Boards
Website

Belfast City Council
Interpretative Exhibitions

Dockers’ & Carters’ Strike, 1907 Exhibition

In 1907, Belfast City Hall had just opened at a cost of £360,000, equivalent to about £21 million of today’s money. The city also claimed the world’s largest linen mill and the largest ropeworks, and Harland & Wolff was the world’s largest shipbuilder. 2007 marked the anniversary of the Dockers’ and Carters’ strike in Belfast, arguably the most significant event in the history of the trade union movement in Northern Ireland, where a massive march took place from east to west Belfast organised by Belfast Trades Council.


Belfast Through Cartography Exhibition

During the 19th century Belfast changed from a semi-rural town to a city, with a population of 53,000 in 1831 to 386,047 in 1911, and its area grew from about 1 square mile to 23 square miles.
At the same time, how Belfast was seen and recorded was also altered – in 1824 the first comprehensive, accurately surveyed, large mapping project in the world started to record Ireland at a scale of six inches to the mile, while in 1839 Ireland’s first photograph was taken in Belfast, changing forever the way artists would represent the world around them.

Scope

Touring Exhibition for
Belfast City Council

Touring Exhibition for Belfast City Council and Irish Congress of Trade Unions

Age Awareness Week

The Changing Ageing Partnership (CAP), funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies, brings together Age Concern Northern Ireland, Help the Aged, Queen’s University Belfast and the Workers’ Educational Association, organising an annual Age Awareness Week that aims to highlight to the rest of society the issues of discrimination that can affect older people.

Age Awareness Week 2008 (Rights) proved to be particularly successful following a month long run of press ads, billboards and streetliners to raise its profile throughout the province, and for the first time ever, the 2008 annual general meeting was oversubscribed!

We were retained to deliver the media campaign for Age Awareness Week 2009 (Representation), and saw the addition of a discussion forum to the website, feedback forms, onboard bus advertising, and a radio advertisement which ran across Downtown Radio, Cool FM and U105. 2009 proved to be Age Awareness Week's most successful week to date, with Age Awareness Week 2010 (Recognition) to follow later in the year.

Scope

Branding Concept
Newspaper Ads
Billboards
Bus Sides
Bus Internal Commuter Cards
Posters and Flyers
Events Programme
Feedback Form
Radio Ad
Website & Forum

TMC Estate Agents

Situated in the competitive area of South Belfast, TMC Estate Agents comprise a team of dedicated property professionals and mortgage advisors, who pride themselves on their fresh, approachable service.

Scope

Branding and Stationery
Window Posters
Property Brochures
Billboards
Press Advertising
Mailshot
Vehicle Livery