20/08/10
New Tandem Team Member!
We are delighted to announce that we will be welcoming Sarah Shiell into the Tandem family in September, as our new Interpretative Planner & Social Media Strategist. Having worked with her on a number of projects, we are so excited that she will be joining us on a permanent basis, strengthening our core offerings in interpretative strategy & design.
29/06/10
Lagan Legacy Update
After today’s trip to McCue’s workshop and our site visit on the barge, we have to say we’re delighted with how things are progressing. With 2 months left until the official opening, everything is coming together as planned, and it’s looking great!
18/05/10
Grey Abbey Visitor Centre
Interpretation for Grey Abbey visitor centre was completed within the specified timeline and budget, launching at the end of March 2010 to much praise from NIEA staff and archaeologists – and we are absolutely delighted with the result. The new interpretation enables understanding of the cultural and historical significance of the Abbey, and the ethos of NIEA in general, by enhancing the tourism potential and local appreciation of the site.
Our interpretation adopts a multi-layered approach to represent the different aspects of abbey life and the work of stone masons in a layered and linear manner, intertwining key facts in a connected and comprehensible way. A motion-sensor audio system plays chanting monks and combines with the new colour scheme and lighting tracks to add to the overall ambience. The space is punctuated by interactive elements, including an annotated model of Grey Abbey, a stone masons’ ledger, rubbing blocks, wooden puzzles and child-sized monks’ robes
to try on.
01/03/09
Interpretative Design & Fit-out of No. 5 Vicars’ Hill, Armagh
We are delighted to announce the commencement of our latest project – the interpretative design and fit-out at The Registry, No. 5 Vicars’ Hill in Armagh! We’ll be working closely with Armagh Public Library and the project steering group to sift through Archbishop Robinson’s incredible collection, everything from the beautiful Hogarth and Nanteuil etchings to 350 Roman Sestertii, define the key stories behind the building itself and the man who shaped Armagh during the 18th century.
19/02/10
Tandem donates £100 to Leukaemia Research!
We counted all the responses to our Christmas Card Colouring Challenge, and have doubled the twenty-five responses (worth £2 each) to make the final figure donated to Leukaemia Research £100! Thanks again to everyone who got involved!
12/02/10
Belfast 40 Under 40 Nomination!
Congratulations to Andrew who has been nominated for the Belfast 40 under 40 listing, for his work in promoting and interpreting some of our greatest heritage sites and historical assets. The 40 under 40 is a high-energy, dynamic event which salutes the up-and-coming champions of the new Belfast. The results will be unveiled at a luncheon in Belfast City Hall on 4 March, with special guest speaker Minister Sammy Wilson – well done and good luck Andrew, from everyone at Tandem!
12/02/10
PRONI Exhibition for New Titanic Quarter Site
Work is now under way with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland to deliver a permanent 100sqm exhibition for their new building which is currently under construction in the Titanic Quarter and due to open in May 2011. The exhibition theme will look back over a century of change, conflict and transformation, by exploring everything from our Edwardian heyday, WWI and through to WWII and the Blitz; a major theme for the 2011 opening which conincides with the 70th anniversary of the Blitz.
Finally, this exciting exhibition will look at the new Northern Ireland post Good Friday Agreement, and aims to showcase the breadth and diversity of PRONI’s archives to a much broader and varied target audience. We are delighted to be on board with this landmark project and look forward to working closely with the team at PRONI over the coming months.
10/02/10
Aid for Haiti Cookies (yum yum)
Just had a visit from Isabella Todd today, selling some delicious treats to raise money for Aid for Haiti! Well done Izzy, they were really tasty! (The cookies bought for loved ones at home have all been eaten too)
05/02/10
Official Launch of Discover Lifelines!
The Discover Lifelines Exhibition was officially launched last night at the National Library of Ireland in Dublin. Graham Norton, an ex-pupil of Niall MacMonagle – the man behind Lifelines, was the special guest invited to open the exhibition. We received some fabulous comments about how well the exhibition looked, and were delighted to leave with a few signed copies of the latest edition!
05/01/10
Christmas Card Update
So far we have had a fantastic response to our Christmas Card Colouring Challenge, a few of which are below! Thanks to all respondents to date, and don’t forget to send yours in because for every card returned to us we will be donating £2 to Leukaemia Research!
23/12/09
Lifelines Exhibition in National Library, Dublin
Ahead of schedule and in time for Christmas, the Lifelines exhibition was finished and installed in the National Library of Ireland in Dublin yesterday! The exhibition commemorates 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, compiling the responses into a book using an old Gestetner machine. They received hundreds of replies from people as diverse and renowned as Mother Theresa, Bertie Ahern, Graham Norton and Judi Dench. Published by Penguin and Town House, Lifelines raised over €100,000 for Concern by 2006 and has been dubbed the ‘best poetry anthology… ever’. We highly recommend a trip to Dublin to purchase a copy of the New & Collected Edition and check out the original letters from famous people on display.
18/12/09
Christmas Card
This morning we received our first coloured-in Christmas Card, returned by Thelma from Limavady Borough Council! We’re interested to see what all you budding artists can come up with, and remember that for every card returned to us, we’ll be donating £2 to Leukaemia Research – so get colouring!
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09/12/09
You Say Potato, I Say Wapato Exhibition
Wednesday evening saw the launch of ‘You Say Potato, I Say Wapato’ at Ballymoney Town Hall and the exhibition looks great!
This exhibition is all about promoting the Cultural Connections cultural diversity programme in the North East, which sees local community groups explore a diverse range of local cultures. The exhibition uses the import of the potato into Europe in the 15th century as a vehicle for exploring how cultural identity in the North East cluster area has been shaped by a rich fusion of cultural heritage.
07/12/09
Xmas at Tandem
Finally got round to putting the Christmas tree up!
Merry Christmas from all of us at Tandem!
02/12/09
Ulster Sports Museum Exhibition
The new and exciting Ulster Sports Museum touring exhibition launched on Monday evening in the City Hall’s East Entrance! We were delighted to be appointed to this project only two months ago and believe that the exhibition now in place is a true and worthy testament to Northern Ireland’s rich and varied sporting heritage and fantastic future. With the challenges of the space and the transport requirements involved, an added bonus for us was the opportunity to use the very impressive Mila Wall System, which is perfect for touring exhibitions, for the first time in Northern Ireland.
This exhibition is only the beginning and the Ulster Sports Museum Association, with Dame Mary Peters at the helm, hopes that this exhibition will generate enough support to help lead to a designated Sports Museum in Northern Ireland!
The exhibition will run in City Hall until the end of December after which it will begin its tour of Northern Ireland.
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09/11/09
The White House Interpretative Fit-Out
Work is now underway to design the interpretative fit-out of the White House in Newtownabbey. The remarkable remains of this building, which was a gift from Queen Elizabeth I to one of her soldiers, is probably one of the oldest buildings in Northern Ireland and one of the true historical gems that we’re so lucky to have located right on our doorstep!
Restoration of the building is currently underway, and we’ll be telling the story of the building’s history and its role in the Williamite/Jacobite war across a range of interpretative graphics, panels, audio-visual presentations and interactives. This is a fascinating building with so many stories to tell – make sure you watch this space for regular updates!
19/10/09
Ulster Hall Brand Takes Silver at MIMAs
The Ulster Hall has done it again! This time scooping a Silver in Best Brand Campaign at the Meetings Industry Marketing Awards, recognising the industry’s top marketing minds, at the Park Plaza Riverbank, London, on Friday 16 October 2009. Tim Husbands (back right) flew the flag for Belfast City Council and Tandem. Gold went to Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre Venues so we were in good company!
15/10/09
No Mean City Exhibition Complete!
If you find yourself in the newly refurbished City Hall and ‘The Bobbin’ coffee shop this weekend, don’t forget to take a look at the ‘No Mean City’ Exhibition in the room just off to the left from the ‘Waking a Giant’ exhibition. ‘No Mean City’ is a celebration of the famous faces from or associated with Belfast over the last 100 years. This project previously existed as a temporary exhibition within the City Hall but didn’t really do justice to these world class portraits, so we’ve selected 68 portraits and made some new additions. The end result is a visually stunning exhibition with an interactive facility, utilising touchscreens to tell the story of each of the subjects, who range from sporting stars and singers to artists and poets.
Visitors will also have the chance to view the People’s Choice but keep your eye out for a gap in the exhibition – who will be our next successful son or daughter, and could their story one day grace these very walls?
15/10/09
Official Launch of City Hall Exhibition & ‘The Bobbin’ Coffee Shop
Today marks the grand opening of the City Hall, along with our ‘Waking a Giant’ exhibition on the industrialisation of Belfast within ‘The Bobbin’ coffee shop space, which we’ve also named and branded. The exhibition is themed around the story of Belfast’s incredible and rapid industrialisation during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which saw our city become home to some of the world’s biggest industries, from linen and shipbuilding, to rope works and foundries. What’s exciting about this exhibition is that we present a broad overview of Belfast’s industrial history from the Charter of 1613 right up to the present day, taking into account a multitude of other industries along the way – did you know we even invented air conditioning?
Our main focus has always been on the one essential ingredient that so often gets overlooked… the working people! While some industrial figureheads are present in the exhibition, we have made this a visual celebration of the many anonymous workers who toiled within these industries, which at the time, were the biggest in the world. This exhibition is all about instilling a sense of pride into the people of Belfast and celebrating the achievements of our ancestors, while finding parallels with the Belfast of today, which is once again on the world stage for all the right reasons – something that is definitely worth celebrating!
08/10/09
Tandem at the IDI Design Awards!
On the night we were a heady mixture of nervousness and excitement, and at the end of it all we were ecstatic to be leaving with 3 commendations for Mountsandel, the Ulster Hall Interpretation and Ulster Hall branding, and 2 Highly Commended certificates for Titanic’s Dock & Pump-House and the NIMC Annual Report, which will have pride of place on our studio wall! There was a real range and variety of designers present at the awards ceremony, and we had the opportunity to chat to Mark Leslie from Martello media about their winning Guinness Storehouse entry. Watch this space for next year!
25/09/09
Tandem Receives 5 IDI Award Nominations!
We’re tickled pink to be in the running in three separate categories at the Institute of Designers in Ireland Awards this year, including three nominations in the Exhibitions category. We’re all heading to Dublin for the Awards Ceremony on 8 October, so keep an eye on our tweets on the night for the results as they happen!
Exhibition Category:
The Ulster Hall Interpretation & Audio Tours
Titanic’s Dock & Pump-House Interpretation
Mountsandel Wood Interpretation
Annual Report Category:
Northern Ireland Museums Council 2007/08
Corporate/Brand ID Category:
The Ulster Hall
25/09/09
Lagan Legacy Win Heritage Lottery Funding
As we reported recently on our Twitter, Lagan Legacy have been awarded Heritage Lottery Funding for their project onboard the MV Confiance, which is moored next to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. We developed an Interpretative Strategy and Gallery Design for the team to assist with their bid and were delighted to hear of the award. The Gallery will centre around a range of artefacts, including a rather special star item from Lagan Legacy’s collection, which will be used to illustrate the huge archive of oral reminiscence of shipyard, harbour and dock workers from their ‘Oceans in Mind’ project. Work starts now on developing the content and turning it into reality – and all by June 2010!
23/09/09
My Service Life (1939-1979): William Balmer
We’re delighted to announce the arrival of our latest book design My Service Life (1939-1979): William Balmer, published by the Causeway Museum Service, which launches on 26 September 2009. The book details the fascinating story of the Ballymoney man’s life story and military career, from joining the Royal Marines just before turning 17 and being captured by the Germans during WWII, to his later tours in Malaya and Malta in the 1950s. It’s an interesting and compelling read, and we’re delighted with the result.
08/09/09
Orthoplus Orthodontic Centre Branding
Orthoplus in Ballymena is now officially open! The new brand has been unveiled and the interior and exterior signage looks fantastic! The frosted vinyl in the windows feature some fantastic ‘smile’ related quotes, which not only provides privacy to waiting patients but also raises a smile with passers by. All of us at Tandem wish the team the very best of luck with the new practice!
04/09/09
Causeway School Museum
As we approach the end of our summer the Causeway School Museum is now nearing completion. Designed by the architect Clough William-Ellis in 1914, the Causeway School is a unique venue for an authentic Edwardian school experience. We have designed and implemented the entire fit-out along with the accompanying promotional literature and school activity sheets. Hurry along before the end of September to visit this fascinating journey back in time!
04/09/09
New Galleries at Down County Museum
We are delighted to be working with Consarc on the proposed extension to Down County Museum. The proposed new building would house two distinct galleries, the first of which it is hoped would feature the 1,000 year old Downpatrick High Cross and a 4,000 year old log boat discovered in the River Quoile. We are working closely with a great team from the Museum and Consarc to develop the concept and walk-through for this gallery, an archaeological Discovery Room and the ‘Land & Sea’ Gallery, to be located in the basement.
31/07/09
Tandem appears in Attractions Management Magazine!
We’re very excited to have an article about our Ulster Hall Audio Tours featured in the latest issue of Attractions Management magazine! Check us out on page 64! You can access a digital version of the magazine online.
30/07/09
Official Open House Launch
The Official Coors Light Open House Festival in the John Hewitt. A good crowd turned up and enjoyed great nibbles, great drink and great music!
06/07/09
11th Open House Festival Programme
It’s arrived! The 11th Open House Festival Programme has just arrived and it’s looking good, featuring a cover illustration by Seattle based Natt Damm.
This year’s line up is probably the most exciting yet and we can’t wait ‘til September!
12/06/09
North West 200 Exhibition
An exhibition about the Armoy Armada and Ballymoney’s contribution to the North West 200 has recently opened at Ballymoney Museum. We were delighted to produce a set of panels on the North West 200 for the museum, to integrate with Haley Sharpe’s interpretative fit-out.
11/06/09
New DV8 Gift Vouchers
Our funky, brightly coloured gift vouchers for DV8 are now in-store!
10/06/09
No Mean City Exhibition
We are delighted to be starting work on the updated ‘No Mean City’ exhibition for the re-opening of Belfast City Hall.
The ‘No Mean City’ photographic display was one of a number of legacies to mark the centenary of the opening of City Hall. Drawing on the comment made by Thomas in 1906, “A monument to the character of the people of Belfast..”, the display pays tribute to the people of Belfast.
Formerly affixed to the wall of the west ground floor corridor of the City Hall, it is to be moved to a dedicated new location just off the main exhibition area. We are already well underway with the main exhibition area, which will feature the story of the industrialisation of Belfast through the eyes of working men and women.
The new ‘No Mean City’ photographic display is to be enhanced by the addition of interactive touchscreens where visitors can discover further details about the images and the faces on display.
08/06/09
The Prince’s Trust Baronscourt Clay Pigeon Shoot
The Second Annual Baronscourt Clay Pigeon Shoot with the Prince’s Trust Northern Ireland took place over the weekend on Saturday 6th June. It’s a great event set up by the Prince’s Trust to raise money for their continued support of disadvantaged young people in Northern Ireland and we were delighted to be given the opportunity to design the auction programme and other related collateral including shooting card, menu, and map & auction boards.
19/05/09
Museum & Heritage Show a Big Success
After two days at the Museum and Heritage Show at Earls Court London we are delighted to report that it was a great success. The two days were intensive but led to a number of discussions about many interesting and varied UK heritage projects, with our stand and lovely new brochure going down very well.
The latest technologies and services were also on display at the show and we had meetings with a broad selection of potential new suppliers for everything from video guides to temporary exhibition panel systems. The value of actually seeing these products in action will hopefully become clear over the next 6 months as we believe our offering is now stronger than ever.
14/05/09
Tandem visits the Museum & Heritage Show
Andrew and Michelle have spent the first day at the Museums & Heritage Show in Earl’s Court and seen some fantastic new products including recyclable and sustainable interpretative signage, and IMAX-style movie production. Also, there’s some really exciting new technology out there, notably Microsoft Surface - so much more than touchscreen, think Minority Report! See http://www.microsoft.com/surface/
28/04/09
Heritage Trail for Mesolithic Settlement Site
We’re very excited to announce the completion of an Interpretative Trail in Mountsandel Wood in Coleraine, 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.
09/03/09
Ulster Hall Free Fringe and Event Horizon Launch
The Ulster Hall’s ‘Free Fringe’ was launched on Saturday night with a bash at the Hall’s Group Space, featuring local DJs and live drawing.
The ‘Free Fringe’ is an exciting mix of events such as Adult Crèches - an alternative Saturday afternoon for those with no interest in shopping, Subtext - a literature event featuring some of Belfast’s young writers and a lunchtime recital featuring a collaboration between a classical musician and an electronic artist. Tandem produced the Festival Guide which encapsulated the eclectic nature of events.
The evening also launched ‘Event Horizon’, an exhibition of posters for gigs that have taken place in the Ulster Hall’s history, as re-imagined by some of Belfast’s best and most promising designers.
09/03/09
Refurbished Ulster Hall Reopens
Friday Night saw the long awaited reopening of the refurbished and restored Ulster Hall with a spectacular Civic Gala Concert by the Ulster Orchestra.
The evening also saw the unveiling of our interpretative installation which includes a series of audio tours narrated by the Grand Dame herself, a gallery space for the newly restored JW Carey paintings and a series of poems by local poet Martin Mooney inspired by the Ulster Hall’s long history which can be found around the Hall.
The Hall opened officially on Saturday when over 500 visitors came through the doors of the Grand Dame of Bedford Street to see the results of the refurbishment.
11/12/08
Ulster Hall Branding & Events Programme Launch
Tandem was appointed in April 2008 to design the interpretative fit-out of the Hall, to feature local people's reminiscences and personal experiences through a multitude of delivery mechanisms including audio tours, interpretative panels and printed material.
The iconic Ulster Hall of Bedford Street is due to re-open in March 2009 after a £7.4million restoration and refurbishment. As one of Northern Ireland's most significant music venues, we are so excited to be working on this landmark project, the site of many historic live events including Led Zeppelin's world debut of Stairway to Heaven.
A new event programme was officially launched on 11th December 2008, along with the Hall's new brand identity.
11/12/08
Design Week Volume 23 Issue 50
Tandem have been featured in Design Week for our re-branding of the Ulster Hall. Check us out on page 4!
02/12/08
Portrait of A Nation Closing Ceremony
Mark and Andrew were recently in Liverpool to attend the closing ceremony for the Portrait of a Nation campaign, which ran throughout 2008 as a high profile strand of the European Capital of Culture 2008 celebrations. Portrait of a Nation involved a number of participating cities and focused on arts and heritage projects involving young people identifying and exploring what is special about where they come from, their local culture and communities and what they want to save, share and pass on for the future.
Tandem were delighted to develop the brand and complete set of guidelines for this landmark project after being invited to, and subsequently winning, a national creative pitch. We developed the Portrait of a Nation brand, taking the shape of the United Kingdom as inspiration. It was constructed using a mixed and diverse colour palette to represent the varied social and cultural groups that constitute our society today. We wanted the think lines of colour to represent the building blocks of a nation, signifying the idea of working together to create, enrich, and contribute to the bigger picture.
02/10/08
Tandem Brand Launch Party
A big 'Thank You!' to all of you who braved the gale force winds to make it down to the Pump-House on Queen's Island to celebrate our official brand launch with us - it's been a long time coming, but we got there in the end! It was great to see everybody and catch up.
02/04/08
New Heritage Lottery Fund Identity Launched
Tandem were invited to pitch for the HLF re-brand in October 2007 following our successful design and roll-out of the Portrait of a Nation Brand. Tandem worked closely with the Head of Information and Publications to help develop and implement the new brand and strategy, to mark the start of a new era of lottery support for the UK's heritage, and reflect the Heritage Lottery Fund's open and straightforward vision for future working.
To be involved as closely as we have with the team within HLF has been key to delivering this new Brand that has evolved over a number of rounds and now truly encompasses all of HLF's values and aims. We had the broadest of target audiences to reach along with the essential need for the new brand to fit alongside the National Lottery logo without compromising either brand. The previous HLF logo had to be reduced to a type only option to achieve this which we felt reduced the public's recognition and perception of the brand. We believe that any new brand can only be implemented once clients and their teams have taken true ownership of their new brand and the feedback we have received so far has been one of overwhelming support.
