I have been following with interest the development of Hockney’s work for his latest exhibition, A Bigger Picture, now on at the Royal Academy.

Besides various articles in the press and on the radio, there was a great programme on the BBC presented by Alan Yentob.

This documentary was put together by Bruno Wollheim and follows Hockney over 3 years, as the 70 year old re-invents his painting from scratch on his return from California, in his beloved Yorkshire. It shows the master at work in all weathers, producing the largest pictures ever made outdoors. It’s also an intimate portrait of what inspires Hockney in his later years. The DVD is available from the usual sources.

These works are now on display at the RA and is the hottest ticket in town (and is consequently top of my wish list). So, it was a bit of a hard pill to swallow, when my wife Jan announced that she, and two of her arty mates, were planning a day in London with lunch and then on to the RA.

“Great”, I said putting on my understanding face.

“Good” she said, “we’ve got tickets for this Saturday, so can you take Ava (our 14 year old) to her Hockey match?”

By all accounts, the exhibition lived up to expectations (although very busy), with the sketch book room a particular highlight. The hockey match didn’t quite reach the same heights, with Ava’s team losing 2:1 to a very useful side over in Chester.

I ended up with the smaller picture, a series of postcards.

Blog by Pete Johnston

While doing some routine computer updates on one of our copywriters’ computers, I started thinking about how they manage to keep up with all the latest words or phrases. After a little digging, I was surprised to discover that my world is increasingly encroaching onto theirs.

At the end of 2011, dictionary manufacturers began their annual search for the word or phrase that best characterised the year.

‘SODCASTING’ was one of the words shortlisted (“ Somebody listening to music through the speaker of a mobile phone in a public place” if you’re wondering), as was ‘HACKTIVISM’ (“The action or practice of gaining unauthorised access to computer files or networks in order to further social or political ends”).

In case you’re wondering, ‘SQUEEZED MIDDLE’ came out on top.

Now more than ever, the world of I.T. is playing a huge role in shaping people’s lives, but perhaps surprisingly, it’s starting to shape the dictionary.

This blog post was written by IT manager and guru Mark Reid.

As a trained art historian I browse museum websites on a regular basis and I’ve seen the quality of museum’s web presence improve dramatically over the past few years. I’ve come across two websites lately that impressed me with their design and functionality:

The Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam is located in the house where Anne Frank’s family went into hiding. In April 2010, at the museum’s 50th anniversary, a new website was launched including a The Secret Annex, an interactive Flash walkthrough through the hidden annex, which was a winner at the Webby Awards 2011. The website – built in a EPiServer CMS – has attracted 2.2 million visits in its first year, and visitors spent an impressive 17 minutes average time on site. Here’s why:

• Fully multilingual content (six languages)
• User defined content accessible through prominent header links (teachers, students)
• A very good mobile version
• Bright, clean template design with a clear navigation
• A nice feature is the citing from Anne’s diary each day from the same calendar day
• A timeline microsite filled with historical information, personal documents and videos about the Frank family
• A microsite with a flash walktrough through the hidden annex which displays the house now and during occupation
• Prominent social media integration

Another fine example is the Victoria and Albert Museum’s website, which launched a complete redesign in May 2011 powered by Squiz Matrix. The website received over 24.9 million visits in a year between 2010/2011, ranking as 2nd most visited museum and gallery website in the UK and 7th most visited in the world. It’s a rich portal to V&A’s vast collection:

• Clear layout with visually attractive imagery
• Intelligent site search by subject, period & style, activities to display tailored content
• An easy to use events filter with integrated ticket booking system
• Display of recently viewed pages, which is useful when browsing through such a depth of information
• High quality interviews and behind-the-scenes footage throughout the site
• A Search the collections microsite which contains a database of one million objects, with open API, and an image ordering system
• A channel microsite that holds a vast video collection, again with an intelligent filter system
• An extensive shop microsite

Both websites make it an enjoyable online experience by offering intuitive navigation and a clean, visually appealing design. Anne Frank Museum’s challenge is to make the depth of documentation about Anne’s personal story and the historical context of the third Reich accessible to a worldwide audience of all ages. The multilingual content, the timeline, the 3D walkthrough and the all over clear and simple tone of voice fulfil that aim. The mobile website and the strong social media integration are also a plus.

The Victoria and Albert Museum on the other hand has to present a very broad collection which embraces all forms of art and craft throughout centuries. Its intelligent content filter and the excellent Collections search ensure that users find content matching their interests.

This blog was written by Claudia Manns.

I want to tell you a story. It started last spring, but has only recently reached some sort of conclusion and like all good stories, it captivated my interest from start to finish.

As a copywriter, I love words, books, reading and libraries – and I’m not the only one. A mystery artist rekindled the magic of books and libraries for many people in a time when they’re increasingly under threat. They’ve done this by leaving a series of intricate, delicate and quite simply stunning paper sculptures to be found by lucky patrons of Scottish libraries. Made from books, they were created to celebrate the medium and support their spiritual home.

One of the mysterious sculptures

Many of them have a connection to author Ian Rankin, being created out of his books, leading to speculation of it being a publicity stunt. However, this link has never been supported.

Treat yourself by reading the full story of the paper sculptures as it unfolded, as more and more of these magical pieces were found across the country.

So, a clever marketing stunt backed by a famous writer, or just a passionate individual with a cause in their heart and a gift in their hands? Personally, I think it’s one mystery that doesn’t require a solution. It’s already got all the elements of the perfect story: beauty, discovery, creativity and the tantalising prospect of more that means you just can’t wait for the next chapter.

And while we’re on the subject of how amazing books are, get a load of this. You can’t do that with a Kindle.

This blog post was written by Owen Evans

Even in these hard times when we are all keeping a tight rein on our purse strings, brand loyalty doesn’t just come down to cost and quality, but it’s also about the customer experience.

I shop at M&S because of the quality of goods that they offer and the positive experience – staff are friendly and knowledgeable, paying is quick and easy and any problems I’ve ever had are quickly resolved.

I am now a member of its Premium Club – this entitles me to a number of benefits including drinks vouchers to use in the restaurant, triple points on every purchase and free holiday insurance for the whole family.

This makes me feel like they’ve gone that extra mile to make me feel valued, which in turn makes me more likely to return and talk to others about my positive experience.

But customer service isn’t just about large corporates. My butcher not only provides me with excellent personal service and high quality meat, he also has a customer newsletter highlighting the special offers available, and gives his customers a loyalty card with rewards for frequent visits.

We all know that a bad customer experience – whether that be a refusal to refund an item, slow delivery, confusing promotions or rude staff – will make us much less likely to return and more likely to talk about the negative experience with friends and on social networks such as Twitter.

With more and more consumers heading to social networks to vent their frustrations and ask questions of the brand, it’s also vital to have a dedicated customer service presence online. Brands must reply quickly, accurately and politely to show the customer, and anyone else reading the query, that they are helpful and on the ball.

Those who get the customer service right will find it forms a solid basis for trading in 2012.

This post was written by Wendy Connolly and she’d love your feedback.