Design Practice... Edge

newmediachoice was one of the leading design and marketing agencies in the North of England- based in North Kelsey, near Market Rasen in North Lincolnshire. It's a company I have grown up with having taken part in work experience there when I was 16, and I have followed the companies progress ever since. It first began in Sophie Freear's home in Scunthorpe operating from a bungalow, until she moved to North Kelsey, and was lucky enough to purchase a house with a converted barn which she used as her office.

The client list had extended its services across the Atlantic to San Francisco, and due to the amount of demands on the company, another company was selected to partner and help cope with the demands... this is Edge interactive.

One of the things that first caught my attention with the work by Edge is the exciting fresh feel to every single piece of work, one of their clients is the NHS and visually, their brochures and leaflets are quite dull and don't encourage people to pick them up:

For example, this leaflet isn't a terrible design, the colour scheme works well, but you can almost instantly tell its a serious leaflet...

This is an example of one of the leaflets designed by edge for North Lincolnshire's Primary Care Trust intentions:

The whole look of this is much more innovative than the previous example, even the use of text wrap makes the layout look a little more exciting. The use of bright images and colours add an air of positivity, which is something the Nhs really needs to promote with their designs, as there are a lot of people who don't have a lot of faith for it.

This is some more work for the Nhs that edge have done:

This is a much more minimal design, but it's really sophisticated and almost quite elegant, with the swirly organic lines and the varying tones used.

Ever since A-level graphics I have always looked at doing health campaigns, as it has always interested me and still does. I spoke to some members of Edge who have said they would definitely look into giving me some work experience, and looking at the work they produce, it would be perfect.

A list of their services...

• Advertising Campaigns
• Annual Reports, Business Plans
• Company Magazines
• Corporate Gifts
• Corporate Identity
• Copywriting
• Direct Mail
• Exhibitions & Events
• Illustration
• Interior and Exterior Signage
• Leaflets, Brochures, Folders
• List Sourcing
• Newsletters, Newspapers
• Mobile SMS and Bluetooth Marketing
• Packaging Design
• Posters, Point-of-Sale
• Photography
• Press & Public Relations
• Prospectuses
• Sales Promotion Material
• Website and CD Rom Production

Testimonials taken from their website:

Edge has always listened carefully to our brief, ensuring that the opinions of service users have a strong focus on the work they have produced. This work was recently commended by HM Government in the Cabinet Office newsletter –Customer Matters. Crucially, Edge has always delivered work to our exact brief, within agreed deadlines and to budget. I believe that wherever possible we should strive to engage and work with local businesses to help drive improvements within our local economy - the work we have embarked on with edge is the envy of many other programmes and has been replicated in many other screening programmes across England."

Paul Watson
Programme Manager COAST/SHOUT

"Edge and its predecessor companies have produced my Annual Public Health Report for the past 10 years to a high standard. We have also used them to develop publicity and social marketing materials for a number of public health programmes. For all of these they have been creative, helpful and collaborative. Their work has always been delivered on time and to budget. Our long use of the company illustrates this."

Dr Tony Hill
Joint Executive Director of Public Health