One Grafton Street Urban Gallery unveiled at 9.30am, Thursday 19 March 2009.

An exciting, new contemporary artwork by up-and-coming artist, Alex Knell, has polled thousands of votes from the public to win an innovative online art competition run jointly by the Royal Academy Schools and international real estate company, Hines.

Knell's winning piece, We Are Our Future, is being unveiled today, Thursday 19 March, as part of the launch of the One Grafton Street Urban Gallery - a super-sized canvas measuring 19m x 43m. The canvas stretches across the face of One Grafton Street, a building currently being developed by Hines in London’s Mayfair.

The street exhibition, currently the largest in London, includes the work of the 12 other talented Royal Academy Schools' students and former students who were finalists in the online competition. It provides an unusual and very prominent platform for the Royal Academy Schools students to profile their work in central London.

The Urban Gallery is the first expression of Hines’ One Spirit Showcase project, which is intended as a series of collaborations with arts and cultural organisations. One Spirit Showcase continues Hines’ long-standing commitment to art in general, and to the principle of public art as a key feature of property development.

Following the public vote, a distinguished selection panel of highly regarded contemporary art professionals including Maurice Cockrill, RA; Michael Petry, Curator, Royal Academy Schools Gallery; Gerald Hines; Kay Saatchi; JJ Charlesworth; John Hoyland, RA; Mark Davy, Futurecity and Eliza Bonham Carter, Curator, RA Schools endorsed the decision.

Peter Holden, Director, Hines UK, commented, “We are thrilled by the public’s response to this online competition and for choosing We Are Our Only Future by Alex Knell as the winning work. Hines is known for its innovative approach of working closely with both artists and architects all over the world, and this competition was a wonderful opportunity to support and promote the next generation of talented artists from the Royal Academy Schools. We look forward to developing further projects in our UK portfolio under the One Spirit Showcase banner.”

Professor Maurice Cockrill RA, The Keeper of the Royal Academy of Arts, commented, “This competition was a wonderful opportunity for our students to engage directly with the public as well as collaborate with Hines, who have a formidable history of working with artists. The sheer size of the urban gallery is a fantastic platform to show the wider public the creative originality produced by students at the Royal Academy Schools, and we hope that this wrap will inspire and delight all who see it.”

Royal Academy Schools' students participated in the project by submitting their works to be part of the Urban Gallery. The project has been coordinated by Michael Petry, Curator, Royal Academy Schools Gallery and managed by cultural consultants Futurecity and brand developers Sectorlight.

Related Links:
Futurecity
BBC
Design Week
Building Magazine
One Spirit Showcase Site

In the current climate what better way to create a completely unique and memorable marketing campaign than to send out piggy banks filled with chocolate coins to agents?

The message was simple, 'move your business out of London to Green Park and you can save £25m over five years'.

The proposition for the campaign was based upon price, supported by great office space. This was achieved through an evocative and memorable green piggy bank and hard-hitting text focusing on the cost-saving elements of bringing business out of London and into Green Park.

The use of pigs also allowed an element of humour to be added to the copy. For example “we are not telling porkies”, which added an engaging fun factor to the campaign.

This was further enhanced through a memorable advertising campaign utilising piggy banks, giant green pig letting boards and a website where the cost-saving campaign objective became the address: bigsavings@reading.com

The concept became a particular talking point amongst agents in the marketplace. The impact was so significant that it was picked up in the London press.

Despite the extreme weather conditions 150 of London's West End agents braved the elements for the prospect of being told they were 'fired' at a question-and-answer session with Sir Alan Sugar.

The property entrepreneur was pulling no punches as he answered questions from the audience and the host, Property Week editor Giles Barrie, about his views on property, the economy, The Apprentice and his time as chairman of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

This was all part of Sir Alan Sugar's push to promote the launch of 215 Great Portland Street - a 33,500 sq ft office refurbishment undertaken by his privately owned property company, Amsprop.

Sectorlight created a bright and contemporary marketing campaign to promote the building, designed to pictorially surprise readers with beautiful location photography and full bleed images showcasing the substantial refurbishment by award-winning architects Morey-Smith.

To see the video of the launch, visit the 215 Great Portland Street Website!

Ex Chairman of Team Saatchi, Michael Parker, has recently joined the team to add his considerable experience on corporate communications and strategic branding after 25 years at Saatchi & Saatchi.

Michael has enjoyed a long-term career in advertising with agencies such as Foote Cone and Belding, McCann-Erickson and latterly Saatchi & Saatchi where he was part of the London management and Chairman of Team Saatchi. Major campaigns for which he was responsible were the launch of British Airways as 'The World's Favourite Airline' and the National Lottery 'It could be you'.

His involvement with Sectorlight stretches back some 10 years and has related to corporate communication and strategic advice.

Having taken part in some 600 pitches he is bringing this experience to his consultancy work as a pitch coach and www.pitchcoach.co.uk.

Reflector Interactive scooped The Award of Distinction at the 15th annual Communicator Awards, for the design of its Paynes & Borthwick Cultural Showcase website. The award honours creative excellence for communications professionals and highlights projects that exceed industry standards in quality and achievements.

The website, designed for a groundbreaking cultural initiative commissioned by London developer Lane Castle, offers a crisp, clean and colourful layout that is both simple and highly contemporary. It not only reflects the artistic talent on show, but is easy to navigate and understand.

The Communicator Awards, presented in the US by The International Academy of the Visual Arts, received over 9,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world. The website will be showcased in the upcoming IAVA Winners Gallery.

Elly Stavros, Operations Director at Reflector Interactive, commented: &8220;Winning this international award is a great honour. Creating a website that showcases the extraordinary talents of these local artists and creative businesses is challenging as you do not want to detract from the most important aspect of the website, the art.&8221;

The P&B Cultural Showcase is currently in its fourth round and provides exposure to nearly 10,000 people online. The competition encompasses culture beyond traditional parameters, with six broad categories; Visual Arts, Media, Performing Arts, Retail & Hospitality, Business Design and Crafts & Design. Entries have nearly doubled since it was first launched in June 2007, which is indicative of its success and popularity with the artistic community.

Lane Castle and partner Futurecity created the initiative in order to support the local talent that gives Deptford, and its surrounding areas, a unique buzz. The Paynes & Borthwick Wharves development, from which the showcase gets its name, will host a physical exhibition of winners in its 11,000 sq ft art gallery when construction is completed.

Mark O'Grady from Lane Castle commented: &8220;We are delighted that our website has been honoured with such a prestigious award. It will not only highlight the initiative itself, and the multitude of talented artists who have taken time to submit their work, but will also illustrate Lane Castle's cutting edge approach to business.&8221;

As well as making provisions for Deptford's artistic community with the gallery and a number of commercial units, Lane Castle will restore the historic Italianette arches at Paynes & Borthwick Wharves and integrate them into their stylish design for the mixed-use regeneration scheme. The area will be opened up for the public to enjoy, with access to the waterfront for the first time in a number of years.

For more information on the third Cultural Showcase visit www.pandbshowcase.com or www.paynesandborthwick.com.