Podcast

Communication Untangled

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Join host Sue Keogh and guests from the worlds of design, communications, and behavioural psychology for the podcast that explores the many facets of communication that influence our behaviour - but often go unnoticed.

From menu design to motorway typography, from brand guidelines to the colours that make us click, we’ll shine a light on techniques you can apply to get across critical messages in your marketing, business and brand.

Episode 1: Untangling Brand

Designer Harry Pearce from Pentagram tells us about the visual identities he’s developed for V&A South Kensington, Liberty and Moth drinks – and why brand guidelines are critical in keeping everything beautifully consistent across print, packaging and digital formats.

We also take a look at NASA, and how their Graphic Standards Manual shows the brand evolution from a meatball…to a worm.

  • About Harry Pearce

    Having studied at Canterbury College of Art, Harry co-founded and ran Lippa Pearce Design before becoming a Pentagram Partner in 2006.

    He has devised identities, installations, posters, packaging, books for; Liberty, Thames & Hudson, Guggenheim, Royal Academy of Arts, Phaidon Press, Pink Floyd, Shakespeare’s Globe, PEN International, and the UN. Since 1993 he has been an active member of the advisory board for WITNESS.

    Books; Typographic Conundrums and Eating with the Eyes.

    See Harry’s full biography on the Pentagram website

    Show notes

    Harry works alongside so many creative geniuses on these projects, including designer and Pentagram partner Marina Willer, who created the Young V&A identity work.

    Writers on the overall V&A project were Naresh Ramchandani and Ashley Johnson.

    Inspiration

    And here are some interesting things to have a look at!

    Creative Review article on the new V&A Museum branding and visual identity

    • Pentagram case study: Liberty LBTY

    • Pentagram case study: V&A South Kensington

    NASA Graphics Standards Manual from 1975

    NASA Brand Center

    NASA Brand Guidelines 2024


Episode 2: Untangling Menus

Sean Willard from The Menu Engineers joins us to talk menu design. What big shifts are we seeing in this post-pandemic era? How do the fonts, colours and material they’re printed on affect our choices? And why should every restaurant offer something that lets you blow the budget?

Plus! How does Netflix use idleness aversion to keep us endlessly scrolling through their menu? Listen now…

  • About Sean Willard

    Sean Willard is a seasoned Menu Engineer dedicated to assisting restaurateurs and hospitality operators worldwide in the creation of optimised menus.

    His approach melds the precision of science, the finesse of art, the insights of data, and a wealth of industry experience to empower restaurateurs in crafting menus that not only bolster profitability but also elevate the overall guest dining experience.

    With a distinguished academic background from Cornell’s prestigious Hotel School and an extensive tenure within the restaurant industry spanning over two decades, Sean brings a wealth of knowledge and practical expertise to the realm of Menu Engineering.

    His journey into this specialized field was cultivated under the mentorship of the late Gregg Rapp, a luminary in the discipline who laid the foundations for many of the methodologies and principles still revered today.

    Get in touch with Sean via menuEngineers.com, on Instagram or LinkedIn.

About your host

Sue Keogh is a communications specialist with an extensive career in broadcast, print and digital media, from BBC, ITV, Yahoo, Aol, Magic FM and GOV.UK to local newspapers and community radio.

Forever fascinated by the many different and ever-changing forms of communication, in this series Sue gets to untangle it all in the company of expert guests who are specialists in their fields.

Read the blog | See Sue’s full bio

Produced by Rob Birnie from Made by DBM

Coming up

Untangling Forms, with Iain Boyd and Adam Robertson from the Government Digital Service

Untangling Colour, with author and behavioural psychologist Nathalie Nahai

Untangling Reviews, with Trustist Founder Nigel Apperley

Untangling Signs, with transport expert Mark Ovenden

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