Good Times

August 31st, 2010 by Mat Dolphin

To many Londoners the August Bank Holiday means only one thing, Notting Hill Carnival. I’ve been going for a number of years now and really like how the yearly event is a cultural mix of people, music and food.

One of my highlights is and always will be hanging out near Norman Jay MBE’s ‘Good Times’ bus on West Row. The bus sits neatly into the corner of a residential street and is where many people come to chill-out, dance and enjoy the carnival spirit. As the name suggests it’s all about partying and having fun. Good Times indeed.

I had the pleasure of meeting Norman a year ago on a boat in Croatia at The Garden Festival ‘09. What started out by me as a cheeky request to work together some day has turned out to be one of the biggest highlights since starting our design agency Mat Dolphin. The opportunity to work with someone we not only respect, but also the chance to combine our love of both design and music was something I was happy to be bold and ask about.

In the year since we first met we’ve helped Norman out on a number of small-ish email campaigns to help promote his DJing sets around the world, but it was helping him with his Good Times branding that we really wanted to offer our expertise. The sound system he started with his brother Joey was coming up to its 30th anniversary and his original logo was looking a little dated, so it seemed the perfect time to take another look at this identity. 1 year later and we’re proud to have worked together in evolving his brand. For an explanation on the new execution click here to see how we’ve brought the brand up-to-date.

But this carnival was also special for another reason. It’s the first time that we’ve been able to see our design work in the ‘real’ world. Many of our clients production budgets have been scaled down over the last few years so less of what we design becomes tangible and visible away from a screen. Walking towards the bus on Sunday (generally referred to as family day) we caught a glimpse of our logo hanging from a lamppost banner. And then we saw it by a vendors tent. And then on a girls t-shirt. And then on a fan being waved around by a mother to keep her child cool. And finally we saw it on and around the bus itself. It was everywhere.

We had a brilliant day at the carnival, and like proud parents happy that we were able to play a small part in everyone’s weekend. I hope we’re able to retain that level of excitement when seeing our work in the big bad world for a very long time indeed.

We’re currently working with Norman on the design of his 30th Anniversary album artwork which we hope to share with you very shortly, but we’d be interested to hear not only what you thought of the carnival, but whether you noticed our logo and whether you like it or not too. Feel free to share your own stories about seeing your work for the first time too – I’m all ears.

For more information on Norman Jay check out his site, and follow him on twitter (@NormanJayMBE) for his latest updates on where he’s playing next. Also, to find out more on about Mr Jay’s 30 year love affair with the carnival check out this podcast with Norman on the Guardian.

Good times are here to stay.

Mat

7 Responses to “Good Times”

  1. [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Norman Jay, Tom Actman. Tom Actman said: [New post] Good Times » http://ow.ly/2xevr [...]

    Comment by Tweets that mention Good Times | Mat Dolphin -- Topsy.com — August 31st, 2010 @ 12:28 pm |
  2. Nice work with the portrait icon, reflects the smiley nature of the West Row masses.

    I guess this leaves Joey out of the Good Times picture on a permanent basis?

    Comment by Matt Richards — August 31st, 2010 @ 1:01 pm |
  3. Thanks for the comment Matt, and glad you like the style.

    Interesting point you’ve raised. For the time being the Good Times brand is focusing on Norman. He’s the more recognisble name and figure, but that’s not to say we couldn’t develop a similar illustration of Joey in the future. There’s been talk of creating a version without his silhouette, so that might also come up for discussion too.

    Cheers,
    Mat

    Comment by Mat Dolphin — August 31st, 2010 @ 1:27 pm |
  4. Love the new logo. Let the good times roll.

    Comment by Bill Beattie — August 31st, 2010 @ 1:29 pm |
  5. Cheers Bill, very kind of you sir.

    Comment by Mat Dolphin — August 31st, 2010 @ 1:36 pm |
  6. Proud parents indeed – what a great logo. keep up the good work boys

    Comment by ben philipson — August 31st, 2010 @ 2:25 pm |
  7. Cheers Ben – we’ll do our best ;)

    Comment by Mat Dolphin — August 31st, 2010 @ 2:34 pm |

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