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Surprising brand stories, useful guides and the design decisions that make us look twice. From Time for Designs in Cashel.

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Stories & discoveries

Start with a curious invention, a bold decision or a different way of seeing.

A House, a Factory and a Promise on a 1918 Wallpaper BookMontgomery Ward put a home and a factory on opposite corners of its wallpaper book. The words between them reveal the cover’s argument.Read the article →Netflix Made Watching Easier. Then Qwikster Almost Made It Harder.Netflix’s story is not a flawless march towards streaming. Its best changes reduced the work of watching; its abandoned Qwikster plan exposed the danger of making customers navigate a business’s…Read the article →MUJI Sold Broken Mushrooms. The Plain Label Had a Reason.Early MUJI sold irregular mushroom pieces with an explanation. The product decision reveals more than a familiar story about minimalist packaging.Read the article →
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Practical guides

Useful answers to specific print, design and website questions.

You chose Show size guide. Why did the form try to send?A form button's wording does not define its behaviour. Distinguish a submit action from an ordinary button when briefing or reviewing a business website.Read the article →What the Tiny Targets Outside a Printed Page Are CheckingRegistration targets compare the position of colour separations. They answer a different question from crop marks, colour bars or a content proof.Read the article →Why a Biscuit Tin Can Outlive the Biscuits: What Packaging DoesA package protects its contents, but its shape, lettering and printed surface can do much more. Discover the history behind familiar packaging ideas and a practical way to choose what…Read the article →
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Latest articles

Recent stories and practical guides, with their original publication dates.

Article

Pepper’s Ghost Needed More Than a Pane of GlassThe Victorian stage illusion joined a hidden performer to a visible scene. Its 1863 specification reveals the lighting, sightlines and cues that made the ghost convincing.Read the article →

Published

Practical guide

You added rows to the spreadsheet. Why are they missing from the printout?A saved Excel print area can include only part of a worksheet. Compare the intended cell range with the print preview before rebuilding or shrinking the document.Read the article →

Published

Practical guide

The table continues on page two. Where did its column headings go?A table can continue onto another page without its column headings. Use Word's repeated header rows and review the final document before printing.Read the article →

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Find a story or practical guide

Search current titles, summaries and topics across 135 articles, or choose a subject. You can use both together.

Surprise me with a story Not sure where to begin? Try a hand-picked story from the archive.

Search results

Enter a brand or topic to start, or explore the latest stories below.

Original diagram of an A4-proportioned sheet cut across its middle, with the two halves turned upright beside it.
Pick of the day · 20 October 2026

Why A4 Keeps Its Shape When You Cut It in Half

A familiar sheet hides a precise mathematical idea. Explore why halving preserves the ideal shape—and why real millimetre sizes only approximate it.

Published
Original explanatory diagram: halving proportions

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Movable printing type and paper in an original concept about the Cuala Press
Irish print history

The women who printed an Irish revival

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A thoughtful person holding a phone near a modern business entrance, phone displays clear fictional page heading 'CAN YOU HELP WITH MY JOB?' with simple choices 'WHAT TO SEND' and 'ASK A QUESTION'
Useful business ideas

Looking professional—but what still makes customers hesitate?

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A fresh reason to visit every day.

SudokuA little logicCrosswordA little knowledgeWord SearchA little discoveryBrand QuizA little curiosity
Editor’s picks this week

Start here: three great stories

Week beginning · Irish lettering, a stage designer’s change of scale and the records that keep a website running.

Why Irish Road Signs Give One Place Two Different VoicesAn old AA fingerpost and modern Irish road lettering reveal how two names share one arrow—and why position, letterforms and word length all matter.Read the article →From stadium stages to a museum: Es Devlin changes the scaleOther Worlds brings a stage designer's archive into a gallery. The difference between watching, wandering and unfolding is the story.Read the article →Your Website Is Live. Could Someone Else Keep It Running?Make a website handover record that separates domain control, hosting, editable content, backups and rights—with evidence and clear responsibilities.Read the article →
Hand-picked reading collections

Choose a story trail

Open a collection to find connected stories. Pick any starting point and follow what catches your interest.

Business and growthTrust, useful differences and better campaign goals.Explore 3 articles
A thoughtful person holding a phone near a modern business entrance, phone displays clear fictional page heading 'CAN YOU HELP WITH MY JOB?' with simple choices 'WHAT TO SEND' and 'ASK A QUESTION'Your Business Looks Professional. What Still Makes a Customer Hesitate?Looking professional is a beginning, not an answer to every customer question. Here are six uncertainties a small business can make easier to resolve.Read the article →Person holding a physical print sample against light while another sample lies beside it, visible sharp printed botanical detail and neatly trimmed edgeStop Saying “Quality”: Show Customers What Makes You Worth ChoosingQuality and excellent service are easy claims to repeat. Give customers useful differences they can understand, verify and choose.Read the article →One business owner at a desk comparing a laptop showing an anonymous busy website visitor counter with a concrete paper customer brief in their handMore Visitors—or More Useful Enquiries? Choose the Goal Before the CampaignTraffic can show attention, but not whether marketing is helping your business. Choose a useful goal and distinguish visits, enquiries, quotations and paid work.Read the article →
Websites and customer experienceBriefing, useful visitor routes, redesigns and website handover.Explore 4 articles
Illustration of a laptop, printed website pages and a checklist on a planning deskWhat to Prepare Before Asking for a Website QuoteYou do not need a finished website plan to start a useful conversation. Bring the customer need, content, functions and existing-site details—and mark what you are unsure about.Read the article →Close realistic smartphone held in hand showing a fictional small-business service page with one large obvious button 'ASK ABOUT THIS SERVICE', short clear heading 'PRINTED WORKWEAR' and garment imageYour Website Gets Visitors. Can They Work Out What to Do Next?A tidy website can still leave customers guessing. Follow a real task to find the unclear choices, missing answers and contact steps worth improving.Read the article →Website pages deliberately sorted into keep, improve and remove groupsReplacing an Old Website? Decide What to Keep Before You Start AgainA redesign should replace weaknesses without losing useful answers, images and established customer routes. Review what is worth bringing forward.Read the article →Illustrative photographic concept of hands passing a website handover folder with a key beside a laptop.Your Website Is Live. Could Someone Else Keep It Running?Make a website handover record that separates domain control, hosting, editable content, backups and rights—with evidence and clear responsibilities.Read the article →
Shopfronts and signageBriefing, customer routes, proofs, window light and reusable boards.Explore 5 articles
Choosing Business Signage: Materials, Location and Intended UseA practical guide to choosing signage for business premises, construction sites, clubs and events in Cashel and Tipperary.Read the article →Connecting Exterior and Interior Signs: Follow the Customer’s RouteAn exterior sign identifies the premises. The signs that follow should help a newcomer continue without losing the thread.Read the article →Reviewing Sign Artwork: A Customer-First Proofing ChecklistA sign proof needs more than a spelling check. Review what a customer notices first, whether the message works in its location and which artwork and production details still need…Read the article →Your Window Graphic Looks Right. What Happens When the Lights Come On?Check a window graphic from both sides and in changing light. Separate reading direction, application side and privacy needs before approving the artwork.Read the article →Dry-Wipe and Wet-Wipe Markers Do Different JobsNon-permanent does not always mean dry-wipe. Choose the surface, the specific pen and the removal method together before relying on a reusable board.Read the article →
Workwear and teamsDecoration, garment choices, team briefs and repeat orders.Explore 4 articles
Navy polo shirt, hoodie and jacket arranged beside artwork colour samplesPrinted Workwear Decoration GuideStart with the garment, job and branding positions, then compare flock, vinyl, print and sublimation and prepare a clear team-workwear brief.Read the article →Comparing pullover and zipped hoodies while planning artwork positionsDesigning a Custom Hoodie: What to Decide FirstChoose the hoodie, colour, sizes, artwork and print positions before requesting a custom hoodie quotation from Time for Designs in Cashel.Read the article →Navy polo shirt, hoodie and jacket arranged beside artwork colour samplesOrdering Printed Workwear for a Team: What We Need From YouBuild a clear team clothing brief: garment combinations, sizes, artwork positions, a named approval route and questions to resolve before production.Read the article →Illustrative navy polo shirt beside an order folder showing the matching garment, emblem and size record.Reordering Team Workwear? Keep a Record of the Order You Actually ApprovedKeep the accepted order as a reference, then record what stays the same, what changes and what still needs agreement in the next workwear job.Read the article →
Print and artworkLogo files, posters, flyers, booklet pages and carbonless forms.Explore 5 articles
Preparing a Logo for Print, Signs, Clothing and MerchandiseFind the right logo files, check small details and plan useful versions before printing on signs, clothing or merchandise. Practical artwork advice.Read the article →Poster Design and Typography: Give the Reader a Way InMake a poster easier to understand with clear hierarchy, readable typography and useful spacing. Practical checks before sending artwork to print.Read the article →Flyer Design and Distribution: Make the Plan Before the PrintPlan a flyer around its audience, message, distribution and next action. Check wording, artwork, quantities and proofs before production.Read the article →Your Booklet Has Ten Pages. Where Do the Other Two Come From?Separate sheets, page faces and covers before planning a folded-and-stapled booklet. A twelve-page example helps you find the blanks without adding filler.Read the article →One Pen Stroke, Several Copies: How Carbonless Forms WorkThe pen writes the original; coated paper makes the copies. Understand the layers, sheet order and active set before judging only the top page.Read the article →
Events and business launchesFirst visits, trade shows, changing details and useful name badges.Explore 4 articles
First-time visitor welcomed at the counter of a fictional ceramics shopOpening a Small Business? Plan the Customer’s First Visit, Not Just the Opening DayA sign, a website, clothing and print each have a different job. Organise them around the customer’s first visit rather than a last-minute shopping list.Read the article →Concept of staff greeting a visitor at a trade-show stand with samples and printed displaysPlanning a Trade-Show Stand? Follow the Visitor From First Glance to Follow-UpA stand is more than its graphics. Plan the message, samples, staff clothing and print around what a suitable visitor needs to understand and do.Read the article →Two fictional Summer Fair proofs with a corrected date and approved versionEvent Details Keep Changing. How Do You Keep the Printed Information Right?A practical way to keep changing event details, artwork versions and final approval clear before production.Read the article →Illustrative photographic concept of a person wearing a fictional Niamh Byrne name badge while another person begins a conversation.An Event Badge Has One Small Moment to Help: When Somebody Says HelloMake event badges useful for introductions: choose the visible information, test real names, protect private details and plan corrections.Read the article →
Irish design and print historyIrish presses, design workshops, a proclamation and bilingual road lettering.Explore 4 articles
Movable printing type and paper in an original concept about the Cuala PressThe Women Who Printed an Irish Revival: Elizabeth Yeats and the Cuala PressThe women, books, cards and working decisions behind a remarkable chapter in Irish print culture.Read the article →Kilkenny Design Centre in the former castle stables, photographed in2018Before Design Became a Buzzword: Ireland’s Experiment in the Kilkenny Castle YardA national design experiment brought makers, prototypes and industry together—and left a legacy more complicated than a simple success or failure.Read the article →Explanatory composition of metal type and two printed sheets showing a two-stage printing processThe 1916 Proclamation Was Printed in Two Halves: The Craft Behind an Irish IconA shortage of type, three skilled printers and one sheet printed in two stages: the production story behind a familiar Irish document.Read the article →An old yellow AA fingerpost showing the Irish and English names for Annagassan with a shared right-pointing arrow.Why Irish Road Signs Give One Place Two Different VoicesAn old AA fingerpost and modern Irish road lettering reveal how two names share one arrow—and why position, letterforms and word length all matter.Read the article →
Brand changes that surprised customersType, logos, packaging and the difference between an institution and its product.Explore 5 stories
The IKEA Font Change That Started an Argument About BrandingIKEA changed the letters in its catalogue and started an argument about brand identity. The interesting lesson is not a claimed sales disaster—it is the tension between familiarity and a…Read the article →Cracker Barrel’s Logo Backlash Was Part of a Bigger StoryCracker Barrel simplified a familiar logo and triggered a revolt. The evidence shows why the backlash was about far more than one drawing—and what the business results actually prove.Read the article →The NASA Logo That Retired, Returned and Never Really Went AwayNASA retired its bold “worm” logo in 1992, then brought it back decades later. What can small businesses learn from a visual identity people remember?Read the article →Jif's New Packaging Wants You to Think Beyond the SandwichJif is keeping its familiar identity while making new uses easier to imagine. The naming, food pictures and planned rollout reveal the business question behind the refresh.Read the article →The Document Foundation Has a New Logo. LibreOffice’s Stays Put.A green page now identifies the institution behind the office suite. The useful change is who the mark tells you is speaking.Read the article →
When a message becomes a promiseAdvertising ideas, enduring associations, trust and offers to fulfil.Explore 5 stories
Avis Turned Second Place into a Promise Customers Could TestAvis admitted it was second. The interesting part was what it promised customers next—and how the message became a standard the service could be judged against.Read the article →Why Guinness Put Two Pints on a Toucan’s BeakA colourful bird, two pints and a copywriter’s pun: the design decision that made Guinness part of its own visual joke.Read the article →De Beers’ “A Diamond Is Forever”: Four Words, a Much Longer StoryFrances Gerety wrote four enduring words in 1947. Explore the earlier ring tradition, surviving print advertisement and later campaigns without the myths or unsupported sales claims.Read the article →Gerald Ratner’s Joke Changed What Customers Thought They Had BoughtThe 1991 speech made Ratner’s name inseparable from a joke about his goods. His departure, the group’s restructuring and his later career unfolded on different timelines.Read the article →How Hoover's £100 Free-Flights Promotion Cost £48 MillionHoover wanted to sell more appliances. Its offer of two free flights was so attractive that people bought products simply to claim the travel. Sales surged, fulfilment buckled and the…Read the article →
Business decisions and changing customersFinding a use, entering markets, acquisitions and rebuilding a business.Explore 5 stories
Illustrative close-up of a hand lifting a yellow sticky note from an open book, with a note pad nearby.Post-it Notes Did Not Need a Stronger Glue. They Needed a Different Job.A removable adhesive came before the familiar yellow note. Silver, Fry and the work between discovery and production made staying—and letting go—part of one product.Read the article →Original illustrative election cereal boxes and startup funding papersAirbnb Was Running Out of Money. Then It Sold Election Cereal.Before Airbnb became a global platform, its founders hand-built election-themed cereal boxes to raise cash. The boxes did more than make money: they made the founders impossible to ignore.Read the article →Conceptual Blockbuster rental case beside a streaming televisionBlockbuster Went Online. The Hard Part Was Making It Work.Blockbuster did respond to Netflix. Its online rentals, Total Access service and late-fee changes reveal a more complicated downfall: changing customer expectations, difficult economics and an increasingly constrained ability to invest.Read the article →Conceptual iced-tea bottle and bulk case in a fictional small shopQuaker Bought Snapple. Did It Understand What Made the Brand Work?Quaker’s Snapple acquisition is often reduced to two prices. The fuller story concerns distributor relationships, buying occasions and Triarc’s reported recovery.Read the article →A translucent Bondi Blue iMac G3 in three-quarter viewApple’s Comeback: The Work Behind the Famous ProductsApple’s comeback involved more than famous product launches. Its records reveal profit returning while sales fell, a narrower range, cooperation with Microsoft and a new direction made visible through the iMac. We follow the decisions behind the familiar success story.Read the article →
Stories and useful ideas

Six fresh reads

Irish history, surprising brand decisions and practical help for your business. Pick what catches your interest.

Reordering Team Workwear? Keep a Record of the Order You Actually ApprovedKeep the accepted order as a reference, then record what stays the same, what changes and what still needs agreement in the next workwear job.Read the article →19 October 2026
Your Printed QR Code Scans. Does It Take Customers to the Right Place?Approve the exact printed symbol and the destination it opens. Keep a short record of the artwork version, final-size test and anything still unverified.Read the article →19 October 2026
Gerald Ratner’s Joke Changed What Customers Thought They Had BoughtThe 1991 speech made Ratner’s name inseparable from a joke about his goods. His departure, the group’s restructuring and his later career unfolded on different timelines.Read the article →19 October 2026
The Hollywood Sign Began as a Property Advert. Then “LAND” Disappeared.Thirteen illuminated letters were meant to sell houses for eighteen months. A century later, nine replacement letters sell an idea of Hollywood to the world.Read the article →17 October 2026
Why One Panel of a Folded Leaflet Can Be Narrower Than the OthersThree equal-looking panels do not always need three equal measurements. The fold style decides whether one section must make room for the others.Read the article →16 October 2026
Why Some Window Lettering Arrives Under a Sheet of TapeThe top sheet on cut vinyl lettering is temporary. It keeps separate letters and shapes in the right relationship while the graphic moves from its backing to the window.Read the article →16 October 2026

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Worth another look

Practical articles readers can return to

Signage

Choosing business signage

What the sign needs to do, where it will sit and what to confirm before choosing a material.

Published

Plan a signage brief →
Stickers and labels

Choosing the right sticker or label format

Match the design, shape and surface, then check the exact wording and finished size.

Published

Review sticker and label choices →

About these articles

Our approach: link to the evidence used for a story, distinguish documented events from our interpretation, and explain the practical design or marketing lesson. Where a date, claim or image credit needs correcting, please send the article URL and the specific point to [email protected].

Published by Time for Designs in Cashel. Our stories combine documented events with our practical interpretation. Check the references provided in each article when exploring the evidence.

Some archived articles were written several years ago and have not all been freshly reviewed. Dates and information should be read in that context. For current products, materials and production advice, contact our Cashel team.

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