Jili Allen Creative

24/05/2026

Lovely evening last week with at painting evening at the beautiful - it’s so lovely to create just for fun and not worry too much about the end result or even the process - the time whizzed by, totally relaxed, lovely people at every easel, and our wonderful hosts Juno and Gemma couldn’t be more welcoming 🦋 not my finest painting work, but who cares! The act of creativity is a gift all in itself ❤️

22/05/2026

As the Flower Show comes to a close, we were delighted to see not one but TWO of our fabulous design clients getting involved in award-winning gardens! Congratulations to the wonderful who was working on garden for the incredibly talented which went on to win Gold, and Emma for winning Silver Gilt with the garden! Fabulous work all round 🙌 and watch this space for a lovely new website coming soon for the Fellside Flower Co courtesy of our digital branch

21/05/2026

Seeing design come to life is one of the most satisfying things for a graphic designer to see. It was a pleasure to pop down to the wonderful yesterday. Despite the rain, there was a warm welcome, and some fantastic local produce on offer! Branding looking 👌 and packaging on point 🙌 go grab a taste of eden down in Plumpton, now open daily tues-Sunday. (If you’re a radish lover 🫜 the .edenyard are delicious!)

19/05/2026

An appreciation shout-out today! As a designer, we come into contact with a lot of wonderful (and sometimes, unfortunately, not-quite-so-wonderful) suppliers to take care of aspects like print and photography.

I’d like to shout out the lovely Lucy at , for regaining my client’s confidence in sign makers. After not one, but two failed engagements with local suppliers (accepting the work and then ghosting) we are booked in in a couple of weeks to transform the Yoga Studio & Independent Shop in the Devonshire Arcade, Penrith.

Lucy has been brilliant, and can’t wait to see the results. 🟩 🟧 🟪

15/05/2026

is coming to Penrith next month care of the fantastic and Zero Carbon Cumbria. A great community festival and initiave happening not just locally, but nationally too! We work with some fantastic sustainability-focused organisations on both brand and website design, and PACT is the latest. We recently refreshed their branding and palette, along with designing custom illustrations and icons to be used across the low-carbon website framework we designed and built for them. Last week, we were asked to create additional more detailed illustrations of specific ‘scenes’ which we were delighted to help with.

Illustration is a great way of giving a brand a more human feel amongst the dirge of AI generated content, and did you know, if done right, it can also have a lower carbon footprint than imagery. 💚

Looking for ways to highlight the human in your branding, or reduce the carbon in your comms? Give us a call to chat it through. In the meantime, check out the full schedule of events at https://www.penrithact.org.uk/events/great-big-green-week-2026/

12/05/2026

Such a pleasure to attend the opening of the wonderful Hall Garden at Curwen Hall, Workington, on Friday. What a beautiful place. We’re so proud to have been part of it, and to have been involved right from the start, working with the brilliant Holly of , We designed the graphics, signage, packaging and that gorgeous mural with illustrations from the super talented There’s something amazingly rewarding about seeing your designs brought to life, from the branded uniforms to the hand-stamped bags, a fantastic project with the most brilliant clients. Pop on by each Friday-Sunday, 10-4 and enjoy the cafe, pottery, gardens and play area. Highly recommend!

08/05/2026

What do graphic designers do on a night away from the laptop you may ask? We get inspired, and we get educated.

Well last week, myself and the brilliant from , went to a guest lecture at by the incredibly knowledgeable and generally wonderful Martin Kinnear on the Anatomy of a Painting - informative, inspiring and intellectual.

Definitely made me want to explore paint and embrace expression

Happy weekend campers!

06/05/2026

Community-driven campaigns amplify voices, foster connections, and drive change that truly resonates, and the design behind those, can help not only capture attention, but also convey messages effectively.

As a big believer in social self-tithing, proud to help with some design elements for a great community campaign - to save our local Squash & Racketball Club - that went live last week. A properly lovely, welcoming and supportive club (even when I can barely serve 🤪) they definitely deserve to keep going and become bigger, better and supported in turn.

Top way to keep fit and excellent stress relief 🤣 if you’re local to Penrith & Eden (or even if you’re not!) please donate if you can to their crowdfunder appeal

Help us save and transform our squash club—keeping it safe, thriving, and at the heart of our community for generations to come

05/05/2026

Hope you've all had a wonderful Bank Holiday weekend? As promised, here's a pic of our new addition, the beautiful Bonnie 🥰🐾 and yes, we are fully expecting a copyright infringement email from 🤣

01/05/2026

We’ve a very exciting new addition to HQ coming tomorrow in the form of the most beautiful little puppy 🐾 🥰 I shall introduce you to her in due course, but it gave me an opportunity to go around the exhibition at and see the wonderful artworks celebrating man's best friend.

Highly worth a visit, especially for little ones who like to run about and engage with art (who get in free!). Some gorgeous media and technique exploration in there producing gorgeous results.

29/04/2026

With branding and indeed all visual comms, there may come a point when you feel your audience isn't listening. There are a myriad of reasons why this could be happening, but some of the most common are:

- A lack of authenticity: Audiences crave genuine connections, if your visuals feel staged or disconnected, you might not resonate
- Inconsistency: Consistency builds recognition and trust. This doesn't mean you keep it all too samey samey, but there has to be a consistent tone throughout.
- Ignoring audience preferences: Understanding your audience is key - you need to put yourself in their shoes, from every aspect of communication.
- Overcomplicating Design: Simplicity is powerful. Overly complex visuals can overwhelm and detract from your main message. Aim for clean designs that highlight your core values.
- Out-of-date visuals: your branding, comms or website doesn't reflect the reality of what you offer, leaving people disappointed, and your real customer base in the dark

If you feel like people are switching off, it might be time to review, refresh and revive your branding.