ABOUT

This was a broad brand development project. Starting with the brand name, I was responsible for tone of voice, strapline, web copy, blog posts, case studies, social posts, animation script and ongoing creative consultancy.

After a chat and a written brief, 24 hours later I was coming up with names for the client's new venture.

I knew it was going to be fun, but not this much fun.

Couldn’t sleep. The ideas just kept coming. Unfiltered, glorious madness.

His reaction was more than I could have wished for:

“Proper love so many names, J. And honestly have no idea how you’ve managed so many in such little time. One really jumped out at me… Domain is available too. Gonna sleep on it then send you a list of my faves, but that’s the one I’m already emotionally attached to.
Thanks so much.”

Emotionally attached!

We wrestled over the list, and emotional attachment aside, we got to a short list of potential names from my initial long list:

– Noddle
– Sherbert
– Bigmegamarvelous
– Dollop
– Extra Beans

I even ‘designed’ some ‘logos’ to bring them to life, with straplines and a snappy bit of positioning.

We chatted it through. He slept on it and tested our three favourites on a few trusted compatriates. And eventually we agreed on ‘dollop’ with a lowercase ‘d’.

We both loved the strapline I’d come up with at the long list stage, and it stuck:

‘creativity with splattitude’

Then the project took on a life of its own. A combination of creative enthusiasm, absolute two-way trust and a committee of one making the final decisions, meant that things zipped along at a pace.

He ran some design ideas past me and I slowly but surely helped him and his designer colleague tease out a beautifully simple logo.

Then it all got away with itself. Talk about write the theme tune, sing the theme tune…

Input so far:

Naming
Strapline
Tone of Voice development
Website copy
Launch marketing concepts/copy
Ongoing marketing concepts/copy
22 blog posts
Landing page animation concept and creative direction
Onboarding, web hosting and proposal templates
Ongoing creative direction and consultancy

The results?

dollop has gone from an unknown creative agency with zero clients to a thriving business that is known for its unique positioning, voice and brand look.

It made the top 25 in the 2025 Fully Saturated Report (a review of UK design agency positioning that looked at those with the best positioning from a long list of 300). Here's a few quotes from the report:

"When we read dollop's website we were instantly charmed…"
"It's disarmingly human and charming…"
"From the name onwards, this is copy that drips with personality."
"There's not a single line on the site that feels phoned-in."

New clients comment on the name, website copy and plasticine branding. A distinctive look and feel that sets the brand apart in a very crowded Brighton marketplace.

And my client's reaction?

“Wads of wisdom, a child-like excitement, and more determination than a honey bee. These are just a few of the traits you get as standard when you hire Jonathan Wilcock. With his help, we took dollop from a few neurons floating around my mind to a proper meaty brand I’m happy to take home and introduce to mum. Thank you.”
Tom Davies, Creative Director and Chief Dolloper, dollop creative ltd.

And it's worth mentioning that after the first round of web page copy, he was so happy that he said:

“You have full creative permission to do whatever you want.”

And a big win-win – we're working on dollop client projects together.