CLARITY BEFORE COMMITMENT.

Sometimes the project does not need a production team.

It needs a conversation.

Culture Talk is a focused creative session for an idea, project, problem or direction that needs to be thought through before anything is built.

The work is the conversation.

We explore what you are trying to make, why it matters, what may be missing, what could be challenged and where the idea could go next.

This is not a strategy workshop, consultancy programme or production engagement.

It is a space for clear thinking between two people.

WHAT WE DO

The session can explore:

• The original idea and its underlying intention

• What the project is actually trying to become

• Creative opportunities and tensions

• Cultural references and influences

• Audience, niche or positioning questions

• Problems with the current direction

• New possibilities and alternative routes

• What should happen next

• Whether the idea is ready for Direction or Development

The conversation is allowed to move.

The purpose is not to force an artificial conclusion within a fixed agenda. It is to get to the point where the project can be seen more clearly.

PROCESS

01 — Conversation

A live conversation centred on the idea.

02 — Interrogation

Questions, challenges, references and alternative perspectives are introduced where useful.

03 — Distillation

The strongest thinking is separated from the noise.

04 — Written Outcome

The conversation is distilled into a concise document capturing the key thinking and possible next steps.

DELIVERABLE

A Culture Note containing an appropriate combination of:

• Core idea

• Key observations

• Creative opportunities

• Questions to resolve

• References or contextual notes

• Recommended direction

• Suggested next step

The document is intentionally concise.

It is not a large strategy deck. It is a record of the thinking.

TIME

60–90 minutes

The session is conversational rather than rigidly timed. Where additional time is genuinely required to reach clarity, the discussion can continue appropriately.

OUTCOME

You leave with:

A clearer idea.
A stronger point of view.
A more useful next step.

Culture Talk can stand alone or become the first stage of a larger Tanka Blue engagement.

INVESTMENT

£125

FROM THOUGHT TO BLUEPRINT.

You have an idea.

Perhaps you already know pieces of it. Perhaps you can see the finished thing in your head but cannot yet explain how it gets there.

Creative Direction is where we work through the entire creative proposition before production begins.

Tanka Blue becomes the outside mind within the project.

We work alongside you to discover what the idea is, what it could become and what it needs in order to exist.

The process combines conversation, research, conceptual development, strategic thinking and rapid experimentation.

The aim is not simply to produce a strategy.

The aim is to define the thing itself.

PROJECTS CAN INCLUDE

Creative Direction can be applied to a wide range of projects, including:

• Books and publishing projects

• Characters and fictional worlds

• Animation and film concepts

• Brand identities

• Creative campaigns

• Digital products

• Websites and applications

• Intellectual property

• Editorial platforms

• Cultural projects

• New creative ventures

• Concepts that do not yet have a category

WHAT WE DO

01 — DISCOVER

We establish the original thought behind the project.

This includes:

• Intent

• Ambition

• Context

• Existing material

• Influences

• References

• Constraints

• Desired outcome

The objective is to understand what already exists before introducing what does not.

02 — DEFINE

We establish the creative centre of the project.

Depending on the nature of the work, this may include:

• Core proposition

• Creative premise

• Positioning

• Purpose

• Audience

• Themes

• Narrative principles

• World logic

• Brand principles

• Intellectual property structure

03 — RESEARCH

Relevant cultural, market and creative context is investigated.

Research can include:

• Audience behaviour

• Cultural references

• Comparable projects

• Category analysis

• Competitor and landscape research

• Niche discovery

• Historical and contextual research

• Visual and creative references

• Emerging opportunities

The objective is not research for its own sake.

The objective is to identify information that changes or strengthens a creative decision.

04 — CONCEPTUALISE

The core idea is expanded.

Depending on the project this may involve:

• Story development

• Character development

• World-building

• Brand development

• Creative systems

• Naming and language

• Editorial architecture

• Product concepts

• IP development

• Experience concepts

Multiple routes may be developed and tested before one is selected.

05 — EXPLORE

Ideas are made visible.

We can rapidly generate:

• Written concepts

• Concept imagery

• Character studies

• Environments

• Mood systems

• Storyboards

• Visual references

• Audio references

• Early animation or video tests

• Prototype concepts

Modern creative technology is used here as a means of increasing the number of possibilities that can be explored before committing to production.

06 — REFINE

This is where the project becomes more precise.

We remove what does not belong.

We strengthen what does.

We challenge assumptions, resolve contradictions, refine the language and establish a coherent creative system.

07 — DIRECT

The final stage converts the thinking into a practical route forward.

We establish:

• What needs to be produced

• In what order

• With which capabilities

• Using which tools

• Which work can be developed internally

• Where specialist external talent is required

• What the immediate next stage should be

DELIVERABLE

The engagement concludes with a bespoke Creative Direction Document.

Depending on the project, this may include:

• Creative premise

• Project positioning

• Core proposition

• Audience/context notes

• Cultural research

• Competitive or landscape analysis

• Narrative structure

• World-building framework

• Character framework

• Brand principles

• Visual direction

• Creative references

• Generated visual concepts

• Production recommendations

• Technology recommendations

• Development priorities

• Specialist requirements

• Project roadmap

• Next-stage brief

Not every project requires every component.

The document is built around the project rather than against a fixed template.

WORKING FORMAT

Creative Direction is collaborative.

The project typically moves through a combination of:

Conversation → Research → Development → Review → Refinement → Direction

Meetings, voice notes, written material, references, working documents and generated material can all become part of the process.

The work can begin with very little.

A voice note is enough.

A notebook is enough.

A rough paragraph is enough.

A fully formed concept is enough.

The starting point is not the measure of the project.

TIME

Typically 2–4 weeks

The actual duration depends on the complexity and maturity of the idea.

A smaller project may move quickly.

A world, brand or significant intellectual property project may require a longer development period.

The engagement is scoped around the creative requirement rather than an arbitrary number of meetings.

TYPICAL ENGAGEMENT

A standard Creative Direction engagement includes:

• Initial project consultation

• Creative discovery

• Research

• Concept development

• Iterative creative review

• Directional refinement

• Final Creative Direction Document

• Recommended next-stage roadmap

OUTCOME

The project moves from:

“I have an idea.”

to:

“I know what this is, why it exists, what it needs and how it can be made.”

You leave with a creative blueprint that can be taken into production, development, funding, collaboration or further refinement.

INVESTMENT

From £795

Larger or more complex projects are individually scoped.

FROM BLUEPRINT TO EXISTENCE.

The direction already exists.

You know what you want to make.

The challenge is building it.

Creative Development is the production-facing side of Tanka Blue.

We take an established concept, creative direction or project brief and help turn it into a tangible creative outcome.

This is where the idea begins to become an artefact.

A book gets built.

A brand becomes visual.

A character becomes a system.

A story becomes a film.

A world becomes something people can enter.

A concept becomes a product.

THE ROLE OF TANKA BLUE

Tanka Blue acts as the creative connective tissue across the project.

We help determine:

• What needs to be made

• How it should be made

• Which tools are appropriate

• Which parts can be developed rapidly with AI

• Which parts require specialist human expertise

• How the individual components should work together

• How the final work should be refined

The objective is not to force every part of the project through one system.

The objective is to use the right combination of people, technology and production methods for the work.

WHAT WE DEVELOP

Depending on the project, Creative Development can include:

WRITING

• Editorial

• Books

• Scripts

• Narratives

• Copy

• Character writing

• World documentation

• Project documentation

VISUAL

• Art direction

• Identity development

• Concept art

• Character development

• Environments

• Storyboards

• Campaign concepts

• Visual systems

MOTION

• Animation development

• Short-form video

• Film concepts

• Motion experiments

• Visual sequences

• AI-assisted production

DIGITAL

• Websites

• Interactive prototypes

• Applications

• Digital products

• Creative tools

• Experimental interfaces

AUDIO

• Sound concepts

• Music references

• Soundscapes

• Voice development

• Audio direction

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

• Character systems

• Worlds

• Story frameworks

• Creative universes

• Naming systems

• Supporting documentation

• Expansion concepts

THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

01 — PLAN

The existing direction is translated into a practical development plan.

We establish:

• Scope

• Priority

• Dependencies

• Stages

• Required outputs

• Required expertise

02 — BUILD

The project enters production.

Work is developed across the required creative disciplines.

This may include writing, design, image, video, sound, code, digital production or other appropriate forms.

03 — GENERATE

AI is introduced wherever it provides a genuine production advantage.

This can accelerate:

• Research

• Concept generation

• Image development

• Writing drafts

• Visual exploration

• Video experimentation

• Sound exploration

• Prototyping

• Data and audience analysis

• Technical development

AI does not replace the creative direction.

It increases the number of things that can be explored and the speed at which they can be tested.

04 — CONNECT

Where external expertise is required, Tanka Blue can coordinate with appropriate specialists.

This may include:

• Designers

• Photographers

• Developers

• Animators

• Editors

• Illustrators

• Musicians

• Sound designers

• Cinematographers

• Producers

• Other specialist creatives

External collaborators remain project-dependent and are quoted separately where required.

05 — REFINE

Generated or commissioned material is reviewed against the original creative direction.

We edit.

We remove.

We rebuild.

We tighten.

We maintain consistency across the project.

This stage protects the work from becoming a collection of disconnected outputs.

06 — DELIVER

The final project is prepared for its intended use.

Depending on the brief, this may mean:

• Finished creative assets

• A publication-ready manuscript

• A brand package

• Production-ready visual material

• A video or animation

• A working website

• A digital prototype

• A project bible

• A development package

• A set of intellectual property assets

DELIVERABLES

Creative Development is intentionally bespoke.

A project may produce one substantial outcome or a collection of interconnected outputs.

Potential deliverables include:

• Books

• Editorial systems

• Brand assets

• Visual identity systems

• Character systems

• Story worlds

• Animation

• Video

• Campaign assets

• Websites

• Applications

• Digital products

• Prototypes

• Sound and music assets

• Creative documentation

• Intellectual property development packages

The final deliverables are defined during scoping before production begins.

TIME

Typically 3–8 weeks

The duration depends on the size and complexity of the development.

A focused creative build can be completed in a shorter period.

Larger projects involving multiple disciplines, external specialists or substantial intellectual property may require a longer development cycle.

The project is divided into agreed stages, allowing scope and production requirements to remain visible throughout.

TYPICAL ENGAGEMENT

A Creative Development engagement usually contains:

Discovery / Handover
Review the existing direction and establish the development brief.

Production Planning
Define stages, outputs, tools, collaborators and priorities.

Development
Build the agreed creative material.

Review
Assess work against the original direction.

Refinement
Edit, improve and complete.

Delivery
Prepare the agreed final outputs.

OUTCOME

The project moves from:

“This is what I want to make.”

to:

“This exists.”

INVESTMENT

From £2,150

Projects are individually scoped according to the level of development, number of outputs, production requirements and external specialists involved.

Third-party production, licensing, software, location, equipment, talent and specialist collaborator fees are not included unless expressly stated in the project scope.