Design Week
06th August 2009
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Acronyms are elitist - simplicity is key to communication
06th August 2009
A few months ago I decided to launch the Campaign for the Reduction of Acronym Proliferation. Realising what I had done, I vowed instead to use plain English for all my presentations and proposals. Let’s face it, everybody does it. The use of acronyms is a way of determining who is in the club and who isn’t. This is most apparent in the public sector. If you want proof, just log on to any Government website. But we, the design community, are just as guilty. As a communication ...
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Bling is in our nature - there's life in luxury yet
06th August 2009
Clare Dowdy’s feature ‘Bye-bye bling’ (DW 16 July), which examines trends in luxury brands, looks at an interesting area but comes away with the wrong conclusion. It’s not really ‘Bye-bye bling’, but more like ‘See you later’. I think it’s a bit short-sighted to call the death of opulence and the ornate just yet. Whatever the climate, it will always be human nature to want to show off success, though the accessories may change from time to time. Having said that, ...
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Britain is a small island, but who can cycle it in a day?
06th August 2009
I was mightily impressed to read that Peter Lyons planned to ride that new four-wheeled all-terrain bicycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats on19 July (News in Pictures, DW 16 July). His talents are obviously wasted lecturing in construction management with energy like that. Just for starters, a pedal-powered power station would earn him a fortune each week. Loz Farmer, Consultant, London SW12, by e-mail
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EMI and Transport for London release new T-shirts
06th August 2009
EMI and Transport for London are releasing a new range of mugs and T-shirts featuring lyrics from songs about London. Each lyric features in two individual designs - one based on Harry Beck’s London Underground typographyand one inspired by the song. The designs have been created by 1977 Design.
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For the common good
06th August 2009
As big business bows to consumer expectations of ethical behaviour, Adrian Shaughnessy says the time has finally come for social design to set the pace
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Going off-screen
06th August 2009
In a mixed-media world with ever more fluid boundaries between genres such as film and theatre, reinterpreting movies for the stage makes perfect sense. Nick Smurthwaite investigates the design challenges of this transposition
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Graphic feast
06th August 2009
Who doesn’t like a good list, a learned selection of the best of the best? It invariably triggers debate about inclusion and omission, or joy of finding your personal favourite among the chosen. The imagery on the cover of Jason Godfrey’s new Bibliographic: 100 Classic Graphic Design Books speaks of the gems inside, with the spines of some well-thumbed classics beckoning. Split into different sections - typography, sourcebooks, instructional, histories, anthologies and monographs - ...
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If you're baffled by BS 8900, there's help to be had
06th August 2009
I read your article on jargon in BS 8900 with great interest (Comment, DW 16 July). It occurs to me that you might like to know that BSI publishes a handbook to accompany BS 8900, titled A Handbook for Sustainable Development. It demystifies the standard and places it in a real-world context, and it is available from our shop (http://www.bsigroup.com/en/shop). Gavin Williams, Commissioning editor, BSI, London W4
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Inspired - Simon Massey
06th August 2009
Years ago, as a student, I found art history to be a very useful lecture for catching up on the sleep I so desperately needed to support my social life.All that changed when we moved on to the ‘modern era’ of the Bauhaus. The aesthetics and design sensibility of the Bauhaus was extremely appealing, from the ‘essential for modern living’ chairs by Marcel Breuer to the stark, yet grand, forward-looking architecture of Mies van der Rohe.I was fascinated by the fact ...
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Interiors is back at the RCA, but where does it fit best?
06th August 2009
A huge cheer will have gone up in the interiors community at the news that the Royal College of Art is reintroducing the subject to its prospectus (DW News, 30 July).The decision in 2005 by Professor Nigel Coates to change the name of his RCA fiefdom to the School of Architecture, obliterating formal mention of interiors, prompted angry calls for interiors folk, notably from RCA alumni, who include Ben Kelly, David Bentheim and Julian Powell Tuck. Trouble was still brewing ...
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Lambie-Nairn creates Arts Club identity
06th August 2009
Lambie-Nairn is working on the branding for the Arts Club, based on London’s Dover Street, as part of a dramatic refurbishment of the 146-year-old private members’ club.The Arts Club appointed Lambie-Nairn in the spring, following what the consultancy understands was a three-way credentials pitch. ‘We were the only group that offered creative work during the pitch,’ claims Christian Schroeder, chief executive of Lambie-Nairn.‘We are looking at the future of how ...
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Let your cash flow online
06th August 2009
A strong and well-defined Web presence seems to be back on the agenda now. Jo Kotas is reassured by the first few signs of digital spring
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Modern hieroglyphics
06th August 2009
The pictogram universe is far from fixed, with modernising influences and different cultural requirements provoking constant evolution. Anna Richardson looks at the ideas behind some recent schemes
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News in Pictures
06th August 2009
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News in Pictures
06th August 2009
Street artist Invader will display his versions of album covers for Roxy Music, Michael Jackson and The Cure, rendered in Rubik’s Cubes, at Lazarides Gallery in Soho, London WC2, from 13 August to 17 September.
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News in PIctures
06th August 2009
Cake UK will present its Duck and Duckling doorstops at the Autumn Fair 09 International at the NEC, Birmingham, from 6-9 September.
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Profile - Fredrik Ahlin
06th August 2009
Hotel Chocolat’s Fredrik Ahlin excels at creating layers of mystique around his product - without skimping on ethical credentials. Suzanne Hinchliffe meets a creative with an appetite for sweet sophistication
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Shigeru Ban creates tower for London's South Bank
06th August 2009
Japanese architect Shigeru Ban is creating a tower made from cardboard for London’s South Bank as part of this year’s London Design Festival Size & Matter initiative. The structure will be on display from 19 September until mid-October. Marc Newson is designing a steel structure made from brightly coloured hexagonal panels as part of the same initiative.
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Speirs and Major designs scheme for the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nayham mosque
06th August 2009
Speirs and Major has designed the grounds and exterior lighting scheme for the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nayham mosque in Abu Dhabi, designed by architect Halcrow. The consultancy says the light appears to ebb and flow according to the lunar Islamic calendar, changing from pristine white light in the full-moon period, to deep blue as the moon wanes.
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Voxpop
06th August 2009
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Wimbledon courts new image with projects by 1977 Design
06th August 2009
Consultancy 1977 Design is branding a new viewing platform at Wimbledon’s Centre Court, and overhauling the print communications for the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.The consultancy won both projects in April, on the strength of its previous work for the tennis club. The design group branded the museum in 2006 and created communications which it will now replace, to show ‘a forward-looking Wimbledon at the forefront of technology’, according to Richard Stevens, designer ...
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Wordsmith Design creates map for Action in Rural Sussex
06th August 2009
Wordsmith Design and illustrator Chris Watson have created a ‘map’ for client Action in Rural Sussex, to demonstrate ways in which communities can work together to reduce carbon usage. The map is being launched as an eight-sheet A4-sized pamphlet (pictured), and will also feature alongside an A1-sized poster in the organisation’s 2008/09 annual review.
