Design Week
John Stones Freelance
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Scenes unseen
23 September 2010
Photographer Martin Parr is curating an exhibition of vernacular images - new or previously unseen, and often graphically inspired work by little-known artists - displayed in a frameless context across the seaside city of Brighton. John Stones reports
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Dark horse
9 September 2010
If the Norwegian industry is the least known quantity in Scandinavian design, the country’s pavilion at UK trade show 100% Design has been doing much to promote it over the past few years. John Stones looks at this year’s offer - and grapples with the issue of national identity in an ever more globalised world
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Profile: Alex Trochut
25 March 2010
His technique of combining typography and illustration has garnered this young Catalan graphic designer an impressive client list of local and international brands. John Stones talks to the self-styled digital craftsman in his Barcelona studio
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Reality show
Vision 2010 Supplement
A new aesthetic, stemming from a greater awareness of sustainability and more imaginative use of technology, is taking hold in the world of interiors. John Stones reports on a discipline looking for a way forward
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Uzbek respect
10 December 2009
Uzbekistan’s dazzling architectural heritage survived the rigours of Soviet repression, and Islamic tradition still tempers the modernising elements of any local design brief. John Stones talks to a consultancy that has coped with these conflicting demands
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Profile - Dominic Harris
01 October 2009
Putting everyday technology at the heart of bespoke lighting installations may be a simple idea, but it’s led to high-profile projects across the globe for designer Dominic Harris. John Stones talks to him
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The evolution of gay branding
Thu, 9 Jul 2009
The rainbow flag, tweaked to mark the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, was proudly displayed at Pride London last weekend. John Stones considers Worldstudio’s new designs for the iconic flag in the context of other gay branding bids
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Pen sharp
09th July 2009
Cameras basically fall into two camps. There are those that get tossed into a bag and used to take snaps at the press of a button. Then there are the much larger ‘serious’ cameras that give greater control and image quality, but are heavy and cumbersome. And they’re almost invariably black. But the Olympus E-P1 or Pen, which has just been launched after much anticipation, aims to blur the categories. It crams most of what a single lens reflex camera offers into the smaller form of a ...
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Course power
25th June 2009
Petrolhead appeal is taking a backseat as environmental and social issues increasingly drive development in automotive design. As the Royal College of Art’s specialist course reaches its 40th birthday, John Stones talks to some of those involved
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The ornate grandeur of the Baroque
5 March 2009
The ornate grandeur of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s forthcoming Baroque exhibition might seem out of place in our credit-crunched times. But the Baroque style informs the values of many contemporary designers, says John Stones, who takes a look at some
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An interview with Hussein Chalayan
22 January 2009
‘Body design artist’ Hussein Chalayan works across disciplines, without losing touch with his fashion roots. John Stones catches up with him at his Hackney studio ahead of a major Design Museum retrospective
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Radical poster design
22 January 2009
Posters tend to lead a virtual life these days, circulated online rather than pasted up on walls – but the radical edge is still there. John Stones is invigorated by a sudden flurry of work triggered by a recent incident in Greece
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What's next for Alberto Alessi?
18 December 2008
A new DVD of designer interviews and possible publication of previously unseen work are just two of the things that keep Alberto Alessi fizzing. John Stones asks what next for the influential Italian design firm
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A rebalancing act
Vision Supplement
Conspicuous consumption is becoming passé as the recession starts to bite, but where does this leave commercial interior design? A shift from private to public projects and an emphasis on creative capital is the way forward, says John Stones
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Team spirit
13 November 2008
Creative collaborations may not always be born out of a shared goal or vision, but even chance meetings that take place at the request of a client can give way to exciting partnerships, says John Stones
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How automobile logos define a brand
13 November 2008
Automobile logos are among the most widely recognised – and most loved – graphic symbols on the planet, so why do car makers insist on fiddling about with them? John Stones looks at how they are used to define the essence of a brand
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Wayfinding
18 September 2008
The importance of time and place information, and its propensity to change, make airport wayfinding an ideal candidate for digital signage. Basic systems now exist in many departure and arrival lounges, but with the new Heathrow Terminal 5 there was the opportunity to install something more. BAA design director David Bartlett was the man in charge
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Go your own way
18 September 2008
Personal wayfinding used to mean an unwieldy map and getting lost, but digital technologies mean that signs have the potential to become interactive. Costs are still high, reliability needs addressing, and privacy remains an issue. However, three nascent projects reveal the potential, finds John Stones HOW WE get to where we want to go has recently changed. Set off in a car, and you are now as likely to rely on in-car satnav as you are ...
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New nationalism
4 September 2008
There was a time when retail designers used predictable historic cues to evoke a sense of national identity. Things have moved on from bowler hats and red London buses, says John Stones, who finds current trends on a more contemporary tack
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Rare commodities
8 March 2007
The influence of Surrealism continues to outlive that of other 20th century movements, perhaps because its imagery has been embraces so unselfconsciously by the very elements it set out to criticise, says John Stones, previewing a new exhibition at London
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Familiar spaces
22 February 2007
Despite the increasing hours most of us have to spend in the office, it's generally a surreal, slightly unpleasant space. With very few exceptions, offices tend to be repositories of bits of furniture that unsuccessfully aspire to be functional, sporting an aesthetic vaguely anchored in the previous decade, and patterned with the employer's parsimony. The lives so many of us lead as battery chickens, structured by these offices, receives scant cultural acknowledgement or engagement. ...
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Family album
15 February 2007
The odd couple living in the house on Fournier Street in London's Spitalfields are about to have their first major retrospective at Tate Modern. Perhaps you should say formal retrospective, because since transforming their lives into works of art and becoming Living Sculptures in 1970, it's been one continual exhibition. The Six Bomb pictures, created specially for the show out of Evening Standard posters, will no doubt connect with the media in the same way that controversies around works ...
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Hand in hand
8 February 2007
Working in collaboration has many creative and commercial attractions for designers, but there are pitfalls. Designers recount their experiences to Liz Farrelly, while lawyers and business professionals give John Stones the low-down
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Better the devil
8 February 2007
What could be more designed than Kylie? Once upon a time we believed in innate talent. But now we realise it takes many teams of people with different talents, not least PR and marketing, to achieve lasting, global success. The shock that a blank canvas - such as the Australian soap opera star Kylie Minogue once was - could achieve such celebrity has long since abated. Instead, we now appreciate the artistry with which such careers are sustained. Like Madonna, Kylie functions as a conceptual ...
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Theatre of design
1 February 2007
Futuristic houses, cocooning sofas and retro reissues of 1960s classics - there is much to appreciate at Cologne's furniture fair, although John Stones is rather put off by the heavy emphasis on marketing. Meanwhile Natasha Edwards sees what the furniture
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Graphic legacy
18 January 2007
The 1972 Munich Olympics are sadly perhaps most memorable for the massacre of Israeli athletes by Palestinians. But for designers, the games are also memorable for the identity and graphics created by Otl Aicher. The work has assured him a place in the pantheon of design greats since his unfortunate death in 1991, when, in a freak incident, he was hit by a car while mowing his lawn.Aicher's intellectually rigorous, simple, yet ethically engaged design ethic led him to be seen internationally ...
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Digital dash
11 January 2007
Digital expertise is a hot commodity at the moment, and many designers and consultancies are eager to enter this booming sector. But where is all the talent coming from, and can the future really be as bright as it seems?
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Pouncing back
4 January 2007
In dire straits, luxury car maker Jaguar is hoping for a design-led renaissance. Jaguar design director Ian Callum speaks to John Stones about a new direction for the venerable marque
