Reading the radio signals

If you’re interested in digital radio, this one is for you. The first publication to come out of The Fourth Room’s FutureScape research programme looks at the way ‘digital audio broadcasting’ could go.

Radioactivity Warning, which combines research from The Fourth Room and its business partner, global product design group Ideo, is designed by The Attik. According to The Attik’s London managing director Tim Watson, The Fourth Room chief executive Piers Schmidt ‘thought the subject matter was right for our type of design’.

In true Attik style, the resulting report is a bold departure from the standard A4 research document, which has ‘no design whatsoever’, according to Watson.

The FutureScape report – curiously shaped like a TV screen – has an opaque plastic cover and features ‘scenarios’ explaining the impact of digital radio. To make it shelf-friendly, the publication is packed in a rectangular red cardboard sleeve.

The Attik designer Neil Carter, who worked on the project with account handler Natalie Dodd, was given a fairly free hand, but had the daunting task of presenting his ideas to The Fourth Room head of imagination, the legendary Michael Wolff. ‘The only thing Michael was determined about was that, given he’s of the older age group and wears glasses, the type should be big,’ says Watson. So big it is, including a handwritten section penned by Dodd to represent a photo album.

The report is highly pictorial, featuring original photography by Ed Reeve. But, to keep budgets down, all the ‘models’ are The Attik staff.

The Attik has a vested interest in cost-saving on the job. Working for a nominal fee, the consultancy is taking a percentage on sales of the 299 report. How’s that for collaboration?

Design: The Attik

Client: The Fourth Room