The Victoria & Albert Museum in London commissioned Garudio Studiage and others to create hats for its Easter Bonnet Parade, which took place last Friday as part of a series of events surrounding its exhibition Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones.
The world’s a very strange place at the moment. As a consultancy we’re fortunate not to have suffered too much, but horror stories abound – and a frightening chat with a prospective client the other day has brought home to me how badly the recession’s beginning to bite in some places. A large, household-name company […]
When Motorola asked its design studios to consider communications of the future, they imagined a world where ambient technology frees human interaction from hardware tyranny. We look at the resultsFuture gazing is something that the folks in the mobile phone industry are quite used to. In such a competitive, aggressive and fast-moving market, companies cannot […]
The intricacy and artistry of paper illustration continues to appeal in the digital era, its suggestion of craft skills finding favour with private and commercial clients alike. Anna Richardson enjoys the stunning effects of the disciplineLast year, Phaidon’s Sonya Dyakova wooed the design industry with her paper alphabet cover design for Sculpture Today. The success […]
A pioneer of digital design, Ross Sleightenjoys being one step ahead of the game.The multi-tasker talks to Lynda Relph-Knight about the early days of no rules, making mistakesand why he still likes a good argument ‘He’s Gandalf,’ says Simon Waterfall of Poke. This is how the flamboyant former president of D&AD reverently introduces Ross Sleight. […]
A recent debate at the Royal Geographical Society saw the motion ‘Britain is indifferent to beauty’ defeated. What do you think is the most beautiful thing in Britain today, and why? To me, the most beautiful thing in Britain – if you can call it a ‘thing’ – is the diversity and multicultural richness of […]
What would I do if I had an hour on top of Antony Gormley’s fourth plinth installation in Trafalgar Square (Voxpop, DW 12 March)?
Last week, you asked the question, ‘With an Olympics body admitting to appointing designers at random, what can Olympics organisers do to improve their relationship with the design industry? (Voxpop, DW 26 March). I would say that selecting anything at random from quantitative data carries a degree of risk. If a surplus of consultancies are […]
I want to reply to Stephen Knowles’ letter in which he argues that the bedroom is no place for product development (DW 19 March). Knowles feels that this business model, mentioned by Jim Dawton (DW 26 February), is ‘at odds with reality’. It isn’t – it is reality. Controversially, Dawton also said, ‘UK consultancy is […]
With regard to your story on Dott Cornwall (News, DW 19 February), we’re lucky to have offices in Cornwall and Bristol, so can view this issue from a local and a national level. Sadly, good design isn’t as obvious in Cornwall’s private and public sectors as in the rest of the UK. Maybe, being a […]
In my youth I was entranced with W Heath Robinson’s fantastic gadgets – not only with the absurdity and complexity of his devices, but with the compelling nature of his illustrations which forced my mind to follow and delight in their workings. Powered by bald, bespectacled gentlemen, forces were ingeniously transmitted through complex pulley arrangements […]
Does the world really need more creatives? Adrian Shaughnessy weighs into the education debate by suggesting designers are well-equipped for any career The education of designers is a perennially hot topic. Among design’s chatterati it’s an issue that’s guaranteed to raise blood pressure as well as hackles. Two unlikely bedfellows have recently chucked petrol on […]
From a rebrand for the Southbank Centre to a visit to Dundee, the UK’s latest cultural hotspot, we round-up the news from the last seven days.
Mather & Co has designed the exhibition, which is set to take a world tour, and incorporated holographic and audio visual technology to create an interactive visitor experience.
The London-based culture and art hub, which is composed of four venues, has been given a new visual identity by studio North, dropping the Wolff Olins branding designed in 2007.
The London-based workspace chain aims to distinguish itself through “hotel-style hospitality” and being free from interruptions such as “people larking about or playing table tennis”.
So Design Consultants has teamed up with fine art photographer Charles Emerson to create a selection of images for this year’s Ilford Opera Festival. As the event is set in the Peto Garden at Ilford Manor, the focus of every image is flowers. Each chosen to symbolise the musical performance they represent, the flowers were […]
Solipsism is the philosophical idea that only the direct mental experience is certain, as things external to one’s own mind cannot be known. In other words: you are the only thing that definitely exists and everything else in the world, from family to forests, might just be your hallucinations. Four years ago, London-based designer Genis […]
For the last 11 years, Penguin Random House UK has put on the Student Design Award, an opportunity for young designers to take an imaginative pop at some of the most timeless book covers ever published. This year, the gauntlet was set across three categories: Adult Fiction Cover Award was To Kill a Mockingbird by […]
Director Layla Atkinson has worked with illustrator Anna Kövecses and animation studio Trunk to create a new advert for home renting and buying company Rightmove. The advert is aimed at renters, and follows the story of a young couple as they go house-hunting, and chancing upon many properties before finding the “perfect” one, says Trunk. […]
Print company Saxoprint is holding a postcard competition that asks creatives to summarise their view of Britain in 2017 through design and illustration. The competition is being judged by a panel led by ex-Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, and shortlisted entries and winners will be revealed in an exhibition on 23 September. The venue is yet […]
Visual Communication students at The Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design have designed a new book of critical and creative writing. Anthology features the writing of the university’s English Literature and Creative Writing students, alongside illustrations and design by Visual Communication students. It aims to be a collection of the school’s “best fiction, poetry, […]
Japanese design consultancy Nendo has created the interiors for a new shop aimed at those with a sweet tooth. A Tes Souhaits! Glace et Chocolat is based in Tokyo, and is the sister shop to patisserie A Tes Souhaits!. The shop features a curved wall made out of various soils, which mimic the effect of […]
Mother Design has completed its first project since joining the BBC’s roster, the branding and campaign for a new BBC Three show. Sorry Not Sorry For Being Me aims to explore the personal identities and “uniqueness” of young people, and enable young viewers to feel comfortable in themselves. The campaign includes print advertising, social media […]
