Briefs

Forget any notions of the stuffiness of English Heritage.These postcards illustrated by Bill Dare and designed by Furneaux Stewart are of the old school of ho-ho humour worthy of Viz character Finbarr Saunders of double entendres fame. They were handed out at English Heritage’s stand at recent party political conferences in Brighton. The consultancy, which also designed the stand, created cut-out comic seaside characters for delegates to put their heads through. What rib-ticklers Furneaux Stewart must be.

Its chipper for new bloc kids

Furniture designer Rob Melville graduated in 1994 from Ravensbourne College of Design and Communications.

Then he got depression: “There was no work. I was going to go abroad,” a sombre Melville told Diary earlier this year.

But Melville (above left) never lost belief in his talent – and at last he is being showered with garlands by the Crafts Council.

Its Edward Marshall Trust launched a competition to design chairs for the council’s new lecture theatre. Melville and product designer James Duncan Cannon won with their chair made of Dufaylite honeycomb, a material originally used for aircraft which is feather-light and eco-friendly.

The boys are now forming their own company, Byproduct, and Melville’s faith in life is restored.

Getting back to where they belong

The life of Fishburn Hedges chief executive Neil Hedges is strawberry fields forever…

Hedges “really loves” the Beatles, so to celebrate the launch of The Beatles Anthology series, he persuaded the other founding consultancy directors to recreate the Abbey Road album cover.

They trekked to the famous zebra crossing in London’s Saint John’s Wood. “We went from left to right in order of our full name, Fishburn Hedges Boys Williams,” says Hedges, who took Paul McCartney’s place in the foursome.

Unfortunately for him, Paul had bare feet, and it was this winter’s coldest day so far. “It was bloody freezing,” he says.

The only acknowledgement of modernity Hedges conceded was to replace the cigarette in Paul’s right hand with a mobile phone.

He stood out at the 25th anniversary party of the Abbey Road cover as the only person to wear a suit. “We’re not really a bunch of ageing rockers,” emphasises Hedges.

Cowhouse beats the doghouse

How now?

This calf is about to enter his very own house, sensitively designed in a black and white pattern by Priestman Associates to “make him feel at home”. (How did they know he was a he?)

“Newborn calves are very delicate, they need to retreat to somewhere away from the herd to build up their resistance to disease,” says designer Alex Tatic. Don’t we all?

The client was Northern Irish manufacturer Farm Quip.

But was the calf fooled? If he thought this was his mum, he’s a silly young moo.

Guns and gorgeous women; it’s enough to make a feminist weep. This is the stuff of the title sequence of new James Bond film

GoldenEye, designed by Daniel Kleinman of production company Limelight with special effects from FrameStore. ‘We wanted to show the breakdown of the Russian communist regime and an atmosphere of everyone for themselves,’ says FrameStore senior effects designer Rob Duncan. The sickle in this image is from a scene showing statues being torn down, and the GoldenEye of the title is a doomsday device to blow up the world. 007 to the rescue!