Interaction design event This Happened will take place this month at the Design Overtime festival, held at the Design Museum.This Happened is a series of talks aimed at opening up a dialogue and creating a greater understanding of the stories behind multimedia and interaction design.The project encourages people to share information on concepts and production […]
UK contemporary art gallery Haunch of Venison is making its first foray into the US market, with the opening of a space designed by Steven Learner Studio.It is Haunch of Venison’s first major venture since being controversially acquired by international auction house Christie’s last year.Final touches are being put to the 1860m2 exhibition space located […]
New York’s iconic Morgans Hotel will next month unveil a contemporary new look created by interior designer Andrée Putman.The French designer first crafted the Madison Avenue site’s dramatic black-and-white interior back in 1983, forging the brand’s reputation for design-led, understated chic within the luxury hotel market.Putman’s latest redesign remains faithful to the hotel’s trademark monochrome […]
Long dominated by shabby chic, low-key interiors, Berlin’s retailers have lately adopted a wittier design aesthetic. John Stones takes a look at Geometry, a new menswear store which features a ‘mad professor’ look with a skeletal twistThink Berlin and a certain alternative style comes to mind. From the subcultures that developed in Kreuzberg to the […]
What, exactly, is a bridge for? Crossing some obstruction to get from one point to another, in a functional kind of way? Don’t be so naive. These days bridges are high-design objects, collaborations between architects and engineers. They frequently meander and incorporate seating and look-out platforms – like the new Castleford bridge, following the course […]
Cast, blown, etched, engraved, slumped, fused – glass offers designers huge scope for decorative and functional forms, and that excludes its architectural potential. With several recent exhibitions and innovative, eye-catching graduate work, Hannah Booth wonders if this area is fast becoming the hottest creative disciplineBlame Swarovski if you like, but years after the trend for […]
Excess is a byword in rock’n’roll, but in these eco-conscious times can concert lighting still make an impact without damaging the planet? Bands like Radiohead are taking the lead with hi-tech LEDs to achieve more with less, says Nick SmurthwaiteAfter years of profligacy, rock concert designers and promoters are finding eco-friendly ways of mounting shows […]
The issue of free-pitching has again raised its head. As the national strategic body for design, we are opposed to free-pitching and always ensure that whenever we commission creative work, it is paid for. Through programmes such as Designing Demand, we actively and unambiguously promote best practice. However, what is more troubling from discussions in […]
As reported in ‘Criminal opportunities’ (DW 10 July), Sebastian Conran of the Home Office’s Design and Technology Alliance says design can tackle broader crime-related issues including youth and knife crime. Since time immemorial, the designer and thief have been in a cat-and-mouse game outwitting and out-innovating each other. We have all benefited from this and […]
Sustainable Development Commission chairman Jonathon Porritt says designers must cure themselves of ‘client dependency syndrome’ to further sustainable design. Is CDS debilitating, and what is the remedy? As an industry we have, for too long, hidden behind the excuse of not having the time or resources to learn about sustainability. Our clients face some very […]
While agreeing with the Design Business Association and the Chartered Society of Designers about changing the culture of free-pitching being an accepted norm, Anti Copying In Design is aware that critics might say it’s easy for design bodies to take the moral high ground. A potential pot of gold is always tempting, but beware – […]
Finding the unique, noticing the ignored and looking where others do not dare are some of the pointers that can help crack a design problem. The adventure of travelling to the places we visit to discover a solution can make for an exciting journey, opening new horizons and places for design thinking in the process; […]
The Department for Education has confirmed plans for 90% of students in state-run schools to take the English Baccalaureate qualification by 2025, which campaigners say leaves “no room” for art and design.
Marina Willer has created a logo, which draws on the recognisable forms of the Barbican’s Brutalist architecture.
A revamped Natural History Museum was unveiled, art and design university applications fell dramatically and Sky Sports got a new look – the design news from the last seven days.
The bank has revealed plans to introduce the biometric authentication technology – which is believed to be more secure than existing features such as fingerprint sensors – to its mobile banking app.
Denmark-based studio Kontrapunkt has redesigned the packaging for Carlsberg’s Black Gold lager. The new packaging nods to the brand’s historic Black Gold bottles, with more saturated black and golden colours than the previous design. Kontrapunkt has also added a black top cap to the packaging to help the beer stand out on the shelves. The […]
Pentagram partner Michael Bierut has led a project to design a new visual identity for non-profit publisher the Poetry Foundation. The rebrand encompasses the foundation’s logo, print materials and magazine Poetry, and coincides with the redesign of its website by Chicago-based consultancy Fuzzy Math. The new identity looks to retain the support of existing poetry […]
Architect and academic Steve Bowkett is set to release the latest book in his Archidoodle series. Archidoodle: Architects’ Activity Postcards features 20 postcards of illustrations from the author’s Archidoodle and Archidoodle City books. Featured illustrations include bridge designs and futuristic cityscapes, which can be coloured in, doodled on and sent on to loved ones. The […]
Creatives including Jake and Dinos Champan and John Cooper Clarke have created a series of posters for a global campaign called Time for Outrage! The campaign is based on the book Indignez-Vous! (Time for Outrage!) by the late author and French Resistance member Stéphane Hessel, and asks artists and members of the public to express […]
Consultancy Hue & Cry has created the visual identity for a new, French bar in Bethnal Green, East London. Coupette – which means to have a “cheeky one” in French – looks to bring lesser-known French drinks such as Calvados, cidre and poiré to London. Hue & Cry’s identity for the bar is inspired by […]
Architecture lecturer Mollie Claypool is set to release a new book about the life and work of 20th century Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. This is Gaudi features colourful illustrations by London-based designer Christina Christoforou, and highlights the architect’s most famous projects such as the Sagrada Familia and Casa Mila, along with some of his lesser-known […]
Hampshire Cultural Trust – which looks after more than 20 museums and art centres across the county – is leading a new cultural initiative commissioning creatives to create textile designs inspired by the history of the surrounding area. The Arts Council-funded Creative Commercial Collections project sees institutions such as Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton […]
ECE Architecture has teamed up with designer Creative Forager to create a 1,000m2 typographic mural on a brutalist, multistorey car park in Worthing, UK. The reimagined car park has been spray-painted in an array of bright colours by street artist Ricky Also, who went through roughly 600 cans of spray paint in seven days to […]
