The Central Saint Martins degree show

It looks to be another strong year particularly for the illustration course, with a huge range of beautiful, clever and playful projects on show.

We loved the Granary Complex typeface designed by Matt Taylor. Based on the new CSM campus, architectural drawings were used to created the proportions of the lettering, with other details of the building such as the window arches incorporated into the style of the typeface.

Combining psychology, board games and beautiful design, Noura Assaf’s Pyramid of Needs game looks to investigate the boundaries between life and games – and whether there is, in fact, much difference. The rules are inspired by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs , representing how ‘in life we are constantly part of a game trying to satisfy our basic human needs’, says Assaf.

We were instantly drawn in by MA Communication Design student Andrew Bentley’s project, which questions if our morality is up for sale. Turns out that (at least according to Bentley’s study)  for the most part, it isn’t. His research says that‘82 per cent of time people choose the moral solution over the economic one’. Clearly he surveyed 200 very nice people.

The rather hipppyish but nonetheless very charming Hugged project by Hanna Bischof is one that DW can definitely see catching on, thanks to the simplicity of the core idea and its cute emotional resonance. Users daub their chests in paint, then simply hug their friend or partner to form a sort of colourful cuddle mark on a plain white T-shirt.

‘The overall intention of this project was to create a more intimate form of design’, says Bischof. ‘Due to the application of colour onto one’s body the intimate moment of a hug can be captured.’

Another sweet idea is Anna K Chayasatit’s interactive magazine project. Exploring how print magazines can evolve in a post-digital age, Chayasatit’s Aesthete publication takes a single seasonally-appropriate ingredient for each issue, with placements that unfold to reveal information about the ingredient, recipes and other interactive components.

From the Product Design show, the problem-solving Helix Bus Pole by Marwa Khalil really caught our eye. The twisted pole means that people who prefer not to touch the bus supports for fear of germs means can stand with the crook of their arms around the pole, remaining supported but less fearful of the spread of bus-borne nasties.

Another solution that takes perhaps unglamorous everyday issues and creates a neat design solution is James Parker’s Sink Washer – a kitchen sink and dishwasher all in one small, slick unit, looking to solve the issues of the increasingly cramped spaces city-dwellers are finding themselves living in.

Central Saint Martins is located at The Granary Building, 1 Granary Square, King’s Cross London NC1. See www.csm.arts.ac.uk/degree-shows-2013for more information