News in brief round-up

Consultancy Salon Edesia has created the branding and interiors for Kurobuta – a ‘rock and roll Japanese pub’ in London. The designs are based around the culture of Japanese drinking establihsments –  or iakayas – with materials including plywood, oak, slate, rope and steel

StartJG was commissioned by brand management company the Pentland Group to create three separate feature shows for Red or Dead, KangaROOS and Ellesse at the Group’s London headquarters. The space is split into five areas: one each for Red or Dead and KangaROOS, two for Ellesse, and a shared meet, greet and work space.

Lumsden Design has created an interactive exhibition to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of John Lewis, at the retailer’s Oxford Street branch. The exhibition features a recreation of the odour of a 19^th Century draper’s shop, film, graphics, sound. Visitors enter the exhibition through the doors of the original 1864 draper’s shop to a recreation of the original haberdashery interior, which the Lumsden design team based on a surviving illustration.

Aloof has created a new website for Mexican interior design studio Gloria Cortina, www.gloriacortina.mx, also working on a strategic re-brand and identity, corporate stationery and image art-direction for the company.

Pencil Studio has designed new branding and packaging for The London Tea Company, aiming to ‘inject some “city” back into the brand’. The packs show illustrations of a London skyline, and show typical London characters including a commuter and a busker.

Illustration duo Kai & Sunny has released a new print – Smashed Dandy – which is available from the website www.kaiandsunny.com. The design has been created in silver and gold.

Cog has designed the marketing and promotional materials for the Crafts Council’s Collect show, which takes place at the Saatchi Gallery this weekend. The consultancy designed the event’s invitations, leaflets, industry-facing and public-facing press ads and competition cards and survey sheets.

Chinese calligrapher Ling Dong Wang has designed the logo for the new China Design Centre, which opened at the The Building Centre in central London last week. The permanent exhibition and event space will show contemporary design emerging from China.

Bloomberg has launched the Bloomberg Hub at London City Airport, a technology-driven space comprising a Media Panel, Media Ticker, Media Wall and Lounge showing relevant news, data and information, which the brand says will ‘make the business traveller¹s journey more productive, more efficient and more enjoyable’. The space will remain at the airport for three years.

Riz Shaikh has created the interiors for The Blues Kitchen’s new branch in Shoreditch, east London. The space features a centerpiece island bar, built by specialist tilers, Craven Dunhill Jackfield. The branding has been designed in-house by creative director Liam Hart.

Small Back Room has been appointed by the National Army Museum to for a visual communications and repositioning project to support its major redevelopment project, Building for the Future. The National Army Museum closed its doors this week for a complete refurbishment, and will re-open in 2017.

Colin McKenzie has been announced as the director of the House of Illustration. McKenzie has previously worked with organisations including the Barbican Centre, the National Gallery and the Charleston Trust, where he was Director from 2006 to 2013.

Branding consultancy Jack Morton is acquiring Genuine Interactive, a digital, mobile and social consultancy based in Boston, US. Genuine Interactive will maintain its brand and offices in Boston’s South End, but will join Jack Morton as a fully-owned division.