NB Studio unveils Design Out Crime work

A burglar ant stars in NB Studio’s new branding for Design Out Crime, which aims to convince designers to create crimeresistant products and services.

The Home Office’s Design & Technology Alliance Against Crime worked with the Design Council to appoint and brief NB Studio in March. The consultancy beat four others in a tender to win the project.

‘The branding has to be memorable and appeal to children, politicians and designers alike,’ says NB Studio creative director Alan Dye. The initiative’s name has been shortened from Designing Out Crime as part of the branding exercise.

NB Studio appointed illustrator Patrick Thomas to come up with five icons representing violence in pubs and clubs, personal electronics theft, bullying and theft in schools, business crimes such as shoplifting and housing crimes such as burglary.

The illustrations could be used on brochure covers and posters, but Dye reports that the ant carrying off the ‘out’ in the roundel could become the most important aspect of the branding. Dye envisages an animated ant featuring heavily on the website and perhaps eventually being used as a kitemark on anti-crime products.

A Design Council spokesman reports that the organisation is considering launching a tender for a designer for the website ‘in the next six to eight weeks’.

Alliance member Michael Wolff was creative director of the branding project, working closely with NB Studio to give his feedback, while Alliance leader Sebastian Conran says, ‘The solution is flexible and imaginative, yet appropriate and will allow us to take the initiative into the future.’

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  • Martin Lovegrove November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    That icon has been ripped off from Arthur Baker’s ‘Criminal Records’ label from the 80’s.

    An image can be seen here:

    http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/2138/wallyjumpjrxw1.jpg

    Shame on them.

  • vicki lovegrove November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Amazing! But how funny a logo should be ripped off when the subject is crime. And it was Criminal Records!

    Call the police. Wooo wooo!

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