Design Week Awards 2021 – the shortlist in full
We’re excited to announce the full Awards shortlist below. Stay tuned later in the month for our Winners Showcase, which will be revealed on the site as part of a
Graphics
The latest graphics projects spanning logo design, animation and print, along with interviews with up-and-coming and established graphic designers.
Why designers need to consider accessibility in type
The intricacies of creative projects often pose access challenges for those who struggle to read – how can designers reconcile creativity with accessibility?
Beatport reveals new turntable-inspired logo in brand remix
Swedish design studio Kurppa Hosk has worked with the DJ platform on its first identity update since 2012, which launches alongside its first-ever app.
A new Peter Blake book is designed to celebrate the artist’s “DNA and essence”
Peter Blake: Collage incorporates around 30 typefaces – many bespoke or customised – in an attempt to create a playful approach to the artist’s work.
Illustrators unite in support of #StopAsianHate
A total of 19 international illustrators have been brought together for the project, which aims to “represent, humanise and tell the stories” of Asian people.
This online platform is designed to let you imagine the future of London
Created by Studio Cronica for think tank Centre for London, Your Future London allows the city dwellers to have a say in the capital’s future.
CineCov brand from Wieden+Kennedy inspired by “the essence of cinema”
Part of Coventry’s UK City of Culture celebrations, the film festival will launch this summer with the aim of turning “the whole city into a cinema”.
Designers are helping hard seltzer brands reach millennial and Gen-Z audiences
As the seltzer drinks sector becomes mainstream, design studios are tapping into ‘fauxstalgia’ and gender-neutral branding to appeal to a younger audience.
JKR rebrands Stonewall to usher in “a new era of bold activism and pride”
The project has been worked on via the studio’s philanthropic arm, the JKR Foundation, and aims to showcase the charity as “the leader it is”.
Uncommon designs cookbook cover that can be planted and eaten
The studio has designed the cover for plant-based food brand Merchant Gourmet, and hopes the project will help change consumer food habits.
Shelter reveals activism-inspired rebrand from Superunion
The brand consultancy’s update for Shelter takes the homelessness charity back to its early days of grassroots campaigning.
D&AD Awards 2021 winners showcase work with “social purpose”
This year, the awards included three Black Pencils and touched on issues ranging from transgender and nonbinary rights to Black Lives Matter.
Remembering Ken Garland: “A man you quickly run out of words to describe”
Looking back at the life of the British graphic designer, writer and photographer whose work impacted not only the design industry but also education.
Design inspiration: the best projects from May
Some of our favourite projects this month include illustrations for poet Thomas Hardy and a colourful basketball court in Canary Wharf.
Templo’s illustrative identity for Crowdfund London resists “stuffy” clichés
The design studio has leaned into the community-focused elements of the organisation’s work with a “friendly” visual identity.
Fox’s Glacier Mints update Peppy the polar bear in “retro-progressive” rebrand
Derek&Eric has put Peppy the polar bear front and centre of the new identity, with details inspired by the brand’s 100-year-old design history.
Designers and artists unite to remember weird and wonderful Euros moments
The likes of David Shrigley and Chris Simpson have each recalled their favourite moment from the football competition, turning them into beer mats for charity.
Unboxing the Design Museum’s blockbuster sneakers exhibition
Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street charts the rise of sports shoe, with exhibition design from InterestingProjects and graphics by Studio LP.
Design Bridge crafts “hedonistic” identity for new rosé brand The Pale
The London studio has created a 1920s-inspired visual identity and bespoke bottle structure for the latest line from Sacha Lichine.
DesignStudio rebrands Mind with focus on social change
The project has been in the works for more than a year, and includes a sensitive redrawing of the “iconic and truly loved” scribble logo.
Notorious Nooch branding aims to reflect how vegans are eating today
The product and its branding are the brainchild of Wildish & Co design studio, and aims to bring the category’s branding “out of the 80s”.
Behind the Anonymous mask: how V for Vendetta created a timeless symbol of protest
A new exhibition at the Cartoon Museum reveals the history of 1980s graphic novel V for Vendetta and how its signature design endures today.
Pinterest reveals a new “democratic and optimistic” visual identity
Designed with Made Thought studio, the future-facing look for the image sharing platform seeks to embrace “humanity” and resist tech clichés.
Nissen Richards designs gallery and branding for Wordsworth museum
Finished just in time for museums to reopen to the public on 17 May, the project uses the “local details” of the poet’s work to form the visitor experience.