Design Week articles from February 2009

Design Week archives from February 2009

PPA picks Anderson Norton to realign brand for digital era.
February 5, 2009... The Periodical Publishers Association has appointed Anderson Norton Design Associates to revamp its brand identity. The London consultancy won an unpaid three-way creative pitch in December, following an invitation to tender from PPA chief...

'Recessionary pressures' force R&D&Co out of business.(Brief article)
February 5, 2009... R&D&Co has this week closed its doors and ceased trading. The east London consultancy - which has been running for five years, and in which time has notched up high-profile clients including The Old Vic and the London Design Festival and...

Red Bee Media has rebranded UKTV People.(Brief article)
February 5, 2009... Red Bee Media has rebranded UKTV People ready for its relaunch as UKTV Blighty on 17 February. Carrying the strapline 'One nation under a channel', Blighty will address issues of British identity. Red Bee's four launch idents will celebrate...

Scott parts company with Saffron.
February 5, 2009... Saffron global creative director Eric Scott has left the branding group after a 'mutual agreement that the working relationship was incompatible', according to Saffron principal Ian Stephens. Scott arrived at Saffron about a year ago,...

Pete and Tom develops interface for mobile banking.
February 5, 2009... The interface and identity for Mobank, a digital service that will allow customers to pay bills and buy products through their mobile handsets, is being developed by broadcast group Pete and Tom. Mobank, set to launch later this month, will...

Dalziel & Pow creates identity for Mom & Me.
February 5, 2009... Dalziel & Pow has created the identity and retail environment for Mom & Me, an Indian mother-and-child retail brand, for Indian conglomerate Mahindra and Mahindra. The identity and interiors will be rolled out to a flagship store in Delhi in...

Four IV completes Trinidad hotel brief.
February 5, 2009... Four IV has styled interiors for the Carlton Savannah hotel in Trinidad, set to open in April. A surge in commercial travellers to the West Indies because of a booming local oil industry has resulted in a shortage of business accommodation...

Mytton Williams designs latest series of Footprint travel guides.(Brief article)
February 5, 2009... Mytton Williams has designed the latest in the series of Footprint travel guides. The first four titles in the new Footprint Italy series will be launched at the London Book Fair in April. Mytton Williams has worked with the publisher since...

Defected hires Big Active to create 'iconic' new look.
February 5, 2009... Big Active is rebranding house music record label Defected, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The consultancy was appointed last November following a paid creative pitch, having previously discussed working with...

Holy Cow gets 'upmarket eccentric' logo.
February 5, 2009... London group HGV Design has created a new identity for organic dairy Holy Cow. HGV was commissioned to the work by independent branding consultant Tim Watson, who was working with client Geoff Sayers, owner of organic dairy farm Carswell...

Project Orange designs Fitzwilliam Hotel Belfast.
February 5, 2009... Project Orange has designed the five-star Fitzwilliam Hotel Belfast, which is set to open in March. The hotel will feature 130 guestrooms, six studio suites and a two-bedroom penthouse overlooking Belfast city centre. Copyright: Centaur...

Interbrand appoints Ward to push business opportunities.(Simon Ward appointed as business development director)(Brief article)
February 5, 2009... Interbrand has appointed Simon Ward to the role of business development director, a new post on the board which will look at driving new business. Ward is former chief executive of Pleon UK, and was co-founder and managing director of...

IN BRIEF: Northbank designs The Green Book.(Brief article)
February 5, 2009... Bath-based consultancy Northbank has designed The Green Book, which outlines the environmental credentials of the Chiswick Place development, for developer Stanhope. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

COMMENT: Design degrees open many doors - not just in the field.(Viewpoint essay)
February 5, 2009... It was only a matter of time before the number of graduates hoping to enter design each year was raised in the context of the economic downturn. It is not a new concern that colleges are issuing design degrees at a rate of knots, but the...

Uniform positions Liverpool bespoke sofa manufacturer.
February 5, 2009... Emerging furniture design group Aura is poised to launch its brand identity, designed by Liverpool-based consultancy Uniform Communications. The bespoke sofa manufacturer, also based in Liverpool, appointed Uniform last summer on the...

Brandhouse pushes chateau appeal for luxury tea collection.
February 5, 2009... Brandhouse has designed the branding and packaging for a tea collection from luxury start-up Chateau Rouge. Chateau Rouge founder Sean Farrell appointed Brandhouse after searching the Internet for consultancies and looking at the group's...

Conference set to look at the future of design teaching.(Conference news)
February 5, 2009... With controversy continuing to swirl around former Landor Europe and Fitch managing director Ian Cochrane's recommendation in Design Week (News in Depth, 29 January) that design students 'get out' of a sector that 'does not need' them, the...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Nile Comedy to go live in February.
February 5, 2009... Kemistry's branding and idents for Egyptian TV channel Nile Comedy will go live this month, after the new station's launch was delayed due to the crisis in Gaza. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

NEWS IN PICTURES: Brandopus devises name and design for Scrummie.
February 5, 2009... Brandopus has devised the name and packaging design for Northern Foods' launch of Scrummie, a range of sponge puddings. The sticky handprint is intended to evoke childhood memories of home baking. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd....

NEWS IN PICTURES: Paper-cut lampshades.
February 5, 2009... Paper-cut lampshades made from recycled paper and created by designer Yu Jordy Fu will form part of Hidden Art's line-up at the Milan furniture fair, from 22-27 April. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

NEWS IN PICTURES: Gift Card for Pizza Hut.
February 5, 2009... Bath-based copywriting and design consultancy Walker Jansseune has designed Pizza Hut's first Gift Card, which is this week being distributed across UK restaurants, at Clinton Cards stores and at WH Smith outlets. Copyright: Centaur...

ANALYSIS: The PC's dead. Long live the PC.(GDrive is commuting services introduces by Google Inc)
February 5, 2009... Google Drive may end hardware-performance anxiety, but our libidinal tech desires will see the computer surviving in other forms, says Emily Pacey We could all soon be living in an Orwellian nightmare in which individuality disappears -...

PRIVATE VIEW: It's an insurance job.
February 5, 2009... With its name change trumpeted in a slick TV campaign, Norwich Union has fallen prey to the worst excesses of the cult of branding, says Adrian Shaughnessy Norwich Union is spending a lot of money telling us it wants to be called Aviva....

INSPIRED: Tony Enoch.
February 5, 2009... Tony Enoch Nude It was 1979, and I loved Two-Tone. It wasn't just the sound, it was the pure simplicity of it all. At a time of racial tension and inner-city riots, Two-Tone offset with a fusion of post-punk and Jamaican Ska. The...

LETTER: Travelodge hotel in a container - it's not new, or bijou.(Letter to the editor)
February 5, 2009... I think the Travelodge shipping container hotel concept (www.designweek.co.uk, 22 January), is fascinating, and certainly not new. There are many companies working with freight container developments - Lot-Ek, for example, has created a...

VOXPOP: What advice would you give to students?(Viewpoint essay)
February 5, 2009... What advice would you give to students hoping to break into the industry in the current economic situation? Don't panic. Think laterally. If the conventional openings aren't there right now, then take on work that shows the right attitude...

LETTER: Design needs new blood, so don't put people off.(Letter to the editor)
February 5, 2009... I have to pick Ian Cochrane up on his sweeping statement that we should discourage people from entering the design industry (News in Depth, DW 29 January). Of course, he's right that job opportunities are few, and times are bleaker than...

LETTER: Don't get out of design - just broaden your horizon.(Letter to the editor)
February 5, 2009... I thought that my quotes in Emily Pacey's News in Depth (DW 29 January) could possibly be misconstrued, and I want to set the record straight. Graduates are an extremely valuable part of the industry and they make a valuable contribution...

LETTER: Design can only go so far in redeeming irresponsible banks.(Letter to the editor)
February 5, 2009... Do customers really see retail bank brands in Lego brick terms (Goodwill hunting, DW 15 January)? The truth is probably more like 'the shifty one', 'the greedy one', 'the unstable one' and 'the nationalised one'. Some brands' tones...

PROFILE: Mark Major.(Speirs and Major Associates)
February 5, 2009... Mark Major, co-founder of 'lighting architecture' group Speirs and Major Associates, sees a bright future. He tells Anna Richardson why there will always be a role for his profession, even in an economic downturn What do the new grand...

RETAIL INTERIORS: Interior journeys.
February 5, 2009... Foreign retailers are keen to exploit the globally admired expertise of UK designers. Maeve Hosea talks to creatives who have dealt with the challenges of working in four very different regions A SAVVY fashion consumer in a high-end...

ILLUSTRATION: Starlingly real.(Three dimensional illustration)
February 5, 2009... With its delight in the grotesque and its echoes of childish play, 3D illustration in the digital era offers a sense of heightened reality that artists and advertisers alike find hard to resist. Anna Richardson reports THERE'S something...

BUSINESS INSIGHT: From contact to contract.
February 5, 2009... There's one golden rule consultancies should know about pitches and credentials meetings: make each encounter count, says Shan Preddy Even in a rising economy, credentials meetings and competitive pitches can be scary. In a recession, we...

REVIEW: Agitpop.(Brief article)
February 5, 2009... By Anna Richardson Many designers consider themselves artists too, but Mauro Perucchetti went from running an international design and architectural practice to becoming a successful professional artist, conjuring work of candy-...

PUBLISHING & DESIGN: Foreword.
February 5, 2009... Things are changing fast in publishing. Like other sectors it is buffeted by the rigours of recession, but it was already going through fundamental shifts with long-term implications, whatever the economic climate. Those shifts centre on the...

PUBLISHING & DESIGN: Cover rebel.(Interview)
February 5, 2009... When he stepped into the role of Penguin Press art director in 2001, Jim Stoddart joined a publishing house with an illustrious design heritage. Anna Richardson talks to him about his early days - and gets a glimpse of his upcoming projects...

PUBLISHING & DESIGN: New Classics on the block.(republishing Modern Classics series)(Brief article)
February 5, 2009... Last year, Penguin republished its Modern Classics series, redesigning 500 covers. Jim Stoddart explains the thinking behind the relaunch. 'When you've got 500 books, they're always going to look like a series, but there's something about...

PUBLISHING & DESIGN: Page views.
February 5, 2009... Freesheets and free online content are slowly killing off the paid-for daily. Mike Dempsey suspects it's only a matter of time before newspaper sales atrophy - though no cyber experience can equal the pleasure of quality weekend supplements...

PUBLISHING & DESIGN: Rough gems.
February 5, 2009... Where do you turn for unbridled creativity when the mainstream press doesn't feel sufficiently cutting-edge? Yolanda Zappaterra offers a quick guide to the more obscure corners of the indie magazine scene Who buys mainstream magazines...

PUBLISHING & DESIGN: Fan appeal.
February 5, 2009... Books that tie in with TV shows are big business these days - often they are bestsellers with high production values. But there are many ways of capturing the imagination of a seemingly captive audience through design, argues Anna Richardson...

PUBLISHING & DESIGN: Going skinny.
February 5, 2009... The pressure is on for websites to deliver the goods quickly, rather than divert or show off. Michael Johnson charts the current drift towards increasing simplicity and ease of navigation in Web design, creating sites that work on mobiles...

Priestman Goode creates new first class cabin suite for Swiss.
February 12, 2009... Priestman Goode has designed the new first class suite for airline Swiss. The suite will enter service in April as part of the airline's new first class cabin. This is in conjunction with a fleet renewal programme that will see...

Health Design and Technology Institute develop toothbrush design.
February 12, 2009... Coventry University Health Design and Technology Institute is developing this toothbrush design, devised by retired dentist Tony Hodgkison. The handle is intended to be used with an interchangeable brush head, and is designed to encourage a...

Ray Armes returns with a Touch of Mojo.(consultancy Vibrandt reorganized its management)(Brief article)
February 12, 2009... Former Vibrandt chairman Ray Armes has this week resurfaced with his own consultancy, Touch of Mojo. The branding and packaging consultancy is based in London's Richmond and will be developed around a 'media-neutral offer', with the...

Land Design Studio unveils music experience at The O2.
February 12, 2009... Land Design Studio has revealed details of The O2 British Music Experience, a #9m permanent digital interactive exhibition due to open at London's former Millennium Dome in March. Occupying a 2000m2 space on level two of The O2 bubble, BME...

Science Museum to host F1 exhibition.
February 12, 2009... London's Science Museum is set to host an exhibition looking at how Formula One technology can be applied outside the racetrack. Fast Forward: 20 Ways F1 is Changing Our World opens on 11 March, ahead of the Australian Grand Prix on 29...

Consultancies in line for Butlins and Pontin's resort upgrade.
February 12, 2009... Holiday camp operators Butlins and Pontin's are investing millions of pounds to upgrade their facilities, providing interior design groups with a chance to modernise chalets and work on new types of accommodation. Butlins is due to open...

Direct Design creates book to accompany Desconocida.
February 12, 2009... Direct Design has created a book to accompany the Desconocida: Unknown exhibition, which runs at the University for the Creative Arts, Epsom, until 22 March. The project, by Norwegian artist Lise Bjorne Linnert, is a response to the...

Government must boost investment in R&D, says.(Industrial research)
February 12, 2009... Sir James Dyson is recommending a raft of measures to support product design and manufacturing in the UK, including easing the cost of long- term investment in new product development. Dyson, who recently announced a donation of #5m to the...

Designmap unveils #1m Darwin show.(Brief article)
February 12, 2009... A #1m permanent exhibition, created for English Heritage by Designmap to mark Charles Darwin's birth 150 years ago, opens tomorrow at Down House, Downe, Kent. The exhibition, in the house where Darwin spent most of his life after his...

Michael Peters distils new label for Ivan the Terrible vodka.
February 12, 2009... Michael Peters & Partners is rebranding vodka label Ivan the Terrible. The appointment is the first to be officially announced by Michael Peters & Partners, the branding guru's third consultancy, set up last December. Peters says...

Studio Levien to launch new designs at Ambiente show.
February 12, 2009... London-based Studio Levien is launching a new range of designs at the Ambiente Frankfurt show, which opens on Saturday. These include the Green Garland, for Villeroy & Boch, and the Hula Hoop mugs, for Guzzini. Copyright: Centaur...

IN BRIEF: 999 designs campaign for A Night Less Ordinary project.(Brief article)
February 12, 2009... 999 has designed the campaign for Arts Council England's A Night Less Ordinary project, which will give away free theatre tickets to people under the age of 26. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

COMMENT: Let's ensure Government gets full picture of design.
February 12, 2009... We would have alerted you last week to the fact that design is once more attracting attention in high places, with the Treasury again taking a keen interest. We might have courted your opinions ahead of a Design Summit hosted by Exchequer...

Mark Studio brands sexual rights group Free & Equal.
February 12, 2009... Mark Studio has created the identity and supporting visual materials for the imminent launch of sexual rights support organisation Free & Equal. The start-up, which, through financial and networking support, helps groups in developing...

McFaul creates giant shopping centre wrap in Beirut for ABC.
February 12, 2009... McFaul is illustrating one of the world's largest advertising spaces, a building wrap for the ABC Dbayeh flagship department store in Beirut, Lebanon. The design group was appointed about a month ago by the Middle East shopping mall and...

Business leaders say rebranding is key to recovery.
February 12, 2009... A majority of UK companies see a successful rebrand as a key way of weathering the recession, according to new research. Implementation, Rebranding and Design, a report commissioned by branding consultancy the Principle Group, surveyed 250...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Collect to take place in the Saatchi Gallery.
February 12, 2009... Collect, the Crafts Council's annual international fair, will take place at the Saatchi Gallery in London on 15-17 May. It will feature work by more than 300 designers and artists, including Miriam Hanid, Joe Hogan, Michael Geertsen and...

NEWS IN PICTURES: The Cornwall Hotel to open.
February 12, 2009... The Cornwall Hotel, Spa & Estate opens on 14 February, featuring 22 woodland holiday homes designed by architect AWW. A total of 60 homes are planned for the site, near the Eden Project in Cornwall. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd....

NEWS IN PICTURES: Ron Arad to present latest design-art creations.
February 12, 2009... Ron Arad will present his latest design-art creations, including chairs made from bronze and stainless steel rods, at the New Works exhibition, which runs from 8 April to 9 May at London's Timothy Taylor Gallery. Copyright: Centaur...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Creative Edge designs card game.(Brief article)
February 12, 2009... Cornish consultancy Creative Edge has designed a card game that aims to raise the career aspirations of primary and secondary school children. The consultancy has worked with education charity Ablaze and sponsor GE to create the teaching...

ANALYSIS: In the public interest.
February 12, 2009... Opinion is split over the ethics of public design competitions. Are they good for the profession, or a form of free-pitching? Angus Montgomery reports It goes without saying that public design competitions will never have majority backing...

PRIVATE VIEW: A novel concept.(Viewpoint essay)
February 12, 2009... E-books may be the future, but as a way of revisiting the classics - and your own past - they'll never beat a cheap, second-hand volume, says Hugh Pearman My copy of Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit is the Chapman & Hall Popular Edition...

INSPIRED: Dean Johnson.(Graphic artists)(Viewpoint essay)(Brief article)
February 12, 2009... Dean Johnson Brandwidth 'So who or what inspires you?' This used to be a regular question wheeled out for art college assessments or job interviews. As a graphic designer I was always expected to respond with a pre-selected luminary from...

LETTER: British, Green, 50-something and proud of it.(Letter to the editor)
February 12, 2009... Thank you kindly for Vitsoe's inclusion in the Hot 50 (DW 29 January). It is reassuring to see an old war-horse catching your eye. You mention that we 'import', and you refer to 'shelving distributed by Vitsoe UK'. If I may, I would like...

VOXPOP: How should Woolworths launch in online arena?
February 12, 2009... How should an iconic high street brand such as Woolworths launch itself in the online arena? It was my daughter's ninth birthday in January and, man, did we miss Woolworths. It should go back to its roots - a value variety store, but...

LETTER: Consultancies mustn't sacrifice new blood.(Letter to the editor)
February 12, 2009... Ticegroup managing director Ian Cochrane's sweeping message to design students to flee the design industry was clearly a narrow view, based on the current over-supply in a downturn economy (News in Depth, DW 29 January). There is an...

LETTER: That's how design can best move forward.(Letter to the editor)
February 12, 2009... It seems odd and demotivating to print your article on staff costs without featuring a younger perspective on the argument (News in Depth, DW 29 January). 'Get rid of those who aren't pulling their weight,' says Ian Cochrane. What is he...

LETTER: Public-sector work is about more than just procurement.(Letter to the editor)
February 12, 2009... I enjoyed reading Gerry Postlethwaite's article on public-sector procurement, and agree with his views (Business Insight, DW 15 January). However, design in the public sector should be about social change, improving lives and design for...

PROFILE: Jo Bird.
February 12, 2009... With books set to move into the digital era with e-readers, bookbinders such as Jo Bird are fighting a rearguard action by creating exquisite, hand-crafted limited editions. Trish Lorenz talks to her One aspect of our cultural world that...

CAR MUSEUMS: Car cathedrals.
February 12, 2009... The credit crunch may be curtailing car fans' ability to buy their dream vehicles, but it doesn't stop them worshipping their favourite brands. Guy Bird looks at prestige marques that have built imposing display spaces, and visits the newest...

PHOTOGRAPHY: Deutsche quartet.
February 12, 2009... Rewarding the most significant contribution to photography during the past year is no straightforward matter. Design Week considers the diversity of the nominees for the Deutsche Borse prize - and stops short of picking a favourite A...

BUSINESS INSIGHT: Don't make life complicated.(Market positioning)(Viewpoint essay)
February 12, 2009... Finding the right treatment for a global brief is a challenge for any copywriter, but the simplest solutions are often the most successful, says Mark Shaw Whether it's down to cost-savings or the desire for consistency, clients are...

REVIEW: Art for the masses.(Brief article)
February 12, 2009... By Anna Richardson The Russian Revolution gave birth to many movements, with Constructivism one of the most active forces to emerge. Rarely is an artistic movement so closely linked to socio-political circumstance, and in a new exhibition...

Design Council and Cornwall start planning for 2010 Dott.
February 19, 2009... Plans are being put together for next year's Designs of the Time programme, which will take place in Cornwall. David Godber, deputy chief executive of the Design Council, says a number of potential projects for Dott Cornwall and the Isles...

A reconstruction of Cabanon going on display.
February 19, 2009... A reconstruction of the interior of the Cabanon, a holiday home built by architect Le Corbusier, is going on display at the Royal Institute of British Architects, London W1, from 5 March to 28 April. It coincides with The Art of...

Music exam board given new identity.(Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music contracts with Jane Wentworth Associates )(Brief article)
February 19, 2009... 300million and Jane Wentworth Associates have created the new identity for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, which will now be referred to as ABRSM. 300million director Nigel Davies says the consultancies were appointed...

Overweight packaging a 'major concern' for brands and designers.
February 19, 2009... Slashing packaging weights will be the major concern for designers and brands looking for ways to marry effective pack design with sustainability, say packaging experts. The warning coincides with findings this week of a Local Government...

New packaging for Goldshield.
February 19, 2009... Seymour Powell has created new branding and packaging for vitamin and mineral brand Goldshield. A spokeswoman for the consultancy said Goldshield was one of the first projects it had worked on with Loewy Group stablemate Loewy Brands &...

Videogaming culture celebrated in Axis-designed show at Urbis.
February 19, 2009... British videogaming culture is the subject of a new interactive exhibition, Videogame Nation, at Manchester's Urbis centre this summer, designed by Axis Graphic Design. Urbis appointed the Manchester-based exhibition and graphics group to...

British Psychoanalytic Council annual conference.(Conference news)
February 19, 2009... Consultancy Studio Dempsey has created the event and print materials for this year's British Psychoanalytic Council annual conference, entitled Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Now. The event, which will be held on 6-7 June in London, will bring...

Leading groups collaborate on Sorento street lighting.
February 19, 2009... Product designer Priestman Goode and lighting designer Speirs and Major Associates have collaborated to create a new street light. The Sorento, designed for lighting group DW Windsor, was originally created for use in an urban lighting...

Bisset Adams wins #1.5m Northolt Library project.
February 19, 2009... Architect and design consultancy Bisset Adams is undertaking a #1.5m radical redesign of Northolt Library in west London, due to complete in August. Ealing Council appointed Bisset Adams in February 2008 through project manager Babcock...

Trevor Moss collaborates with De Montfort University.
February 19, 2009... Leicestershire-based manufacturer Trevor Moss has collaborated with De Montfort University's Design Unit to create the Bagrak, a device that fits into car boots to secure bags in an upright position. Moss came up with the concept 25 years...