Design Week articles from November 2008

Design Week archives from November 2008

Marketing restructure sparks off creation of pack roster at Heinz.
November 6, 2008... Heinz is putting together a packaging design roster, Design Week can reveal. The move has been prompted by the departure of Heinz chief marketing officer UK & Ireland Suzanne Douglas, who is returning to Australia as managing director...

V&A seeks lighting design groups for upcoming projects.
November 6, 2008... The Victoria & Albert Museum is seeking a lighting designer to work on projects over the next five to seven years, which may include the second phase of FuturePlan. Last month the V&A released a tender to find a lighting consultancy, to...

Brand Instinct apology.(Correction notice)
November 6, 2008... In last week's issue we incorrectly stated that Brand Instinct is 'fighting to retain' the branding and marketing contract for new Saudi Arabian city Al Wasl in the Riyadh province (DW 30 October). We accept that Brand Instinct is not in...

Soft Surfaces design competition.
November 6, 2008... Dutch furniture manufacturer Skuuma is putting the finalists in its Soft Surfaces design competition - including the Grand Prix winner, Elisabeth by Fons Schobbers - into production. The runners-up - Jan & Dannie's Um chair; Foam Sweet Home by...

Virgin Money invests in Start Creative visual refresh.
November 6, 2008... Start Creative has refreshed Virgin Money's visual communications, aiming to reposition the company as a bank-led brand. The visual and tone-of-voice refresh, which launches this week, is the fruit of a six-month project and brand review...

Foscarini continues relationship with Marc Sadler.
November 6, 2008... Venetian lighting company Foscarini continues its relationship with French designer Marc Sadler with the development of a flexible floor lamp that sways when touched. The prototype, which has the working title Tress, features a carbon fibre or...

Event reveals plans for Kuwait oil museum.
November 6, 2008... Exhibition design consultancy Event Communications is masterplanning and designing the interiors of Kuwait's first museum dedicated to oil and gas. The exhibition will include 4m-high spouts of real fire and smoke, intended to convey the...

Manchester's Love designs range of crisps for Nando's.
November 6, 2008... Manchester's Love has designed a range of crisps for Nando's, Nando's Chips, to be sold in grocery outlets. The consultancy was appointed to create a look and feel for the products by The Grocery Company, which has the licence to sell and...

Harrison Fraser wins brief to create horseracing brand.
November 6, 2008... Harrison Fraser has been appointed to define a brand for horseracing in Britain. The consultancy was commissioned last week following a four-way pitch, and has been tasked by Racing Enterprises to undertake a strategic review of...

Navyblue brands South African province.
November 6, 2008... Brand communications group Navyblue has designed the identity of Gauteng province, South Africa, in a place-branding exercise director Ron Cregan says is one of the biggest projects the group has done. Appointed by the Gauteng province...

Isokon Plus rebuilds design presence with Skandium tie-up.
November 6, 2008... Traditional British furniture manufacturer Isokon Plus is thought to be looking to re-establish its contemporary design programme, aided by a new distribution stream. Isokon Plus, which has a strong Modernist design heritage having been...

Haberdashery London creates trophy.(Brief article)
November 6, 2008... Haberdashery London has created a trophy for the British Film Institute Fellowship award. Given to director Terence Davies at a screening of his new film Of Time and the City last weekend, the award comprises 25 layers of blue Norwegian...

IN BRIEF: Royal College of Art.(Brief article)
November 6, 2008... The Royal College of Art has appointed Nick Bell, exhibition designer and former creative director of Eye, as visiting professor to the Department of Communication Art and Design. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: Syzygy appointment.(Brief article)
November 6, 2008... Interactive marketing agency Syzygy has hired Martyn Gooding as deputy creative director, Mike Krzyzanowski as executive planning director and Matt Brown as group account director. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: Gold Pentaward.(Brief article)
November 6, 2008... London consultancy Villeger Summers Design has won a Gold Pentaward in the Luxe-Pack trade show for its Ange ou Demon refillable perfume bottle for Givenchy. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

COMMENT: A true Commonwealth of design could become reality.
November 6, 2008... The maxim 'Put your money where your mouth is' might not be the most elegant phrase, but it sums up Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic's pursuit of the old Commonwealth Institute building in London's Kensington as a potential home for the...

Cinnamon spices up fashion brand Saf for retail venture.
November 6, 2008... Designer Karen Cinnamon has created the complete brand identity for organic clothing brand Saf, an acronym for 'socially aware fashion'. London-based Cinnamon was appointed directly at the end of June to develop new packaging, graphics,...

Rare Tea pots Waitrose listing with look brewed by Davies Hall.
November 6, 2008... Davies Hall has designed a new brand identity and packaging for the Rare Tea Company, to help it break into new markets. The new design hits the shelves on 10 November, and is in direct response to the client wanting to get its product into...

Red Bee Media wins top Design Effectiveness Award.
November 6, 2008... Red Bee Media has won the Grand Prix prize at the Design Business Association's DBA Design Effectiveness Awards for its campaign for digital TV channel Dave. Joe Ferry, head of design at Virgin Atlantic and a member of the judging panel,...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Portfolio Advice Day.
November 6, 2008... Magpie Studio has designed the website, temporary signage and all visual communications for Portfolio Advice Day, an initiative being held on 3 December at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, to give students advice on gaining...

NEWS IN PICTURES: X-Sting-Wish.
November 6, 2008... Adam Scott, a recent graduate of the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, has designed the X-Sting-Wish, a fire extinguisher conceived in consultation with the fire service and fire-safety specialists. Copyright: Centaur Communications...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Trends 2009/10.
November 6, 2008... Graduates of Central St Martins College of Art and Design have contributed to Trends 2009/10, which will be published next month by Batsford, with cover design by Saints Team. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

NEWS IN PICTURES: Book covers for Agatha Christie titles.
November 6, 2008... Crush has created a series of book covers for Agatha Christie titles. The range of 12 books, for Harper Collins, will be published later this month. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

ANALYSIS: Plug ugly.
November 6, 2008... The development of low-carbon vehicles is set to benefit from Government cash, but will it make the cars themselves less hideous? asks Gina Lovett Those choking on the miasma emanating incessantly from city traffic will no doubt be...

PRIVATE VIEW: Let's find a new role.(Viewpoint essay)
November 6, 2008... For too long, we've been designing the stuff of consumption - it's high time that we put our creative energies to better use, says Adrian Shaughnessy Trying to write about the current financial crisis in a weekly publication is bonkers....

INSPIRED: Alex Keane.(Brief article)
November 6, 2008... Alex Keane Camouflage Not wanting to appear cliched, but seeing the movie Blade Runner back in the 1980s left a lasting impression on me - everything from the teenage aspirations of the unconventional hero and the ground-breaking sci-fi...

LETTER: There's nothing like a journey to call forth our creativity.(Letter to the editor)
November 6, 2008... It is difficult to pin down a specific time during the day when I am at my most creative (Voxpop, DW 30 October). Creativity is an incredibly transient and arbitrary experience. The challenge, I find, is being able to harness my creative...

VOXPOP: Which star would you bring back to life?
November 6, 2008... Actress Mae West, who died almost 30 years ago, has been revived in a branding exercise. Which star would you bring back to life and how would you use their brand? I would bring back David McLean. The iconic, rugged 'Marlboro man',...

LETTER: Take action to ride out the downturn smoothly.(Letter to the editor)
November 6, 2008... Angus Montgomery's recent News Analysis (DW 23 October) made some interesting points about what design groups need to do if they're going to successfully ride the recession. I agree that the area of cost is key - whatever your group's...

LETTER: Good collaborations take you beyond your comfort zone.(Letter to the editor)
November 6, 2008... In response to your Voxpop about Nesta's recommendation that consultancies should collaborate with artists (DW 9 October), I'd want to work with Marc Boothe, who is a creative producer. He and his company B3 have been doing fantastic...

LETTER: Lloyd Northover also had a hand in the Comet project.(Letter to the editor)
November 6, 2008... Regarding your article on Comet's new-look signage (DW 23 October), it's worth pointing out - well, I think so and the rest of the design team that worked on the project would probably agree - that the work to create the strategy, naming,...

PROFILE: Wendy Ramshaw.(Interview)
November 6, 2008... Designer Wendy Ramshaw is best known for her jewellery, but large-scale projects take up increasing amounts of her time. Anna Richardson asks her about materials, imagination and the internal scale of her work Wendy Ramshaw is something...

LIGHTING: Tricks of delight.
November 6, 2008... Designers have long known the potential of LED lighting - it's a versatile, low-cost technology that's also energy efficient. Scott Billings sings the praises of some recent innovative projects that use the cheap microchip-controlled LEDs to...

ORGATEC: Reality show.
November 6, 2008... Apart from a fondness for grained dark wood and a crop of beautiful chairs, this year's Orgatec fair was dominated by two trends - a move to embrace the contract market and a Chinese presence, says Lynda Relph- Knight If you want a dose...

BUSINESS INSIGHT: Beating the graduate blues.
November 6, 2008... Don't despair if it seems impossible to get that first break after leaving college - Jane Trustram got one, and she offers her best advice I am now in my third year of watching graduates emerge bleary-eyed from the comfort of their...

REVIEW: Same old story.(Brief article)
November 6, 2008... The Women's Library in east London's Aldgate is a fantastic source of historical and cultural information. For this show, it has drawn on its extensive magazine archive, starting with the first women's periodical, The Ladies' Mercury, which...

Mayor Boris Johnson set to name his design advisors.
November 13, 2008... London Mayor Boris Johnson is set to name architect Lord Rogers and Sunand Prasad, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, on his design advisory panel, Design Week can reveal. But contrary to recent press reports, there...

Design groups shortlisted for GSK consumer healthcare pack review.
November 13, 2008... GlaxoSmithKline is this week shortlisting groups pitching for a place on its consumer healthcare packaging design roster. The pharmaceuticals giant, which kick-started the category's first review since 2004 in July, is now understood to...

Jason Bruges Studio creates installation.(Brief article)
November 13, 2008... Jason Bruges Studio has created an installation, Aeolian Tower, which will be displayed on London's South Bank, SE1, from 14-16 November as part of the Onedotzero Adventures In Motion festival. The 15m-high tower, commissioned for the...

New face and faces at Lloyd Northover.
November 13, 2008... Brand strategy consultancy Lloyd Northover has rebranded and incorporated Singaporean design group Su Yeang into its operations. Lloyd Northover, owned by Media Square, has also made a number of key appointments. In London, Esther...

Culture Label unveils Web project and award winners.
November 13, 2008... Online cultural products retailer Culture Label is due to launch its #500 000 website in February 2009. Its four founders include John Tait, director of design group Lazy Grace, and Florian Wupperfeld, creative and media director of Soho...

TWG Tea launches White House Tea.
November 13, 2008... TWG Tea, which claims to be Asia's first luxury tea company, has launched White House Tea, with packaging designed by its in-house team. The bespoke 'artisan' tea canisters are hand-painted. The Singapore- based retail operation is planning...

De-construct designs site for Keith Tyson.
November 13, 2008... De-construct is designing a website for Turner Prize-winning artist Keith Tyson. Due to launch at the start of next year, the site will feature ten of Tyson's projects, and later collaborative content created with mathematicians, scientists,...

The World Press Photo Exhibition.(Brief article)
November 13, 2008... The World Press Photo Exhibition opens tomorrow at London's Royal Festival Hall. British photographer Tim Hetherington has won the World Press Photo of the Year 2007 award for this photograph of a US soldier in Afghanistan, which was taken...

Allies and Michaelis Boyd cook up a look for Kitchen Italia.
November 13, 2008... Allies Design has created the identity and Michaelis Boyd the interiors for new restaurant chain Kitchen Italia. The consultancies were commissioned by Jamie Barber, who owns the Villandry and Hush restaurants. The first branch of Barber's...

VCCP scoops rebranding task following O2 music venue deal.
November 13, 2008... O2 is to hand the branding and interiors work resulting from its tie-up with Academy Music Group, announced last week, to its incumbent creative group VCCP without a pitch. Though the direction of the project is still in discussion, VCCP...

The V&A Museum previewing Medeival and Renaissance Galleries.
November 13, 2008... The Victoria & Albert Museum is previewing its #30m Medieval and Renaissance Galleries today, ahead of their launch in a year's time. The ten galleries, which occupy an entire wing of the museum, are being designed by Muma. The architect is...

Real Studios creates tent suites for Virgin Morocco venture.(Brief article)
November 13, 2008... Real Studios has designed six Berber-style tented suites in the grounds of a Moroccan hotel owned by Virgin Limited Edition. Richard Branson's premium hotel group appointed Real Studios in July, briefing the consultancy to design...

IN BRIEF: Meristem Holdings makes designer redundant.(Brief article)
November 13, 2008... Argos furniture supplier Meristem Holdings has made one designer redundant from a team of six based at its Redruth facility, after going into administration last week. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: Sony and Exposure link up.(Brief article)
November 13, 2008... Global music giant Sony and multidisciplinary group Exposure have linked up to launch pan-European consultancy SBX, offering marketing and creative services. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: Jerwood Photography Prize.(Brief article)
November 13, 2008... The five winners of the Jerwood Photography Prize have been announced. Work by Martina Lindqvist, Alice Myers, James Pogson, Kurt Tong and Nicky Walsh will be exhibited at the Jerwood Space, London SE1, until 11 December. Copyright:...

IN BRIEF: The Cracking Ideas awards.(Brief article)
November 13, 2008... The Cracking Ideas awards are being presented at the Science Museum, London SW7, today. The competition, run by the UK Intellectual Property Office, is for children to design an appliance for the house of the fictional characters Wallace and...

IN BRIEF: Circle appointment.(Brief article)
November 13, 2008... London design consultancy Circle has appointed former Williams Murray Hamm new business director Lush Kumar as its new business development director. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

COMMENT: It's high time Boris Johnson brought designers on board.
November 13, 2008... Since London Mayor Boris Johnson took office earlier this year he has shown no interest in design. While his predecessor Ken Livingstone hailed the creative industries as being as key to the culture and international importance of the UK...

James Dyson reformats his design awards for 2009.(Brief article)
November 13, 2008... Sir James Dyson is launching his 2009 design awards at London's Royal College of Art today. Having been forced last month to abandon plans for a #30m design school in Bath, the James Dyson Foundation is basing the launch event around a...

Tommy Hilfiger sounds out music-based in-store installation.
November 13, 2008... Digital group De-construct and creative, strategic and technology specialist Kin Design have created an interactive music-based installation for fashion retailer Tommy Hilfiger, to be rolled out across its European stores. Tommy Hilfiger...

Turin global design conference sets awareness agenda.(Conference news)
November 13, 2008... The first-ever conference on global design policy has set an unprecedented macro approach in raising awareness of the worldwide design industry. It sounds lofty, but according to delegates and organisers of last week's event - Shaping the...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Studio Tonne creates Kitti Pins.
November 13, 2008... Brighton consultancy Studio Tonne has created Kitti Pins, a matching seat and table inspired by children's toys for Imperial College London, part of London University. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

NEWS IN PICTURES: Magnum launches limited edition of New York.
November 13, 2008... Magnum has launched a limited edition of its book New York, published by Gloria. The giant tome, which features iconic New York images by eminent photographers, includes a gelatin silver print by photographer Leonard Freedman. Twenty-five...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Brio wall and ceiling lamp.
November 13, 2008... Andromeda's Brio wall and ceiling lamp, made from Murano glass and designed by Aureliano Toso, launches this week. The lamp uses LED technology, with an internal diffuser featuring an irregular pattern created from glass threads. ...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Velcro Brand Celebrity Art Challenge identity.
November 13, 2008... Jam Creative has designed the identity, branding and marketing materials for the Velcro Brand Celebrity Art Challenge, a celebrity event that will see original pieces of art auctioned on Ebay every day until 16 November. Copyright: Centaur...

NEWS IN PICTURES: New bottles for Bottlegreen Drinks.
November 13, 2008... Ziggurat Brands has designed the new bottles for cordial range Bottlegreen Drinks. Produced by glassmaker O-I, the bottles come in both green and clear glass. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

ANALYSIS: Screening out the wacky.
November 13, 2008... Conservatism blights the UK broadcast design sector, but is this creative failure down to cutbacks - or too much technology? Emily Pacey reports Redundancies at Sky and Channel Four's design departments and Sky's poor performance at the...

PRIVATE VIEW: Get a handle on it.(Essay)
November 13, 2008... What is happiness? Hugh Pearman has an inkling that it could lie in having just enough, Drax Power Station and a set of sublimely pleasing door handles The King of Bhutan, we are told, suggested as long ago as 1972 that his country should...

INSPIRED: Patrick Baglee.
November 13, 2008... Patrick Baglee Navyblue Alan Fletcher said the most successful piece of self-promotion he ever did happened by 'being in the right place at the right time'. A similar feeling made me choose this piece by Nike, and it's why I find it...

LETTER: Ugliness is surely next to Greenness in a low-carb world.(Letter to the editor)
November 13, 2008... I quite agree with Jonathan Sands' stance on the G-Wiz electric car (News Analysis, DW 6 November). There's always great affection for things that are as fabulously silly- looking as the G-Wiz. And now that one-downmanship is set to be...

LETTER: Obama election could restore global optimism.(Letter to the editor)
November 13, 2008... The first question I get asked by all designers these days is about the economy. Some countries, such as Russia, have blamed the global economic slowdown on the US economy and the sub-prime crisis. If they're right, it shows what a...

LETTER: A catchphrase and a fez - what more does a brand need?(Letter to the editor)
November 13, 2008... Last week, you posed the question, 'Which star would you bring back to life, and how would you use their brand?' (Voxpop, DW 6 November). Where to start? Elvis, Marilyn, James Dean? Too obvious, and too American. We need a good old...

VOXPOP: What would it take to get you to drive an electric car?
November 13, 2008... I have been driving a G-Wiz electric car for the past two-and-a-half years. Originally I was persuaded by the energy-saving argument, but now I really appreciate the way you can whizz around London so easily and park in the smallest spaces....

LETTER: Stop press: a new look for top news agency isn't news.(Letter to the editor)
November 13, 2008... Is this it? Is this what breaking news is in the design world (www.designweek.co.uk, 6 November)? I don't know the background to the brief, but is this work really worth the tag 'rebrand'? It is all fairly uninspiring. There is so...

PROFILE: Paul Baker.(Biography)
November 13, 2008... Paul Baker is a food modeller, but that anodyne job title little reveals the scrumptious effects he creates from Plasticine and paint. Anna Richardson is sorely tempted to squeeze his fruit and veg It's tricky securing time with Paul Baker,...

PAPER: The right cut.
November 13, 2008... Paper-cutting has long been favoured by artists and designers for its intriguing and magical effects. Anna Richardson canvasses views among cutting enthusiasts about their recent projects WHEN YOU hold the invitation to the reopening of...

CAR LOGOS: On their marques.
November 13, 2008... Automobile logos are among the most widely recognised - and most loved - graphic symbols on the planet, so why do car makers insist on fiddling about with them? John Stones looks at how they are used to define the essence of a brand CAR...

CAR LOGOS: Logo a-go-go.
November 13, 2008... Italian car marque Fiat has always gone its own way. Its design and engineering innovations have been respected and widely imitated, but its flexible, almost flippant, approach to branding is quite unique. Founded in 1899 as Fabbrica Italiana...

BUSINESS INSIGHT: Taking care of business.(Column)
November 13, 2008... You can't beat the credit crunch, but you can prepare for it by adhering to sensible business practices, says Tom Foulkes Speaking to a very well-read friend of mine, I learned of a lovely little word - aporia. Meaning 'to be in two...

REVIEW: Citywide-angled.(London Deluxe)(Brief article)(Book review)
November 13, 2008... By Sarah Frater You can't imagine Richard Bryant falling victim to Dr Johnson's warning about being tired of life when you're tired of London. The architectural photographer was commissioned by art book publisher Rizzoli to create a...

CREATIVE SURVEY: Introduction.(Essay)
November 13, 2008... No one can avoid being affected by what's gone on in the financial markets recently: even my seven-year-old daughter knows the 'credit crunch' isn't a breakfast cereal. With hindsight, it's easy to see how things have gone so wrong, but we...

CREATIVE SURVEY - SOUNDBITES: Risk and reward.
November 13, 2008... Designers know that creativity not only underpins projects that win awards, but that it also contributes to commercial success. Clients, however, still need convincing. We ask six leading industry figures how they would convince brand-owners to...

CREATIVE SURVEY: Measure of success.
November 13, 2008... Clients can't afford to cut back on creativity as a recession bites, making it a good time to celebrate the design teams which have consistently achieved awards success for the quality of their work, says Lynda Relph-Knight It is hard to...

CREATIVE SURVEY - CLIENTS/IN-HOUSE: In-house style.
November 13, 2008... Risk-averse clients are becoming a rarity, and top-quality creative work is now just as likely to emanate from in-house teams as from external consultancies, says Lynda Relph-Knight. Just take a look at the evidence among the recent crop of...

CREATIVE SURVEY - CREATIVITY: Pitch perfect.
November 13, 2008... For young designers, having a great idea is just part of the creative process; refining it and marketing it are just as important. Stand out from the crowd with Glenn Tutssel's top ten tips to selling the big concept 1 Clients can...

CREATIVE SURVEY - COLLABORATION: Team spirit.
November 13, 2008... Creative collaborations may not always be born out of a shared goal or vision, but even chance meetings that take place at the request of a client can give way to exciting partnerships, says John Stones THE CYNIC could be forgiven for...

CREATIVE SURVEY - COLLABORATION: MORITZ WALDEMEYER.
November 13, 2008... Few young designers can boast a more impressive list of collaborators than technical wizard Moritz Waldemeyer. He has worked with 3D designers Ron Arad, Zaha Hadid, Yves Behar and Fredrikson Stallard, as well as with fashion designer Hussein...

CREATIVE SURVEY - COLLABORATION: The Science of Survival.(Brief article)
November 13, 2008... Major exhibitions, such as the Science Museum's The Science of Survival, tend now to marshal a formidable array of forces. 'It's a bit like a movie. We all come together to work on the project and then disband,' says Ben Tomlinson, creative...