Design Week articles from October 2008

Design Week archives from October 2008

Woodgate and Barnard plan bike for mass production.
October 2, 2008... The collaboration between Terence Woodgate and John Barnard continues, with news that they are working together on a fold-up bicycle intended for mass production. Following the launch of the Surface table earlier this year, they are...

LDE goes travelling to court foreign buyers.
October 2, 2008... The London Design Embassy is to travel overseas to bring designers together with greater numbers of foreign buyers. LDE project director Christine Losecaat is also considering making the embassy a permanent fixture in London. 'A permanent...

John Squire works with Studio Thompson.
October 2, 2008... Former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire has worked with London-based design group Studio Thompson to create the album artwork for a new War Child album, Heroes, released on Parlophone on 24 November. Squire designed cover art for the...

Fresh Start in Hong Kong for Cummings.
October 2, 2008... Start Creative is opening an office in Hong Kong on 1 January 2009, Design Week can exclusively reveal. Jonathan Cummings, marketing director of the London-based branding group, will become managing director of the office. He plans to stay...

Carling broadens appeal with cleaned-up Landor look.
October 2, 2008... Carling is set to launch new can and bottle packaging by Landor Associates. The six-figure redesign project is intended to broaden the brand's appeal, particularly to women, and to emphasise its credentials as a British beer. Carling's...

BBC2 to air refresh of on-air presentation system.
October 2, 2008... BBC2 will air a refresh of its on-air presentation system by design and animation duo Vincent for Red Bee Media and BBC2's head of marketing Lindsay Nuttall. Vincent director and designer John Hill says that the bold stepping animation works...

Swinx start-up taps into children's creativity.
October 2, 2008... The first games console to use radio frequency identification technology, designed around interaction, launches in the UK today. The designer behind some of Nokia's most popular handsets, Khodi Feiz, has turned his hand to start-up brand...

Wrigley to launch two new flavours.
October 2, 2008... Chewing gum brand Wrigley is launching two new flavours into its Extra Fusion range, with packaging by Slice Design. The consultancy says that the branding for the two new limited-edition flavours, Electric Fruits and Berry Tronic, were...

Westfield White City to open with wave of flagships.
October 2, 2008... Westfield London's White City shopping centre is poised to reveal a crop of new flagship stores and concepts when it opens at the end of this month. Retail design consultancies Brinkworth, Dalziel & Pow and JHP Design have between them...

Auto Windscreens set to appoint consultancy for revamp.
October 2, 2008... Auto Windscreens is mid-way through a redesign programme that will probably see it appoint a retail consultancy to revamp its 120 service centres. The RAC-owned car windscreen fitting company is trying to distance itself from its parent...

LDA scotches international design centre funding rumours.
October 2, 2008... The London Development Agency is pouring cold water on rumours that the International Design Centre planned for London will be scrapped due to lack of funding. 'We have no reason to assume this won't go ahead,' an LDA spokeswoman says....

Sticking a joyous finger up to credit crunch gloom.
October 2, 2008... Sticking a joyous finger up to credit crunch gloom, London-based graphics group LTD has commissioned this wallpaper illustration by artist Jamie Brown. The colourful 10m piece will take pride of place at the consultancy's unofficially dubbed...

IN BRIEF: Art students using iQ city car as template.(Brief article)
October 2, 2008... Royal College of Art students are using Toyota's new iQ city car as a template to create an item that reflects 'intelligent urban living' within four categories: living room, kitchen, bedroom and garage. The collaboration will run through to...

IN BRIEF: Le Cool city guides.(Brief article)
October 2, 2008... Barcelona-based publisher Le Cool has produced a range of quirky design- led city guides for the discerning hipster. Guidebooks to London, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Madrid go on sale this week. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and...

IN BRIEF: Pyott creates sustainability communications for DHL.(Brief article)
October 2, 2008... Design consultancy Pyott has created the sustainability communications for DHL. Pyott was awarded the #199 000 contract in August last year, following a strategic pitch against two other consultancies. Copyright: Centaur Communications...

IN BRIEF: Arts Council redefined three-year vision.(Brief article)
October 2, 2008... The Arts Council has redefined its three-year vision for the future with the help of branding consultancy Intro. Responding to the Arts Council's updated mission statement of 'more arts, less council', Intro has devised a dynamic new plan,...

IN BRIEF: United Utilities to unveil brochure.(Brief article)
October 2, 2008... UK water company United Utilities will unveil its international corporate brochure, designed by Manchester design group Corporation Pop at the end of this month. The consultancy won the contract following a three-way pitch. Copyright:...

COMMENT: The public sector still hasn't got the design message.
October 2, 2008... A recent review of the Victoria & Albert Museum's current extravaganza, tracing design's progression throughout the 25-year Cold War between Russia and the US, concluded that design flourishes under capitalism. The utilitarian Soviet...

Snowboard creation scoops Smiles per Hour prize.
October 2, 2008... Independent designer Nick Rawcliffe has won Fiat's Smiles per Hour competition, claiming a #50 000 prize for his Snowbone prototype. Under the competition brief, designers were asked to create a 'transporter' to make travelling more...

ASHA updates Duke of Edinburgh identity.(Website overview)
October 2, 2008... The Duke of Edinburgh Award has modernised its image with the help of brand design group Arthur Steen Horne Adamson. The refreshed DofE logo and visual identity will be rolled out over the coming year, across the new website, photography...

Nesta report aims to ease route into business for artists.
October 2, 2008... The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts is boldly attempting to match-make fine art graduates and big business, in the service of stimulating innovation in industry. Nesta's latest research paper, The Art of...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Emory Douglas exhibition.
October 2, 2008... Emory Douglas, the official graphic artist of the Black Panther party who documented the US civil rights movement in his work, will exhibit for the first time in the UK at The Urbis Museum in Manchester, from 30 October to 9 April 2009. ...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Dave Brown designs cover.
October 2, 2008... R&D&Co designer and Mighty Boosh actor Dave Brown has designed the cover for Consumer Kids: How Big Business is Grooming our Children for Profit, a new book published by Constable & Robinson, priced #8.99. Copyright: Centaur...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Bicygnals to launch range of lighting products.
October 2, 2008... Bicygnals will launch a range of lighting products, with design, branding and packaging solutions created by its parent company Gavin Thompson Design. The designs can be seen at The Cycle Show, Earls Court, London SW5, from 9-12 October. ...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Salisbury Cathedral's new font.
October 2, 2008... Salisbury Cathedral's new font, designed by water sculptor William Pye, was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury on Sunday. The cathedral's first permanent font for 150 years is the result of a project initiated ten years ago. ...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Play & Soft.
October 2, 2008... Play & Soft, a range of children's soft furnishings created by Italian education consultancy Reggio Children, has been designed to change shape and size to encourage exploration and fit in with learning progression. BAA is set to make the...

ANALYSIS: Recession-proof reads?
October 2, 2008... This month sees the launch of two design-led magazines which target the wealthy and the creative. David Benady examines their genesis Magazine publishers are targeting luxury goods advertisers with the launch of some beautifully-crafted...

PRIVATE VIEW: Publish and be damned.
October 2, 2008... Barbarian publishers, focus groups and falling sales have all put paid to the notion that designers influence the look of magazines, says Adrian Shaughnessy What has happened to mainstream magazine design? The average glossy mag is a...

INSPIRED: Brendan Dawes.
October 2, 2008... Brendan Dawes Magnetic North Like many designers, I've always used the ubiquitous Moleskine notebook to sketch out ideas. But, recently it seemed that the world and his dog had one of these cool little books - even client meetings had...

LETTER: Hamm will have his hands full with the D&AD presidency.(Letter to the editor)
October 2, 2008... We think Garrick Hamm's got a bit of a job on his hands with D&AD (Voxpop DW 25 September). Talk to designers and there's an opinion that D&AD has gone too 'establishment', too crusty and, as one designer here put it, 'it says it's a...

VOXPOP: Climate Group refreshing visual communications.
October 2, 2008... The Climate Group is refreshing its visual communications, partly to avoid Greenwash. What other examples are there where sector branding has had to evolve? Here is the designer's moral dilemma; do we make big companies good or good companies...

LETTER: In-house isn't always a cost-effective solution.(Letter to the editor)
October 2, 2008... Reading Scott Billings' article Insider Track (DW 18 September), I am struck by two thoughts that I have witnessed over and over again. First thought: critical mass is crucial to the success of in-house design, but churning 10 000...

LETTER: University design consultancies - a virtuous circle?(Letter to the editor)
October 2, 2008... The suggestions that design-hungry clients are turning to universities to get design work on the cheap, that they are naive about design, or that the service which universities provides is somehow sub-standard do a massive disservice to the...

PROFILE: Jane Burton.
October 2, 2008... Tate Media creative director Jane Burton knows a thing or two about digital. She helped to forge Tate's online offering and is now morphing it into a broadband arts channel. Sarah Frater asks her how it's done It's hard to believe now,...

PRODUCT DESIGN: Object lessons.
October 2, 2008... Any analysis of contemporary visual culture tends to major on art, but Deyan Sudjic suggests students of human behaviour shouldn't underestimate the role played by design in creating the perceptions that drive us all to consume NEVER HAVE...

ILLUSTRATION: Etch a text.
October 2, 2008... From illuminated manuscripts to graphic novels, the work of the illustrator fashions the way readers visualise fictional characters. We take a look at a new book which traces the history of the relationship between words and pictures WHY...

PACKAGING: Box matches.
October 2, 2008... Whether as transit protection, branding opportunity or merchandising, electronic goods packaging is a sophisticated challenge for designers already worrying about materials reduction. Paul Gander looks at the approaches taken by four brands...

ADVERTISING AND SIGNAGE: The Brazilian effect.
October 2, 2008... When the local mayor introduced a law banning outdoor advertising in Sao Paulo, landmarks disappeared and citizens lost income from renting out the walls of their homes. However, Michael Canturi thinks it could spark a resurgence in...

BUSINESS INSIGHT: Stay local to make it globally.
October 2, 2008... To make the best of overseas prospects, consultancies should act globally but stay UK-based, says Jonathan Cummings With the London Design Festival over for another year, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on the value of 'brand...

REVIEW: Bin there.
October 2, 2008... By Sarah Frater Abducting a wheelie bin is the sort of prank you associate with student dares and drunken nights out. It's on a par with nicking traffic cones and motorway service signs, and then filming yourself doing it and putting...

RISING STARS: Leader.
October 2, 2008... Any industry is only as good as the new talent coming through and design is no exception. Some of you will remember the dearth of middleweight designers in the wake of the recession of the early 1990s and the dotcom bust of 2001 no one had had...

RISING STARS: Branding.
October 2, 2008... As an alumnus of Western Michigan University, The Brand Union senior designer Angela Wolak is in good company (the company's own Wally Krantz, for example, took the same course), and she still cites programme director Tricia Hennessy as one...

RISING STARS: Interaction.
October 2, 2008... Malcolm Garrett Creative director, Applied Information Group * I love that Ross concerns himself with more physical interactions. He frequently engages his audiences in public spaces, and in very demonstrative ways. The works he produces...

RISING STARS: Interiors.
October 2, 2008... THE MOST risen of the rising stars, Ab Rogers, has been around the block a few times. He left school at 15, picked up hammer and chisel and trained as a cabinet maker, and set up a multidisciplinary design and production company in Liverpool....

RISING STARS: Product.(Interview)
October 2, 2008... AARON MOSS knows a thing or two about mobile phones. He joined Nokia fresh out of Northumbria University and has worked on numerous handsets since then. The mobile phone was not his first love, however. His original dream was to become a car...

RISING STARS: Graphics.
October 2, 2008... EVEN THOUGH Matt Judge has always liked art, what he really enjoys is restriction. 'I've always liked a brief,' he explains. 'That's what appealed to me and why I took this career route. In a way, I'm a bit more commercial.' Don't get him...

Guest Hotels crash leaves host of designers out of pocket.
October 9, 2008... A raft of designers contracted to Guest Hotels expect to be left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket after the buy-to-let hotel rooms group fell into administration last week. Architect Dream Design & Architecture, graphic design...

Moscow F1 track gets Big Idea branding.
October 9, 2008... Big Idea is branding what could become Russia's first Formula One Grand Prix motor racing track, the Moscow Raceway. The London, Hong Kong and Sydney-based consultancy is working with the Russian design group TNC Moscow to create an...

Complete works of Ian Fleming.
October 9, 2008... Webb & Webb Design has designed the bindings, in leather, for the complete works of Ian Fleming - comprising 15 James Bond novels, three non-fiction titles and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The books, which are published by the Queen Anne Press...

Landor sheds ten London posts.
October 9, 2008... International brand consultancy Landor is believed to have made ten redundancies at its London office. The head of brand engagement and senior client director positions are thought to have been axed, although Landor refused to comment. ...

West End retail schemes face tough future, says Farrell.
October 9, 2008... Central London's West End shopping streets will face 'the toughest challenge of their lives' once the Westfield White City retail centre opens at the end of the month, says architect Sir Terry Farrell. Farrell was speaking last Thursday...

The London Transport Musuem.
October 9, 2008... The London Transport Museum is to host an exhibition of posters from the past 100 years of Tube and bus travel, including Clifford and Rosemary Ellis' 1937 poster, Travels in Space. A series of events exploring poster design and advertising,...

Agenda unveils #15 000 identity for Great North Museum.
October 9, 2008... Agenda Design Associates' #15 000 visual identity for Newcastle's new Great North Museum is unveiled this week. The logo references the north point of the compass and is intended to emulate the simplicity of iconic marques like those of...

Take-over Day.
October 9, 2008... Brighton-based consultancy Crush has designed the marketing collateral for Take-over Day on 7 November. Organised by 11 Million, an agency otherwise known as the Children's Commissioner for England, the day invites children to have their say...

Sir George Cox presses Mandelson to push design.
October 9, 2008... Former Design Council chairman Sir George Cox is urging Peter Mandelson to encourage the public sector to 'use more design' and 'take action to rebuild the economy'. Cox, author of 2005's Cox Review of Creativity in Business, has...

Lambie-Nairn conjures up Zubo identity.
October 9, 2008... In an unprecedented move, computer games giant EA has turned to branding consultancy Lambie-Nairn to create a complete identity and packaging design for Nintendo DS game Zubo. EA has always used in-house marketing teams for branding and...

Manchester trams refreshed by Hemisphere.
October 9, 2008... Manchester's Metrolink trams have been given a fresh new look, devised by branding consultancy Hemisphere. The brand overhaul is part of the Government's #600m investment programme, which will see the 16-year-old Metrolink system double...

Credit Crunch chocolate packaging.
October 9, 2008... Purpose has designed the branding and packaging for restaurateur Laura Santin's Credit Crunch chocolate. It will go on sale at Selfridges in time for National Chocolate Week, which runs from 13-19 October. Santin engaged Purpose four months...

IN BRIEF: The Partners opens office in New York.(Brief article)
October 9, 2008... London branding consultancy The Partners has opened an office in New York, which will be headed up by Steven Gilliatt, former president and creative director of G2. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: Taschen's first UK store.(Brief article)
October 9, 2008... Philippe Starck has designed publisher Taschen's first UK store, which opened on Monday. The outlet is next door to the newly opened Saatchi Gallery in Duke of York Square, London SW3. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: Three-legged chair reissued.(Brief article)
October 9, 2008... Danish designer Hans Wegner's 1963 three-legged chair is being reissued as a limited-edition piece, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Danish furniture manufacturer Carl Hansen & Son. It will be available from 28 October. ...

IN BRIEF: Conservative Party website.(Brief article)
October 9, 2008... Folk has designed the Conservative Party's new #250 000 website, having been appointed to the brief following a competitive pitch at the end of last year. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

IN BRIEF: Kevin Thompson service.(Brief article)
October 9, 2008... Members of the design community remembered Kevin Thompson last Friday at a service at Golders Green Crematorium, London NW11. Thompson spent 18 years as chief executive of Grey Matter before setting up Brandsmiths in 1999. Copyright:...

COMMENT: Mandelson's appointment should benefit the industry.
October 9, 2008... Did London Design Festival director Ben Evans foresee the Cabinet reshuffle when he lined up Peter Mandelson to give the LDF opening address last month? Given Evans' Labour pedigree, you might think he'd been tipped the wink, but knowledge of...

Universal to fashion fresh Mulberry interiors concept.
October 9, 2008... Luxury British fashion brand Mulberry has appointed interiors specialist Universal Design Studio to create its new store concept. Universal won the brief following a paid five-way pitch in mid- September, and will be working on developing...

Annual report design can boost bottom line, says Merchant.
October 9, 2008... Top FTSE 500-listed companies with strong annual report communications outperform those with weaker communications by 13 per cent, according to a new survey. The research - published by Merchant, itself a design consultancy specialising...

Cardiff Design Festival awards link widens scope.
October 9, 2008... The fourth annual Cardiff Design Festival is experiencing a shift towards a more international outlook, according to its organisers and patrons, with a strong focus on exporting Welsh design as well as supporting it on the domestic front this...

NEWS IN PICTURES: Set of stamps.
October 9, 2008... Together has designed a set of stamps for the Royal Mail honouring six important historical female figures. Women of Distinction stamps are available from 14 October. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

NEWS IN PICTURES: GHD interiors.
October 9, 2008... Carey Jones has created the interiors for hair brand GHD's international headquarters in Leeds's Bridgewater development, which features a catwalk and salon. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

NEWS IN PICTURES: Traction Man children's book.
October 9, 2008... Random House imprint Jonthan Cape is publishing the second Traction Man children's book, illustrated and written by Mini Grey, and designed by Grey with Ness Wood. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

NEWS IN PICTURES: Fabrica opens store in Bologna.
October 9, 2008... Fabrica has opened a store in Bologna, created by in-house designers Valentina Carrera and Sam Baron. It offers furniture by Fabrica, Taschen, Lomo and 100drine, among others. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

ANALYSIS: The Dutch set up show.
October 9, 2008... Design from The Netherlands has just got its own trade showcase. Clare Dowdy looks at what newcomer Freedesigndom has to offer 'Our idea was to put the existing design events together and make it one programme in one month. Then we could...

PRIVATE VIEW: Crossing absurdities.
October 9, 2008... Why do some pedestrian lights go so dangerously dark between red and green lights? Hugh Pearman calls for a complete rethink of the pelican crossing I'm standing at the pelican crossing. Or I'm stopped at the red light there on my bike,...

INSPIRED: Paul Musgrave.
October 9, 2008... Paul Musgrave Musgrave The artist, writer and sage John Ruskin said of his hero, the painter JMW Turner, that he had 'heartsight deep as eyesight'. I was inspired by this notion of 'heartsight' when approached by The Ruskin Foundation...

LETTER: Why can't we cope with the idea of successful design?(Letter to the editor)
October 9, 2008... It was great to see us mentioned again in the context of the Design Effectiveness Awards: 'BR&Me's award-winning work for Foster's... caused uproar among the design community when it won the Grand Prix in the Design Business Association's...

VOXPOP: Which artist would you work with?
October 9, 2008... Nesta is recommending that fine artists collaborate with client businesses to stimulate innovation. If you could work with an artist, who would it be and why? Banksy. His work is both thought-provoking and entertaining. Far from being...

LETTER: Patriotic meanderings? No, the 2012 challenge.(Letter to the editor)
October 9, 2008... Wouldn't it be nice... * If the marketing communications community collectively embraced London 2012 as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. * If the Olympics were treated as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to demonstrate the value of...

LETTER: Watch out, geeks are taking control of knowledge.(Letter to the editor)
October 9, 2008... It was refreshing to read the Business Insight article 'Welcome to a brand new day' (DW 4 September). It is a timely snapshot of the convergence of creativity and technology and its power to influence brand communications. As Nick Law...

PROFILE: Vincent Connare.
October 9, 2008... Type designer Vincent Connare's font Comic Sans has taken the world by storm - and is now as loathed as it is loved. Simon Loxley meets the 'typographic engineer' who left Microsoft for Brixton's Dalton Maag 'What's the point? Haven't...

RAPID PROTOTYPING: 3D matters.
October 9, 2008... With rapid prototyping you can model your ideas instantly and see your sketches take shape before your eyes - no wonder in-house RP is catching on. Pamela Buxton looks at how it is being used in many different design disciplines AS RAPID...

BOOK COVERS: Unsung winners.
October 9, 2008... Booker Prize-winning authors are catapulted to fame, but what about the cover designer who creates the first impression of a novel's content? Anna Richardson tracks the history of classic jackets and takes the pulse of present design trends...

ILLUSTRATION: Graphic circus.
October 9, 2008... Alan Aldridge's nonconformist approach to graphic art has influenced 1960s visual culture and secured his place in 1960s folklore. As his work again goes on show, Adrian Shaughnessy introduces this 'graphic entertainer' ALAN ALDRIDGE...

BUSINESS INSIGHT: Bringing it all back home.
October 9, 2008... Bill Wallsgrove has worked on projects with big business and major galleries, but combining emerging talent and our rich art heritage gave him the most satisfaction It is an undeniable truth that some of the smaller bespoke projects can...

REVIEW: Cyber-Baroque universe.
October 9, 2008... By Sarah Frater Even architectural experts will take a while to take in the futuristic dare-devilry of Digital Architecture Now. The book features the work of 30-or-so practices and their electronic ideas will leave you fizzing at...