Creative Review articles from June 2004

Creative Review archives from June 2004

Peer poll take two.(Editorial/Letters)
June 1, 2004... Due to a technical hitch, our online Peer Poll voting site wasn't quite ready to accept your votes last month. However, we are now up and running so here's a reminder of how it works. We want to know who you think are currently the best in the...

Analysis is essential.(Editorial/Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... As someone who graduated from a "theoretical" degree course a few years ago, I find the notion that such courses are indulgent and non commercially orientated, a little confusing (or should that be amusing?) [Theory or Practice? January and...

Any advice?(Editorial/Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... Like many people I have read your Letters section for a while now as I feel it really gives a good impression of what's happening out there--straight from the horse's mouth and all that. After reading David Chappelow's letter from April (Sod...

A delighted reader.(Editorial/Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... I am delighted for two reasons: firstly that Seonaid MacKay analysed in her letter [April] so tremendously accurately an image which was hailed as "powerful" by a respected creative director but does not prove to be any more but a beautified...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
June 1, 2004... In our Showcase section last month we omitted to state that GardaPat 13, the paper on which Showcase is printed, is distributed in the UK by Howard Smith Paper

01 Fabriek.(First Sight)(stencil typeface)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Fabriek, a crisp stencil typeface, is the latest release from The Foundry in London. Influenced by notions of industrial fabrication and structural unity, The Foundry aimed to create a font that, when used, would form a systematic grid...

02 Felina.(Eric Lin, Feline Gothic, Japanese knitting magazines)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Whilst reading some 1950s Japanese knitting magazines, designer Eric Lin I found a font that shared some traits with his 1995 face, Feline Gothic. Taking it as a starting point, he added certain feline elements to help define Feline Serif, the...

03 Goo Goo Gjoob.(typefont)(Andrew Smith)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Some readers will recognise the name of this typeface as a line from the Beetles track, I am the Walrus. Designer Andrew Smith, born in 1967, the year the Beatles recorded the track, took the handwriting and pen drawings of John Lennon as his...

04 House movements--soiled.(House Industries Inc., new book)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Soiled is one of five new fonts that House Industries released exclusively with their recently published book House (CR, May) published by Die Gestalen Verlag. Grungy yet attractive, it is reminiscent of potato print technique.

05 Kada.(Joel Nordstrom, new innovation)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The logo of a Raygil coffee machine spotted in Lausanne, Switzerland was the starting point for this funky-looking caps-only stencil font, designed by Swedish graphic designer Joel Nordstrom. Find this on the newly relaunched Lineto site;...

06 Mince.(First Sight)(Corey Holms new letterforms)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The fat, bubble-like letterforms of Mince overlap giving the impression that each word is a shadow cast by a more defined typeface floating, unseen, somewhere above the virtual page of a computer document. "It was an experiment," explains...

07 Neo (Sans & Tech).(First Sight)(Sebastian Lester, new typeface)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... These two typefaces, designed by Sebastian Lester and available from Agfa Monotype (www.monotype.co.uk), came about when a design agency approached Monotype to develop a futuristic typeface that "didn't look crude, gimmicky or ephemeral". When...

08 Origen.(First Sight)(Cristian Gonzalez Saiz, font)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... This clean and functional font is by Chilean designer Cristian Gonzalez Saiz. After he produced a display font for a ceramicist while still at college, he then decided to develop it as a text font. Origen comes in seven weights: regular, black,...

09 Urban regent.(Kenn Munk new font design)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Copenhagen-based designer Kenn Munk created this unusual, anarchic single weight font which can be found at www.kennmunk.com/fonts. Elements of various type styles are fused together by a connecting band running the length of each word while...

1 Skymultiroom commercial.(advertising)(Anthony Burrill, HHCL Red Cell)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... HHCL/Red Cell and designer Anthony Burrill have joined forces in a new ad for Sky. A simple, animated spot, from team Lee Tan and Jonathan Thake promotes the benefits of Skymultiroom, which allows subscribers to duplicate their main...

2 Baxters Loch Ness Marathon campaign.(First Sight)(Michael Hart)(Don Smith)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Edinburgh-based agency The Union has developed this smart print and poster campaign for Baxters' sponsorship of the Loch Ness Marathon. The ads, created by Michael Hart and Don Smith, feature a running shoe, the undulating laces arranged to...

3-5 Magic channel idents.(Magic Star Pictures Inc., marketing)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... To promote its new music channel, Magic, Emap TV's recently formed in-house design and production team have produced a series of Brazilian-themed channel idents. Each ident looks at a different local character, from ladies walking their dogs,...

6&7 Nintendo press campaign.(Nintendo Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Bonkers brand campaign from Leo Burnett for gaming brand, Nintendo. The ads aim to reflect Nintendo games irreverently: "How do you get across a daft game about rescuing a monkey called Donkey or a golf game with giant toadstools?" asks...

8 Holsten Pils viral campaign.(First Sight)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Viral ads by Fallen, London breathe life into the aged characters of the agency's new Holsten Pils campaign. The spots, created by Juan Cabral, feature workers at the Holsten Pils brewery being interviewed on matters such as friendship, sex,...

9 Kingsmill print campaign.(First Sight)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Getting extra vitamins through the bread you eat is the simple message of this print campaign for Kingsmill from agency JWT. Promoting Kingsmill's calcium, vitamin and wholemeal enriched sub-brands, it includes a shot of a cabbage sandwiched...

10-12 Discovery Channel spots.(new ad campaign)(Jim Jenkins)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Knowing more than you should is the concept behind a new campaign for the Discovery Channel. Hungry Man director Jim Jenkins was asked by the network to write and shoot the spots. One ad features a man surrounded by people with antlers, the...

A keen observer of life.(briefs)(Stephen Gill)
June 1, 2004... The backs of advertising billboards, people absent-mindedly looking out of train windows or listening to their personal stereos, cash points and road works: photographer Stephen Gill specialises in taking remarkably beautiful pictures of the...

Why not do it again.(First Sight)(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... As the second collection of Why Not Associates' best work to date is published this month, founding partner Andy Altmann remembers a time when design companies rarely considered publishing such a book. "Before, we'd never have thought of it,"...

Stars out for onedotzero8.(First Sight)
June 1, 2004... Onedotzero continues its "adventures in moving image" at London's ICA this month. Now in its eighth year, the digital filmmaking festival again offers its trademark mix of panel discussions, live events and screenings of groundbreaking work....

The art of the ballpoint.(First Sight)
June 1, 2004... The creative potential of the humble ballpoint pen is to be celebrated in an exhibition at The Gallery at Pentagram. Curated by Pentagram partner Angus Hyland, Ballpoint features over 50 specially commissioned artworks, all made using the...

One to watch: Bibliothique.(First Sight)
June 1, 2004... By the time you read this, the messy shell of a studio space in the above picture will hopefully have been transformed into the home of Bibliotheque. The design studio, a newly formed three-piece, have experience of two of the UK's best graphic...

I made the puppet dance: Ronnie le Drew reveals his role on intelligent finance's puppet spot by Agency CDD.(First Sight)
June 1, 2004... CR: What is your profession/job title? RLD: Puppeteer. I work with many different types of puppet. CR: How did you get into puppeteering--did you train? RLD: I grew up with Thunderbirds and Stingray and I thought Gerry Anderson's...

Showcase is printed on Gardapat 13, distributed in the UK by Howard Smith paper. Each month we explore a different theme bringing you the latest and best work produced in that area from around the world. This month's theme is finance.
June 1, 2004... 1&2. Who's Next? asks this poster campaign for the Washington Lottery from Publicis Seattle. Each one portrays the messy aftermath of suddenly discovering that you are a big winner. Creative directors: Kevin Kehoe, Bob Moore. Group creative...

How to get your D&AD president's award in advertising: this year, D&AD has chosen to bestow its top honour on failed artist, inspirational creative director and self-proclaimed pain in the arse, Dave Trott. Paula Carson reveals why he deserves it.
June 1, 2004... WHEN DAVE TROTT WROTE HOW TO Get Your First Job In Advertising in the early 70s. he was a copywriter at agency BMP. Trott, at the time, was advising at least one student a day on their portfolio: "After a few months it seemed it would be less...

From Hort to heart: in the fifth of our series, we profile Eikes, Grafisher Hort/Hort, revealing them, their work, the equipment they use and the space they use it in.
June 1, 2004... AFTER AN EXCHANGE OF TWENTY OR so emails with Like Konig a few phrases of his return to you over the course of a day: "My English is worse than warm beer" is one; "Teeth are well again. Can eat like a lion" is a favourite and, the...

Workshop Diary.
June 1, 2004... I was completely unprepared for my trip to Kenya. I'd moved house the week before, se life was upside-down. I only realised how far away Nairobi was when I was looking at an atlas with my daughter the day before I left... it's past the equator...

Graphics against graft: can design effect social change? Anthony Burrill was invited to Nairobi by the British council in order to develop an anti-corruption campaign alongside a selection of local students, artists and designers. This is his diary.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Corruption is rife in Kenya, pervading every tier of society, As part of an initiative set up by the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission and the British Council, designer Anthony Burrill was asked to develop an effective anti-corruption poster...

A bitter taste: Bitterkomix offers an unflinching take on the new South Africa.
June 1, 2004... ANGRY, ICONOCLASTIC and satirical, the second collection of ten years' worth of Bitterkomix comic strips boasts a cover that hints at the savage work within: as a Herge-esque male figure mows a lawn in vest and shorts, below this, in the bottom...

The year in pictures.(Seen)
June 1, 2004... Conflict dominates this year's crop of World Press Photo award winners With reportage photography, even in the best of times, never seemingly short of atrocities, deprivation and disasters to draw on, it should be of no surprise that the pain,...

Type museum ad: from amv.bbdo.(Pick Of The Month)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Type Museum strikes us as one of those plum clients for whom beautiful advertising should be a cinch. Following on from the entertaining "Typefaces you won't recognise" campaign featuring faces formed from archived fonts, is this seasonal...

Nike Arsenal ad: from Wieden + Kennedy, London.(Pick Of The Month)(Wieden and Kennedy Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Clever, simple, spur-of-the-moment print ad, that ran the day after Arsenal drew with Manchester United. The result meant that the Gunners had clocked up a record unbeaten run in the Premiership. The ad lines up the team's match stats: a series...

Iraq war images.(Pick Of The Month)(Robert Capa, photographs)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The winners of this year's World Press Photo contest (p55) confirm the power of the photograph in documenting troubled times. In previous conflicts, photojournalists have provided the definitive images of war--Robert Capa's D-Day photographs,...

Empire: from Princeton Architectural Press, 14.99 [pounds sterling].(Pick Of The Month)(Nicholas Blechman)(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Are designers capable of intelligent political comment? Many try but too often the results go no further than trite name-calling in a nice font. Empire, however, is of an altogether higher calibre. Brought to you by the publishers of...

David: by Sam Taylor-Wood.(Pick Of The Month)(David Beckham)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Given the incessant speculation that surrounds David Beckham it's interesting to witness public reaction to Sam Taylor-Wood's video portrait, David, currently showing at London's National Portrait Gallery. The 67-minute film, shown on a plasma...

Lacuna Inc. website: from 65 media.(Pick Of The Month)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Film websites continue to offer some of the more imaginative uses of the medium. This is a fabulously observed spoof site for Lacuna Inc, the memory-removing facility from Michel Gondry's new hit movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind....

Graphics: A Century of Poster and Advertising Design.(Alain Weill)(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Thames & Hudson. 6.95 [pounds sterling] As part of Thames and Hudson's New Horizons series, this pocket sized book boasts more text and images than its dimensions would suggest. Written and compiled by Alain Weill. former director of the Musee...

20th-Century Type.(Lewis Blackwell)(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Laurence King, 25 [pounds sterling] This third, revised edition of former CR editor Lewis Blackwell's original book now includes more up-to-date work from some contemporary practitioners in typography and graphic design (Hoefler Type catalogue,...

Stephen Shore: Uncommon Places.(Stephen Shore)(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Thames & Hudson, 29.95 [pounds sterling] Travelling the US via its highways, Stephen Shore created a huge body of work that brought the everyday beauty of the American vernacular landscape to the gallery space. One of the first photographers to...

Paul M Smith: Photographs.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Goliath, 19.99 [pounds sterling] As part of a group of photographers who embraced the possibilities of digital technologies and computer software to add creative dimensions to their work, Paul M Smith became notorious in the late 90s for...

Notes on Book Design.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Yale University Press, 30 [pounds sterling] Derek Birdsall has over 40 years' experience as a hook designer and this practical guide to the trade is inspirational and revealing at every turn. From the advice on the opening page--keep ideas...

The best of the best.
June 1, 2004... The 270 D&AD judges have sifted through nearly 14,000 entries from 58 different countries and made their choice. Remarkably, exactly the same number of entries have been deemed worthy of a silver award as last year: 53. It seems to have...

D&AD President's Award 2004.
June 1, 2004... When I first really "got it" was when I saw Gold Greenlees Trott's AAR Reel in the mid-1980s. Instead of the usual procession of "talking heads", it featured an ordinary bloke eating his breakfast, a newspaper laid out on the table in front of...

Go get the fun.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... One evening during bathtime, our daughter announced that tomorrow we would 'go get the fun'. Ever since, the phrase has become our regular Saturday morning alarm call. It proved to be a good reminder for howies too. The reason we started...

Why are we in business? To maximise profits for us. Or to maximise the quality for you.
June 1, 2004... Jean If your role as a company is to maximise the quality for your customer, you will see that this particular blend of twine (featured left) is 32% stronger than the standard one used by other brands. On the other hand, if your role...

Make you own history.(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
June 1, 2004... This is a story of a pair of jeans. It is also a story of modern day life. In factories all around the world, there are machines designed to put holes in good jeans, there are machines that sand blast them, there are lasers that burn them....

This base layer relies on something even more natural than the merino wool it's made of. Word of mouth.
June 1, 2004... Natural base layer You will not see the Natural Base Layer advertised anywhere. You won't see any big name snowboarders or mountain bikers endorsing it. Yet, we find ourselves struggling to keep up with the demand. Rather embarrassingly,...

It won all the awards at 'What Mountain Bike' magazine. Oh boy, that will keep us on our toes.
June 1, 2004... Drywool base layer In the January edition of What Mountain Bike magazine, this base layer of ours cleaned up. It won gold. It won best value. And it won customer choice, too. For a small company like us, it tastes real sweet to beat...

Ventile stood at the top of Mount Everest before all others. As it did so it invented the term 'performance fabric'.
June 1, 2004... Ventile jacket Towpath trousers At seven minutes past eleven on May 29th 1953, Mount Everest was finally defeated. Two brave men stood at the top of the world. They stayed for 15 minutes and then left. Never to return. Climbing Everest...

The last thing we want to do is to fleece ya. But..
June 1, 2004... Yurt fleece We introduced this merino fleece last year and have lived in it ever since. It has become a staple for everyone at howies mostly due to our lack of heating. Our only criticisms of it were the zip (which we have improved), the...

Burn more than you chew.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Generation X is becoming Generation XL. A combination of eating more and doing less is a dangerous cocktail. Food is a matter of getting the balance right. Not too much. Not too little. Just enough to give you the energy to ride home like a...

Shoppers have more power than voters.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Governments have less power than they used to, whilst corporations have more than ever before. Indeed, some corporations have bigger revenues than some countries. When corporations lobby the government, it has to respect them by listening....

Think long term.(hiring the best)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... We made a loss this year. Just like the last one. And the one before that. It's not that we are doing badly. It's because it's not easy running a small business. You have to invest in good people if you want to grow and spread the gospel...

Biodegradability timescale.
June 1, 2004... Banana peel 3-4 weeks Tin can 10-40 years This catalogue 200 years Aluminium wrapper 200-500 years Disposable nappy 500-600 years Plastic jug 1,000,000 years Styrofoam cup infinity Everything we do has some...

Abcmtvcnn cbsnbcbbc hboitvqvctv programmes you.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Six months ago I broke my arm in two places, it put me in plaster and rendered me unable to skateboard for a long time. Being unable to do something that took up such a huge chunk of my life left me with a large void to fill I'm not sure how,...

Reclaim your sport.
June 1, 2004... When I started skateboarding around the mid 70's, the sport was very young. The wheels were soft and the trucks were even softer. The ball bearings used to fall out of the wheels. There was one skate park in the whole of the UK. The ollie was...

Cardigan Bay versus San Francisco Bay.(patent law absurdity)
June 1, 2004... We thought we could put our own name on our jean wherever we liked. It seemed like common sense to us. In the same way as a car manufacturer can put their name on the boot, the bonnet, the grill, hey on the roof if they want. Or an orange juice...

Fear is the brain, the skill is the body.
June 1, 2004... In 1987 I took my first mountain bike to Ashton Court woods outside Bristol and I remember standing at the top of this trail totally shitting it as an old man walking his dog ascended the trail. He waited halfway up and seemed intent on seeing...

A return to simple.(poetry)(Poem)(Illustration)
June 1, 2004... A return to simple Press the pause button. It's time to feel the rain, the wind, the cold mountain air. Turn the mobile phone off. It does have an off button. Let the laptop power down. Leave the e-mails go un-read. ...

Less debt = more play.
June 1, 2004... The banks make money by lending people money. They expect more to be paid back than the person borrowed. That is called interest. Building Societies make money by helping people buy their house. They expect to be paid back more than the sum of...

Common sense. No patent pending.(concentrated animal feeding centers)
June 1, 2004... I ride past the local farm in the morning. It's small but highly efficient. Their pigs are fed mostly on the surplus milk from their jersey cows, which would otherwise have to go to waste. The pig manure is used to fertilise the adjacent fields...

Dear Dave, you tosser..
June 1, 2004... 'This is no way to run a business." It's what we hear time and time again as we try to build this company. Ideas like giving our customers better quality and making a bit less money for ourselves don't exactly litter the pages of...