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https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/19-25-september-2016/john-spencer-language-design-indivisible/
John Spencer: “Language and design should be indivisible”

"dw4-0022" — Design Week Awards 2016 Best of Show winner, and Writing for Design winner: 500 Years of Stories by Grey London for Tate Britain

Master designers like Alan Fletcher, Bob Gill, Milton Glaser and George Lois all put language at the heart of their work. Fletcher's book The Art of Looking Sideways is about verbal and visual interplay. George Lois, in his book Lois Logos said, “As a graphic thinker, I claim my love of language as a birthright”. And he went on to describe himself as “the most word-driven art director of our media age”.

I've been intrigued by the relationship between language and design since I was a student. It all began with a book, first published in 1962, called Watching Words Move by designers Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar. Their aim was to “…explore the evocative potential of words and vividly express their meaning”. In their introduction they said, “…we looked at the words and did to them what they themselves suggested”. Watching Words Move shows how you can make words more evocative of ideas and emotions.

I love Watching Words Move because it's what graphic design's all about crystal-clear, expressive and idiosyncratic communication that makes everything our clients say, look like only they could have said it.

You'd have thought it goes without saying that language and design are indivisible so why are they so often out of step, even at odds? Why do words play second fiddle to design? Why do a lot of designers seem hell-bent on churning out work that's slick but meaningless when they should to be helping their clients communicate?

Design schools fail to cultivate a love of language

There's a big problem with design education. Design schools fail to cultivate a love of language. Their focus always was, and still is, on the visual. They're teaching decoration not communication. Bob Gill said, “I realised that the best test of the validity of an idea was if the client could comprehend it, be excited by it and accept it without even seeing it.” So he'd tell them about it rather than show them. And he made his students tell him about their work before they showed him. He made words the starting point for design.

Everyone thinks they can write

A lot of the writing we have to work with is shamefully inadequate because everyone thinks they can write and all too often, everyone and anyone does. People who lack the well-honed skills of professional writers dash off colossal amounts of business writing that's short on clarity and has no discernible personality. So designers are forced to spend their time camouflaging forgettable words when they should be bringing language to life. No wonder many are inclined to dismiss words as filler the boring stuff that spoils all the fun.

Bad writing is bad thinking written down

Well-structured, perceptive design briefs are priceless because defining problems in words is where design begins. Cut and paste marathons, stuff and nonsense cobbled together by people who ought to know better, are worthless. But all too often, designers seem happy to accept waffle and, in the absence of any clear direction, churn out bucket loads of “concepts” in the hope that something gets picked. Bad writing is bad thinking written down, and bad thinking will never inspire good design.

Bob Gill, in his book Forget All the Rules About Graphic Design, says: “Taking problems which don't make interesting (unique) statements and redefining them so that they do is what my graphic design is about. It's how I get my ideas. From the problems themselves”.

A few years ago I was asked to design a logo and graphic identity for The National Archives, one of the largest and oldest archival collections in the world. It holds government and state papers from the eleventh century to the present day. It's responsible for their preservation and on-going selection. And it makes the collection available to everyone. They described themselves as the “national memory” and the “protector of democracy” through open access to information. There was more to it, but that's it in a nutshell.

I redefined their statement to make it more interesting; The National Archives is the place where history meets the future. That was my starting point and it inspired a logo that's made from the coming together of two very different letterforms one ancient, one modern.

Writers write, designers design, and that's that

Collaboration between writers and designers is nothing like as commonplace as it should be. By and large, writers write, designers design, and that's that. I know quite a few very good writers who just aren't interested in how their words look, and even more designers who couldn't care less what the words are about. It shouldn't be that way. Writers and designers ought to collaborate, like advertising agency art directors and copywriters have done for decades. Because language and design are indivisible like words and music in a song.

And Babies is an iconic anti-Vietnam War poster. It was designed in 1969 by the Art Workers Coalition. It uses an infamous photograph of the My Lai massacre in which hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed, and women and girls raped. It shows about a dozen dead and partly naked Vietnamese women and babies on a dirt road. The picture's overlaid with translucent red lettering that asks along the top, “And babies?” and at the bottom it answers, “And babies”.

The photograph was taken by Army photographer Ron L Haberle and the quote is from a CBS television interview with a soldier who participated in the massacre. The poster speaks volumes. It's a remarkable example of language and design coming together to tell an unforgettable story.

Interesting words need “boring” design

You don't need to make interesting words look interesting. If you do, what they look like will probably compete with what they mean and that'll make them harder, not easier, to understand. But so often the meaning of words is clouded by designers who can't resist the temptation to tart them up.

It's been 23 years since The Economist launched their eye-catching “white out of red” campaign. But Abbott Mead Vickers' words have lost none of their freshness.

On the edge of a conversation. One of the loneliest places on earth.

To err is human. To er, um, ah is unacceptable.

Don't end up like Wotsisname.

The simple red posters echoed the design of the Economist's masthead. The words were so good, they needed very little design. You've heard the saying “a picture's worth a thousand words”. Well it's not always true. Sometimes a few well-written words are worth much more than any picture.

How to do it

Here are six suggestions to help you bring language and design together, and create work that's crystal-clear, expressive and idiosyncratic.

Collaborate with writers. Writers, collaborate with designers.

Redefine the brief. Make it more interesting.

Have an opinion. It's how you get ideas.

Have a reason. Don't do something just because it looks good.

Write your ideas down. See if they still make sense.

Trust your instinct. It's always right.

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First look Design Junction 2016

"_as13566_rgb" — Cubitt House by Satellite Architects

Trade show Design Junction is a wholly different affair this year, uprooting to King's Cross where there is a new focus on several distinct types of design.

Although broadly speaking Design Junction is a trade show under the London Design Festival banner, it is looking to offer a lot more.

Having moved on from locations in central London at the Sorting Office and the former Central St Martins building, Design Junction has now fanned out across a 67 acre site in King's Cross.

The registration area at The Crossing is also an installation by Michael Sodeau Studio for Dinesen. A mix of brands sit around it and all of them have made an effort to create some kind of installation for their products.

The TfL collaborations are probably the pick of the bunch. There are three separate licensed collaborations, each of which is demonstrated in a timber frame structure. Kirby Design has used a Piccadilly line moquette on a chair it has designed exclusively for Made.com.

Meanwhile Loris&Olivia has made pan mats and coasters from rubber train flooring and Vallila have created a series of bold prints, which have been fashioned into tea towels, cushions and the like.

On the way to Cubitt House you can find the Johnston Twitter Machine, designed by Florian Dussport. It's a giant roundel created in homage to the Johnston Typeface, which was designed by Edward Johnston 100 years ago in 1916.

Dussport has designed the machine so that it stamps out tweets that have #inspiredby in them.

Cubitt House is where you can find the bulk of the trade stands. It's a temporary and not particularly arresting structure. Recognising this Design Junction looked to Satellite Architects, which has disguised the whole thing behind a façade comprised of a grid of squares and a row of trees, which gives a pixilation effect.

Inside there are two floors showing more than 100 furniture and lighting companies. It's a very light structure so you get to see the furniture upstairs in natural light.

Look out for a beautifully elegant collaboration between Bethan Gray and Shamsian, which does that rare thing of reconciling modern and classic styles while also mixing eastern and western influences. It was the Iranian practitioner Mohamad Reza Shamsian who approached UK designer Bethan Gray for the project.

Casper was a particularly big hit. Versions of the Casper stool had been customised by the likes of Tom Dixon, Anthony Burrill and Vic Lee and will be the subject of a charity auction.

We bumped into Vic Lee working on a mural outside the entrance to the The Canopy, a retail destination showcasing 70 boutique design labels selling fashion accessories, technology, stationary, ceramics and graphics.

There was some lovely stuff from Dorothy, which creates data visualisations, prints and graphics often in the form of maps.

They showed us their latest projects, some of which were being seen for the first time at Design Junction. This view of post punk bands mapped out as a transistor is particularly satisfying.

In Granary Square you'll find a series of red houses resembling Monopoly hotels. Each one is the location for a different installation. Design studio Four23 used their house as an immersive VR experience, designed to eschew the stresses of the modern world with a transcendental and genuinely blissful escape.

It's based on the neuroscience of Daydreaming, there's lots of rigorous explanatory research on the wall panels inside and the Four23 people are very helpful too. Really you just need to have a go though.

If you get down to Designjunction on Saturday you might want to catch talk on design and dyslexia. It poses the question: Is having dyslexia always a learning difficulty, or can it facilitate lateral and creative thinking? Design and architecture writer Grant Gibson chairs the discussion, which sits alongside Designjunction's current exhibition, Dyslexic Design, showcasing the work of dyslexic designers. Panelists include illustrator Kristjana S Williams, industrial designer Terence Woodgate, furniture designer Tom Raffield and writer Margaret Rooke.

Design Junction runs from 22-25 September at 1 Granary Square, London, N1C 4 AA

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5 important things that happened in design this week

Mozilla shortlisted four logos in its rebrand project

"jb_Mozilla-sept_C_protocol_1_truncated-1400x652"

Mozilla is currently undergoing a rebrand but rather than simply enlisting a design consultancy to fulfil a brief, the software company has called on the public to comment on ideas.

Working with consultancy Johnson Banks, Mozilla is posting different iterations of the new logo on its blog, where Mozilla employees and the general public can post their comments.

Now, four visual identities have been shortlisted one which uses the “://” symbols, a pixelated flame, a depiction of an internet network and a dinosaur's head.

All of the logos have their explanations behind them, but so far, our readers have been leaning towards “Protocol 2.0” the logo which cleverly encapsulates the “://” into the word “Mozilla”.

Reader Hannah Stephens says: “It's bold, meaningful and memorable the others for me are too complex and don't have the same impact.”

A final brand identity is expected to be revealed in October.

The visual identity for UEFA Euro 2020 was revealed

"LONDON, — Photo © Christopher Lee, UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

This week, UEFA revealed the branding for its 2020 European Football Championship (Euro), which is going to be doing things differently in 2020.

Held every four years, the tournament usually takes place in one European city, but in 2020 it will be held in 13 cities across Europe, with the semi-finals and finals taking place at London's Wembley Stadium.

To symbolise the joining up of Europe which is also fitting to our current post-Brexit climate the branding features a bridge, representing “the universal symbol of connection”, says UEFA.

The branding was completed by Y&R Portugal.

The creative industries were invited to share views on the impact of Brexit

This week, an inquiry was launched on the parliament.uk site which encourages people working within the creative sectors to submit their thoughts on Brexit.

The inquiry has been proposed by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and asks people to submit their personal details along with an open letter on how leaving the European Union (EU) will affect the creative industries.

They want views on issues including employment, the fall in value of the pound, copyright, design and trademark laws, loss of EU funds such as the Creative Europe Fund and reduced access to the EU's single market, which allows free movement of goods, people and services across Europe.

Beware that on the whole your views won't be anonymous letters are published to the website, and if you want your thoughts to remain confidential, you'll have to provide your reasons.

The deadline for written submissions is 28 October. You can access the form here.

Oculus Rift launched in the UK

Virtual reality is now readily available to consumers and designers as Oculus Rift hit shelves in retail stores this week.

The headset, which comes with a sensor, remote and an Xbox One wireless controller, is priced at £549. Oculus VR has also chucked in a VR platform game Lucky's Tale, along with a series of 360 degree videos and VR movies.

It's now available to buy at John Lewis, Curry's PCWorld, Game Digital and London department store Harrods, and can also be purchased online via Amazon.

You'll need a PC to run it, and make sure it's up-to-date it needs to have an operating system of Windows 7 or newer, and a memory of 8GB RAM or above.

Oculus Touch controllers are yet to launch in the UK, but when they do they aim to provide greater control and more natural use of the hands when using VR.

Concepts were created for supposedly comfier train seats

"ttdt_ISLANDBAY_still_s02_SIDE_characters_UP"

Design consultancy PriestmanGoode has created two new seats intended to alleviate passengers' stress when riding crammed trains.

While the concepts don't tackle the problem of over-populated carriages in itself, they aim to make better use of space to accommodate more passengers in both sitting and standing positions.

The Horizon concept has a staggered seat design, which creates more shoulder space between passengers, and foot rests at different heights to accommodate people of different sizes.

The Island Bay concept can be converted during rush hour by folding the seat up, and also includes a window table that converts into a seat, and extra padded backrests facing into the aisle of the train.

PriestmanGoode is currently working with Rail Interiors Solutions to find suppliers. Read more about the concepts here.

Got a design story? Get in touch at sarah.dawood@centaurmedia.com.

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New Strohacker Design School hopes to give students an “alternative” route into design

A new design college has been set up to give students hands-on, vocational experience, and has been backed by the likes of Jamie Hewlett and Vince Frost.

The Strohacker Design School is an independent design college set up at Chichester University in Bognor Regis, which aims to provide an “alternative route” into the design industry, says founder Bill Strohacker.

A “new design hub”

The school also aims to create a “new design hub” in the south east of the UK by attracting local and international students, he adds.

Jamie Hewlett is co-creator of virtual band Gorillaz and comic strip Tank Girl, and Vince Frost is the Australian graphic designer behind the 2008 Venice Biennale branding and covers for magazines such as Wallpaper. Other backers include Tank Girl co-creator Alan Martin, and fine artist Lady Pippa Blake. Strohacker is hoping backers will work with students on projects and host talks.

Full-time and part-time

The school has just two graphic design courses a three-month full-time course, and a nine-month part-time course.

Both courses are open to A-Level students seeking an alternative to university, and graduates, as well as people who want a career change and current designers.

They aim to “provide students with the exact skills that modern design agencies are looking for”, says Strohacker.

The courses will involve students working in a studio environment tackling live industry design briefs “with more realistic time scales”, says Strohacker.

10 students to a course

Students will work “in small groups” from 9am-5pm, five days a week over three months for the full-time course, or two evenings a week over nine months for the part-time course.

The school will support students after they have completed their studies, by helping them to find employment and providing industry contacts and CV and portfolio workshops for the following year.

It has also partnered with crowdfunding platform Education Aid, which aims to help students from underprivileged backgrounds by enabling them to borrow money to cover course fees interest-free.

An “alternative” route into design

“What we are trying to offer potential students is an alternative to the normal education route,” says Strohacker. “What happens to the kids who don't make the required entry grades for university, but are no less talented or passionate about design? Or those who cannot afford or do not want the increased debt attached to their education?”

The school's head lecturer is John McFaul, who has 20 years of experience working with brands such as Pepsico, Levi's and New Balance. Other tutors include illustrators, graphic designers and those working in advertising.

“Competent, inspired, dedicated students”

“We are hoping…we can help to produce competent, inspired, dedicated design students ready to walk straight into a junior position,” says Strohacker.

The courses open in September 2016 and are priced at £6,295 for the full-time three-month course, and £5,995 for the part-time nine-month course. The three-month course runs three times a year. Course spaces are limited to 10 students, and all graduates will receive a certificate.

"Gorillaz — Gorillaz illustration, by Jamie Hewlett

"Havaianas — Havaianas wall mural, by John McFaul

"Tank — Tank Girl comic, by Jamie Hewlett

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https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/19-25-september-2016/parliament-inquiry-creative-industries-brexit-eu-referendum/
Parliament calls for creative industries to share views on impact of Brexit

Parliament has launched an inquiry calling for members of the public to submit their thoughts on the impact of Brexit on the creative industries.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee which oversees the actions of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has published a form on the parliament.uk website asking for written submissions.

The form asks people to submit their opinions on the “impact of Brexit on the creative industries, tourism and the digital single market”.

The digital single market enables free movement of people, services and money across the European Union (EU), and means people and businesses within the EU can use the internet under fair competition and have data protection.

More specifically, the committee is inviting people to submit their views on issues including:

employment in the creative industries and tourism
the effect on number of visitors to the UK
the effect of the fall in value of the pound on business and tourism
copyright, designs, patent and trademark laws
being outside of the EU's single market
the impact of the loss of EU funding, including specialist funds like the Creative Europe Fund and general ones like the Regional Development Fund.

Designers have previously spoken out in opposition of leaving the EU, their main concerns being less access to international talent and to exports, limited collaboration with other designers abroad and potential damage to intellectual property and design registration laws.

But other designers are in support of the vote to leave James Dyson recently told The Telegraph that leaving Europe would give British businesses “huge strength in independence”, and allow them to “make their own decisions”, while “being subservient to Europe…is entirely not in this country's interest”.

Anyone can submit a form, as an individual or as part of an organisation. The website reads that most written submissions will be published on the parliament.uk website, and if anyone wishes for their entry to be confidential or not to be published, they need to provide reasons why.

MP Damian Collins, acting chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, says: “The process of leaving the European Union is one of the greatest challenges that the UK faces today. The creative industries and tourism are two of the most important sectors in our economy, and we have to make sure that Brexit can become a success for them.

“For this inquiry, we want to examine all of the challenges and opportunities that Brexit could bring… we want to hear from people and organisations in the creative and tourism sectors on any concerns or ideas they may have relating to Brexit.”

The deadline for written submissions is 28 October 2016. Access the form here.

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London Design Festival 2016 5 must-see talks

Panel: Graphics and Music: Past, Present and Future

"The — The Beatles Illustrated lyrics, Revolution 1968 by Alan Aldridge

What: If you're interested in record sleeves and gig posters, head to this panel talk at the V&A exploring the relationship between graphic design and music. Victoria Broackes, co-curator of the new Records and Rebels exhibition at the V&A will be chairing this discussion, and the panel includes Jonathan Barnbrook, the designer behind the late David Bowie's Blackstar album artwork, and musician Beatie Wolfe.

When: Saturday 17 September, 1.30-2.30pm.

Where: The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre, Level 4, Victoria and Albert museum (V&A), London SW7 2RL.

Info: Tickets are £10.75 in advance, and part of LDF's Global Design Forum. For more information, head here.

Panel: How to be creative and successful when you are dyslexic

"Gull — Gull Latinu Amerika, by Kristjana Williams

What: Is having dyslexia always a learning difficulty, or can it facilitate lateral and creative thinking? Design and architecture writer Grant Gibson chairs this fascinating discussion, which sits alongside Designjunction's current exhibition, Dyslexic Design, showcasing the work of dyslexic designers. Panelists include illustrator Kristjana S Williams, industrial designer Terence Woodgate, furniture designer Tom Raffield and writer Margaret Rooke.

When: Saturday 24 September, 5-6pm.

Where: The Gallery Room, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG.

Info: This event is free, and part of this year's Designjunction exhibition and fair. For more information, head here.

Panel: The Power of Packaging

What: Packaging is an incredibly important facet of any public-facing brand, whether it's luxury Fortnum and Mason's or mainstream McDonald's. Are we aware of its ability to influence our decisions? Come along to this Design Week hosted panel which will look at current trends and the future of packaging design, with speakers including key figures from Design Bridge, Pearlfisher and Bulletproof, and packaging specialist Daniel Mason who has worked on record sleeves for artists including Björk, Led Zeppelin and Aphex Twin.

When: Sunday 18 September, 1.30-2.30pm.

Where: The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre, V&A museum.

Info: Tickets are £10.75 in advance, and part of LDF's Global Design Forum. For more information, head here.

Panel: Not just a product Brand-building in unexpected ways

What: Running a design studio might not just be about producing great work for clients. This panel, chaired by Design Week editor Tom Banks, will look at how you can extend your brand by doing new things, such as running events, or housing a gallery within a studio space. Panelists include NB Studio creative director Nick Finney and Amy Croft, the curator of Sto Werkstatt's in-house gallery.

When: Wednesday 21 September, 12-1pm.

Where: The Forum, Olympia London, Hammersmith Road, Kensington, London W14 8UX.

Info: This talk is part of trade show and exhibition 100%Design, which costs £15 for full entry to the show and talks programme. For more information on the talk, head here. For information on how to register for a 100%Design ticket, head here.

Masterclass: Marina Willer How to survive as a female designer

What: Marina Willer became Pentagram London's first female partner in 2012, after her time as head creative director at Wolff Olins. In this masterclass, the graphic designer and filmmaker behind branding projects such as the Tate museum, Amnesty International and the Southbank Centre, will be speaking about her experiences as a woman working in a male-dominated industry, and sharing stories of her most famous projects.

When: Sunday 18 September, 3.30-5pm.

Where: The Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre, V&A museum.

Info: Tickets are £15, and the talk is part of LDF's Global Design Forum. For more information, head here.

Other talks to catch:

A discussion between creative partnership Eva Kellenberger and Sebastian White, in conversation with Design Week.
Designer, Maker, User: A talk looking at the Design Museum's new permanent display, with panelists including Sebastian Conran.
A masterclass with Jonathan Barnbrook.
Made.com: Designing for Small, Urban Spaces: a discussion looking at the increasing population and lack of urban space, and the resulting effects on architecture and design.

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5 important things that happened in design this week

The NHS announced it will have a complete digital overhaul

The Department for Health announced this week that the National Health Service (NHS) would be completely redesigning its public-facing website by the end of 2017.

The current nhs.uk (NHS choices) site is currently mainly a hub for researching ailments and symptoms but the government hopes to turn it into a more holistic supersite.

The new nhs.uk site will aim to bring all patient services together allowing them to book appointments, find a GP, access test results, order prescriptions and ask for medical advice all in one place.

It will also be taking into account patient data from “NHS-approved” health apps, the government department says, with the hope of providing more tailored services to patients.

The new plastic £5 note design rolled out

The new polymer £5 note entered circulation this week, with 440 million rolling out in an initial print run.

The redesigned note features Winston Churchill, and according to the Bank of England, is both waterproof and resistant to dirt.

It's also meant to last more than double the amount of time as a paper note, and contains features which make the note harder to counterfeit and easier to recognise for visually impaired people.

Alongside Churchill, a plastic £10 note featuring Jane Austin will arrive in summer 2017, and a £20 note featuring J.M.W Turner will start sweeping the nation in 2020.

Just Eat revealed a colourful rebrand

A week after rival Deliveroo unveiled an entirely new graphic identity, food delivery service Just Eat rolled out a rebrand.

The new branding sees a spectrum of colours added to the visual application of the brand, and the logo tweaked, with a new italicised logotype and the removal of Just Eat's signature cursor click icon perhaps now an outdated motif.

Alongside the visual look, which was designed by consultancy Venturethree, the brand also wants to change its attitude, with new online features that will enable it to communicate better with its audience.

For instance, a new chatbot feature compatible with Facebook Messenger means customers can receive advice on what restaurants or food to choose, based on previous orders.

Addison Lee revealed a new visual identity

This week, car hire and taxi service Addison Lee looked to better align itself with customer service in its latest rebrand.

Ad agency Whistlejacket London worked on the project, and redesigned the logo from its previous monochrome, intertwined “AL” symbol to a more minimal, yellow “AL”.

The “AL” icon uses a serif typeface, while the Addison Lee logotype has been given a sans-serif.

The yellow aims to be a “shorthand for taxis”, explains Whistlejacket London's creative director Kathy Kielty, while the gap created between the “A” and “L” symbols indicates two sides of a road.

Alongside the visual changes, the brand hopes to reposition itself as being more customer-focused through new services such as free wifi, courier services and pet-friendly vehicles.

Plumen unveiled its new energy efficient light bulb

"Plumen-003-designer-LED-bulb-warm-light"

Plumen's new 003 lightbulb was unveiled this week, after product design consultancy Hulger spent five years creating it.

The new light bulb aims to give “sustainable design sex appeal”, according to Nicolas Roope, creative director at Hulger, and allegedly gives off two forms of light a more useful, downward spotlight to illuminate worktops and dinner tables, and a more ambient golden glow for the surrounding environment.

The soft glow is achieved through a gold element in the centre of the light bulb, which actually makes people “look more beautiful”, according to Plumen.

At £150 a pop, it's not cheap but can last for 10,000 hours before it blows. You can find out more information here.

Got a design story? Get in touch at sarah.dawood@centaurmedia.com.

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London Design Festival preview: London Design Fair

To coincide with its tenth anniversary, this year Tent London and Super Brands London have been brought together under the new umbrella brand, London Design Fair.

It has also taken on an additional 3,500m² space on the third floor of the Old Truman Brewery in east London, and will continue to run alongside London Design Festival as one of its design destinations.

One of several large trade shows to be found at London Design Festival, what is now London Design Fair will host the work of hundreds of product and furniture designers, with big brands and small outfits displaying side-by-side at the same venue. There are also some special projects and launches to be found…

Installations

Kit Miles and Moooi Carpets have designed the entrance to the foyer of the Old Truman Brewery this year, which will feature a colourful 150m² carpet.

The carpet design is based on the “interplay of shadows and light”, and inspired by both Mediterranean and London architecture, according to the designers.

Tent London

At 10 at Tent, ten now-established designers will show the pieces they originally debuted at Tent London, alongside their latest collections.

“This is a chance to take a moment and appreciate how far we've all come. Both the designers and the fair itself we've grown up together,' says London Design Fair founder and director, Jimmy MacDonald.

For another of this year's most promising new installations, the fair was invited to propose a project by the trade commission of the Trentino region of Italy. The result is Trentino Collaborations, which matches four British designers with Trentino-based manufacturers to create new retail products.

Max Lamb is working with a quarry company to produce granite furniture, Sebastian Cox is using a weaving technique from Trentino, Lucy Kurrein is designing leather upholstery and Giles Miller is making his first foray into natural stone tiles.

Guest country pavilion

This year, India has been selected to host the first annual guest country pavilion. Co-curated by MacDonald, alongside London-based consultancy Tiipoi's founder, Spandana Gopal, This is India is designed to showcase a “renewed but intimate perspective on established and emerging design practices from India today”, according to the event organisers.

On the lineup are textile designers Leah Singh, Injiri and Safomasi, as well as industrial studio and manufacturers, Taama.

Look out for exhibition designer, Kangan Arora's installation too, featuring more than 500 hand-painted terracotta pots stacked into various colonnades and towers.

Other countries

100% Norway will be returning to the London Design Fair for its 13th edition, curated by Max Fraser. It will include projects from a number of Norwegian designers, including Anderssen & Voll, Andreas Bergsaker and Vera & Kyte.

Other confirmed countries showing this year are China, Scotland Craft & Design, Swedish Design Pavilion, Nordic Design Collective, Portugal, Galicia and the Crafts Council of Italy.

London Design Fair takes place in the Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, E1 6QL from 22-25 September. For more information, head here.

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Book: Designing Your Life

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans introduced the Designing for Life course to Standford University in the US 15 years ago. Those that enrolled were younger students, mid-career professionals and retirees, who were all taught to “think like a designer.”

The basic idea is to encourage people to design a career and a life that is “meaningful, joyful and fulfilling” to help them reduce anxieties and reach clear goals.

The course has now been translated into a new book…

Choosing Happiness

Designing a career and a life requires not only that you have lots of options and good alternatives; it also requires the ability to make good choices and live into those choices with confidence, which means you accept them and don't second-guess yourself. Regardless of where you've started, what stage of life and career you are in, how great or dire you perceive your circumstances to be, we would bet our last dollar that there is one goal you all have in this life you are designing:

Happiness

Who doesn't want to be happy? We want to be happy, and we want our students to be happy, and we want you to be happy.

In life design, being happy means you choose happiness.

Choosing happiness doesn't mean you should click your heels together three times while wishing to go to your happy place. The secret to happiness in life design isn't making the right choice; it's learning to choose well.

You can do all the work of life design ideating and prototyping and taking action all leading to some really cool alternative life design plans, but this doesn't guarantee you will be happy and get what you want. Maybe you'll end up happy and getting what you want, and maybe you won't. We say “maybe” because being happy and getting what you want are not about future risks and unknowns or whether you picked the right alternatives; it's about how you choose and how you live your choices once they're made.

All of your hard work can be undone by poor choosing. Not so much by making the wrong choice (that's a risk, but, frankly, not a big one, and usually one you can recover from) as by thinking wrongly about your choosing. Adopting a good, healthy, smart life design choosing process is critical to a happy outcome. Many people are using a choosing model that cuts themselves off from their most important insights and actually prevents them from being happy with their choices after they've been made. We see it all the time, and studies agree: many people guarantee an unhappy outcome by how they approach this all-important design step of choosing.

On the flip side, choosing well almost guarantees a happy and life-giving outcome, while setting you up for more options and a better future.

The Life Design Choosing Process

In life design, the choosing process has four steps. First you gather and create some options, then you narrow down your list to your top alternatives, then finally you choose, and then, last but not least, you… agonise over that choice. Agonise over whether you've done the right thing. In fact, we encourage you to spend countless hours, days, months, or even decades agonising.

Just kidding. People can waste years agonising over the choices they've made, but agonising is a time suck. Of course we don't want you to agonise, and that is not the fourth step in the life design choosing process.

The fourth step in the process is to let go of our unnecessary options and move on, embracing our choice fully so that we can get the most from it.

We need to understand each of these choosing steps to appreciate the important difference between good choosing, which results in reliably happy outcomes and more future prospects, and bad choosing, which preconditions us for an unhappy experience.

Designing Your Life: Build a Life That Works for You, by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans is published by Penguin Random House on 15 September and is priced £14.99

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London Design Festival 2016 5 must-see exhibitions

A Smile in the Mind, by The Partners

Futurecity, an initiative to regenerate urban spaces through art and culture, has curated an exhibition looking at the use of wit in design and branding.

Created by The Partners, and based on an updated version of Beryl McAlhone and David Stuart's celebrated graphic design book, A Smile in the Mind, the exhibition will explore how wit powers creative thinking among some of the world's biggest brands.

It is set to include original works from designers and artists including Noma Bar, Robert Brownjohn and Dominic Wilcox.

A Smile in the Mind will be go on display at The Gallery at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0DT. For more information, head here.

25 Years of Editions, by Sebastian Bergne

Industrial designer Sebastian Bergne will be opening the doors of his Battersea studio to the public for this year's festival, showcasing some of his most famous designs from over the last 25 years in the place they were first created.

Highlights include the relaunched ring soap and lamp shade, as well as new products such as the Drop jug and Cubit beer glass.

25 Years of Editions will run Mon-Fri at 2 Ingate Place, SW8 3NS during LDF. For more information, head here.

Toilet Break, by Dirty Furniture and The Shit Museum

"02_ps_theshitmuseum_producthenrikblomqvist_lr"

Independent design magazine, Dirty Furniture and Italy-based The Shit Museum have teamed up to create an event exploring the potential of arguably our most primordial activity: poo.

Toilet Break features two exhibitions, including one called On the Go, featuring a new commission by Lukas Franciszkiewicz of London-Tokyo design studio Takram.

There will also be a series of talks, including one that will discuss whether gender-neutral toilets are the answer.

Toilet Break will take place at the Basement, 1 North Terrace, SW3 2BA from 17-25 September. For more information, head here.

Silhouettes and Shadows, by Photofusion and Rockarchive

Photography collective Rockarchive is collaborating with Brixton-based photo studio and gallery, Photofusion in an exhibition dedicated to the memory of one of the area's most famous residents: the late David Bowie.

As a visual celebration of Bowie's life and career, visitors can expect prints and images by music photographers including Ray Stevenson, Fernando Aceves, Mark Mawston and Steve Rapport, some of which are being shown in the UK for the first time.

Silhouettes and Shadows is running From 17-25 September at 17a Electric Lane, SW9 8LA. For more information, head here.

Below Stairs, by Sir John Soane's Museum

Coinciding with the Sir John Soane's Museum's seven-year restoration project, this year's festival will see the Regency kitchens open to the public for the first time

In a nod to the original use of the kitchens by Sir John Soane's servants, Below Stairs will showcase new or recent work from the likes of Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, Jasper Morrison, Martino Gamper, and Paul Cocksedge in the reinstated space.

Each of the designers has been selected for their association with culinary and domestic design; Barber & Osgerby has designed ranges of tableware, day-to-day objects and a number of dining tables, while Martino Gamper considers himself part-chef, and part-designer.

Below Stairs will run from 13 September 2016 4 March 2017 at the Sir John Soane's Museum, 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, WC2A 3BP. For more information, head here.

Be sure to check out these other exhibitions as well:

Blend, by Raw Colour

Show 13: Bare Minimum, by Viaduct

Designersblock London 2016, by Designersblock

London Design Festival at the V&A Engineering Season

All photos courtesy of London Design Festival 2016 supported by British Land.

The London Design Festival runs 17 25 September across various venues in London. For more information, head here.

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London Design Festival 2016 5 must see installations

"the-smile-ahec-aba-tulipwood-clt-1" — The Smile

LDF has come to be known as much for its large-scale public installations as it has for its trade shows, talks and launches.

We've picked out five installations to look out for.

The Smile, by Alison Brooks

A regular favourite is the installation created with the American Hardwood Council. In recent years we've seen dRMM Architects' Escher-inspired Endless Stair and Amanda Levete's Endless Wave.

This year, The Smile has been created by architect Alison Brooks. It's a 34 metre curved wooden structure that you can walk in and around.

Its two ends sitting three metres off the ground will offer viewing platforms and a new perspective to see surrounding buildings.

Created from cross laminated tulipwood timber, it has been designed so that even if 60 people were to run to one end of the structure, it wouldn't see-saw.

The Smile has been anchored with a cradle of 20 tonnes of steel counterweights.

The Smile can be found outside the Tate Britain from 17-25^th September.

Mini Living, by Asif Khan

Asif Khan has created a three-part exploratory piece for Mini that looks at architectural solutions for urban living challenges.

Three locations have been identified as underused public spaces or “third places” a term originally defined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg as places which “host the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work”.

Each of the new “forest” environments contain plants which visitors can take home during the festival. Located on the busy streets of Shoreditch, the spaces offer new areas for people to convene and socialise.

At the Square next to Shoreditch Fire Station a long communal table has been installed, in Charles Square new stepped seating becomes a place for people to work and where Old Street meets Pitfield Street an elevated room offers a secluded green space.

"mini-living_forests-by-asif-khan-relax-space"

Asif Khan says: “There is a Japanese phrase ‘shinrin yoku', which literally means ‘forest bathing'. It means every sense switches to absorb the forest atmosphere, what you hear, what you smell, even the feeling underfoot.

“At another scale we use plants as a tool to assert our personal space at its boundary with public space, whether on our desk at the office or at the perimeter of our home. The project brings these two ideas together for visitors to experience new sensations within the city.”

Mini Living runs from 17-25 September and these are the exact locations: Vince Court N1 6EA; Charles Square Gardens N1 6HS; and the corner of Pitfield Street and Charles Square EC1V 9EY.

Beloved, by Tabanlıoğlu Architects

Beloved is a 13-metre long mirrored black box designed for the Victoria & Albert Museum's (V&A) Medieval and Renaissance Galleries.

It is a response to Turkish author Sabahattin Ali's 1943 novel Madonna in a Fur Coat.

Murat Tabanlıoğlu of Tabanlıoğlu Architects says: “We wanted to introduce the book to a new audience in London, as the book has recently been published in an English translation for the first time in its 73-year history.”

Visitors can look inside the structure where they will witness scenes from the novel playing out as film, physical objects, text, light and sound.

“The installation is a physical, multi-sensory realisation of the way the human mind imagines scenes from a book as they read,” says Tabanlıoğlu, who adds: “It's a very intimate experience that celebrates literature, passion and the human condition.”

Beloved will run from 17-25 September at the V&A, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL.

Split Shift installation, by Bert & May and Darkroom

Design store Darkroom has collaborated with tile brand Bert & May to create the Split Shift tile collection, which will be part of an installation on Bert's Barge a barge, with an interior installation created by Darkroom director Rhonda Drakeford.

Tiles, fabrics and painted surfaces help frame an onboard pop-up shop where the new A/W collection of Darkroom products has been set up.

An installation has been created using three tiles highlighting three shapes and “limitless permutations”, which can be set out to appear structured or randomised.

Darkroom-designed interior accessories and jewellery are also for sale on the barge, which will be afloat from the 17-30 September and you can find it canal-side of this address: 67 Vyner Street, E2 9DQ

London Design Biennale

Not technically part of London Design Festival, but curated by the team that puts LDF together, is the London Design Biennale a series of installations from design representatives of countries around the world.

It's the inaugural event and sees the theme of Utopia addressed by design teams who have interpreted it broadly with some looking at how global problems might be solved through design, and others conjuring more abstract utopian and dystopian visions.

You can read more about what we thought about it here.

The London Design Biennale takes place at Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA from 7-27 September. Tickets are £15 with an additional £2.35 booking fee if booking online, or £11.85 concessions. Buy tickets here.

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The London Design Biennale: 5 things to see

The first ever London Design Biennale takes place this month at Somerset House and showcases installations from 37 countries around the world.

This year's theme is Design by Utopia, and some exhibits look at plausible, existing solutions towards creating a happier, more idealistic world, while others explore hypothetical ideas.

Some don't offer solutions at all, but instead use art and design to create their own interpretations of utopia and dystopia.

The inaugural show certainly has a few teething problems a small handful of exhibits were being hurriedly constructed on its opening day, and there's a lack of thematic order to the exhibition space, making it a little random and incongruous.

While some of the installations appear convoluted and tenuously linked to the theme, there is also imaginative, thought-provoking and intuitive work on offer, which proves design's role in both tackling world issues, and helping to highlight them.

Here are our five picks from the show:

Norway: Reaching for Utopia Inclusive Design in Practice
By Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture

Norway's mini exhibition space within a room in the West Wing is a succinct, informative look at how the country is using design to create social equality.

The space is one of the least visual but most powerful of the show. It answers questions about inclusive design, demystifying what the term means, and explaining why designing systems to suit everyone can help create a more sustainable economy.

It uses infographics to depict the people who are forced to the peripheries of society due to poorly designed systems, such as those with disabilities and older people, and also explores gender discrimination.

The exhibit then shows examples of public sector services in Norway which have been rebuilt based on the principles of inclusive design, including hospitals, universities and railway systems.

The piece is a proactive look at how developed countries have the resources to make public services more inclusive, and sets an inspiring example for other countries to follow.

Turkey: The Wish Machine
By Autoban

Turkey's modern-day wishing well is a simple but poignant way of inspiring hope in a country which has been at the pinnacle of the migrant crisis.

Visitors can write their wish on a piece of paper, roll it up and slip it inside a futuristic pod, then step across a tunnel of transparent hexagonal tubes to drop it into the suction-powered machine.

They'll then see it spiral through the tubes, and even make its way around the West Wing of Somerset House, where the tubes have been neatly laced across the walls.

The destination of the messages is unknown, and the Somerset House staff certainly won't give anything away. While the wishes themselves may be inconsequential, the installation incites hope and consideration for others through design, brings an ancient concept into 2016, and openly invites visitors to interact with the display.

Lebanon: Mezzing in Lebanon
By Annabel Karim Kassar Architects

Lebanon was lucky enough to have been given the entire outdoor River Terrace space of Somerset House the perfect setting for a colourful, authentic imitation of the streets of Beirut.

While the majority of pavilions depict the future in some way, Lebanon's take on Utopia is to present the country's existing, community-based culture as happiness in itself.

Visitors can expect a microcosm of Beirut authentic food and orange juice stalls, a barber, a “cinema” filled with hand-made mattresses and carpets and an area where they can play backgammon. A giant map of the city covers the floor, a reference to the fact that the city was until recently mainly navigated by landmarks rather than its map system.

The pavilion is an interactive look at how utopia can sometimes be found at home, and gives visitors the chance to temporarily absorb themselves within the culture of the country.

Japan: A Journey Around the Neighbourhood Globe
By Yasuhiro Suzuki

Japan's offering is a clever look at how design can be interpreted in alternative ways. Artist Yasuhiro Suzuki bases his piece on the Japanese concept of “looking at one thing as if it were another”, and distorts everyday objects to make them appear as different things.

Visitors will be subject to strange objects which create optical illusions, such as spinning portrait images which depict people blinking, an acrylic, hollow tree stump which has water dripping into it from an unknown place in the ceiling every few seconds, and an “unravelled” model of a globe encased in a zip.

The piece looks at the endless possibilities of design, and also spreads the message that utopia can be found in being open-minded to different points of view. It makes for a visually pleasing display too, with attention to detail and playful design assigned to both tiny and huge objects.

South Africa: Otium and Acedia
By Porky Hefer

South Africa's fluffy depictions of dangerous animals with their jaws wide upon hang from the ceiling of the Embankment gallery, inviting visitors to climb inside (though you're asked not to do this through tongue-in-cheek “Please don't feed the animals” signs). These giant, playful seats toy with conflicting ideas of innocence and corruption, a symbol of the country's troubled history.

The cuddly toys-cum-chairs are an idyllic look at how South Africa has seen change since the end of the apartheid, while still remembering the past. Although not strictly interactive, the pieces are a unique addition to the exhibition. It's probably for the best they can't be sat in, as climbing inside the hanging devices would be a fittingly perilous experience.

While many of the exhibits employ the use of extravagant digital resources, this is a colourful array of back-to-basics craft which successfully communicates an idea of childhood innocence as utopia.

Also look out for:

China: DenCity presents intricate, small-scale models of a possible block-based building solution to the ever-growing population in Shenzhen, accompanied by animations of people interacting in that space. By Urbanus.
Israel: Human.Touch is a display of two existing examples of product design with a social purpose Aid-Drop, a pyramid-shaped package dropped via parachute into disaster zones to provide people with first aid equipment, and Louder, a pair of speakers which translate sounds into visual cues and floor vibrations to aid people who are deaf. By Yaniv Kadosh and Sharona Merlin.
United Arab Emirates: Al Falaj: Water Systems of the Gulf's Oases presents small-scale models which convincingly depict how the UAE's current water systems could be modified and improved using an ancient water drainage system. By Cultural Engineering.
United Kingdom: Barber & Osgerby's majestic installation Forecast, which looks at the influence of wind and renewable energy, sits at the centre of Somerset House's central courtyard. By Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.

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Our favourite brand sounds: from McDonald's to Nokia

"Richard — Richard Scholey, director, The Chase

“Tough decision. Is it a brand sound so irritatingly catchy that you wonder how you found yourself singing along? (Think ‘mmm Danone'). Is it the perfect combination of sound and audio such as the BBC's classic news beeps that accompany it's radiating circles title sequence? Or do you go for Xbox's very on-brand exhilarating whoosh that heralds the muting of my son for another few hours? Each has its merits, but as the lights go down and the popcorn rustling subsides, surely nothing can beat ‘Pa pah pa pah pa pah pa pah papapah' probably the only non-verbal jingle you can write down in gibberish and yet still instantly recognise*.”

*Pearl and Dean, obviously.

Lou Hunter, creative director, Brand Union

“My favourite piece of sonic branding comes from Nokia not the infamous ringtone, but the ‘Special' text message tone. Three short beeps, two long ones and three more short beeps spells out SMS in morse code. Even though it annoyed most people, it's definitely memorable. It's also a really clever way to encapsulate what the brand does in a sound, and so carries more meaning to it than your standard jingle something to consider when it comes to sonic branding.”

"Nick — Nick Asbury, founder, Asbury & Asbury

“I still have a Pavlovian response to the HBO ident (static noise + bass note/angelic voice), even years after watching The Sopranos, Curb, The Wire, and so on. I think that's how good audio branding works it's like the bell that Pavlov's dog learns to associate with food. If you hear the HBO ident before any programme, you're conditioned to think it's slightly better. By contrast, the Intel sting is like a closed loop. If I hear the sound, I think Intel, and if I think ‘Intel' I hear the sound. But it doesn't really build an association with anything apart from itself. It's like training a dog to think ‘bell' when it hears a bell. Sort of impressive, but not Pavlovian impressive.”

"Paul — Paul Bailey, founder, Brand In Process

“Sitting in a cinema, the lights have gone down, and from the darkness appears a lion's head which gives two loud roars. To me, this sound indicates that I'm about to be transported to another place, at least for the duration of the film. The MGM lion's roar acts as a signifier for memories, associations and feelings memories of happy times and associations with great films.

However, a lion's roar not being an entirely unique sound, the MGM audio logo must work in association with other elements of the brand and experience. If I heard a lion's roar coming out of the darkness, and I wasn't in a cinema or watching TV, I might feel differently.”

"James — James Ramsden, executive creative director, Coley Porter Bell

“This is a really interesting question as there's so much more connection and power experienced when visual movement and sonic connect.

Some of the more memorable are:

The Movie Houses: They have distinct sonics potentially more audio but they recall that lovely positive feeling you get before you settle down for a film brilliantly. I defy anyone not to have a positive feeling towards the Pearl and Dean sonic.

McDonalds: The whistle (it must have a name?) is probably one of the most successful sonics that has been owned and extended throughout a brand world.

Intel: This has to be one of the most recognisable four notes ever.

Lloyds TSB: The For The Journey campaign ran a sonic for five years that was so successful it ended up being released as a record, and charted you'll find it online.

Magnum: While the crunch sound they use is not a traditional sonic like the other examples it is a totally ownable sound that no other brand could use as it's so distinctive.”

"Clement — Clement Balavoine, founder, Neuro

“I spent a lot of time in my childhood around computers, playing video games or exploring the internet, especially on systems like Windows ‘98 or XP. But the logo and sound I will always remember is the Windows ‘95 one, which was the operating system of the first computer I was able to experience, thanks to my grandfather's passion for electronics. This sound promised me a lot of discovery, and since that day it's stuck in my mind. Actually, It's only recently that I discovered that Brian Eno, one of my favorite musicians, was the composer of this sound…”

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5 important things that happened in design this week

Deliveroo adopted an angular new logo

Delivery app and service Deliveroo unveiled a dramatic rebrand this week, swapping out its line-drawn kangaroo for a new, flat icon of a rather angular kangaroo head.

Created by DesignStudio, the new logo makes a bold move away from an illustrative to a more symbolic, emblematic look.

But many people have interpreted the abstract kangaroo symbol a little differently… readers and twitterers have drawn a striking resemblance with the “two-finger salute”.

Bit late with this one but does anybody else see the 2 finger salute?https://t.co/vy9HRrOeVH #Deliveroo #logo pic.twitter.com/POteZpYTQX
— Bryan Werbinski (@Bryski_d) September 8, 2016

While it remains to be seen whether the delivery company is giving a metaphorical “fingers up” to any of its frequently emerging competitors (reader comment: “Literal two fingers to Uber Eats?“), DesignStudio want the bold, new logo to become a “character” easily associated with the brand, and intends for the minimal look to “reduce cultural associations” rather than establish them.

The rebrand may also signify a fresh, new start for the company, which hit headlines recently regarding controversy around its new contracts for delivery riders.

Apple unveiled the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus

Apple is veering further away from extraneous wires in its 2016 round of product launches, revealed this week.

The new phones include the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which start at £599 and come with a set of AirPod wireless headphones.

In fact, the phones won't even include a headphone socket, and users will need an adapter which comes free with a phone purchase to use an old pair of headphones.

The phones can also allegedly be dunked under water to a depth of one metre for 30 minutes without breaking (though we suggest you don't try this), have a 12-megapixel camera, and have the longest battery life of all iPhone models to date.

The launch also sees the arrival of the Apple Watch Series 2, which is also water resistant so can be used when swimming, and has a built-in GPS system.

Along with the physical products, the launch will also see the rollout of Apple's latest operating system iOS 10, which will see a new Home app added to the App Store a control hub which allows people to manage all of their connected home products, such as thermostats, lighting and security cameras.

The London Design Biennale opened

The inaugural London Design Biennale opened at Somerset House this week, and sees 37 countries take on the theme of Utopia by Design.

There's a chunky price tag of £15, but visitors will be able to step into Beirut with an immersive outdoor market stall exhibition from Lebanon, gawp at huge, ferocious-cum-cute animal-shaped chairs from South Africa and witness sustainable design solutions from the likes of Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Norway.

While some installations deviate away from the theme, there's a huge amount of imagination, creativity and smart design thinking, which look at how design can be a very powerful tool in both conveying and helping world issues.

Coinciding with London Design Festival, you can catch it at Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA from 7-27 September.

A new 3D printing pen launched

An updated version of the 3Doodler 3D printing pen launched this week, aimed at professional product designers and architects.

The 3Doodler Pro not only draws solid structures in thin air, but also lets users change temperature and speed, enabling them to control the speed of construction.

It can also be used for longer and more intensively than previously before needing a charge, and can draw with a variation of different plastics, which replicate wood, copper, bronze and nylon just in case any designers need to create a nylon-based architectural masterpiece.

Faraz Warsi, creative director at 3Doodler, says the pen could be a welcome alternative to using a 3D printer, which is “expensive”, “requires specialist knowledge” and takes “time to print products”. With the pen, designers can create 3D structures whenever “inspiration strikes”, he says.

The pen is priced at £187, and will soon be available to buy worldwide online from the 3Doodler site.

Ikea rolled out its convenience store concept more widely

The flatpack furniture company opened its first ever order and collection store in London this last week, at Westfield Stratford City shopping centre.

The retail concept marks a turning point for the brand, as it moves away from warehouses only reachable by car, to a more local and convenient experience.

This is probably particularly suited to Londoners, where public transport is king and driving can be perilous.

In a similar style to Argos, customers can order online for collection at the store. Alternatively, they can order in store for home delivery.

The Stratford branch is Ikea's first convenience store in a shopping centre, though it first trialled the concept in Norwich last autumn.

Got a design story? Email sarah.dawood@centaurmedia.com.

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Deliveroo unveils new kangaroo as part of rebrand

DesignStudio has rebranded food delivery service Deliveroo, introducing a new kangaroo character while overhauling typography and staff uniforms.

Deliveroo was founded in 2013 in London and has since expanded to 12 countries and more than 100 cities.

Old logo designed by friends

The original logo was designed by friends of Deliveroo co-founder Will Shu, who says that it was necessary to rebrand following the rapid expansion of the company as the identity now needs to work a lot harder.

Shu says that when Deliveroo started out he did the deliveries and his co-founder and childhood friend Greg Orlowski handled the tech and development.

“Our customers were my ex colleagues and our office was my flat. Back then, our logo was something that a couple of friends drew” says Shu.

The original brand was designed with the Deliveroo website, rider boxes and business cards in mind. Since then advertising campaigns have been launched and the most visible part of the brand has become the thousands of riders who work for the company.

DesignStudio rode Deliveroo bikes

After a pitch process DesignStudio was selected and in its research phase took part in customer service shifts, became riders and according to Deliveroo's in-house design team “ate enough to get a sense of what restaurant delivery really means.”

DesignStudio's semiotics analysis focused on what the Deliveroo logo meant in other cultures and countries while workshops across the business considered where staff could see the identity being used in the future.

A range of different routes were initially worked on, some of which kept the kangaroo, while others looked for a new direction. As part of the wider process it was established that the kangaroo was loved both internally and externally, according to Deliveroo's in-house design team.

A new “bold and impactful kangaroo” has been developed and made deliberately angular so that it can dovetail with a broader graphics system across other touchpoints such as the website and rider kits.

“A symbol recognised as a character”

DesignStudio executive strategic creative director James Hurst says: “We have created a symbol that can be recognised as a character the roo irrespective of what language you speak while the minimalist aesthetic reduces established cultural associations that might be positive in one culture but controversial in another.

“This is a mark that Deliveroo will imbue with meaning over the next few years.”

The rider kit has been designed with rider safety in mind, says Deliveroo, and developed in consultation with road safety organisation Brake and the riders themselves so they feel happy wearing it.

There is hyperreflective material on the waist, shoulders and wrists of jackets to demonstrate the movement of riders at night while the rest of the material has been designed to be visible by day.

Meanwhile riders in warm climates wanted to be cool and riders in cold climates wanted to be warm and protected from the elements so this has all been accounted for with a range of clothing.

Typographic direction

Typography also takes its cue from the angular “roo”, particularly headlines which use a customised version of Stratos, “which echoes the angles and shape within the symbol and is brimming with personality for bold punchy headlines,” says Hurst.

He adds: “Its the same type used across the rider jackets and while its been worked into, is also the basis for the wordmark.”

A photography style has been developed across the brand, which focuses on the colour and texture of food and this has been art directed to appear real, messy and up-close, according to Deliveroo.

A roll out begins this Friday and Hurst says: “There is much more still to come.”

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Sonic branding: Why logos should be heard as well as seen

The best brands are instantly recognisable by their icons. A little Nike swoosh, McDonald's golden arches, a blue chirping bird: we all know the companies behind the logos.

But something else sets good brands apart sound. Specifically, musical logos.

Sonic branding is all things from McDonald's' “I'm lovin' it” earworm and Intel's over enthusiastic “bing”, to Apple's self-congratulatory announcement on start-up and Sony PlayStation's ethereal waiting-room-of-the-future music on its homepage.

All these audio logos have been meticulously crafted to represent their brands just like their visual counterparts, and they work because they're designed to be remembered and form implicit associations with their companies in our minds.

There's a reason then why we all laughed when Pixar's Wall-E had fully recharged. His waking sound was instantly recognisable as the Apple startup chime (a nod perhaps to Steve Jobs, who was previously chief executive of Pixar before it was bought by Disney).

The Apple logo or typeface was not on show anywhere in the film, and there were no visual cues to help us associate that sound with the Apple brand. Apple's audio logo is ingrained in us, and using it was as obvious as giving Wall-E a half-eaten, glowing apple on his chest.

An audio identity can help imprint a character on a brand. It becomes more human and takes on a personality. Slightly tweaking a classic psychological experiment can demonstrate the power of this and it's easy to play along at home. Watch the video above with different types of music (sad, uplifting, etc.) and you'll soon see how simple geometric shapes can take on personality traits. Brand icons are just simple, geometric shapes too.

If you were academically-inclined, you could argue that sonic branding is an evolution of the leitmotif, a musical technique pioneered by Richard Wagner in the mid-1800s for his operas, ‘Der Ring des Nibelungen'.

A leitmotif is basically a character's sonic brand a musical theme. Variations on the main theme are used to signify different moods so you'll hear a suspense version, a hopeful version, a sad version but they will all still be recognisable as the character's theme. They're the character's sub brands, if you will. It's so ubiquitous in cinema now that Howard Shore even gave the ring in Lord of the Rings its own theme.

So a piece of music especially crafted to help us recognise a particular brand echoes a common cinematic technique used to help us recognise a particular character. But why go to all that trouble and not just use an existing piece of music?

Gap and Apple may be the most prolific in this regard and have used popular music to great effect in their TV ads for years. But can you recall specific songs they've used? Maybe a Rolling Stones track? An indie band who are quite popular now?

If your ad uses a pre-existing song, it's already associated with all kinds of other situations and contexts: other ads, a film trailer, your favourite restaurant, that Spotify ‘pining-after-your-ex' playlist. The link between the song and the brand is far weaker than an original composition because you'll only ever hear that composition in one context.

There's obvious benefits to having an audio logo, too. You engage with the consumer, rather than the consumer having to engage with you first. Your brand can be reinforced from a distance as others engage with it; someone across the train carriage starting up a MacBook, or hearing an ad on TV while you're making a cup of tea.

And who doesn't skip YouTube ads after the obligatory five seconds? For brands advertising in this space, you've only got a second or two to communicate who you are before you're quickly muted or skipped. Having a sonic brand is an obvious solution so think about giving your brand a voice.

Discover more

UBS reveals new branding (and new sound…)

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How can we encourage young people to study design?

"Sir — Sir John Sorrell CBE, founder, The Sorrell Foundation

“The reasons for this fall include the loss of D&T's statutory status in 2004, and the introduction of the EBacc which does not include art, design or subjects such as music and drama. The 90% EBacc goal set by the Government seems likely to further reduce take-up rates for creative subjects. Perceptions of the value of studying creative subjects have been severely damaged.

So, what can be done?

1) Lobby Government to rethink the Creative Industries Federation is on to this with their educational policy work.

2) Produce effective careers advice in schools which demonstrates to parents and teachers that young people can have successful careers in design.

3) Encourage all schools to use Creative Journey UK to help teachers, parents and pupils find out more about careers in the creative industries.

4) Help teachers with their professional development, particularly in keeping up to speed on the latest developments in the creative sector.

5) Help us develop the National Art&Design Saturday Club, which gives 13-16-year-old schoolchildren the opportunity to study art and design on Saturdays at their local university or college for free. The aim is to encourage them to go on to further and higher education, and careers in design and the creative industries.”

"Eliza — Eliza Easton, policy and research manager, Creative Industries Federation

“We need to be in schools and academy chains highlighting the variety of jobs in our sector and others which require a high level of technical and creative (especially design) skills. There is also a need for better careers advice as part of a broader explanation to parents, teachers and students of the economic and social case for these subjects and how they can lead to very fulfilling careers.

The drop in the take-up of creative subjects demonstrates how damaging Government policy has been. It is unacceptable that it is now possible for academies to be Ofsted ‘outstanding' without arts in the curriculum.”

"Terry — Terry Tyrrell, chair, Design Council

“Unfortunately there are two problems: fewer students are choosing to take D&T, and fewer schools are offering it in the first place. I think as a sector we can tackle the first problem by changing perceptions. We know industry is desperate for designers: it's a career where you can make a difference and get paid well (the average designer earns £635 per week, according to the Design Council's Design Economy research, well over the national average of £385).

GCSE and A-level content has recently been rewritten to make it more robust, and I think we'll see that have an impact. But we urgently need government to address the second problem. D&T is an expensive subject to run, and the EBacc will make it even less attractive to cash-strapped schools. The industrial strategy won't succeed without designers, and championing D&T has to be on the new government's agenda. Our forthcoming skills research will look at this in more detail.”

“I think the most important thing is to communicate an appreciation of the breadth of design, technology and engineering. What we do is the most fundamentally creative thing that anyone could do above all, we create. To do this well, we need imagination and understanding, perseverance and rigour. To be doing the right thing, we must be motivated by the real needs of real people physical, social, emotional, spiritual. Therefore, our professions allow a full and fulfilling expression of ourselves as individuals, through social, cultural, emotional and rigorously technical collaboration with colleagues and with the people we are working for.”

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How to create new, new business

If you want to win new work from new clients (new-new business), where do you start? The days of cold calling and persistence being effective tactics are long gone. Today's new business relationships need to be fostered in much the same way you'd start and nurture a personal relationship. You don't walk up to a complete stranger and ask them to marry you. So why would you do the same with a potential client?

Your approach should be to draw your new client towards you, before you start to approach them. If two people are moving towards each other, they are more likely to keep going and close the gap. They also meet as equals. When one person pursues another, on the other hand, this can set that person running in the same direction. The chase is energy sapping for both parties. It also risks putting the balance of power in any conversation in the hands of the person being chased, which is not good for the agency.

So how do you draw your new-new clients-to-be to you? There is a path that you could follow called Know, Like, Trust and Buy. Here are the stages, described briefly, with some actions that build your credibility at each stage and could move you to the next.

Stage 1: Know. Your clients-to-be need to get to know you. This step should be made gradually, consistently, memorably and be relevant to your clients. Ask, “What do my clients need to know for them?” They're not looking for a new agency so the things about you are less important. What would be useful to them? And of all of that, what is the link to you and what you do? What matters to your client? What matters to you? And where do they intersect?

Actions: Do some research and gather your answers to the above questions. What is going on in the sector? Who could you ask? What do you think about this? Turn your thinking into a regular newsletter or blog to send to your clients-to-be. Give it a name, and a brand. Focus it solely on them and their interests and concerns.

Stage 2: Like. Your clients-to-be start to like you. How do we get to like someone? We feel they have empathy with our situation. And us with theirs. We feel that they “get us”. They understand what's going on in our world. And what they say or show us is useful to us. How do you enable your client to learn something new about themselves, their sector?

Actions: Notice what is happening with your communication. Is there some evidence that your readers are liking what you are writing? If you use a trackable delivery system for your email you will be able to see who is starting to warm to you. Join a LinkedIn group where your client community gathers. Post a link to your piece along with a question. Send those people who open your communication a short thank you note and a bonus item.

Stage 3: Trust. Your clients-to-be start to trust you. This is a big move and the phase where you start to share more of you. There is likely to be some sort of personal contact, some sort of investment by you in the relationship. You might look to meet them at an event. Or you could invite them to an event that you are putting on, or attending around a theme of interest to them. There could be a telephone meeting. But this is not the opportunity for you to pitch or to pour on how brilliant you are. This is still about, building the relationship, inviting your client to talk, asking them “What do you think and what matters to you?” This is about being true and authentic to how you have communicated to this point. And then taking it to a personal level.

Stage 4: Buy. This may start to happen when you've done all of the above. And this is where you get the chance to demonstrate more overtly what you can do. This is where you will need to make sure that all of your evidence of past capability and process is ready to ensure that your approach pays off.

It can take a while to get to the buy stage because clients are people. They are not “buying decisions” or “budgets”. Any more than you are “someone who draws for a living” or a “computer operator”. This approach requires patience. When the opportunity to talk about you comes, you need to be ready, know what you are about and have a sound process in place to prepare and deliver a great presentation. If you've done the hard work to build the relationship to this point, you will have laid the foundations for proving that you're the partner they need.

John Scarrott will be talking about winning new business at this training workshop.

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5 important things that happened in design this week

Somerset House opened a new virtual reality exhibition

"Björk — Björk Stonemilker VR © Andrew Thomas Huang

This week, Somerset House opened a new show dedicated to Icelandic songwriter Björk, using virtual reality and 360° video to trap the viewer within an immersive, musical experience.

While there are a few clunky, transitional phases to the exhibition moving between rooms, sitting down and scrambling around with headsets and earphones the show is an impressive depiction of how combining emotive music and inventive technology can create very powerful viewer experiences.

The show mainly focuses on songs from the musician's latest album Vulnicura, providing visitors with 3D music videos depicting Björk herself in both human form and as a strange, digital creature.

It's certainly an exhibition for Björk-lovers, but will also be inspiring and exciting for anybody interested in the latest applications of virtual and augmented reality, and 360° panoramic film.

Björk Digital runs at Somerset house until 23 October, and tickets are £15, or £12.50 concessions.

WKD had a complete rebrand

Alcopop brand WKD, known for its luminous colours and sugary sweetness, was redesigned by consultancy JKR this week, taking on a new “fun, exciting” concept.

The new look sees the brand ditch its embossed lettering for a cleaner typeface, coupled with a new exclamation mark motif, which looks to better align itself with its predominately 18-to-24-year-old audience.

The typography used is also transparent, allowing it to be used as a device for various “oil-painting-inspired” patterns, according to JKR. The bottles' caps also include a series of 1990s instant messaging-inspired emoticon motifs, which JKR says aims to increase the element of fun, but we assume also hopes to inspire some nostalgia in the brand's millennial drinkers.

The redesigned bottles will roll out with a range of four flavours in October, and with two low-calorie variants by the end of the year.

Ikea announced it would be opening a do-it-yourself restaurant

Furniture giant Ikea turned their hand to cookery this week, with a new dining space.

The pop-up Dining Club has been designed by Ikea's in-house team, and will open in London's Shoreditch on 10 September, and will be free for diners.

In typical Ikea fashion, the food's coming flatpacked diners will be able to attend masterclasses on topics such as Swedish Baking and Clean Eating, and will make their own meals.

The concept is based on encouraging people to spend time together through cooking and eating, Ikea says.

You can find out more about the dining experience here.

The Design Museum revealed the shortlist for its annual design awards

It was announced this week that the Channel 4 visual identity, the cover art for David Bowie's final album Blackstar and the Dreamland Margate theme park are all in the running for this year's Design Museum awards.

2016 marks the ninth edition of The Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition and awards programme, and sees a massive 70 designs shortlisted in categories including architecture, digital, fashion, graphics, product and transport.

All of the nominated designs will be included in one of the first exhibitions at the new Design Museum, set to open in London's Kensington in November.

A winner will be announced on 26 January 2017. You can view the full shortlist here.

We debated when designers should turn their hand to writing

Should you call in a professional writer to help with marketing, or should you have a go at crafting copy yourself?

This week, the Design Business Association's (DBA) head of services Adam Fennelow considers whether passion and expertise in the design field can equal, or even outweigh, professional writing skills.

For more insight, head here.

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Björk Digital: Bringing music to life through virtual reality

Somerset House prides itself on its photography exhibitions but those expecting to see anything two-dimensional within the gallery's latest show will be in for a surprise.

Björk Digital is an exploration of songwriter Björk's 2015 album Vulnicura, using virtual and augmented reality, 360° video, soundscaping and cinema to create an immersive and emotionally stimulating experience.

The exhibition space is split up into eight rooms, each presenting a different virtual environment either through screens or headsets, from an Icelandic landscape to a cosmic view of the universe.

At the centre of each experience is Björk herself, either represented through film in human form, as a virtual creature or even as a body part, as one gruesome piece shows.

While this might seem a little egocentric, there's a point to it the exhibition's use of interactive technology forces viewers to become part of the singer's tormented story. Visitors don't walk around the space surrounded by other people, but are instead trapped in a box with the singer alone.

This turns the exhibition into a deeply personal performance, helping viewers better understand the singer's own emotions throughout the album, from heartache to anger, as Björk herself explains.

“There is something about the 360° staging which is very theatrical and dramatic,” she says. “When you put those goggles on your face, you're in a very theatrical world. As heartbreak is the oldest story there is, I felt it could take this sort of experimentation.”

At the start of the exhibition, visitors enter a room lined with two panoramic screens on opposite walls, playing a short film called Black Lake, which features a distressed Björk strewn across a rocky, volcanic landscape in Iceland. The film, originally commissioned by New York's Museum of Modern Art, is a gentle lull into the more enveloping, solitary experiences which follow.

One of the loneliest and most affecting performances of the show is Stonemilker VR, a lengthy nine-minute-long 360° music video, which disorientates the viewer as they wobblingly swivel round on a stool with a headset on to capture Björk as she circles them against a beach landscape.

"7. — Mouthmantra VR, directed by Jesse Kanda

Things get a lot weirder with Mouthmantra VR, a headset experience filmed from the inside of the musician's mouth, with teeth, tongue and tonsils twirling in full view as she sings.

Stranger still is Notget VR, directed by Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones, which sees Björk transform into a bizarre, moth-like creature. The piece requires users to stand rather than sit, allowing you to come within inches of Björk's perturbing, computerised form (or, more likely, back away).

While the majority of exhibits are ready-made interactive experiences packaged up for the audience, the Biophilia space is a more educational platform which lets users select their own journey through an iPad, experiencing different music, visuals, and explore different technologies and musical instruments used within Björk's work.

In fitting fashion with the rest of the show, Björk revealed herself at the private view of the exhibition in digital form. Through the use of a motion capture suit and streaming technology, she appeared on a projection screen as a spacey avatar which mimicked her movements, able to interact with the audience and answer questions.

While seeing Björk in the flesh or simply via video stream might have also done the job, this avatar was a scary demonstration of the growing capability of immersive technology, mirrored throughout the rest of the exhibition.

The show is an eclectic mix some of the digital installations set within a cosmic environment are far removed from reality, while the 360° films trap the viewer within a very real-life world. But all of them prove how, while music and film can be very affecting on their own, technology can enhance and attack a viewer's senses. Björk Digital shows that isolating people within a virtual, non-real environment can ironically incite a lot of real, human emotion.

Björk Digital runs until 23 October 2016 at New Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA. Tickets are £15, or £12.50 concessions.

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Freelance State of Mind: The real value in self-initiated work

It's always there. The latest achingly cool project you've stumbled upon in this crowded creative industry of ours, confronting your confidence, making you feel like you need to tailor your own work according to what is cool and what you think they would want to see in a portfolio.

Then there's a moment when it becomes apparent that you've lost your creative identity and strayed away from those college dreams, directionless and disillusioned. That's where I found myself six months after graduation.

Unless you're very fortunate, making money is essential. I did my fair share of drawing faceless people in suits climbing ladders into money trees among other tired conceptual illustrations for early clients with the best intentions and decent budgets.

“Personal work is easily abandoned in the face of fat salaries”

I held dear to my trust that they would be temporary, earning me the money to transition away from employment towards freelancing as an illustrator where I could be more effective in shaping my own destiny. The jobs that I really desired started to arrive when people saw my personal work, the stuff that is so easily abandoned in the face of fat salaries, trends, mortgages and that TV package.

The world is littered with examples of landmark projects born of expressions of individual experiences, drawing on the world around us. The Office was the product of Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais' comedic study on the world of middle management and one of the most successful self-initiated projects of all time.

I felt a tremendous sense of wonder as a seventeen year old, when Gorillaz arrived on the scene. Seeing what Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn had created made me yearn for the same belonging to something that I loved to do and was my own, despite having no clue where to begin. Some may have called that a fantasy for the young and naïve, but isn't that why we all wished to get into the creative industry in the first place?

I felt the same glowing feeling, a year removed from education, thanks to the roaring laughter in my shared studio when I presented a new illustration, featuring a boxing poster pitting Barack Obama against Hilary Clinton in what I called The Race v Sex Challenge. This was my way of expressing the dismay I felt with the media's persistent focus on the gender or Hilary and the skin colour of Barack.

It was in a meeting with the then design director of The Guardian, that my eyes were opened to the benefits of personal work. Flicking through my portfolio, featuring only one commissioned piece of work and 24 pages of self-initiated pieces, he stopped on The Race Sex challenge and told me that my angle on current affairs was different, funny and interesting. The self-initiated football work I created to show my knowledge was flagged as valuable too. To my surprise, I was working for The Guardian within a couple of months, despite an overwhelming competition field and vast inexperience.

Why personal work pays off

After that, only the commissioned work I enjoyed creating made the portfolio, while many jobs that provided nothing more than money were ruthlessly omitted to avoid attracting similar jobs with no creative benefit. Over 50% of the portfolio were works I had self-initiated, just like the Race v Sex Challenge.

On episode 25 of my Arrest All Mimics podcast, creative agency Human After All discuss how Little White Lies started as a university project and ultimately brought in work for the BAFTAs.

I won my first job outside of editorial illustration, working on a Channel 4 television trailer for season 3 of Skins. A chance meeting with a director from the TV station led him to Tyson v Thatcher, a follow on from The Race Sex Challenge. He found the piece hilarious, daring and saw a playfulness and energy in the work that he felt Skins was crying out for.

The Skins work continued for three years, brought me great creative pleasure and elevated my name, bringing me positive press and other jobs in new fields. Now, with eight years experience, I continue to play, to explore new ideas and harness that precious asset we all possess which is a unique journey.

Getting the balance right

Client work is wonderful and essential, but it is the work we create simply because we want to, out of some deep-rooted necessity owed only to ourselves that embodies the truly refreshing and qualities most likely to attract the work we dream about at college.

Personal connects with a greater number of people while trends are forgotten very fast. The portfolio, no matter the discipline, is not just a showcase of what you've done or can do, but more importantly, has to be a statement of intent, packed with the ideas, honesty, oddity and originality found only in you.

Ben Tallon is a Design Week columnist, illustrator, art director and author of Champagne and Wax Crayons: Riding the Madness of the Creative Industries. He also hosts visual arts podcast Arrest All Mimics.

You can follow him on Twitter at @bentallon and see his portfolios at illustrationweb.com/bentallon and illustrationweb.com/tallontype.

You can read his Freelance State of Mind columns here.

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Islands and Bridges: The work of Roger Dean

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Design Week: How did the Islands and Bridges first come about?

Roger Dean: A group of people on the Isle of Man the guy who runs the local radio station, 3FM; a business partner of mine who lives there, David Moseley; and a man called Wayne Lee thought it would be a good idea if I had an exhibition of my paintings on the Isle of Man.

So that was arranged and we also met the post office to see if they were interested in having a set of stamps, and they were. The stamps came out on 19 August which was the first day of my exhibition.

DW: Why did the Isle of Man catch your attention in particular?

RD: I've been going back and forwards to the Isle of Man for a number of reasons, mostly business. Last year I did a presentation at the Isle of Man Film Festival, and I also gave a small talk to the students of the art school there.

DW: How did you and the Isle of Man Post Office select which of your works feature?

RD: I did a preliminary selection and showed them some designs, but they left the choice to me. I made the choice from paintings that were in the exhibition. The set of stamps, from my point of view, was to coincide with the opening of the exhibition so in a way it was to celebrate the opening.

DW: What was the appeal of having your album artworks used on stamps?

RD: I like the idea of seeing miniature versions of my paintings. It had a whole new feel for me. The paintings are typically very large three of the paintings used are 6 feet by 4 feet. I love the jewel like intensity of them reduced very small.

DW: They all include very vivid landscapes how do you translate that amount of detail onto something as small as a stamp?

RD: Tales from Typographic Oceans had a lot of pieces of landscape in there. There's a waterfall in the foreground from a place called Brimham Rocks in Yorkshire, and rocks on either side that come from Cornwall.

At that size it's hard to see it is that artwork, but two million or so people who bought the original album will know it very well, so I guess they're pleased to see it.

DW: Do you think nostalgia plays a part in the stamps' appeal to people?

RD: I hadn't really thought of it in terms of nostalgia, but yes it's a kind of reinforcement of it. And Yes are actually touring in America at the moment playing Tales from Topographic Oceans.

DW: Can you describe the original Isle of Man-inspired commission for the stamp series?

RD: I was asked had I done anything specifically related to the Isle of Man, which at the time I'd been considering. Previously I'd been taken as a guest to all kinds of interesting places and one place in particular caught my attention: Niarbyl.

Over many many hundreds of millions of years, one American tectonic plate and one African plate allegedly met there. I had already done some sketches and things with the notion that it would not necessarily be a portrait of the place, but a portrait of a place that I'd kind of made my own.

I called the painting Meeting Place because it's where the two rocks meet. It's actually quite a small rock but I'd painted it like a mountain, with trees around it that would make it look vast.

It's a painting that's 120cm by 80cm so it's smaller than some of the others, but I think it looks nice small; it works well on a sheet of all the same ones.

Islands and Bridges is available to order from the Isle of Man Post Office website and the exhibition runs 19 November at the Manx Museum in Douglas.

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When is it right for designers to write?

I recently received a tweet (from a professional writer) commenting on a DBA course helping consultancies develop and write content marketing. The writer's argument will be familiar to many a designer “leave it to the professionals”. This is a phrase many DBA members will level at their own clients when it comes to design.

However, most consultancies cannot afford to employ a full time writer, so this got me thinking when is it right to write?

No one would question that in most business situations bringing in an expert in the field produces better results than a DIY approach, and the value of a professional writer is undoubted. But does this imply that designers should not write? What of all that expertise, passion and opinion sitting in their heads?

“Your content is there to open doors”

After all, says content marketing strategist, Ian Rhodes, from Brand Less Ordinary: “Your content is there to open your doors and show your potential customers what makes your agency tick. It provides you with the opportunity to show your audience the value and identity of your agency. It helps you show people why what you make matters.” Could it be that those at the coalface within your business are perfectly placed to deliver this? Can what is lacked in writing talent, be made up for with passion and insight?

Pancentric head of marketing Joe Carstairs says that one of the biggest advantages of an “all-in approach” where everyone on the team is involved in content marketing is “the brand amplification it can create”, meaning that, “employees who evangelise about their company are a powerful new business tool.”

He also sees it as a great way to capitalise on under-utilised resource. “Sharing the content marketing load around a consultancy is a great way to fill any dips in production. While the content created by people with different skillsets adds diversity to what is generated,” he says.

To be successful however, it does all have to stem out of a good content marketing strategy that is well thought through and implemented in a considered manner. But says Carstairs, once that is in place then “a simple style guide, some clear content pillars and a bit of editorial oversight is all your colleagues need to get going.”

Some writers must be employed

There are, of course, some consultancies which sell their ability to help clients with their own content marketing. In cases like this it is imperative that writers are employed so it makes sense for them to also be utilised in the promotion of the consultancy.

ThinkBDA is a Buckingham based creative consultancy offering design and marketing services. These services include helping clients with their content. ThinkBDA managing director David Knowles says, “Content writing is a skill it is about crafting words in such a way as to draw people into a subject.”

“Having an in-house content person gives flexibility allowing us to be more reactive when faced with creative client challenges,” says Knowles, who adds: “Just because someone doesn't have ‘writer' in their job title doesn't mean they can't produce content. Our whole team can contribute in what is often a team effort.”

What to write about?

First up, ask yourself (and your agency as a whole): “Why do we want to produce content? What image are we trying to portray?”

If what you are talking about has no bearing on:
a. Positioning you and your business as experts in your field,
b. Raising your profile among your peers within your industry, then stop right there. You are wasting your time. Similarly a tweet saying “We offer great design at competitive prices” is not going to get a potential client clicking through.

If you find yourself spending all your time writing about 1060's Japanese Manga, but are unable to link it to your client base then I suggest you carry on doing this within the confines of your own personal blog far removed from your business.

Content should be audience relevant and you need to find the issues that affect both you as a business and your clients preferably at the same time. They are pretty broad customer engagement, client relationships, return on investment. Then delve into the more sector specific issues depending on your client base.

“Give clients a reason to choose you”

To get started find a trusted source that deals with issues affecting you and use them for inspiration. Newcastle-based Wonderstuff founder Paul Alderson says: “We often look at the DBA for inspiration up and coming events on their website, their ezine then we ask ourselves ‘What is our opinion on that subject?' Our staff are not writers but they are communicators. The more they write the better they get and it equips them to form their own opinions, something we have always encouraged.

“Once you have a clear idea of who you are targeting and what values you want to align yourselves with, it becomes easy. By putting your beliefs out there you give clients a reason to choose you, a consultancy that does great work, but also has the same outlook as the client.”

To broaden the content output from your consultancy you need to trust your staff to illustrate their expertise, opinions and passion. But as Alderson says, you need a clear strategy in place one that has been developed in conjunction with your positioning and new business plans. This takes time and consideration, but can produce fantastic rewards for a consultancy looking to differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace.
Adam Fennelow is Head of Services at the DBA.

The post When is it right for designers to write? appeared first on Design Week.

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5 design things to look out for in September

Festival: London Design Festival

What: The brainchild of Sir John Sorrell and Ben Evans, every September the London Design Festival celebrates the country's best thinkers, practitioners, retailers and educators from the world of design.

This year, Design Week are hosting several events during the festival, including a panel talk on building brand awareness featuring NB Studio creative director, Nick Finney.

The Design Week team are also hosting a discussion at Design Junction called Dyslexic Design, based on an exhibition of the same name, a panel talk about the future of packaging, and a session with Supergraphics founders, Eva Kellenberger and Sebastian White.

Where: Various locations across London.

When: 17-25 September.

Info: Find out more information here.

Book: Logotype mini

What: Four years after the release of Logotype, design journalist Michael Evamy is set to release Logotype mini, which is intended to be an essential resource for both designers and students.

Designed by Pentagram partners, the book includes more than 1,300 visual typographic identities created by almost 250 different design studios, including Landor, Wolff Olins and Vignelli Associates.

When: Released in September 2016.

Info: The book will be published by Laurence King.

Event: Risorama

What: Risorama describes itself as a “one-day adventure in risography”. Once marketed to schools as a cheap copier, risograph printing has become popular among graphic designers, zine makers and art insitutions.

The one-day event will showcase well-known riso printers from all over the world, including Risotto (Glasgow), Tan & Loose Press (Chicago) and Bananafish Books (Shanghai).

There will also be a number of drop-in workshops for people to learn more about how it works and make their own prints.

When: Saturday 3 September.

Where: Protein Studios, 31 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EY.

Info: Entry is free, and the event runs from 11am-6pm. Find out more information here.

Festival: Wirksworth Festival

What: Now more than 20 years old, Wirksworth Festival transforms the Derbyshire market town of Wirksworth into a gallery and performance venue for two weeks every September.

During its trailblazing Art & Architecture Trail Weekend, the entire town becomes a gallery with over 150 artists and designer makers exhibiting and selling their work everywhere from stone cottages to churches.

The rest of the festival includes a selection of performance, fringe events and installations.

The lineup this year includes a specially commissioned installation by Wolfgang Buttress at St Mary's Church, continuing the bee theme explored by The Hive, which is currently on display at Kew Gardens in London.

When: 9-25 September.

Where: Wirksworth, Derbyshire.

Info: Prices vary depending on the individual event. Find out more information here.

Event: Friday Late: Colour

What: The theme for the London Transport Museum's Friday Late is colour, and will celebrate the Capital's most famous hues from the blue on the Underground's Victoria line to the red of London's buses.

Visitors can expect a mix of workshops, talks about the psychology of colour and why the circle line is yellow, as well as a pop-up nail bar offering tube-themed manicures.

When: Friday 9 September.

Where: London Transport Museum, Covent Garden Piazza, London WC2E 7BB.

Info: Tickets cost £12 for adults and £10 for concessions, and the event runs from 6.45pm-10pm. Find out more information here.

The post 5 design things to look out for in September appeared first on Design Week.

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How brands can collaborate better creatively

"Georgia — Georgia Fendley, executive creative director, Construct

It would be great to see our cultural institutions sharing quality content with our social institutions; let's take the National Gallery to the NHS. Prescribing culture as part of a cure is an interesting concept and might work just as well, if not better than any other therapy.

Genuine collaborations are sustainable, benefit everyone involved and share and grow knowledge within the participating organisations, what's not to love!

"Tom — Tom Sharp, creative director, The Beautiful Meme

71% of the population wear glasses. Specsavers own the negative of poor eyesight, but no brand owns the positive; the beauty, drama, life-affirming happiness of seeing properly. Boots, I'm squinting at you.

Now, forests are visually brilliant. The mad, Impressionist dappling of spring sunlight bouncing between leaves. The cosiness of a winter avenue, trees hooded with snow, bowing in pagan prayer. Stopping on a hill to spot three counties. The euphoria of perspective as you stand in a clearing to see the Milky Way bisect a coldly dark sky.

Boots Opticians and The Forestry Commission should talk to each other.

"Jenny — Jenny Theolin, creative partner, Studio Theolin

You know what I would love to see two brands swapping employees for a month. I spent years working on internal brand campaigns and looking at the business from the inside. Instead of an external facing brand collaboration, I would like to see an internal one.

Think the Gucci folk swapping with VOLVO Group's staff, or Nike's people swapping with HSBC's brand team. I am true believer that their people are part of their brand, so this could be a fantastic experience to see just how true they are to it.

The result could be a great PR story and the ideas may spawn new collaboration as well. Anyone wanna give it a go? I'll facilitate.

"Phil — Phil Carter, co-founder and creative director, Carter Wong Design

I'd have to opt for two very disparate entities in Southeastern trains and Amazon. One delivers packages smoothly and efficiently across the globe in such an effortless manner that it's difficult to remember a time before they existed.

The other tries desperately to deliver passengers from one destination to another across a comparatively small network but fails dismally, if the comments of their human cargo are anything to go by.

I can't think of another service industry that has its own Facebook page, I Hate Southeastern trains (note the capital H in Hate, incidentally), dedicated to its general incompetence.

I know there will be many mitigating factors in why they provide such a poor service such as investment in the business, and no doubt union power. However, in a fanciful world wouldn't those commuters view their carriages in a totally new light if they were emblazoned with the Amazon logo? I'm sure it would bring a smile to their faces too.

"Sarah — Sarah Tempest, co-founder and strategy director, Altogether Creative

Recognising an affinity with another brand or spotting a niche, technology or craft that would complement each other brings a whole new level of brand experience and recognition to the customer.

Nike and Liberty have done it so well and I'm eagerly awaiting the outcome of the IKEA and Tom Dixon collaboration.

But rather than a visual or tech collaboration, I'm interested in how charities and brands can collaborate for the better. Viewed favourably by many but controversially in some communities, it could be interesting to encourage an organisation such as Airbnb with the ethos of Belong Anywhere to collaborate with Shelter, the charity campaigning for a home for everyone.

Could there be an Airbnb community shelter in highly populated city communities, a contribution from Airbnb, working with Shelter to help people to really “Belong Anywhere”?

"Simon — Simon Manchipp, owner and co-founder, SomeOne

On 19 June 2009, WHSmith apologised after promoting a book on cellar rapist Josef Fritzl as one of the “Top 50 Books for Dad” as a Father's Day gift. Yes — you read that correctly.

Now… I'm ever the optimist, it really helps when your job is to launch and relaunch brands. And a team approach is a great way to innovate as well as help rejuvenate brands that have lost their way and become less relevant to their audiences.

So I'd love to see the billion-pound bounder that ties WHSmith up with a smart brand to help save its desperately awful stores.

Could Google save them? It organises the entire internet and makes it useful — perhaps it could reorganise the endless upset of 2kg bars of chocolate being attached to your morning newspaper purchase?

Any brand with its own twitter account (@WHS_Carpet — read it and weep) dedicated to just how deplorable the experience has become needs a strong new partnership.

Sadly, I suspect conventional brand tie-ups will not suffice here. Only the powers of Paul McKenna will do, add in David Blaine, Penn & Teller, hell, let's throw Copperfield in there with Derren Brown too — because only one hell of a magic trick is going to turn this one around…

"Daniela — Daniela Nunzi Mihranian, creative director, Studio Minerva

The Underground is the blood running through London connecting us to inspiring, creative design hubs. Born and raised in London, I was travelling by tube from a young age; let's give it an overhaul and bring some personality back.

The British interior and lifestyle brand House of Hackney would do wonders with the interior of the classic underground train. Reupholstered seats in London-designed and manufactured fabrics, celebrating what is great about our city and its famous Underground.

House of Hackney could work its magic of tradition for a new generation making our journey that bit more inspiring.

The post How brands can collaborate better creatively appeared first on Design Week.

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Fred Gelli on creating the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic branding

Design Week: Where do you find inspiration?

Fred Gelli: Nature has been my source of inspiration since I was 19 years old. All the time, nature is trying to do more with less and I think that's the way the world needs to go.

There's a very famous Brazilian designer called Aloísio Magalhães who died 20 years ago. He designed some of our most emblematic logos, and our currency, in very simple, clean and direct forms, and was very inspiring for me.

DW: What do you think are the current trends in logo design?

FG: The design of logos is going in two directions either becoming more sensory, with movement, 3D forms and sounds, or being completely cleaned up. I like both, but the better solution is the most appropriate solution for the situation. Nowadays, everybody wants to have simple logos but that's just fashion, It's superficial.

When the International Olympic Committee saw our Paralympic logo which uses sound and movement, they wanted us to do this for the Olympic logo too but to use sound for the Olympic logo wouldn't have been appropriate. I try to find the most natural solution. The best logos are the ones which connect deeply with the soul of the business. We try to materialise this, and recreate the ideas through expressions and symbols.

A timeline for the creation of the Rio 2016 Olympic logo

DW: How do you bring a logo to life?

FG: We live in a digital world where logos mostly appear on screens. With this idea that “everything must be flat”, you can lose the capacity to convey personality, because you're using less resources. It's much more complicated to design a very simple logo, than a complex logo. I think that providing direct information is really important. Take away everything extra, and keep only what is necessary. Also remember than an identity is more than just a logo it's an attitude. This is much more subtle and complex, but getting this right will also help with brand recognition. Brands must be authentic in their relationship with people, and create an experience. That's much more important than a graphic symbol.

DW: How did you discover what the soul of the Olympic and Paralympic branding is?

FG: Before the expression, we look at brand direction. That's our compass. One of our methods was conducting loads of interviews, and incorporating design thinking into our process you don't design for someone, you design with someone. We try to delve deep into the universe of our clients. Our work is just to materialise the meanings and ideas that already exist of that brand. I don't draw a single line on a piece of paper without an idea behind it.

The Olympic and Paralympic logos are living brands. When you put something in the world, you are not its owner. Its relationship with other people is the most interesting part. You discover new meanings that you didn't imagine in your design process.

DW: How do you get around the sensitivities of creating a Paralympic logo, and make it accessible for people with disabilities?

FG: This was our first challenge. All the Paralympic logos before ours were flat and not 3D. There are so many blind athletes, and these people who have connected with a sport their entire life need to experience that identity. I decided to create something that could be experienced by everyone. We used a heart icon because everybody has a heart. We wanted to use things that people had in common, rather than things that make us different.

Something really special happened in the creative process when we invited some partially sighted people to give their opinions on the sculptural logo. One of them touched the logo, and asked what the hole was on top, where the ellipses symbol was. That was something we couldn't see, but he could, and was totally reactive. We decided to flip the symbol, solving the problem of the hole and giving us the infinite symbol we ended up with. This was exactly what we wanted to represent from the beginning this infinite energy.

DW: How did this idea carry over to the Olympic logo?

FG: We used the same strategy for the Olympic logo, by using archetypes and symbols that could be understood by everyone. The icon of people in a big hug it's so simple and has good associations of inspiration and people coming together.

DW: What would be your dream project to work on?

FG: I'd like to work for people and brands who really believe that they can change the world. This is part of my personal purpose. Each brand can be a protagonist to create a better future. For example, we worked with Natura, one of the biggest, eco-friendly cosmetics companies in Brazil. This is something that really makes a difference. I'd like to work with brands which are connected with our future, not our past.

DW: Do you have any advice for young designers?

FG: To understand that design or branding is much more than just creating beautiful stuff. It's also much more than claiming prizes. Think about how to connect with the soul of a brand, and about originality and what makes it unique from the beginning. That is much more important than following fashion. The result is part of the process you don't need to search for it, it will come. It's a little bit of a romantic view.

The post Fred Gelli on creating the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic branding appeared first on Design Week.

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Inside Airbnb's redesigned Tokyo office

Airbnb has worked with Japanese architect Suppose Office Design on its new Tokyo office, which has been designed around the travel company's “belong anywhere” positioning.

The office, located in Shinjuku, Tokyo has been designed in a way which reinforces the idea of a neighbourhood and features a reception and café area leading onto a wooden path that gives way to building-like meeting rooms with interiors based on real lettings.

Airbnb lead interior designer Rebecca Ruggles, who works on the Environments Team, says that “when you walk in you know where you are even without a logo in the door.”

Suppose Office Design worked with Airbnb's Environments Team to conduct interviews with the company's Tokyo-based employees and help conceive the original concept and floorplan.

It is a redesign of a building the company already occupied, but before there was limited communal space and it consisted largely of a series of corporate communal spaces according to Airbnb.

Nature and serenity referenced

Employees can reconfigure communal work tables, height adjustable desks, project tables, private and semi private phone booths, lounges and cafes.

Ergonomics, socialising and engagement were key priorities and the flexibility helped to underline the “belong anywhere” mantra.

Employees were keen that nature was well referenced so that the space felt peaceful and removed from the chaos of urban life.

Plants have been used throughout and the reception area has been designed to look and feel like an outdoor café, with a double height atrium and natural light. There is also a public park-inspired work area with wooden communal tables and green flooring.

Another part of the building has been turned into the Engawa an elevated platform covered with Tatami mats, inspired by traditional Japanese culture. Employees can remove their shoes and enjoy views over Shinjuku.

Phone booths are made from local white oak and rice paper film to give them the soft glow of a typical Japanese tea house.

Making space look bigger

Employees had expressed a desire to make the spaces feel bigger and brighter but this was problematic with a fixed low ceiling height.

In response a black ceiling with dropped lighting was created, which helps give a sense of space.

Local craftspeople were engaged to create bespoke lighting and furniture, while the architects created what look like floating lanterns, in the café area.

International references

Rooms in the building have an international feel and reference listings from the likes of Prague, Tijuana and Barcelona.

Suppose Design Office architect Makoto Tanijiri says: “Instead of using simple walls, we laid out building-inspired volumes to articulate the space, dividing the various functions while keeping a continuity throughout the whole office.

“These buildings' walls have different wooden cladding, to reflect the eclectic mix of volumes, textures and patterns that is Tokyo, and to mark a threshold between an outside and an inside, a social and a private space.”

The post Inside Airbnb's redesigned Tokyo office appeared first on Design Week.

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Samuel Mensah: “Black designers are never placed at the forefront”

Every bit as bold, stylish and vibrant as his work, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the multi-talented Samuel Mensah.

What's your background?

I was born in Ghana and raised in London where I work today under the name SMBStudios focusing on brand innovation and visual storytelling. I've got experience in digital marketing, brand identity conception and design, production, visual design and art direction. I like to integrate branding and visual marketing to create overall innovative user experiences. By day I am also a designer at renowned idea agency AKQA on the brand design team.

I am also the founder and creative director of creative organization and studio, Youth Worldwide; a creative platform dedicated to discovering and supporting pioneers in creativity and showcasing emerging young creative talent from around the world.

While traveling in Ghana last summer I had an epiphany to host a youth networking forum with some of Africa's brightest entrepreneurs as part of my responsibility to another organisation of which I am a founding member, Future of Ghana. We lectured at Ghana's first creative university Ashesi, which was founded by Patrick Awuah formerly of Microsoft.

His story of overcoming the odds to build a university over almost a decade inspired me greatly and I realised even though this may not be exactly what I wanted YWW to be, the scale and magnitude of the impact it had on people's lives is something that could not escape me. Upon my return back to the UK I made it a point to team up with more young creatives, begin a small team and begin working on a few cool projects that challenged and fed their skills.

We now work with numerous creatives around the world and have them as part of our network in our aim to share, showcase and express emerging creative talent in all areas on a global stage. The format of YWW has changed and will continue to evolve until we find the most optimum way of making it happen. We want to get to know more people, more leaders that can support and join the movement. Feel free to connect with us.

How did you get started in your field of expertise?

My background lies mainly in the realm of traditional graphic design. That is what I initially fell in love when it comes to design as a whole. I've always seen graphics as the one thing that connects the entire world visually but is heavily taken for granted by most people.

I wanted to design everything and anything when I was younger and my knowledge of design itself was limited but I was determined to dedicate my life to it since I found a purpose with it. I went on to study Design for Advertising at Degree level but really made a name for myself outside the classroom in the digital arts realm.

By taking advantage of online platforms such as DeviantArt, Tumblr, Behance and more I was able to gain popularity quite quickly with my pieces which were always quite vibrant and had a vibe of motivation and inspiration to them. Those are things I take quite seriously in my work. Apart from them looking good I always aim
for my work to actually motivate the audience in some way and bring some semblance of joy in their lives.

This went very well for me and from a young age saw me get featured on quite prestigious platforms and design blogs around the world, which it was hard to take seriously at the time since it never really sunk in. Along with juggling school and interning for Gilbert & George my life 6 years ago was definitely just about design and nothing else.

Nothing much has changed really. The process of making the shift into the working world of advertising and branding with my expertise and skills was quite simple and if you told me I would be designing for Nike almost every day of my life and speaking on an OFFF Festival stage last year about my work, I wouldn't have believed you either but the universe is interesting.

The formation of YWW has also shifted my love of advertising to other creative and design processes such as industrial design, fashion, experiential design and all things tech. I find my understanding of creativity and its applications has evolved and I want to understand more about everything now. From someone who started in digital arts and branding I feel there are no boundaries to how far things can be pushed in regards to how I apply my creativity and the overall impact it can make.

What challenges did you face/overcome in getting into the industry and achieving your ambitions?

The challenges I continue to face are the ones I put before myself. I challenge myself to be the best I can be and place myself in my own lane when doing anything. However I am very aware of the real social challengers that do hold people back in the industry. The creative industries are rife with classism, sexism and other discriminatory ism's which has been slowing down and getting better in recent years but is still very far from eradicated.

I've been brought up with the mentality to work harder than everyone else to give people no reason to say no. Through this approach I have to say I have been able to evade systematic discrimination for the most part in my professional journey, but it begs the question why work so hard just to be seen as equal. I chose to see it as preparing myself to simply be the most equipped and capable.

"YWW_TEAM_EXHIBITION" — YWW team exhibition team

Coming up in the industry I never studied or was even educated about one great graphic designer that was black, even though there are many out there we are never placed at the forefront. For a long time it confused and angered me. I choose to dispel this status quo forever by being that person of colour that I always wanted to see in certain positions and achieve things that were once thought of as highly improbable.

For many millennials of colour that are entering the industry, simply seeing people in powerful positions in the industry that look like them can inspire them so much and has to be championed more. They can take solace knowing that it is most definitely possible to get to the same level and even exceed that of their predecessors.

Who and/or What are your greatest inspirations and influences?

My greatest inspirations have always come from talking to people. I truly believe that conversation is the most holistic way that we as creatives can create better ideas and become better at our jobs of being visual communicators.

My personal heroes are innovators such as Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Bill Gates, Tim Brown & Elon Musk. They inspire me as being those who were able to wield their creativity in the most impactful way possible and leave a lasting effect on the world for a very long time to come. It bothers me that Steve and Bill are not classed as equally creative, when they both created things from scratch that we all use almost every day of our lives to serve specific imperative functions.

A common misconception is the word “design”, which most people think of as pretty pictures or forms. What is missing however is understanding the depth to which design goes—not only in products, but in essentially every aspect of our lives . Whether it is the design of a program, a shirt or some form of communication tool, we are living in a world that's infinitely designed. Somebody made a design decision about everything we use, and have.

What is your best piece of work or the project you are most proud of?

I always think the project I am most proud of is the one I either just did or the one I am currently executing. I say this because I believe you're only ever as good as your last and you must make that the strongest you've ever done. The project that was most formative for me was the process of creating my first ever typeface. I was 21, just completing 2nd year of my university degree and was bored in the summer, hungry to do something I'd never done before. With my background being typography and typographic studies it meant that every font I used in my designs was in essence created by someone else.

My mind shifted when I realised I could create my own and that in fact I wouldn't be satisfied until I made my own. The process in itself would not only be creatively liberating but also a personal liberation. To own something and furthermore create a resource that could benefit other creatives was inspirational. Once I knew I wanted to take on the task I was determined to make it happen even though I had no idea how to do it. I was luckily able to recollect that I had a friend in New Zealand called Daniel McQueen who was a font specialist and was able to turn my designs into a usable font.

Knowing this, the process of researching began and moving into the mentality of creating something classic. I wanted my first typeface to sit alongside the likes of Helvetica, Avant-Garde & Futura. Those were the ambitions I had for the yet untitled font. I named it Echelon. I remember creating a rollout for it on social media that was able to make its release in early september 2012 all the more impactful. It went on to do very well and be featured in many impressive places and most notably be used last year for Nike's Athlete kit for Basketball giant Kevin Durant.

My subsequent font Atelier Neue, which I released almost exactly a year later went on to do well and is my personal favorite. I saw it as a way of very much cementing myself and not being regarded as a one hit wonder. I feel it proved to many potential critics that I can churn these out. The font has also been used in many notable places; most recently for the BFI's Black Star film campaign.

What would be your dream job or project?

My dream job ideally is not to have to have a job at all. That is the best reason to explain why I formed YWW. It was an escape to what I've always wanted to do, which is simply work on super creative briefs and projects whether it's about making products or crafting films.

My dream project is a collection of many small projects culminating in a cultural shift of creative liberation and acceptance by a generation who can take it further than we ever imagined. It is most definitely a process that will not be achieved in a few years or decades but most definitely in our lifetime.

Please name some people in your field that you believe deserve credit or recognition, and why?

I feel we live in age where because of the internet and social media, everyone is able to have a platform and take advantage of the benefits. They are able to gain recognition and become creatives that are creditable.

Everyone is very visible and it's beautiful because it means collaboration has become easier than ever before. Sharing of ideas, culture, skills and creativity has never been easier.

I do aim to give credit to those that paved the way for me personally and I looked up to coming up. Pioneers like Dieter Rams, Peter Saville, Sagmeister, Milton Glaser & Tibor Kalman just to name a few.

In my field today there are amazing young talents in the YWW network that are doing incredible things. So many emerging creatives, some as young as 15 years old, that I have been exposed to, poses a unique creative approach and understanding. They say tomorrow belongs to those that can hear it coming. This truly is the most fearless generation of all time. We will find out why very soon.

What's your best piece of advice for those wanting to follow in
your footsteps?

Nobody knows what the hell they are doing most of the time. Just do your own thing. I believe everyone has their own specific way of how the universe will unfold itself to them.

What I will say is that life begins when people understand that the key is to give back. When they realise that serving and creating real change and impact in people's lives through their creativity is the most powerful thing they can do.

Forget rules, and let nothing hold you back. That's why I love the next generation. They don't care about paying homage or being constrained to the past, they are more focused in making new, making their own path. That energy is so empowering.

I would also encourage creatives to embrace failure more. I used to be very self-conscious about failing early on in my career. I have now realised how vital it is to understanding the journey of growth that comes with getting to a certain level. Failure will come but you will get over it. If you are not failing you are honestly not innovating enough.

What's next for you?

I continue to be dedicated to my passion of collaborating and showcasing creatives. I will continue to build the YWW network and aim to create impact with the greatest creative talents the world has to offer. Most importantly I aim to have fun.

For more information visit:

https://www.behance.net/smbstudios

https://www.facebook.com/SMBStudios

Network:

THE CARIBBEAN:

ANIMAE CARIBE CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS. Held every year in the caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago, the Animae Caribe animation festival will run from October 24th to 31st 2016. The largest animation film network with a regional coverage in the Caribbean, it is recognized to be one of the many notable international annual festivals. In addition, Animae Caribe has a regional and international network of storytellers, writers, puppetry artists, visual artists (including graphic designers and photographers), theatre and music performers, sound and lighting technicians and reseachers, which feed into the animation production sector. Submissions for Short animation are open. Deadline 30th August 2016

EUROPE:

FASHION CITIES AFRICA the first major UK exhibition dedicated to contemporary African fashion opened at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery on 30 April 2016. Exploring fashion and style in four cities at the compass points of the African continent Casablanca in Morocco, Lagos in Nigeria, Nairobi in Kenya and Johannesburg in South Africa Fashion Cities Africa considers recent and contemporary fashion practices in these distinctive metropoles, from couture to street style. Until 8 January 2017

Included in Museum admission fee/£3.50 residents, members and children free brightonmuseums.org.uk/fashioncitiesafrica

#FashionCitiesAfrica

AFRICA:

ALBUS EXHIBITION BY JUSTIN DINGWALL. Barnard Gallery is pleased to present Justin Dingwall's solo exhibition Albus in association with Lizamore & Associates. With an arresting vulnerability and striking intimacy, the photographs in Justin Dingwall's ongoing body of work Albus constitute an extended meditation on the nature of beauty and perception. Aiming both to raise awareness about Albinism and to challenge the taboo that exists around it, the series interrogates and offers an alternative to traditional notions of beauty. From 23 August til 11 October 2016.

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How this fringe festival is raising the profile of service design

Wander around any of the events running during next month's London Design Festival and you'll witness a celebration of design's multiple, often interrelated disciplines covering everything from furniture design to technological innovations.

There is one area of the industry, however, that is arguably equally as present in people's everyday lives, albeit a little less tangible: service design.

“There are so many designers that don't know what it is,” says Lior Smith, founder of the Service Design Fringe Festival.

The discipline is based around the use of a service itself; something that is used rather than owned. Instead of designing a physical product, the design element is about shaping service experiences covering both public and private sectors so that they are easy and effective for people to use.

“We're in a service economy…it makes perfect sense”

The concept behind service design isn't new, but it has massively taken off over the last few years, particularly with the movement towards the digitalisation of services from the advent of Uber meaning that we now all book taxis via a smartphone app, to switching from registering to vote by post to using the Government Digital Service via the gov.uk website.

“We're in a service economy. Service design has had a place in the design world for a long time, it just hasn't connected up with services and businesses,” says Smith. “Suddenly these worlds are colliding, and it just makes perfect sense.”

After running a talk on service design at LDF in 2014, Smith says she saw an appetite among everyone from product designers to members of the public wanting to learn more about it.

She then went on to establish the festival officially in 2015, with the overarching aim of helping service design gain greater recognition within the industry, as well allowing opportunities for networking and critiquing each other's work.

Staff personas and IT toolkit at HS2

The Goldsmiths graduate's background largely lies within the service design sector. Having worked for the likes of Futuregov and UK Trade & Investment, she is currently helping to define staff personas and develop a toolkit for IT staff at HS2, with consultancy Rainmaker Solutions.

Smith is planning to showcase her own expertise as well as that of consultancies such as Designersblock at this year's festival. Details of the full programme won't be released until September, but visitors can expect between 20 and 25 events over nine days, encompassing hacks, talks, workshops and user tool demonstrations.

This year, the team behind the fringe festival is also hoping to tackle another one of service design's main disadvantages its lack of physicality. “That is something I think the service design industry has really struggled with,” says Smith.

Making service design mature as a discipline

“But I think it's getting better, because there are more graphic designers who are coming on board, and service designers with graphic design skills. So there is more communication to clients about what it actually is.”

During the festival itself, they plan to run an exhibition showcasing examples of service design projects, as well as organising screenings of short films and running workshops on how to better communicate what it involves.

“The festival is basically about making service design mature as a discipline,” says Smith, “and doing so in a very public, open way.”

The Service Design Fringe Festival will run from 17 to 25 September. Visit the website for more details.

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Dragon Quest Live Spectacular: turning a Nintendo game into a live stage show

Gaming is generally a solitary activity, and interactions with other players tend to take place through the online world. So how can a virtual game be transformed to a real-life stage show, intended for a mass audience?

Set design and architectural practice Stufish is used to creating stage shows, such as for tours by Madonna, Queen and Lady Gaga, and the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.

But the consultancy's latest venture has been quite different they were tasked with transforming cult Japanese fantasy video game Dragon Quest into a narrative-driven spectacle, to mark the 30th anniversary of the Nintendo-owned game. The show is currently touring theatres across Japan and will see up to 400,000 visitors in total.

Interacting with the audience

While gamers are able to influence consequences within a game, watching a large-scale theatre show, pop concert or musical is generally a spectator-sport, where audience members peer into a box rather than interact with the characters.

Stufish, however, has tried its best to make Dragon Quest Live Spectacular a participatory show. Audience members are able to influence on-stage action through individual wristbands which enable them to vote for plot twists and character actions and weapon choices in advance.

The set itself also incorporates dramatic use of projections, screens and 3D mapping, plus multiple stages scattered around the audience space, which aim to involve the audience “in the magical world of the video game”, says Stufish chief executive officer Ray Winkler.

Realistic graphics and costumes

The graphics and the costumes had to also be true to the computer game, says Winkler. “When you're in a 360° arena environment, there's so much visual smog,” he says. “Things like trussing, and cables from the rigging can obscure what's happening in the show, and it's obvious you're in the real world we tried to recreate the landscape you see when playing the game on a laptop, in the digital world.”

To do this, Stufish created moving, island stages across the entire arena floor space, including where the audience were seated, which allowed on-stage characters to walk through the crowd.

“It was difficult to direct”

This included eight satellite stages, two larger stages at either end of the arena, and a large performance stage at the centre which acted as the focal point for the performance and the action.

Having so many stages made the show difficult to direct, says Winkler. “When at the theatre, you generally look at one stage and the story unravels in front of you. Here, there was never one single vantage point with which to tell the story from.”

But the island stages were important to fully immerse the audience. The Stufish designers first thought of the formation when moving sugar sachets and milk pots around over breakfast, says Winkler. “We never veered away from that,” he says. “That formulated our first sketches, which went on to be the set.”

Digitalising the actors

The use of arial bridges and stages allowed for movement, and helped to reinforce the 360° performance space. “It was an ever-changing landscape,” says Winkler.

Projections coupled with clever use of materials such as gauze curtains and lighting also helped to create a more pixelated, digital look to the characters on-stage. The consultancy created a “conceptual bridge” out of two layers of projections, forming a corridor in the middle.

Performers were then harnessed and flown through this corridor of light, which created the illusion that they were digitally rendered and part of a projection seen on a hanging see-through curtain. Coupling these special effects with dramatic, bold costuming and graphic images, helped to immerse the audience within the imagined world, says Winkler.

“People were crying and screaming”

“There was a lot of emotion in the audience,” says Winkler. “Because of the environment, there was extreme audience participation to the point where people were crying and screaming. Of course, these are people who are heavily involved in the fantasy gaming genre anyway.”

While the show is certainly aimed at superfans, creating a large-scale spectacle creates a sense of commercialism and perhaps wider accessibility to an otherwise niche hobby but to truly understand the narrative, and not just appreciate the special effects, it definitely helps to have played the game.

“The show is very cacophonous,” says Winkler. “Everyone responds to the spectacle but to understand what it's about, you have to be in the know with Dragon Quest.”

Making the show true to the game

But how do you create a narrative for an open-ended game, the fate of which is ultimately decided by its players? Live show director Kahori Kanaya worked closely with stage writer and the game's creator Yuji Horii to create a “fixed narrative trajectory”, says Winkler, which “stayed true to the characters” in the game.

“There were quests, battles, low moments and high moments just like there is the game,” he says. “The characters had the same superpowers and faced the same villains that they do in the game too. It's about bringing something alive in 3D, which already exists well in 2D.”

“There's a lot of good will from the audience”

Designing for the stage means that a player's individual preferences are removed but in its place, the use of ariel techniques, projections and lighting tricks helps to maintain that feeling of a virtual world, even when sat surrounded by other members of an audience. Ultimately though, for this to work, the audience themselves have to be invested in the first place.

“If someone comes to a show like this, they're suspending disbelief,” says Winkler. “They believe that what they see in front of them is the Dragon's Quest. There's a lot of good will in there none of what we propose would actually work without that.”

Dragon Quest Live Spectacular premiered at Tokyo's Saitama Super Arena in July, and is currently touring across Japan until the end of August.

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The Barbican's new shop will showcase designer collections

The Barbican will showcase the work of designers including Lindsey Lang in its new shop, set to open in autumn.

The new 330m² retail space will include areas dedicated to collections covering homeware, stationery, clothing and jewellery, and a changing pop-up space devoted to showcasing emerging talent.

Lang and the likes of Kate Farley and Alfred & Wilde have been commissioned to interpret elements of the architecture and interior design of the Barbican's buildings in their designs.

The Barbican says: “The result is a collection of impeccably designed objects that subtly convey the gravitas of the building.”

Lang has created a series of geometric homeware, inspired by the Brutalist architecture of the Barbican's residential estate the Lauderdale Tower, focusing in particular on its textured, concrete walls.

Alfred & Wilde's Elements collection spans textiles, prints and homeware, and uses simple graphic illustrations and motifs to depict the modernist architecture of the Barbican Centre. The design studio has also collaborated with jeweller Wolf & Moon on a jewellery collection.

Illustrators Daniel Clarke and Kate Farley have created homeware and stationery ranges which also use graphics to interpret the architectural forms of the Barbican estate, while illustrator James Brown has created prints which visualises the language of music.

"Memory — Memory Game, by Charlotte Trounce

Charlotte Trounce has created a colourful kids' collection of stationery and games which incorporates characters and illustrations seen around the Barbican building, while photographer Anton Rodriguez and design writer Katie Treggiden have produced a book exploring the work of Barbican residents and the history of the site.

The new Barbican shop has been designed by architectural practice Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM), which has worked with the organisation on various projects over the last 15 years.

AHMM director Peter Morris says that the main aim of the shop was “flexibility and neutrality”, as it includes modular units which can be moved as the Barbican Centre's programme changes.

“In the context of the arts centre, [we wanted] to think of this more as a museum or gallery than a shop,” he says.

All the items will be available to buy at the new shop or via the Barbican's online shop from October, and range from £4 £55.

The new Barbican shop will open in October. At the time of publishing, The Barbican could not reveal an exact date.

All photos © Oliver Douglas, styled by Anna Sheridan.

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5 important things that happened in design this week

Subway got a new logo

Fast-food chain Subway revealed a rebrand this week, which sees a simpler, non-italicised logotype.

The brand is following the trend of flat, minimal rebrands, better suited to digital applications.

The border has also been removed from the typeface, and the colour palette reduced to only yellow and green, with a more orange-toned yellow shade and a lighter green used. The brand has retained its well-known arrows attached to the “S” and the “Y”.

Alongside the refreshed typeface is a new icon, which is an “S” comprised of the brand's green and yellow arrows.

Subway is rolling out the new design globally in early 2017, and will not reveal the designers behind the project until then but has said that the project was led by the company's in-house creative team alongside “a variety of design partners”.

Classic designs became more protected

"Elephant — Elephant chair, by Charles and Ray Eames

Fake replicas of much-loved design classics will now be banned, under a change to copyright law that started rolling out this month.

This will affect copycats of designers including Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, Marcel Breuer and Phillipe Starck.

The change to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 means that revolutionary designs will now be protected for 70 years after a designer dies, rather than 25.

To benefit from this law change, designs need to qualify as “works of artistic craftsmanship”, a term coined by the Intellectual Property Office to determine whether something can be classed as “work of art” or not.

In case your work doesn't qualify as artistic or crafty enough, designers should still register their designs to protect their work, explains Dids Macdonald, founder at organisation Anti-Copying in Design (ACID).

You can read more about the copyright law change here.

The V&A announced a new £1 million retail space

London's Victoria and Albert Museum announced this week that it will be completely overhauling its main shop.

Studio Friend and Company has been appointed to complete the £1 million project, as part of the V&A's development programme FuturePlan.

Friend and Company is being paid £96,250 for the work and won the pitch out of six competing consultancies. The studio will be looking to create a retail space that works “in close dialogue with the galleries, exhibitions and events surrounding it”, according to the museum.

The opening date has yet to be announced.

We delved into a Roald Dahl immersive experience

Studio Bompas & Parr is known for its wacky, theatrical installations, from alcohol vapour bars to food museums. Next month's project is an interpretation of children's author Roald Dahl's book The Twits, a magical and terrifying theatrical dining experience.

This week, we spoke to the set designer Sam Wyer about translating the book to experiential theatre, and how he hopes to engross his audience.

Dinner at the Twits runs at The Vaults in London Waterloo, from 4 September 30 October.

To read our full interview, head here.

The MRI scanner was redesigned

Product design consultancy Frog has launched two new MRI scanner systems this week, which look to make scanning easier for babies and other scans less claustrophobic.

The WristView system is a hand and wrist MRI scanner, which allows only the arm to be encased rather than the whole body, providing a “non-claustrophobic” alternative to conventional scanners, says Frog.

The Embrace Neonatal System is a newborn baby scanner, which can prep and scan in under an hour, and is designed to be used within neonatal hospitals so that babies can be cared for throughout the scan.

Frog has worked with life-science company Aspect Imaging on the two new innovations. The consultancy has not yet confirmed when the products will be going to market.

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Design Manchester reveals “Design City” theme

Design Manchester has revealed its lineup, which includes talks from the likes of educationalist Sir Christopher Frayling, designer Jason Bruges and an exhibition on the work of Alan Kitching.

The theme Design City will tie everything together this year and co-curator Malcolm Garrett says the festival will look at the “key concerns of living in modern cities, environmental issues, the devolution of power to Northern cities, what's going on in Manchester itself and the wider cultural agenda.”

“Speaking to other disciplines”

Garrett also says that he doesn't want the festival to be about “graphic designers talking to graphic designers” and so to this end he adds: “We're going to speak to other disciplines architecture, wayfinding, design for aging, production design, user experience, virtual & interaction design and animation.”

Architect-cum-lighting and experience designer Jason Bruges will be talking about his work in the context of the city theme. “His work gives both a public and commercial perspective of the city,” says Garrett.

This year's event also looks at how the design agenda in cities is being driven by a new generation of design savvy consumers and the growing demand for craft in everything from beer packaging and branding to printing.

“We'll be extending this idea of craft to the public through our workshops and it will also relate to the broader themes of the city,” says Garrett.

A Design City film season is planned and will feature Writer Alice Rawsthorn talking about how Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is greatly enhanced by Saul Bass' title sequence.

Frayling on Ken Adam

Meanwhile Christopher Frayling will talk about the film Dr Strangelove and what he sees as the “gleaming and sinister” production design of Ken Adam.

Alan Kitching: A Life in Letterpress is an exhibition billed as celebrating “one of the World's foremost practitioners of letterpress, typographic design and printmaking.”

The exhibition gives an insight into Kitching's works, his methodology and processes. Sketches, proofs and roughs are on display as well as artefacts and equipment from his workshop.

The exhibition was at Somerset House earlier in the year and there is an accompanying book.

Design City Fair will take place on 15 and 16 October and features stalls from over 100 creatives with affordable work for sale alongside live art, workshops for screen-printing, letterpress and book-binding among other classes. It's free and billed as a family friendly event. Names include Manchester Print Fair, Hotbed Press and Manchester Artists Book Fair.

Women in Print will being together local designers, print-makers and illustrators to celebrate the women who made Manchester great. This includes everyone from political reformers to paleobotanists.

Art Battle Manchester VIII is scheduled for 14 October at London Road Fire Station where illustrators, painters, tattooists and street artists will go toe-to-toe in what organisers predict to be “the city's most energetic art event.”

A 500 capacity crowd votes in rounds as ten artists take each other on to create a final piece in less than 30 minutes.

The Great Debate

Garrett hopes that the Design City theme will “feel definitive” and “embrace different creative endeavours” this year.

One talk still being mapped out is The Great Debate, but Garrett says that it will look at the future concerns of how cities are developing and the role design plays. Garrett says that there are at least 20 more festival announcements to come.

Design Manchester 2016 runs from 12-23 October at various venues across Manchester. Head here for information.

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Dinner at the Twits: a gloriously gruesome theatrical dining experience

Chances are we've all experienced the questionable culinary decisions people make when having guests round for dinner, but how many of us can actually say that we've been to “the worst dinner party in the world”?

Bompas & Parr are attempting to lay claim to this prestigious title with their latest project an immersive theatre-cum-dining experience based on one of Roald Dahl's most famous tales, The Twits.

Produced in collaboration with Les Enfants Terribles, ebp and Creature of London, Dinner at the Twits is centred around a banquet held by Mr and Mrs Twit at their horrid home.

As well as munching on a slice of bird pie or fishing the glass eye from their cocktail, people will also be able to explore the Twits' Ghastly Garden and Windowless House, set in the underground chamber of The Vaults in Waterloo, London.

We speak to set designer, Sam Wyer, to find out all of the deliciously disgusting details.

Design Week: Why did you and the producers decide to move the story on from Roald Dahl's original work?

Sam Wyer: One of the problems of developing The Twits as a performance is that the book's success lies in its focus on these spiteful vignettes between Mr and Mrs Twit. They are wonderfully delicious, but as a performance they don't further a linear story.

The major advantage of what we're doing as an immersive performance, is that we can reference these in my sets, and give the whole show an exploratory nature. With the added sensory elements of food and drink, we can enhance and continue to thicken the audience experience of the story during intervals in performance.

DW: Why did you decide to use The Vaults as the venue?

SW: One of the most brilliant parts of working at a space like The Vaults, which I've done several times before with Les Enfants Terribles, is the architectural features and textures all around you.

The darkness and dinginess of the space is like being locked in a dungeon. This gives me lots of opportunity to play with colour and darkness, which adds to that dingy world of the Twits.

DW: What are Mr and Mrs Twit's role within the production?

SW: Mr and Mrs Twit are your hosts, somewhat suspiciously renewing their wedding vows. As well as performing scenes, they will approach your table during courses and talk to you as your host might.

This is a great opportunity for me as a designer. Their richness comes through not only in the way they behave, but I can also treat them as walking scenery. You're up close and personal with really lovely, rich, revolting design.

DW: How did you incorporate a sense of occasion into the set design, given that Mr and Mrs Twit are renewing their wedding vows?

SW: I found certain ways to beautify the grottiness and grotesqueness. This could be typified in the garden scene, for instance, where the guests enjoy the entrees and cocktails.

Mr and Mrs Twit's brutalist, incredibly unfriendly garden full of thistles and nettles will also be decked in barbed wire (to keep all the nosey nasty kiddies out).

But to make it a feature that lifts people's experience, and connects it to those fantastical experiences at decadent parties, I'm incorporating fairy lights into the barbed wire, to emphasise the duality of beauty and horridness.

DW: How does Dinner at the Twits differ from some of your previous collaborations with Les Enfants Terribles, such as Alice's Adventures Underground?

SW: Whilst we have been able to incorporate lots of skills and lessons gained from immersive theatre that we have created before, the main difference with this production is the integration of food.

That's especially pertinent when the audience are given the opportunity to explore their environment and discover the food, such as the edible wormery, scraping through the compost heap to discover beautiful eggs to eat, and the various tonics and potions that Mr and Mrs Twit have set aside.

One of the challenges is differentiating the edible items from the inedible items and giving our audience enough discovery, without them ending up chewing the scenery.

DW: What do you want people to take away from the production?

SW: The writers, Oliver Lansley and Antony Spargo, and director, Emma Earle have broken down the action to allow people to enjoy their food without having to focus on large swathes of performance. This gives the kind of intervals that allow people to converse, laugh and chat as you might do if you were reading the book with somebody.

Guests are encouraged to interact with the spaces, such as the Ghastly Garden, to find all of the delicious treats, bringing to life one of Dahl's most repulsive stories. We want people to feel like they have stepped into the story from their childhood imaginings where they can meet the characters and visit the places.

For me, the chance to tell this story for adults doesn't change the approach greatly, as Dahl writes for all ages, but the chance to relish a little more in the darker imagery from the book is wonderful. Expect another sticky end!

Dinner at the Twits will run at The Vaults in Waterloo from 4 September to 30 October. Visit twitsdinner.com for more details.

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How to forge long lasting partnerships with your clients

These days, design businesses should be partnering with rather than supplying to their clients. Why is this a good thing? What does a partnership look like and what are the risks? And what can you do to move deeper into partner territory?

Why partnerships work

As a partner your position is more secure because your relationships are deeper and stronger, assuming you also add value of course. You are part of the discussion that leads to the work as opposed to your client coming to you, telling you what to do and you then working in isolation. As partners, you will solve problems together, which expands the scope of possible solutions and builds a better understanding of the relationship for each of you. All things being equal, partnerships should yield better returns for both parties in the medium term.

What does a partnership look, feel and sound like?

When you're in a partnership your client's problems are your problems. Their challenges are your challenges. You jointly own the situation. And most importantly, your client feels this.

If your client lost you, they'd feel as if they were losing a valued member of their team. Your remit does not end when you deliver a piece of work. You are involved in the outcome and also the follow up.

You give up some control over the outcome but you remain fully involved in the work. You know when to step back. You will hear yourself saying: “What I'd recommend is this, but it's your final decision.”

You develop better empathy. You can understand and appreciate your client's position without agreeing with it. This means that you can disagree and stay working together.

You add value in the run up to the work and afterwards. You suggest what could happen outside the scope of the work. This needs to be treated as an investment on your part to start with. You could make it conditional on the size of the project and budget for it by attaching a percentage of the fee to partnership building.

What to watch out for

Something to guard against is focusing all of your efforts on one person within the client's business. Doing this, especially with someone at mid-level is a risk. Given the fast staff turnover in marketing departments, should they leave, the relationship and the partnership walks with them. Similarly, at the top level, bearing in mind today's preference for consensus management, it is advisable to think both across and down the organisation when building relationships.

Be prepared to work harder. A partnership is an investment. This will mean extra work and quite possibly extra unpaid work. The pay-off is extra paid work in the future and better pay for that work.

How to move into partner territory

So how do you go about shifting towards “partner” and away from “supplier”?

It makes sense to start with your current clients. They are your most established relationships and probably closest to the partner status that you're looking for. They are a good place to test some new ways of developing relationships.

I spoke with Charlee Sully, creative director of The Usual Studio who has employed a number of partnership building strategies in growing her design business.

Create conversations: set up a time to speak, away from a pitch or piece of work. This enables the scope of the conversation to be broad and wide ranging which can lead to new ideas being discovered. Sully's approach speaks to this way of working: “When I'm in the midst of discussions around a potential piece of work, I talk about other things, not the quote. I'm not ‘pushing' on this all the time are you going to do it, shall we sign it, etc although I know it's important. I take a softer approach.”

Get interested and fired up about your clients: Sully says: “I engage and become genuinely interested in my clients. I've had training in journalism so perhaps it's this background that means I love to ask questions. My conversations often end with my client saying things like: ‘I'm fizzing with ideas' and ‘I really enjoyed meeting you.' That's how I know I've started to build a good relationship.”

Get comfortable with a focus on relationship and not stuff. Sully says “I'm comfortable with meeting people, despite being an introvert. I'm very open and I don't mind speaking about mistakes. I speak to clients almost as if I know them already and this creates a warm and relaxed conversation. I listen and you'll find me making notes. It's important that they lead the conversation.”

Create a budget line for your partnership development: base this on a percentage of what your client spends with you. That's your investment in the future. You can then measure what that investment has yielded at year end in terms of growth of income.

So you're all set to shift your relationships into partnership territory. But just before you do, there's one final risk to watch out for. The risk associated with being too successful at it. Sully highlights this risk.

“Often my relationships reach a level where people are sharing information with me that they wouldn't share with other business owners. They treat me almost as a temporary business partner. This means I have to be mindful of the boundaries of my relationships and make sure that friendly does not become friends.”

You may consider this to be a ‘high class problem' to have but if you're coming upon this situation, Sully has written a piece that clarifies the territory which I would recommend reading.

John Scarrott works with design business leaders and their teams on their sales, presenting and networking skills. Follow him @JohnDScarrott or find him at johnscarrott.com

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How the Rio 2016 Olympics was designed

As the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games officially get under way, some three billion fans are expected to tune in for the opening ceremony one of several key designs which help to define the theatre of the games and reinforce its ancient narrative, sense of place and the hallowed Olympic spirit.

Opening Ceremony

Although the world has been told to manage its expectations in terms of pomp and spectacle, the opening ceremony will still include 300 dancers, 5,000 volunteers and 12,000 costumes. It won't however have the extravagance of Beijing 2008, or the eccentricity of London 2012.

Film directors Fernando Meirelles, Daniela Thomas and Andrucha Waddington are creative directors on the project and Deborah Colker is the choreographer.

It will be held at the Maracanã Stadium and is expected to eschew high tech moving stages in favour of something more analogue and innately Brazilian.

Meirelles, who is the director of the film City of God, has been widely reported as saying he wants to avoid clichés but that viewers should expect a section on Carnival.

Logo

"The — The sculptural version of the Rio 2016 identity. © ISMAR INGBER/AFP/Getty Images

The Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic identity has been designed by the Brazilian consultancy Tátil, led by its creative director Fred Gelli.

Gelli and his team have developed a 3D logo and worked to a brief of 12 attributes that needed to be considered.

Gelli says he has created a “sculptural logo for a sculptural city” and that everyone who works at the consultancy more than 100 people were involved in the project even the receptionist.

You can read our interview with Geli here, where he reveals how the project came together.

Mascots

"The — The Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots

Often open to ridicule, mascots are traditionally one of the first elements of an Olympic event to be unveiled so that they can be utilised by the Olympic press and marketing machine.

People will scarcely be able to forget the much maligned Wenlock and Mandeville, designed by Iris, which were unveiled in 2010 ahead of the London 2012 games. Inevitably people warmed to the little scamps as the games approached and here's why.

The Rio mascots Vinicius and Tom came onto the scene in 2014 as “an explosion of joy” designed by animation studio Birdo Produções.

Again cynics were slightly baffled by them but on the cusp of the games their joyful evocation of flora and fauna seems perfectly appropriate as seen here.

However, we are still slightly baffled by Tom, the flora character, who was described by Rio 2016 brand director Beth Lula as “energised by photosynthesis and [someone who] can pull any object from his head of leaves who is always growing and overcoming obstacles”.

Torch and Cauldron

The Rio 2016 torch has been a great success. Designed by Sao Paulo-based consultancy Chelles & Hayashi, the torch is made of white aluminium and is made up of six pieces, which have been expanded vertically to slowly reveal its full form.

Inside, the colours of the Brazilian flag and the Rio identity can be glimpsed.

Chelles & Hayashi saw off competition from 75 other Brazilian studios with plans for their torch, which has been ergonomically designed to encourage people to grip it close to its centre of gravity.

We took a closer look at the design of the torch here.

At the time of writing, the design of the cauldron remains to be confirmed but it is understood to be a spherical design and will not require much energy to keep it lit. Mirrored surfaces will amplify the size of the flame, meaning it will literally be a case of smoke and mirrors.

This is as good an excuse as any to post footage of the Seoul 1988 cauldron lighting. Peace doves released shortly before the cauldron was lit, perched on the structure before this happened…

Stadium

The Maracanã Stadium, which was originally built in 1950 has had several upgrades over the years the latest in 2013 ahead of both the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.

The opening and closing ceremonies will take place here as well as the men's and women's football tournaments.

There are 32 Olympic venues in Rio and five in other host cities. Some 11 new venues have been designed and built including the 16,000 capacity Carioca Arena 1 for basketball and its neighbouring Arena 2 and Arena 3 for judo, wrestling, fencing and taekwondo.

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https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/1-7-august-2016/now-exhibition-reviving-art-tapestry-weaving/
Here & Now: the exhibition reviving the art of tapestry weaving

It's been over 20 years since the last major exhibition of contemporary tapestry in England.

Last time around, Professor Lesley Millar MBE of the University of Creative Arts was having some of her own tapestry work shown at the Barbican in London.

This time she is curating an exhibition set to open in October for The National Centre for Craft & Design (NCDD) in Sleaford instead, with a smaller selection of tapestries currently on display at the Holburne Museum in Bath.

Here & Now includes work by tapestry weavers from all over the world. Each tapestry has been selected in order to showcase the ways in which the art form continues to engage with current political, aesthetic and personal issues, covering everything from selfies to the Iraq War.

We spoke to Millar to find out more about the exhibition, and why tapestry weaving is thriving.

Design Week: Why do you think it has been over 20 years since the last major exhibition of tapestry weaving in England?

Lesley Millar: Tapestry was fantastically vibrant and people were very interested in it from about 1970 until 2000. There were some fantastic tapestry weavers around at the time who did really bold, hard-edged, abstract designs, such as Jenny Ross.

But things changed. People found different interests, and new technologies were developed. It didn't disappear everywhere though in Australia, America, Scotland and Eastern Europe there are still huge contemporary tapestry communities.

DW: Why has it retained such a strong presence in places outside of England?

LM: In Scotland they have a great tradition of tapestry weaving at Dovecot Studios and the Edinburgh Tapestry Weavers. And in America, Australia and Eastern Europe, there is a huge tradition of fibre art and textiles teaching. Whereas I don't think there's anywhere in England now that teaches tapestry weaving apart from West Dean, which is private.

DW: How did this exhibition come about?

LM: In 2012 I was in Japan, and my visit happened to coincide with a tapestry exhibition in Kyoto, which was a collaboration between Japan and Australia. I discovered all these young, fantastically energetic Japanese artists who were working in woven tapestry and I reconnected with that fantastic energy again.

It coincided with the NCDD getting in touch with me saying they were interested in doing an exhibition, and I said I'd really like to do one on tapestry weaving.

DW: How did you go about selecting the work shown in the exhibition?

LM: It was very organic. I started talking to people that I knew here in the UK, and then I got in touch with various people all over the world. I found other people's work, such as Erin Riley's, through research.

Eventually we decided who we were going to show and they kind of fell into rural and urban categories. But they're all about how one feels about it now some represent a nostalgia for a rural life that doesn't exist anymore, others are about the hard-edged city life.

DW: How do the artists you have selected make tapestry weaving relevant today?

LM: I was particularly excited by the work of Erin Riley, who is this wonderful young American woman. She's very streetwise, covered in tattoos and she does these tapestries of selfies. She'll do one of her body, or other people in compromising situations. They are really fabulous pieces.

Or with Pat Taylor, for instance, there is total political engagement. Her tapestries of Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin are exquisitely made, but they don't half hit hard.

DW: What do you want people to take away from the exhibition?

LM: I want them to realise that tapestries are a really energetic and vibrant living art form. Tapestry has always been a narrative art; it always told the story of its time and that's exactly what these artists are doing.

DW: What do you see for the future of tapestry weaving?

LM: Let's hope this exhibition reignites the fire. If people don't know how to do it then it's dead, so I would like to see it brought back more into teaching in England as well, while the people who still have the skills are out there.

It's part of our heritage but it's not actually heritage, it's contemporary. It absolutely has a role today.

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Which brand would you like to see open a restaurant?

“It would have to be a Courvoisier Cognac Café in Paris. The interior would be inspired by the Paris golden age sophisticated, luxurious and stylish. As the centre of fashion, culture and style in the 1880s, the café would be a celebration of the optimism, innovation and exuberance of the era. It would exhibit contemporary art, design and technology where their creators would frequent the bar. It would have the distinctive aroma of cigars, chocolate and coffee perfectly paired with a range of Courvoisier cognacs.”

"Kate — Kate Marlow, creative partner, Here Design

“The Moleskine Café reminds me of my first brand extension brief, a project set at Somerset College Of Arts and Technology 17 years ago.

My idea was for Penguin Books to open a book café which would be a space to encourage the simple pleasures of a book, alongside a food and drink concept. Within this space I wanted to reinstate a brilliant idea that Allen Lane, founder at Penguin Books, had introduced to London in the 1930s The Penguincubator. This was a vending machine dispensing classic literature for the same price of a packet of cigarettes.

The Penguin Book Café could still happen and Here Design, could realise that concept. It would be a satisfying way to bring unity to our portfolio of book design and brand design for cafes and restaurants.”

"Paddy — Paddy Carey, senior designer, Together Design

“As a new dad, visiting a café has taken on a whole new meaning. Gone are the days of it being a chance to sit back and watch the world go by, in favour of it being a pit stop to neck a cup of rocket fuel to see me through the morning. With this in mind I can't think of a better brand to open a cafe than NASA. What better way to kick yourself out of your morning slumber than a double espresso in zero gravity? I can't help thinking there could be trademarking issues with NASAcafé though.”

“Since launching filmandfurniture.com, I've become fixated with film set design and furniture in the movies. Film-themed cafés and restaurants already exist of course (such as the Wes Anderson designed restaurant in Milan's Prada Foundation or Walter's Coffee Roastery, a Breaking Bad themed coffee shop in Istanbul). But I'd love to see Warner Bros open a bar and lounge in homage to the bar of The Overlook Hotel in The Shining, or for Miramax to open a lavish dining room in honour of the The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (with a more palatable menu!). And if Sony Pictures made high tea available in the theme of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, I'd visit tout suite.”

"Michael — Michael Sheridan, founder, Sheridan & Co

“I think Links of London. It has a strong brand identity based around traditional Great British values with just a hint of English eccentricity. We have worked hard with their new store design, most recently deployed in Toronto, Canada, to make the most of design and curation around what is always going to a considered process in terms of purchase. The depth of brand detail would stretch well into a quintessentially British beverage offer around coffee, tea and certainly a glass of fizz!”

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Google's King's Cross office: modular meeting rooms and Bowie-inspired breakout spaces

Google is well-known for its imaginative, forward thinking approach when it comes to the design of its workspace environments. Over the past few years, everything from indoor slides and putting greens to caravan meeting rooms and bowling alleys have made appearances at its offices all over the world.

But the playful elements and primary colours the tech giant has become synonymous with are noticeably absent from its latest site, situated at Six Pancras Square in central London.

Interiors designed by AHMM

Probably the only in-your-face ode to colour in the company's new office is the eponymous glittering silver mural that greets you in the reception area of the 34,000m2, 11-storey building. The rest of the building comprises stripped back interiors and muted furnishings by companies such as Swiss manufacturer, Vitra.

Designed by architectural firm AHMM, the site recently became home to more than 800 staff commonly known as “Googlers” when it opened earlier this summer.

Only phase one of construction has been completed so far, encompassing the top six floors of the building. The lower floors are still being built, with a total of 2,500 Googlers set to move in once they are completed later this year.

It is only after you are whisked from the reception in one of the sleek glass lifts up to the eighth floor that you encounter some of the more innovative design features that Google and AHMM have been working on.

A staircase to encourage interaction

A winding black steel and oak staircase dominates the top half of the building, creating a connected network of spaces. As well as allowing for easy access to the upper floors, it also encourages interaction between Googlers who don't necessarily work in close vicinity to each other on a day-to-day basis.

Oak flooring becomes the “yellow brick road” of the building, connecting the staircase and corridors to the rest of the office space, says Real Estate project executive at Google, Andrew Martin.

As for the workspaces themselves, the Google Real Estate team and the architects have taken an “honest” approach to interiors, according to associate director of AHMM, Ceri Davies. When it came to the ceilings, for instance, they decided to strip them out entirely.

Design-your-own meeting rooms

More than 90 modular pod-style meeting rooms known as Jacks have also been installed on all but one of the floors. They are intended to be Google's solution to workspace inflexibility and space shortages.

Made from timber and using deliberately stripped back interiors they come with little more than a few chairs, a table and an inbuilt video conferencing system the rooms-cum-furnishings are designed to be completely customisable depending on the needs of the Googlers.

Davies explains that previous Google offices were forever having plasterboard stripped out to accommodate changing team sizes and room requirements. The Jack cassette system means that the rooms can be completely taken apart and reassembled by in-house maintenance staff within hours or days, saving both time and expense.

“In other words, you can hack it,” she says. The smallest Jack can fit two people, while the largest accommodates up to eight.

Over the coming months a total of 160 of them will be installed into the London office, and Googlers are expected to take a “plug and play” approach to the meeting rooms altering their size, adding different artworks and changing the colour of components such as the doors as they wish.

References to David Bowie and Harry Potter

Taking the stairs to the eighth floor then brings you to the social hub of the office. Davies describes the floor as the “jam in the centre of the sandwich”, with a canteen, quiet area with sleep pods, a kitchen workshop and events space all included.

There are also allusions to the outside world and popular culture various areas, such as “Major Tom”, have been named in reference to David Bowie tracks, as a tribute to the singer who died during the construction of the building.

Another breakout area is called “Talk 9 ¾”, due to the site's location close to the fictional platform 9 ¾ that features at King's Cross station in the Harry Potter book series.

“A more profound workplace innovation”

On the top floor, the roof terrace is one of the office's more dramatic elements. It offers panoramic views all the way from the Olympic Park in the east to the arch of Wembley Stadium in north-west London, giving the Googlers a place to recharge and reflect.

The rest of the Six Pancras Square site is more understated than some of Google's previous projects, but perhaps a little cleverer in terms of some of its key design features, such as Jack.

“The inflexibility of space has become particularly problematic in the 21st century business environment,” says Dr Kerstin Sailer, a lecturer at the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London, who has written a white paper on the system.

“It could be argued that Google is now making a move towards a more profound workplace innovation”.

All photos by Tim Soars

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https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/1-7-august-2016/help-design-museum-adopting-vespa-apple-imac/
Help the Design Museum by adopting a Vespa or an Apple Mac

The Design Museum is appealing to its supporters' sensitive sides by asking them to adopt an object in its latest fundraising campaign for its new London site.

The museum is set to open its doors at its new location on Kensington High Street this November, after shutting its museum in Shad Thames in May.

Raise £200,000 towards museum construction

Adopt an Object is its latest fundraising campaign to help raise more than £200,000 towards the final £1 million needed to cover the construction costs of its new site in the former Commonwealth Institute.

People can support the campaign online, by donating £5 to “adopt an object” and secure its home at the new museum, which will go towards these costs.

Choose from 12 objects

12 classic objects created between 1924 and 2007 are up for adoption these include the: Vespa Clubman scooter, Dieter Rams-designed Phonosuper SK5 turntable, My First Sony tapedeck, Anglepoise lamp, Apple iMac G3 desktop computer, GPO Tele 150 Post Office telephone exchange, Melodic kettle, G-Force Cyclonic vacuum cleaner, Cartoon Chair, Valentine typewriter, Trabo toaster and Louboutin Pigalle heels.

Each adopter will receive one of 12 personalised thank you films, showing an object from the Design Museum's permanent collection “travelling” from Shad Thames to the new Kensington site via tube and by foot. The films have been created in collaboration with studio The Mill.

Adopters can also track their chosen object's “journey” from the old Design Museum to the new building via the website, where they can see how many people have chosen to sponsor each object.

Every £5 donated “moves” the object closer to the new museum site by 0.5 miles, and donors will have their names displayed on the site, unless they wish to remain anonymous. The website interface has been developed with Fabrique and Q42.

Museum to open 24 November

The campaign is part of the Design Museum's wider On Loan programme, which will see its collections appear at various pop-up locations before the official museum opening.

The new Design Museum will offer collections three times more space, and will present the museum's permanent display for free for the first time ever.

The new Design Museum opens on 24 November and will offer collections three times more space. It opens with the first ever free display of its permanent collection within the exhibition Designer Marker User, alongside two temporary exhibitions, which are Designs of the Year, and Fear and Love: Reactions to a Complex World.

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https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/1-7-august-2016/dba-members-highlight-brexit-concerns-opportunities/
6 things designers should consider following Brexit

The Design Business Association surveyed its membership three weeks after the Brexit vote to get a snapshot of how the industry is feeling. Despite the tangible and real sense of unease around the uncertainty Brexit has created, the industry continues to be optimistic, and there will be many who grasp the opportunities that change brings with both hands.

One member, Make It Clear member Jay Nicholl, says: “Design is about embracing change and realising the opportunities it brings. We only do our jobs if we help our clients change something.

“Design can be a positive force for encouraging clients to embrace the change that the referendum result will bring, helping frame challenges as opportunities and designing solutions.”

The success of the industry moving forward depends a great deal of course upon the ability of the government to bring stability and reassurance that trade, free movement of talent and international relations will be prioritised and supported during the EU negotiations.

Government will need to invest in creative industries

In addition the government will need to invest in and nurture the future of creative talent in the UK. The recent EBACC decision presents a worrying outlook on how government views creative thinking and its potential to differentiate the UK. Without the flow of creative talent coming through the pipeline either from UK schools, or through immigration, creative talent could be severely compromised.

This is where a strong trade association is essential. The DBA will be lobbying government and business at every opportunity, spreading the message that UK design is a potent business asset and a sound commercial investment.

The findings of the survey are currently being fed into work the DBA is doing with the Creative Industries Federation, and the Creative Industries Council, as well as guiding our direct discussions with government in the coming months.

Our members have shown us that there are three main areas that they are concerned about and three areas, which are can become opportunities.

Top three concerns

Education, flow of talent and the need to grow creative skills in the UK

Design operates on a global stage, and a broad international perspective is imperative for creative ability and essential to help drive up standards. We need the best of the best. If the flow of creative talent through immigration is restricted, the pressure is on the government to support the design industry and education sector to develop home-grown talent, by investing in and championing creative subjects. And why do they need to? Because the creative industries contribute massively to the UK economy, and design is the fastest growing sector within it.

Brand UK

Is the UK going to be viewed as too insular to be able to offer a valid global perspective when delivering creative work? The cultural richness of our creative industries is fundamentally important. All UK businesses will need to communicate skilfully and loudly to the world design agencies can help with this.

EU funding / access to work

Consultancies that work with public sector, cultural institutions, charities, higher education, research and similar sectors are concerned that work flowing through EU funded projects will reduce. Also that UK design consultancies will now be cut off from access to the database of large EU tenders, which EU regulations require to be shared widely across member states. Government must ensure that small companies are able to go for, and win, government tenders.

Top three opportunities

Spending cut backs vs competitiveness of UK design rates

Fluctuating sterling, business uncertainty and the potential for those who only see design as a commodity to cut that spend first are all seen as barriers to growth. But as sterling remains weak, the opportunity increases to win more overseas projects, as UK agencies become more competitive on price.

Commissioning design is part of the solution to growth out of Brexit

Change requires communication and design does some of its best and most effective work in dynamic environments. As real and perceived challenges arise, design agencies are well placed to help their clients navigate them. Design is an investment, not a cost and it demonstrates ROI time and time again.

UK design is global design

The onus is on us now to develop new ways of doing international business. It's a global marketplace and there's a clear opportunity for British design to grow its status across the globe.

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5 important things that happened in design this week

Airbnb launched a new design studio

Airbnb opened Samara this week, an innovation and design studio which looks to bring together design and engineering experts.

Based within the company's San Francisco headquarters, the space hopes to transform Airbnb from a design-focused company providing a service for consumers to a studio capable of designing and supporting other projects.

The first project to come out of Samara is the Yoshino Cedar House, a permanent house designed for an exhibition space in Tokyo, which looks to encourage a better relationship between hosts and guests.

Following the exhibition, the house will be installed in small Japanese village Yoshino and will be available to hire. Projects like this aim to increase services available to Airbnb's community of users.

Instagram overhauled its app design with a new Stories feature

Instagram has taken a turn towards fleeting photo and video reels, which disappear after 24 hours a strikingly similar feature to rival social media app Snapchat.

Snapchat Stories also lets users personalise photos and videos with emojis and images and “draw” on them with text and paintbrushes.

The UX design update takes the social media platform away from static images and more towards a moving, living reel of action perhaps a shift that complements Instagram's rebrand earlier this year, which saw it drop its vintage-looking camera icon for a more modern, minimal look.

Many social media apps are turning to live media now, with Facebook which owns Instagram investing heavily in 360° video and silent/subtitled video for its mobile newsfeed advertising, and Snapchat of course kicking off the temporary video clip trend in 2011.

The National Theatre opened a virtual reality studio

Theatre set design is increasingly becoming less restricted by a physical stage this week, the National Theatre opened a virtual reality studio which showcases how shows are using advanced technology to captivate existing audiences, and entice new ones.

The studio will be a space where set and digital designers can work with directors, writers and actors to produce immersive experiences, and also use VR within the design process itself.

Currently the Immersive Storytelling Studio presents four very different pieces of work that the theatre has created using VR technology: a music video experience from last year's Wonder.Land show; an educational story created in collaboration with the BBC about the 1916 Easter Rising; emotional insight into a Sudanese refugee's journey through the Calais Jungle; and a look at a National Theatre cast rehearsal.

The studio is a signifier towards the future of set design, and will be a springboard for more advanced VR applications in the future.

The Beijing 2022 Olympics started looking for logo designers

The Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games announced this week that it is looking for people to express interest in creating the games' logos.

The brief is currently vague, but states that the visual identities would need to reference the Beijing event and broader Chinese culture, capture the spirit of the Olympics and Paralympics, and embody the culture and values of the host city.

The Beijing Organising Committee has not yet made clear whether only professional designers can apply, or whether anybody can.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games previously saw much controversy, when logos created by professional designer Kenjiro Sano were dropped and replaced following a plagiarism row and a subsequent competition open to the public.

Research showed design is the most highly employed creative sector in the UK

An extensive report from research charity Nesta and Creative England has shown that design is performing exceptionally well compared to other creative sectors.

Between 2007 and 2014, the research shows that design had the highest employment rates, and has the most number of businesses as well as the highest turnover, alongside the software and digital sector.

It also proves that the creative industries as a whole are growing faster than any other business sector in the UK, with its Gross Value Added (GVA) totalling £84.1 billion in 2014.

While London is the most thriving location for the creative sector, responsible for 40% of jobs, the report highlighted other nationwide hotspots, such as Glasgow, Brighton and Liverpool.

The makers of the report hope the research will act as sufficient evidence for government to invest more in creativity, and to focus on developing areas outside of London.

The report reads: “Over half of Local Enterprise Partnerships fail to mention the creative industries in their strategy plans. We hope that [this] evidence…will persuade some of them to…take action to boost the creative industries' growth that is taking place on their doorsteps.

“We also believe that national and devolved governments can play a more active role to scale up creative clusters outside London and the South East.”

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London Design Fair reveals details of This is India guest pavilion

In celebration of its tenth anniversary, London Design Fair has selected India as its first annual guest country pavilion, which will see ten Indian designers and brands spanning product, textile and furniture design showcase their work.

This is India is co-curated by London Design Fair founder and director, Jimmy MacDonald, alongside London-based consultancy Tiipoi's founder, Spandana Gopal.

The launch of the guest country pavilion follows tradeshow events Tent London and Super Brands restructuring under the new name London Design Fair.

Supported by e-commerce retailer, Indelust, the pavilion is designed to showcase a “renewed but intimate perspective on established and emerging design practices from India today”, according to London Design Fair.

India on the global design scene

“With an increasing overview of the global design scene we have been observing with great interest the number of new independent designers and studios from India making their first inroads on the global design scene,” it says.

The lineup includes textile designers Leah Singh, Injiri and Safomasi, industrial studio and manufacturers, Taama and product designers, Objectry.

Independent designers such as URMI Studio, who work with repurposed plastic, and studio and workshop SHED will also go on display.

“Experimentation and openness” are the two main themes of the pavilion's exhibition design, according to the designer, Kangan Arora.

2017 UK-India Year of Culture

Paying homage to the “ancient astronomical instruments and jagged geometries” of the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, Arora plans to transform the pavilion space in east London's Old Truman Brewery with an installation that comprises more than 500 hand-painted terracotta pots stacked into various colonnades and towers.

“Clay as a material is something that's present in every Indian household whether it's the ‘matka' that keeps your water chilled or the plant pot in which you're growing your herbs,” she says.

“It was this simple act of utilitarian products stacked in repetitive forms that inspired me with the pavilion, it says something about the scale and necessity of creation in India.”

“Following our announcement to make This Is India our first guest country pavilion at the London Design Fair Gov.uk announced the initiative; 2017 UK-India Year of Culture,” says London Design Fair founder and director, Jimmy MacDonald.

“So in 2017 we intend to build on our learning of 2016 and produce a larger more rounded This Is India pavilion.”

The Tent London design trade fair is a partner of the London Design Festival and runs concurrently with it.

This is India runs at the London Design Fair from 22 to 25 September at Old Truman Brewery in London. Find out more here.

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Design is still one of the fastest growing creative industries in the UK, report shows

The creative industries are growing faster than any other business sector across the majority of the UK, with design outstripping the likes of advertising, architecture and film, according to a new report.

The Geography of Creativity, produced by charities Nesta and Creative England, highlights the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's (DCMS) findings that the Gross Value Added for the creative industries was £81.4 billion in 2014.

Within these industries, the report finds that the design sub-sector alongside software and digital businesses has some of the highest rates of growth.

Number of businesses, turnover and employment rates

Comparing data from 2007 to 2014 from sources including the Office for National Statistics, the report shows that businesses within the design industry have an average growth rate of over 20%, and over 30% when viewed in terms of turnover and employment rates.

While London is shown to be the dominant location in most creative sub-sectors responsible for 40% of jobs and a third of creative businesses the report also highlights smaller hotspots of creative activity thriving across the rest of the UK as well.

One in five clusters in the North of England

In total the report counts a total of 47 “creative clusters” all over the country. It suggests that around one in five of these are in the North of England, with Scotland and Wales also identified as having “thriving creative ecossytems”.

The report differentiates between “creative cities” such as Glasgow, Manchester and Brighton which tend to have highly diversified creative industries, while “creative conurbations” including Slough and High Wycombe are generally more specialised.

“Less hip” creative clusters emerging

“These clusters specialising in a smaller number of creative sub-sectors with a high technology component may be less ‘hip' than creative cities like Brighton, Liverpool and Glasgow, but our research suggests they make significant economic contributions,” according to the report.

“In particular, they are associated with larger-sized creative businesses, and potentially higher levels of business productivity.”

More support needed at local and national levels

Despite the high levels of growth and productivity among creative sectors such as design, the report also suggests that more support ought to be offered to creative businesses on both a local and national level.

“Over half of Local Enterprise Partnerships fail to even mention the creative industries in their strategy plans. We hope that the evidence that we have presented in this report…will persuade some of them to…take action to boost the creative industries growth that is taking place on their doorstep,” says the report.

“We also believe that national and devolved governments can play a more active role to scale up creative clusters outside London and the South East, with well-resourced, locally relevant interventions along the lines of Nesta's previous recommendations.”

“Power of the creative industries to drive jobs and prosperity”

Caroline Norbury, chief executive of Creative England, adds: “This report clearly shows the power of the creative industries to drive jobs and prosperity not only in London and the south east, but in communities across the UK.

“”It is more crucial now than perhaps ever before, that we work together to make sure our creative industries are equipped to play their part in driving a strong economy and maintaining our position as a world leader in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.”

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Remembering Dennis Bailey design's unassuming statesman

"DB — Jacket self portrait, by Dennis Bailey

Published and printed by Balding + Mansell in 1963, 17 Graphic Designers London, a monochrome hard-back review of practitioners working in the capital, notably featured an array of what were to become illustrious names including Derek Birdsall, Bob Gill, Alan Fletcher, Colin Forbes, George Mayhew, Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert among others.

The very first of the elite names to be found in the pages of this slim, letterpress printed book was that of Dennis Bailey. Among his eminent peers, he was part of an emerging and dynamic post-war generation of designers, who were to pioneer the revolutionary development of British graphic design through the 1960s and beyond.

Despite enjoying far less fame than many of his contemporaries during his long and varied career, he held a well-established presence within the exalted ranks of his profession. His profile also featured in the very select listings of Thames and Hudson's Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers, alongside the world's leading international figures.

Born in Bognor Regis in 1931, Bailey trained in the years 1946-53 both at the Worthing Art School and the Royal College Of Art, where his fellow RCA students were David Gentleman, Alan Fletcher, Len Deighton and Raymond Hawkey.

Bailey's early career saw him take to the continent twice the first as assistant editor of Graphis magazine in Zurich in 1956. In addition to seeing the work of US designer Saul Bass coming through the journal's office, the exposure to Swiss design was to greatly influence him over the next two decades, becoming one of the first foreign designers to work in the Swiss style on his return to London.

A subsequent spell in Paris between 1960-64 brought him work in advertising and publishing during which time he became the design and art editor of Olympia Review. During these years in the French capital he also worked on a film with his Swiss friend and designer Sandro Boccola that featured their mutual love for jazz. Despite the music having been recorded, the script written and the shooting schedule planned, the project then remained unrealised due to the last minute withdrawal of funding.

Bailey became the subject of a profile in a later issue of Graphis (issue 99) from 1961 and he was described by writer Charles Rosner as “a strong individualist, reacting against what others might attempt to impose on him as a person; he himself imposes the greatest discipline on his work.”

Magazine design came to prominence once more in Bailey's role as art director of the influential Town magazine in London from 1964-66. It was an area he would often return to and later editorial design for AA Files (Architectural Association journal), The Listener, The Economist and New Statesman followed.

Writing autobiographically in Designer, the SIAD magazine (November 1980), and accompanied by his distinctive, idiosyncratic jacket-as-self-portrait cover illustration, Bailey reflected on being made an RDI:

“What fascinates me about graphic design is its immediacy. The timespan between conception and realisation can be extremely short, a matter of hours. Going into a magazine office in the morning knowing that there are two pages that must be filled that day and having to send the finished artwork down by 6pm is very exciting.

“I used to enjoy doing covers for The Economist: I'd go in on a Wednesday afternoon without any notion of even what the subject was to be and by Friday morning I could pick up a copy on the bookstalls (and if it wasn't quite as good as it might have been, there was always next week).”

From 1967 onwards he pursued his own freelance design and illustration practice, involving work such as books, magazine design and posters, in addition to forays into the specialised niche of exhibition graphics.

Book cover commissions for Penguin Books saw Bailey become one of the many eminent designers whose creative prowess came to define the publisher's distinctive visual identity.

His list of other prestigious clients included that of The Royal Academy, RIBA, British Council, British Medical Association, NM Rothschild and The Arts Council.

Operating both collaboratively and independently, from 1987 he had combined with Mike Kenny to form Bailey & Kenny on projects such as The World in 1987, which continued all the way up to The World in 2016 an annual magazine for The Economist. Work also continued for Prospect magazine and the journal The Author.

Meanwhile Bailey undertook assignments for organisations promoting the awareness of climate change such as the Centre Technicole d'Agricole and The Hard Rain Project designing books and working on exhibitions.

He lectured in typography and design at the Central School Of Art & Design (1957-60), Chelsea School of Art (1970-81) and at Middlesex Polytechnic during the late 1980s.

In teaching, which he viewed as a master/apprentice role, he aimed at establishing a professional rapport with the students, becoming a mentor for aspiring graduates, where several of them were to find invaluable opportunities to work with him straight from college.

Himself a master of understated layout and restrained, elegantly disciplined typography, Bailey was one of a rare class of designer-illustrators who possessed an assured deftness of skill as a draughtsman. These were dual qualities greatly admired by his fellow RDI designer Mike Dempsey who said: “Dennis Bailey's subtlety with typography was equalled by the beautiful sensitivity of his illustrations.”

A stringent self-disciplinarian

Bailey was a stringent self-disciplinarian unswerving in his commitment to his work who never saw a reason why he would want to retire so he never actually did.

In later years in order to continue to practice, he forcibly adapted himself to the radical technological changes in design production brought about by the advent of the computer.

In the 2007 commemorative volume of anecdotes in tribute to his great 1960s late contemporary Alan Fletcher, Bailey succinctly and astutely wrote: “Alan never used 10 words where one word would do”.

Diffident, quietly spoken and gentlemanly, Bailey's work often reflected his calm yet exacting manner. Designer, illustrator, art director and tutor, he was one of the few remaining independent craftsman-designers. His dominantly individualistic approach, range of abilities and expansive scope of work went beyond any definable categorisation.

“Graphic design has profited from art”

Commenting on what he saw as the closely integrated relationship between graphic design and art in the same SIAD Designer magazine article of 1980 Bailey said:

“Graphic design has profited enormously from its close relationship with more serious art: it has had the pleasure of seeing artists pulling material out of graphic design techniques for doing things, or ways of thinking. There is a very satisfying give and take.

“That gives life to graphic design and the other revivifying influence is when designers initiate something entirely themselves which is not dependent on a client”.

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5 design things to look out for in August

Book: The Typography Idea Book: Inspiration from 50 Masters

What: Steven Heller and Gail Anderson's new book on typography follows on from The Graphic Design Idea Book, which they released last year. This book promises to be a “jargon-free” guide to typography, and includes examples and inspiration from the likes of Neville Brody, Milton Glaser and Eric Gill. Heller was previously the art director of the New York Times, while Anderson is a design writer and lecturer, and the book has been published by Laurence King.

When: Released in August 2016.

Info: The book is £12.95 and will be available to buy online here.

Exhibition: Summer Screen Prints

"Bram — Bram Stoker's Dracula, by Cassandra Yap

What: Somerset House's annual alternative film poster exhibition returns this month, and will see the gallery's East Wing taken over by wacky print design interpretations. Print Club London has commissioned artists and illustrators to recreate posters designed for films show at Film4 Summer Screen, which this year includes the likes of Bram Stoker's Dracula, Robocop, Trainspotting and the Best of Ten by Kubrick.

When: 28 July 17 August 2016.

Where: East Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA.

Info: Admission is free. The exhibition is open daily from 10am 6pm, and additionally from 6.30pm 9pm for Film4 Summer Screen ticket holders. See more info here.

Exhibition: Local Heroes

"Instrmnt — Instrmnt D-01 X Risotto composite © Instrmnt and Future Positive Studio

What: Unsuspecting travellers passing through Edinburgh Airport will experience an array of Scottish design this month. Local Heroes will present the work of nine contemporary designers spanning textiles, tech and product design, who have explored the concept of the souvenir. By placing it within the multicultural hub that is an airport, the exhibition director Stacey Hunter hopes to give Scottish design a “global presence”, and expects it will be accessible to 1.2 million passengers spanning 120 international destinations. The event has been supported by Creative Dundee and Creative Edinburgh.

When: 1 31 August 2016.

Where: East Terminal Plaza, Edinburgh Airport, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH12 9DN.

Info: Admission is free. See more info here.

Festival: Post Design Festival and Conference

What: With its beautiful architecture and renowned Design Museum, Copenhagen is known as a city of design. Post is a design festival which takes a more academic stance it brings international illustrators, designers and academics together for talks, debates and workshops focusing on the ethics of design and work environments. The festival hopes to “encourage and inspire students, practitioners and educators”, and this year will see workshops from artists such as Supermundane and talks from academics including Lawrence Zeegen, the dean of the School of Design at Ravensbourne, London. At less than £50 for four days of talks, the festival will be a budget-friendly, intellectually stimulating addition to the summer.

When: 17 20 August 2016.

Where: Space 10, Flæsketorvet 10, 1711 Copenhagen, Denmark.

Info: Tickets cost 415 DKK (£47) with a booking fee, or 260 DKK (£29.50) for students. The full line-up is yet to be announced. See more info here.

Branding: Rio Olympics and Paralympics visual identities

"The — The sculptural version of the Rio 2016 identity. © ISMAR INGBER/AFP/Getty Images

What: With Brazil's Olympic games set to kick off in August, we'll see the full roll-out of the Rio 2016 Olympic branding too, which was first revealed in 2014. Designed by Brazilian consultancy Tátil, the visual identity is based around a 3D logo of three human figures holding hands a “sculptural logo to represent a sculptural city”, says Tátil creative director Fred Gelli. The Paralympics logo adopts a similar style, but also incorporates an infinity symbol to represent the athletes' infinite energy and strength says Gelli, and has multi-sensory elements when in its physical 3D form. Read more here.

When: 5 21 August 2016.

Where: Various venues across Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Info: See more info on the Rio 2016 Olympics here.

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5 important things that happened in design this week

Moleskine opened a café

Designer stationery brand Moleskine branched into food and drink this week, opening up a café in Italy, which doubles up as a store, exhibition and work space.

The Moleskine Café is based in Milan, and has been conceptualised and designed by global consultancy Interbrand along with Moleskine's in-house creative team.

Split across two levels, the ground floor is centred around a coffee and food counter, with product displays that visitors can interact with and exhibition spaces around the peripheries.

There are also shared seating areas, where people are encouraged to chat and share ideas, while the mezzanine floor has quieter rest spaces where people can have a more “reflective and intimate experience”, says Manfredi Ricca, chief strategy officer at Interbrand Europe.

The store concept is based on rebranding Moleskine from a high-end stationery brand into a whole creative experience, which allows people to peruse artwork and design-led products, while allowing time to sit, reflect and use their own imagination too.

The Moleskine Café concept will roll out worldwide, though the company has not announced in which cities yet.

Selfridges unveiled its new Designer Studio

Selfridges' flagship store opened its redesigned Designer Studio this week, which showcases the work of established and up-and-coming fashion designers.

The interiors of the London Oxford Street store have been designed by studio Campaign, with installations created by artists including Patternity and Anna Lomax.

The space also includes an art gallery, and a book shop selling photography, fashion and art books, magazines, annuals and collectible editions.

We explored the design of the Stanley Kubrick exhibition at Somerset House

From rooms filled with blaring transistor radios to rooms as hot as a furnace, Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick is an attack on the senses, leaving its visitors feeling disconcerted, uncomfortable and overwhelmed.

The show, which is open at London's Somerset House until 24 August, includes 45 commissions from different artists, which interpret Kubrick's films, with a heavy favouritism towards his well-loved classics A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Although there isn't much exploration of his lesser known films, the unnerving exhibition uses multimedia forms to address Kubrick's wider themes of dark humour, sex, violence, horror and dystopia, which find their way into the majority of his movies.

This week, we spoke to co-curator James Putnam, who explains why the show had to be “different from a conventional art exhibition”.

Design business owners learnt what they need to do following Brexit

This week, design business advisor Shan Preddy shared insight on how design company owners can succeed following the EU referendum.

Industry experts have noted that leaving the European Union could cause problems for design businesses, which include restricted movement of talent and goods, change to copyright laws and loss of access to EU funding.

Others also noted however that leaving could give UK businesses more freedom and autonomy over their spending and resources.

Either way, now's the time to think about how your business need to change following the vote. In an exclusive piece for Design Week, Preddy advises that some of the things business owners should be focusing on are maintaining client relationships, investing in marketing and valuing all team members, no matter what level they are.

To read her in-depth advice piece, head here.

Penguin revealed the covers of its new Essentials collection

Designers have transformed the design of classic book covers from the last 100 years this week, including titles such as Barry Hines' A Kestrel for a Knave, Kathryn Stockett's The Help and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the time of Cholera.

The commissioned designers span professions from illustrators to tattoo artists, and were sourced by Penguin via blogs, exhibitions and tattoo shops.

Picking from a multi-disciplinary range of professions means some of the artists won't have worked on a book cover before, which produces “original and fresh” designs, says Penguin designer Gill Heeley.

The Penguin Essentials series will be published on 6 August in paperback and each book costs £8.99.

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Review: Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick at Somerset House

Stanley Kubrick's disconcerting and uncomfortable cinematic style is tricky to replicate in an exhibition space. But Somerset House's latest show successfully transports its visitors from gallery to film set with its array of multimedia installations inspired by the likes of A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

As visitors snake their way around the West Wing at Somerset House, their senses are attacked by the sound of 114 broken radio transistors, the warmth of a roaring electric fireplace, the sight of a giant penis sculpture and the all-round immersion of a virtual reality space scene.

"Requiem — Requiem for 114 Radios, by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard. © Toby Farrow

Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick sees 45 artists spanning fields from graphic design and sculpture to filmmaking and object curation recreate scenes from the movies, or interpret Kubrick's more overarching themes of sex, violence, dystopia and the unknown.

By removing text from the walls of the exhibition space and placing it in a succinct booklet instead, Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick provides no distractions for its visitors, holding them captive in rooms with nothing but multi-sensory installations, and breaking down boundaries between curator and visitor.

The exhibition was conceptualised and curated by filmmaker and musician James Lavelle, who began working on the project five years ago, alongside freelancer James Putnam, who came in halfway.

“Lavelle is a DJ, whereas I'm a straightforward art curator,” says Putnam. “I brought in heavy-weight artists while he brought in film-makers and musicians. His skill of mixing music worked well in curation, and meant we came up with something quite progressive.”

Exhibition design was completed by Richard Greenwood, Miska Lovegrove and Mathilde Bretillot, and graphic design by Studio Barnbrook.

While Somerset House's usual photography and graphic design exhibitions are characterised by framed wall pieces alongside descriptions, Putnam explains that this show needed to stand out. It has no text on the walls at all, and instead replaces this with a booklet offering a little explanation on each installation.

"Tempest — Tempest in (a) glass\ a diaphanous arrangement, by Seamus Farrell

“We wanted to make it very different from a conventional art exhibition,” Putnam says. “It had to be an arresting, visceral experience. We were very careful not to make it too interpretative with labels, as we didn't want people stopping and trying to read them under dim, flickering or strobe lighting.”

This lack of explanation is meant to leave as much to the viewer's imagination as possible, sometimes to the point of confusion. “There's this ambiguity to Kubrick's films, this feeling of a dissatisfactory ending, and never quite knowing what message he's trying to get across,” says Putnam. “So the show had to be thought-provoking.”

The exhibition makes good use of the museum's West Wing, assigning some more immersive installations an entire room, whereas others are placed several within the same room but separated by maze-like wall structures within it, adding to the feeling of the unexpected as visitors turn corners.

“We had to think about how we would get 45 artists into that confined space,” says Putnam. “We wanted to make it like a film itself, so that visitors would experience the thrill of a Kubrick film that disquieting, edgy atmosphere.”

Some of the more arresting installations include Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard's dimly lit room filled with 114 crackling analogue radio sets, with old VHS recorders and torn up cassettes added for effect. The individual noises from the radios join together in harmony to produce one voice singing Dies Irae the eerie Roman Catholic hymn used by Kubrick in the soundtrack of The Shining and A Clockwork Orange. The atmospheres leaves the viewer with an unnerving feeling of nostalgia mingled with dread and anticipation, while Stuart Haygarth's tower of electric fires sets its room ablaze with heat and gives off a supernatural red glow.

Doug Foster's visual display replicates a scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey, mesmerising viewers as they watch patterns emerge and change from a central point on the screen, accompanied by a foreboding soundtrack by composer Phillip Shepherd. Chris Levine's LED light display projects a quickly vanishing portrait of Kubrick himself as the viewer looks from side to side, while Sarah Lucas' concrete penis sculpture lying on top of a crushed car is a cheeky nod to Kubrick's interpretation of sex and violence bleak and sordid, yet laced with dark humour, much like the films themselves.

While the installations take centre stage at the show, Studio Barnbrook's graphic design elements were well-considered with a “simple, direct” approach that purposely did not take away from the effect of the pieces, says Putnam.

The studio created flat, two-dimensional icons which communicate some of the more iconic characters in Kubrick's films a winking eye, symbolising Alex from A Clockwork Orange, and a heart to mark Lolita's heart-shaped sunglasses which are then used in various formations across advertising posters.

A bright orange colour is used throughout the print and exhibition graphics, and plastered all over the walls, creating a symbolic blank canvas while also drumming home this association with one of Kubrick's best-known films. Complemented by a navy blue, the graphic identity had to be “strong visually”, accompanied by “brief and clear” wayfinding information, says Putnam.

Creating such an immersive experience within a building like Somerset House could not have been an easy task. As a listed site, some installations a transcript from The Shining which adorns the walls of the building's historic Nelson staircase had to be carefully considered, while others Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin's carpet design taken from The Shining were installed just 10 days before the exhibition opening. But working across disciplines and at times spontaneously, the curators and design teams have put together a fitting show for Kubrick's filmic style an erratic, perplexing and captivating visitor journey which turns an exhibition into theatre.

Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick will run at West Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA until 24 August. Tickets are £12.50, or £9.50 for concessions.

"In — In Consolus Full of Hope, by James Lavelle and John Isaacs, featuring Azzi Glasser

"The — The Shining, by Gavin Turk. © Andy Keate

"Various — Various works, by Philip Castle. © Warner Bros. Pictures

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Penguin works with international artists on new Essentials collection

Penguin has worked with designers on the republishing of classic book titles from the last 100 years, which the publisher is hoping to bring to a new audience.

The Penguin Essentials is a growing collection, which is released in different series and sees a single artist or designer work on each cover concept.

Editors from Penguin selected the titles before art director John Hamilton and his team set about commissioning artists they felt could capture the spirit of each book in a cover design.

Penguin designer Gill Heeley, who has worked on the project, says: “It's a great series to work on as ultimately we get a lot of freedom and control over who we commission and the direction each cover will take.”

“Diverse and international”

The artists and designers were as “diverse and international” as possible according to Heeley, who says in this case the Penguin team has scoured blogs, exhibitions and tattoo shops to find the right people.

“Often the artists won't have worked on a book cover before, which means they produce something really original and fresh,” says Heeley.

The artists involved in the project have very diverse skills, which is reflected in their approach to the covers, but Heeley says that their work is still managed in a way that means the covers work together as a set.

Despite this the artists were given quite a loose brief so they were free to explore their own direction.

“This can sometimes make the design process a tricky and uncertain one but can result in something really unusual and unexpected,” says Heeley.

What a Carve Up, by Jonathan Co was illustrated by UNGA, who is part of the artist collective Broken Fingaz.

Heeley says UNGA's work has a strong visual aesthetic that draws on the group's Israeli homeland.

“As is often the case with many of the artists involved, he was at times hard to pin down, especially as he is based in Israel and always on the move,” says Heeley.

The artist who worked on A Kestrel for a Knave, by Barry Hines, was Kyler Martz, a tattoo artist and illustrator based in Seattle.

“It was so interesting to see a tattoo artist from Seattle's response to this very English book, which turned out to be a contemporary and striking take on a classic,” says Heeley.

For The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett, Alex May Hughes was chosen as the artist.

“She works with precious metals on glass, painstakingly applying each layer by hand. The bold glossy colours and metals of her work mirror the period the book is set in so well,” says Heeley.

According to Hughes herself the work is “celebratory and positive” and the materials and finish are “luxurious and rich and uplifting”.

The word Help is “a sort of a desperate cry, or at least by definition associated with struggle, which juxtaposes nicely with the medium,” Hughes adds.

The Penguin Essentials series is published on 6 August in paperback and each book costs £8.99.

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Where do you work best? Designers reveal what spaces stimulate their creativity

Patrick Eley, creative director, DN&CO

“I've always found the studio environment a creative one there's something about the white noise of shared spaces that allows your mind to disengage and approach a problem from the side.

Then again I've never liked working entirely alone the ebb and flow of conversation, and the ever-changing soundtrack make for an energetic workplace.

But it's variety of space that's important for productivity. Our studio sits across three floors with an intensity that increases as you climb. The calm of the ground gives way to the cathedral-like top and lets your mind reach for ideas that didn't seem possible lower down.”

"morag-myerscough_2015" — Morag Myerscough, founder, Studio Myerscough

“I have worked in a few studios in my time and learnt what I liked and didn't. The space you are in can really influence how your brain works. I am lucky as I have a space to myself and I have everything at hand if I want to paint or make a model I have it all here. It's a large workshop, so I don't feel restricted about being stuck at a desk in front of a computer.

The huge thing that helps me work is I have a glazed ceiling and natural light all year round and when you spend long hours working it really helps to understand what the weather is like outside it is uplifting.

I have Radio 4 or music on all the time…I love just having the sound as background noise rather than having it penetrating into my head through headphones. But one of the most important things is that my dog Lemmy moves freely through the space and makes my days a joy.”

Tadhg McCarthy, founder and design director, We Are Hive

“There is no one-size-fits-all environment for being productive and creative. You can try to boil it down to a formula but, in the end, people make up their own rules. At our studio, we don't obsess about where people are or the hours they put in, but about the quality of what they do.

Great work can come from individual focus, uninterrupted flow and distraction-free environments. But it also comes from team interaction, collaboration and side-by-side decision making. Ultimately, it's about finding a balance that works for you and your team, in a workspace that offers flexibility and encourages people to do their best work.”

"pali — Pali Palavathanan, founder and creative director, TEMPLO

“I work best when on the go and am adverse to sitting at a desk trying to come up with ideas. I actively encourage my designers to get outside and do the same.

Through tracking my walking I've noticed that when I average 20,000 to 30,000 steps a day I'm at my most productive. Something about the constant motion and seeing a changing environment seems to allow the brain to free up and increase lateral thinking.”

"Lance — Lance Wyman, graphic designer, © Neila

“I work best with a lot of activity around me, visual stimulation and people. Maybe there's a connection being able to design in an environment of chaos and order makes it easier to come up with solutions that have to be seen and communicate out in the street; an environment of people, chaos and order.”

"Alan — Alan Dye, designer and director, NB Studio

“I'm writing this standing up on a packed, hot, frequently stopping Piccadilly line tube on my way to work, wobbling all over the place, wishing the old lady in front of me would offer me her seat….

My mind is always working and wandering off and I'm still trying to learn how to capture those subconscious thoughts. It doesn't matter if I'm in our lovely NB studio scribbling with our designers or wobbling about on a boiling hot tube carriage.

…she didn't offer me her seat.”

"Stacey — Stacey Hunter, director at Local Heroes

“I'm at my most productive and creative surrounded by other creatives. My studio is large enough for six people to have their own defined spaces, a common area to keep as flexible as possible (right now it's an ad hoc stockroom/photo studio), and a quiet, calm, informal meeting room.

We're based in a 1970s brutalist office block in the centre of Edinburgh on a floor with 20 other independent creatives spanning architecture, graphics, interiors, PR and production. I can ask advice, get shortcuts to the best suppliers and collaborate. Ten years ago I found collaborating frightening — now I wouldn't have it any other way.”

"Sam — Sam Bompas, co-founder, Bompas & Parr (photo Charlie Surbey)

“I spend a good deal of time tearing through the archives of the London Library. There's a great wealth of forgotten knowledge that can be used to re-enchant what people put in their mouths. Every so often we'll run to ground an obscure menu, ancient food treaties or most recently a Memoir of a Stomach that will serve as inspiration for a future project.

At the London Library the stacks of books are arrayed alphabetically with strange shelf marks. When I go to research drinks I drift into the adjacent sections, duelling, death, dress which provides wholly unexpected answers to the original research question. The library space is also a little erotic.”

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How to ensure steady growth through recruitment

Recruiting the right people and hanging onto them are perennial issues for all design consultancies, but for design groups just starting out such matters can be critical.

This year we turn the spotlight on Top 100 groups around 10 years old to find out how they started to grow their business by bringing the right people in and get some top tips on what the best rate of growth is.

Since founders Matt Miller and John ‘Sinx' Sinclair set up digital product studio Ustwo from a kitchen in 2004, it has grown to take on 150 people, 51 of whom are designers.

Focusing on both client work and its own products, the reputation of the studio has spread and it has set up studios in New York, Malmö and Sydney.

Ustwo marketing lead Matthew Edwards says the consultancy looks for a wide range of skills, specialisms and backgrounds. “We benefit from contact with LGBTQ and various women in tech networks. We also focus on the development of people we have at Ustwo already sometimes, just the right person is already there with you.”

Referrals play a big part in recruitment for Ustwo and Edwards says personality-wise “resilience and pragmatism” are essential in a rapidly changing digital industry. However, he also says it is “cultural growth rather than cultural fit” that the consultancy is looking to so it can always diversify.

“We run a very active events programme in the studio, which means we get to meet some amazing people from all walks of life.”

All of the consultancy's design expertise are in-house and while skill development and training is always in progress, so is spotting any gaps and looking at where hires need to be made.

There has been a marked increase in staffing levels at Ustwo, particularly this year with 89 people joining. “The pace of our growth is something we're very conscious of. Growth, change and development are all interlinked, and have a strong influence on our culture. Future growth will most likely be in new ventures,” says Edwards.

Design fee-income is expected to increase by 7% in 2016 at Ustwo and there is a correlation between increased staffing levels and increased revenue.

“Taking on more work usually means more revenue and a corresponding growth in headcount. While we're looking at a healthy year-on-year growth in terms of our top-line revenue, we are also testing alternative revenue models

beyond our client-service work. Over the next three years, we expect to generate an increasing percentage of our revenue from our own IP and joint ventures and partnerships.”

Over at branding consultancy Brandopus, design fee income is expected to increase by 10% in 2016. Brandopus executive creative director Paul Taylor says that “a steady approach is what has maintained our successful growth” and much of this is down to “positive connections” with clients, leading to both referrals and repeat business, but getting staffing levels right is also part of organic growth.

Brandopus started out in 2007 and today has 87 staff, with 26 of these designers. Most of the design expertise is found in-house with freelance support relied on for busy periods. Craft, illustration, artist or typographic specialities are turned to when needed.

A steady approach to growth has seen Brandopus set up several international outposts. “In the pursuit of international hubs to service global clients, rapid expansion can lead to a failure to recreate the ‘magic' that defines the founding studio,” says Taylor.

“At almost 10 years old, we have three offices worldwide, with New York being our most recent launch. Although there has been a pull towards the US for a while due to our client base, we have taken the time to consider the best approach and wait for the right people to come along to help us launch it. The fact that we took the time and have the right people will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the resulting quality of work and future growth,” he adds.

“Balance between talent and personality is key”

Creating and maintaining the right culture and finding people who can contribute to Brandopus have been essential, according to Taylor. He says: “The right balance between talent and personality fit is key.”

Managing growth and recruiting at the right time is “a constant challenge”, explains Taylor. “We have learnt over the years that you cannot recruit ahead of the curve in the anticipation of growth; however, waiting until the growth has already materialised can leave you with an over-stretched team.

“You have to manage these fluctuations carefully. The one thing we have learnt is not to rush into just recruiting the people who are available at the time always wait for the right people to come along.”

As Brandopus' client and business base has grown, a team that is capable of managing this has been built, according to Taylor. He explains: “Of course we have the ambition to win more business and as and when this happens we will recruit to manage it effectively.

“Our current size of 87 people feels extremely comfortable. For an independent agency we're on the larger size, but not so big that we don't feel like we know everyone here personally we think this is vitally important.”

Missouri Creative only started out in 2013 and now has 29 staff and 12 designers. New business director Andrew Mitchell says since it was set up by co-founders Paul Brennan and Stuart Wood, the consultancy has experienced “organic and steady growth”.

By the end of the first 12 months there were four designers, by year two there were up to eight full-time designers and now 12 full-time and approximately 12 freelance.

“A strong relationship with a recruitment consultancy is vital”

Having around half of the staff full-time and half freelance is deliberate and gives flexibility. “Often freelancers turn into full-time staff as our client base grows. It allows us to scale up quickly,” says Mitchell.

Many of the initial hires were made from a list of targets Brennan and Wood met in their 12 years at Fitch. “Building a strong relationship with a recruitment consultancy is vital as the studio grows and if they invest the time to understand you, your culture and the type of work produced it tends to speed up the hiring process and you receive CVs that fit
your requirements more accurately,” says Mitchell.

As Missouri has grown, more portfolios have come in and the better ones show an interest in the consultancy, what it does and how the individual's experience can be complementary.

“Moving young designers through the ranks”

“We like to bring in young designers and move them quickly through the ranks there is nothing quite like finding that rough diamond and polishing it over time. It is one of the great pleasures of working in a young, dynamic industry,” says Mitchell.

Growing the business further is still the plan and a structure has been put in place to make this happen. “We now have two strong design directors below our creative director and a great account director managing a talented account management team this should give the founding partners the head space to drive growth for the business,” he adds.

The best way to grow has been along what Mitchell sees as a more traditional consultancy model: rate card x time = cost. “I know other agencies have challenged this model but we find it the easiest and most transparent way to work with clients so staff numbers reflect where you are financially.”

As the consultancy has grown, more services have been brought in-house. In the beginning, visualisation and rendering were outsourced but as these things are so integral to Missouri's offer, designers with these skills were recruited and now skill sharing and in-house training have been adopted to broaden the skill sets of staff.

“We are still looking at innovative ways to cut down costs to our clients so we are considering outsourcing some artwork and technical drawing packages, but this means you need a good senior head of production to manage that work flow,” says Mitchell.

Map, which only began in 2012, has experienced similar business growth to Missouri yet it is a much smaller operation numbers-wise.

Projected annual growth in design fee-income for 2016 is 25% for Missouri and Map predicts as much as 50% growth over the same period.

When Map started out, it was a team of four, including director Jon Marshall. Map is part of a small group with Barber and Osgerby and Universal Design Studio, which means there was support from a shared commercial and admin team of between three and six people.

Today, Map has a team of nine plus two interns and around two people per year are being added to the design team.

Some of the more junior members of the team have been kept on after coming through Map's rolling intern programme. The more senior members of the team have approached the consultancy speculatively or have been recommended by existing members.

“So far, we haven't had to advertise or reach out to people but I'm not ruling it out for the future,” says Marshall, who explains that he does not want to grow the consultancy too quickly and disrupt its team-oriented culture. He says: “The current rate of growth of around two people per year seems ideal to me.”

Remaining relatively small has helped Map to be efficient and manage its growth effectively, according to Marshall. “A small team with steady growth helps with efficient communication. At the moment, our team is small enough so everyone knows what projects are going on and we can go for a meal together and sit at one table. I think at more than 12 to14 people some of that efficiency starts to be lost, but it does enable you to tackle larger and more ambitious projects,” he says.

All of the consultancies we spoke to have found a successful way to grow and have recruited in a sustainable way. Bringing in the right talent to support new business is vital, but consultancy owners also have to be mindful of not over-stretching themselves.

All of the consultancies we spoke to featured in our Top 100 consultancy survey, which you can view here.

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Moleskine opens concept café in Milan

Designer stationery brand Moleskine has opened its first ever café, which looks to create an environment that encourages creativity.

The Moleskine Café is in Milan, Italy and is based on the concept of the Parisian “café littéraire” (literary café). The brand's new retail format aims to acts as a café, art gallery, store and library hybrid, with spaces dedicated to studying, eating and drinking, exhibiting and displaying products.

The interiors have been designed by global consultancy Interbrand's Italy office alongside Moleskine's own creative team. They have been based on the style of the classic Moleskine notebook “clean aesthetics” with a “contemporary palette of neutral colours”, says the studio, to replicate the ivory colour of the notebook's pages.

Conversation spaces and quiet spaces

The space is split across a ground floor and a mezzanine level. The ground floor aims to be a space for conversation, while the mezzanine is a quieter, more reflective space, says Interbrand.

At the centre of the ground floor is a food and coffee counter, surrounded by various displays and seating areas. This layout is “intuitive” for the customer, says Manfredi Ricca, chief strategy officer at Interbrand EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and LATAM (Latin America), with “non-obtrusive” product displays resigned to the sides and the coffee and food offering as the “central element of attraction”.

The right of the store sees a product display alongside an “experience table”, which allows customers to feel different paper grades, look at page layouts and try out Moleskine+ smart notebooks, pens, pencils and bags.

Exhibition space

The left side of the store sees a space dedicated to exhibitions and events, focusing mainly on the early stages of creative processes, such as sketches, notes and doodles from architects, designers, illustrators and film directors. Exhibitions on illustrator John Alcorn and architect Kengo Kuma are due to take place this year.

There are also shared tables and seating areas on the ground floor, which aim to encourage people to chat and share ideas.

The mezzanine level sees more private, separate seating, alongside a sofa space intended as a quiet area for reading, working and relaxing. This floor aims to be a more “reflective and intimate experience”, says Ricca.

Café is 3D version of Moleskine notebook

Ricca says the concept café will be a space where people can think and create. “Think about the product that made Moleskine known to the world in the first place the notebook,” he says. “Its ultimate aim is to provide a blank bi-dimensional space which encourages people's ideas and identity to find an expression.

“So a café from the same brand should provide the same, but in the third dimension,” he says.

The Moleskine Café concept has taken roughly a year and a half to create, and will be rolled out as a wider concept in other major cities around the world. Moleskine has not yet revealed where these will be.

All photos © Michele Morosi

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5 things design firms should be doing after Brexit

With all the excitement about the referendum results and for half the country, disappointment, anger and frustration one thing is sure: we now live in interesting times, politically and economically. Nobody knows exactly what the eventual impact of the UK's decision to leave the EU will be but I can safely predict that there will be change, good and bad.

In the longer term UK design firms, like all UK businesses, will be affected by issues such as different trading arrangements and employment laws. But what about the shorter term? Some of you will benefit from increased international work if exchange rates continue to be preferential to overseas companies; others will suffer as clients hold fire on projects until the smoke clears and the UK economy has settled; all of you will face a much more competitive market as everyone fights harder for available projects. The well-run design businesses will survive; the poorly-run will go under.

Uncertainty always presents a challenge for business, so here are five things that we're advising design firms right now:

1. Focus immediately on your existing client relationships. They are the quickest, easiest, cheapest and best source of future business. Take a long, hard look at your firm's client relationship management policies and practices; every member of your firm, whatever their role, should now have “impeccable client service” in their job description and be equipped with the tools to deliver it. Increase the heat to maximum on satisfying, retaining and actively developing your current clients, and contact recent-but-dormant clients in person: a database-driven, auto-send newsletter or blog won't be enough.

2. Stop talking about your marketing and sales programme and do it. How's your strategy? Have you got a robust positioning, target market and proposition? If so, you need to articulate them clearly on every touchpoint, from your website's landing page to your email signatures. You need a rolling 12-month campaign plan with activities, dates and budgets, with the right people in place, in-house or outsourced. Are your activities as integrated, consistent, meaningful and powerful as they need to be, and how are your credentials meetings? Random tweets, online posts and digi-conversations are useful and fun but they're just the sprinkles on top of the icing on the cake.

3. Continue to invest in your team members at all levels of seniority. You hired the best: now give them the expert internal and external coaching and training they need. Without the right knowledge, skills and capabilities how can they support you in your business? If they aren't performing to their full potential, you've got a problem.

4. If you have periods of downtime, don't just sulk. Or panic. Or do nothing. Instead, use the opportunity to work on your business. Think. Then think again. As Einstein said: “We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Work with your senior team members on your vision, values, goals and business strategy, and then develop forward plans based on different “what if” scenarios. And be honest about your product is it good enough in terms of the three essential pillars of strategy, creativity and implementation? Are you not only keeping up with trends in clients' needs but staying ahead of them? Look at when you last reviewed and tightened up the operational side of your business, including finance, HR, IT, etc? They need to be running smoothly, bringing in results and providing value.

5. Don't give away your work for nothing. Yes, I'm talking about free pitches. More than ever, now's the time for UK design firms to stop providing unpaid strategic and creative thinking to prospects who can afford to pay for it. The sole exception is work done for charities or other not-for-profit causes that you support, in which case you're donating skills instead of money. Oh, and did I hear you thinking in point two that you can't afford a marketing programme? Try adding up how much time, effort and money you spent on free pitching in the last year. You could have used it on some proper marketing instead.

Finally, in case you're suffering from post-brexit anxiety, it's worth remembering that the UK has an extremely robust design sector. The Design Council's 2015 report The Design Economy shows that within the creative industries sector, itself growing at almost twice the rate of the UK economy, design is growing fastest. We generate over £70 billion gross value added a year, equivalent to more than 7% of the national total. And our trade body, the DBA, recently issued an uplifting post-referendum statement. Chief executive officer Deborah Dawton reminds us that design's proven ability to drive growth and the quality and effectiveness of our work remain unchanged she concludes: “The arguments for design are resounding.”

Shan Preddy is a design-sector trainer, business adviser and writer. Her firm, Preddy&Co, works with design firms and in-house design teams.

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Aardman and National Museums Scotland launch animated educational game

National Museums Scotland has teamed up with animation studio Aardman to create an educational animated game that draws on its existing biomedical collection.

GEN, which can be played online using a computer, smartphone or tablet, involves players diagnosing what is wrong with GEN Aaardman's digital creature character and nursing it back to full health.

The strategy game allows players to choose from various medical-related objects, ranging from wooden stethoscopes to early X-Ray machines, all of which can actually be found at the museum's science and technology galleries.

“Enhance museums' biomedical displays”

Laura Chilcott, senior digital producer at Aardman, says the partnership with National Museums Scotland “has been a great opportunity for us to use our skills both to educate a new audience, and also to enhance the museum's biomedical displays.”

One of the design features includes GEN itself. “It's a simplistic amorphous blob which has realistic physics applied to its body, so can be pulled and prodded around,” says Gav Strange, senior designer at Aardman.

“As the illness takes effect on it, we wanted the player to feel empathy towards our gelatinous friend, so they would care for GEN and work hard to diagnose its ailments and use the right treatment to bring it back to life.”

Balance between “clean and clinical”

Meanwhile, the interface has been designed to strike a balance between “clean and clinical”, according to Strange.

“We didn't want the interface and the design to feel cold, but at the same time we didn't want to add anything superfluous,” he says.

The design of the character acted as a balancing aid, Strange adds. While GEN has texture and an organic shape, the interface has been kept clean.

GEN's launch comes after the museum recently opened 10 new galleries dedicated to applied art, design, fashion, science and technology, as part of a £14.1 million renovation.

Introduce medical science to a wider audience

The app runs alongside 250 interactive displays at the museums, including a CT scan of a person that can be viewed from all angles showing different layers of muscle, gas and bone, and a game that allows users to design a clinical drug trial.

“[GEN] is one of a number of fun ways we're introducing some fairly complex ideas of medical science to a wider audience,” says Sarah Goggins, assistant curator for biomedicine at National Museums Scotland.

“We hope lots of people will get online to play…as well as getting an insight into some of the amazing objects now on show”.

National Museums Scotland looks after museums including the National Museum of Scotland, National Museum of Flight, National Museum of Rural Life and National War Museum.

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Scottish design is “fresh, playful and exciting” in this new exhibition

Design Week: Why did you start the Local Heroes initiative?

Stacey Hunter: To present a snapshot of Scottish design that wouldn't look “Scottish”. I live and work in Edinburgh and so I see the sort of products that are marketed to tourists on a daily basis. Yet I'm surrounded by designers working on the most amazing projects they trade, collaborate and work internationally. So why can't we see it? I wanted to produce an ambitious project that showed Scottish design through the lens I looked through. It was also important to show Scottish designers that they are noticed and appreciated and that's where the name Local Heroes came from.

"Rain — Rain Dance by Karen Mabon © David N Anderson

DW: What does the exhibition include and what are you hoping to achieve?

SH: The Local Heroes pop-up exhibition and shop features nine commissions from product, fashion, graphic and textile design. The project's designers were asked to “reimagine the souvenir” and produce a unique travel-themed design object.

All the designers have businesses based in Scotland. We want to identify and celebrate excellence in Scottish design, demonstrate how design thinking is at the heart of successful products, develop opportunities for diverse audiences to engage with, and enjoy design.

We have an elegant umbrella titled Rain Dance by Karen Mabon, who says: “I wanted to create a piece that was a little tongue-in-cheek nod to Scotland's famously changeable weather and something that would be really eye-catching among all the colour and drama of the Edinburgh Festival.”

The entire collection celebrates Scotland's contemporary designers who embrace colour, pattern and innovative techniques and materials, and will be available to buy throughout August.

DW: Why did you choose the airport as your canvas for design?

SH: I've always loved airports. Growing up my dad worked as an aeronautical engineer and I actually think that's when I began thinking like a designer looking at all of the pieces of a plane, the rivets, the turbine engines and seeing how it fitted together seamlessly.

I was introduced to the chief executive officer of Edinburgh Airport by Faith Liddell, the former director of Festivals Edinburgh. We talked about how bringing a design show to the airport in front of this enormous cultural audience which comes annually for festivals 1.2 million predicted would be a fantastic thing to do. Luckily, the Edinburgh Airport team agreed we will be the first thing many visitors see when they arrive in Scotland, and for the others, a fond farewell. In that way the airport is an absolutely perfect canvas for a design exhibition and pop-up shop.

"Archipelago — Archipelago Travel blanket by Hilary Grant © Stuart McClay

DW: Who are some of the commissioned designers, and why did you choose them?

SH: They all live and work in Scotland, and have really interesting and impressive projects and clients in the UK and internationally. I'm just fascinated by how you would never see their work when walking down Edinburgh's strip the Royal Mile! I'm sure that this exhibition will have real impact and present people with an image of Scotland that's fresh, playful and exciting.

Karen Mabon sells scarves to Liberty of London; Tom Pigeon, who has produced an exclusive neckpiece which uses a playful combination of textures, materials and shapes, is based in a rural and quite remote studio in Fife and his work is stocked in the Tate Modern and Barbican Centre as well as in LA, Denmark, and Athens. Laura Spring prints her own fabrics and has everything made within a 20-mile radius of her studio, yet collaborates with some of Glasgow's well-known artists and bands such as Ciara Phillips and Belle & Sebastian.

Orkney based designer Hilary Grant's piece Archipelago is a lambswool travel blanket inspired by rhythm, mirroring and the knitting traditions of Scotland and its neighbouring Nordic countries. Design group Instrmnt has created the Instrmnt 01-D, a watch that comes unassembled with tools provided for customers to build their own accessory. In collaboration with Gabriella Marcella, Instrmnt has produced a limited edition risograph printed pack.

DW: What stereotypes about Scottish design are you hoping to dispell, and how would you like to see Scottish design perceived?

SH: I'm dual nationality (Scottish / Canadian) so maybe I pick up on it more but stereotypes which I feel are hemmed in are that Scottish design is always about heritage and tradition, and that its personality is romantic. The design community I'm part of isn't like that, it's part of a global discussion about design. It's diverse, modern, and polished. There is no doubt among creatives that the Scottish referendum had an effect it brought about a confidence, boldness and ambition I haven't seen before in my lifetime.

DW: What inspired you to start this project?

SH: This project was inspired by the important role design exhibitions have played in the past, in particular those which commission new work, like Scotland Can Make It! which took place during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. It demonstrated two very important things: that designers want projects that trust them to create and that there is an enormous public appetite for engaging with design in a cultural context as well as as a consumer.

When Scotland's Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design was announced I immediately saw the potential for Scotland to put designers on an international stage, presenting and promoting Scottish products and industries to the public, with a focus on high quality design.

I teamed up with Edinburgh Airport; Janine Matheson and Gillian Easson (directors of Creative Edinburgh and Creative Dundee respectively). We are also funded by EventScotland, which runs Creative Scotland. It's been an amazing insight for me to work with a project team that's bridging commercial and creative waters. We've developed a cross-sector partnership with expertise in design, culture, cities, creativity, enterprise, entrepreneurship, and travel and tourism.

DW: Why was it important that you access a global audience?

SH: Scotland is a small country and in some ways we are a bit isolated being at the edge of Europe. It's important to take every opportunity we have as designers to communicate what we are all about. I think people will be surprised when they see the show and the commissions. It's outstanding design from Scotland not “Scottish-looking design”. I am proud of the way that we have worked together to present Scottish design talent to the world.

DW: How can UK design work from outside of London be given more of a global presence?

SH: It begins with policy. Sadly there aren't any regarding design in Scotland that has to change, and it has to be led by the design community for it to be effective. The Office for the Design Economy in Glasgow is a grassroots campaign for a design policy for Scotland that I urge our colleagues in the rest of the UK to have a look at. You can see it here.

I also firmly believe that regions should put resources into projects like Local Heroes that match up designers with the marketplace in a meaningful way. If there was a Local Heroes shop in every airport in the UK, that would be a good start.

DW: Have you got any future plans for other similar initiatives?

SH: Local Heroes is a pilot project but I hope that when it completes its run at the end of August there will be the opportunity to reflect and begin dreaming about the next stage. Design is arguably one of the most accessible expressions of 21st century creativity and I hope that we can ultimately increase appreciation for design wherever we go. Now that we have created an easy to transport exhibition structure we'd like to take Local Heroes on tour.

"Hilary — Hilary Grant with Archipelago © Future Positive Studio

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How to make sure your business survives without you

When you have nurtured a design consultancy, it can be difficult to let go. Planning your succession can take several years, says Adam Fennelow, services director at the Design Business Association (DBA). “The DBA recommends people have a road map to exit the business,” he says. But what route should you take? Founders can be succeeded in a variety of ways. Here's a run-down of your options.

Employee ownership

This involves making your employees stakeholders in the company. A business owner can hand their consultancy over to their employees in three ways: by making them individual shareholders, holding shares collectively for them through a trust, or a combination of both.

Paul Priestman, co-founder at PriestmanGoode, opted for a trust when he turned his consultancy into an employee-owned business this year. “Establishing a share trust felt like a fairer option for all employees”, says Priestman. “Only people who have the money can buy individual shares then it becomes a race to power. With a trust, the shares are distributed equally if the employees decide to sell the company. They can also collectively decide how to spend profit, rather than it going to the founding directors.”

The process took six years. “I began by taking designers, who were five years ahead of me, out for lunch to understand the process of restructuring,” he explains. When it started transitioning, PriestmanGoode began “empowering” its employees by creating new internal departments that were in charge of hiring their own staff, choosing their own software and equipment, and representing the company at events.

According to the Employee Ownership Association, the employee-owned business model can improve the company's recruitment potential because of its employee benefits. “In attracting talent, being employee-owned is a really big draw,” says Priestman. “There's a good feeling about the set-up, and it prevents hostile takeovers.”

Priestman went to specialists for advice during the process, such as creative industries' management consultant Clear Partnership and commercial law firm Fieldfisher. He recommends consultancy founders do their research, learn about the finances of their business and be prepared to delegate. “Talk to the Employee Ownership Association, and people who have done it. Be willing to let go and give your designers responsibility don't let your ego interfere.”

Management buyout

"CJO — CJO Upcycling packaging, by Kinneir Dufort

This involves selling the consultancy to select managers within the business, who have been trained through the ranks to eventually take over. The managers can pay the business owners out through different ways, such as an agreed mortgage or a bank loan.

Product design consultancy Kinneir Duffort took on a management buyout structure in 2002. Starting in 1997, the process took the consultancy's founders Ross Kinneir and Francis Dufort five years, and aimed to “grow a team-based entity, rather than a founders' company”, says design director Craig Wightman.

The consultancy has continued to involve more key members of its senior team in the management of the business, says Wightman. “Design consultancies are people businesses. To help the business develop and thrive, it's important to provide opportunities for people in the team to do so too, and to feel like their efforts and ideas can directly influence its direction.” Being an independent company encourages an “open, collaborative and team-focused” ethos, he adds, which would be more difficult to achieve if Kinneir Dufort was part of a network.

To complete a management buyout, Wightman says your business needs to be in good shape. “You need to have a clear vision, a strong and capable management team, a healthy business position and the drive and ambition to grow,” he explains. Wightman also suggests speaking with professionals, such as lawyers and finance advisors. “Designers may be experts at running a design business but the world of corporate transactions is not something we do very often, if at all,” he says. “You need to get good advice.”

Selling to a network

This involves selling your consultancy to an umbrella company such as WPP or Publicis and becoming part of a group.

Coley Porter Bell was bought out by WPP in 1991, later becoming part of a sub-group called Ogilvy & Mather Group UK. Coley Porter Bell saw joining WPP as an opportunity to gain new skills through cross-disciplinary working and to find new talent, says Vicky Bullen, the consultancy's chief executive officer. The consultancy has been able to collaborate on a more diverse range of projects with other teams, says Bullen, as “clients' requests for integrated teams have grown”. Recently, all Ogilvy & Mather Group UK companies were brought together under one roof, which has also encouraged this, she says.

Other advantages include a bigger contacts list and therefore more referrals to clients for projects, career progression through training, and more stability, explains Bullen. “We have amazing training and development opportunities through both WPP and Ogilvy, and when you have the support of a group behind you, you don't suffer from the same cash flow problems as an independent. Plus, we have just gained a fantastic new home with amazing facilities such as recording suites and in-house digital studios.”

But in order to make the most of being part of a network, you need to get to know people, she says, and be prepared to work across a large team. “Just because you are part of a big group, it doesn't mean people will reach out to you,” Bullen explains. “Make sure you network, and go out of your way to help people across the company then they will help you too. Also, be prepared to compromise when you're part of a cross-disciplinary team, you can't always lead.”

Being acquired by another consultancy

Consultancies can also be bought by another design business. Equator acquired 999 Design in February this year, which founding director Richard Bissland says was a move to combine skill sets with another studio. “999 had been run by the same team for 34 years and it was time to look to the future,” says Bissland. “Equator needed specialist branding skills, and we needed a more sophisticated approach to digital bolting them together made sense.” The transitional process is still underway, with the two consultancies having already started collaborating on projects, but yet to move into the same office location in Glasgow. A big part of the process was reassuring employees and getting them on board with the advantages of collaboration, says Bissland.

Although the acquisition is still in process, Bissland believes the positives will outweigh the hassle of restructuring. “Sorting out space for various teams to operate in and pushing desks around might be a pain, but the pros will far outweigh the cons,” he says. “Having strength in digital and branding, merging client lists and having a more rounded offering are the key advantages.” Bissland advises that you pick a business you know you will gel with. “Make sure the partner or parent consultancy is a good fit for your culture and that you know and like the people you will be working with the chemistry is important,” he says.

Closing down and starting afresh

"The — The Art of Ping Pong project, by FiveFootSix. Bat design by Alec Doherty

Closing down does not have to be a result of financial difficulties if you co-own a consultancy and decide it is time to go your separate ways and move into different projects, shutting up shop could be an option, says Adam Fennelow at the DBA.

Brand consultancy FiveFootSix closed down last year for this reason, saying it was “time for a change in direction”. “This was a conscious decision with money still available in the business, which the partners were able to share between them,” says Fennelow.

Company founders Algy Batten and Mark McConnachie say the decision allowed them to “end things on a high” and “turn [their] attention to new challenges ahead.”

Looking to the future

ALBA television branding, by Elmwood

Jonathan Sands, chairman at Elmwood, led a management buyout of the consultancy 27 years ago. He hopes to keep the consultancy independent and pass responsibility to others in the management team, to “retain the culture of the business” and “provide a good future” for employees. Sarah Turner, managing director at Carter Wong, says the consultancy also hopes to stay independent to “keep creativity at its core”. “The freedom of being an independent agency is something we value highly,” she says.

The decision to restructure is a big one. Selling to a network might provide stability and opportunity to work with people of other disciplines, but lacks the autonomy an independent or employee-owned practice can bring. Ultimately, you need to work out what is most important for your own business.

DBA'S Adam Fennelow:
Top tips on exiting your consultancy successfully

1. Plan early
A successful exit can take years. The earlier you start thinking about what you want to achieve long-term, the easier and more successful it will be.

2. Consider what is important to you
A clean break, money, security for your staff, staying involved at some level, creating a legacy all are relevant issues to influence your decisions.

3. Take advice
Good advisors cost money, but are worth it. A financial advisor needs to be more of a coach than an accountant.

4. Have a plan
Make sure your plan has milestones that can be assessed and amended if necessary. Are you on track? Have you recruited the right team to move the business on? Have you developed your ability to measure business metrics?

5. Your sums need to add up
Your finances must be in order. Not just in a profit and loss sense you need to illustrate costs per head, profitability by client, new business projections etc. This is essential to minimise perceived risk for those taking over.

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How to influence your clients and not just sell to them

Design has the potential to be an industry of influence. And for that to happen, every design business and those working within it need to recognise, get comfortable with and develop their potential for influence. By becoming experts in influence, they become better communicators which encourages their clients to be braver with their decisions delivering more for all parties.

What does this mean for you and what needs to happen for it to take place within your business?

A consultancy that is seeing the impact of this change within their business is Open Water. I spoke with Creative Director and Head of the business, Philip Hansen about his experience of a shift in influence.

For Hansen, it's about the bigger picture: “New approaches to influence rather than just selling are just one indication of a more general move towards design thinking within businesses,” he says. He has noticed changes in his clients and the way they are treating their customers. They are setting their businesses up in a far more customer focused way, focussing ‘on' them rather than ‘at' their clients.

Taking the client's perspective

Open Water is acting on this observation. Hansen says the consultancy is “using this insight to improve relationships with clients. We are asking: ‘How can we look at things from their perspective?'”

This has lead Open Water to think more about what it is it brings, with a focus, not just on the deliverables but on the interactions that shape the deliverables. “We bring more than an end product. We bring our thinking,” says Philip.

What can get in the way of this shift? Pressures at both ends play a part, around both time and money.These can force consultancies and clients to be speedy at the expense of opportunity with a rush to the end product. And what you focus on will develop. If you focus on your end product, you're saying ‘this is all we do'.

Focus on the customer not the end product

Hansen believes that “design businesses offer such a broad range of things, services etc they've always got something to offer. But an approach that is more focused on the process, that uncovers problems and keeps focus on the customer is surely more positive and has greater intrinsic value.”

What impact has growing their own idea of influence had on Open Water? Hansen explains that “As we have become more comfortable about influence, our clients have become better. The kind of work we get improves, but interestingly, the quality of what we do hasn't changed. But what has improved are our ability and skills to guide clients.”

Influence can become a key skill

How has this shift happened? When a consultancy starts to think of influence as a natural and ever present part of the conversation, and part of its expertise it then becomes something that can be managed.

Take for example, a typical situation for a design business, receiving feedback on work. If feedback is always seen as negative, you end up with a jarring communication with your client. What Hansen did was turn that into more of a conversation.

He says: “We ask a client questions about the view they have put forward. We are curious and during this process it may emerge in fact it often does that we can answer these questions in a different way.

“What happens next is that we enter a new position with our clients. When they come to us with a new piece of work, the client starts to ask us these questions before the process has started. For us this is an example of practical influence, it's desirable to all sides.”

When designers are faced with a situation where they could use influence, they don't always think about it in a design way. They may think, ‘the barrier is insurmountable or out of their control.' But actually it's about something that both parties are trying to work towards. Do they have the skills to change that position? Surely they do. These are the skills that got them here in the first place, to the point where they have an idea to present.

Where you can influence your client

So what happens when a client says ‘I don't like this…' or ‘I prefer it this way.' These are opportunities for design businesses to use skills of influence.

How might you go about developing your approach to influence? Here are some questions to ask. If your sales process is about developing a way to create income that is authentic to the business, how does your sales ethos compare with the ethos of the business? Do you have a clear idea of what these are and are they aligned? Sometimes the sales team is separated from the business and protected. They are allowed their own culture because it's ‘the way they work' or ‘how sales have to happen'. But if your business ethos and sales ethos are misaligned? What might you be missing out on? What extra opportunities can you create from these being in-tune with each other?

Hansen also has a rallying call to the industry as a whole: “Being a designer is like living a thousand lives. You get to work with your clients on their business in ways that others don't. If the industry doesn't see itself as an industry of influence, it's too reliant on clients coming to their own conclusions. And that limits our potential for change in the long-run.”

John Scarrott works with design business leaders and their teams on their sales, presenting and networking skills. Follow him @JohnDScarrott or find him at johnscarrott.com

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Which 20th Century product would you like to see get a 21st century makeover?

Aside from everything that has happened politically over the last month, I've always found it strange that the UK is at the very centre of the €1 and €2 coins, despite the fact that we never adopted the currency.

The UK of course remains part of Europe, even if it will no longer be in the European Union. But the Euro coin, as any mint currency around the world, should present a more accurate representation of its geographical spread.

Let's go for big, clunky and impractical: the juke box. Many 20th Century revamps have resulted in designing things smaller, streamlined and minimal. I'd like to see the opposite for a change. I don't mean an app-version or a mini digital version of a juke box (I'm sure they exist), I want to get up and properly juke!

Remember the pure joy of sifting through atrocious music choices, deciding on a pretty crap song, yet feeling ecstatic when it (eventually) came on? I would like to relive that experience. Look at how popular Photo Booths are in Berlin, and pin-ball machines are still thriving (there's even an Angry Bird one). So, here's to crap music choices, and dancing like no one's looking.

"Sebastian — Sebastian Conran, creative director at Sebastian Conran Associates. Photo by Matt Austin

Practically every consumer product in our world has got smaller, but noticeable exceptions are TV screens which have got larger and better quality, and cars which have got larger and heavier, taking up more space on the road and using more fuel than they would if they were smaller.

The BMW Mini is a prime example of what was once a miracle of space management, that has now bloated into what 50 years ago would have been a medium sized family car.

What would be really wonderful (and maybe commercially attractive) would be to look at remaking the Mini to its original dimensions, but using modern materials and technology to make it safer, more efficient and better than it ever was.

"Erika — Erika Clegg, co-founder of Spring

The original Saab 900 turbo convertible. More specifically, the Monte Carlo yellow special edition. Sharp at both ends, self-assured and happy, it's a glorious car to look at. It was ahead of its time mechanically and for a car of that age is comfortable, with well-designed leather seats and decent internal space for a convertible.

I fell in love with it as a copywriting intern at KHBB on Charing Cross Road and pledged that one day I'd have one. And I do a J reg, bought on eBay. It drives like running in trainers three times too large, drinks fuel like a tired mum on Prosecco and my hood's stopped working.

I'd love it to be reissued with a great fuel-efficient engine, modern electronics and properly engineered body/chassis arrangement but don't anybody change the body shape. GM did, and it just wasn't a 900.

"Pat — Pat Fehy, creative director at Seymourpowell

Straight out of art college in 1991 I couldn't wait to get my hands on a little black & white Mac Classic in fact I've still got it! It was also around the same time I first played on the Nintendo NES.

Since then I've always seen Nintendo as the Apple of the gaming consoles. So in a similar vein, albeit very cute, tiny, not connected to the internet and with a limited number of games, I'd like to see Apple reproduce the black & white, connected to the internet version of the Mac Classic (Prince of Persia included).

"Andy — Andy Giddings, design director at Here Design

The Contax T2 35mm point & shoot film camera. In an age of VSCO filters and pixel peeping, an affordable reissue of this beautifully simple, well built and well equipped pocket film camera would be a breath of fresh (1990's) air. No need to make it over just reissue it in all its glory to the same spec including the Zeiss lens.

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Pokémon Go: Designing augmented reality games for mobile

"Fullerton, — People playing the Pokémon Go game on their smartphones

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, chances are you will have come across the global phenomenon that is Pokémon Go.

Following the popularity of its initial launch in Australia, New Zealand and the US earlier this month, the augmented reality (AR) gaming app based on the original Pokémon game designed for Nintendo Game Boy in the 1990s has caused similar hysteria among UK fans since its release here last week.

To give a glimpse into just how successful the app has been so far, it now has more daily users than Twitter on Android phones in the US, according to analytics site SimilarWeb, and Nintendo shares ended on Tuesday up 14.4% at ¥31,770 (£228), more than doubling its gains since the game first launched.

As far as AR apps go, the concept behind Pokémon Go is fairly simple. Niantic the California-based mobile game developer and spin-off from Google's parent company, Alphabet has created the multiplayer app using geolocation technology. Players are able to walk around the real world catching virtual monsters, such as Pikachu, and then train them to fight other monsters.

While Pokémon Go certainly isn't the first game of its kind, the fact that it has had a huge impact on the mobile gaming world in such a short space of time is likely to pique the interest of designers working within the AR field.

But it is going to take more than a few monster holograms and some 1990s nostalgia for others to emulate that success, according to Adrian Hon, founder and chief executive officer at London-based independent game developer, Six to Start.

“If Pokémon Go was called Monster Hunter and it was just a bunch of creatures that you had never heard of, people wouldn't care anywhere near as much,” Hon says. “[Nintendo] was able to make it work because it has this brand that has been around for 20 years and sold hundreds of millions of copies of its games.”

It is crucial then for designers to avoid the temptation of opting for Pokémon Go “knock offs”. Instead, he says, they ought to be focusing on developing games that look beyond cashing in on the novelty factor.

Hon is part of the team behind Zombies, Run!, the immersive audio AR app designed to make jogging more exciting by placing the user at the scene of a “zombie apocalypse” through the use of sound. Players have to undertake tasks such as collecting supplies, rescuing survivors and of course running away from zombies.

The app has proven hugely successful since it was first launched in 2012, after an initial $73,000 (£56,000) crowd funding campaign. It currently has over two million downloads and a quarter of a million active players. Hon puts much of this success down to creating a simple yet engaging narrative.

“We developed a really strong story in a really strong world,” he says. “Pokémon Go doesn't have a story, but Pokémon the brand does…If you can't use an existing brand, then you have to work really hard to make sure that the one you make is really strong, because that's ultimately what people are going to care about.”

Hon also makes the point that with the exception of Pokémon Go, which requires people to actually get off the sofa and leave the house in order to catch Pokémon and progress through the game the majority of AR apps are only likely to have lasting success if designed to complement the user's existing lifestyle.

“With Zombies, Run! we're very keen on not requiring the user to look at the screen all the time…because for us we didn't want people to have to alter their habits,” he says.

"zr4ios-runlog-thumb" — Six to Start's AR app, Zombies, Run!

Other experts maintain that it is important for designers to take advantage of the fact that AR gaming apps incorporate elements of both reality and fantasy.

“There's obviously something spectacular about seeing effectively holographic overlays of things seeming to exist in an environment that does exist,” says Nicolas Roope, creative partner at digital consultancy, Poke.

“But I think there has to be a reason to use a real environment…otherwise if the elements you are using are pure fantasy, then why not just present it within a full virtual reality environment?”

As well as the social design elements Roope says ought to be considered (particularly with multiplayer games like Pokémon Go, which has the capacity to create subcultures by facilitating physical meetings between game players based close by), he also thinks designers should keep in mind the more technical aspects of designing for AR.

While they may not physically be involved with the coding side of app game development, for example, Roope maintains that the two things go hand in hand.

“Thinking in game design is also understanding the logic…how do you pack the space in a room, how do you make sense of different surfaces and make the characters work within the architecture?” he says.

“The more you are able to do that, the more delightful and real these elements will feel.”

"LandsEnd_03" — Ustwo's VR app, Land's End

As for the future of AR gaming on smartphones, it remains to be seen how much more complex designers will be looking to develop apps like Zombies, Run! and Pokémon Go, or whether they may shift their focus altogether towards fully immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR).

Peter Pashley, head of development at Ustwo Games, says the game developer chose to work with VR when designing gaming apps such as Land's End which is set among the dramatic landscapes of an ancient civilisation because it provides “the ultimate medium for escapist experiences”.

But he sees the fundamental design challenge for both VR and AR mobile apps as the same: “to get the player to believe what they're seeing is real.”

While the current version of Pokémon Go, for instance, is quite basic when it comes to using AR to superimpose monsters on to the real world, Pashley expects that designers could move it on a lot further in future versions.

“You can totally imagine a more advanced version, using Hololens or Magic Leap tech, where you see these creatures take cover behind real walls, [or] you can bounce Pokéballs around real corners,” he says.

For the most part though, Pashley thinks that designers will opt to go one of two ways when designing AR games for smartphones as they become more advanced.

“The mobile market usually tends towards simplicity,” he says, “so I think we'll see a splitting of this new genre into titles more focused on the geo-social aspects and those which push the limits of the AR tech.”

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How design businesses can survive and thrive post-Brexit

It's nearly a month since the EU referendum result. One month of extreme political and economic change. Many consultancy owners are concerned about how revenues and profitability may be impacted; how successfully their businesses may continue to trade and perform.

It's worth remembering the design sector has been growing at well above the rate of the UK economy, and the quality and effectiveness of our offer is world-renowned. If we pick between the worry and uncertainty, what opportunities and positives can our industry take forwards? How can we pro-actively face these challenging times?

Pro-activity

“Here's what we always advise in times of turbulence,” suggests Shan Preddy of PREDDY&CO and author of How to Run a Successful Design Business, “One: Turn up the heat immediately on the satisfaction, retention and development of current and recent clients. They are the easiest, quickest and best source of future business. Two: Check over your vision, values, goals, business strategy, finances, product quality and marketing programmes. Perfect? If not, work on them. Three: Invest heavily in your team members by giving them expert internal and external coaching and training. With the right knowledge, skills and capabilities they will perform at their best and support you fully.” And Preddy adds: “Doing these three things now will protect you from bad, and prepare you for good times ahead, whatever the eventual impact of the referendum result.”

Jack O'Hern of accountancy firm Wright Vigar supports this message when he says: “If your market is going to be affected, then appropriate contingency planning ahead of falling sales or rising costs is the duty of a responsible management team, but avoid talking oneself into acting too quickly.”

Reasons to be cheerful

“Life must go on,” says business advisor Ian Cochrane, Chairman of Ticegroup. “There will be opportunities for positive thinking design consultancies to help their clients to grow and thrive in this new trading environment.” Measures are being put in place to stave off recession and boost the economy, and Cochrane flags that there are at least three reasons to be cheerful:

1. Borrowing should be easier moving forward and interest rates are likely to remain low for the foreseeable future. This will enable agencies to invest in staff, learning and technology to accelerate growth.

2. Corporation tax may go down which will not only attract inward investment to the UK but automatically increase post tax earnings and the valuation of design businesses.

3. The weaker sterling exchange rate will boost overseas sales potential.

“Agencies have a real opportunity to build and prepare their businesses ready for a possible trade sale in 3-5 years' time,” Cochrane says.

On consultancies' financial concerns, accountant Green and Purple's managing director, Peter Carter also has some good news. Design businesses which are service providers to the EU with few overhead costs in those markets, are in fact beautifully placed they are now more competitive than a supplier in their client's home country.

“Any piece of work you quote in GBP now is worth the same to you as it was, but costs your clients less, because of the pound's weakness, which will probably recover slowly but not for quite some time. If you already have any foreign-denominated retainers: happy days, they're worth more to you than they were last month,” says Carter.

Peter also flags that during the last few downturns we have seen a gradual shift where advertising and marketing spend is being seen as a recovery tool, rather than a discretionary nice-to-have, so consultancies aren't getting “switched off” in a downturn at least no more than other essentials like people and property costs. “Hold your nerve when quoting and tendering,” he advises, “you shouldn't need to drop your prices to undercut ‘local' competitors, and the UK has long had the edge in terms of sharp and effective design.”

The long game

“There is a long way to go until we are clear again on our working relationship with our European friends,” says design industry expert Kate Blandford of Kate Blandford Consulting. “Stay calm, keep up those friendships, continue to do your extraordinary work, building healthy commercial futures for your clients' brands.”

It's a sentiment echoed by business development consultant, Catherine Allison of Master the Art: “Surely now, more than ever, agency CEOs need to project positivity, ensure agency staff remain confident and engaged, invest in their personal development and train them to represent the agency in the best possible way? Only then will they be best placed to convert those new business opportunities that do come their way.”

So in these extraordinary days, months and years ahead, this will be the time to really master your messaging to your clients on the value you can bring to their business; the ROI and commercial growth they can expect to see from investing in design. As the DBA's chief executive Deborah Dawton says: “UK design is world leading. Our industry's proven ability to drive both business and economic growth has not changed, nor has the quality and effectiveness of our offer. UK design is a potent business asset and a sound commercial investment.”

It is our time to design a better future for business, government and society. The opportunity is there.

www.dba.org.uk

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A new app designed to deliver doctors to patients' doors

It's no longer only restaurant food and cabbies that smartphone users can order to their door a new doctor “delivery service” app has been designed, which allows patients to request a general practitioner to arrive at their home within an hour and a half.

GPDQ GP Delivered Quickly is a start-up company, founded by NHS and private healthcare GP Dr Anshumen Bhagat, with the aim of creating a “more accessible and affordable private primary care solution”.

Patients are able to request a GP to arrive at any given location from Monday Sunday, 8am 11pm within an average of 90 minutes, for appointments and prescriptions. Appointments start at £120 for a 25-minute consultation, and go up in price if patients want extra time or to use the system's two-hour medication delivery service.

The company is registered with the Care Quality Commission, the medical profession's independent regulator, and uses doctors who are UK-trained and registered with the General Medical Council.

The user interface (UI) uses a simple colour scheme of white, black and pink, along a sans-serif typeface.

The UI includes a map, with plots showing where GPs are based in the user's vicinity. The user can then select an address, and they are given an expected arrival time, alongside an appointment fee.

Once they've ordered, they're given a profile and photo of the doctor they will be receiving treatment from, alongside a rating and a reviews system.

Following the appointment, they are encouraged to leave a star rating and review, and can view their past and previous appointments through a side menu.

Inspired by Uber and Airbnb

The app was designed by freelance designer Alisa Afkhami, who says Uber was the inspiration behind the user experience (UX) and digital design of GPDQ.

“You could say GPDQ is Uber but for GP visits,” she says. “A lot of user are already familiar with the Uber experience, so by following a similar experience this helps to create an instant sense of trust and ease, as they don't have to ‘learn' how to use our app.”

She adds: “As a start-up, we don't have the same resources as Uber, which now has a massive team of designers, experts, testers and developers but we can learn a lot from their design decisions and adopt them to our own concept.”

Inspiration was also drawn from the user interface design of Airbnb, Afkhami says. “It has such a clear hierarchy and visual language to display information that it just makes it so easy to digest and absorb,” she says. GPDQ aims to mimic this through its simplicity of use.

“Giving control” to patients

Afkhami says the app concept aims to “empower” patients, through allowing them to leave reviews and ratings, and giving them more control over when they see a doctor.

“Rather than waiting on hold at their GP surgery to try and get an available appointment in the next few weeks, patients can see a doctor right away at a place that's convenient for them. The rating system also allows GPDQ to maintain a high standard of care based on patient feedback.”

GPDQ is currently only available in central London but will be expanding to more UK cities soon, the company says.

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Mastercard reveals new logo for the first time in 20 years

The Mastercard logo is one of the most recognisable emblems worldwide since 1968, the overlapping red and yellow circles have become synonymous with bank transfers and credit cards.

The logo is also one of the most pervading it's currently used across more than two billion plastic cards worldwide, alongside advertising billboards, ATMs, digitally and at global headquarters.

For the first time in 20 years, Mastercard has undergone a rebrand, completed by Pentagram partners Michael Bierut and Luke Hayman alongside designers Hamish Smyth and Andrea Trabucco-Campos.

The new visual identity keeps the familiar two overlapping circles the “pure” form of the brand, says Bierut but aims to bring it into the “digital” age and optimise it for on-screen use.

“Mastercard has an unusual 50 year history of using a clear, simple combination of graphic elements two overlapping circles in red and yellow,” says Bierut.

Research shows that the consistency of this brand mark means people can identify the Mastercard logo easily without the words present, adds Bierut. It was important to keep the recognisable visual language to retain consumer trust, while updating it for a contemporary audience.

While the interlocking circles have been retained, the horizontal lines that framed the word “Mastercard” and sat in the overlap have been dropped and replaced by an orange shade, a result of mixing the two primary colours, red and yellow.

This combination aims to cement an idea of “connectivity” and “seamlessness”, one of Mastercard's main brand messages. The translucency of the central orange colour also aims to reflect a sense of “transparency”, says Pentagram, while all three colours are now lighter and brighter to convey “optimism”.

The red and yellow circles have also been refined to be flatter a trait becoming increasingly common as brands look to adapt for digital, for example with the recent Instagram rebrand.

While the mark has been stripped back to its core, research conducted by Mastercard following the rebrand found that more than 80% of consumers still recognised the symbol without inclusion of the name.

“Through decades of exposure, the interlocking circles have become so recognisable that they can be reduced to their essence and still communicate Mastercard, at scales large and small, analog and digital, and ultimately, even without words,” says Bierut.

A new sans-serif typeface called FFMark has been incorporated into the logo, which draws inspiration from the brand's 1979 mark, which used typography with a circular structure. Bierut says will not only be used for the wordmark but for all copy purposes for the brand, both consumer and business-facing.

“There are very few brands that own a particular font,” he says. “It doesn't happen on day one. But making a commitment to it will have the same effect as those two circles and two primary colours.”

The word “Mastercard” has been removed from the core of the circles, lost its drop shadow and lost its uppercase “M” and “C”.

Lowercasing the “c” was to take away an archaic idea of banking as being about “wallets, ATMs and plastic cards”, says Bierut, and bring it more in line with online transfers.

“The world that these guys operate in has changed radically over the past 20 years,” says Bierut. “Plastic cards won't go away overnight and we'll still use paper currency, but increasingly payment is happening online. There was a need to come up with something suited to the virtual world but which still conveyed the trust and gravitas of a financial institution with 50 years of history.”

The new lowercase logo also aims to bring the branding more in line with Mastercard's products such as Masterpass, which until now has seen inconsistency in how letters are capped.

The overall aim of the rebrand project was to isolate the brand's core elements to retain a sense of familiarity, value and trust, while bringing a sense of modernity to the company, whose visual look hasn't changed since 1996.

“I don't think anyone's seen the new logo and thought, ‘Wow, that's clever',” says Bierut. “I think they think ‘Isn't that what it already looks like?' There was the argument that the two circles and two colours could be entirely abandoned but brand familiarity and equity is really valuable.”

The new logo will begin to roll out this year, and will be attributed to new cards as the existing 2.3 billion expire, alongside all print collateral, ATMs, digital applications, head offices and advertising.

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Pentagram's Abbott Miller relaunches 90s dance mag Dance Ink

Pentagram partner Abbott Miller has relaunched the quarterly dance magazine that he edited and directed, 20 years after it was first published.

Originally started by Miller in 1989 along with publisher Patsy Tarr, the two of them have picked up where they left off with Dance Ink in 1996, with the publication of Volume 8, Number 1.

The magazine, which developed a cult following among dancers, photographers and designers in the 1990s, has also expanded its remit to include additional formats. Two large-scale posters will be produced with every issue, and single or multiple images are designed to be used as wall murals.

Transparency is one of the key themes of the new issue it comes in a clear sleeve, while the design plays with the transparency of ink on the page, “suggesting layers of performance and motion”, according to Miller.

The format consists of a single collaboration with a photographer and performer, and the look will vary from issue to issue.

Volume 8, Number 1 is limited to a run of 500 copies, and can be purchased online here.

We speak to Miller to find out more about the Dance Ink relaunch and the design inspiration behind it.

Design Week: Was the relaunch something you've wanted to do for a while?

Abbott Miller: For many years the 2wice Arts Foundation has been operating on a schedule of producing one or two projects a year, depending on the complexity and expense of the projects.

Our last three endeavors were a series of digital apps (Fifth Wall, Dot Dot Dot, and Passe Partout) that were really exciting but also fairly complicated and expensive. We recalled how direct and comparatively inexpensive print is and we thought we would make a return to something tangible and seductive.

DW: Why was it important for you to pick up where you left off with Volume 8, Number 1?

AM:That was more a perverse sense of humour! We liked the idea that you could pick up where you left off despite the passage of 20 years. It was a way for us to continue a story and a mission, but with new characters.

DW: What was the main inspiration behind the design of the magazine?

AM: A kind of complex simplicity a feeling of bareness and focus that feels a little bit like starting from zero. I had a funny struggle with going back in time, and my way around it was to maintain the notion of pacing and rhythm in the layouts, but have more restraint in the type.

The biggest component was to honour our original idea of making dance happen on the page, so the shoot is really conceived for a sequence that transpires in the scale and sequence of the magazine.

DW: What are the key design features and why have you included them?

AM: I used colour in a specific way, where the imagery is primarily black and white, but it is reproduced in CMYK to give it a beautiful depth. The type allows hints of that colour to show through. In one feature there is a slippage between different layers of the letters so they create overall dark letterforms, but there are edges that reveal the magenta, yellow, and cyan to be perceived.

In another feature the tattered oriental carpet is present in most of the images. I asked Christian Witkin to shoot direct overhead details of the carpet and used those to create layered letterforms that incorporated the CMYK layers to create a distinctive texture within the letterforms.

I saw these as subtle ways to introduce colour in a largely black and white world. The restraint of those contrasts with the full-on red world of the last dance sequence, which feels more powerful because of the importance of red in the costume that Robert Rauschenberg designed for Merce Cunningham, which was performed in the issue by Silas Riener.

DW: Why have you decided to expand its remit to include new formats such as posters and murals?

AM: All media is now multi-media. We are now accustomed to the translation of images and texts from one medium to another. That is a different type of elasticity than what existed when we published the original Dance Ink, and we liked the idea of offering other ways of seeing the imagery we'd developed with Christian Witkin.

The wallpaper mural format allows someone to incorporate the imagery into an architectural space. Having designed several wallpaper patterns, and doing a lot of environmentally-scaled work, I was interested in the idea of a magazine that could become a part of an architectural space.

DW: How has the dance community changed since you first set up the magazine, and how have you relaunched the magazine to reflect this?

AM: The biggest difference is generational there is a totally new generation of artists from when we last published. The other difference is that the promotion of dance and performance has become more sophisticated. Whether small companies, individual choreographers, or big organisations, the use of video as a creative tool is now pretty standard.

The other difference is what seems to be a kind of renaissance of choreography, especially in the classical arena. Originally Dance Ink was far more aligned with modern and contemporary dancers and choreographers because that was where the creative focus was, whereas now you are seeing large classical ballet companies commissioning young choreographers like Justin Peck, Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, Benjamin Millipied, Jessica Lang, and Lauren Lovette. That just means we may have more of a complex mixture of forms in the magazine.

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5 important things that happened in design this week

Network Rail announced its design would become more disability-friendly

National railway service Network Rail promised to better accommodate for people with disabilities this week, announcing a new inclusive design strategy.

The Spaces and Places for Everyone programme has been launched in order to improve services for people with disabilities, after research found that rail was the most used form of public transport by people with disabilities (67%), yet a quarter of these people felt travel by train was difficult for them.

Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne said he wants to create a national rail service where “everyone can travel equally, confidently and independently”.

The new guidelines have started to make headway, as new facilities for visually impaired people have already been implemented at Birmingham New Street and Reading stations. You can find the inclusivity document here.

A talk took place enabling female designers to share their stories

Last week, we ran a feature speaking to the founder of Hidden Women of Design a new talks programme which looks to raise the profile of female designers.

This week, a talk took place in Peckham, London, which allowed a female freelance designer, consultancy-based designer and design educator to share their stories.

The programme will continue to run, and includes Pecha Kucha-style evenings where each designer is given 20 minutes and 20 slides to talk about their career and work.

It hopes to encourage people to talk about women's representation in the design industry, says founder Lorna Allan. “Having groups of female designers promoting and supporting each other can make a difference,” she says.

Research showed the design industry is generally performing well financially

Annual research conducted by accountancy firm Kingston Smith across the marketing and creative sectors showed this week that the design sector is “performing well” and has “continued to grow this year”.

It found that its Top 30 design consultancies (based on financial results) have an increased amount of gross income compared to last year (£13.5 million more).

However, it also found that margins between fee income and expenditure had decreased, while employment costs had crept up compared to fee income.

You can see the full report here.

Nestlé revealed the design details of huge new exhibition space

Food and drink giant Nestlé opened a 3500m2 interactive exhibition space in Switzerland recently, to mark the company's 150th anniversary.

Nest is based in Nestlé founder Henri Nestlé's original 1866 factory in Vevy, Lake Geneva, and has been renovated by Swiss architectural practice Concept-Consult Architectes in a 45m (£38m) project.

This week, we spoke to the exhibition designers, Dutch consultancy Tinker Imagineers, about how they incorporated “organic” interior design alongside the industrial aesthetic of the venue.

The space is split into past, present and future zones, looking at the history and future possibilities of the brand, through ten different immersive exhibits.

BBC announced it was looking for designers

This week, the BBC published a tender saying it is seeking a team to design several of its most prevalent financial documents.

This would include its Annual Report and Accounts (ARA), full financial statements and six other print documents.

The broadcaster highlights the importance of this job, in that these reports play a key role in showing openness and transparency, and make the BBC's financial performance publicly available.

The contract value is £400,000, and will run for up to four years from December 2016 to December 2020. More details can be found here.

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Nestlé celebrates its 150th birthday with interactive exhibition space in Switzerland

Dutch consultancy Tinker Imagineers has designed a new exhibition space for Nestlé, 150 years after the food company was founded.

To coincide with the anniversary, Nest is located in founder Henri Nestlé's first factory from 1866 in Vevey at Lake Geneva, Switzerland.

The factory, which opened in June, has been renovated by Switzerland-based Concept-Consult Architectes, which has added a glass roof and steel construction to the building as part of the €45m (£38m) project.

Industrial architecture and organic interiors

Tinker Imagineers, who became involved with the project two years ago, hoped to balance the industrial design of the factory space with more “organic” interiors, according to partner and founder, Erik Bär.

Beneath the glass roof sits a hovering platform covered in white fabric that overlooks the rest of the exhibition, “reflecting an almost timeless world”, says Bär.

The white stretched fabric installation is made up of ten different exhibits, including a 3D body scanner that shows what happens to different food types inside the body using an avatar.

Nest is split into past, present and future zones, where visitors can do everything from look at a prototype of the first Nespresso machine to try out an interactive table, known as the “forum”.

“Since Nestle is criticised quite a lot in the media I thought the best thing they could do was something they didn't have in the original concept…to dedicate a zone completely the challenges in producing food for eight billion people,” says Bär.

Explores global issues such as agriculture and sustainability

The forum is designed to explore global issues, such as agriculture, sustainability, water and food production, as well their potential solutions, he explains.

Each theme is represented by a different icon and colour, which light up trails on the table and provide information about the selected topic on a screen.

Tinker Imagineers has also explored the artistic side of exhibition design with the project. In the middle of the central atrium is a life-sized tree decorated with more than 1,200 flowers handmade from different Nestlé product packaging, such as Nescafé.

The most important element of the exhibition for Bär was to make each zone look and feel completely different, he says.

“In the past zone we looked back at early cinema techniques which worked quite well…and then gradually things get lighter and more modern. It's the variety that I am happiest with.”

All photos: Mike Bink

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New design exhibition hopes to remove stigma associated with dyslexia

"Egg, — Egg, by Sebastian Bergne, manufactured by Designerbox 2014

An exhibition exploring the work of dyslexic designers will open next month, with the aim of presenting dyslexia as an alternative way of thinking rather than a health condition.

Dyslexic Design is part of this year's Designjunction, the annual design exhibition which takes place in London, Milan and New York.

“Reveal dyslexia as a gift”

The exhibition will show the work of designers with dyslexia from disciplines including product, fashion, illustration, home décor and fine art, such as Sebastian Bergne, Kristjana S Williams, Terence Woodgate and Tina Crawford.

It aims to explore the “connection between dyslexia and the creative industries”, says Designjunction, looking at the positives as well as the challenges that can come from working with the learning difference.

The exhibition's main goal is to “take away the stigma of dyslexia and reveal it as a gift”, say the organisers.

For example, it will look at how dyslexia affects a person's lateral and visual thinking, and therefore creativity, and how the learning difference can prescribe “unusual three-dimensional thinking”.

“Dyslexia led me down the path of art and design”

The exhibition's founder, and one of the exhibitors, Jim Rokos, says: “It is my belief that I am able to design the way I do, because of my dyslexia and not despite it,” he says.

“I [want] to remove the unwanted and unwarranted stigma sometimes associated with dyslexia and in doing so change perceptions of it. We believe dyslexia is something that drives and inspires creative thought and design,” he adds.

Debates will also take place in the exhibition space, around how dyslexia is perceived in design education, whether it should no longer be classed as a disability and seen rather as an alternative brain structure, and how it affects a person's lateral and visual thinking.

Deborah Spencer, designjunction's managing director, says: “I had grown up with dyslexia and I believe it played an integral part in leading me down the path of art and design.”

Takes place in September

Dyslexic Design takes place 17-25 September, as part of Designjunction, which runs from 22-25 September 2016. Tickets to Designjunction are £12 in advance or £15 on the door, and will grant access to the dyslexia exhibition. A percentage of ticket sales will be donated to the British Dyslexia Association. Find out more about the exhibition here.

Designjunction, now in its sixth year, is part of the London Design Festival, and takes place at a new venue in King's Cross this year, based around the theme of Immersed in Design.

Scots light, by Tom Raffield 2015

"Mildred — Mildred (Gorgon), by Tina Crawford 2016

"Gauge — Gauge Crystal, by Jim Rokos 2014

"Knot — Knot pendant lamp, by Vitamin 2012

"Surface — Surface Table, by Terence Woodgate 2008 (In collaboration with John Barnard RDI)

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Design industry performing well despite shrinking profit margins

Design has performed favourably against other sectors in a new piece of research which looks at the state of the marketing and creative industries.

Accountant Kingston Smith's Marketing Monitor report which looks at the strength of all sectors from the last year finds that across the marketing services industries consultancies are “delicately poised”, as they enter post-Brexit economic uncertainty.

The general state of play for all sectors is that there have been modest increases in fee income, which are becoming increasingly overshadowed by worsening margins.

Despite this there were also broad trends showing that the industry had recovered from the financial crisis.

Top 30 design consultancies increase gross income

Branding and design is performing well according to the report, which finds that its “top 30” (unnamed) design consultancies generated an additional £13.5 million in gross income year-on-year compared to last year's report.

However the gross income wasn't turned into operating profit and therefore profit margins are down one percentage point to 10.3%.

Kingston Smith recommends that a well run design consultancy should be generating operating profits of at least 15% of fee income and ideally 20%. While 11 of the top 30 hit 15% only five were in excess of 20%.

Talent shortages

One metric for looking at the health of the health of a consultancy is by comparing employment costs and fee income.

The average ratio of employment cost to fee income is on the rise, creeping up by two percentage points to hit 61% this year. When freelancers are considered this figure is even higher.

Talent shortages are cited as a reason for driving up staff costs and the recommended target ratio of employment cost to fee income is 60%.

Independent's catch group owned

There are 17 independent consultancies in Kingston Smith's top 30. The profitability gap is closing between independent and group owned consultancies.

Operating profit margins are now 11% for group-owned consultancies and 10% for independents. This is four percentage points closer than last year.

Average fee income per head in the design sector has worsened and now stands just under the benchmark target of 100,000. This averages out from group-owned consultancies earning £108,000 per head and independents earning £94,000.

However the group-owned consultancies spend more on staff costs and overheads, which is why their profit margins are not much better in the end.

How to be more efficient

As design work is by it's nature project driven and freelancers are often brought in to manage peaks and troughs, getting the balance right between permanent and temporary staff is “absolutely vital to protect those slim margins” advises Kingston Smith.

Another tip it gives is to have someone to oversee capacity management and sign off additional resource.

Design consultancies need to regularly challenge whether they are using staff in the most efficient way and come up with “new and innovative ways of working” that keep up with client demands, finds Kingston Smith.

The report looked at key performance indicators across other sectors, revealing that PR had performed the best, advertising had not performed as well as the year before, while in digital gross income per head has increased although margins are being squeezed.

Meanwhile in marketing and sales productivity remains steady but spiraling operating costs have hit profit margin.

You can read the full report here.

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How well do you know your design business?

"Man
I recently sat down with Jack O'Hern, partner at accountancy firm Wright Vigar and an accredited DBA Expert. The starting point of our discussion was personal finances for business owners not usually a subject we broach at the DBA with our focus on the success of “the business” rather than the individuals who own it. But Jack's message is clear: unless a business owner understands their personal needs and desires with regards to their business, then it will never truly be a success.

Although business and personal success are intertwined, when you boil it down, your business success can be judged on financial metrics, whereas for yourself you need a different set of metrics that don't focus so much on money, but instead focus on the quality of your life.

“A financial advisor for a business owner shouldn't look at the business first, they should look at the person,” says O'Hern. “The business should work for the person, not the other way round.”

The business owner (or owners) need to work out what they want from their business by answering three questions:

1. Why did you set up your business in the first place?
For design consultancy owners the words “independence” and “freedom” tend to feature heavily, both creatively and financially. Do you want double-digit growth every year, or do you just want to keep a roof over your head?

2. What do you want out of your business?
You should look at whether you are getting what you want out of the business both emotionally and financially. Does it give you security? A certain standard of living? Are you happy with what you do at work on a day-to-day basis; is it what you expected you would be doing when you set up the business?

3. What is the end game?
It's important to know what you want to leave behind and how you want to leave. Are you interested in leaving a creative legacy, a thriving business that you have passed on in some form? Do you want early retirement and a life on the golf course, or do you want the opportunity to never retire but not have to deal with the stress of running a business?

Without truthful answers to these personal questions by all owners of the business it is difficult to successfully manage the business itself. They all impact on the financial decisions taken within the company.

In O'Hern's experience, the most common reaction to these questions is a realisation that the owner's original intentions on setting up a business have become lost under the morass of actually running it. That's why you need to remember what you are trying to do and then, more importantly, do something about it. This could mean firing that awkward client, investing in a big hire by bringing someone in to run the business thereby freeing up your time, or scaling back to a more manageable size so you can remain in control.

Life can impact on your work in so many ways, especially as we get older. From coping with poorly parents to putting kids through university you need to make sure that work works for you, and that starts with financial management.

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AIGA Get Out The Vote poster campaign looks to activate U.S. voters

"22x34_pressquality2" — by Milton Glaser

“These political posters should be looked at as tools,” says Laetitia Wolff, curator for Get Out The Vote. “Design has a real power to change behaviour.”

Get Out The Vote is the U.S. election poster campaign from the AIGA, North America's professional association for design. Through an online gallery, the campaign which happens every four years to coincide with a presidential election uses the power of design and illustration to “activate” the public and get them interested in American politics, says Wolff.

Non-partisan campaign

While the campaign hopes to encourage engagement, it also aims to be non-partisan, and so the posters do not advocate for either the Republicans or Democrats, but simply inspire people to use their vote.

“Voting demonstrates that you belong to a nation, not just a party,” says Wolff. “Though we would still love to see the likes of Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump use the posters as part of the campaigns.”

The AIGA's Get Out The Vote campaign was first launched in 2004, and looks to both high and low profile designers to create posters that can be included within its online gallery.

Milton Glaser and Paula Scher

The initiative receives submissions from the likes of Milton Glaser and Paula Scher, and a number of other designers, the only specification being that they need to be a member of the AIGA to submit a design. The AIGA has 26,000 members across the continent, spread across 70 different hubs in the U.S.

Exhibition spaces of curated work

Alongside an online gallery of all submissions, which at the moment totals around 150 for this year, there are also exhibitions held in conjunction with the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention, which are both taking place later this month. An exhibition of select design works is also held at the AIGA Design Conference in Las Vegas in October.

While the online gallery includes all submissions, the exhibitions are more selective, including a curated selection of 45 posters to correlate with this year being the 45th presidential election from “design influencers” and a hand-picked selection of others.

Making “beautiful imagery” a political tool

Wolff says the campaign aims to make issues that affect everybody more “visible, legible and accessible”, through using “beautiful imagery” to interest and activate people into starting a conversation about politics.

“Good design makes choices clear,” says Wolff. “Designers have an important responsibility to use their work as a communication tool and to engage citizens including themselves.”

The campaign has also partnered with the League of Women Voters this year, a non-partisan organisation which aims to mobilise and educate the public, both male and female, about voting. Together, the organisations host events throughout the year to encourage more people to vote by engaging them with design.

Posters can be submitted until 8 November

All AIGA members can contribute posters through the Get Out The Vote submission form until 8 November, the date of the U.S. presidential election.

The organisation also encourages site viewers to download and share the posters, using hashtags #AIGAvote and #GetOutTheVote, with the hope of activating more voters.

These are some of the posters submitted so far this year:

"22x34_AnnWilloughby-1" — by Ann Willoughby

"11x17_Kurycki_GOTV_poster-1" — by Karen Kurycki

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D&AD New Blood 2016 reveals Pencil award winners

D&AD's New Blood Pencil 2016 winners have been revealed, after being selected from a list of entrants from a total of 58 different countries.

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony at Village Underground, London last night, to coincide with the final day of the D&AD New Blood Festival.

To apply, entrants needed to be in full-time or part-time education, recent graduates or under the age of 23.

Black, White, Yellow, Graphic and Wood Pencil winners

Applicants were tasked with designing their projects for a particular brief by various brands, such as Dr. Martens: Celebrate Dr. Martens' Unique Brand Using Radio's Unique Platform.

From the entries, the judges chose two overall Black Pencil and four White Pencil Winners. A further 24 young creatives were awarded a Yellow Pencil, with 58 being given a Graphite Pencil and 111 a Wood Pencil.

Paul Drake, D&AD Foundation director says: “D&AD New blood is all about inspiring the next generation, which is where our ‘Win One, Teach One' mantra really comes to life.”

“Winning a New Blood pencil is a huge turning point in a young creative's career. Not only are they recognised for being the best at what they do, but they get access to a wealth of contacts and advice from professional award Pencil winners and industry experts alike.”

We've rounded up the winning entries below.

Black Pencil winners

James Wuds, Bottles of Squash
Brief by Dazed: Declare Independence in 15 Seconds

James Wuds decided to interpret Dazed's brief by portraying “the feeling of being a teenager” in a series of short black and white video clips.

The videos capture the moments when you are not yet old enough to get away from your parents but are in the midst of your search for identity. Or as Wuds describes it: ‘fizzy drinks and bottles of squash”.

Jonny Kanagasooriam, creative strategy director, Dazed Media, describes Bottles of Squash as a “truly excellent stand out piece of work. Funny, poignant, cool and accomplished.”

Polina Hohonova, Retro Serif
Brief by Monotype: Use the Power of Typography to Activate Your Cause

Retro Serif seeks to revive a lost Russian language. Hohonova has used letters such as I, Ѳ and Ѣ that were abolished by the Communist Party after the Russian Revolution in 1917, due to their association with “High Russia” and the now defunct Tsarist regime.

Reviving these characters is a protest against the prescribed dictatorship of the language.

Craig Oldham, creative director & founder of Office of Craig Oldham, says: “Rarely does a piece of work have the potential to inspire change and have such a profound impact on culture and society.”

White Pencil winners

Laurens Grainger and Matt Kennedy, Every Minute Matters
Brief by Amnesty International/WPP: Break Barriers Between Young Adults and Amnesty International

"ASS-NBA-02122131678-2016_3000x2400_Every-Minute-Matters_1"

These students from School of Communication Arts 2.0 have come up with a campaign for Amnesty International that allows young adults who only call home every two weeks on average to donate their wasted monthly phone minutes to refugees who, without a credited SIM card, are unable to call home at all.

Every Minute Matters would allow these minutes to be transferred onto an Amnesty International SIM card, which would then be distributed at refugee camps around the world.

Chloe Lam and Ryan Ho, Ford Fu
Brief by Ford: Team Up With Ford To Mobilise City-Wide Change

In response to Ford's brief, the two Falmouth University students targeted Shanghai's ageing population, which make up over a third of the city's overall population.

Using Ford's InfoCycle and E-Boke technology, with one click Ford Fu tokens send a GPS check-in to an older person's loved one, while two clicks calls a taxi and a third alerts emergency services.

Kegan Greenfield, Better Together
Brief by Monotype: Use the Power of Typography to Activate Your Cause

"ASS-NBA-01323128766-2016_3000x2400_Better-Together_1"

The Chelsea College Art students have given a simple, modern update to the Moon Type that was designed by William Moon for visually impaired people back in 1845.

The new version Moon Two is a hybrid of the original typeface and Roman script. It aims to bridge the gap for children with normal sight and those who are visually impaired, who are often required to choose either visual language or a tactile alternate during the early stages of education.

Elisa Beretta, Rosita Rotondo, Alessandro, Prestia, Massimo Mazzucca and Giulia D'agosta, Human Filter
Brief by WWF: Activate A Global Conservation Community

"ASS-NBA-00181119312-2016_1280x720_Human-Filter_1"

Students from the Academy of Communication Foundation in Milan, Italy are hoping to tackle air pollution with their project for WWF.

Their proposal is simple by washing clothes with a photocatalytic water solution, people are able absorb the same amount of nitric oxide produced by a car every day.

A WWF organised marathon that aims to spread the message could turn every runner who participates into a “human filter”.

See the full list of winners here.

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Designers tell us about their favourite political posters of all time

"Olly — Olly Guise, independent creative director and designer

“I'm probably not alone in my irrational hatred of the Keep Calm poster thanks to all the naff parodies, so I'll probably hang on to my £20,000 a bit longer. I'd have to choose from two great war-inspired pieces from two different eras.

Abram Games' Grow Your Own Food (1942) masterfully fuses a spade and a ship in support of Britain's Dig for Victory campaign, but arguably it's more advisory than political.

So I'm going for Noma Bar's debut Saddam Hussein image (1991), because it makes a statement so powerfully without using a single word (and it's topical).”

“When I visit the London headquarters of our client Amnesty International, I'm always struck by the iconic posters hanging in the meeting rooms.

Posters like Football Yes, Torture No, which encouraged a revolt against the Argentina Junta in 1976; Pablo Picasso's iconicLa Colombe et le Prisonnier image; or Israeli designer Yossi Lemel's Reach image encapsulate a time in history and inspired people to engage with a problem.

You can ignore words but it's so much harder to stop the power of an iconic image. I'm intrigued by how these examples convey powerful ideology and create empathy.”

"jondaniel" — Jon Daniel, independent creative director

“This is such a tough question as political posters, and in fact poster design in general, was my first love in terms of graphic design.

There is a long list of designers that I have been inspired by, such as Emory Douglas, Shigeo Fukuda, Milton Glaser and Herb Lubalin, whose works could easily top this list several times over.

But the one I am going to choose for the fact that it was one of the first posters that had a real impact on me, and of course for its utter brilliance, simplicity, potency and playfulness is Black Power, White Power, designed by the one and only, Tomi Ungerer in 1967.”

"marksteen" — Marksteen Adamson, partner, ArthurSteenHorneAdamson

“I know this is an obvious choice, but the Obama Hope Poster designed and printed by Shepard Fairey speaks volumes. I like the fact that it transcends politics and stands alone as a statement of achieving the seemingly impossible.

I also like the fact that it wasn't designed by a traditional advertising agency. It felt very back street when it was originally produced, and the poster I have framed on our wall in the studio is an original silk screen you can still smell the ink.

For me, everything about this poster represents the biggest challenge for designers to do better. It will forever be a modern classic.”

"heidi_sq" — Heidi Lightfoot, founder, Together Design

“There's no way I could pick a favourite! Political propaganda and an agenda of social welfare has been a rich source of inspiration for so many amazing designers.

Tom Eckersley and Abram Games are two of my favourite masters of poster design, working in Britain during and after the Second World War.

An inspiring designer continuing that tradition is Alejandro Magallanes, based in Mexico City. Alejandro is a founding member of several activist poster groups.

His arresting, provocative and often humorous work is as comfortable promoting human rights and peace as it is illustrating a children's book.”

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5 important things that happened in design this week

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar rolled out its new packaging

Coke Zero revealed a £10 million ad campaign this week, alongside a new name which aims to encourage consumers to consume less sugar.

Now Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, the brand has also revamped its packaging, taking on the company's recognisable “red disc” emblem in a move to unify the flavour with other products in the portfolio.

This same can and bottle design has been applied to Coca-Cola Original, Light and Life, ascribing different colours to each flavour.

Although it has been rolled out this week, the new design was first revealed in April. We spoke to Coca-Cola's vice president of global design James Sommerville about how the new packaging aims to “be bold” but “preserve simplicity”.

MPs debated the EBacc GCSE qualification

Following a petition, MPs took to Westminster this week to debate the fate of GCSE students across the country.

The EBacc English Baccalaureate includes English, maths, science, a humanity and a language, and is soon to be compulsory for 90% of GCSE students from “mainstream schools”.

The qualification has been subject to scrutiny by some MPs and many people within the creative industries for excluding art and design subjects from this compulsory list, the key argument being that it creates a learning environment where artistic subjects are not valued.

Other arguments included that the EBacc has already caused creative students, teachers and resources to decline which has a knock-on effect on industries, and that it puts children from less affluent backgrounds at a disadvantage.

The minister for education Nick Gibb retorted that including more subjects within the compulsory qualification would restrict rather than empower students, and that the Government had already secured £460 million for arts and music education programmes to help children from all backgrounds.

There has been no immediate action following the debate on 4 July, and the compulsory EBacc is still planned to come into force in September. You can read an extensive run-down of the key arguments voiced here.

It was announced that small businesses could lose significant future funding

This last week, it was announced that small businesses could lose significant financial support from the European Union's bank.

UK-based lender Funding Circle had secured £100 million funding from the European Investment Bank for small businesses the week before the EU referendum vote.

While this funding will still be distributed in the form of £50,000 loans this was meant to be the start of a much wider programme, which is now “unlikely to happen”, says the lender.

“The deal with the EIB was a start to create a multi-billion pound programme for getting more funds into UK business,” co-founder at Funding Circle James Meekings said. “The programme is at risk.”

Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) include businesses with less than 250 members of staff and a turnover of less than €50 million (£42 million), which includes the majority of UK design consultancies.

Dyson revealed its first ever UK “store”

Consumer goods brand Dyson open its first ever retail space this week…but whatever you do, don't call it a “store”.

Named the Dyson Demo, the company is very keen to market the two-floor space as a teaching and trial space for consumers rather than a traditional shop, where they can chat to “Dyson experts” about products and try to suck up 64 types of debris from four different floor surfaces using a Dyson V8 vacuum cleaner.

The first floor even includes a hair styling salon, where consumers can experience the effects of the Supersonic hair dryer first hand.

Once visitors are done chatting, vacuuming and hair-drying, they can, of course, buy the products though, in a similar style to Apple stores, there are no tills.

The Dyson Demo concept was first launched in 1999 in Paris, France, followed by spaces in Tokyo, Japan, Jakarta, Indonesia and now London, U.K. The Dyson team says the expansion will continue, hopefully moving on to the U.S. next.

Earphones designed to control background noise are revealed

Working in busy cafés and personalising music at festivals just got a lot easier, with these new earphones from Doppler Labs revealed this week.

New sound-customising earphones Hear Active Listening enable wearers to turn down background noises, such as people chatting, sirens wailing and babies crying.

As well as blocking out noise, they can also layer and blend sounds coming from the headphones with sounds from the outside world, helping to create immersive experiences.

Background noises can also be turned up if the user wishes, allowing them to customise sound settings, for example at gigs and festivals where they might want to hear less guitar and more bass.

But at $299 (£228), the cost of sound control isn't cheap. The headphones will go on sale from November.

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V&A wins Art Fund Museum of the Year prize

The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has won this year's Art Fund Museum of the Year award, pledging to support smaller museums and galleries all over the UK with the prize money.

The ceremony, which took place at the Natural History Museum, saw the art and design museum awarded the £100,000 prize by The Duchess of Cambridge last night.

Judges included Gus Casely-Hayford, curator and art historian; Will Gompertz, BBC Arts editor; Ludmilla Jordanova, professor of history and visual culture, Durham University; Cornelia Parker, artist; and Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund.

Imagination, innovation and achievement

They were tasked with selecting the museum or gallery that has shown exceptional imagination, innovation and achievement over the past 12 months.

The V&A beat five other UK based finalists to become the overall winner, including Arolfini in Bristol; Bethlem Musem of the Mind, London; Jupiter Artland, West Lothian and York Art Gallery, Yorkshire.

Stephen Deuchar, Art Fund director and chair of the judges, says: “The V&A experience is an unforgettable one. Its recent exhibitions, from Alexander McQueen to The Fabric of India, and the opening of its new Europe 16001815 galleries, were all exceptional accomplishments at once entertaining and challenging, rooted in contemporary scholarship, and designed to reach and affect the lives of a large and diverse national audience.”

“One of the best museums in the world”

“It was already one of the best-loved museums in the country. This year it has indisputably become one of the best museums in the world,” he says.

During his acceptance speech, Martin Roth, director at the V&A, pledged to use the prize money to re-establish a department that was first set up in the 1970s, but later axed due to budget cuts, in order to support and collaborate with museums and galleries across the country.

Roth says: “This award not only allows us to celebrate our achievements over the past year, but it will progress our ambitions…to transform our building and make our…collections of art and design accessible to the widest possible audiences in the UK and overseas.

3.9 million visitors in 2015

“We will ‘re-circulate' our collections, taking them beyond our usual metropolitan partners and engaging in a more intimate way with the communities we reach so that we can…be both a national museum for a local audience and a local museum for a national audience.”

The award comes after an exceptionally good year for the V&A in 2015, during which it attracted nearly 3.9 million visitors to its sites, 14.5 million visitors online and 90,000 V&A Members, the highest in its 164-year history.

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty also became the museum's most-visited exhibition, attracting a record breaking 493,043 visitors from 87 countries.

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MPs “urge Government to think again” over GCSE EBacc excluding art and design

MPs debated over the English Baccalaureate a GCSE qualification that excludes art and design this week, with some claiming that it devalues creative subjects and makes them inaccessible for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The EBacc was first introduced in 2010, but will be made compulsory in September this year for 90% of GCSE students, requiring them to take English, maths, science, a language and a humanity.

Parliamentary debate sparked by petition

A petition called “Include expressive arts subjects in the EBacc” was started in retaliation to the ruling and was signed by more than 100,000 people, stating that “the exclusion of art, music, drama and other expressive subjects is limiting, short sighted and cruel”.

The petition defines “expressive arts” as art, music, drama and “other expressive subjects”.

In response to the petition, a three-hour parliamentary debate took place in Westminster this week, where MPs who are opposed to the EBacc guidelines were able to put their points of view across to those in favour of them.

“Only EBacc subjects will count”

One of the arguments cited by MPs opposed to the EBacc, who were predominately Labour, was that the qualification devalues and reduces funding to art subjects because schools use the EBacc to measure performance.

Fiona Mactaggart, Labour MP for Slough, said: “We all know that what counts in public policy is what is measured and if what is measured is only EBacc subjects, only they will count.” She added there should be “an emphasis on both science and creative subjects”.

Research from the National Society for Education in Art and Design showed 44% of teachers of Key Stage 3 students (ages 11-14) found that time allocated to art and design had decreased over the last five years.

“Other GCSE subject slots can be filled by art qualifications”

Nick Gibb, Conservative MP and minister of state for the Department of Education, said in response that the EBacc is just “one of several measures against which school performance is judged”, stating that the newly-introduced Progress 8 measure looks at performance across eight subjects English, maths, three EBacc subjects and three other qualifications of the student's choice.

“It has been suggested today that arts are not valued in the school accountability system that is not the case,” he said. “Those other slots can be filled by arts qualifications, if a pupil wishes.”

Discriminatory towards disadvantaged students

Another argument against the EBacc was that it discriminates against students from disadvantaged backgrounds because their accessibility to arts and culture is comparatively limited compared to those from affluent backgrounds. According to research from the Cultural Learning Alliance, research shows that schools with a high proportion of free school meals were more than twice as likely to withdraw art subjects from the curriculum compared to more affluent schools.

“An EBacc that fails to make room for the arts can only entrench this inequality,” said David Warburton, Conservative MP for Somerton and Frome.

Sharon Hodgson, Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West, added that trips to theatres, cultural sites and museums had become increasingly difficult for reasons such as safeguarding and costs. “Such trips will be lacking from some of the children's daily lives, weekends and holidays, so it is important that the shortfall is made up for in school,” she said.

Fewer students taking art and design subjects

MPs added that the introduction of the EBacc has resulted in the decline of students taking up art and design subjects. Official exam figures released this year showed that five times less students picked art and design subjects at GCSE this year compared to 2015, with design and technology taking the biggest hit at 19,000 fewer students.

A survey conducted for this year's New Designers exhibition also showed that 85% of this year's crop of design graduates studied an art or design subject at GCSE level.

Catherine McKinnell, Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North, said: “Although it is possible to take up jobs in our sector without exam results in creative subjects, it is much harder and potentially more expensive to do so, which obviously further diminishes the chance for young people from more disadvantaged backgrounds.”

“£460 million towards arts education programmes”

Education minister Gibb argued that since 2012, the Government has provided creative opportunities and improved access for students from all backgrounds and all over the country through £460 million of investment into a “diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes”.

He also said the GCSE entry figures for art and design have increased from 162,000 to 176,000 between 2011 and 2015, though Labour MPs stated these figures were “flawed” because they “omit BTEC qualifications, include early entry AS-levels and neglect design and technology”.

English, maths and science “fundamental” subjects

While those opposed to the EBacc said that the qualification was reducing choices for students, those in favour said it was actually providing more flexibility. Gibb said that including more subjects such as art within the EBacc would restrict rather than expand student choice, by making more subjects compulsory. Fellow Conservative MP for Chippenham, Michelle Donelan added this would “dilute” the EBacc qualification “until it was dissolved”.

Gibb also spoke about the importance of language and essay-writing skills for young people, stating that 77% of employers have said they needed more employees with foreign languages.

“Every child deserves to leave school fully literate and numerate, with an understanding of the history, geography and science of the world they inhabit, and a grasp of a language other than their own,” he said.

Graham Stuart, Conservative MP for Beverley and Holderness, added that maths, the sciences and English are “fundamental” subjects which “help people to get on in life”.

Art subjects “improve health and wellbeing”

But MPs opposed to the EBacc stated the importance of abilities beyond academia, such as emotional development and communication skills. Labour MP McKinnell said the EBacc “sends a clear message about the value the Government places on subjects that help to create expressive, communicative, self-confident and well-rounded human beings”.

Jonathan Reynolds, Labour MP For Stalybridge and Hyde, added that the “health benefits” of creative subjects need to be considered. “Investment in the arts is known to improve wellbeing,” he said. “Studying creative subjects boosts self-esteem, improves emotional intelligence, and reduces depression and anxiety.”

Labour MP McKinnell concluded the discussion by saying: “The drastic reduction in the take-up of arts subjects seems to be a movement in completely the wrong direction. On behalf of everyone who cares about the issue, I urge the Government to think again.”

No changes as of yet following debate

Richard Green, chief executive at the D&T Association, said following the debate that design, technology and other creative subjects “contribute to profitable sectors” and have been “marginalised” by the enforcement of the qualification, resulting in staff and student shortages.

“If we are to move forward confidently into a post-Brexit future where access to talent may be more challenging, it is imperative that our educational system recognises and meets the needs of individual pupils and industry,” he said.

No decision or change has yet to be made following the parliamentary debate on 4 July. The compulsory EBacc is currently still set to come into force for 90% of GCSE school children in September, with the Government stating that it will be mandatory in “mainstream secondary schools”, with a “small minority for whom taking the EBacc is not appropriate” to be excluded from the rule.

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Lorna Allan: “It's important to make sure young, female designers are encouraged”

Design Week: What is Hidden Women of Design?

Lorna Allan: Hidden Women of Design was a response to a research question I was set: “Who are those that sit in the blind spots of design and have transformed design paradigms over the years?” The more research I did, the more I realised that perhaps the majority of those people may be women.

DW: How many people are involved in the project and how did you start it?

LA: The project started as a hashtag campaign (#HWODesign) to raise awareness of work by female designers of the past and looking forward, to ensure female designers would receive the same exposure as their male peers in design history books. After holding a focus group to discuss the project's future, it was suggested that a series of talks by practising female designers might be the next step. Some very helpful friends in social media (Alice G.Turner) and design (Jesse Prior) have joined me along the way to refine and develop the idea.

DW: Why did you start the project?

LA: It started as a college project, which I have handed in now but have continued, purely because of the interest and encouragement I have received on the subject. I really have been blown away by the response and support by the female design community. Even big designers like Ellen Lupton and Alice Rawsthorn took the time to reply to me and the support from Kathleen and Tori from the Women of Graphic Design website has given me the confidence to keep pushing it forward.

DW: What do you hope will come from the project? How long do you hope it will run for?

LA: At this stage, I don't know I do know that the interest has been high and through asking around after each event, the general vibe is that the talks are of real interest and a great opportunity to get to meet and have discussions with other designers.

DW: Which designers have you managed to involve so far?

LA: The first week we had: freelance designer Chauntelle Lewis, social policy designer Cat Drew and Jocelyn Bailey at Uscreates, which creates designs for health and wellbeing. The second week we had: Spike Spondike at Dalton Maag, Lubna Keawpanna, director of consultancy Smack, Sian Cook, co-founder at WD+RU and senior lecturer at London College of Communication. Next week we have: freelance designer Rejane Dal Bello, Emily Wood at REG_Design and graphic artist and design educator Dr Cathy Gale. Nine amazing ladies!

DW: In an ideal world, which female designers would you love to see involved in the project?

LA: I think have been very lucky with the caliber of women I have had for these talks- they have all been informative and inspiring.

DW: What are themes of the talks?

LA: The structure of the evening is similar to a Pecha Kucha where each designer has 20 mins and 20 slides to talk about their professional practice and how they evolved as a designer. We had three ladies each night.

DW: Beyond talks, what else is on the agenda for Hidden Women in Design? How could it expand in the future?

LA: After each talk so far we have been talking to the attendees and there's definitely a want to see more of this type of event. There are a lot of women's design groups happening and I think HWOD would like to focus on university leavers or designers new to the industry as this is a crucial stage which determines whether they stay in the design world or leave it. It's important to make sure they can get encouragement and inspiration when they find themselves out on their own.

DW: How do you feel about women's representation in the design industry at the moment?

LA: On the first evening of talks I was approached by a couple of American female design students who were in London doing studio visits they had been disheartened as every studio they went to was fronted by a man. They Googled “Women in Design” and found our talks and were very happy to meet and speak with other female designers and potentially arrange other studio visits. This is really at the heart of what the project is about. Mostly through research I have found that typographic design still has more men than women that's why I was so thrilled to have Spike Spondike at Dalton Maag talk about her practice.

DW: How do you think this can be improved?

LA: I think we need to keep talking about the subject. It still attracts attention so it is still an issue and to have groups of female designers promoting and supporting each other can make a difference.

The next Hidden Women of Design talk will take place on 13 July at 7pm at the Peckham Pelican, 92 Peckham Road, SE15 5PY.

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Top 5 picks from this year's D&AD New Blood Festival

James Crossley, BA Graphic Design, Edinburgh College of Art

Open Shut

James Crossley's monochrome poster project explores the idea that mainstream media oversimplifies complex issues such as the recent EU referendum into binary choices.

Crossley makes the point that this can often lead to misunderstanding and division, which he couples with the increasing prevalence of borders in our society.

Each of the three posters is based around a striking grid structure, with facts relating to the topic separated into boxes on either side of the “binary”.

The Edinburgh College of Art graduate plans to develop the research side of his project later this month when he will be cycling across Europe visiting and writing about design studio projects in cities stretching from The Hague to Budapest.

Elisha Chaplin, BA Graphic Design, University Centre Southend

Napolina Porzioni

Graphic design student, Elisha Chaplin's rebrand project gives Italian cooking brand Napolina a bold, modern update.

The rebrand focuses on promoting convenience by introducing a new range called Porzioni, which means portions in Italian. Packets are divided up into a set number of portions, allowing the right amount of pasta to be cooked more easily.

While keeping the original logo, Chaplin has opted to use a mixture of serif and sans serif fonts on the bright orange, black and white packets, which also feature roughly drawn illustrations of various pasta shapes including spaghetti.

Bronwyn Stubbs, BA Animation, Huddersfield University

Anime Iddio

This ingenious interactive installation uses conductive paint to bring Bronwyn Stubbs' cartoonlike illustrations to life.

While often included in wireless circuits, Stubbs decided to make up her own conductive paint from graphite powder and black acrylic. Painted on top of a conductor, it acts as a touch sensor which then lights up a cardboard illustrated lamp and animated window display.

The BA Animation student has also used conductive paint technology in other university projects, including a window display concept for John Lewis that makes bubbles seemingly appear from the top of a cardboard washing machine, and makes a cardboard vacuum cleaner move backwards and forwards.

Faye Rowbottom and Rebecca Parrish, BA Advertising, University of Central Lancashire

Alzheimer's Society Ad Campaign

These two advertising students' ad campaign for the Alzheimer's Society has been designed to raise awareness about the symptoms of the disease.

For the D&AD Festival, Rowbottom and Parrish have printed the image of an older person with Alzheimer's onto two 2000-piece jigsaw puzzles one that is already complete on the stand, and another that will come together over the course of the three-day festival.

All visitors have to do is donate 50p to the Alzheimer's Society festival and help piece together the puzzle, while a GoPro camera will capture its transformation by the end of the festival.

As the second jigsaw comes together, pieces from the original will be taken away, representing the gradual deterioration that the disease can result in.

Jordan Robertson, BA Graphic Design, Northumbria University

Everybody

Jordan Robertson describes his bold cosmetics brand concept, Everybody, as “an honest idea of beauty for everybody”.

Featuring simple orange packaging with black sans serif text, the branding recognises the importance of gender fluidity as a choice when it comes to cosmetics.

The rotating lid of the deodorant can be twisted to read either “his”, “her” or “every” body sweats, shaves (shaving cream) and wrinkles (moisturiser).

D&AD New Blood Festival branding

Consultancy Afterhours has also been commissioned to design the identity for this year's D&AD New Blood Festival, which spans everything from social media to exhibition graphics and is built around the strapline: “It all starts with a pencil”.

Afterhours' concept is centred around the phrase: “Just as every great creative piece begins with putting pencil to paper, so a creative career is launched by winning a D&AD pencil”.

Each window at the Truman Brewery site features giant pencil drawn posters that reflect various stages of the creative process, culminating in a giant pencil rendered hand holding a yellow pencil that points the visitor to the entrance of the festival.

The post Top 5 picks from this year's D&AD New Blood Festival appeared first on Design Week.

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How to rebrand a charity and do it well

It's been a tough year for charities. According to a report by the Charity Commission, their reputation has collapsed. We're uncomfortable with their aggressive fundraising, we distrust how they spend our money and we have doubts about the difference they make to the causes we support.

Design can't change the way charities behave. But the connections they make with us are what creates trust, so their need to communicate well is greater now than ever.

What's with all the fake kid's drawings?

It's been decades since charities first latched onto the importance of identity so why does the sector still look like a design scrapyard? Why is it awash with clichés and me-too design? What's with all the corny people icons, fake kid's drawings, and vacuous, clipart-like symbols? Why are so many charity identities mind-numbingly ordinary if not downright garbage?

A shortage of half-sensible budgets is one reason. But there's more to it than that. Charities do themselves all sorts of disfavours. They like jumping on bandwagons. They're inclined to imitate rather than embrace ideas that are individual to them. And they want to be loved by everyone, which can make impossible demands on their communications.

Trustees that know nothing about communications

What's more, charities can be exasperating to deal with because of their governance and the “democratic” way they're managed. Trustees usually have the final say on a new identity, but they generally know little or nothing about communications so their opinions can be irritatingly subjective.

So here's how to survive in the curious world of charity identity and how to go about conjuring up work that invites people in and makes them want to know more.

Stop peddling snake oil

You know who you are. You use words like differentiation, touchpoints, behaviours and learnings. Time and again, gibberish is passed off as “brand insight” and the upshot is work that's not what it's cracked up to be. Quit trying to bamboozle people and do your job properly. If you expect charities to behave with honesty, integrity and straightforwardness, you should too.

Listen

Listening is the most important thing designers do. Everyone's got stories to tell so listen to trustees, listen to management, listen to staff and listen to volunteers. You only learn things when you listen.

Have an opinion

In the creativity game, you're not a player unless you've got an opinion. Be single-minded. Don't waste time trying to please everyone. Be crystal-clear about what you need to do and get on with it. One bloody good idea is all it takes.

Trust your intuition

Charities are increasingly risk-averse. Consultation and research are used to lessen the risk of failure rather than boost the chance of success. Design should be about the sheer joy and excitement of doing things that haven't been done before. So if you want your work to be truly unforgettable, you've got to be daring and you've got to trust your intuition it's always right.

Don't take no for an answer

Intelligent, idiosyncratic identities can be hard to sell because they drag people into their discomfort zone. Charities are inclined to resist ideas that rock the boat, so design that's never going to get noticed usually wins the day. Don't let it happen. Gutsy, ballsy, feisty ideas are what charities really need and it's up to you to make sure that's what they get.

Idiosyncratic + ruthless = unforgettable

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is my formula for an unforgettable identity. It has to be idiosyncratic; that's to say, everything an organisation says and does and the way it looks should be so individual and characteristically ‘them' that they just couldn't be mistaken for any other. It's those idiosyncrasies that need to be uncovered, given form and voice, and ruthlessly protected.

John Spencer is the founder and creative director of Offthetopofmyhead

The post How to rebrand a charity and do it well appeared first on Design Week.

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Dyson “brings engineering to life” with new London store

Technology brand Dyson will open its first ever permanent London store this week, which will allow people to try out products first-hand and learn about the science behind them.

The Dyson Demo is based on Oxford Street, and showcases the company's portfolio of products including its regular, cordless and autonomous vacuum cleaners, purifier fans, LED lighting and the recently launched Supersonic hairdryer.

Dyson Demo has been designed by Dyson in partnership with WilkinsonEyre, the architectural practice which also recreated the brand's headquarters and factory in Malmesbury, Wiltshire in a £250 million project in 2014.

The space is spread over two floors the ground floor features white plinths presenting the portfolio of products, including the Dyson Pure Cool Link purifier fan, the Dyson 360 Eye robot (robot vacuum cleaner), Supersonic hairdryer, and the Cu-Beam lighting range.

The walls are also adorned with copies of the V8 cord-free vacuum, alongside pots containing different types of dust, food and debris. Visitors are then invited to test the vacuum cleaner on four different floor surfaces, with the dirt of their choice.

A glass staircase designed by WilkinsonEyre leads to the first floor, which includes hair salon stations where visitors can have their hair styled with the Supersonic hairdryer. The area also includes moving, mechanical installations which demonstrate the product testing phase of the hairdryer on real samples of human hair.

Dyson “experts”, who work alongside engineers at the headquarters in Malmesbury, will also be stationed around the store at all times for visitors to speak to about the science behind the products.

Tom Mogridge, a Dyson senior design engineer, says that these “experts” “understand how the engineers think” and have “good insight into the company's products”. “It's really exciting that a product that I've worked on is able to be demonstrated for visitors in store,” he says.

The space also includes digital screens used across walls, which show the products in action.

There are no tills, but visitors are able to buy products in-store once they have spoken to somebody and tested out a product.

Jake Dyson, research, design and development director, and the son of company founder James Dyson, says: “The Dyson Demo encourages people to be hands-on. It's all about showing the inner workings of products it's really important to demonstrate them first hand so people understand the engineering behind them.”

Max Conze, chief executive officer at Dyson, adds that the space will help to educate visitors about the “fundamentally different ways” that Dyson technology works, and will “bring engineering to life”.

The space will also be used for engineering workshops for school children during holidays, hosted by the James Dyson Foundation.

The Dyson Demo concept was originally created in Paris, France in 1999, also designed by WilkinsonEyre. A space was created in Tokyo, Japan last year, and in Jakarta, Indonesia earlier this year. Dyson hopes to roll out more Demo retail spaces worldwide, including in the U.S.

The interactive learning environment concept is similar to that of Apple, which opened a San Francisco learning space earlier this year. The first similar conceptual Apple store was opened in 2001.

The Dyson Demo London retail space is based at 447 Oxford Street, London and opens 6 July.

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Small businesses could lose financial support following EU referendum

Small UK businesses could lose financial opportunities and support as a result of the EU referendum result, according to business lender Funding Circle.

£100 million for British businesses

On 20 June, prior to the EU referendum, it was announced that the European Investment Bank (EIB) would provide £100 million to support small British businesses, working with UK-based lender Funding Circle. Funding Circle provides loans of roughly £50,000 to businesses sized on average 30 people or less.

“It's very unlikely to happen now”

But following the majority Leave result on 24 June, co-founder at Funding Circle James Meekings told the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee which assesses spending by governmental department BIS that the £100m funding project is now “at risk”.

“The deal with the EIB was a start to create a multi-billion pound programme for getting more funds into UK business,” Meekings says. “The programme is at risk. If I'm honest, it's very unlikely to happen now.”

According to Meekings, loans to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) employ roughly 60% of people across the country.

Too soon to speculate

In a statement, the EIB says it is yet to come to any decisions about its ties with the UK.

It says: “At present, the EIB's shareholders have not requested the Bank to change its approach to operations in the UK.

“It is premature to speculate on the impact of the referendum result on the EIB, including the Bank's future relationship with the UK Government and its future engagement to support long-term investment in the UK without clarity on the timing, circumstances and conditions of a withdrawal settlement.”

Small businesses earn less than £8.4 million

The majority of design consultancy businesses fall under the SME category small businesses are defined by Europa as those with a staff count of maximum 50, and a turnover of maximum €10 million (£8.4 million), while a medium-sized business is one with maximum 250 staff, and a turnover of maximum €50 million (£42 million).

Government backing necessary

Meekings adds that with doubts around funding from Europe, UK-based banks like the British Business Bank will need to be utilised, and the UK Government should be “putting more money in” to help SMEs.

“To date, we have had £60 million from the British Business Bank,” he says. “During this time of uncertainty, the British government should be backing small businesses.”

“Our question is what are the programmes that the Government could put in place given this new world of uncertainty to help get public funds and encourage growth and money directly into small businesses?” he says.

Businesses need “certainty”

Marcus Stuttard, head of AIM, the London Stock Exchange's international market in place to help small companies grow, told the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee that the business community is looking for “certainty” so that they can “plan”.

“We would expect that companies will delay making investment decisions and therefore requesting finance as well,” he says. “The greatest thing we can all do is remain collaborative and provide as much certainty as quickly as possible.”

Samir Desai, chief executive officer at Funding Circle, says in a statement that investors are unlikely to be affected in the “short term”.

“Many of our UK small businesses do not trade with the European Union and are unlikely to be immediately affected,” says Desai. “Our small business customers have been trading for ten years on average, and have experienced economic volatility before. We have conducted rigorous stress tests on our loanbook which show that even in the most stressed conditions, investors will continue to earn positive returns.”

“The value design brings to the economy is undeniable”

Deborah Dawton, chief executive officer at the Design Business Association, says of the design industry following the referendum vote: “UK design is world leading UK design is still a potent business asset and a sound commercial investment.”

According to the UK Government, between 2013 and 2014 the creative industries' value to the economy grew at almost double the rate of other UK industries, with design including product, graphic and fashion increasing the most at 16.6%. It also states the value of the creative industries was £84 billion in 2014 and accounted for 5% of the UK economy.

“The value design brings to the economy is undeniable,” says Dawton. “It is fundamentally important that this continues to be recognised.”

Creative Industries Federation to host post-referendum events

Creative Industries Federation (CIF) adds that while access to regional and sector-specific funding is a key concern for those working in the industry following Brexit, as is access to markets, IP protection and freedom of movement of talent.

In reaction to the vote, the organisation has announced it will be holding a series of “practical” events around the UK which will aim to “bring the sector together”, “marshal opinions” and “come to decisions” about the future.

The first meeting takes place in London on 7 July. A venue is yet to be announced.

The post Small businesses could lose financial support following EU referendum appeared first on Design Week.

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Vitra Design Museum opens new exhibition space showcasing design classics

The Vitra Design Museum in Germany has opened a new archive and exhibition space, called Schaudepot, which houses a collection of approximately 7,000 designs including prototypes of 20th century classics by Charles and Ray Eames.

The Swiss furniture manufacturer's collections were previously stowed underground and out of public view, but the Schaudepot, directly translating to “show depot”, brings the collections out of hiding and into the open.

The 1,000m2 addition was designed by Basel-based architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, who designed the recent addition to the Tate Modern. Basel-based studio Dieter Thiel designed the interior and exhibition spaces. Thiel previously worked with Vitra on exhibition design and has done projects for Adidas, pen manufacturer Lamy and lighting company Ansorg, among others.

The centrepiece of the Schaudepot is a permanent exhibition with more than 400 pieces of modern industrial design from 1800 to the present, including early Bentwood design, Classical Modernist icons by Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto and Gerrit Rietveld, colourful Pop-era plastics and more recent 3D printed designs.

The permanent exhibition, which features the chronological “canon of Vitra” along with some lesser-known pieces, is accompanied by smaller temporary exhibitions relating to the main collection, beginning with a 430-piece display that follows the history of furniture design from the late 18th century to present.

The modern interior design makes use of large steel and glass shelving and fluorescent lighting to eschew showiness and emphasise the furniture designs as the focal point in a cathedral-like space, says the Vitra Design Museum's chief curator Jochen Eisenbrand. Each design is assigned a number, which patrons can enter into a tablet to learn more information about the piece's designer, manufacturer and date of creation. As its name suggests, the building's curatorial design aestheticises its function as an open-viewing storehouse.

“Dieter Thiel decided to move away from the too-busy shelving system that we had used on other projects for a more minimal and flexible design that can be moved up or down depending on what pieces go in it,” says Eisenbrand. “We wanted the pieces to be the main source of visual interest in the space.”

The building's basement, which formerly housed the collection out of public view, can now be accessed via a staircase. Four large windows invite visitors to peer in at the Scandinavian, Italian, lighting and Eames collections.

“We're just relieved and excited to finally have the space to bring the pieces out of storage and into the public museum. Many of them have been in storage since 1989 when the main museum opened,” says Eisenbrand.

The building sits on the Vitra campus, which acts as a hub for the Swiss furniture manufacturer and was visited by 350,000 people last year. The site features buildings by contemporary architects including Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando and the late Zaha Hadid.

All images courtesy of the Vitra Design Museum.

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design

“Capture the human perspective”

Re-named Snap Inc.

Check out in two clicks

“Securing the products shoppers like”

Design schools fail to cultivate a love of language

Everyone thinks they can write

Bad writing is bad thinking written down

Writers write, designers design, and that's that

Interesting words need “boring” design

How to do it

Mozilla shortlisted four logos in its rebrand project

The visual identity for UEFA Euro 2020 was revealed

The creative industries were invited to share views on the impact of Brexit

Oculus Rift launched in the UK

Concepts were created for supposedly comfier train seats

A “new design hub”

Full-time and part-time

10 students to a course

An “alternative” route into design

“Competent, inspired, dedicated students”

Unite all European citizens of football

“Bridges become common denominators”

Demo presentations in store

Oculus Touch to be released in October

Panel: Graphics and Music: Past, Present and Future

Panel: How to be creative and successful when you are dyslexic

Panel: The Power of Packaging

Panel: Not just a product Brand-building in unexpected ways

Masterclass: Marina Willer How to survive as a female designer

Other talks to catch:

The NHS announced it will have a complete digital overhaul

The new plastic £5 note design rolled out

Just Eat revealed a colourful rebrand

Addison Lee revealed a new visual identity

Plumen unveiled its new energy efficient light bulb

Installations

Tent London

Guest country pavilion

Other countries

Nine virtual exhibitions and 300,000 specimens

High resolution images and 360° video

A Smile in the Mind, by The Partners

25 Years of Editions, by Sebastian Bergne

Toilet Break, by Dirty Furniture and The Shit Museum

Silhouettes and Shadows, by Photofusion and Rockarchive

Below Stairs, by Sir John Soane's Museum

New spectrum of colours

Chatbot interacts with customers

Identity centred around a “simple straight line”

“No nonsense” app and website design

The Smile, by Alison Brooks

Mini Living, by Asif Khan

Beloved, by Tabanlıoğlu Architects

Split Shift installation, by Bert & May and Darkroom

London Design Biennale

References original logo

£5 million marketing campaign

“Two lights in one”

“Sustainable design lacks sex appeal”

Inspired by the PH lamp

Reduced delivery time

Electric drive system

1.5 million deaths could be avoided

“The technology can get a bit of the limelight”

Expected by the end of 2017

Also look out for:

Deliveroo adopted an angular new logo

Apple unveiled the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus

The London Design Biennale opened

A new 3D printing pen launched

Ikea rolled out its convenience store concept more widely

Shower curtains, trays, socks and bags

People

Consultancies

Taller, slimmer bottle

Hand drawn wordmark

“Reinforce personal connection with her followers”

“Natural, simple and honest”

2% of Chinese women use tampons

Chinese characters used in branding