Shows/Galleries/Events (iv)

Summer Pavilion 2011 by Peter Zumthor, Hyde Park

The video above attempts to explain how beautiful this year's pavilion by the Serpentine is. During previous years the structures have all seemed very temporary but Zumthor's design has a sense of permanence to it. The show runs till October, I am looking forward to visiting it then to see how the mood changes as the seasons do.

photocredit

Design Blogs/Design Groups (ii)

Build

Build are a graphic design agency. Here is their manifesto:

We Trust: Our instinct. Strong creative instincts plus our combined experience help us to make powerful, relevant work

We Question: We listen; we question; we understand.  

We Believe: We believe in the power of good design. Design can influence people, change lives and make things better. 

We Ignore: Convention. A point of difference is not built from doing things the same way as everyone else. There is great value in being different

 We Are Responsible: We source materials and suppliers that are ethical and sustainable, we don’t just think it’s good practice; it should be a given.  

We Challenge: Preconceptions. It makes for a much more interesting world.  

We Look: To the future- but respect our collective heritage.

And I totally agree with all the points above. 

Above is packaging which is a response to the government proposing to sell cigarettes in plain white packaging to limit they're appeal.  Build, tried to design packaging which looked good while still warning smokers.

Here is their blog - http://blog.wearebuild.com/

Things

Found this leaf under my new bed in Surbiton. Scary.

Shows/Galleries/Events (iii)

Girls+Zines @ Tatty Devine

This is the show that I curated this summer! After completing my foundation I just wanted to do my own thing and write my own brief for once. I have been making zines since I was fifteen and it's such a big part of my life, so I wanted to put on a show to celebrate all the brilliant people who make zines in their bedrooms at night. My friends at Tatty Devine were kind enough to host the show and it runs till late September. 

The show consisted of a zine library that people could browse and donate their own zines to, I really wanted to encourage reading so I created beanbags and a seating area for people to lounge in. I received an overwhelming amount of submissions to the show so I created a zine exchange where people could bring along their own publication and do a swap. I screen printed my own publication to go with the show, also. After the show I am donating all the publications to the Women's Library in Shoreditch to be archived and read by future generations.

It was really exciting putting on my own show! As it was my first time doing one by myself, I have learnt so much and also thought of so many ways I can improve it.
It would be great to do another one next summer or even a pop-up shop.
 

Great Typography (ii)

This typography was found on a stall at Rye's annual fair. I especially like the typography made from ladders and how on the "s" someone is walking their dog. To me this typography is really playful and it seems to be working for the stall holder, as it looks like the sign has been around for a few years!

Links to websites that I like (ii)

http://thesartorialtwist.com/

Scott Schuman has become notorious for his ability to recognise "good" street style through the super influential blog The Sartorialist. However, I think that his choices and photographs are always a bit the same and predictable. The Sartorialtwist, however, generates new brilliant fashion opportunities and despite looking a tiny bit mismatched, Schuman's photographic style somehow keeps these collages in unison.

Colour

I love bright colours so much. The photograph above is a lady I saw in Spitalfields looking brilliant doing some colour blocking. Such a great bold look. And below is my Dad wearing two very bright belts at once, that look like tic tacs. Not as impressive as the lady at the cash point.

Great Typography (i)

 

Here is a "Z" that I spotted in Hastings. It was on the inside of one of the doors on the huts that are used for drying out fish by the local fisherman. The huts have such an ominous presence. And are really smelly too!

Design Blogs/Design Groups (i)

This Is It Collective

Several years back at a Kingston illustration degree show, I bought a neat little zine called "This Is It" from the show stall. The authours published this zine every week during their time at Kingston. Several years later I realised that this zine was made by the collective This Is It, who now work on commercial projects and do individual freelance work in their collective.

The collective is made up of some of my fave people including the wicked Rose Blake and Laura Bird. Below is their latest film "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared". I think it is superb and very slick. Plus I'm a sucker for puppetry.

Links to websites that I like (i)

http://spitalfieldslife.com/

This website is really ace, all about Spitalfields. If you're fed up of Hoxton Hipsters, this website is so refreshing to read. Whether writing about keeping Duke of Uke on Cheshire St open or an interview with the owner of a flower stall on Columbia Rd it will certainly open your eyes to some (less obvious) great places and people in east London.

Shows/Galleries/Events (ii)

The Coral Reef @ The Tate Britain (by Mike Nelson)

Normally shows are very hyped up big banners and lots of signs and publicity within the museum they are displayed in. However when my family and I asked where in the Tate this show was, even the lady at the information point was vaguely aware that this show existed. We found it by looking for a door on the ground floor with no signs next to it but a guard on a chair.

This hidden installation leads you through to a labrynth of rooms that all seem vaguely familiar, like mini cab offices and brothel-y vibes. My parents said they reminded them of nightclubs they used to go to - they must have gone to some pretty grimey places! I think it is a successful piece as I felt like I was in a totally different time and place. 

If you've got four minutes to spare, I would watch this video. If you've got more time to spare, go along and see it ...

Swiss

This foil packaging is brilliant. It was from my chocolate Swiss army knife my dad bought back for me from the factory. Swiss Army are a really great company in my opinion because they really take on board features people want added to their knives. The latest feature that is in demand the most today is a pull out USB, how fantastic! Adaptation at its best, in my opinion.

Shows/Galleries/Events (i)

Back in July I attended a talk curated by It's Nice That (where I was interning at the time) at the Red Bull Studios. I had previously attended one on "digital experience" but I found the talkers in this one more engaging. 

I had not heard of Troika's work before. They specialise in combining art, design, science and architecture. The piece that really got me excited was "All the Time in the world" at British Airways Heathrow Terminal 5. The speakers told us how it was ridiculous was that in airports information  is displayed (mainly numerical data) on full colour,  high definition, massive screens - do we need to have these power hungry plasmas displaying simple textual information at airports? I think they raised a very fair point. 

The outcome was a typographic version of the world clock, with holiday destinations to forgotton cultures being displayed in the departure lounge. They described how they created the font making it as simple as possibe (like the typography on a calculator) and to do so they developed a new typology of electroluminescent display, called 'Firefly'. The stripped back simplicity of this type as well as the visibility of how the screen works in beautiful!

"All the Time in the World" - 2008

Here you can see the paths that form the typography.

George Hardie was another speaker. Most famous for the image below. He said not to be afraid of using found artwork and not to forget to use books as visual aids. Two tips I will take on board.

Hardie's artwork for Pink Floyd

one

Hello. I hope this blog gives you a bit of an understanding of what influences me, what I like and what I get up to! 

This is my desk on a bad day.