An exciting new addition to London’s street furniture finally hits the road this week. The London bike hire scheme or 'Barclays Cycle Hire' goes live on Friday. The initiative encourages users to enjoy the city from a different perspective. Hopefully it will. Cycling around the city can be much more refreshing than a sticky summer tube ride!
In terms of brand collaboration I think it’s an interesting partnership. Similar initiatives include O2, which acquired the millennium dome and used it to associate the brand with great entertainment and priority ticketing tie-ins. Additionally, British Airways had a great tourism tie in offering flights on the British Airways London Eye, now owned by Merlin Entertainment.
I wonder what long term benefits will arise from Barclays Cycle Hire beyond just a strong and consistent city presence and the good will the brand is likely to elicit by helping people zip around the city in an environmentally friendly way. More...
I recently watched “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” on the esteemed Bravo network and I’m not quite sure how I felt about it.
The show is essentially “Project Runway” but open to all arts as opposed to fashion design. It runs a heap of talents from different artistic backgrounds (from photography to performance art) through different challenges, one per episode. Each are given about one day to concept, purchase supplies and execute. The work is then displayed in a psuedo gallery in the finale. After each challenge, an artist is eliminated by a panel of artsy judges based on how successful their work was (or wasn’t). Its the standard Bravo formula. At the end of the season, the last artist standing receives a bag of cash and their own exhibition at the Brooklyn Art Museum (not bad, actually).
Initially I thought the show was somewhat degrading to the art world. Isn’t the point of art to be a self expression or a personal reaction to something or anything? Isn’t it not supposed to be about a competition? Isn’t it not something that can be rushed under a deadline (especially if the deadline is just one day)? And finally, isn’t art supposed to be something that isn’t judged as right or wrong, but whether or not the work has something to say or connects with people in some way? It all seemed somewhat superficial and watered down; fake and contrived.
All of that aside, I watched – and I was thoroughly entertained. More...
Posted by
Jason Brown on
6/25/2010 3:48 PM |
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Interbrand design team in New York was recently challenged to compete against one another in a poster competition. With the current crisis in the Gulf still unresolved, each designer was asked to visually comment on the crisis and the social commentary surrounding it. A range of themes were explored including blame, responsibility, dependence, politics, and impact. The posters were then submitted to Greenpeace’s “Behind the Logo” competition.
We’re sharing this work here hoping it will simply inspire others to join the visual conversation. So let us know which poster you think best addresses the crisis. We look forward to seeing the conversation grow.
Is package design an art, a science, or a strategic blending of the two? When a brand has just 20 feet and five seconds to attract a shopper’s attention at shelf, companies need to develop iconic, unforgettable, instinctive package design that delights consumers and deliver sales.
To learn how instinctive design can connect with shoppers’ key emotions and produce as much as an 80 percent conversion rate, register now for an exclusive, June 15th webcast on the topic from Shelf Impact and Interbrand. I'll be presenting as well as Leigh Bachman, Interbrand's Executive Director of Brand Strategy.
To register, visit Instinctive Design: Developing iconic, unforgettable design that delights and connects with consumers.
Now that BP’s public image is an oily mess, Greenpeace has challenged its followers to create a more suitable replacement for the bright green logo that represents the fuel giant. As a designer, I must say, while putting a sad, oil-covered bird in the BP logo may be stylistically inconsistent and possibly have some production issues, it definitely gets the point across.
View the Contest site here.
Flikr page of entries here.
Looking for typographic (and artistic) inspiration? Letter Playground is a website that is summed up by its title. The site is home to a community of people who love exploring all things typographical. You can view the library of member creations (categorized by letter) and even add creations of your own.
Posted by
Interbrand on
5/26/2010 11:45 AM |
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In the fifth Demand and Desire podcast, Jez Frampton, the Global CEO of Interbrand focuses on creativity: The birth of your brand. Design transforms strategic intent into the living asset of your company.
Jez speaks with Interbrand’s experts in this field. First up is Andy Payne, Chief Creative Director from London, followed by New York's Chief Creative Director Chris Campbell, and Paola Norambuena, who is the Head of Verbal Identity.
The values and personality of your products and services are transformed through a narrative and sensual experiences. This is what forms your brand identity. Andy, Chris and Paola explain how this is done—and how brand equity is changing. You’ll hear a little of corporate design's history and see into its future: the fabulous dichotomy of reductionism vs. expressionism.
The wonderful experiences of your products and services start with a blank sheet of paper….
download mp3
Tags: jez frampton, creative, new york, london, verbal identity, design, andy payne, chris campbell, paola norambuena, reductionism, expressionism |
Categories: Creative, Design, Podcast
The new $100 dollar bill will be introduced on February 10, 2011. Our money is becoming a hodge podge of a classic design mashed with modern typography, a chaotic amount of anti-counterfeit graphics, and every symbol of American history that can possibly fit onto one piece of paper. What an eyesore.
Posted by
Mike Knaggs on
4/23/2010 10:50 AM |
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Seeing this clock concept by Rafael Morgan (titled: Little Time) was a good reminder for me to always push for new creative ideas, particular on projects we face with confining limitations. No matter the challenge, there is always a new and inspiring design solution. We just need to be relentless in finding it.
Whether it is a high-end album cover or grungy rock poster, art and design has always been closely married to music. From vinyl to A-track to cassette to CDs, it has been a relationship that has changed over time. But if there’s one consistency, it is that this relationship has always lived primarily in the world of print.
The print world has allowed both the music and art to flourish. But over the past decade, many have questioned its longevity. Would music digitalization and the way in which it is sold kill the need to go to a record store, and album art along with it?
Recently I purchased the self-titled debut album from Broken Bells, an eclectic collaboration between Danger Mouse and The Shins’ James Mercer. The result of this collaboration is a unique and tranquil sound that is hard to turn off. And just as engaging as the music itself is the distinct visual world artist/designer Jacob Escobedo has created for the music to live in. This world flourishes in both print and digital in innovative ways that give hope to a prolonged life of art in the music industry.
Rather than just a typical album cover and poster that exist in music’s past, Escobedo (who also happens to be the Creative Director for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim) and the band have created a singular, visual style that is executed across series of engaging tactile print pieces. From a series of posters to a deluxe box set full of various print pieces, each piece is a different work of art. While all of the print work is fascinating enough, the work gets really interesting when it moves to the digital world. More...
Tags: broken bells, danger mouse, james mercer, the shins, jacob escobedo, music, album art, art, itunes, adult swim, artists, designers, cartoon network |
Categories: Creative, Design
