…..be a housemate. Nestle have planted 100 golden tickets into Kit Kat and Kit Kat Chunky bars across the UK, the lucky finders will then have the chance of being selected to go into the Big Brother house. Genius marketing, Big Brother is watching…. Kit Kat sales rocket.
Liz Greening
Posted on Thursday, 18th of May 2006 Permalink
Fancy your name in lights? No problem with these new Alphaled LED lights from SKK Interactive. Last Christmas the designer Shiu Kay Kan was driving in West London and seeing many corny Xmas messages in the windows of tower blocks, realised that there was an opportunity for self expression. “Sad Christmas” perhaps?
The resulting typeface is interesting - the plastic pipes create very loose monoline letterforms. Shiu confesses that they weren’t originally designed to look so hand-written; it was a happy accident at the fabricators. Available soon at £10 per letter or £40 for 10 – West London is going to look quite different next Christmas…
David Rainbird
Posted on Friday, 12th of May 2006 Permalink
This Australian company has a refreshingly honest approach to greetings cards that is the antithesis of all things Hallmark. Like a visual Tourette’s syndrome, the slogan subverts the cutesy stock photography - perfect (so say the creators) for work colleagues, teachers, parking inspectors, your wife and Volvo drivers. Link.
Gary Butcher
Posted on Wednesday, 10th of May 2006 Permalink
18 designers were recently each asked to customise a Danish classic – the VIPP pedal bin. Ron Arad crushed his like a drinks can, Sam Buxton built a Mikroman city on top of his and Bill Amberg covered his in leather – no surprises there then.
By far the cleverest was the designer who didn’t change the bin at all. Paul Cocksedge made a base for the bin with an anamorphic image printed on it. Because the bin is a chrome cylinder a photographic image appears showing the bin’s original designers. All the bins were exhibited at The Conran Shop and auctioned for the benefit of Oxfam. Link (Thanks Martyn!)
David Rainbird
Posted on Wednesday, 3rd of May 2006 Permalink
The new Romanesco lamp at Habitat UK takes its name from the vegetable that inspired it. Designed by Ulrika Jarl, a designer from Sweden who has now settled in the UK, the lamp is beguiling. Made from multiple casts in polyester resin, each cast is fitted with L.E.D. lights creating a luminous globe of 140 cauliflowers. Yum.
Ruth Kent
Posted on Wednesday, 5th of April 2006 Permalink
Life is hard for those creative souls who, on being asked to amend work by a non-creative, can’t help but wear their emotions on their sleeves. However, help is at hand. Scabal offer the opportunity to express their emotions and to have the last laugh at the expense of the ‘suits’ who make their life a living hell.
Private Line is a collection of fabrics into which you can insert your own lines of text. The letters are placed vertically to create a pinstripe pattern in any colour-way. There appears to be no limit to the length of sentence you can have but you will be restricted to two typefaces: Cyrillic or Roman.
I wonder if they have a censorship policy.
Nathan Usmar Lauder
Posted on Tuesday, 28th of March 2006 Permalink
This week Umbro released the new England kit with an all-star unveiling in Manchester by members of the England squad including Michael Owen and John Terry.
The new kit has been inspired by the classic 1966 design, featuring a red shirt, white shorts and red socks. The England crest echoes the 66 crest and is therefore larger than more recent shirts and has a gold outline, matching the gold numbering and lettering on the kit. Let’s hope that by utilising the 1966 design elements brings the team luck in 98 days time.
Vikesh Bhatt
Posted on Friday, 3rd of March 2006 Permalink
So it appears that there is life after death, Paul Frank has produced this fab collection of bags, belts and wallets with Andy Warhol (must have been through a psychic medium). Paul Frank says his collaborations come about simply because they are inspired by the original product or artist, their hall of fame includes greats like Elvis and Barbie.
Liz Greening
Posted on Tuesday, 28th of February 2006 Permalink
Gone is the Face magazine, the Raleigh Chopper and the Verdana typeface. These are the shortlisted Top 10 design icons voted for by the viewers of the BBC2 Culture Show – six transport related designs, two video games, the classic red telephone box and the world wide web. If you feel strongly about any of the above designs you can cast your vote here for your favourite. Link
Nathan Usmar Lauder
Posted on Thursday, 16th of February 2006 Permalink
Inspired by Steve’s keynote yesterday, I got to thinking how far computer technology has come in such a short space of time. This Ladybird book from 1971 (and the revised version from 1979) makes the point with some nice 70s illustration into the bargain. Link
Gary Butcher
Posted on Thursday, 12th of January 2006 Permalink
