Long Motorway Journeys and Design

So I've always been interested in maps, road signage, and how the fuck motorway systems actually work, but they're the given beauty of roads. However this toime whilst driving the 6+ hours back to Norwich, alone, there were 2 things that really got my design brain going. Firstly: lorry graphics, this isn't something I think about alot but when your on the roads a strong graphical presence on a lorry can be important. I think visually the 2 best lorries I saw were: Red Bull (half of the logo e.g. one bull was shown at the front end of either side of the vehicle so) it looks like the bull is pushing the lorry forward, and Ocado who i did not know about until seeing there brightly coloured fresh food orientated delivery vans on the road.


And secondly Tunnels. There is something about tunnels that I really like. A lot. I think it has something to do with the lines on the ground being mirrored by the lines in the lights, and something to do with it being a bit more dark and a bit more dangerous and your inside something and you cant get out until its finished, and it makes you feel like your driving faster and it just looks so pretty. I don't care if you think thats odd, I'm perfectly happy to admit I get a bit of a thrill from driving through tunnels, there, I said it.

Television Adverts

I don't have a TV so consequently miss out on almost all TV ads these days (the only bit I really miss) however I went back to my mums over easter for a few days and caught up with the latest in TV ads! Yay! I'm sure you've already seen them all but these are my hot picks:



Just nice eh?



Very clever



I'm not sure why but it gives me goosebumps.



Completely freaky, made me feel ill rather than wanting chocolate but I dont like Cadbury's anyway.



I didn't get this at first, until i found out who Bill Shannon is, then it just becomes a genius idea.

So that's my top 5 until I watch some more TV. They were closely followed by the new Anchor butter, T-Mobile, Wall's Sausages, Pepsi Max and of course the new Cravendale milkbar.

2012

So when the 2012 Olympics logo was released, almost a couple of years ago, it created quite a lot of controversy mainly because it doesn't seem to say anything about... well anything. It just seemed so dull and politically correct that I couldn't even be bothered to try and understand or even hate it. I got used to seeing it around and it became invisible until I went home last week and my 16 year old brother and I were watching the national lottery and he said 'look at that stupid logo, think like a teenage boy and tell me what you see'. Ha! well I saw it instantly. Perhaps I'd just make a good teenage boy or maybe it just is that blindingly obvious. Seems like a fair few others have noticed too! It did make me chuckle how that it's what our country is going to be remembered for, for a very long time, well done Wolf Olins!

Can you see it yet? heres a hint:

Norfolk Wildlife Trust

A Couple of weeks back I was given the opportunity to do a work placement at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Now this was something a bit different to what I had expected from a work placement. basically the trust and a shoestring budget charity don't have the funds for a design department they have one lovely lady called Rebbeca who does all of their PR and communications! So a third year named Brendan and myself were invited to go in as their temporary design team to take on a sweet brief to design some recruitment posters for volunteers for their 5 visitor centers! Exciting stuff! The brief was a bit tough as its asking people to give their time for free. Which implies that they already have to be interested in the subject to some extent.
We decided there were likely to be 3 different audiences for our posters: students, perhaps agricultural or environmental students who have the summer free and would benefit from having done volunteer work. Secondly the unemployed who may feel that by volunteering they are needed, also it shows commitment for when they are job seeking and thirdly the retired who may want to give back some of their stories to younger generations and also spend time in a natural environment. The work was progressive and fresh, it was difficult not to just play by the rule book and come up with something very NWT house style, we knew we had to break that mold if we wanted to catch attention so the rules were bent but not too much. the whole NWT team seemed pleased with our work and the posters will be put up this week that's when we will find out if they do what in theory we think they will: bring in the volunteers!

Apirat Infahsaeng

So its Easter and I'm still busier than ever and unfortunately not finding as much research time as I'd like so i thought I'd go back through some older stuff as good work need to be looked at at least twice anyway.
This guy: Apirat Infahsaeng is a bit of fresh air. He is a designer and visual artist who has so far worked mainly with typographical posters. He is based in New York and is one of the best kinds of designers; the kind who want to get out explore and try different things to make their work better. I first heard about his work in Territory 9 which is a beautiful journal (i'll write about it and link it soon).


Image scanned from Territory 9


for bunch studio


very lovely use of colour, I wish I had more confidence with colour

Police Pledge

These are popping up all over town on every other adshell. I like them, partly because the message is simple and also because the idea is nice and strong. I'm not a fan of type set on blue because it can be difficult to read but I think the choice of blue works well and when you see it in the street it stands out very well from all the concrete and tarmac. And uppercase Gill Sans is of course gorgeous, beautifully legible and just looks great the change in point size draws you eye into the middle of the text to read the smaller 'hidden' word. http://campaigns.direct.gov.uk/policingpledge/

I tend to think the government do a good job with their campaigning. This one made me 'pull my finger out' last year.



and these two are pretty good and wont be forgotten, especially considering the tricky target audience.





There is something that really interests me about those ads you'll never forget. I think it must be because they are often based on such a simple idea but are presented in often a slightly shocking manner. I may do an entry on them in the near future, just a thought.