Noisy Decent Graphics

I wish more galleries would do this

New typeface for GOV.UK

I don't talk about GDS on here enough, do I? Will try to rectify that.

Last week we released the latest version with some design updates. The biggest one is that we've started using a new typeface. It's callled New Transport and is a digital version of Jock Kinnear and Margaret Calvert's Transport designed in the late fifties and still used on the UK road signs.

Margaret and Henrik Kubel have been working on a new digital version with 6 weights - the original had just one. 

We're proud to be the first people to use it.

I've written more about it on the GDS blog.

 

a child's cultural canon - redux cc @russelldavies

Ages ago, when blogging was hip, Russell wrote about a child's cultural canon.

We were listening to The Beatles in the car yesterday. First time Arthur had let us listen to 'grown-up music'. Anne was saying how there's a bunch of stuff it would be good if Arthur just knew. The stuff that she and I picked up just by cultural osmosis and that helped us get pleasure from the world, but which he very well might not. Like The Beatles. Or the book of common prayer. Neither of us are Christians but we've both spent lots of time in Church and are therefore familiar with the rhythms and phrases of the CofE. Which means you get much more out of some things - like 40 Years On, for example, our favourite play ever.

The other day I saw a (supposed) playlist for the Olympic opening ceremony. I think it comes close to a child's cultural canon. It's certainly a great start, I'd love to have it in the car. I love the way it has the Beatles but also the Big Ben chimes. I love the way it has MIA 'Paper Planes' and Simon May 'EastEnders theme'. Brilliant.

And best of all, I presume you will soon be able to buy it in handy mp3 form with a Wenlock embossed on the front of each song.

God, I'm excited about the summer.

Here's the full list:

Captain Algernon Drummond/William Johnson Cory - 'Eton Boating Song'
Elgar/AC Benson - 'Land of Hope and Glory'
The Jam - 'Going Underground'
Muse - 'Map of the Problematique'
Big Ben Chimes
Sex Pistols - 'God Save the Queen'
The Clash - 'London Calling'
Simon May - EastEnders Theme
The Shipping Forecast
Sir Hubert Parry/William Blake - 'Jerusalem'
Elgar - 'Nimrod'
Handel - 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba'
Eric Coates - 'Dambusters March'
Handel - 'Music for the Royal Fireworks'
Monty Norman - James Bond Theme
Mike Oldfield - 'Tubular Bells'
Mike Oldfield - 'In Dulci Jubilo'
Vangelis - 'Chariots of Fire'
BBC News 1954
Arthur Wood - The Archers Theme
Winifred Atwell - 'Black and White Rag'
Sugababes - 'Push the Button'
OMD - 'Enola Gay'
David Rose - 'The Stripper'
Lionel Bart - 'Food Glorious Food'
Irwin Kostal, Richard Sherman, Robert Sherman - 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks'
Rizzle Kicks - 'When I Was a Youngster'
Eric Clapton - 'Wonderful Tonight'
Colin Tully - Gregory's Girl Theme
William Pitt - 'City Lights'
The Who - 'My Generation'
The Rolling Stones - 'Satisfaction'
Millie Small - 'My Boy Lollipop'
The Kinks - 'All Day and All of the Night'
The Beatles - 'She Loves You'
Mud - 'Tiger Feet'
Led Zeppelin - 'Trampled Under Foot'
The Specials - 'A Message to You Rudy'
David Bowie - 'Starman'
Queen - 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
Sex Pistols - 'Pretty Vacant'
Duran Duran - 'The Reflex'
New Order - 'Blue Monday'
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - 'Relax'
Soul II Soul - 'Back To Life'
Happy Mondays - 'Step On'
Eurythmics - 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
The Verve - 'Bittersweet Symphony'
Prodigy - 'Firestarter'
Underworld - 'Born Slippy'
Jaan Kenbrovin, John William Kellette - 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles'
Blur - 'Song 2'
Dizzee Rascal - 'Bonkers'
Tigerstyle - 'Nacnha Onda Nei' (contains Michael Jackson - 'Billie Jean', Queen & David Bowie - 'Under Pressure' and Ilaiyaraaja - 'Naanthaan Ungappanda')
Arctic Monkeys - 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor'
Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse - 'Valerie'
Radiohead - 'Creep'
Muse - 'Uprising'
Kano & Mikey J - 'Random Antics'
Tinie Tempah - 'Pass Out'
MIA - 'Paper Planes'
Coldplay - 'Viva La Vida'
The Chemical Brothers - 'Galvanize'
Franz Ferdinand - 'Take Me Out'
Kaiser Chiefs - 'I Predict a Riot'
Roll Deep - 'Shake a Leg'
Adele - 'Rolling in the Deep'
Oasis - 'The Hindu Times'
Oasis - 'Wonderwall'
Emeli Sande - 'Heaven'
William Monk/Henry Francis - 'Abide With Me'
Pink Floyd - 'Eclipse'
The Beatles - 'The End'
The Beatles - 'Hey Jude'
David Bowie - 'Heroes'
Eric Spear - Coronation Street Theme
Ron Grainer - Doctor Who Theme
John Philip Sousa - Monty Python Theme/'The Liberty Bell' 
David Bowie - 'Absolute Beginners'

I must have read that thing a thousand times

Some time ago Anthony Burrill very kindly gave me a print. This one.

Picture from Anthony's site.

It's a lovely thing and I remember thinking, oooh that will go nicely in the space at the top of the landing. I intended to get it framed and hang it up. The weeks passed by and I started to worry about the message.

The top of our landing is a place the kids walk past every morning, the sun shines through the window and fills this space with light. This print, with it's bold, clear message would be unmissable. I started to worry that "you know more than you think you do" wasn't the right message for children, ages 0-7, to be faced with every morning.

Sure, I know what it's getting at. I understand the point it's making, but I'm not sure it's helpful advice to a three year old. A jaded 30 something adult - yes. A sponge like brain just starting school - not so much.

IT IS POSSIBLE I'M OVER THINKING THIS.

Yes, it is. I'm aware of that. But once a thought gets in your head, you can't let it go, can you? So I started thinking about what message I would like to greet my children every morning for the next 20 years or so. Tough brief.

I've been meaning to blog this next bit ever since I started blogging but have never got round to it. The Roald Dahl book, Danny Champion of the World has, I think, had a huge impact on my creative career. This passage has always stuck with me. 

 

"Ours was just a small village school, a squat ugly red-brick building with no upstairs rooms at all. Above the front door was a big grey block of stone cemented into the brickwork, and on the stone it said, THIS SCHOOL WAS ERECTED IN 1902 TO COMMEMORATE THE CORONATION OF HISROYAL HIGHNESS KING EDWARD VII. I must have read that thing a thousand times. Every time I went in the door it hit me in the eye. I suppose that’s what it was there for. But it’s pretty boring to read the same old words over and over again, and

I often thought how nice it would be if they put something different up there every day, something really interesting.

My father would have done it for them beautifully. He could have written it with a bit of chalk on the smooth grey stone and each morning itwould have been something new. He would have said things like,

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE LITTLE YELLOW CLOVER BUTTERFLY OFTEN CARRIES HIS WIFE AROUND ON HIS BACK?

Another time he might have said,

THE GUPPY HAS FUNNY HABITS. WHEN HE FALLS IN LOVE WITH ANOTHER GUPPY, HE BITES HER ON THE BOTTOM.

And another time,

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE DEATH’S-HEAD MOTH CAN SQUEAK?

And then again,

BIRDS HAVE ALMOST NOSENSE OF SMELL. BUT THEY HAVE GOOD EYESIGHT AND THEY LOVE RED COLOURS.THE FLOWERS THEY LIKE ARE RED AND YELLOW, BUT NEVER BLUE.

And perhaps another time he would get out his chalk and write,

SOME BEES HAVE TONGUES WHICH THEY CAN UNROLL UNTIL THEY ARE NEARLY TWICE AS LONG AS THE BEE ITSELF. THIS IS TO ALLOW THEM TO GATHER NECTAR FROM FLOWERS THAT HAVE VERY LONG NARROW OPENINGS.

Or he might have written,

I’LL BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW THAT IN SOME BIG ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSES, THE BUTLER STILL HAS TO IRON THE MORNING NEWSPAPER BEFORE PUTTING IT ON HIS MASTER’S BREAKFAST-TABLE "

 

So that's the goal, right? "put something different up there every day, something really interesting."

But what that passage also does is demonstrate the significance of walking past a piece of seemingly meaningless text every day for years. You notice this stuff, it sinks in. So what would I want to sink in?

When we were kids we had a version of this poem on the kitchen wall. I say "a version" as I can't remember the words exactly and google has hundreds of different versions. But it went something like this.

 

If a child lives with criticism,
he learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility,
he learns to fight.

If a child lives with fear,
he learns to be apprehensive.

If a child lives with pity,
he learns to feel sorry for himself.

If a child lives with jealousy,
he learns to feel guilty.

If a child lives with encouragement,
he learns to be self-confident.

If a child lives with tolerance,
he learns to be patient.

If a child lives with praise,
he learns to be appreciative.

If a child lives with acceptance,
he learns to love.

If a child lives with approval,
he learns to like himself.

If a child lives with recognition,
he learns to have a goal.

If a child lives with fairness,
he learns what justice is.

If a child lives with honesty,
he learns what truth is.

If a child lives with sincerity,
he learns to have faith in himself and
those around him.

If a child lives with love,
he learns that the world is
a wonderful place to live in.

 

I've always liked the sentiment there. In my head I'd like to get that properly typeset and screen printed. It could be a beautiful thing in a nice frame somewhere. But it's too long, and the advertising creative director in me says you'd never read that from the top of the landing as you move down the stairs. It needs to be something simpler.

And so I thought about Jones's Get Excited and Make Things.

I've always loved this. I remember the day Matt did it. I remember the article that provoked it. (Full story here.)

I love it's positivity. I like the fact it's a rallying cry rather than a hectoring statement. I love the warm vagueness to it. It's smiple, powerful, a nice way to start the day. Matt is a friend and it feels like an artifact of my time. So that was it. I had found a winner. Up it went.

"I must have read that thing a thousand times. Every time I went in the door it hit me in the eye. I suppose that’s what it was there for."

I can only hope.

Too much graphic design

Or rather, too many ideas. Why do people do this?

James Bridle's Working shop

I wrote about James Bridle's Working shop on the RIG blog. Feel the need, the need to read.

Don't forget, one of the GDS design job ads closes today! Apply!

More detail here.

Jerry's Map

This is good. Mental, but good.

Want to work with me and the others at GDS? We're hiring designers.

UPDATE: Visual Designer job closed, Junior Visual Designer job closes today Monday 11th! Apply!

We've got a lot of work to do and we need more help.

There are two opportunities for Visual Designers and two for Junior Visual Designers.

Don't stress too much about the terminology used, just apply. Don't be put off by the "government" bit, or the fact the process looks more complicated than applying for an agency job – I'm looking for the same sort of people I would be looking off if was at w+k or Newspaper Club or any other place - GOOD people. People like Guy and Alex and Mark who have all joined in the last few months.

CLOSING DATE IS  TOMORROW! TODAY!

If you've read this far I'm guessing I don't need to explain what GDS is. (In case I do.)

For the clearest indication of how we think, have a read through our design principles they are a statement of intent not just by the design team, but by the whole team at GDS.

For the work we've done so far, have a look through this and this.

For what's it's like in the office, browse through these.

And lastly, there's an interview with me on It's Nice That.

There's a lot of work to do, but the conditions are right and we're building the team to be able to deliver something extraordinary.

Come and be a part of that.

CLOSING DATE IS  TOMORROW! TODAY!

 

Vulpine Cycling Fete

Yesterday we went to the Vulpine Cycling Fete. It was good.

Vulpine is a new, British Cycling brand. Rapha-esque with a hint of Howies, but much smaller. They've only been going 11 weeks. The fete was a mix of Innocent's Fruitstock, Russell's Interesting and Look Mum No Hands. The venue, Balham Bowls Club, was lovely. 

As a brand they've got Gavin helping ut with strategy and Luke (who, bizarrely, once did a placement with us at The Design Conspiracy) doing the branding. Smart.

The clothes are great too.

But this feels exactly what a young brand should be doing now. Small, interesting things. Making something with love and craft. Engaging with a community. Hiring smart people. Being visible and real online.

 

The After. Fizz. Amazing bike. Amazing wife. Dog on lap. Friends. Tears in eyes. instagr.am/p/LdkYjHStBt/

— Nick Hussey, Vulpine (@aslongasicycle) June 4, 2012

 

All good. 

 

Andy Cameron RIP

I heard the extremely sad news this morning that Andy Cameron had passed away. He died of a heart attack on Tuesday. Creative Review and Design Week have both written better versions of what I'm about to say.

So, written as notes, a tribute.

Andy started Anti-Rom, was Executive Director at Fabrica and Interactive Creative Director at w+k London. Most people would be happy to have done one of those things. To have done all three is amazing.

I remember when we got the Anti-Rom CD at college. It was the first well designed interactive thing we'd ever seen. It blew our minds. We spent the rest of the year making wobbly interfaces over Underworld songs. (Except me, I used the Spice Girls.)

I worked with Andy at w+k, and as many others have said he was kind, honest, supportive, encouraging and optimistic. Nic Owen said Andy was "always naive (in a brilliant way)" which is something I wanted to mention. I think he found an ad agency a culture shock and I think he was more valuable at the agency because of that.

Among many things he worked on the Kaiser Chief album thing that recently won a D&AD pencil.

At w+k Andy attracted a type of talent that ad agencies can't normally atract. Young developers and creative techs who agencies need but wouldn't have considered working at an ad agency unless someone like Andy was there. Those young developers and coders will miss Andy terribly.

Supporting young digital talent seems like a theme as you read the tributes to Andy. The list of people he taught and where they now work is staggering. Nik and Tom Roope, Andy Polaine and Sophie Pendrell, Andy Huntington, BERG, Google Creative Labs, w+k, Poke, One dot zero, Tomato and so on.

Of course we live in an age where this kind of news appears in unsual places. Earlier today Andy Cameron was trending on Twitter. As one of those young creative techs said, "I think he would have liked that."

But that's all work – Andy was a family man and his Instagram was full of their adventures in London and Italy. My thoughts go out to them.

Rest In Peace.

Where does the sky end?

Where does the building begin? Must be a hard building to clean.

Lovely picture from Sao Paulo by jeremyet

New Roberts radio – wonderfully Rams / Ive esque

I bought a new radio the other day. For the bathroom. It's a Roberts Expression. It sounds glorious and looks wonderfully Rams / Ive esque. Lovely stuff.

Pictures impossible to attribute as they're all over the web and I'm not sure what the original source is. Soz.

 

Road Pairs – Galt Toys

Mother-In-Law brought this round the other day.

Is there a similar company around today doing what Galt Toys did in the 60s/70s? Toca Boca? Pixar?

My new Converse ID

These new customisation websites are dangerous for graphic designers. This might end up being the colour scheme for the new kitchen.

Newspaper Club Student Week

Crossed posted on the Newspaper Club blog

Last week was our inaugural Student Week. Lots of students use Newspaper Club at this time of the year for final shows and portfolios so we put together a few blog posts offering advice to graduates from well known industry figures. In case you missed it, here's a quick round up.

Three writers, Henrietta Thompson, Nick Ashbury, Dan Germain, three illustrators Noma Bar, Neil Roberts, Andy Smith, three designers Max Gadney, Michael Bow and err, me, told us what one thing they'd recommend students read.

Kim Papworth, global partner Wieden + Kennedy offered us some advice on portfolios and getting interview.

Simon Manchipp from SomeOne told students of design they weren't designers.

And you might want to look at these posts (elsewhere on the web) from Michael Bierut, Michael Johnson, Frank Chimero, David Airey and Jamie Weicks superb The 50. Good luck with the final shows and dissertations and all that.

R/GA Getty Images Watermark Project

This is good. Watch the video, it explains it all. It's a really simple, subtle idea that does solve that 'oh bollocks where did I get this image from' art director problem. Nice work.

 

 

I've started reading blogs again

Using Google Reader. I'm restricting myself to 10 blogs. That's it. One in, one out.

Guardian Europe Season mastheads (from 2011)

The original idea was to change the masthead to the flag colours and the language of the featured European country - das Guardian etc. They liked it but ran with this compromise instead. Changing the masthead is, after all, a Big Deal. Looking back it still looks dramatic and makes an attention grabbing statement. Nice.

Designs of the Year 2012

I love this exhibition / awards scheme. 

I love the way the randomness of the selections accurately reflects the diversity of design talent in the world today (and what "design" means) .

I LOVE the fact you can't enter, you have to be nominated by your peers.

I love the fact I always see exciting new projects I wasn't aware of next to projects by friends.

(I love that we won the Graphics category in 2010.)

I would love to be on the nomination panel.

 

 

Why can they never make the text line up on the spines of the catalogues from one year to the next?