Pure adoration...

I realised there were too many videos in a row so thought I could break it up with this. This was an illustrator who I fell in love with as soon as I visited the site. My jaw dropped and I stopped what I was doing just to open up my InDesign file to write them a letter inviting them down to talk. Fantastic mix of illustration and typography. Check Si Scott out now!

Our ultimate aim in design...

Ok so it's another t-mobile ad but it just symbolise everything we should be doing with anything we produce, be it a design, an illustration, a photograph. We need to engage the audience and get people to work together. We need to inspire and make people happy. Remember this and you will always succeed.

Life's for sharing...

The Epica 2009 results were announced Friday 27th with the Epica d'Or in the film category going to Saatchi & Saatchi London's T-Mobile Dance ad which was the first ad to feature a flash mob. It shows a large team of dancers in Liverpool Street Station going crazy to a selection of tunes. Here is a link for the 'making of'. If only we could be there to watch it...


Wouldn't it be great to start one off for the society...

new generation of laptops...

going to be expensive... but so cool! Lets hope apple catch on :-)

Democracy...

Over the summer there was a competition to produce a poster based on the theme 'Democracy'. I mentioned it back in October in a post. Luckily one of our members, Evan Lelliot was voted for a place in the book that was produced! If you are lucky and nice enough he has recently screen printed a few here at uni and may sell you one for a tiny price...

It really does pay to enter D&AD competitions...

Marie is an ex-graduate from the university with some really nice interactive work. This was a project for D&AD she did where she won an award for it too! Shows that it is worth entering as you really can stand a chance of winning! She also did a lot of the work up on the walls in the Letterpress studio, for any who has been in to use and see it. She is currently working at Taxi Studios in Exeter.

24 hour comic drawing challenge...

Our Camera man, Jake Rowlinson (also a third year illustrator) recently took part in a 24 hour comic drawing challenge at Falmouth. Here is some of his work from the day. Check out more work from the day here.

The 100 Experiment

Check out our social officer, Mario's latest project and get involved :-)

Beautiful use of meat...

Although stolen from the Creative Review blog I just had to put this up. Fantastic. Or gruesome. However you want to look at it but still a great idea taking the famous Lord Kitchener poster to the next stage. It was designed by Karmarama and took over 18 hours to make and used over 16 different types of meat!

Ice Ice baby!

Some really fancy photography with ice, smoke and even solder! They can make some beautiful patterns and Jason Tozer has captured them through photography perfectly!

Letterpress God...

If you are ever looking for some funky inspiration for your letterpress project or even for any typographic project, take a look at Alan Kitchings work. He has been doing it for more years than any of us could ever remember and the mixture of colour and type works really well. Thanks Hannah for pointing him out!

Fluid type...

Alex is a freelance graphic designer from Barcelona. His work is a mixture of illustration and yet still typographic based. He has worked with a huge range of clients from Nike to British Airways. Worth a look!

Logo's for companies...

This is a website where you can sign up for free, where you are then sent briefs for logo designs (live briefs!!). If your design is selected then you will be paid for your design. It might be a nice little earner for anyone who is interested and the logos are for actual companies. Thought it would be good for you guys to know about it and will look good on the cv and good for the portfolio.

Magpie Studio

Great work on their website. This in particular took my eye. We so often work with macs that it is so refreshing to see something that is a fresh approach and done almost purely by hand.

the carrot rabbit was for "Gavin Martin Associates, a printing firm in London who wanted to promote their conversion to eco-friendly vegetable inks, whilst maintaining their commitment to the highest quality print. this approach offering their customers 'Unrivalled reproduction', and something to smile about in the process. the giant rabbit - painstakingly created in carrots - not only formed a memorable image, but kept the local city farm in fodder for a week."

3d Type...

Yulia Brodskaya is only three years out of university but has already made a HUGE name for herself working for The Guardian, Cadburys, and even Orange! She has a really unique style, you may have seen some of her work around and there is such precision and fine detail to the work! fantastic!

Underground Fan...

Think we all needed this London Underground Fan in London!!

Liv

We should think more.

Design is activism / Design is not activism
Design is pollution / Design is not pollution
Design should aid social mobility / Design should not aid social mobility
Design should be playful / Design should not be playful
Design is a problem solving activity / Design is not a problem solving activity
Design should serve industry / Design should not serve industry
Design should be made for the art gallery market / Design should not be made for the art gallery market
Design is a survival instinct / Design is not a survival instinct
Design is context driven / Design is not context driven
Design is white collar / Design is blue collar
Design is for the future / Design is for the present

Discuss.

What we see around us...

Inspiration does not only come from outside the uni but inside too. Have you seen something around you or in the studio that you fall in love with? Is there someone's work that you really admire? Send an image or website link to the Designers Society and we will post them up on the blog. Let people get the recognition they deserve and share them with the world. Here are two things I have seen around... whoever did them - if you are reading this - we would love a copy!

( I have since found Catkin Pritchard did the one on the left)

Chris Jordan

Chris Jordan has done some really unusual work. From photographing the inside of dead birds (honest, nothing has been added or removed) to the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Really emotive stuff!

Happiness this way

Although the competition is now over you can see all of the entrants over at the web page. There is some really beautiful (and funny) stuff. Happiness This Way is a collaborative study into what really makes us happy. Today’s mainstream media is on a mission to turn the general population into image conscious, body obsessed celebrity stalkers, I question does this really make anyone happy? This project aims to uncover what really makes you tick and to see if we can discover new trends.

Pearls of Wisdom from Wunderman...

Something I picked up from the Shellsuit Zombie blog,

"Laura and Mark, a graduate creative team from Brum, were asked by ad agency Wunderman to do something during their 2 week placement that would get them known in the company. Wunderman liked it so much the team are still there and we get to enjoy some pearls of wisdom from the team!"

Fantastic video which is pretty much what we are trying to achieve from this society. Guidance and advice for you guys for the future.

sometimes i do graphics...

As his 'about me' section says, sometimes he does graphics. It is amazing when you have something else enter your life, like a daughter or a niece or whatever how design seems to come second place and how priorities reorganise themselves. HOWEVER, when he does work, he does some beautiful and amazing illustrations in a very distinct personal style using a very mathmatical shapes and way of drawing. Paul Lee has done some great work for companies such as Sony, Adobe, Lexus and Google. Take a look and enjoy :-)

Bring it to life...

The new Guinness advert. Fantastic visual effects and a really nice idea going in a different direction to what has been shown before. There are very few amazing adverts. There is the sony bravia adverts, the smirnoff sea ad, and now this. beautiful. Here is the 'Making of' video too.

This is what AMV's executive creative director, Paul Brazier, had to say:

"Good Things Come To Those Who Wait was a strap line that ran for ten triumphant years. However every advertising campaign has a natural lifecycle. ‘Good Things’ was firmly rooted in the experience of drinking in a pub, yet Guinness is also increasingly popular at home and we wanted to find out how we could persuade more people to experience Guinness wherever they were.

"The answer, we believed, lay in another product truth – the fact that Guinness does not pre-exist in a container waiting to be poured. Instead it comes to life in front of your eyes. The liquid hits the bottom of the glass. There’s an explosion of energy. Clouds form - churning, swirling and surging. They defy gravity, moving downwards and then upwards, leaving behind perfect Guinness. At the same time, almost by magic, a creamy white head forms on the drink. When the process finishes something amazing has been created.

"If we could capture this thought we could start to get people to see Guinness, and therefore the Guinness occasion, in a new light - as a drink full of energy, colour and life appropriate for any lively, enriching drinking occasion. Thus the line ‘Guinness. Bring It To Life’ was born."

So a big production and a spanky new strapline... but is the ad any good? Your thoughts and comments please...

Type Tarts...

Illustrator, Photographer, Media artist, Designer. We all work with type. But does it all have to be so serious!?

Tart cards are the means by which many London prostitutes advertise their services. Step into almost any central London phone box and you can contemplate up to 80 cards inviting you to be tied, teased, spanked or massaged. This project was set for creative minded people to find the tart hiding in every typeface and create their own graphic numbers.

What is your favourite type and could you do the same?

Lets talk about creativity...

I don't know if you watched it a couple of months ago but Philippe Starck ran a competition for 12 british designers to compete to find the best. He says 'lets not talk about design, lets talk about creativity' and I found that although a program about product design, the lessons that can be learnt apply to all of us. This is a link to watch episode one and I strongly recommend it to all, regardless of creative background. If you learn something, watch the other 5 episodes. if not, then don't but at least watch this one.

Best haloween costume

Although many may disagree, and although this is a week too late, I thought I would share with you what I thought was the best, and most creative costume this haloween. A pumpkin made from two people!! Original and I bet you haven't seen this one done before!!

Illustrative type

This is some amazing and original work. Russian born Yulia Brodskaya's amazing illustrations are featured in the guardian, used by nokia, starbucks and orange. She experiments and explores ways of bringing together type, paper and hand crafted 3d objects. Beautiful.

Info Graphics...

Great inspiration for Information design. Mixing illustrative elements with design in new and unusual ways. It may all be in german but it is still a great source for inspiration... that and a book called "Data Flow"

Design Conversations...

Been a long time since we posted anything! Our apologies... damn work load!

This post is a website with a collection of thoughts from 30 of the worlds most inspirational creative professionals from a variety of professions, architecture, design, illustration etc. and they were asked two questions which they have been filmed answering.

What example of design inspires you most? and what problem should design solve next"

take a look :-)