What a Load of Rubbish!

Studio recently took a short break in Amsterdam and when we arrived, it was bin day. Or so we thought.

Turns out there had been a ten day strike by the dustmen and this beautiful city had been turned into a rubbish tip. I love the nine streets area which borders the Jordaan and on every corner and each picturesque bridge – piles of the rotting stuff. Plus, there had been some opportunistic fly-tipping with an arm chair, sofas and even a washing machine being dumped in the nearby Noordermarket.







Hopefully the striking bin men got their settlement and Amsterdam and its visitors re-claimed the streets.

More pics from this visit over on the Studio Flickr site.

A Riot of Our Own – Mick Jones Rock & Roll Archive at NUCA

When I first heard that the Mick Jones Rock and Roll Archive was coming to Norwich, I was gob smacked. I'd missed it last year when it had been first staged in London. What made it doubly sweet was that it was being hosted by Norwich University College of the Arts.



It's a unique collection of ephemera that Mick Jones of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite has obsessed over for, well, since he was a kid. And it's not all music related - my favourite part of the show are some of his childhood toys, in particular the tin soldiers which recreate Rorke's Drift from the film Zulu. But the Clash memorabilia is inspiring – featuring stage outfits and guitars all placed next to graphics and fanzines from the punk era - as you can tell from the pictures featuring my son Billy, the organisers are not precious about this stuff being handled.





A few NUCA students helped to put the show together – apparently wherever the archive is staged, it is always bespoke to the space. So their judgement for display was crucial to how you enjoy and navigate the show.



Mick recently visited the art school to thank the students personally. It was a treat to meet him too. A very nice guy and very pleasing to see that he had 'english' teeth - you know what I mean - not the perfect X Factor ultra-white kind.



More pics over at the Studio Flickr site.
Now I must go and play the first B.A.D. LP very loud.

Type Only Solutions - nicely done.

A quick blog post, as this superb work by Up Creatives has just caught my eye.

Up have created posters and the catalogue for the London International Documentary Festival, and the work are examples that sometimes, a type only solution is the way to go. Either that or the designer is currently fascinated by the work of Josef Muller Brockman. Which is no bad thing.

Plus, the fragmented typography animates well too.





As I occasionally say when a student has designed a piece of superbly executed work - more please.

www.upcreatives.com www.lidf.co.uk

U - T - U - T - Viral Brand Awareness

How else can you promote a brand without stating the obvious? Uniqlo are a clothing company who embrace online marketing with originality and good humour.

They are the same guys that produced the widgets on this blog - the dancing girls telling the time, the weather with global views - each good examples of the combination of idea and cool design (plus some nifty coding too). Uniqlo recently launched another online viral campaign, which links nicely to Twitter users. Give it a try, it will please and amuse you - plus, you will feel encoraged to share it with others.

Tough marketing cynics may sneer and ask 'does it sell knitwear?', but this is just one feature of a promotional campaign. We can state the obvious elsewhere. Besides, I met Phil Baines once and he was wearing a superb Uniqlo cardie. And if it's good enough for Phil...

UTweet here.

PS. I haven't discovered yet who created this bit of fun - please comment if you know.

Back The Bid - Norwich City of Culture 2013

It's been a bit of a buzz recently. I know many agencies say this but its true, so it's good to pause and reflect on recent Studio developments. One of which was being asked to design the logo for Norwich's bid for UK City of Culture in 2013.

I think it's a great opportunity for those living in Norwich to display some civic pride and not feel beaten down by some of the cheap jokes and cliches we so often hear. Especially by those who can't believe life actually exists outside the M25. Besides, Norwich has grown into a cool little european city, there's plenty going on once you scratch the surface. Just one example is the Norfolk and Norwich Festival which continues to bring left field talent to the city. It's comparable with the same arts festival in Manchester (just not with Kraftwerk, but give it time).



It was exciting to work on this brief, despite the challenge of a tight schedule. And it was team effort, between myself and NUCA graduate Scott Robinson - I was very pleased with Scott's typography which gave the logo a contemporary edge. We also explored a visual approach where different photographic backgrounds can be applied behind the type. Which was nice. The campaign web site was created by Keri Lambden at Wintercorn – Studio's digital partner. I don't think Keri got much sleep in the days that lead to the launch. She did a fantastic job.



Please visit the Norwich City of Culture site and back the bid. It would be a brilliant for the city which could bring a potential £200 million boost to the local economy. But more importantly, give more exposure to an often surprising and genuinely creative city.

More press info here and there.

With thanks to Marion, Scott and Keri.

Save 6Music

The recent announcement to close 6Music and the Asian Network and halve the BBC's web pages has shocked and baffled the Studio here.

But I think Adam Buxton has the answer. Utterly delightful and well argued. And he lives in Norwich. Here's Adam taking on the BBC Director General Mark Thompson on the Channel 4 News.



Don't be idle and support the efforts to save these superb radio stations.
Find out more here.

1. Studio at Four Designers: 'The Logo is Dead'

Yes, according to London advertising and branding agency SomeOne, the logo is dead, apparently.

It was Studio's second visit to the Four Designer's conference in support of Norwich University College of the Arts and Andy Campbell's Graphic Communication course. Always worthwhile, but seriously, I can't stay in the Generator Hostel again (see last years post). Prison like accommodation aside, Patrick Baglee's event consistently offers a lively programme of speakers.

But there was the controversial, which came with the ominous warning from SomeOneinLondon that they intended to start an argument. I'm an easy going fella, but even they succeeded in ruffling my feathers. So here it is, it's all over for logo design - the public's perception of branding is wildly expensive logos like the recent Olympic 2012 identity. The Daily Mail cries how much? And the result is a mistrust of designers and the creation of brand communication.



SomeOne hates logos - they believe in Brand Worlds. Which to you and me means lavish photography, film and swirly colourful patterns and I guess somewhere, the brand's belief, attitude and aspiration - all fused into the quality of their product or service. So branding then. As anyone in the industry knows, it's not just the logo, it's the application that costs all the money. But let's not forget, the logo is a symbol - all that Brand World stuff defined by one icon. Somehow, one line of nicely set typo doesn't quite cut it (sometimes it does, but not always). I'm rubbish at asking questions after these talks, but what I wanted to ask was, "how would SomeOne re-brand Superman?"



I consider designing a logo the most difficult task - it takes research and understanding to distill a client's meaning and desire (for your belief and loyalty) into one entity. Always instantly recognisable, regardless of where you are in the world. And as Mike Dempsey stated in his lecture shortly afterwards, how else does a company differentiate from its competitor?



It's good for events like these to offer a different point of view and stimulate debate, indeed poor old SomeOne admitting to receiving 'hate tweets'. But I think such posturing can be misleading - is the logo dead? Or do you agree with Tony Wilson when he said, "You're entitled to your opinion but it's...".



Anyway, I think SomeOne like to stir things up a bit - just take a look at their home page.