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Comedy moments15 March— It’s been a busy couple of weeks – so much so that we are only just getting a chance to reflect on the new series of Typocircle talks. Alan has now taken over the reins as chairman, and the talks are off to a great start. The Typocircle committee have set out to find speakers who are inspiring and interesting – and not necessarily talking about type. Andy Altman of Why Not Associates was both inspiring and interesting the other week, AND talking about type – albeit type made out of granite and on a grand scale, as part of the Comedy Carpet. It was fascinating to hear the story behind making the carpet, starting with the initial passion for English comedy, the obstacles that kept popping up, and the general sense of persevering against the odds to make it happen. It got us thinking about those projects – the ones that if you had any idea how many dead ends, obstacles and sheer frustrations you were about to encounter you’d quit before you started. Having said that, we all agree here that forced ingenuity can be surprisingly rewarding – you can’t imagine the Why Not team would have been able to micro-manage the production of the comedy carpet if they hadn’t been forced to set up their own concrete production factory. In fact, there might be something in the nature of the best designers – focus? Stubbornness? Pursuing passions regardless? That means that the harder and more unlikely a project looks, the more they’ll rise to the occasion.  Looking back, some of our favourite moments have been working on projects where we were trying to create something on a grand scale, but with grand limitations. These are the ‘throwing ideas around over a few drinks, racking our brains, working out much it will cost and then how to do it for a quarter of the price’ projects. Deciding to shoot illustrious Art Director Alexandra Taylor for the D&AD New Blood Campaign, balanced on a milk crate on the roof of a building we had bribed our way to the top of, was definitely a case of thinking outside the box to get the result we wanted. We’re always interested in other people’s behind-the-scenes stories too, which is why talks like Typocircle are so great, and why we’re looking forward to Tom Gauld’s talk on 27th March. Comedy moments15 March— It’s been a busy couple of weeks – so much so that we are only just getting a chance to reflect on the new series of Typocircle talks. Alan has now taken over the reins as chairman, and the talks are off to a great start. The Typocircle committee have set out to find speakers who are inspiring and interesting – and not necessarily talking about type. Andy Altman of Why Not Associates was both inspiring and interesting the other week, AND talking about type – albeit type made out of granite and on a grand scale, as part of the Comedy Carpet. It was fascinating to hear the story behind making the carpet, starting with the initial passion for English comedy, the obstacles that kept popping up, and the general sense of persevering against the odds to make it happen. It got us thinking about those projects – the ones that if you had any idea how many dead ends, obstacles and sheer frustrations you were about to encounter you’d quit before you started. Having said that, we all agree here that forced ingenuity can be surprisingly rewarding – you can’t imagine the Why Not team would have been able to micro-manage the production of the comedy carpet if they hadn’t been forced to set up their own concrete production factory. In fact, there might be something in the nature of the best designers – focus? Stubbornness? Pursuing passions regardless? That means that the harder and more unlikely a project looks, the more they’ll rise to the occasion.  Looking back, some of our favourite moments have been working on projects where we were trying to create something on a grand scale, but with grand limitations. These are the ‘throwing ideas around over a few drinks, racking our brains, working out much it will cost and then how to do it for a quarter of the price’ projects. Deciding to shoot illustrious Art Director Alexandra Taylor for the D&AD New Blood Campaign, balanced on a milk crate on the roof of a building we had bribed our way to the top of, was definitely a case of thinking outside the box to get the result we wanted. We’re always interested in other people’s behind-the-scenes stories too, which is why talks like Typocircle are so great, and why we’re looking forward to Tom Gauld’s talk on 27th March. Comedy moments15 March— It’s been a busy couple of weeks – so much so that we are only just getting a chance to reflect on the new series of Typocircle talks. Alan has now taken over the reins as chairman, and the talks are off to a great start. The Typocircle committee have set out to find speakers who are inspiring and interesting – and not necessarily talking about type. Andy Altman of Why Not Associates was both inspiring and interesting the other week, AND talking about type – albeit type made out of granite and on a grand scale, as part of the Comedy Carpet. It was fascinating to hear the story behind making the carpet, starting with the initial passion for English comedy, the obstacles that kept popping up, and the general sense of persevering against the odds to make it happen. It got us thinking about those projects – the ones that if you had any idea how many dead ends, obstacles and sheer frustrations you were about to encounter you’d quit before you started. Having said that, we all agree here that forced ingenuity can be surprisingly rewarding – you can’t imagine the Why Not team would have been able to micro-manage the production of the comedy carpet if they hadn’t been forced to set up their own concrete production factory. In fact, there might be something in the nature of the best designers – focus? Stubbornness? Pursuing passions regardless? That means that the harder and more unlikely a project looks, the more they’ll rise to the occasion.  Looking back, some of our favourite moments have been working on projects where we were trying to create something on a grand scale, but with grand limitations. These are the ‘throwing ideas around over a few drinks, racking our brains, working out much it will cost and then how to do it for a quarter of the price’ projects. Deciding to shoot illustrious Art Director Alexandra Taylor for the D&AD New Blood Campaign, balanced on a milk crate on the roof of a building we had bribed our way to the top of, was definitely a case of thinking outside the box to get the result we wanted. We’re always interested in other people’s behind-the-scenes stories too, which is why talks like Typocircle are so great, and why we’re looking forward to Tom Gauld’s talk on 27th March.

Comedy moments
15 March
—

It’s been a busy couple of weeks – so much so that we are only just getting a chance to reflect on the new series of Typocircle talks. Alan has now taken over the reins as chairman, and the talks are off to a great start. The Typocircle committee have set out to find speakers who are inspiring and interesting – and not necessarily talking about type. Andy Altman of Why Not Associates was both inspiring and interesting the other week, AND talking about type – albeit type made out of granite and on a grand scale, as part of the Comedy Carpet. It was fascinating to hear the story behind making the carpet, starting with the initial passion for English comedy, the obstacles that kept popping up, and the general sense of persevering against the odds to make it happen.

It got us thinking about those projects – the ones that if you had any idea how many dead ends, obstacles and sheer frustrations you were about to encounter you’d quit before you started. Having said that, we all agree here that forced ingenuity can be surprisingly rewarding – you can’t imagine the Why Not team would have been able to micro-manage the production of the comedy carpet if they hadn’t been forced to set up their own concrete production factory. In fact, there might be something in the nature of the best designers – focus? Stubbornness? Pursuing passions regardless? That means that the harder and more unlikely a project looks, the more they’ll rise to the occasion. 

Looking back, some of our favourite moments have been working on projects where we were trying to create something on a grand scale, but with grand limitations. These are the ‘throwing ideas around over a few drinks, racking our brains, working out much it will cost and then how to do it for a quarter of the price’ projects. Deciding to shoot illustrious Art Director Alexandra Taylor for the D&AD New Blood Campaign, balanced on a milk crate on the roof of a building we had bribed our way to the top of, was definitely a case of thinking outside the box to get the result we wanted.

We’re always interested in other people’s behind-the-scenes stories too, which is why talks like Typocircle are so great, and why we’re looking forward to Tom Gauld’s talk on 27th March.

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World Book Day7 March— As today is World Book Day, we’ve decided to share some treasures from the NB library. With no specific selection criteria other than ‘pick a favourite’ we chose (in no particular order): The Three Robbers – Tomi Ungerer Twen: Revision Einer Legende – Michael Koetzle Tibor Kalman: Peverse Optimist – Peter Hall & Michael Bierut 20 Years work and play 1962-82 – Ken Garland and Associates: Designers A Smile In The Mind – Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart Photographer of Objectivity – Albert Renger-Patzsch Diagrams – Graphis At First Sight – Pierre Mendell Today’s Hieroglyphs – Hans-Rudolf Lutz   World Book Day7 March— As today is World Book Day, we’ve decided to share some treasures from the NB library. With no specific selection criteria other than ‘pick a favourite’ we chose (in no particular order): The Three Robbers – Tomi Ungerer Twen: Revision Einer Legende – Michael Koetzle Tibor Kalman: Peverse Optimist – Peter Hall & Michael Bierut 20 Years work and play 1962-82 – Ken Garland and Associates: Designers A Smile In The Mind – Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart Photographer of Objectivity – Albert Renger-Patzsch Diagrams – Graphis At First Sight – Pierre Mendell Today’s Hieroglyphs – Hans-Rudolf Lutz   World Book Day7 March— As today is World Book Day, we’ve decided to share some treasures from the NB library. With no specific selection criteria other than ‘pick a favourite’ we chose (in no particular order): The Three Robbers – Tomi Ungerer Twen: Revision Einer Legende – Michael Koetzle Tibor Kalman: Peverse Optimist – Peter Hall & Michael Bierut 20 Years work and play 1962-82 – Ken Garland and Associates: Designers A Smile In The Mind – Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart Photographer of Objectivity – Albert Renger-Patzsch Diagrams – Graphis At First Sight – Pierre Mendell Today’s Hieroglyphs – Hans-Rudolf Lutz   World Book Day7 March— As today is World Book Day, we’ve decided to share some treasures from the NB library. With no specific selection criteria other than ‘pick a favourite’ we chose (in no particular order): The Three Robbers – Tomi Ungerer Twen: Revision Einer Legende – Michael Koetzle Tibor Kalman: Peverse Optimist – Peter Hall & Michael Bierut 20 Years work and play 1962-82 – Ken Garland and Associates: Designers A Smile In The Mind – Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart Photographer of Objectivity – Albert Renger-Patzsch Diagrams – Graphis At First Sight – Pierre Mendell Today’s Hieroglyphs – Hans-Rudolf Lutz   World Book Day7 March— As today is World Book Day, we’ve decided to share some treasures from the NB library. With no specific selection criteria other than ‘pick a favourite’ we chose (in no particular order): The Three Robbers – Tomi Ungerer Twen: Revision Einer Legende – Michael Koetzle Tibor Kalman: Peverse Optimist – Peter Hall & Michael Bierut 20 Years work and play 1962-82 – Ken Garland and Associates: Designers A Smile In The Mind – Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart Photographer of Objectivity – Albert Renger-Patzsch Diagrams – Graphis At First Sight – Pierre Mendell Today’s Hieroglyphs – Hans-Rudolf Lutz   World Book Day7 March— As today is World Book Day, we’ve decided to share some treasures from the NB library. With no specific selection criteria other than ‘pick a favourite’ we chose (in no particular order): The Three Robbers – Tomi Ungerer Twen: Revision Einer Legende – Michael Koetzle Tibor Kalman: Peverse Optimist – Peter Hall & Michael Bierut 20 Years work and play 1962-82 – Ken Garland and Associates: Designers A Smile In The Mind – Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart Photographer of Objectivity – Albert Renger-Patzsch Diagrams – Graphis At First Sight – Pierre Mendell Today’s Hieroglyphs – Hans-Rudolf Lutz   World Book Day7 March— As today is World Book Day, we’ve decided to share some treasures from the NB library. With no specific selection criteria other than ‘pick a favourite’ we chose (in no particular order): The Three Robbers – Tomi Ungerer Twen: Revision Einer Legende – Michael Koetzle Tibor Kalman: Peverse Optimist – Peter Hall & Michael Bierut 20 Years work and play 1962-82 – Ken Garland and Associates: Designers A Smile In The Mind – Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart Photographer of Objectivity – Albert Renger-Patzsch Diagrams – Graphis At First Sight – Pierre Mendell Today’s Hieroglyphs – Hans-Rudolf Lutz   World Book Day7 March— As today is World Book Day, we’ve decided to share some treasures from the NB library. With no specific selection criteria other than ‘pick a favourite’ we chose (in no particular order): The Three Robbers – Tomi Ungerer Twen: Revision Einer Legende – Michael Koetzle Tibor Kalman: Peverse Optimist – Peter Hall & Michael Bierut 20 Years work and play 1962-82 – Ken Garland and Associates: Designers A Smile In The Mind – Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart Photographer of Objectivity – Albert Renger-Patzsch Diagrams – Graphis At First Sight – Pierre Mendell Today’s Hieroglyphs – Hans-Rudolf Lutz  

World Book Day
7 March
—

As today is World Book Day, we’ve decided to share some treasures from the NB library. With no specific selection criteria other than ‘pick a favourite’ we chose (in no particular order):

The Three Robbers – Tomi Ungerer

Twen: Revision Einer Legende – Michael Koetzle

Tibor Kalman: Peverse Optimist – Peter Hall & Michael Bierut

20 Years work and play 1962-82 – Ken Garland and Associates: Designers

A Smile In The Mind – Beryl McAlhone & David Stuart

Photographer of Objectivity – Albert Renger-Patzsch

Diagrams – Graphis

At First Sight – Pierre Mendell

Today’s Hieroglyphs – Hans-Rudolf Lutz

 

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Tabletalk 2


1 February— The second helping of Tabletalk magazine landed on the laps of diners last night. This edition features a cover illustration by Handsome Frank’s Alexandra Bruel, articles by Lynda Relph-Knight, Jim Davies, Tess O’Leary and Ed Wright as well as all the usual features, highlights of which include Jason Godfrey’s retro drink can collection and Carol Whitworth’s review of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. The magazine attempts to capture the culture and conviviality of the event, which bring together movers & shakers from across the world of design to enjoy dinner, a talk (last nights was by Garrick Hamm) and ‘conviviality’ (wine). Expertly printed by Gavin Martin Colournet, the magazine comes packed in a candy striped paper bag and is exclusively available to attendees and members of this invitation only event. Stay tuned for issue 3. Tabletalk 2


1 February— The second helping of Tabletalk magazine landed on the laps of diners last night. This edition features a cover illustration by Handsome Frank’s Alexandra Bruel, articles by Lynda Relph-Knight, Jim Davies, Tess O’Leary and Ed Wright as well as all the usual features, highlights of which include Jason Godfrey’s retro drink can collection and Carol Whitworth’s review of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. The magazine attempts to capture the culture and conviviality of the event, which bring together movers & shakers from across the world of design to enjoy dinner, a talk (last nights was by Garrick Hamm) and ‘conviviality’ (wine). Expertly printed by Gavin Martin Colournet, the magazine comes packed in a candy striped paper bag and is exclusively available to attendees and members of this invitation only event. Stay tuned for issue 3. Tabletalk 2


1 February— The second helping of Tabletalk magazine landed on the laps of diners last night. This edition features a cover illustration by Handsome Frank’s Alexandra Bruel, articles by Lynda Relph-Knight, Jim Davies, Tess O’Leary and Ed Wright as well as all the usual features, highlights of which include Jason Godfrey’s retro drink can collection and Carol Whitworth’s review of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. The magazine attempts to capture the culture and conviviality of the event, which bring together movers & shakers from across the world of design to enjoy dinner, a talk (last nights was by Garrick Hamm) and ‘conviviality’ (wine). Expertly printed by Gavin Martin Colournet, the magazine comes packed in a candy striped paper bag and is exclusively available to attendees and members of this invitation only event. Stay tuned for issue 3. Tabletalk 2


1 February— The second helping of Tabletalk magazine landed on the laps of diners last night. This edition features a cover illustration by Handsome Frank’s Alexandra Bruel, articles by Lynda Relph-Knight, Jim Davies, Tess O’Leary and Ed Wright as well as all the usual features, highlights of which include Jason Godfrey’s retro drink can collection and Carol Whitworth’s review of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. The magazine attempts to capture the culture and conviviality of the event, which bring together movers & shakers from across the world of design to enjoy dinner, a talk (last nights was by Garrick Hamm) and ‘conviviality’ (wine). Expertly printed by Gavin Martin Colournet, the magazine comes packed in a candy striped paper bag and is exclusively available to attendees and members of this invitation only event. Stay tuned for issue 3.

Tabletalk 2



1 February
—

The second helping of Tabletalk magazine landed on the laps of diners last night. This edition features a cover illustration by Handsome Frank’s Alexandra Bruel, articles by Lynda Relph-Knight, Jim Davies, Tess O’Leary and Ed Wright as well as all the usual features, highlights of which include Jason Godfrey’s retro drink can collection and Carol Whitworth’s review of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon.

The magazine attempts to capture the culture and conviviality of the event, which bring together movers & shakers from across the world of design to enjoy dinner, a talk (last nights was by Garrick Hamm) and ‘conviviality’ (wine).

Expertly printed by Gavin Martin Colournet, the magazine comes packed in a candy striped paper bag and is exclusively available to attendees and members of this invitation only event.

Stay tuned for issue 3.

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Chivas & Pininfarina25 January— We are delighted to be involved in the partnership between Chivas 18 and Italian design house Pininfarina. A couple of days ago, representatives from markets all around the world descended on The Century Club in Soho for a two-day conference. On the Wednesday the partnership between Chivas 18 and Pininfarina was launched. Dating back to 1930, Pininfarina has long been established as Italy’s leading design house. The company is historically connected to the world of automobiles – being Ferrari’s exclusive designer since 1952, and the creative force behind Maserati. The two brands have teamed up to create a special edition range of Chivas 18 products. Two levels of limited edition packaging and an impressive sculpture were designed by Pininfarina – all based around the concept of the droplet formed by liquid (Chivas 18) and air (Pininfarina). Very fittingly, the age-old production method of designing and building cars using a mascherone – a wooden ‘wire frame’ on which the shape of the vehicle came to life – resonated heavily with the oak barrels that are so crucial to the production of Chivas whisky. NB were brought into the collaboration to create the identity and brand book for world markets; expanding on the droplet theme. A range of printed items, toolkit documents, outer packaging were produced – culminating in the launch event. Working with the team at Ltd Limited we created a ‘retail environment’ with large format images hanging from a structure and two made-to-measure retail stands displaying the packaging. All this started with the construction with a ‘Blue Peter’ style model (see image) so it was great to be walking around the real thing a month later.  One thing that worked fantastically was the beautiful large format canvasses with images from the Pininfarina archive, that were simply hung around the venue. Sometimes a light touch like that can make a big difference. Its our NB ethos of simplicity and restraint.The full project will be on our site soon. Alan Chivas & Pininfarina25 January— We are delighted to be involved in the partnership between Chivas 18 and Italian design house Pininfarina. A couple of days ago, representatives from markets all around the world descended on The Century Club in Soho for a two-day conference. On the Wednesday the partnership between Chivas 18 and Pininfarina was launched. Dating back to 1930, Pininfarina has long been established as Italy’s leading design house. The company is historically connected to the world of automobiles – being Ferrari’s exclusive designer since 1952, and the creative force behind Maserati. The two brands have teamed up to create a special edition range of Chivas 18 products. Two levels of limited edition packaging and an impressive sculpture were designed by Pininfarina – all based around the concept of the droplet formed by liquid (Chivas 18) and air (Pininfarina). Very fittingly, the age-old production method of designing and building cars using a mascherone – a wooden ‘wire frame’ on which the shape of the vehicle came to life – resonated heavily with the oak barrels that are so crucial to the production of Chivas whisky. NB were brought into the collaboration to create the identity and brand book for world markets; expanding on the droplet theme. A range of printed items, toolkit documents, outer packaging were produced – culminating in the launch event. Working with the team at Ltd Limited we created a ‘retail environment’ with large format images hanging from a structure and two made-to-measure retail stands displaying the packaging. All this started with the construction with a ‘Blue Peter’ style model (see image) so it was great to be walking around the real thing a month later.  One thing that worked fantastically was the beautiful large format canvasses with images from the Pininfarina archive, that were simply hung around the venue. Sometimes a light touch like that can make a big difference. Its our NB ethos of simplicity and restraint.The full project will be on our site soon. Alan Chivas & Pininfarina25 January— We are delighted to be involved in the partnership between Chivas 18 and Italian design house Pininfarina. A couple of days ago, representatives from markets all around the world descended on The Century Club in Soho for a two-day conference. On the Wednesday the partnership between Chivas 18 and Pininfarina was launched. Dating back to 1930, Pininfarina has long been established as Italy’s leading design house. The company is historically connected to the world of automobiles – being Ferrari’s exclusive designer since 1952, and the creative force behind Maserati. The two brands have teamed up to create a special edition range of Chivas 18 products. Two levels of limited edition packaging and an impressive sculpture were designed by Pininfarina – all based around the concept of the droplet formed by liquid (Chivas 18) and air (Pininfarina). Very fittingly, the age-old production method of designing and building cars using a mascherone – a wooden ‘wire frame’ on which the shape of the vehicle came to life – resonated heavily with the oak barrels that are so crucial to the production of Chivas whisky. NB were brought into the collaboration to create the identity and brand book for world markets; expanding on the droplet theme. A range of printed items, toolkit documents, outer packaging were produced – culminating in the launch event. Working with the team at Ltd Limited we created a ‘retail environment’ with large format images hanging from a structure and two made-to-measure retail stands displaying the packaging. All this started with the construction with a ‘Blue Peter’ style model (see image) so it was great to be walking around the real thing a month later.  One thing that worked fantastically was the beautiful large format canvasses with images from the Pininfarina archive, that were simply hung around the venue. Sometimes a light touch like that can make a big difference. Its our NB ethos of simplicity and restraint.The full project will be on our site soon. Alan Chivas & Pininfarina25 January— We are delighted to be involved in the partnership between Chivas 18 and Italian design house Pininfarina. A couple of days ago, representatives from markets all around the world descended on The Century Club in Soho for a two-day conference. On the Wednesday the partnership between Chivas 18 and Pininfarina was launched. Dating back to 1930, Pininfarina has long been established as Italy’s leading design house. The company is historically connected to the world of automobiles – being Ferrari’s exclusive designer since 1952, and the creative force behind Maserati. The two brands have teamed up to create a special edition range of Chivas 18 products. Two levels of limited edition packaging and an impressive sculpture were designed by Pininfarina – all based around the concept of the droplet formed by liquid (Chivas 18) and air (Pininfarina). Very fittingly, the age-old production method of designing and building cars using a mascherone – a wooden ‘wire frame’ on which the shape of the vehicle came to life – resonated heavily with the oak barrels that are so crucial to the production of Chivas whisky. NB were brought into the collaboration to create the identity and brand book for world markets; expanding on the droplet theme. A range of printed items, toolkit documents, outer packaging were produced – culminating in the launch event. Working with the team at Ltd Limited we created a ‘retail environment’ with large format images hanging from a structure and two made-to-measure retail stands displaying the packaging. All this started with the construction with a ‘Blue Peter’ style model (see image) so it was great to be walking around the real thing a month later.  One thing that worked fantastically was the beautiful large format canvasses with images from the Pininfarina archive, that were simply hung around the venue. Sometimes a light touch like that can make a big difference. Its our NB ethos of simplicity and restraint.The full project will be on our site soon. Alan Chivas & Pininfarina25 January— We are delighted to be involved in the partnership between Chivas 18 and Italian design house Pininfarina. A couple of days ago, representatives from markets all around the world descended on The Century Club in Soho for a two-day conference. On the Wednesday the partnership between Chivas 18 and Pininfarina was launched. Dating back to 1930, Pininfarina has long been established as Italy’s leading design house. The company is historically connected to the world of automobiles – being Ferrari’s exclusive designer since 1952, and the creative force behind Maserati. The two brands have teamed up to create a special edition range of Chivas 18 products. Two levels of limited edition packaging and an impressive sculpture were designed by Pininfarina – all based around the concept of the droplet formed by liquid (Chivas 18) and air (Pininfarina). Very fittingly, the age-old production method of designing and building cars using a mascherone – a wooden ‘wire frame’ on which the shape of the vehicle came to life – resonated heavily with the oak barrels that are so crucial to the production of Chivas whisky. NB were brought into the collaboration to create the identity and brand book for world markets; expanding on the droplet theme. A range of printed items, toolkit documents, outer packaging were produced – culminating in the launch event. Working with the team at Ltd Limited we created a ‘retail environment’ with large format images hanging from a structure and two made-to-measure retail stands displaying the packaging. All this started with the construction with a ‘Blue Peter’ style model (see image) so it was great to be walking around the real thing a month later.  One thing that worked fantastically was the beautiful large format canvasses with images from the Pininfarina archive, that were simply hung around the venue. Sometimes a light touch like that can make a big difference. Its our NB ethos of simplicity and restraint.The full project will be on our site soon. Alan

Chivas & Pininfarina
25 January
—

We are delighted to be involved in the partnership between Chivas 18 and Italian design house Pininfarina.

A couple of days ago, representatives from markets all around the world descended on The Century Club in Soho for a two-day conference. On the Wednesday the partnership between Chivas 18 and Pininfarina was launched.

Dating back to 1930, Pininfarina has long been established as Italy’s leading design house. The company is historically connected to the world of automobiles – being Ferrari’s exclusive designer since 1952, and the creative force behind Maserati.

The two brands have teamed up to create a special edition range of Chivas 18 products. Two levels of limited edition packaging and an impressive sculpture were designed by Pininfarina – all based around the concept of the droplet formed by liquid (Chivas 18) and air (Pininfarina). Very fittingly, the age-old production method of designing and building cars using a mascherone – a wooden ‘wire frame’ on which the shape of the vehicle came to life – resonated heavily with the oak barrels that are so crucial to the production of Chivas whisky.

NB were brought into the collaboration to create the identity and brand book for world markets; expanding on the droplet theme. A range of printed items, toolkit documents, outer packaging were produced – culminating in the launch event. Working with the team at Ltd Limited we created a ‘retail environment’ with large format images hanging from a structure and two made-to-measure retail stands displaying the packaging. All this started with the construction with a ‘Blue Peter’ style model (see image) so it was great to be walking around the real thing a month later. 

One thing that worked fantastically was the beautiful large format canvasses with images from the Pininfarina archive, that were simply hung around the venue. Sometimes a light touch like that can make a big difference. Its our NB ethos of simplicity and restraint.

The full project will be on our site soon. 

Alan

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This Year… 201318 January —  Continuing our tradition of exclusive new year mailers we are pleased to share the latest in the ‘This Year…’ series. The aim, as always is to create an annual limited edition piece to send out to friends and clients, which might outlive the standard designer Christmas card. Each year we try to pick a topical theme and collaborate with a new group of creatives, working in a different medium to the previous year. For 2013, our Curiosity has got the better of us. NASA’s Mars rover will be reporting back on its mission to the Red Planet and potentially uncovering information vital to the survival of the human race. Or not. Either way, we couldn’t wait to find out what it comes back with, so we asked four friends to take a guess. Inside each folder is one of four signed, limited edition prints by either La Boca, Jonathan Burton, Katie Scott or Supermundane. 10’’ x 8’’ HP Indigo 5500 print on 270gsm Curious Metallics.Designed by NBPrinted by Gavin Martin Colournet You can see the four prints here, along with previous versions of ‘This Year…’ This Year… 201318 January —  Continuing our tradition of exclusive new year mailers we are pleased to share the latest in the ‘This Year…’ series. The aim, as always is to create an annual limited edition piece to send out to friends and clients, which might outlive the standard designer Christmas card. Each year we try to pick a topical theme and collaborate with a new group of creatives, working in a different medium to the previous year. For 2013, our Curiosity has got the better of us. NASA’s Mars rover will be reporting back on its mission to the Red Planet and potentially uncovering information vital to the survival of the human race. Or not. Either way, we couldn’t wait to find out what it comes back with, so we asked four friends to take a guess. Inside each folder is one of four signed, limited edition prints by either La Boca, Jonathan Burton, Katie Scott or Supermundane. 10’’ x 8’’ HP Indigo 5500 print on 270gsm Curious Metallics.Designed by NBPrinted by Gavin Martin Colournet You can see the four prints here, along with previous versions of ‘This Year…’ This Year… 201318 January —  Continuing our tradition of exclusive new year mailers we are pleased to share the latest in the ‘This Year…’ series. The aim, as always is to create an annual limited edition piece to send out to friends and clients, which might outlive the standard designer Christmas card. Each year we try to pick a topical theme and collaborate with a new group of creatives, working in a different medium to the previous year. For 2013, our Curiosity has got the better of us. NASA’s Mars rover will be reporting back on its mission to the Red Planet and potentially uncovering information vital to the survival of the human race. Or not. Either way, we couldn’t wait to find out what it comes back with, so we asked four friends to take a guess. Inside each folder is one of four signed, limited edition prints by either La Boca, Jonathan Burton, Katie Scott or Supermundane. 10’’ x 8’’ HP Indigo 5500 print on 270gsm Curious Metallics.Designed by NBPrinted by Gavin Martin Colournet You can see the four prints here, along with previous versions of ‘This Year…’ This Year… 201318 January —  Continuing our tradition of exclusive new year mailers we are pleased to share the latest in the ‘This Year…’ series. The aim, as always is to create an annual limited edition piece to send out to friends and clients, which might outlive the standard designer Christmas card. Each year we try to pick a topical theme and collaborate with a new group of creatives, working in a different medium to the previous year. For 2013, our Curiosity has got the better of us. NASA’s Mars rover will be reporting back on its mission to the Red Planet and potentially uncovering information vital to the survival of the human race. Or not. Either way, we couldn’t wait to find out what it comes back with, so we asked four friends to take a guess. Inside each folder is one of four signed, limited edition prints by either La Boca, Jonathan Burton, Katie Scott or Supermundane. 10’’ x 8’’ HP Indigo 5500 print on 270gsm Curious Metallics.Designed by NBPrinted by Gavin Martin Colournet You can see the four prints here, along with previous versions of ‘This Year…’

This Year… 2013
18 January
— 

Continuing our tradition of exclusive new year mailers we are pleased to share the latest in the ‘This Year…’ series.

The aim, as always is to create an annual limited edition piece to send out to friends and clients, which might outlive the standard designer Christmas card.

Each year we try to pick a topical theme and collaborate with a new group of creatives, working in a different medium to the previous year.

For 2013, our Curiosity has got the better of us. NASA’s Mars rover will be reporting back on its mission to the Red Planet and potentially uncovering information vital to the survival of the human race. Or not. Either way, we couldn’t wait to find out what it comes back with, so we asked four friends to take a guess.

Inside each folder is one of four signed, limited edition prints by either La Boca, Jonathan Burton, Katie Scott or Supermundane.

10’’ x 8’’ HP Indigo 5500 print on 270gsm Curious Metallics.
Designed by NB
Printed by Gavin Martin Colournet

You can see the four prints here, along with previous versions of ‘This Year…’

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Research & Craft9 January —  When we were briefed by the Royal Mail on the work around 150 years of the London Underground we knew we were in for some research. We bought and borrowed books on the subject - my dad had a bunch of out of print books (he’s a train buff) We went to the superb London Transport Museum in Covent Garden (see blurry iPhone images on the left). We used the online poster resource on TFL’s site which was a brilliant place to start.  Then we contacted the experts: Dr Stephen Halliday (who we found through reading one of his excellent books: Amazing and Extraordinary London Underground Facts, (David and Charles 2009) and the team of curators at The London Transport Museum. There’s a wealth of beautiful posters to choose from so it’s difficult to choose just four. So, we played with 3 or 4 posters in a row across a longer format horizontal stamp We wanted to evoke posters being displayed in the tunnel of the underground station, hung posters in an art gallery and the windows of a carriage. Once we had the concept down it was a case of researching specific styles, eras and artists in order to ensure we were representing the best set of 16 posters over 4 stamps we could.  We explored different ways to select our final posters and give a fair representation of the posters history. We started by looking at themes; distinguishing each set of 4 posters by colour? By topic? The full range of 16 chronologically? While these were good starting points, in the end it became a decision based on what worked best visually as a set, reduced down from over a metre in height down to around 20mm. We always had to be careful to cross-check our sources and gain the necessary permissions. That’s where the teams at Royal Mail and TFL came in handy; providing the expertise on choices, sources and facts. For this project, the hard work was the research and the craft was in the curation. Nick Read about the project on Creative ReviewBuy the stamps from the Royal Mail online shop.  The full project will be on our site soon.

Research & Craft
9 January 
— 

When we were briefed by the Royal Mail on the work around 150 years of the London Underground we knew we were in for some research.

We bought and borrowed books on the subject - my dad had a bunch of out of print books (he’s a train buff)

We went to the superb London Transport Museum in Covent Garden (see blurry iPhone images on the left).

We used the online poster resource on TFL’s site which was a brilliant place to start. 

Then we contacted the experts: Dr Stephen Halliday (who we found through reading one of his excellent books: Amazing and Extraordinary London Underground Facts, (David and Charles 2009) and the team of curators at The London Transport Museum.

There’s a wealth of beautiful posters to choose from so it’s difficult to choose just four. So, we played with 3 or 4 posters in a row across a longer format horizontal stamp

We wanted to evoke posters being displayed in the tunnel of the underground station, hung posters in an art gallery and the windows of a carriage.

Once we had the concept down it was a case of researching specific styles, eras and artists in order to ensure we were representing the best set of 16 posters over 4 stamps we could. 

We explored different ways to select our final posters and give a fair representation of the posters history.

We started by looking at themes; distinguishing each set of 4 posters by colour? By topic? The full range of 16 chronologically? While these were good starting points, in the end it became a decision based on what worked best visually as a set, reduced down from over a metre in height down to around 20mm.

We always had to be careful to cross-check our sources and gain the necessary permissions. That’s where the teams at Royal Mail and TFL came in handy; providing the expertise on choices, sources and facts.

For this project, the hard work was the research and the craft was in the curation.

Nick

Read about the project on Creative Review
Buy the stamps from the Royal Mail online shop. 

The full project will be on our site soon.

Tags: Royal Mail Stamps
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The Typo Circle in 20134 January—  It’s a real privilege to become the new chairman of The Typographic Circle. The Typo Circle is an independent organisation dating back to 1976. What really appealed to me was the fact it doesn’t really have an agenda apart from hosting inspiring people talking about amazing work whether its advertising, graphic design, illustration and, of course, typography. It aims to bring like-minded people together, to share ideas and to leave inspired.  How beautiful and simple is that for an organisation.  I’m very excited about this years’ line-up of speakers too. The new year starts of with a bang, with outgoing D&AD President Rosie Arnold of ad agency BBH talking on the 31st January. Andy Altmann of Why Not Associates follows in February, Tom Gauld in March, Jonathan Ellery of Browns in April, Chairman of Wolff Olins Brian Boylan interviewed by Adrian Shaughnessy in May and, last but not least, Michael Johnson of Johnson Banks in June. Phew. As part of my new chairmanship, the first job was to redesign the website. We wanted to celebrate the absolute wealth of past speakers, so collated as many of the past event posters as possible – the first time this had ever been attempted. We’ve also been able to catalogue all of the yearly award-winning Circular magazines, plus various souvenir badges from past events. One aspect that we’re particularly proud of is the new education section. Aimed at students and young designers, it features free downloadable guides of typographic advice, reading lists, links to type foundries and anecdotal ‘pearls of wisdom’ from design legends and past speakers. The colour palette is designed to reflect the shades of Colorplan – the paper stock supplied for our posters by GF Smith – one of our many sponsors that make these events possible. See you on the 31st. Alan

The Typo Circle in 2013
4 January
— 

It’s a real privilege to become the new chairman of The Typographic Circle.

The Typo Circle is an independent organisation dating back to 1976. What really appealed to me was the fact it doesn’t really have an agenda apart from hosting inspiring people talking about amazing work whether its advertising, graphic design, illustration and, of course, typography. It aims to bring like-minded people together, to share ideas and to leave inspired. 

How beautiful and simple is that for an organisation. 

I’m very excited about this years’ line-up of speakers too. The new year starts of with a bang, with outgoing D&AD President Rosie Arnold of ad agency BBH talking on the 31st January. Andy Altmann of Why Not Associates follows in February, Tom Gauld in March, Jonathan Ellery of Browns in April, Chairman of Wolff Olins Brian Boylan interviewed by Adrian Shaughnessy in May and, last but not least, Michael Johnson of Johnson Banks in June. Phew.

As part of my new chairmanship, the first job was to redesign the website. We wanted to celebrate the absolute wealth of past speakers, so collated as many of the past event posters as possible – the first time this had ever been attempted. We’ve also been able to catalogue all of the yearly award-winning Circular magazines, plus various souvenir badges from past events.

One aspect that we’re particularly proud of is the new education section. Aimed at students and young designers, it features free downloadable guides of typographic advice, reading lists, links to type foundries and anecdotal ‘pearls of wisdom’ from design legends and past speakers.

The colour palette is designed to reflect the shades of Colorplan – the paper stock supplied for our posters by GF Smith – one of our many sponsors that make these events possible.

See you on the 31st.

Alan

Tags: Typocircle
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201221st December—  Two-thousand-and-twelve. What. A. Year. It feels like yesterday that we were putting our This Year 2012 ‘End of the World’ mailer into envelopes. So far it doesn’t look like we’ve made anyone a millionare (albeit for the briefest of moments). Lookout - the 2013 mailer will be landing soon. We’re very proud of the work we’ve completed this year, which really kicked off back in February with the launch of the identity for the John Lewis Beauty rooms. This was quickly followed by the news that we’d scooped a Gold at the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards for our Museum of London ‘You are here’ campaign, following the Gold award from the Art Directors Club New York. Further campaigns for Knoll and London College of Communication followed later in the year – and in between we went to some interesting lectures and conferences; Offset and The Economist standing out in particular. We also did some talks; Alan went off to Canada to judge the ADCC and Nick spoke at It’s Nice That’s ‘Beauty in the Making’ series. Later in the year roles were reversed as Nick judged at New Designers and Alan debated authenticity for the Herman Miller Insight group. Websites for RLM Finsbury, John Lewis Broadband and Surname & Surname all went live once we’d completed work on their new identities. The new Typocircle site followed at the end of the year (Alan is the new Chairman). Channel 4’s Annual Report got some great press coverage, as did the innovative Annual Review/Life Saving Wallet we created for The British Heart Foundation. Meanwhile work was drawing to a close on CRUK’s best Annual Report to date and the Oxford Campaign report grew from strength to strength (as did the fund). In June the Design Council Summit identity brightened up City Hall, whilst in July we were treated to the Olympic torch blazing past the studio and Alan wore a kilt (and made a book).  Just before this we saw something truly beautiful, the follow up to London’s Kerning; our typographic map and jigsaw of Milan, commissioned by our friends at Wallpaper magazine. It’s been another stellar year for collaborating, with Michael Wolff, Johnny Kelly and James Graham teaming up to work on our Why Us? film, Jean Jullien, Genevieve Gauckler and Nick Asbury working with us on projects for The British Heart Foundation and more recently photographic forays with John Ross and David Stewart. Amongst all this we were handing out fresh new business cards, launching Tabletalk with head chef Lynda Relph-Knight and our Chivas 12 Tim Little partnership picked up the coveted ‘Can of the Year’ award. We’d like to thank all of our clients, suppliers, collaborators and interns for their hard work in 2012, we couldn’t have done it without you.  And we’re very excited about what the future holds; more great work and good fun in 2013, assuming the world doesn’t end before we get there. 201221st December—  Two-thousand-and-twelve. What. A. Year. It feels like yesterday that we were putting our This Year 2012 ‘End of the World’ mailer into envelopes. So far it doesn’t look like we’ve made anyone a millionare (albeit for the briefest of moments). Lookout - the 2013 mailer will be landing soon. We’re very proud of the work we’ve completed this year, which really kicked off back in February with the launch of the identity for the John Lewis Beauty rooms. This was quickly followed by the news that we’d scooped a Gold at the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards for our Museum of London ‘You are here’ campaign, following the Gold award from the Art Directors Club New York. Further campaigns for Knoll and London College of Communication followed later in the year – and in between we went to some interesting lectures and conferences; Offset and The Economist standing out in particular. We also did some talks; Alan went off to Canada to judge the ADCC and Nick spoke at It’s Nice That’s ‘Beauty in the Making’ series. Later in the year roles were reversed as Nick judged at New Designers and Alan debated authenticity for the Herman Miller Insight group. Websites for RLM Finsbury, John Lewis Broadband and Surname & Surname all went live once we’d completed work on their new identities. The new Typocircle site followed at the end of the year (Alan is the new Chairman). Channel 4’s Annual Report got some great press coverage, as did the innovative Annual Review/Life Saving Wallet we created for The British Heart Foundation. Meanwhile work was drawing to a close on CRUK’s best Annual Report to date and the Oxford Campaign report grew from strength to strength (as did the fund). In June the Design Council Summit identity brightened up City Hall, whilst in July we were treated to the Olympic torch blazing past the studio and Alan wore a kilt (and made a book).  Just before this we saw something truly beautiful, the follow up to London’s Kerning; our typographic map and jigsaw of Milan, commissioned by our friends at Wallpaper magazine. It’s been another stellar year for collaborating, with Michael Wolff, Johnny Kelly and James Graham teaming up to work on our Why Us? film, Jean Jullien, Genevieve Gauckler and Nick Asbury working with us on projects for The British Heart Foundation and more recently photographic forays with John Ross and David Stewart. Amongst all this we were handing out fresh new business cards, launching Tabletalk with head chef Lynda Relph-Knight and our Chivas 12 Tim Little partnership picked up the coveted ‘Can of the Year’ award. We’d like to thank all of our clients, suppliers, collaborators and interns for their hard work in 2012, we couldn’t have done it without you.  And we’re very excited about what the future holds; more great work and good fun in 2013, assuming the world doesn’t end before we get there. 201221st December—  Two-thousand-and-twelve. What. A. Year. It feels like yesterday that we were putting our This Year 2012 ‘End of the World’ mailer into envelopes. So far it doesn’t look like we’ve made anyone a millionare (albeit for the briefest of moments). Lookout - the 2013 mailer will be landing soon. We’re very proud of the work we’ve completed this year, which really kicked off back in February with the launch of the identity for the John Lewis Beauty rooms. This was quickly followed by the news that we’d scooped a Gold at the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards for our Museum of London ‘You are here’ campaign, following the Gold award from the Art Directors Club New York. Further campaigns for Knoll and London College of Communication followed later in the year – and in between we went to some interesting lectures and conferences; Offset and The Economist standing out in particular. We also did some talks; Alan went off to Canada to judge the ADCC and Nick spoke at It’s Nice That’s ‘Beauty in the Making’ series. Later in the year roles were reversed as Nick judged at New Designers and Alan debated authenticity for the Herman Miller Insight group. Websites for RLM Finsbury, John Lewis Broadband and Surname & Surname all went live once we’d completed work on their new identities. The new Typocircle site followed at the end of the year (Alan is the new Chairman). Channel 4’s Annual Report got some great press coverage, as did the innovative Annual Review/Life Saving Wallet we created for The British Heart Foundation. Meanwhile work was drawing to a close on CRUK’s best Annual Report to date and the Oxford Campaign report grew from strength to strength (as did the fund). In June the Design Council Summit identity brightened up City Hall, whilst in July we were treated to the Olympic torch blazing past the studio and Alan wore a kilt (and made a book).  Just before this we saw something truly beautiful, the follow up to London’s Kerning; our typographic map and jigsaw of Milan, commissioned by our friends at Wallpaper magazine. It’s been another stellar year for collaborating, with Michael Wolff, Johnny Kelly and James Graham teaming up to work on our Why Us? film, Jean Jullien, Genevieve Gauckler and Nick Asbury working with us on projects for The British Heart Foundation and more recently photographic forays with John Ross and David Stewart. Amongst all this we were handing out fresh new business cards, launching Tabletalk with head chef Lynda Relph-Knight and our Chivas 12 Tim Little partnership picked up the coveted ‘Can of the Year’ award. We’d like to thank all of our clients, suppliers, collaborators and interns for their hard work in 2012, we couldn’t have done it without you.  And we’re very excited about what the future holds; more great work and good fun in 2013, assuming the world doesn’t end before we get there. 201221st December—  Two-thousand-and-twelve. What. A. Year. It feels like yesterday that we were putting our This Year 2012 ‘End of the World’ mailer into envelopes. So far it doesn’t look like we’ve made anyone a millionare (albeit for the briefest of moments). Lookout - the 2013 mailer will be landing soon. We’re very proud of the work we’ve completed this year, which really kicked off back in February with the launch of the identity for the John Lewis Beauty rooms. This was quickly followed by the news that we’d scooped a Gold at the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards for our Museum of London ‘You are here’ campaign, following the Gold award from the Art Directors Club New York. Further campaigns for Knoll and London College of Communication followed later in the year – and in between we went to some interesting lectures and conferences; Offset and The Economist standing out in particular. We also did some talks; Alan went off to Canada to judge the ADCC and Nick spoke at It’s Nice That’s ‘Beauty in the Making’ series. Later in the year roles were reversed as Nick judged at New Designers and Alan debated authenticity for the Herman Miller Insight group. Websites for RLM Finsbury, John Lewis Broadband and Surname & Surname all went live once we’d completed work on their new identities. The new Typocircle site followed at the end of the year (Alan is the new Chairman). Channel 4’s Annual Report got some great press coverage, as did the innovative Annual Review/Life Saving Wallet we created for The British Heart Foundation. Meanwhile work was drawing to a close on CRUK’s best Annual Report to date and the Oxford Campaign report grew from strength to strength (as did the fund). In June the Design Council Summit identity brightened up City Hall, whilst in July we were treated to the Olympic torch blazing past the studio and Alan wore a kilt (and made a book).  Just before this we saw something truly beautiful, the follow up to London’s Kerning; our typographic map and jigsaw of Milan, commissioned by our friends at Wallpaper magazine. It’s been another stellar year for collaborating, with Michael Wolff, Johnny Kelly and James Graham teaming up to work on our Why Us? film, Jean Jullien, Genevieve Gauckler and Nick Asbury working with us on projects for The British Heart Foundation and more recently photographic forays with John Ross and David Stewart. Amongst all this we were handing out fresh new business cards, launching Tabletalk with head chef Lynda Relph-Knight and our Chivas 12 Tim Little partnership picked up the coveted ‘Can of the Year’ award. We’d like to thank all of our clients, suppliers, collaborators and interns for their hard work in 2012, we couldn’t have done it without you.  And we’re very excited about what the future holds; more great work and good fun in 2013, assuming the world doesn’t end before we get there.

2012
21st December
— 

Two-thousand-and-twelve. What. A. Year. It feels like yesterday that we were putting our This Year 2012 ‘End of the World’ mailer into envelopes. So far it doesn’t look like we’ve made anyone a millionare (albeit for the briefest of moments). Lookout - the 2013 mailer will be landing soon.

We’re very proud of the work we’ve completed this year, which really kicked off back in February with the launch of the identity for the John Lewis Beauty rooms. This was quickly followed by the news that we’d scooped a Gold at the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards for our Museum of London ‘You are here’ campaign, following the Gold award from the Art Directors Club New York.

Further campaigns for Knoll and London College of Communication followed later in the year – and in between we went to some interesting lectures and conferences; Offset and The Economist standing out in particular. We also did some talks; Alan went off to Canada to judge the ADCC and Nick spoke at It’s Nice That’s ‘Beauty in the Making’ series. Later in the year roles were reversed as Nick judged at New Designers and Alan debated authenticity for the Herman Miller Insight group.

Websites for RLM Finsbury, John Lewis Broadband and Surname & Surname all went live once we’d completed work on their new identities. The new Typocircle site followed at the end of the year (Alan is the new Chairman). Channel 4’s Annual Report got some great press coverage, as did the innovative Annual Review/Life Saving Wallet we created for The British Heart Foundation. Meanwhile work was drawing to a close on CRUK’s best Annual Report to date and the Oxford Campaign report grew from strength to strength (as did the fund).

In June the Design Council Summit identity brightened up City Hall, whilst in July we were treated to the Olympic torch blazing past the studio and Alan wore a kilt (and made a book).  Just before this we saw something truly beautiful, the follow up to London’s Kerning; our typographic map and jigsaw of Milan, commissioned by our friends at Wallpaper magazine.

It’s been another stellar year for collaborating, with Michael Wolff, Johnny Kelly and James Graham teaming up to work on our Why Us? film, Jean Jullien, Genevieve Gauckler and Nick Asbury working with us on projects for The British Heart Foundation and more recently photographic forays with John Ross and David Stewart.

Amongst all this we were handing out fresh new business cards, launching Tabletalk with head chef Lynda Relph-Knight and our Chivas 12 Tim Little partnership picked up the coveted ‘Can of the Year’ award.

We’d like to thank all of our clients, suppliers, collaborators and interns for their hard work in 2012, we couldn’t have done it without you. 

And we’re very excited about what the future holds; more great work and good fun in 2013, assuming the world doesn’t end before we get there.

Share
In Progress 201213 December— In Progress was a one day conference curated by It’s Nice That, showcasing groundbreaking ideas and projects from 2012, and forecasting how they will shape 2013 and beyond. Rather than give you a blow-by-blow rundown of the day (there’s a good one here) we’ve decided to highlight some of key themes we identified that were discussed and that resonated with us.  Cynicism as motivationSome may wonder, now that the post Olympic glory and optimism are fading, that 2013 might herald the return of cynicism. If this is the case, we don’t think it would be such a bad thing: Dan Brooke of Channel 4 touched on how the stunning ‘Meet the Superhumans’ campaign was born out of a desire to battle the preconceptions; the cynical, atavistic belief that Paralympians were ‘not as good, and never will be as good’ as the able-bodied athletes.  Ruth MacKenzie, Director of the runaway success that was the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad explained that the government cuts make things harder, but not impossible. In short; if the going gets tough, the tough will flourish. Ben Southworth, Deputy CEO and Head of Community for TCIO quipped; ‘People like me are now in Government, that’s either a really good thing or the end of the world.’ Focus on the user: succeed At NB we start with an open mind – what do you want your customer to think? What do you want them to feel? Ben Terrett & Sarah Richards were bullish with their understanding of the end user – “nobody wants to hang out on government websites” – and every aspect of the redesign of government websites is tailored to make the experience as easy as possible for them. Tech journalist and futurologist, Adrian Mars reinforced the age old adage that the customer is king; observing that despite the technological and legal race, the successful 3D printers and manufacturers of the future will be the ones that give people what they want. (Which could be anything from ‘Eat your own chocolate face’ to ‘Print-an-organ’) Leave things openMr Mars also pointed out how somebody has already more or less produced a 3D printed gun - which throws open an interesting debate about protection; of ideas, people, technology & software. Hellicar & Lewis had a strong standpoint: all the projects they do are open-source, meaning other people (including themselves) can adapt and alter the building blocks to produce different results. So technology developed in a big budget project for Coke (in the first open-source project they’ve ever done), can then be used to help kids suffering from severe autism. Nicolas Roope, founder of Hulger & Plumen offered hope for those in the room confused about how to make open-source work financially viable: not only does it practically halve development costs, but by leaving things open people create new things. When there are new things, new revenue streams will automatically open up.   Experience is everythingCaroline Till, Co-founder of trend forecasting company FranklinTill examined how the cultural shift ‘from ownership to experience has opened up a world of immersive, multi-sensory-design-led projects.’ She calls this ‘The Rise of the Experience Junkie’ a trend expected to carry on well into next year as people ask themselves ‘do I need another…?’ and instead favour authentic cultural experiences. The question is: how can brands and business respond? This was a question presented earlier in the day by the work of Keiichi Matsuda whose work examines how we might present data in spacial dimensions. The merging or aligning of the virtual with the physical is something we expect to see more and more of at NB as brands and business start to combine emerging technology with everyday life.  Think big, start smallNicolas Roope had spoken about how he had started small, using simple, accessible tools to create new products (Plumen bulb & Hulger phone). This was a process warmly illustrated by Edward Barber of BarberOsgerby, the team behind the Olympic torch. After showing us the 80 page competition brief he went on to explain how an Ikea cutlery holder, some hosepipe, an office fan and watering can were used to create the Olympic torch. It would be unfair not to recognise a sprinkling of genius and lots of hard work that also went into it. In a similar vain, Oliver Wainwright, architecture critic for The Guardian discussed the pop up architecture phenomenon, highlighting how temporary use can inform what happens to a space – good & bad.  All in all a fascinating day. Congratulations to It’s Nice That for a organising a great event. In Progress 201213 December— In Progress was a one day conference curated by It’s Nice That, showcasing groundbreaking ideas and projects from 2012, and forecasting how they will shape 2013 and beyond. Rather than give you a blow-by-blow rundown of the day (there’s a good one here) we’ve decided to highlight some of key themes we identified that were discussed and that resonated with us.  Cynicism as motivationSome may wonder, now that the post Olympic glory and optimism are fading, that 2013 might herald the return of cynicism. If this is the case, we don’t think it would be such a bad thing: Dan Brooke of Channel 4 touched on how the stunning ‘Meet the Superhumans’ campaign was born out of a desire to battle the preconceptions; the cynical, atavistic belief that Paralympians were ‘not as good, and never will be as good’ as the able-bodied athletes.  Ruth MacKenzie, Director of the runaway success that was the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad explained that the government cuts make things harder, but not impossible. In short; if the going gets tough, the tough will flourish. Ben Southworth, Deputy CEO and Head of Community for TCIO quipped; ‘People like me are now in Government, that’s either a really good thing or the end of the world.’ Focus on the user: succeed At NB we start with an open mind – what do you want your customer to think? What do you want them to feel? Ben Terrett & Sarah Richards were bullish with their understanding of the end user – “nobody wants to hang out on government websites” – and every aspect of the redesign of government websites is tailored to make the experience as easy as possible for them. Tech journalist and futurologist, Adrian Mars reinforced the age old adage that the customer is king; observing that despite the technological and legal race, the successful 3D printers and manufacturers of the future will be the ones that give people what they want. (Which could be anything from ‘Eat your own chocolate face’ to ‘Print-an-organ’) Leave things openMr Mars also pointed out how somebody has already more or less produced a 3D printed gun - which throws open an interesting debate about protection; of ideas, people, technology & software. Hellicar & Lewis had a strong standpoint: all the projects they do are open-source, meaning other people (including themselves) can adapt and alter the building blocks to produce different results. So technology developed in a big budget project for Coke (in the first open-source project they’ve ever done), can then be used to help kids suffering from severe autism. Nicolas Roope, founder of Hulger & Plumen offered hope for those in the room confused about how to make open-source work financially viable: not only does it practically halve development costs, but by leaving things open people create new things. When there are new things, new revenue streams will automatically open up.   Experience is everythingCaroline Till, Co-founder of trend forecasting company FranklinTill examined how the cultural shift ‘from ownership to experience has opened up a world of immersive, multi-sensory-design-led projects.’ She calls this ‘The Rise of the Experience Junkie’ a trend expected to carry on well into next year as people ask themselves ‘do I need another…?’ and instead favour authentic cultural experiences. The question is: how can brands and business respond? This was a question presented earlier in the day by the work of Keiichi Matsuda whose work examines how we might present data in spacial dimensions. The merging or aligning of the virtual with the physical is something we expect to see more and more of at NB as brands and business start to combine emerging technology with everyday life.  Think big, start smallNicolas Roope had spoken about how he had started small, using simple, accessible tools to create new products (Plumen bulb & Hulger phone). This was a process warmly illustrated by Edward Barber of BarberOsgerby, the team behind the Olympic torch. After showing us the 80 page competition brief he went on to explain how an Ikea cutlery holder, some hosepipe, an office fan and watering can were used to create the Olympic torch. It would be unfair not to recognise a sprinkling of genius and lots of hard work that also went into it. In a similar vain, Oliver Wainwright, architecture critic for The Guardian discussed the pop up architecture phenomenon, highlighting how temporary use can inform what happens to a space – good & bad.  All in all a fascinating day. Congratulations to It’s Nice That for a organising a great event. In Progress 201213 December— In Progress was a one day conference curated by It’s Nice That, showcasing groundbreaking ideas and projects from 2012, and forecasting how they will shape 2013 and beyond. Rather than give you a blow-by-blow rundown of the day (there’s a good one here) we’ve decided to highlight some of key themes we identified that were discussed and that resonated with us.  Cynicism as motivationSome may wonder, now that the post Olympic glory and optimism are fading, that 2013 might herald the return of cynicism. If this is the case, we don’t think it would be such a bad thing: Dan Brooke of Channel 4 touched on how the stunning ‘Meet the Superhumans’ campaign was born out of a desire to battle the preconceptions; the cynical, atavistic belief that Paralympians were ‘not as good, and never will be as good’ as the able-bodied athletes.  Ruth MacKenzie, Director of the runaway success that was the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad explained that the government cuts make things harder, but not impossible. In short; if the going gets tough, the tough will flourish. Ben Southworth, Deputy CEO and Head of Community for TCIO quipped; ‘People like me are now in Government, that’s either a really good thing or the end of the world.’ Focus on the user: succeed At NB we start with an open mind – what do you want your customer to think? What do you want them to feel? Ben Terrett & Sarah Richards were bullish with their understanding of the end user – “nobody wants to hang out on government websites” – and every aspect of the redesign of government websites is tailored to make the experience as easy as possible for them. Tech journalist and futurologist, Adrian Mars reinforced the age old adage that the customer is king; observing that despite the technological and legal race, the successful 3D printers and manufacturers of the future will be the ones that give people what they want. (Which could be anything from ‘Eat your own chocolate face’ to ‘Print-an-organ’) Leave things openMr Mars also pointed out how somebody has already more or less produced a 3D printed gun - which throws open an interesting debate about protection; of ideas, people, technology & software. Hellicar & Lewis had a strong standpoint: all the projects they do are open-source, meaning other people (including themselves) can adapt and alter the building blocks to produce different results. So technology developed in a big budget project for Coke (in the first open-source project they’ve ever done), can then be used to help kids suffering from severe autism. Nicolas Roope, founder of Hulger & Plumen offered hope for those in the room confused about how to make open-source work financially viable: not only does it practically halve development costs, but by leaving things open people create new things. When there are new things, new revenue streams will automatically open up.   Experience is everythingCaroline Till, Co-founder of trend forecasting company FranklinTill examined how the cultural shift ‘from ownership to experience has opened up a world of immersive, multi-sensory-design-led projects.’ She calls this ‘The Rise of the Experience Junkie’ a trend expected to carry on well into next year as people ask themselves ‘do I need another…?’ and instead favour authentic cultural experiences. The question is: how can brands and business respond? This was a question presented earlier in the day by the work of Keiichi Matsuda whose work examines how we might present data in spacial dimensions. The merging or aligning of the virtual with the physical is something we expect to see more and more of at NB as brands and business start to combine emerging technology with everyday life.  Think big, start smallNicolas Roope had spoken about how he had started small, using simple, accessible tools to create new products (Plumen bulb & Hulger phone). This was a process warmly illustrated by Edward Barber of BarberOsgerby, the team behind the Olympic torch. After showing us the 80 page competition brief he went on to explain how an Ikea cutlery holder, some hosepipe, an office fan and watering can were used to create the Olympic torch. It would be unfair not to recognise a sprinkling of genius and lots of hard work that also went into it. In a similar vain, Oliver Wainwright, architecture critic for The Guardian discussed the pop up architecture phenomenon, highlighting how temporary use can inform what happens to a space – good & bad.  All in all a fascinating day. Congratulations to It’s Nice That for a organising a great event.

In Progress 2012
13 December
—

In Progress was a one day conference curated by It’s Nice That, showcasing groundbreaking ideas and projects from 2012, and forecasting how they will shape 2013 and beyond. Rather than give you a blow-by-blow rundown of the day (there’s a good one here) we’ve decided to highlight some of key themes we identified that were discussed and that resonated with us. 

Cynicism as motivation
Some may wonder, now that the post Olympic glory and optimism are fading, that 2013 might herald the return of cynicism. If this is the case, we don’t think it would be such a bad thing: Dan Brooke of Channel 4 touched on how the stunning ‘Meet the Superhumans’ campaign was born out of a desire to battle the preconceptions; the cynical, atavistic belief that Paralympians were ‘not as good, and never will be as good’ as the able-bodied athletes. 

Ruth MacKenzie, Director of the runaway success that was the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad explained that the government cuts make things harder, but not impossible. In short; if the going gets tough, the tough will flourish. Ben Southworth, Deputy CEO and Head of Community for TCIO quipped; ‘People like me are now in Government, that’s either a really good thing or the end of the world.’

Focus on the user: succeed 
At NB we start with an open mind – what do you want your customer to think? What do you want them to feel? Ben Terrett & Sarah Richards were bullish with their understanding of the end user – “nobody wants to hang out on government websites” – and every aspect of the redesign of government websites is tailored to make the experience as easy as possible for them. Tech journalist and futurologist, Adrian Mars reinforced the age old adage that the customer is king; observing that despite the technological and legal race, the successful 3D printers and manufacturers of the future will be the ones that give people what they want. (Which could be anything from ‘Eat your own chocolate face’ to ‘Print-an-organ’)

Leave things open
Mr Mars also pointed out how somebody has already more or less produced a 3D printed gun - which throws open an interesting debate about protection; of ideas, people, technology & software. Hellicar & Lewis had a strong standpoint: all the projects they do are open-source, meaning other people (including themselves) can adapt and alter the building blocks to produce different results. So technology developed in a big budget project for Coke (in the first open-source project they’ve ever done), can then be used to help kids suffering from severe autism. Nicolas Roope, founder of Hulger & Plumen offered hope for those in the room confused about how to make open-source work financially viable: not only does it practically halve development costs, but by leaving things open people create new things. When there are new things, new revenue streams will automatically open up.  

Experience is everything
Caroline Till, Co-founder of trend forecasting company FranklinTill examined how the cultural shift ‘from ownership to experience has opened up a world of immersive, multi-sensory-design-led projects.’ She calls this ‘The Rise of the Experience Junkie’ a trend expected to carry on well into next year as people ask themselves ‘do I need another…?’ and instead favour authentic cultural experiences. The question is: how can brands and business respond? This was a question presented earlier in the day by the work of Keiichi Matsuda whose work examines how we might present data in spacial dimensions. The merging or aligning of the virtual with the physical is something we expect to see more and more of at NB as brands and business start to combine emerging technology with everyday life. 

Think big, start small
Nicolas Roope had spoken about how he had started small, using simple, accessible tools to create new products (Plumen bulb & Hulger phone). This was a process warmly illustrated by Edward Barber of BarberOsgerby, the team behind the Olympic torch. After showing us the 80 page competition brief he went on to explain how an Ikea cutlery holder, some hosepipe, an office fan and watering can were used to create the Olympic torch. It would be unfair not to recognise a sprinkling of genius and lots of hard work that also went into it. In a similar vain, Oliver Wainwright, architecture critic for The Guardian discussed the pop up architecture phenomenon, highlighting how temporary use can inform what happens to a space – good & bad. 

All in all a fascinating day. Congratulations to It’s Nice That for a organising a great event.

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Is authenticity in design dead?5 December— Last week one of our clients, Surname & Surname, asked me to take part in the third Insight Group debate at the Herman Miller National Design Centre, chaired by Mark Catchlove. We were debating the statement ‘is authenticity in design dead?’ I was joined by Alex Newson (curator at the Design Museum), Simon Poett (creative director at Tribal DDB London) and Laura Lees (an embroidery designer). There was a real mix of opinions and perspectives as we all came from different areas of the design industry and with different experiences of authenticity. We were focusing on whether there is such a thing as an original idea in today’s world, and also whether it even matters whether a piece of art, product or service is unique nowadays. I decided to argue AGAINST the idea that authenticity in design is dead, mainly because I thought the idea that there are no new ideas was depressing. My conclusion was that it wasn’t really about whether authenticity in design was or wasn’t dead, it was about why we shouldn’t LET authenticity die out. I tried to put a bit of order to my thoughts, and came up with these three points. 1. Authenticity isn’t easy, but it’s worth the effort. It challenges and innovates and cuts out lazy design and thinking (something that drives me crazy). Authenticity in design pushes boundaries – imagine if we hadn’t had past innovators or movements like Punk, Surrealism, or Modernism. I’ve recently found Thomas Heatherwick’s amazing innovative Olympic cauldron an inspiring example of authentic design ­– we’d never seen anything like that.  2. It’s important that we recognise that fakes, replicas and copies are actually harmful. Particularly in product design, settling for less than the authentic item means compromising the aesthetics, purity and sensibilities of the original. Design that isn’t the result of authentic, rigorous thought is often going to be weak – this applies to a ripped-off ad campaign or a fake piece of furniture.  As they say, ‘buy cheap, buy twice’! That’s before you even consider the human cost of such an unregulated market as the counterfeit industry. Not just the illegal workers, but our up-and-coming designers – future generations discouraged from putting in the hard work as they don’t see the point in working hard to create something authentic and original if someone else can steal it with no repercussions. 3. Authenticity doesn’t mean we can’t move with the times. It’s not about NOT sharing (for example see the Copyleft inititive). At NB we collaborate with all sorts of people to put the best team together for our clients. That doesn’t mean that we’ve given up on authenticity and original ideas in our design – it just means that it’s a team effort. I don’t think that just because a team is involved, rather than just one person, the authenticity of the design is ruined. All in all an interesting discussion and a fun evening. Thanks to everyone who was involved.  Alan

Is authenticity in design dead?
5 December
—

Last week one of our clients, Surname & Surname, asked me to take part in the third Insight Group debate at the Herman Miller National Design Centre, chaired by Mark Catchlove. We were debating the statement ‘is authenticity in design dead?’ I was joined by Alex Newson (curator at the Design Museum), Simon Poett (creative director at Tribal DDB London) and Laura Lees (an embroidery designer). There was a real mix of opinions and perspectives as we all came from different areas of the design industry and with different experiences of authenticity.

We were focusing on whether there is such a thing as an original idea in today’s world, and also whether it even matters whether a piece of art, product or service is unique nowadays. I decided to argue AGAINST the idea that authenticity in design is dead, mainly because I thought the idea that there are no new ideas was depressing.

My conclusion was that it wasn’t really about whether authenticity in design was or wasn’t dead, it was about why we shouldn’t LET authenticity die out. I tried to put a bit of order to my thoughts, and came up with these three points.

1. Authenticity isn’t easy, but it’s worth the effort. It challenges and innovates and cuts out lazy design and thinking (something that drives me crazy). Authenticity in design pushes boundaries – imagine if we hadn’t had past innovators or movements like Punk, Surrealism, or Modernism. I’ve recently found Thomas Heatherwick’s amazing innovative Olympic cauldron an inspiring example of authentic design ­– we’d never seen anything like that. 

2. It’s important that we recognise that fakes, replicas and copies are actually harmful. Particularly in product design, settling for less than the authentic item means compromising the aesthetics, purity and sensibilities of the original. Design that isn’t the result of authentic, rigorous thought is often going to be weak – this applies to a ripped-off ad campaign or a fake piece of furniture.  As they say, ‘buy cheap, buy twice’! That’s before you even consider the human cost of such an unregulated market as the counterfeit industry. Not just the illegal workers, but our up-and-coming designers – future generations discouraged from putting in the hard work as they don’t see the point in working hard to create something authentic and original if someone else can steal it with no repercussions.

3. Authenticity doesn’t mean we can’t move with the times. It’s not about NOT sharing (for example see the Copyleft inititive). At NB we collaborate with all sorts of people to put the best team together for our clients. That doesn’t mean that we’ve given up on authenticity and original ideas in our design – it just means that it’s a team effort. I don’t think that just because a team is involved, rather than just one person, the authenticity of the design is ruined.

All in all an interesting discussion and a fun evening. Thanks to everyone who was involved. 

Alan

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