The Gruffalo

A beautifully animated production of The Gruffalo shown on BBC1, Christmas Day 2009. It is a perfect demonstration of how incredible artwork combined with well-constructed language can result in a very succesful outcome.

Rage Against The Machine: A Christmas Video

Guardian: Wednesday 25th November

An interesting illustration by Kipper Williams discussing the news that high street chain Borders has gone into administration. The latest victim of the recession will be a sad loss, but the illustration remains fully true.


















Steve Bell is one of the most popular Guardian illustrators. This illustration deals with many topics in just a small amount of space. It seems to depict new Council President Herman Van Rompuy's thoughts on the EU as he becomes President Elect. The multilingualism represents his roots in Belgium, and perhaps also signifies the Franco-German heart of the EU. It seems that 'der roob' could mean 'the rule', referring to the unwritten rules of the EU in relation to expansion, with the rule being that paradoxically, the EU is a Christian-only club where Turkey cannot join.

BBC: Five Ways Ergonomics has Shaped Your Life

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8363862.stm

Capitalism and Society: New Media

The most recent product in the music industry, Spotify, is helping to change our society. Spotify is not just a great leisure innovation, it is one that gives the consumer a feeling of liberation. It seems to be the case that the tides are turning among those who control the markets. For years, they have had the technological edge that has allowed them to exploit the general public and create a consumer machine. With the development of the internet and high speed broadband connections, new technologies have been deployed among the general public.

Inspiring a social change, YouTube first led the way by making programmes and music available across the globe freely. Following YouTube, Spotify created an application out of this philosophy. At the advent of this new media, corporations tried to fight back by removing videos from YouTube. More recently, catch up services have been rolled out across the major television broadcasters, and Channel 4 has this month announced it will make all programmes available on YouTube in full.

It is interesting that this is the case because it is not just about a new style of media, but about a social change too. Society has been bombarded with the tricks of capitalism so much that it has learnt to mobilise itself against corporations. How much longer will society be controlled by corporations? There is a feeling that people are starting to take something back- perhaps this is the dawn of a new relationship between society and corporations. The creators of Spotify and YouTube have realised that they can make digital media freely available to all by allowing companies to advertise on their sites and applications.

In some respects therefore, it is valid to say that society has embraced capitalism, and equally capitalism has embraced society. Perhaps people have started to realise that to improve our society, we can't go on subscribing to capitalism as it is. People must form a new relationship with it, and this doesn't just have to stop with media. It will be interesting to see how this develops in the future as we could be about to witness the basis of our economy change.

Fly Swatting

We are constantly designing. Sometimes a job needs doing, but we do not have the specific tool available, so we improvise. The illustration shows how we can work out that a tea towel can be used for many things other than its intended use, including for the very useful purpose of fly swatting.

'Tear Down This Wall'

Europe celebrates 20 years of a united Berlin, a united Germany and a united Europe. 'All of the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city shall fall down flat so the people can go straight into the city.'

Light Neville Street

http://www.holbeckurbanvillage.co.uk/nevillestreet/#/home/

Light Neville Street is a recently completed arts installation on Neville Street, under City Station in Leeds. The project has been commissioned by Leeds City Council at a cost of £4.6m to help make this gateway entrance to the city more pleasant.

I saw the installation for the first time last week while collecting information for a college project. It consists of two parts; the visual installation on the East Wall and the sound installation on the left. Together, they create an atmospheric environment within the city. The west wall is the most interesting I believe. It is covered in hundreds of LED lights that create a new pattern every day- infact the same pattern won't be repeated for another 20 years. On the East Wall there is an illusion as you walk past, but this has limited success. The audio installation is interesting and adds to the existing noises of the trains above.

One thing I think it fails to do is quieten the traffic noise in the tunnel. The tunnel is certainly more pleasant than it was before, but traffic noise still dominates over the arts installation- something the installation was intended to rectify. I also think that the project would be better if the LED lights were also used on the West Wall as well as the East. The sound installation could still exist if this was done too. While the static patterns are interesting, I would love to see the lights constantly changing to create a dynamic, moving installation.

Light Neville Street has greatly improved this entrance to Central Leeds without doubt. I have no major criticisms of the project, but I am sure that other residents of the City will have huge reservations over the astronomical cost of a small arts project.

20 Years of Liberty

As the BNP stir up anger after appearing on the BBC's Question Time, Europe prepares to celebrate freedom as it approaches the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The hugely iconic symbol of the divided Europe seems to have been quickly forgotten as support for xenophobic parties both in the UK and across the EU grows.

Berlin will be celebrating freedom on 9th November, where young designers have been invited to design 1000 2.5m dominoes that will fall in succession. The event will be broadcast live in Germany, but I'll be sure to get some video clips or images of the domino designs.

Disney Pixar's 'Up'

Once again, Disney Pixar have excelled themselves. Incredible animation and beautiful colours coupled with an unusually creative storyline has created what has to be one of the most unique creations in the industry this year.

WalkRide Pedestrian Map

I was very impressed by the design of the maps in NewcastleGateshead, produced by Cartlidge Levene and City ID for Newcastle City Council. The first thing to note is the type, which has a very friendly appearance, but much like 'Transport', retains great integrity and clarity. The excellent use of colour allows for a very clear map, while the necessary detail is not compromised.

WalkRide Pedestrian Map has won an HSP Special Award in the Graphic Design category. The people involved were:

* Art/Creative Directors: Ian Cartlidge/Cartlidge Levene and Mike Rawlinson/City ID
* Designers / Melissa Price, Ben Tibbs, Harriet Miller, Matt Jephcote and Chriss Knox
* Illustrator Russell Bell
* Printer / Hillprint Media Limited
* Paper / ON Offset 90g/m2

Find the full size maps on the following links:

http://www.newcastlegateshead.com/media/Map_pages_CentralNewcastleGateshead.pdf
http://www.newcastlegateshead.com/media/Map_pages_TyneandWear.pdf

Urban Fabric

During a visit to Newcastle this week, I stumbled across this stunningly unique piece of urban fabric. The Tyne Bridge is often famously pictured crossing the river at great height, but I find it becomes far more interesting as it crosses into Newcastle. The elegant bridge dominates the cityscape by dramatically crossing the historic buildings and streets below in a 'New York-esque' manner.

A Brief Look at 'Transport'

Following on from the entry on Irish road signs, it seemed appropriate to look at the typeface used. Transport was developed in the UK by Margaret Calvert and John Kinneir, who are also responsible for the Calvert and Rail Alphabet typefaces used on the Tyne & Wear Metro and British Rail networks. Since its development, its usage has spread internationally, particularly among the former British Empire, but also notably on new road signs in Spain.

I like this clear, sans serif typeface because it is a refreshing break from Helvetica. While I like Helvetica, it is not the only sans serif typeface that should be admired. 'Transport' has a clean, clear and friendly appearance that still retains integrity through its consistent weighting and 45 degree terminals.

Compare this to another transport typeface to the left, Brusseline. I have mixed feelings about Brusseline. While I like its attempts at being friendly while retaining clarity, I also feel it is verging on being fussy with the slightly curved ends of the letters which in some place almost become a serif. Often when designers have attempted to create a friendly sans serif typeface, they have compromised its purpose to an extent. I therefore admire Calvert's and Kinneir's work in succesfully creating an easy to use, friendly typeface that also isn't fussy.

TfL's New Tube Map

The new tube map, released in September by Transport for London. I admire TfL for taking on the concerns of users and designers alike by stripping back the tube map to its essential elements. The awkward footnotes, blocks of information and even the Thames have been done away with, however it is important to get a balance of form and function. Previously, function took precedence in contrast to the current design where form takes precedence- but is this at the cost of usability? I believe so. The BBC reports that the Mayor, Boris Johnson, has ordered the reinstatement of the Thames on the tube map, a sensible decision by my accord. The Thames provided a useful geographical reference for the map, while the zones are of vital importance until paper tickets cease to exist completely. TfL argue that the original tube map was a masterpiece, free of zones, without the Thames and with no additional footnotes or symbols. TfL have taken a blind step backwards with this redesign by not acknowledging the needs of the user. The tube map continues to be one of the iconic masterpieces of graphic design, but while we admire Beck's original work, we should also note that improvements can still be made.

Ireland's New Road Signs

Ireland has been investing in it's road network over the last decade as it has received billions from the EU to become the 'Celtic Tiger'. A perfect opportunity to create graphic masterpieces in the form of road signs. Instead, the high quality new roads have been undermined by poor graphic design. A graphic mess has emerged as Ireland holds onto the remnants of the British road signing system, while also trying to add its own elements to the signing system.

We can see to the left the iconic 'Transport' typeface on the standard green used in the UK. It is not this that is the downfall, but the typeface and symbols. To start with, the Irish translations are messy and comprised of poorly constructed letterforms. The type is also too close to the border, particularly at the top of the sign. In terms of the arrow and 'N11', these do not line up. There is no need for the arrow, as anyone seeing that sign would be heading straight on on the N11 anyway. A reminder that you are on the N11 is understandable, but why not follow the British example (below) of 'heading up' the sign with the road number?

An example of the theory that a bigger sign makes a better sign. Not true- it will often make the sign more legible but size doesn't save from poor graphics. Again, there is evident of poorly constructed type on this motorway sign.

This is one of the better signs on the road network. Two things to note though are that the 1 in 1km is far too large, not to mention it applies to all boxes, not just the far left one. R671 is also in a different typeface (Transport) to the motorway numbers (Motorway).






















I have picked out this sign for a few reasons. The first is that the most important exit on the roundabout is signed the least clearly. This is the M8, which is given a tiny patch as if there is constrained space. A second point to note is the very badly constructed arrows on the roundabout diagram. These do not conform to any standard- compare these arrows with the arrow shown in the first image.

Design is Our World: An Introduction to this Blog

Design makes our lives. Every day, nearly 7 billion people across the globe are affected by design; not just the design of graphics and media, but the design of our political, economic and social systems too. We must no longer criticise design, and in turn the media, for the world's problems, but embrace its power. Media is paramount to our society. We make a mark on the world every time we draw something, write something or do something. Everything has an impact and we should be aware of this.

How does design affect the world? What designs improve the world, and which make it better? A good design does not necessarily make the world better- infact it can do quite the opposite. A range of contemporary and historic examples will illustrate this in the following posts.

This blog will critically evaluate the designs we make because it is important to criticise design that encourages bad and encourage design that promotes good. This is because we are citizens of the Earth and we are all responsible for its future.