Seems like Umbro is becoming the Uniqlo of football shoes. Umbro’s fastest boot and coming in at 238grams, it’s also their lightest ever. Aimed at the younger end of the market it comes in both a white/orange and a black/lime colourway. A shared ambition with Umbro to produce a global execution that shied away from the typical OTT CGI stuff you see knocking around. So we went the other way and said ’speed’ with cardboard, fishing wire, double-sided sticky tape and glue. The pop art inspiration behind this was partly to do with the fast-consumerism, instant everything-ness of modern youth and partly to do with the ‘pop’ colours of the boot itself. Illustration by Chris Gray and Rob Bailey of Toy and photography by Tom Van Schelven. (from Love)

Top Shelf is a newly-established bookbindery that specialises in creating products uniting traditional bookbinding methods with modern flair. The client requested a bespoke identity that communicated the same care and attention to detail demonstrated by  their products. Designed by another aussie Ben Jennings.

Yves Behar is at it again. The collaboration between GE Ecomagination and fuseproject has led to the GE WattStation, an electric vehicle charging station that is designed for public and private spaces. Fuseproject’s vision for the WattStation is an electric-car-charger design that is as durable as street furniture, as visible as a light beacon, and as beautiful as street greenery. The WattStation design needed to break all paradigms of the typical large scale, angular and brash “gas pump”. To achieve our goal, a new soft and distinctive friendly icon is expressed through a cylindrical body that flares toward the top and becomes the circular interface. The UI screen faces the user at a “service angle” for optimized ergonomic comfort, and its surround lens houses a useful and informational graphic interface. The LED light ring indicates to the driver whether the WattStation is available (white), fully charged (green), charging (red), or out of order (yellow).

The WattStation comes imbedded with GE’s Smart Grid technology which enables the station to charge a vehicle in 4-8 hours compared to the typical 12-18. By communicating wirelessly with digital platforms and mobile devices, users will be able to remotely locate, operate and monitor the unit. The WattStation is also the very first charging station with a self-retractable charging cable, keeping streets tidy while protecting the cable from weather elements. All of these innovations are jammed tight into a compact metal shell, which is solidly constructed to withstand any harsh weather and usage conditions. It even has a built-in heater to defrost the snow! The WattStation will be planted all over the US, as well as Europe and Asia. It will promote the deployment of renewable energy for electric vehicles worldwide.

Ha! great name for a design studio… ChevyChase work is amazing not to mention their site. Would love to hear their reasoning fior the name of the studio? Bloody beautiful!

One of my fav aussie studios Rinzen agian doing some bloody good work, Identity for Frankly! event in Brisbane Australia.

Great use of clean typography, nice balance of white space, great colour palette all supporting of what the actual content is. Beautiful. Designed by Ruiz+Company for Spanish chocolate company Chocolat Factory.

The warm color tones and textures makes this identity for LaStrada pleasingly cozy. Work by Transformer Studio.

logorama is a short film by the french collective H5, which visualizes and explores the way that logos are increasingly embedded in our existence. ‘logorama presents us with an over-marketed world built only from logos and real trademarks that are destroyed by a series of natural disasters (beginning with a hurricane, cyclone, tidal wave…). logotypes are used to describe an alarming universe (similar to the one that we are living in) with all the graphic signs that accompany us everyday in our lives. this over-organized universe is violently transformed by the cataclysm becoming fantastic and absurd. it shows the victory of the creative against the rational, where nature and human fantasy triumph.’

Miles Newlyn created the latest Skittles logo. “Candy brands are some of the most enduring brands in the market. Skittles have the excellent & long standing tag line ‘Taste the Rainbow’, for which the the new ‘tongue’ icon has been designed”, interesting.

The brand story is great, nice rational, nice insights but the actual result of the identity seems a little weak. I highly respect Marque the studio who created the work but it just looks like it’s gone through too many client-hands, a identity that has a great concept to a look that is some what disappointing.

In competitive sport, measurement, timing and results are everything. Of course there are the personalities, the emotion, the thrill, the elation and the disappointment. But when it comes to those medals it’s a matter of who jumps the highest, throws the longest, runs the fastest, scores the most goals, wins the most points, lifts the heaviest weight, swims the strongest. During every event and at the end of every event, there is always time, data and measurement. This was the inspiration for the creative expression of the  Glasgow 2014 brand: a data visualisation of numerical elements integral to competitive sport and Glasgow 2014.

Al Fresco is a gelato and bistro establishment. Hand crafted ice cream and detailed attention in your food preparation from pizzas elaborated in a wood oven to paninis and sandwiches with the finest ingredients. High quality products at affordable prices in a kind and family oriented place. The work consisted in interpreting the company business plan, transmitting the message of a committed to deliver excellent quality foods brand maintaining affordable prices. To communicate the established values, a hand-crafted illustration language was developed. This language was based on light laid traces achieving value accentuation on the kindness of the brand. The aesthetic counterpoint of elegant tones, sepia and golden colors was manipulated to help and allow the quality inherent to the foods to stand out.

It was important to allow the brand to have a sufficiently elastic language to expand it to other areas. Even though the restaurant has not been open for a long time, it has become a reference for other gelato establishments around the city. Nice rational for the brand by Anaagrama.

Been a huge fan of Joe Duffy for a long long time, have admired his studio’s work and thinking. A caption from an article that I just read last week which really hit a note.”What is design? It begins with ideas–ideas based in purpose. It requires a plan or a process. It yields innovation, invention or creation. It is successful if it elicits response–attention, desire, interaction or purchase. Design is as much a process as it is an end product. The process should be simple”.

Imagine, Design, Activate. Sums up design perfectly to me.

Hecker Phelan and Guthrie is one of Australia’s Leading Interior Design Consultancies. The Company’s unique approach to interiors has attracted local and international clients from the hospitality and hotel industries and their distinctive portfolio of work has been published in premium journals such as Wallpaper and Domus worldwide. With a growing international reputation the organisation recognised the need for a distinct identity – an Identity that clearly differentiated them from their architectonic competitors and represented the decorative/modern approach embodied in their work. The result is a strong and decisive identity which also suggests the flamboyant decorative nature of their vision. The identity delivers the essence of the HPG brand in each and every brand transaction created by Cornwell. Beautiful mark!

Designer Steven Heller traces the evolution of the tiny symbols for each Olympic sport since their appearance in 1936. I disagree with one his top picks Athens 2004 looks as bad as the ones he had suggested that was horrible. I agree with the 2008 Beijing Olympic games pictograms they were executed beautifully. Still a nice breakdown.

The Lollipop Shoppe brand identity by Studio Makgill is a modern furniture and accessories retailer. Founded in 2007, they are the new kids on the block. But with a successful premises in Brighton, a new one about to open in London and the start of their own product line on the cards, the Shoppe promises to be more than just another furniture store. Our challenge was to create something that reflects the heritage of their large line of classic products from manufacturers like Vitra, that fits in with the contemporary brands like Established & Sons and that conveyed the straightforward nature with which The Lollipop Shoppe conducts its business. On top of that, what was also important is that they trade in real objects, so we wanted to create an identity that didn’t have to only exist in two dimensions, an identity with the potential for three dimensions seemed far more fitting. We created a bespoke stencil typeface (part inspired by the 20th century modular stencils created by Josef Albers and Le Corbusier, but with a contemporary elegance). This allows the identity to be physical – it can be cut, it can be built, it can be stamped.

Some beautiful pieces from Toben another aussie studio, there is a shit load of talent in the land down under. We are Toben. We like to search and discover, to lift rocks and look underneath them. We lik eto playwith pensils and ideas. We value strategy to get to the core as much as the process of creation, to bring a concept to life. We believe in inspired, thoughtful and crafted design as a means to add value to any communication.

A new project by Ruiz + Company for The Kitchen Films. Wish they actually explained their work. Always a fan of cleanliness.

Brand Architecture a new buzz word I’m hearing more and more often. Dan Peralman (website sucks tho) a studio who can actually claim and own the “buzz” as they are doing some pretty impressive “brand architecture” work. Encompasses the area of architecture, communication and design and develops new solutions for three-dimensional brand management, where ever the brand is subject to spatial experience, its identity can be discovered and the product experience through all the senses, through this, an emotional bond is created between individulas and the brand. Nicely stated.

The Elise Island Project by Dan Pearlman. Created a holistic dreamland for young patients with psychiatric issues at the ‘Evangelisches Konigin Elisabeth Krankenhaus’ Hospital, in Berlin, Germany. Each room in the hospital was designed in terms of shape, colour, materials and light with the aim of promoting a positive atmosphere, empowering children’s imagination and positive emotions. The new concept meets the demands of young patients and therapeutical staff at the same time. The obligations of therapeutic professionals and the emotional needs of young patients are now balanced.

A new logo system will wipe away the year-to-year changes in the Super Bowl logo design. Last Super Bowl logo (top half of the image above) was created by attik (not bad but not great). Coming next year, the NFL is installing a sweeping new graphic system designed by Landor and the NFL’s in-house designers. So far, only the logo for Super Bowl XLV has been released, but the look and feel will carry across all of the individual playoff logos–from the wildcard game to the divisional finals. “The NFL realized that there’s a gathering excitement, approaching the Super Bowl,” says Nicolas Aparicio, Landor’s Executive Creative Director. “The audience grows from 4.6 million in the pre-season to 16 million by the playoffs. A logo system needs to express that, and help build on it.”

Though the other logos in the system haven’t been released yet–watch this space–Aparicio says they’ll all retain key elements, such as the shine of the Super Bowl logo above, inspired by the Vince Lombardi trophy itself. This is actually the first time the Vince Lombardi Trophy has been used in the Super Bowl logo–precisely because the NFL didn’t want it’s iconic piece of hardware sullied by year-to-year changes in the mark. In the future, the Super Bowl logos will only vary slightly–the one big changing element being the stadium in the background. (For Super Bowl XLV, that’s the new Cowboys arena, which wil host the event.) Meanwhile, Tiffany is also designing a succesively larger series of trophies for each round of the playoffs that will also echo the Vince Lombardi. (post from Fcompany). I personally think they are going the right direction, keeping in consistent over time will no doubt be stronger for the NF brand. Will actually have a nostalgia, romance feel to the brand.

Love the identity for U.S. Virgin Islands created by Iconologic another fav studio of mine. Here’s the backstory: “Long ago, before mortal life came to the islands; before tall ships and glittering parades, before pirates and great adventures, the spirits lived in the light: The inkblack-spirit of St. Thomas, his winking coat of many colors flashing; the green-spirit of St. John, kaleidoscope flowers for hair; and the blue-spirit of St. Croix, scaly-skinned with carbuncles of coral. All day and all night they made mischief-playing tricks, climbing high and howling from the islands’ peaks, lounging on the edge of the world where the water meets the land. And everywhere they went, they left bits of magic behind. In their footsteps the seas swelled with color. The skies filled with oddly beaked beasts. The land erupted fronds and feathers of every texture. Each day, the islands became more and more a paradise.

Then one day, a Jumbie arrived. He was tall and lean, his knife-edge silhouette cast like night on the water. The spirits did not like this intruder. Protective of their private world, they conspired to remove him. They pelted him with sticks. They burned his camp. They tried to blot out his shadow from the sands. Displeased with their childishness, the Jumbie gathered the spirits and scolded them.”Because you did not welcome me. Because you are selfish and secretive, you shall be forced, forever, to learn to share.” He then scooped up each spirit in his impossibly boned hand and tossed them to the sky. There, three stars were born in the pattern of the islands. They remain a beacon today-drawing weary travelers to a three-island paradise of blue water, green hills and sparkling nights.” Love the bloody story the images that conjures when reading it….

I’m liking the new identity for The Pew Center. (the identity has also be used as a navigational element online). Based in Philadelphia, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage is a collective of seven grant-making initiatives dedicated to supporting local artists and heritage organizations. Originally, each initiative had its own logo, lacking any consistency with the others. Because of that, there was no indication that it was part of a greater entity. Another problem was the absence of an umbrella logo for the Pew Center. The challenge for London-based johnson banks (one of my top 10 fav studios in the entire universe) was to solve a rather specific client brief.

Deeper in the system are treatments designed to push individual initiatives. Each maintains the typeface, 8-color standard, the word “Philadelphia”, and a tiny “The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.” It’s unclear whether these are meant to be the official logos for the initiative. If so, they certainly won’t work at small sizes. Other than that, the designs show just how recognizeable and flexible the “colored cards” concept can be. A minimal sans-in-square logo isn’t particularly groundbreaking for an art institution. What makes these logos worth noting is the ironic use of that solution — where the bombardment of simplicity creates a clutter that’s hard to miss. Aesthetically, it isn’t the most beautiful, nor the most interesting thing. A family of icons representing the initiatives would’ve been simpler to manage than type. Accusations of bad design decisions about scalability and printability are certainly expected and valid. In the end, though, it’s those risky decisions that make the logo stand out. Most importantly, the design tends to the client’s need of a flexible system that reflects the relationship of an organization and its constituents. love it. (from brandnew)

Love the bikes….Love the brand even more…. Deus Ex Machina which is in latin, translation God of Machine, bloody brilliant. Founded by the original founders of MAMBO an australian surf/lifestyle brand. One of my favourites “The Drovers Dog”. – a custom motorcyle that has a built in surf board rack…. Now I only wished i had a 22k to spare.

I was pretty impressed at the original OLPC (One lap top per child) when it was first introduced a couple of years back and what it currently is, yes they had some issues to keep the price point at what they had originally promised (sub $100 laptop), etc etc. Even with all the issues it had in development they still delivered something worthwhile that stands for something greater than the bottom line (profit). Now comes the next iteration of OLPC designer Yves Behar has unveiled his latest concept design for the now-aiming-for-$75 vision, and it’s all screen. Keeping with the newfound trend toward tablets, the XO-3 is an 8.5 x 11 touchscreen, coupled with a little folding ring in the corner for grip and a camera in the back. To keep things minimal the plan is to use Palm Pre-style induction charging, and less than a watt of power to keep an “8 gigaherz [sic]” (800MHz?) processor and a Pixel Qi screen powered. At half the thickness of an iPhone, this vision is obviously banking heavily on presumed technology advances by 2012 (the projected release date). WOW can’t wait to get my hands on this I’d buy 3 in an instant and 1 for my mum.

Litl is an innovative new web computer, or webbook, that marries the communication functions of a laptop and TV. Small, portable, and equally at home on a kitchen countertop or a living-room coffee table, the webbook is designed for families with multiple users who like to keep in touch and socialize. Litl is always connected to the web (with access to Wi-Fi) and flips upright like an easel for TV-like viewing of photos and video. It has no hard drive, files or applications of its own, but instead runs on the “cloud,” using web-based applications like webmail, Google, Flickr and Facebook. The Litl webbook can be used in two configurations: like a traditional laptop, with full keyboard, used to surf the Web; or flipped upright, like an easel or picture frame, for broadcast of photo and video. The laptop configuration has been conceived as a “lean forward” mode, for active participation; the easel configuration conceived as “lean back,” for watching. (The laptop was designed by Yves Behar at Fuseproject.)

Pentagram developed an interface that creates a continuous experience between different user modes. The GUI is based on a series of “cards,” each card functioning like a tab in an open browser window. In the laptop configuration, these cards can appear arranged on the screen like thumbnails, or opened up one at a time in full screen; in the easel/broadcast configuration, the cards appear as a stack and can be selected or “tuned in” like a channel.

The cards function like different applications or widgets. Each card is devoted to a different use: one tuned to Facebook, one to Flickr, one to the Weather Channel, one to the time, etc. We worked on the customized visualization of data for several of these cards, including the weather and alarm clock. The cards are color-coded: black for the widgets, or “channels”; white for web browsers; and blue for “permanent” cards for the Litl’s users, photos of family and friends or personal settings. In the Web navigation mode, the screen accommodates 12 of the cards at a time, set up like thumbnails. (More can be opened and scrolled through, using the blue ring on the laptop’s hinge.) In broadcast mode, with Litl functioning like a TV or viewing screen, the cards become a stack of larger windows that can be flipped through and selected to fill the whole screen. Litl features an unusual, TV-like 178-degree viewing “cone” that allows a group of users to see the screen at once, and the webbook can be hooked up to a hi-def televisions to view images or video. (post from pentagram).

Also check out the essays written about their thinking and process, nice for them to share. Philosophy, software, hardware.

Trans-continental exploration of the notion of advertising in context, and its interplay with a specific environment. Locations: Place de la Concorde, Pont Alexandre III, Paris. Sai Yeung Choi South street & Shantung street, Hong Kong. Lafayette Street & Kenmare Street, Grand Central Station, New York. Campaign by Petronio Associates

It’s a sad day when you hear that another Paul Rand classic being “updated”. First established in 1908 and operating from a small office in Manhattan, it wasn’t until 1961 that Yale University Press (YUP) officially became a part of Yale University while remaining, all this time, financially and operationally independent. YUP has published over 8,000 books and now does so at a rate of approximately 300 titles a year. And since 1985, much of these titles have carried the idiosyncratic logo designed by Paul Rand. After this point, 24 years later, Rand’s logo will no longer grace spines, instead, it will now be the primary Yale logo — typeset in Matthew Carter’s The Yale Typeface designed in 2004. (as reported by the Yale Daily News). A sad day no matter what the bloody rational they try and say to justify the change.