Over the coming months, universities and design schools up and down the country will be celebrating the work of their 2026 graduates – and, as ever, we’ve got the lowdown on when and where these showcases are taking place. For CR’s audience, these shows remain one of the best opportunities to spot emerging talent at the very start of their...
What in the AI are brands up to?
Despite all the AI talk, it’s hard to know how it’s really impacting brands and agencies. With her new podcast, brand and copy consultant Vikki Ross is going under the bonnet...
Vue calls on Taika Waititi to direct major new campaign film
British cinema chain Vue has enlisted the help of creative agency Hijinks and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi to create a new campaign film on the enduring impact of cinema. Titled Feel It Forever, the two-minute short forms part of a wider series of promotions currently being rolled out to spotlight Vue’s renewed brand platform. “Rather than just promote films…...
Only Studio brands Palais, the long-awaited music venue in Peckham
After lying dormant for over a decade, the historic Peckham Palais building in London – originally the Jones & Higgins department store – was reopened earlier this year by Night Group, the company behind other iconic nightlife spots around London such as Night Tales, NT’s Loft and Netil360. Now simply called Palais, the new venue hopes to become a home...
A guide to better AI prompts
As we wrestle with AI, trying to find the perfect input to get what we want, a new book proposes a different way of thinking about prompts: viewing them more as dialogue than instruction...
Budweiser kicks off its World Cup advertising
“It’s happening again,” says Jürgen Klopp at the start of Budweiser’s two-minute-long hero film for this year’s FIFA World Cup, which begins in June in Canada, Mexico and the US. The line does a good job in summing up the excitement the event will generate in football fans (as well as maybe the dread it will bring for those less...
How to brand an AI assistant
Chatbots and similar AI tools have become powerful extensions of brand identity. But what aesthetic and characteristic traits do users respond to best?...
Spike Lee directs new Arsenal FC spot
Arsenal Football Club and its financial partner Airwallex recently commissioned Academy Award-winning director Spike Lee to direct a new short, titled Who Are Ya, that captures the passion of the club’s fans, and helps audiences to understand exactly what Airwallex is. Shot in a north London pub, close to the Arsenal stadium, the film features current and retired Arsenal players…...
Is it time for advertising to get gloomy?
While adland is full of talk about disruption, it rarely presents a world that is anything but joyful. Maybe it’s time we went glum, says We Are Pi’s Rick Chant...
Romain Gavras delivers dramatic new promo, Storm
Parents looking to reassure themselves that their boys are experiencing the best of life at their expensive boarding schools might be wise to swerve this new short film, directed by celebrated movie and music video director Romain Gavras. Set to music by Gener8ion (a project by French dance producer Surkin, a regular collaborator of Gavras) the film stars Yung Lean...
The Monthly Interview: Johanna Jaskowska
A self-confessed “nerd”, Jaskowska has helped shape digital fashion and beauty culture, first via her wildly successful Instagram filters. Now she is experimenting with how AI will change fashion, beauty and art...
Northern Design Festival returns in May
The third edition of Northern Design Festival returns this May and will include speakers from across the design industry, with an ambition to bring together creatives, students and studios. This year’s event centres on the theme of heritage and the power of community, and will examine “where we come from and how that shapes what we create”. Taking place in...

