Are NFTs the answer to a sustainable creative career, or the province of get-rich-quick crypto bros? Designer Alex Trochut and the founders of NFT consultancy New Pavilion discuss the highs and lows of a rapidly growing medium...
Jam Dong’s textured illustrations are inspired by science and nature
“My art is all about shapes,” says Jam Dong. “I see them as notes that compose music through colour, scale, and compositions.” Born in China and now based in the US, the illustrator’s abstract approach has earned her commissions for the likes of the New York Times and Quartz. She also has a number of accolades to her name, including...
Getting legacy brands fit for the future
Design can be key to setting up much-loved brands for a long life. We talk to design and branding studio JKR about how it’s done...
Barbican at 40: Creating an iconic cultural brand
We speak to the Barbican’s in-house design team and long-time collaborators North Design about the role of branding in helping cultural institutions adapt during challenging times...
Ed Fella wrestles with the difference between artist and designer
Ed Fella seems to be a ‘designers’ designer’: his name isn’t as starry as the likes of Milton Glaser or Lance Wyman (in the UK at least), but his influence is keenly felt – not least in his explorations of the difference between, and merging of, the worlds of art and design. That duality is at the heart of a...
The past is the future
Perhaps the future, instead of being an unrecognisable place full of magic and wonder, is actually already here?...
Ragged Edge unveils sci-fi-style identity for Circa5000
Ragged Edge has renamed the business, which was previously known as Tickr, and produced branding that “reimagines an evil futurecorp as a force for positive change”. As the studio explains it: “It’s too late for business as usual, and it’s too late for another generic fintech brand.” Circa5000 originally launched in 2018 to offer a more ethical, planet-friendly investment platform....
Is it still possible for creatives to sell out?
“We’ve been trying to sell out for years. Nobody’s buying,” Jerry Garcia famously said. With increasing collaborations between artists and ‘the establishment’ is the notion of selling out obsolete? And did it ever even exist in the first place?...
Puppet models take to the catwalk in Vestiaire Collective’s new campaign
Vestiaire Collective’s new campaign film opens much as you’d expect any high fashion runway show to. Look a little closer, however, and you’ll find that the usual catwalk model suspects have been replaced by a collective of fashionable puppets, which are made entirely from pre-loved clothes. Created by Droga5 London, the campaign and its group of stylish sewn stars set...
Martin Parr brings his football fan photography to London’s Oof Gallery
Parr has spent decades photographing football, though turning his camera away from the pitch and onto the fans. According to Oof – the football mag that runs Oof Gallery – the show captures people “celebrating, commiserating, or just meditatively lost in the moment of following their team”. The exhibition features black and white images shot in Halifax, Hartlepool and Portsmouth…...
Martin Parr brings his football fan photography to London’s Oof Gallery
Parr has spent decades photographing football, though turning his camera away from the pitch and onto the fans. According to Oof – the football mag that runs Oof Gallery – the show captures people “celebrating, commiserating, or just meditatively lost in the moment of following their team”. The exhibition features black and white images shot in Halifax, Hartlepool and Portsmouth…...
Ace & Tate has launched a sunglasses campaign … with no shades
It’s a bold move for an eyewear business to create an ad campaign featuring absolutely no specs or shades, but the campaign is surprisingly evocative. It features pleasingly unretouched portraits of people screwing up their eyes as they’re caught in a beam of sunlight, accompanied by a simple tagline: Bring on the sun. Base Design’s partner and ECD Thierry Brunfaut...