2021 was a tough year for game developers, as well as console manufacturers. Many gamers struggled to get hold of the new PlayStation 5 – which was subject to scalpers from the moment it launched – and several long-awaited titles were delayed as a result of Covid. Even so, there were plenty of creative highlights from across the year, including...
Only Studio creates new branding for cultural research hub network BIRI
Spread across the Black Sea and southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, the BIRI play a key role in connecting researchers in the UK with communities around the world “and in sustaining vital cultural and diplomatic relationships that build capacity to benefit research and knowledge exchange in the UK and overseas,” according to Only. Each institute has...
Trends of 2021: The year in film and TV
After productions ground to a halt in the wake of the pandemic, the cinema attempted a comeback this year. Meanwhile, streaming platforms served up a glut of bingeworthy series to ensure that we all remained glued to our tellies The post Trends of 2021: The year in film and TV appeared first on Creative Review....
Watch your step with Alex Chinneck’s uncoiling staircase sculpture
A Spring in Your Step by Alex Chinneck. Images: Marc Wilmot Alex Chinneck has been known to deconstruct architecture in his large-scale illusionary artworks, which have included upside-down shops and pylons, buildings that appear to unzip, and a sliding house in Margate. In tune with his previous projects, Chinneck’s newest sculpture – also located in the southeast, in Brighton’s recently...
&Smith creates a “creative, curious, happy” identity for GuestHouse
GuestHouse’s identity revolves around a striking wordmark, rendered in a retro-inflected serif with the kind of flourishy ball terminals that suggest that the era of the geometric sans serif is finally winding down. This forms the umbrella branding for the hospitality group, which plans to create a unique sub-logo and palette for each of its hotel openings. So far, GuestHouse...
The best magazine covers of the year 2021
If 2020 was a year of unknowns, 2021 has led us all to question what we want our ‘new normal’ to look like on a deeper level. In the world of media, it has forced editors and art directors to rethink the kind of content that’s inside their pages and carefully consider the message they want to send to readers...
Trends of 2021: The year in photos
In 2021, we saw the photography industry attempt to adjust to a changing world, with the cautious reopening of exhibitions for the first time since the pandemic, and the continuing embrace of new voices. Here, Diane Smyth looks back on a complex year The post Trends of 2021: The year in photos appeared first on Creative Review....
Camille Walala’s first monograph is an ode to her spirited approach
Camille Walala’s bright graphics have journeyed around the world, appearing on buildings, roof terraces and bars in England, Croatia, Switzerland, Australia, New York and Buenos Aires. She’s known for her large scale projects, which bring a pomo-style set of colours and patterns to streets and buildings, but Walala actually started out selling cushions on Broadway Market. In 2015 she was...
Experience a surreal night out with FKA twigs in her latest video
Since first catapulting into the spotlight a decade ago, musician FKA twigs has been instrumental in defining her own image, especially when it comes to conceiving her intriguing music videos. Her previous promos have incorporated everything from melancholic pole dancing and a CGI robo-dragon in Andrew Thomas Huang collaboration Cellophane, to a martial arts epic in Hiro Murai’s video for...
The best record sleeves of the year 2021
Discourse around the relevance of the album format and physical records have waxed and waned in the streaming era. However two of the world’s biggest (and most intensely monitored, in terms of appearance) pop stars reinforced the significance of the album cover – at times considered something of a casualty of streaming – as they marked their own return to...
Wine investment company Cult’s palate cleansing new identity
As it enters its 15th year of business, wine investment company Cult – which helps people to create and manage their fine wine portfolio – has unveiled a refreshed visual identity. Designed by London-based studio Output, Cult’s new identity system nods to the wine sector with clever details, like the letterforms in the new wordmark. The curve of the C...
Trends of 2021: The year in advertising
Questions around sustainability and responsibility loomed large this year, as did the ongoing effects of Covid – but 2021 also saw agencies find a renewed sense of fun The post Trends of 2021: The year in advertising appeared first on Creative Review....









