This year, for its annual celebration of Children’s Day, McDonald’s China has joined with London-based illustration agency Jelly and Dutch illustrator Eva Cremers on a new character-led campaign titled We Love to See You Play. Looking to target Gen Z, Gen Alpha families and older consumers who want to embrace their inner child, McDonald’s utilised Cremers’ striking visual style to...
Deluxe limited edition book tells the story of Wings
“Suddenly Wings has found its moment. We have a generational shift at work, and it’s like being transported back on a magic carpet.” So writes Paul McCartney in the foreword to Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, a special limited-edition book packaged in a deluxe cloth-bound, screen-printed box and signed by Macca himself. For a band often...
How Buck studio manifests the value of human creativity in the age of AI
Ben Langsfeld, chief design officer at Buck, believes that while creative generation is getting easier, creative judgement is becoming more valuable – presenting an opportunity for designers and clients alike...
Crosses of Hope flag project on show at Outernet London
Over the summer in the UK, during a period of intense debate around immigration, a number of flags, including both the St George’s Cross flag and the Union Jack, began to appear on lamp-posts across villages, towns and cities. While some claimed they were intended as a show of pride and patriotism, many viewed them as a provocation. In response,...
Alfa Mist and James Rueben on turning dystopian visions into sound and ink
The producer and artist discuss their first collaboration, which extends the themes of the former’s latest album, Roulette, into a short sci-fi comic...
Google Pixel tackles ‘vanilla’ smartphones in new spot
As it continues to wage war against the rest of the smartphone market, Google has released another spot that positions the competition as boring and unimaginative, and the Pixel as a clever, category-leading device. The spot, developed by Google Creative Lab and directed by creative duo Matias & Mathias, depicts other smartphones out there as vanilla ice cream – often...
Why going viral is no longer fun
In our fevered political climate, unexpected culture wars, fuelled by bots, can break out at any moment, even over something as seemingly benign as a logo redesign. What impact is this having on creatives and designers, asks Ben Kay...
Stephen McCoy’s photographs of Merseyside travel south
Titled Proximity, the exhibition features a wide array of work by McCoy, and in particular spotlights his artistic investment in the Merseyside area, which dates back nearly 50 years and has seen him document everything from suburban development to domestic realities. Having lived in the area for most of his life, the county’s villages, towns and cities, as well as...
Nike and Lego join up for collab in a Shanghai primary school
The best brand collabs tend to come about when each brand has its own clear voice but they can come together in a way that makes them both shine. This is the case with this new project for kids at Baoshan No 2 Central Primary School in Shanghai, where Nike and Lego have installed a brightly coloured playground. Nike is...
Mud, sweat and tears at the Barbican
Dirty Looks, a new exhibition in London, examines fashion’s complicated relationship with dirt and decay, and society’s changing ideas of beauty...
No Way Back: Learning from, not longing for, the past
Launching with a fascinating book, the No Way Back project is a multi-platform initiative that brings together long-lost music and subculture journalism and photography...
A new exhibition confronts the seductive face of fascism
At first glance, the artwork on view in Poster House’s latest exhibition is dazzling – sleek planes, swooping eagles, heroic figures rendered in bold colours and modernist forms. But beneath this elegant façade lies a darker story of coercion and control. Running in New York until February next year, The Future Was Then: The Changing Face of Fascist Italy traces...

