They’ve become a mainstay in the final major projects of art and design students. They’re replacing T-shirts and badges as the favoured merch format for musicians and producers. And they handily keep your chin toasty while you spend two hours in the cold screaming at 11 people who definitely can’t hear you. Yes, it’s the humble football scarf, which is...
Inside Cristobal Ascencio’s enigmatic images
Cristobal Ascencio uses photography and VR to explore his family life and wider ideas of memory and truth, resulting in striking and unexpected images...
Design and the cost of living crisis
While Britain grapples with recession and a cost of living crisis, we examine how design and communication can spotlight helpful resources to struggling households and activate political change...
Dorothy’s Jazz Love Blueprint is a celebration of the music genre
Jazz Love Blueprint, as the name suggests, maps out a brief history of the music genre, detailing over 1,000 musicians, artists, songwriters, and producers who have made significant contributions to the form. Their names are spread throughout an elaborate composition that replicates the circuit diagram of a phonograph (or record player), to pay tribute to the way this unique piece...
Lauren Dykes on the joy of ads that entertain
After joining TBWAMedia Arts Lab in Los Angeles, art director Lauren Dykes has already landed a role working with one of her dream brands: Apple. Here, she talks about why brands need to be entertaining to have a chance of cutting through...
Nike enters the footballverse in its star-studded World Cup ad
It’s been a strange time for advertisers in the run up to this year’s FIFA World Cup. The event has been marred by everything from reports of exploitation and corruption, to the deaths of migrant workers, to discriminative LGBTQ+ laws. Most brands have chosen to avoid mentioning host nation Qatar as much as possible, while others have made some PR...
Asha & Co’s new RSPB branding ‘reconciles urgency with inclusivity’
Asha & Co has worked on the new brand positioning, identity, and messaging for nature conservation charity RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), aiming to better communicate “the scale and depth of the charity’s work, enabling it to speak with passion, understanding, hope and urgency”, according to the agency. The RSPB visual identity has also had a refresh:...
Ryu Ika: A flash of reality
Photographer Ryu Ika captures the absurd chaos of everyday life, using her sweaty, bloody, brightly lit images to try to make sense of the world around her...
Fantasy worlds for marginalised communities
Digital artist and graphic designer Elise Rose discusses growing up on a diet of video games, and why she decided to switch from making photography to 3D art...
Good Reads: Explore the ugly, beautiful chaos of Circus magazine
Jackson Bowley’s website bio describes himself as a London based ‘beauty’ photographer. The use of inverted commas is an inside joke with himself, alluding to the fact that, despite having shot for the likes of Asos and 3ina, he’s always struggled to find a version of beauty that fits with his own vision. The idea to create his own magazine...
Creativity Sucks! enters the metaverse
Creativity Sucks! aims to take a clear-eyed look at the commercial creative industries and examine the topics of the day in design and advertising. And what bigger, more discussed topic has there been in 2022 than the metaverse? We’ve seen a heady mix of hype and cynicism dominate think pieces and panel talks about the metaverse over the past year,...
How to keep great ideas alive – even when the client says no
A firm “no thanks” from a client can seem like the end of the road for your brilliant idea. But not necessarily, says Wunderman Thompson CCO Daniel Bonner...