The artist and educator’s six-year documentation of Elaine, Arkansas, confronts a history of racial violence and decades of neglect, while proposing a more reciprocal model for documentary photography...
Gradwatch 2026: Mac Brown, the Northern School of Art
“Design as an outlet for creativity wasn’t always the creative sector I was drawn to,” says graphic designer Mac Brown. “I always wanted to be a very traditional artist, but during my time at school I had classes in both fine art and graphic design. The way design was able to integrate art into creating products, brands and emotion caught...
Gradwatch 2026: Maddie McCoubrie, Arts University Bournemouth
It was in the run up to Maddie McCoubrie’s final year on the illustration course at Arts University Bournemouth that she discovered the 3D software Blender, which allowed her work to open up into wider illustration and animation techniques and “worlds that felt unique to me”, she explains. “These often centred around vibrant colours, quirky shape language and perhaps slightly...
Why have design books gotten so boring?
While other sectors such as food and sport have flexed outside of their typical settings, and reached new audiences in turn, design books have remained static. It’s time for a shake-up...
Micro-home installation in Sweden highlights youth housing crisis
In Sweden, as in many countries around the world, young people are currently facing a major uphill battle to buy their first homes, owing to extremely high prices in cities and strict down-payment rules. This issue has been widely debated in recent years, with articles and news reports delving into the situation; what is less common however, are visualisations that...
New Uber campaign encourages Germans to change their habits
The new ads employ a documentary format, and a tongue-in-cheek tone, while revealing the many maddening trips we make in life that could be avoided if we are willing to be adaptable, change our plans and break old habits. Crucially, each of the films ends with the same simple suggestion: Oder aber Uber? (Or order Uber?). Serviceplan developed four short...
Gradwatch 2026: George Cook, University for the Creative Arts
Despite being a highly technical creative medium, stop motion has long been celebrated for its simple charm. From children’s film and television to meticulously crafted commercials, it is most commonly associated with warmth and tactility. None of that is lacking in the work of George Cook, yet the University for the Creative Arts animation graduate is interested in exploring what...
Snask on the power of fame and standing out
We talk to the co-founders of the Stockholm-based agency Snask about how irreverence and personality still go a long way in the creative industries...
Gradwatch 2026: Grace Moran, University of Brighton
Grace Moran takes great inspiration from nature in the creation of her art. This includes everyday experiences of the trees and plants she sees in the tree nursery in Brighton where she volunteers, but also other “unconventional and experimental techniques”, including mudlarking, metal detecting and underwater photography. These experiences, and her daily walk to university… Source...
Puresport ditches AI-generated product shots for oil paintings
With AI-generated imagery becoming an increasingly routine part of branded work, Puresport has decided to go against the grain with a distinctly traditional campaign. The London-based sports nutrition and running culture brand has launched its Pomegranate Ultra Electrolytes with Team GB Olympic silver medallist Amy Hunt via a series of original still-life paintings. Created by artists Trish… Source...
Designed like Mamdani
In an era of image-conscious politics, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani has built an authentic, coherent brand rooted in great design...
Gradwatch 2026: Jason Saffer, Central Saint Martins
Whether he’s creating a tongue-in-cheek campaign encouraging gamers to go outside, or drawing his distinctive cast of blocky, brightly coloured characters, Jason Saffer’s work shares an infectious sense of optimism. Across his graduate portfolio, branding, typography, motion and illustration are treated less as separate disciplines than tools to be combined in service of an idea. As is often the… Source...