Founded 75 years ago, Magnum Photos is steeped in photographic tradition, and its members are heralded in particular for their documentation of everyday life from multiple angles, whether seemingly mundane street scenes or highly charged warzones. Foam in Amsterdam, which is staging an exhibition of Magnum photography, is the first to admit that even the cooperative’s members rarely promote the…...
A photographic portrait of contemporary Paris
Paris is going through a period of rapid change and expansion. We talk to the photographers who are documenting this shift, who aim to show a vision of the city that reaches beyond its romanticised image...
A sticker pack of gifs for African Pidgin phrases
To mark African Union Day today (May 25), pan-African social media platform NewComma has created a sticker pack of gifs based on African phrases. The gifs are housed on Giphy, and serve to announce the integration of Giphy for the NewComma web app. Each is based on a word or phrase in Pidgin English, a mixture of English and local...
Instagram’s new identity is all about the ‘squircle’
While it hasn’t been subjected to the same level of scandal and critique as its parent company Meta (aka Facebook), the sheen seems to be wearing off social media’s one-time golden child, Instagram, as users are drawn to the less curated world of video-first platforms such as TikTok. It’s in this context that the social media giant has unveiled a...
New book reveals David Byrne’s foray into illustration (and dingbats)
Earlier this month, former Talking Heads front man and pioneer of oversized workwear David Byrne celebrated his 70th birthday, so it seems like an apt time for him to publish a book that sounds pretty ambitious in scope: ‘A History of the World’. However, like most things Byrne, there’s a twist: this is A History of the World (in Dingbats)....
The challenges and creative innovations behind Abba Voyage
We chat to VFX wizards ILM and director Baillie Walsh about making ‘Abbatars’ come to life, creating visual ‘short stories’ from Abba hits, and more...
The surrealist charm of illustrator Nico Ito’s artworks
Growing up as an only child in Tokyo in the 90s, Nico Ito’s most frequent companion was his own imagination, which used to run wild with fantastical stories. “I used to draw the world of those fantasies. I loved the creatures and motifs that appeared in those drawings, and the process of creating settings for each one,” he tells CR....
New KesselsKramer book focuses on a photogenic German Shepherd dog
Conceived by Erik Kessels, the photobook series In Almost Every Picture features found photography that is unified each time by a recurring theme or quirk. Previous titles have featured images ranging from the banal to the bizarre. Book 11, for example, is centred on photos of a woman called Valerie who is always featured fully dressed, submerged in water. Others...
Inside the epic design challenge of the Elizabeth line
Over 30 years in the making, the new Elizabeth line in London is a herculean feat of engineering, architecture and, of course, design. We speak to TfL’s head of design, Jon Hunter, about how it will change the face of transport in London and beyond...
A colourful rebrand for gardening charity RHS
Gardening has been given a new image in recent years. Between newcomers like Patch, Sproutl and Bloom Box Club using design to encourage a new generation of gardeners, YouTube shows and TV series teaching us more about the plant kingdom, plus lockdowns spent confined to our houses and gardens, it seems like people have become engaged with plant life than...
Apple doubles down on its data privacy offering in new ad
Apple is continuing to push its ‘tracking transparency tool’, which allows users to easily opt out of their data being shared on apps (or in, if they so choose). Previous ads in the series have seen Apple highlight the ‘invisible’ issue of data tracking by showing how it would feel if it was taking place in real life, rather than...
Google Pixel ad sees unwanted elements from photos cast into the abyss
The new spot from Google, by Anyways Creative, opens as a neat product demo for its ‘magic eraser’ tool. We watch as a snapper removes a runner from the background of her photo to make it look neater. Things then take a fun turn as the said jogger finds herself in a magical land filled with other objects, cars, street...