Why has all the fun gone out of exhibition design?

Exhibition designer Mark Magidson looks at the structural flaws that have taken the creativity out of exhibition design.

Source: Julian Stallabrass

Martin Creed fills a room with balloons at Tate St Ives in 2011

Is the interpretation exhibition design industry today doing what Starbucks has done to coffee? Corporate, safe, everywhere at any high street near you and, dare I say, repetitive and bland?
I have just visited what is the antitheses of this condition, the sculpture exhibition by the (brilliant!) Martin Creed at the Hayward Gallery in London. It highlighted all the things the exhibition design industry today is NOT doing. It was funny (farting machine soundtrack), thought-provoking (full-size car with timed opening and closing of all doors and radio soundtrack), downright dangerous (humungous MOTHER neon sign revolving inches above your head), fun (a maze room full of balloons) and utterly shocking (giant video of a lady taking a dump and various people vomiting). All things VISUAL and communicated seamlessly, with hardly a word in sight.
Where today are the exhibitions that really matter and can make a difference, and that can be free to use the media of a ‘visualiser’ such as Creed? An exhibition about climate change that offers the science that is honest and populist enough to show the uncertainties and allow visitors a voice? In this centenary year an exhibition that traces the stories behind the outbreak of World War One and offers parallels and contrasts to what is happening now in the Ukraine?
I have just invested 72 of my hard earned pounds attending a conference entitled Chaos at the Museum, hoping to find some answers. US-based consultant Elaine Heumann Gurian was the keynote speaker. She not only brilliantly traced the history of our profession but alluded to where it all started going wrong.
In the halcyon days when interpretation designers were employed in museums, they were embedded within a tight group that worked on the content from the very beginning. Their visual perspective was valued and the day-to-day synergy of working with a development group allowed a project to develop seamlessly – a condition known as ‘joined-up thinking’.
Gurian rightly labelled the exhibition designers of today (myself included) as ‘mercenaries’; guns for hire who are rented on a daily bases and land into the in-house team. They are then expected, in a very short time, to all be talking (and visualising) in the same language – the Tower of Babel comes to mind. Gurian astutely observed that the ‘visualisers’ need to tell the wordsmiths what they needed in order to have a voice in the industry.
It was left unanswered that no one in any position of power is really listening to the voice of a ‘visualiser’, as almost everyone is calling themselves ‘designers’. Respect and much space is given to almost every other part of the design industry: to the professions of ‘architect’, ‘industrial designer’, ‘fashion designer’ and ‘artists’, such a Creed. ‘Interpretation designers’ now are more and more being pushed to the very end of the development process and are quickly becoming ‘decorators’ of preconceived half-transformed concepts, with very few willing to rock the boat. They take the money and run, as Gurian put it, they are ‘mercanaries’.
What can be done? Not an easy answer! At some stage the ‘mercernary’ ‘interpretation designers’ are probably going to have to emulate the ending of the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – a death-or-glory charge. It may not have a gory ending, as the sequel Blackthorn revealed Mr Cassidy alive and well.

(Mark Magidson is creative director at Exhibition Plus.Wed, 30 Apr 2014)

Textile & Wallpaper of an Historic House

So I went to Dunham Massey in Cheshire today, where there is a WW1 exhibit for 2014 showing the house as it was during the war which was used as a hospital for those injured in battle.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/dunham-massey/visitor-information/

Whilst there I took loads of Photos; here's some I took of patterns around the house

Wallpaper

Wallpaper

Chair Fabric

Bedding

Bedding used in WW1 for hospital beds

Clerkenwell Design Week highlights

This year’s Clerkwenwell Design Festival starts in less than a month, launching its fifth edition with a bigger line-up than ever.

Hyde Stacking Stool by Assemblyroom

The three-day event takes place in various venues across the London area, focusing on four main hubs – the Farmiloe Building, showing bigger, international brands at Design Factory, and Detail presenting high-end interiors and decoration in Priory Church at the Order of St John. Up-and-coming design talent will be on display at the Platform section in the underground Victorian prison at The House of Detention; while the new Additions strand of the fair takes place at the Crypt on the Green at St. James Church, exhibiting small design pieces and accessories.

Camira Silk

As usual, the many design showrooms in the area will be opening their doors to the public and laying on special events over the festival’s tenure.

A Rum Fellow - Tribal Chairs

Vitra on Clerkenwll Road will be using the opportunity to celebrate the 15^th birthday of Ron Arad’s Tom Vac, by commissioning more than 20 architects and designers including Morag Myerscough, Morey Smith and Jump Studios to re-style the chair. The pieces will be displayed at the showroom from 20 May.

Camberwell Collective, SACK chair frame

Product launches taking place at the festival include the new Mews  range of tiles from Domus and Italian ceramic house Mutina , designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.
Elsewhere, Germany-based furniture manufacturer Kusch+Co is unvileing its latest collections and celebrating its 75^th anniversary, while Dauphin will launch its new ‘acoustic sofa’ Cocone.

Camilla Webb Carter, Clapham Installation

Those looking for a little liquid refreshment should head to the Brewhouse Yard Davison Highley showroom, which is hosting a series of brewing-based events to celebrate its first birthday. The upholstered furniture manufacturer has also commissioned ‘Lego professional’ Bright Bricks to recreate pieces from its collection entirely from Lego.
The streets of Clerkenwell are also getting involved thanks to a series of installations, including a pavilion piece by Studio Weave entitled Smith. The work aims to  ‘pay homage to Clerkenwell’s heritage as the home to a range of smiths through history’, according to festival organisers, and will showcase ‘the creative use of tools and equipment, and how they can be applied to materials for product making’.

Studio Weave - Smith Installation

At St John’s Gate, Architects Russ + Henshaw will be creating the Tile Mile installation with Turkishceramics, based on the idea of ‘reflection’, and aiming to celebrate Clerkenwell’s built history and modern-day Turkish ceramics.

Russ + Henshaw - Tile Mile

Clerkenwell Design Week takes place from 20 – 22 May at various venues around Clerkenwell. For more information visit clerkenwelldesignweek.com

 (Mon, 28 Apr 2014 | By Emily Gosling)

Blog's New Look

So I decided I would give the blog a bit of a makeover with one of my newer designs as the background :)

Smart craft: trend analysis

By Helena Amourdedieu, WGSN-homebuildlife, 24 April 2014

For some years now, designers have turned to traditional materials and crafts to inspire and shape contemporary collections. Here we look at how removing crafts from their original context brings them to a new audience and helps rejuvenate age-old techniques.

Shortcuts

• A new generation of 'smart craft' products shows how updated traditional crafts can play a defining role in the future of design
• Time-old crafts such as weaving, knitting or glass blowing are applied to new types of product
• Techniques previously used for the creation of garments are used to make lighting, decorative accessories and furniture
• Basketry and carpentry breathe new life into industrial products and digital technology
• Crafts such as cobbling, caning or crystal cutting give objects a reassuringly authentic and bespoke aesthetic
• Used out of scale and out of context, crochet and embroidery demonstrate their versatility and contemporary appeal

Rug life

Illustrator and designer Oliver James Mayes has taken his practice from 2D to 3D in the form of a range of rugs, designed from London and created in the more exotic environs of Kashmir, India

Origin

Mayes was inspired to create the range on a recent trip to India, where he came across the unusual woollen Numduh rugs in a bazaar. Forging a relationship with a local craftswoman, he set about designing his own rugs, using the 100 per cent wool format he first saw in the markets.

Stuttering

The six rugs are to go on show this weekend in an exhibition entitled Longstop, to be held at the South Place Hotel in London, which boasts interiors by Conran + Partners.
Mayes says, ‘A lot of my paintings have been inspired but the idea of time and distance, and simplifying that down to lines and shapes’.
The pared-based designs are based around a series of vertical lines and rectangles, and have been created in two colourways – orange and black.
Mayes graduated from Central St Martins in graphic design in 2011, though describes himself as an artist – which is evident, perhaps, in the titles he’s given to each of the three patterns.
The series of four long rectangles has been dubbed Returning to Origin:

Direct

Longstop runs from 26 – 27 April at South Place Hotel, 3 South Place, London EC2M 2AF

(Thu, 24 Apr 2014 Design Week)

Handmade in Britain

Next month Chelsea Town Hall in west London will be taking a rather patriotic turn, hosting the Handmade in Britain show.

Source: Photo by Simon Bruntnell

Elliot Walker, Venus

This is the inaugural spring edition of the Contemporary Crafts and Design Fair, held during the winter at the same venue.
More than 100 designer-makers will be showing their wares at the May weekend, in disciplines including homeware, lighting, accessories , ceramics and textiles and fashion.

Adrian Bates, Mobius

All the works, as the name suggests, were created in Britain and are bought directly from the makers at the event.

Source: photo by Andy Tompkins

Jill Ford, Blue Wave Bowl

Joining the more established designers will be new millinery graduates form Kensington and Chelsea college, who are selling their creations in a dedicated gallery space.
Among the designers showing are furniture maker Tim Chadsey:

Source: Tim Chadsey

Tim Chadsey, Impala 59 Settee

Eileen Gatt’s silverware is inspired by the Scottish Highlands, stories and folklore, according to the organisers of Handmade in Britain.
We love the bold colours of Harriet Caslin’s lighting pieces:

Source: Harriet Caslin.

Harriet Caslin, Birdcage Shade

And this very good buoy sculptural piece by Clare McCormish:

Cast Stoneware - Clare McComish, Buoy without encrustations

Handmade in Britain takes place from 9 – 11 May at Chelsea Old Town Hall, King’s Road, London SW35EE. For more information visit www.handmadeinbritain.co.uk/chelsea-14

(Wed, 16 Apr 2014 | By Emily Gosling, Design Week)

Natural History Museum seeks designers to help boost donations

London’s Natural History Museum is looking for a design team to help it boost donations from visitors.

Source: pistolpeet

The museum is looking for a team to create a new visual identity for online and onsite donation channels, as well as ‘innovative, attractive and intriguing’ donation infrastructure at the museum – including donation boxes and countertop boxes.
The call for designers comes after the NHM adopted a new Visitor Donations Strategy, which is attempting to boost online and onsite donations to the museum.
A tender notice has been issued for the project, with a deadline of 1 May for receipt of tenders or requests to participate.

(Tue, 15 Apr 2014 | By Angus Montgomery)

Glasgow School of Art team creates Commonwealth Games medals

Jeweller and Glasgow School of Art lecturer Jonathan Boyd has worked with a team from the school to create the medals for this year’s Commonwealth Games in the City.

Gold, Silver and Bronze medals

The gold silver and bronze medals weigh 100g each and feature the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games identity, which was designed by Marque Creative.

Close-up of the Gold medal

More than 1,380 medals will be awarded throughout the Games, which start in July, and each is being hand-made in Glasgow.
Boyd says, ‘I hope I have designed something that stands proud as an interesting and unique object but, more importantly, something that celebrates each athlete’s individual achievement.’

Boyd worked on the designs with a team from GSA’s Silversmithing and Jewellery Department: Helen Marriott, Andrew Lamb, Anna Gordon, Nigel Munro, Yusuke Yamamoto, Satoko Takemura, Rhona McCallum, Malin Winberg, Shona Guthrie and Michael Pell.

Medals and gift on presentation tray

Glasgow 2014 also unveiled designs for the medals ceremonies – including podiums, gifts and clothes for the medal-bearers.

(Tue, 15 Apr 2014 | By Angus Montgomery)

H&M's struggle for ethical and sustainable fashion

"We take a long-term view on our business, and investing in our sustainability means investing in our future," said Karl-Johan Persson, CEO of Hennes & Mauritz in a press statement. The Swedish fashion retailer released its 12th sustainability report on Thursday, which coincided with the launch of its Exclusive Conscious and Conscious collections and its alliance with Solidaridad, to achieve a more sustainable textile production chain.

H&M recently introduced its seven commitments to do more for a sustainable fashion future, known as H&M Conscious, which range from recycling materials, reducing its carbon footprint, using more sustainable fabrics and offering fair living wages to its garment workers. H&M was also recently named as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies 2014 by Ethispehere Institute, an independent center of research promoting best practices in corporate ethics and governance.
"H&M is one of the companies that are honestly trying to make a difference," commented Yolanda Kakabadse, president of WWF International. But what difference is H&M really trying to make?
H&M previously stated that they are willing to sacrifice some of their profit margins in order to develop solutions for long-term sustainable fashion by investing in improved factory conditions and more sustainable materials. However despite this commitment, their sales seems yet to be heavily affected. During the last quarter, sales increased 12 percent in local currencies, with earnings increasing 8 percent. Although H&M did report slower profit growth during its first-quarter earnings report, the company lay the blame on the cost of investing in online expansion and not its investment in sustainable fashion.

Is H&M considering the 'planet's boundaries' with is global expansion plan?

"I hope that H&M will continue to grow and contribute to jobs and development around the world. But to continue growing, we need to consider our planet's boundaries," said Persson in a recent interview. "For the resources that we will still need, we must share them fairly between today's and future generations." However, H&M's commitment to creating sustainable fashion when its fast-fashion business model is based on producing several collections per season and introducing hundreds of new designs per weeks does raise a number of issues with the sustainable and ethical image the retailer is attempting to convey. The Swedish retailer currently produces over 550 million garments each year and expanded its sportswear collection last year, whilst launching its new store concept & Other Stories. H&M also unveiled plans to open 375 new stores by the end of 2014, with its largest store in Europe slanted to open in Rotterdam late fall while entering new markets such as Australia and India. This means that more than one new H&M stores will be opened each day of the year, which questions the sustainability of the retailer's rapid growth.
Niki Janssen, coordinator at Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) a collective of trade unions, charities and consumer organizations who work to support workers' rights commented: "Although every step H&M takes towards sustainable fashion is very important, as they have such a huge impact as the second largest clothing retailer in the world, they can do more for all their workers producing clothing."
In the CCC 'Tailored Wages' report, 50 of Europe's leading companies, including H&M were surveyed. The report examined H&M's work on wages which includes commitments to improving pricing method to ensure the true cost of labor by 2014 and reduction of average overtime by 35 percent, with 90 percent of suppliers perceiving H&M as a fair business partner by 2018 was reviewed.
"H&M will support factory owners to develop pay structures that enable fair living wage, ensure correct compensation and overtime within legal limits. This will be explored by implementing the Fair Wage Method in our role model factories," said H&M in the report. In 2014 the pilot scheme was introduced to three model factories, two in Bangladesh and one in Cambodia, were the retailer has 100 percent buying share.
"Despite the fact that H&M is putting in some effort for living wages, its not very convincing so far," says Janssen. One issue H&M's plan fails to address is a clearly stating a living-wage benchmark. "Although there are many good elements to what H&M has developed, without such a definition it is impossible to create a 'road map' to achieving the payment of such a wage or measure the road map's success," found the CCC report.

"Factory based negotiations will never led to workers earning 'fair living wages' "

Janssen also points out that a lot of H&M's strategy is aimed at encouraging negotiations for fair wages at factory level. "We agree that wages need to be negotiated, but believe that factory based negotiations will never led to workers earning 'fair living wages'." One of the main countries H&M sources its garments from, Bangladesh, official wage board raised the minimum monthly wage for entry-level garment workers from 3,000 takas (38 dollars) to 5,300 (68 dollars) last November. However this amount is still less than the trade union supported minimum monthly wage of 8,000 takas (100 dollars), and a number of factory owners have raised concerns that the wage hike is too high. "A commitment must come from H&M to raise the wage significantly via a benchmark. Such a commitment may open the space in negotiations for trade unions to make wage demands that represent the real needs of workers."
"We are continuing to invest in our customer offering - with sustainability being an important added value," said Persson. The question remains as to who is really benefiting from the added value.
Photos: Clean Clothes Campaign, H&M Unconscious, H&M Image Gallery.

(Monday, 14 April 2014 Fashion United)

Ten mistakes designers make

Design Bridge creative director Asa Cook presents the top ten mistakes designers make. (And by designers, he means himself…)

Source: doobybrain

In an industry so cruelly at the unforgiving whim of subjectivity, it’s common for us designers to become tortured, cynical souls self-conscious about our failings and constantly musing on the inherent cruelty of the creative process. So here’s for some light relief. If we’re going to be self-deprecating, let’s do it with a bit of candour. Here’s my top ten of the most common mistakes made by creatives (and by creatives, I mean me).

1. Flogging a dead horse

Sometimes when a client rejects an idea we go back one too many times trying to persuade them otherwise. Learning to tear up your own ideas and come back again with a better one is a right of passage for any great designer. And trust me, I’ve learned this the hard way.

2. Killing a great idea too early

Of course, it works the other way too. If it’s a good thought, let others know and don’t be afraid to fight your corner. Sometimes tweaking, rather than binning, works wonders. We’d have lost so many design classics to the wastepaper basket had it not been for the bravery and tenacity of good designers with a bee in their bonnet.

3. Underestimating yourself

Designers are an insecure breed. This can lead to a lack of confidence when starting a new brief, presenting work or even when selling yourself to a potential employer. But the trick is to learn to love the fear – after all, if it wasn’t so scary, would it be so rewarding? It’s worth embracing your anxieties and the adrenaline rush that creativity provides. Turn nerves into pure nerve and you’ll be surprised at the effect.

4. Bad spelling

A letterform is a beautiful thing to a creative. We don’t write letters, we draw them. So often we’re so focused on the way they look that we neglect to make sure that they’re in the right order, at the despair of every copywriter we work with (not to mention the eagle-eyed client). Just don’t forget that good design can be completely demolished by poor spelling. Get friendly with your dictionary, or failing that find a decent proof-reader.

5. Using a favourite typeface too often

Isn’t it better when a typeface is used because it’s right for a particular brief, not just because we like it?

6. Being precious about awards

Ah, the glory of standing up there, award in hand, eyes ablaze at the prospect of an evening spent drunkenly dancing whilst grinning from ear to ear. But for every victor, there’s a grumpy designer at the back of the auditorium lamenting his loss to anyone who’ll listen. Design awards aren’t the be-all and end-all. There will always be an element of subjectivity in judging design work. The fact is, if a project is the best that you could have made it then you should feel proud to have it in your portfolio – silverware or no. And you’d only leave the award in the taxi on the way home anyway.

7. Missing talent

I’ve interviewed graduates in the past and offered them a placement only to see them get snapped up by another consultancy in a permanent role. When you wholeheartedly believe in someone, you will never regret employing them. (And always, always hire people better than yourself).

8. Getting overly emotionally involved in a pitch

When we win, it’s sheer joy. When we lose – deepest despair. If only we could pitch without exposing ourselves to potential agony. But then would that take the fun out of pitching?

9. Shelf-stacking

OK – so this is one for the packaging designers. We often find ourselves standing in supermarkets, rearranging shelves or displays, making our designs look neat and tidy – drawing confused glances from our fellow shoppers. Some would call this a mistake, I call it good marketing practice.

10. Trying to ‘Apple-Z’ real life

This keyboard shortcut is now so ingrained in our brains that when we accidentally knock over a glass of water we try to ‘undo’ real life. Note to self: keep the keyboard shortcuts to the keyboard, and always have some kitchen-paper handy.

11. Designing inappropriate leaving/birthday cards

When a brief isn’t real, it’s all too tempting to cross the line. Rumour has it that designers have lost their jobs over such things. Leading to more leaving cards, and yet more opportunities for offence. Be careful, and get yourself to the nearest Paperchase if needs be.

12. Poor numeracy skills

Hmm, yes, you’ll have noticed the deliberate mistake here. Ten design mistakes? Well, I’ve never been able to restrain myself from throwing more ideas into the mix. Which leads me onto number 13… no, sorry, I’ll stop there. But in all seriousness, mistakes are what make us human, perhaps even what makes us creative. So maybe we should be less self-deprecating, and a little more accepting of our foibles – after all, don’t we creatives take enough of a beating?  So my advice is this; go forth, make mistakes, fail, come back the next day, learn. But whatever you do, do use spell-check along the way.
Asa Cook is creative director at Design Bridge.

(Wed, 9 Apr 2014 | By Asa Cook)

Twitter says new designs ‘make it easier to express yourself’

Twitter is rolling out new designs for its profile pages that it says makes it ‘even easier to express yourself’.

Twitter is rolling out new designs for its profile pages that it says makes it ‘even easier to express yourself’.
The new designs let users use a larger profile photo, customise the page header and highlight their favourite Tweets.
In the new profile design, Tweets that have received more engagement will appear slightly larger, so that more popular Tweets are easier to find.
Users can pin their favourite Tweets to the top of the page. There are also new timeline options to choose – users can now choose to look at Tweets, Tweets with photos/videos or Tweets and replies.
Twitter says it is launching the new designs to a small group of users as well as people who are new to Twitter. It will roll out the new designs to all users in the coming weeks.

(Wed, 9 Apr 2014 | By Angus Montgomery)

Zosen & Mina's Inside/Outside show

Barcelona-based visual artists Zosen & Mina Hamada are heading to Sheffield for a site-specific installation and exhibition at the B&B Gallery.

Although the duo have lived and worked together in Barcelona for some years Zosen was born and raised in Buenos Aires and Mina Hamada grew up in Tokyo.

This Zosen and Mina print has been produced by the gallery and will be on sale at the exhibition

They have come to be known for colourful free-form work, and their character-based pieces in particular have a psychedelic quality to them that remind us of the work of Jon Burgerman or Kyle Platts.

While Zosen and Mina are best known for collaborative murals which pop up across Europe, the Americas and Asia, their studio also produces canvas work, illustration, print making, animation, film, sculpture and self-publishing.

The B&B Gallery has produced a limited run of prints, which will be available for the show.

Inside/Outside runs until 26 April at B&B Gallery, 95B Mary St, Sheffield S1 4RT

(Tue, 8 Apr 2014 | By Tom Banks)

Art on the Underground pops up

Art on the Underground is launching a pop-up shop at Piccadilly Circus, selling limited-edition prints from artists including Sarah Lucas and Wolfgang Tillmans.

The Print Shop space has been designed by Simon Jones, with graphics by APFEL. The Print Shop identity itself takes inspiration from London Underground signage.

There will be 15 works on sale at the space, all special commissions by Art on the Underground as part of the 15 for 150 project, which marks the 150^th anniversary of the Tube.

Other artists involved include Gillian Wearing, Pablo Bronstein and Lawrence Weiner.
Rebecca Heald, Art on the Underground curator, says, ‘Print Shop presents a fantastic opportunity, in a unique and alternative setting, for commuters and collectors alike to own works inspired by the Tube from some of the world’s greatest contemporary artists.’

Print Shop is at Piccadilly Circus Underground station, London W1, from 8-19 April

(Tue, 8 Apr 2014 | By Angus Montgomery)