Five things to love about designers

Looking for a bit of a pat on the back? Copywriter Rob Self-Pierson tells us why he loves working with designers so much.

(By Rob Self-Pierson on May 15, 2015)

 

Image by flickr user Thor

I was speaking to a fellow copywriter the other evening about my love of great designers. She couldn’t see it and wanted convincing. So, in the space of a couple of minutes, I listed and explained five reasons for my affection.
My friend smiled and said I should write a BuzzFeed-style list. “It might help you bring more writers and designers together,” she said, “like you’ve always wanted to.”
So, here’s the list. And here’s hoping.

• Words speak more powerfully with great design. Once you’ve nailed the meaning as a writer, there’s no greater pleasure than seeing a skilled designer communicate that meaning to an audience.
• They’re inspired by so much of what they see. Walking around cities and nature with a designer is an education. Rooftops, trees, drain covers, menus, raincoats. You name it, a good designer will find inspiration.
• We can geek out together over type. A few years ago, I went on a guided typography/lettering walk around London. I fell in love. Now I like nothing more than talking serifs, glyphs and kerning with designers.
• They read like I read. Ever since I studied English at uni, I’ve dissected books – not just for meaning, but for appearance too. Skilled designers do the same. They dig deep until they understand the look and feel of a sentence.
• I learn as I go. My best friends are now graphic designers, creative directors, animators, illustrators and lettering artists. Every time we work (or drink) together, I learn something that helps me write better for design.

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Rob Self-Pierson is a copywriter. He often teams up with designers to produce writing that has a greater impact.

Google Car involved in 11 accidents during testing period

Google says the accidents have come during 1.7 million miles of test-driving the vehicle.

(By Angus Montgomery on May 12, 2015 Design Week)

 

 

Google Self-Driving Car, photo by Gordon De Los Santos

Google’s self-driving car has been involved in 11 accidents during its six-year testing period, the company has revealed.
Writing on Medium, Google’s director of the self-driving car programme Chris Urmson says that the accidents took place during 1.7 million miles of both autonomous and manual driving and that “not once was the self-driving car the cause of the accident”.
Urmson says that none of the accidents caused serious damage or injuries. He says the cars have been hit from behind seven times and also side-swiped and hit by a car rolling through a stop sign.
Urmson says: “Even when our software and sensors can detect a sticky situation and take action earlier and faster than an alert human driver, sometimes we won’t be able to overcome the realities of speed and distance; sometimes we’ll get hit just waiting for a light to change.”
Google’s self-driving cars have “360º visibility and 100 per cent attention in all directions at all times”, says Urmson. He adds that Google’s newest sensors can track other vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians to a distance of nearly 200m.
Google has been road-testing its driverless cars for six years, with the driverless technology retrofitted on to existing car models, such as the Toyota Prius and the Lexus models. Since 2014 the company has been testing its own Google Car model on Californian roads.
Urmson says the driverless cars have so far clocked up 1.7 million miles, both manually and autonomously controlled, and that the cars have self-driven nearly 1 million of those miles.
Following prototyping and testing, Urmson says Google aims to work with partners “to bring this technology into the world safely”.

What colour next?

Color Marketing Group has invited Global Color Research to be one of the main speakers for the CMG 2015 European Conference being held in Krakow, Poland, 20-22 May. We are excited to present our key trends for Spring Summer 2016 to the colour community which is Colour Marketing Group. Our own Hannah Malein, Colour Trend Consultant Manager will be presenting our Spring Summer 2016 colour palettes and trends. For further information visit their website.
www.colormarketing.org

(Global Colour Research 12th May 2015)

KitKat to roll out more than 100 million special editions in “biggest ever” redesign

The first release in the new campaign sees the words “YouTube break” replace the Kitkat logo on more than 600,000 wrappers.

(By Angus Montgomery on May 12, 2015 Design Week)

 

 

Kitkat is rolling out more than 100 million special edition packs in what brand owner Nestlé says is its biggest packaging redesign since it came to market 80 years ago.
The campaign, which has been developed with advertising agency JWT, will see 72 different types of “breaks” introduced as part of Kitkat’s “celebrate the breakers break” campaign.
These will include “Movie Break”, “Lunch Break” and “Sporty Break” and will roll out across 400 individual packaging designs.
The campaign’s dedicated hashtag #mybreak is being moulded into the chocolate of 22 million bars, with the wrappers suggesting various “breaks”.
The first new pack to launch is a collaboration between Nestlé and Google which will see the words “YouTube break” replace the Kitkat logo on more than 600,000 wrappers.
The collaboration between Google and Kitkat comes after Google named its Android operating system 4.4 update, released in 2014, “KitKat”.

Flowers dominant catwalks

Flowers dominant the catwalks of Paris Haute Couture Week

Monday, 02 February 2015 (Vivian Hendriksz)

REVIEW Following the days of menswear fashion shows in Paris, haute couture collections took the catwalks from Tuesday to Thursday. Despite the event's overall extravaganza, the number of visitors attending the shows was less than the previous edition. Hotels in the area reported a 9 percent decline in guests during Paris Fashion Week, which was most likely due to the recent attack on satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, last month.
Only 14 selected labels have the privilege to state they produce haute couture. In Paris, the title haute couture is legally protected and subject to strict criteria. Fashion designers may only call themselves haute couturiers if they have been a guest member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture - the institute which appoints designers haute couturiers - for five years and if the members of the institute all agree.
The most recent name to be added to the list of haute couturiers is Alexandre Vauthier, who names artists such as Beyonce and Rihanna among his clients. A number of designers have also been invited to show during haute couture week on a temporary basis, including the likes of Versace, Valentino, Viktor & Rolf, Yiqing Yin and Schiaparelli.

Escapism and flower power spotted at Haute Couture week

During haute couture week, designers seemed to have been channeling a feeling of lightness. That sentiment, imagination and optimism will undoubtedly trickle down the fashion link to the fast-fashion chain and ordinary consumers. Flowers played a major role during Haute Couture Week, especially in Chanel's show, where mechanical flowers 'blossomed' in the middle of the circular catwalk.
Then there was Naomi Campbell, who walked the catwalk wearing an ensemble which resembled a full bouquet during the end of the wedding parade during Jean Paul Gaultier show. The French designer previously announced last year that he would stop working on this prêt-à-porter line in order to turn his full attention to his haute couture collections.
Italian fashion house Versace kicked off the start of haute couture week, with actresses and mother-daughter duo Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson attending the event, which saw a series of models present form fitting outfits in vivid blues, reds and whites.
"I was always thinking of the future for so many years and I was always anti-romanticising the past, but the past can be beautiful too," said Raf Simons, creative director at Dior to AFP backstage after the show. For the fashion house's summer collection, he created fluorescent orange boots and tight catsuits with flower-power patterns which were presented by models who descended from a space-opera created in the gardens of the Musée Rodin in Paris.

'Wilder' and 'more sensual' looks seen on the catwalks of Haute Couture week

According to the designer himself, the garments represent the romance of the fifties, with the experimental side of the sixties and the freedom of the seventies. He wanted to create something that wilder, more sensual, more strange and certainly more liberating for the realm of haute couture for women.
Karl Lagerfeld, thought that the world, in particular the capital of France, could benefit from some lightness and humor, following the tragic event on January 7. For Chanel's show, he transformed the Grand Palais into a magical garden with giant white tropical flowers made from origami, palm trees and banana leaves. The show opened with gardeners, carrying padded watering cans to water the plants.
Every outfit could been seen as flowering plant, which opened during the show's finale and came to full bloom. The fashion house presented tweed jackets with flowers and suits in a series of pastel shades. There were also a number of long chiffon blouses, which were worn over midi skirts and cropped tops.

Viktor & Rolf inspired by Vincent Van Gogh

Viktor & Rolf also embraced flowers on the catwalk. Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren from Geldrop were inspired by the painter Vincent van Gogh, which led to straw hats and slippers making their way into the collection. The duo also teamed up with fabrics company Vlisco, who produced the fabrics used. Shakespeare, Dante and Marc Chagell were the inspirational sources for the haute couture summer collection '15 from Valentino, which translate to velvet, embroidery and floaty fabrics. There was also a strong Russian folklore theme throughout the collection, seen in the use of traditional fabrics, vests and pinafore dresses. Valentino also presented corsets,both transparent models as well as silk and lace models.
One name was absent from the schedule - Maison Margiela. The fashion house, now under the creative direction of John Galliano, presented its collection earlier last month in London rather than Paris. A decision which, as it often happens, may led to Maison Margiela losing its status of haute couture. By Yasmine Esser, translated by Vivian Hendriksz

FUTURE THEMES- Surface Design Show

CHRISTINE DIAZ PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER OF ULTRAFABRICS HAS PULLED TOGETHER FUTURE THEMES

Which are heavily influenced by haute couture:

"Borderline is a decorative play on lines, complex surface textures hints at surreal aesthetics and makes bold statements in unexpected ways." Acoustic GRG Products (stand 122) will showcase Waveform an acoustic wall panel whose undulating lines create stunning aesthetics. More

"Jaunty embraces lively primary hues of red cadmium and cobalt." New from A.J Wells Architectural Enamellers (stand 456) is VLAZE: bespoke vitreous enamel panels and work surfaces that come in a range of vibrant colours.

"Mirage utilises nature inspired textures in a variety of muted pastels." Ceramiche Caesar S.p.A (stand 301) produce stunning tiles in a beautiful natural palette. More

"Modish pulls at the heart strings of earlier generations, an interesting use of green is combined with black or citrus accents. Plastics, along with geometrics and knits, create surface effects which are a playful mix of contrasting elements." Armatile (stand 234) create bespoke tile solutions and their circle and dots design embraces the Modish trend perfectly. More

WPA Pinfold brands Asda’s 3D printing service

WPA Pinfold has created the branding and packaging for supermarket Asda’s new 3D printing service, called ASDA 3DME.

The ASDA 3DME service lets people create 3D-printed figurines of themselves or others. Sessions can be booked at Asda stores and prices run from £49 to £125.
The system uses 360º scanning cameras and according to Asda has access to a palette of 6 million colours. The result is a 3D-printed 20cm ceramic figurine.

Packaging

WPA Pinfold says that for the branding it has used “emotive images of people” in a bid to “capture the essence of the personal feelings associated with the concept”.
The consultancy says it has aimed for a “simple, engaging” brand, while photography was used across all touchpoints to create brand consistency.

3DME website

The ASDA 3DME concept was trialled last autumn and the supermarket plans to roll the service out further this year.

(Mon, 26 Jan 2015 | By Angus Montgomery )