Taking obsession over typography to a new level, they have produced a stunning alphabet of conceptual sculptures. The idea for each sculpture stems from the typeface chosen, which always starts with the same letter. For example A is “Akzidenz Grotesk” – designed in 1896, and forerunner to Helvetica, Akzidenz was part of a family of early sans-serifs called ‘grotesques’. It comes in a range of weights and styles: for this design a condensed weight is ‘fractalised’, turning a grotesque into a thing of beauty.

Its definitely worth all having a look through the whole alphabet and reading more here. They form some lovely sculptures, and you’ll learn a good amount about the history of typefaces.

The project took over six months to complete. Johnson banks first researched each letter, and then developed drawings, maquettes, and simple 3D renders before transferring the imagery and ideas to the team at Ravensbourne. There, designers further developed the 3D models, collaborating virtually with johnson banks, before beginning the first test prints. Some ideas worked immediately; others required refining in order to not fall apart. Some letters took as long as eight hours to print.

The collection is currently being exhibited at Pengiun Pool in London.
“The exhibition itself is only on for a short amount of time – it’s open today (Monday) then until the 8th this week, 9.00am to 6.00pm daily.”

He has also recently hit Smithfield in London:

The fabulous construction is the south east’s entry for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad and it will visit south coast towns during the Olympics.

It has been handcrafted by a team of boatbuilders using the contributed parts that include original parts from the Mary Rose and HMS Victory which sit alongside more mundane objects but which all have their own unique story. The largest object is an 8ft long plank from a felled yew tree and the smallest is a cocktail stick. Other parts include acoustic guitars, a violin, a didgeridoo, a tennis racket, hockey sticks, a toy helicopter, a children’s train track and a Victorian police truncheon. Hidden among them all is that famed little piece of the guitar which rock legend Jimi Henrix played in 1960.
Each timber item was donated by a family or individual to represent their own personal story and have now been assembled to form the 30ft long hull of yacht.
The unique vessel is the brainchild of artists Gregg Whelan and Gary Winters, who appealed to members of the public to come forward with wooden objects that they would like to see included.

After skim reading my weekly email newsletter from Urban Outfitters (yeah, yeah) this morning I noticed something very familiar, in the form of The Chase’s 1993 Stamp Christmas Card. It’s probably the most famous Christmas card in the history of design, so what’s it doing being sold at Urban Outfitters.

So straight on to Twitter I went to see if I could find out what was going on, and noticed that a few other people had flagged this up as well, and after a few retweets it became clear that UO usage of this card had not been sanctioned by The Chase.

As people were starting to see this, retweeting it and voicing their opinions and outrage that a large internationally company would just take a famous piece of design work and use it, without even asking permission. In the end UO’s own twitter account caught wind of what was being said and issued this.

So this could have been a very honest mistake, or it could have been a downright audacious attempt to exploit an amazing idea without having to pay for it, I suppose we’ll have to wait and see to find out.

It does however show the potential power of social networking and the responses it can create in such a short time. We’ve seen it recently used for bad in the organisation of riots, and then for good in the form of the organised clean-ups in the wake of those riots. I would say this is another use for good, let’s hope this positive use can continue.

Well, JKR went on to ask the artist to do a few illustrations of iconic brands…. He kindly obliged and below are the results. How many brands do you recognize? Gold star to whoever can name them all first.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

As part of the Liverpool Design Festival, Liverpool design agencies will be throwing open their studio doors this Friday for one day only to invite you in for a sneak peek at their creative space and an insight into the award winning graphic, web and digital design work being produced behind those normally closed doors. Thanks to Michael Maloney for this post.

The Octopus Card

The Orca Card

and of course The Oyster Card

I like the name, it raises a smile and I also think its interesting seeing these cards together. (The UK’s cards look much cooler.)

Being a Merseysider/Londoner myself I can see how useful these new cards will be. Its just a shame there isn’t yet a “one for all” card for cities in the UK. Ocean?

Shameful behaviour on someones part?