Hasta La Ideas

Braun has been a benchmark for beautiful and functional design from its founding as an audio manufacturer in the ’30s, to the debut of the S50 shaver in the ’50s and including its current innovations in personal care like CoolTec dry shaver for sensitive skin. The undeniable influence of the era of Eichler and the Ulm School of Design on the role of design in business includes Dieter Rams’ iconic “less is more” aesthetic.” From personal care to audio, timepieces to kitchen appliances, the Braun brand permeates our most personal every day products.

Core77 is proud to launch a microsite dedicated to the history of Braun design. Over the next few months, we’ll be doing a deep dive on the histories of Braun’s Shavers, Time Pieces, Audio, Kitchen Appliances and Hair Care product categories. And today, we’re launching with an interactive timeline of some of Braun’s notable products from its storied design history. In addition, we have a full gallery of the most recent BraunPrize winners—the work has been honored for its “genius design for a better everyday.”

Global Gold Winner, Professional/Enthusiast – Känguru, designed by Berlin-based designer Oliver Klein. It is a Mobility Concept for the Urban Context—a baby carrier and bicycle seat in one.

Established in 1968, the BraunPrize was Germany’s first international design prize. It was originally introduced by Erwin Braun, son of Braun founder Max Braun, and the goal was to stimulate public debate about design, “during a time when understanding and awareness of design and its positive benefits were largely unknown.” This year’s program was juried by Oliver Grabes (Head of Braun Design and Core77 Design Awards Consumer Products Jury Captain), Naoto Fukasawa (Founder of Naoto Fukasawa Design), Jane Fulton Suri (Managing Partner and Creative Director at IDEO), Anne Bergner (BraunPrize Winner 1999 and Design Consultant) and Dirk Freund (Director R&D, Global Braun).

This year’s program awarded 6 finalists, 3 Sustainability Award Winners, 30 National Winners and 20 Special Mentions across Student and Professional categories.

See our coverage of the 2012 BraunPrize ceremony here and the full gallery of the winners here.

>> Photo Gallery

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SIMPLcase™ is a slim, minimalist iPhone case designed for global travelers:- stores both the iPhone’s SIM tray eject tool (provided) and spare S..

Dedicated Bowie fans will have to wait another month to immerse themselves in one of the most extensive retrospectives on his career to date, but lovers of both the Thin White Duke and high quality design can now pre-order a limited-edition print created specifically for the Victoria & Albert…

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Bowie stories, it seems, are like London buses today: two seem to have come at once. Here’s a look at a specially commissioned typographic Bowie print to which over 100 designers contributed…

A hundred and one artists and designers have contributed to a typographic screenprint created exclusively for the V&A as part of its activity around its imminent David Bowie Is exhibition (March 23-July 28).

The print’s designer, Blam (aka Mark Blamire of Print-Process), approached dozens of designers inviting each of them to produce the word ‘Bowie’ in a favourite or bespoke typeface of their choice or creation. The final print showcases 101 responses from contributors that include Ian Anderson, Jonathan Barnbrook, Anthony Burrill, Crispin Finn, Angus Hyland, Trevor Jackson, Michael C Place, Emmi Salonen, and Claudia Klat and Tony Brook from Spin.

Each of the 101 renderings of Bowie has a thought process behind it. Designer Harry Heptonstall‘s submission (above), for example, was inspired not by Bowie’s music but by his role in the 1986 film Labyrinth. “Initially I was going to set his name in the same typographic style as the lettering on the film posters,” explains Heptonstall of his approach, “but where’s the fun in that? Instead I’ve created bespoke lettering, creating a labyrinth out of his name.”

Meanwhile, contributor David Jones’ setting of ‘Bowie’ is a recreation of the Bowie graphic he had painted on his school satchel back in 1973. “Originally I did it with silver Airfix paint and it sat very well next to my MUFC Rule OK (in red, black and white) design,” he recalls. His path towards graphic design, it seems, looked set from an early age.

James Nelson opted for a much more painterly approach. “I had a waking dream of a David Bowie totem,” he says of his contribution, above, “a mysterious ancient thing that arrived from another planet. The totem represented a timeless reminder of Bowie’s legend, the carving being how I imagined Bowie’s name appearing on it. The dark surrounding print is suggestive of the totem’s shape.

“Whilst working on Lodger [Bowie’s 13th studio album released in 1979], and in particular the Boys Keep Swinging track, Bowie wanted to get a rougher garage sound so he asked the band to swap instruments,” says Gareth Wild of the inspiration behind his contribution. “Guitarist Carlos Alomar played drums and the drummer Dennis Davis played bass, he continues. “So I made the E [of Bowie] into a W, the W into an E, B is made from the I and a cut-up O, and then the I and the O characters are made from the letter B.”

Contributor Intercity even created animated (with Andy Potts) versions of his design:

“The logo is (obviously) made from reflections of the letterforms in the word BOWIE,” says Intercity’s Nathan Gale of his submission to the project, “referencing Bowie’s ‘many faces’. I wanted to create something with a contemporary feel, rather than retro, as I felt that was more relevant to Bowie.”

The 50x50cm print, entitled The Changing Faces Of Bowie, has been screen printed by K2 Screen with matt white ink onto rainbow holographic, 240gsm Mirri paper and can be bought exclusively from the V&A’s shop, priced at £45. Each print comes with a certificate and a full list of all the contributors.

Thanks to Lee Funnell for photographing the print.

CR in print
The March issue of CR magazine celebrates 150 years of the London Underground. In it we introduce a new book by Mark Ovenden, which is the first study of all aspects of the tube’s design evolution; we ask Harry Beck authority, Ken Garland, what he makes of a new tube map concept by Mark Noad; we investigate the enduring appeal of Edward Johnston’s eponymous typeface; Michael Evamy reports on the design story of world-famous roundel; we look at the London Transport Museum’s new exhibition of 150 key posters from its archive; we explore the rich history of platform art, and also the Underground’s communications and advertising, past and present. Plus, we talk to London Transport Museum’s head of trading about TfL’s approach to brand licensing and merchandising. In Crit, Rick Poynor reviews Branding Terror, a book about terrorist logos, while Paul Belford looks at how a 1980 ad managed to do away with everything bar a product demo. Finally, Daniel Benneworth-Grey reflects on the merits on working home alone. Buy your copy here.

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878, or buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad
Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month.

By Jan Chipchase, Mark Rolston and Cara Silver

Risk is an issue in every country where we run research (mostly in the form of vehicle accidents), but it is elevated in Afghanistan, where there are occasional attacks, suicide bombings, and kidnappings. The challenge for the team in determining risk—and developing strategies and tactics to mitigate that risk—was in looking beyond the dramatic headlines and the established and stringent security protocols for organizations that need to operate on the ground for extended periods of time, gaps in our own knowledge, and processing events on the ground as they unfold.

It is not our purpose to overstate the more adventurous aspects of this research and we recognize that there are people living and working in Afghanistan under far, far riskier conditions, not least the Afghans themselves. With that in mind, we hope that some of you will find this discussion useful.

The perception of risk varies from context to context over the course of the research day. The general sense on the ground (and from Jan, who has researched in Afghanistan multiple times) was that the security situation has progressively become worse. Several of our translators reinforced this impression, saying, “2010 was the best year in recent history. Now, with the news that the United States will pull out, people have less hope. People stopped investing in the future. Construction has slowed, and families are pulling daughters out of school. Things are getting worse.”

The cornerstone of our research strategy was to maintain a low profile: with no security detail to draw attention, travelling in local taxis (rather than SUVs normally used by NGOs and contractors). We used motorcycles on photo-shoot days, when we needed to cover a broad swath of the cities and the photographer/researcher needed to get in and out at speed—with the researcher in near-to-local dress that would survive the squint test. The team avoided buildings, people and convoys that were military or military-contractor related, when these were known (it is not always apparent). The risk from IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, was considered low because of the unpredictable nature of our routes, the use of local transport, and limited cues suggesting that foreigners were riding inside. However, in today’s age it is relatively easy to look up background information about an individual, including his or her employer, job title, and salary range, assuming they are transparent about their employer, i.e. through business cards, and travelling on their own passport. Our goal was to be not particularly interesting targets.

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