Hasta La Ideas

Delaware font foundry House Industries has just released a new iPhone app that enables users to easily customise photos with a range of its display typefaces…

The app works as a rather nifty promotional tool for the display typeface setting service offered by House Industries’ Photolettering service – which is essentially a digital-age revival of the old (pre-desktop publishing) Photo-Lettering service that utilised photographic technology in the production of commercial typography and lettering for ad agencies and publishing houses.

Rather wonderfully, the free app’s name, whilst referencing the Photolettering service, also explains succinctly what the app does: it allows users to add lettering to their photos. Here’s how it works:

First take a picture with your phone or import one from your camera roll, scale, rotate or crop your image as you wish before selecting a lettering style from HI’s Photolettering collection of original fonts.

Type your message, then rotate, scale and colour the text as you please so it appears how you want before sharing or saving your image.

As well as having the option to share your image via email, text message, Instagram or Twitter, there’s also an option to send a printed 4x6inch postcard version of your lovingly lettered photos anywhere in the world. It’s intuitive and fun to use – and it does a great job of showcasing precisely what Photolettering is all about. Bravo!

The app itself is free to download and while it comes loaded three fun display fonts to use, an extra 18 or so typefaces can be bought for 69p a pop. Find it on iTunes.

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.

Wieden + Kennedy‘s London office has conjured up a dancing, moonwalking Shetland pony to demonstrate that mobile network Three understand that “silly stuff” is important to its users…

Here at CR towers we were talking just the other day about how clients like to ask their agencies to “make us a viral” but of course you can’t make a viral, you can simply make a film you hope goes viral. And this film – shot by Blink’s Dougal Wilson who worked closely with MPC to create the pony’s magic moves –  just might prove to be a super example of a piece of content that will be shared like crazy.

Who can resist the silliness of a Shetland pony that struts and moonwalks to the sound of Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere? Not us – show us the ‘like’ button!

As well as the film, W+K has cooked up more ways for the campaign to be shared in the form of The Pony Mixer, an online app that also lives on Three’s YouTube channel and allows users to create and share (via Twitter or Facebook) their own remixed videos of the pony performing to different types of muisc. Choose from Rock, Punk, Bollywood and more for extra, ridiculous, levels of shareable silliness.

Here’s a trailer to show how it works:

Find the Pony Mixer here.

Credits
Ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, London
Creative directors Dan Norris, Ray Shaughnessy
Creatives Freddie Powell, Hollie Walker
Director Dougal Wilson
Production company Blink
Post production MPC
Pony mixer interface and programming by B-Reel. Content created by Blink and Munky.

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.

Party‘s promo for Japanese channel Space Shower TV featured animated sperm dancing to viewer-chosen tracks, and when it came to sourcing the raw material for the production, the all-male team did it by hand

CR is at the Design Indaba conference all this week and reporting back on some of the sessions and work we’ve seen. At the end of each conference day there’s always one project that everyone is talking about – yesterday it was Masahi Kawamura and his dancing sperm.

Regular CR readers will be familiar with much of Kawamura’s work – both individual projects such as his music videos for Sour and Androp and his work as one of the partners at ‘digital lab’ Party. The Space Shower TV project he showed yesterday has had somewhat less exposure than those other works.

Party was asked to create a promo for the music channel’s Music Saves Tomorrow project and picked on the idea of featuring ‘the seeds of tomorrow’. They decided to create a film using animated sperm which could also be made into an interactive experience. And rather than use CGI, in typical Kawamura style, they decided to use real raw material. With an all-male team making the work, the first step was to ask everyone to, er, contribute.

The final version of the website (URL sperm.jp) allowed users to choose a track from Vimeo which the sperm would dance to:

Kawamura made the point that with a lot of his projects, the making-of films are more popular than the finished work, people enjoying the laborious process he goes through.

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.

Alexander Chen combines music, coding and design to create charming interactive experiences, one of which turned the New York Subway system into a musical instrument

CR is at the Design Indaba conference In Cape Town this week in and we’ll be reporting back from some of the most interesting talks. A Day 1 highlight was definitely Alexander Chen.

Alexander Chen speaking at Design Indaba in Cape Town

Perhaps one of his best-known projects is Conductor which translates the movements of NY subway trains into music (after doing our special issue on the tube, seems like every where we turn at the moment were seeing underground-related stuff!). Chen discovered a database of the departure times of subway trains online. He combined this with code he had written for earlier projects to set up a system whereby departing trains trace their route in the style of Massimo Vignelli’s subway map. As they intersect with another train, they ‘play’ a note. The whole thing (which you can watch here) plays through an accelerated loop, switching at 6pm to a black background.

Chen showed a number of music-related projects which start with a simple line. Baroque, for example, visualises Bach’s cello compositions:

This experimentation eventually led to the hugely popular Google Les Paul Doodle, which Chen created in collaboration with his colleagues at Google Creative Lab in New York where he is now based.

Chen is now working on the team developing Google Glass, which is beginning to look like this:

See more of his work here

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.

The relationship between print and digital is a subject close to our hearts at CR and it’s set to be the focus of the Cowbird design symposium on the 7-8 March, organised by Norwich University of the Arts…

CR’s editor Patrick is among a strong line-up of practitioners set to talk at the two-day event, which is curated by the university’s graphics course leader, Andrew Campbell, and will be chaired by Adrian Shaughnessy.

Speakers confirmed to date include Michael C Place, Build; Vivian Rosenthal, GoldRun; Jonathan Puckey, Moniker; Andy Stevens, Graphic Thought Facility; Craig Oldham, Design by Music; Vera-Maria Glahn, Field; Matt Ward, DWFE; Denise Wilton, Berg; Hamish Muir, 8VO/Outcast Editions; Tom Roope, The Rumpus Room; and Måns Tesch, Tesch.

“It is a real opportunity to explore issues that are relevant to both industry and education,” says Campbell. “Whilst we acknowledge the relevance of commercial activity, we also challenge our students to question (graphic) design as an output, a practice and a profession.

“What is the future of the distributed text; the book, magazine, newspaper and poster? What are opportunities afforded by tablets, e-readers, smart phones, augmented reality, social media, digital displays, and new practices such as crowdsourcing, coding, data sharing, and social reading?”

Cowbird will take place at Open, 20 Bank Plain, Norwich, Norfolk NR2 4SF on 7-8 March and tickets are £100 each. Further details on booking a place are at nua.ac.uk/cowbird, or call Fay Harris on +44(0)1603 886394 (card bookings only).

CR in Print
The February issue of CR magazine features a major interview with graphic designer Ken Garland. Plus, we delve into the Heineken advertising archive, profile digital art and generative design studio Field, talk to APFEL and Linder about their collaboration on a major exhibition in Paris for the punk artist, and debate the merits of stock images versus commissioned photography. Plus, a major new book on women in graphic design, the University of California logo row and what it means for design, Paul Belford on a classic Chivas Regal ad and Jeremy Leslie on the latest trends in app design for magazines and more. 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.