In the April issue of CR we discuss the rapid rise of the GoPro camera and its many creative uses, but we didn’t realise that superheroes were among its fans… until now
The film was created by Corridor Digital using a drone.
More in this behind the scenes clip
Our April issue is a photography special. In it we talk to photographer Nadav Kander abourt his new TV ad for Age UK; discuss the enduring appeal of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work with the curator behind a new retrospective; and also talk to four photographer’s agents about how they help their artists to make great work…
We also look at how the GoPro camera sells itself and how leanin.org and Getty are to change the perception of women in stock photography.
The April issue of Creative Review will be available to buy direct from us here. Better yet, subscribe to make sure that you never miss out on a copy – you’ll save money, too. Details here.
On top of all that we talk to the client, agency and packaging designers behind the Marmite brand and have reviews of the Richard Hamilton exhibition at Tate Modern, the Muriel Cooper retrospective in New York, and Cape Town’s Design Indaba. At the back of the issue, Paul Belford wonders why it is so difficult to make a great poster for an exhibition.
Opening the issue, our Month in Review section looks at the controversy surrounding the new identity for the city of Amsterdam; spotlights an inventive digital subway poster from Swedish agency Akestam Holst; and examines the story behind the creation of the ‘ultimate selfie’ at this year’s Oscars.
In the columns, Gordon Comstock bemoans the lack of time for outside artistic projects in today’s ad agency culture; Michael Evamy looks at the new ‘inflatable’ identity for Darling Harbour in Sydney; while Daniel Benneworth-Gray dismisses the old ‘work/life balance’ adage in favour of embracing the fact that, as a designer, he has little need for other hobbies.
We also talk to Dave Sedgwick, the founder of the BCNMCR initiative that is bringing designers from Barcelona and Manchester together for another exhibition (work from which appears in this month’s Monograph, see bottom of post).
The features open with our photographer’s agent round-table – Mark Sinclair grills four of the best about just what their multifaceted job entails and how they help to get the best work out of the artists on their books. Plenty of advice for new photographers, too.
Eliza Williams talks to Nadav Kander about his work on a new commercial for Age UK featuring models aged between 0 and 100 – a behind the scenes shot by Calum Head also features on this issue’s cover (see top).
Jean Grogan interviews Clément Chéroux, the curator of a new exhibition on the work of legendary photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson.
And Rachel Steven talks to CR readers about their experience of the GoPro camera, and looks at some of the brand’s forays into content marketing via video sites and social media.
Antonia Wilson looks at a new initiative from Getty and leanin.org which aims to shift the ways in which women are portrayed in stock imagery.
And we also look at stock trends from the last 12 months – Shutterstock delve into their data to tell us what you’ve been looking for on their website.
In Crit, Adrian Shaughnessy enjoys a detailed retrospective in New York on the work of pioneering US designer Muriel Cooper…
And Rick Poynor takes in two London exhibitions dedicated to the work of British artist Richard Hamilton. Rachel Steven also reports back from Design Indaba in Cape Town.
Finally, this month’s Monograph (spreads shown below) features a selection of the artwork produced for the BCNMCR show, bringing together the work of design studios from Barcelona and Manchester, which opens next week.
The April issue of Creative Review will be available to buy direct from us here. Better yet, subscribe to make sure that you never miss out on a copy – you’ll save money, too. Details here.
Beginning life as a BBC radio comedy series, Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy went on to exist in many different forms, including a text-based adventure game in 1984. Thirty years after it was released the game has been recreated online by BBC Radio 4 Extra…
This isn’t the first time the HHGG game has been resurrected. It was made available on the BBC’s website for the game’s 20th anniversary back in 2004, dramatically increasing traffic to the Radio 4 website and winning a BAFTA along the way.
But for the 2014 edition the old Flash game has ported to an HTML5 version, it boasts a larger interface, additional keys and functionality. And being flung into the era of social media, the game itself also issues tweets based on the actions of users playing it (if they are signed in).
And the gameplay is, apparently, just as fiendish. There’s a brilliantly geeky warning on the new webpage, coldly stating that, “The game will kill you frequently. It’s a bit mean like that.” Saving as you go is advised.
Richard Harris, quoted from douglasadams.com, explains the genus of the original HGG game, which game out the same year as another text-based classic (at least in my school), L: A Mathemagical Adventure.
“When Steve Meretzky of Infocom got together with Douglas Adams to create a game based around the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the result was never going to be less than interesting and more than likely insane,” Harris writes. “So it proved – the Hitchhiker’s Guide adventure game was one of the best-selling games of its era, selling some 350,000 copies. In 1984.”
Original screengrab from the first HHGG game. From gameinformer.com
“Then graphics games came along and the computer using portion of the human race forgot all about 500,000 years of language evolution and went straight back to the electronic equivalent of banging rocks together – the point’n’click game. Infocom and most of its competitors went to the wall – signalling the arrival of the post-literate society.
“But something strange has now happened. The internet has become an integral part of millions of lives. People have learned to type again and are taking an interest in interacting, via their computers, with other people and with content.”
The full history of the game, including Rod Lord, Sean Sollé, Roger Philbrick and Shimon Young’s work on the first online incarnation, can be read here. And when you’ve cleared aside a few hours, play the new version here.
The original radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy from 1978 is currently streaming on the iPlayer.
For the past two years, designer James Victore has been offering advice on life, work and creative fulfilment through his weekly YouTube series, Burning Questions. The project has built up a loyal following and even inspired some to make life-changing decisions…
Based in Brooklyn, Victore is an unashamedly opinionated creative. His clients include New York’s School for Visual Art, The New York Times and Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto and his work, both commercial and self-initiated, often engages with political or philosophical themes.
After publishing Victore or, Who Died and Made You Boss? in 2010, a reflection on his work so far and graphic design today, Victore toured the US delivering talks and attending conferences, but realised he was speaking more about work/life issues than he was about design. This led to the idea for his weekly series, which regularly attracts more than 2,000 viewers.
“It was my wife’s idea,” says Victore. “I had begun writing more and spending more time traveling and teaching on stage to colleagues and at conferences. I was making my egress from being primarily a graphic designer. My wife…said, “You’ve got content and it’s gotta get out. Video is the way to do it.”
“I thought that was a wonderful idea, but who was going to play ME? I was afraid of looking bad on TV. My ego didn’t let me move forward. It took me a year to realise my mistake…It has been a bumpy start (figuring out the tech) and a frightening blast,” he explains.
In each video, Victore addresses a question from a different creative. Topics range from overcoming self-doubt to finding an individual voice or style and avoiding creative burnout. His advice is constructive, funny and candid: in response to a reader looking to find their style, he warns of the danger of looking to others’ for inspiration, or being swayed by trends. “Success isn’t autotrace – you can’t do it by following someone else’s stuff.”
He also stresses the importance of being passionate about what you do, trusting your own abilities and pushing boundaries creatively. “We all have fear and self-doubt but we don’t let it stop us. If I don’t push myself I get bored. If I don’t push my clients, then I’m not doing my job,” he says.
Victore says the response to his videos has been heartfelt and “overwhelming”. He also has a growing stack of ‘I quit my job’ letters from viewers who have been inspired by his unflinching honesty.
One reader, Harry, recently wrote to say: “Watching your talk made me realise a whole lot about what I do, why I do it and what I want out of it. I was chasing the wrong stuff and was completely unhappy. I just handed in my notice. I quit that job. Your talk was the massive wake up call that I needed.”
Of course, Victore’s aim isn’t to make all of his viewers quit their jobs but he does hope the project will help people re-assess what is and isn’t working in their lives. He describes the project as a ‘rallying cry for a creative revolution’, and believes we should all learn to say no “to the lack of creativity in our lives and work”, and stop relinquishing family time, health and sanity in roles we don’t enjoy.
“I’m starting a movement,” he says. “I want to be around fine, talented energetic people who give a damn.”
Victore also hopes his audience will find comfort in the fact that they’re not the only ones struggling with self-doubt or frustrations about their career.
“I think the vids work well for a creative audience, a student audience [and] just anyone who is interested in improving their lives, or understanding that their work and live CAN be a Gift – if they trust their gut and practice being themselves,” he adds.
See more of Victore’s work here, or watch more Burning Questions episodes on his YouTube channel.
In a radical shift in its business model, Getty Images is now allowing users to embed watermark-free images on websites and blogs free of charge
An option to “Embed this image” has been added to images on the Getty site. Choose this option and users are given an embed code (similar to those used on YouTube) whereby the image can be embedded on the users’ site without any watermark. Instead, the image will carry a link back to Getty and a credit for the image and its photographer. Usage is restricted to editorial purposes.
As with YouTube, however, the linked content may be deleted at any time leaving users with a blank space on their site.
It’s a radical departure for Getty but one that follows a similar model to Imgembed, which we reported on last year, a service created by the same Singapore team behind Creative Finder and Design Taxi.
US site The Verge (read their full post here) quotes Craig Peters, a business development executive at Getty Images, on the rationale behind the move. “Look, if you want to get a Getty image today, you can find it without a watermark very simply,” he says. “The way you do that is you go to one of our customer sites and you right-click. Or you go to Google Image search or Bing Image Search and you get it there. And that’s what’s happening… Our content was everywhere already.”
Peters argues that if Getty provides a clear, legal path for using its images, publishers will take it, thus opening up new revenue streams for both Getty and photographers. Once images are embedded (using an iframe code) the company can in the future collect data on users and even implant ad messages replicating the success that YouTube has had with pre-roll advertising and ‘buy here’ options.
That functionality isn’t being employed as yet but appears to be one of a number of opportunities Getty is thinking about. But in the meantime, the embed option will at least credit both Getty and the photographer. “The principle is to turn what’s infringing use with good intentions, turning that into something that’s valid licensed use with some benefits going back to the photographer,” The Verge quotes Peters as saying, “and that starts really with attribution and a link back.”
Here’s what Getty’s Ts & Cs say about the usage of embeddable images: “Where enabled, you may embed Getty Images Content on a website, blog or social media platform using the embedded viewer … Not all Getty Images Content will be available for embedded use, and availability may change without notice. Getty Images reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove Getty Images Content from the Embedded Viewer. Upon request, you agree to take prompt action to stop using the Embedded Viewer and/or Getty Images Content. You may only use embedded Getty Images Content for editorial purposes (meaning relating to events that are newsworthy or of public interest). Embedded Getty Images Content may not be used: (a) for any commercial purpose (for example, in advertising, promotions or merchandising) or to suggest endorsement or sponsorship; (b) in violation of any stated restriction; (c) in a defamatory, pornographic or otherwise unlawful manner; or (d) outside of the context of the Embedded Viewer.
Getty Images (or third parties acting on its behalf) may collect data related to use of the Embedded Viewer and embedded Getty Images Content, and reserves the right to place advertisements in the Embedded Viewer or otherwise monetise its use without any compensation to you.”
More detail on how the embed system works here
Read BJP’s useful 10 facts you need to know about the service here
It’s a fascinating move by Getty, especially if/once they start to explore the potential of data collection and embedding ad messages. Photographers will be wondering when and how the promised new revenue will appear.
The 2014 edition of Dublin’s OFFSET festival still has early bird tickets available – until March 1. With an impressive line-up of speakers this year, the long weekend of March 21-23 promises to be a memorable one…
OFFSET has become one of the most well-regarded creative events around – not bad for an organisation which launched only four years ago. That it now pulls in a wide range of big names from the creative industries (see below), as well as looking after some 2,000 delegates, says something of how its reputation has grown.
Jessica Walsh, Partner @ Sagmeister & Walsh Designer, Art Director / USA
Put simply, say OFFSET,the three days are a chance to construct “a weekend of presentations, interviews, panel discussions and debates with the very best of Irish and international designers, animators, illustrators, advertisers, artists, photographers and more live on stage.”
Highlights this year include illustrators Sarah Mazzetti, Jon Burgerman and Mike Perry; artists Marian Bantjes and Geneviève Gauckler; designers Jessica Walsh, Marina Willer, Tom Hingston and Neville Brody; agencies Mother London and W+K Amsterdam; animation studios Brownbag and Golden Wolf; and Bloomberg Businesweek’s creative direcror, Richard Turley. Legendary graphic design Milton Glaser will also be appearing in a special filmed interview.
Marina Willer, Partner @ Pentagram London, Graphic Designer / UK
There will also be a week-long series of screenings and exhibitions held across the city – more details of those here.
The full list of speakers for this year’s event is below, with links to their OFFSET biographies. Early bird tickets are €165 (with a reduction for group bookings of six or more), and will be available until March 1 from iloveoffset.com. Thereafter, tickets are €180 each.
CR will also be reporting from the event over the three days.
Richard Mosse, Photographer / Ireland
This year’s Design Indaba in Cape Town kicked off with some inspiring talks on advertising, digital innovation and interactive story telling. Here are a few of the highlights from the first day…
Ogilvy & Mather – story making not story telling
Chris Gotz, creative director at Ogilvy and Mather‘s Cape Town office, spoke about the agency’s shifting focus from story telling to story making, creating interactive print and digital campaigns that rely on audience engagement.
Gotz cited several projects that put this theory into practice – the first was a campaign marking the end of production of the Citi Golf, South Africa’s biggest selling car for over 20 years.
Volkswagen wanted to create a farewell campaign using material from previous commercials, but O&M instead decided to take the last ever Citi Golf on a tour of South Africa, allowing residents around the country to say goodbye in person and write a message on the car. The model is now a permanent exhibition at a South African museum and the project attracted 60,000 followers online.
In another project for Volkswagen, O&M used Google Street View technology to create a game where users would win points for spotting VWs in South Africa, which resulted in a 700 percent increase in traffic to VWs website:
And when the company wanted to launch a print campaign advertising its new range of eco-friendly cars, the agency devised a sticker that offered free postage to a recycling centre so when readers were finished with their magazine they could pop it in the post box. The campaign was launched in Cape Town but has since been rolled out in other destinations.
For Carling Black Label, O&M devised a mobile app that allowed fans of football teams the Orlando Pirates and the Kaizer Chiefs to be coach, choosing players for the starting line-up and voting on substitutions. 85,000 tickets were sold and 10.5 million votes placed through the game in seven weeks.
Ushahidi – connecting rural communities
Gotz’s talk was followed by one from Juliana Rotich – co-founder of Ushahidi, an open-sourced crisis mapping platform that allows citizens to report incidents or emergencies during national disasters, conflicts or major events.
The platform is free to use and was set up after Kenya’s 2008 elections chaos, but has since been used to report on unrest in Ukraine, the earthquake in Haiti and the tsunami in Japan in 2011.
The company recently moved into hardware and last year, developed Brck: a modem built for areas where internet connection is expensive or unreliable. The modem can withstand power surges from circuit boards, is portable and cheaper to use than other internet services in Africa and can operate using 3G during blackouts, which are frequent in many African countries.
Ushahidi’s main aim is to get the world connected, particularly in Asia, Latin America and Africa where there remains huge potential for growth. Better internet connection has a direct impact on GDP and having access to it is as essential as other utilities such as water and energy, she said.
Experimental Jetset – the A-Z of Influences
Experimental Jetset‘s talk offered a look at the studio’s biggest influences. Citing one from each letter of the alphabet, founders Marieke Stolk, Erwin Brinkers and Danny van den Dungen paid homage to the Beatles and punk rock, film directors Jean Luc Godard and Stanley Kubrick, designer Wim Crouwel and the political movement Provo, of which Stolk’s father was a founding member, amongst others. The trio also acknowledged the influence of Helvetica on their work, but said they do not feel it defines them.
As well as providing an insight into the inspiration for some of the studio’s most successful projects, it provided a look at the ideas, quotes and visuals that shaped their careers, and inspired them while studying design.
Local Projects – interactive story telling
The last talk of the morning was delivered by Jake Barton, co-founder of Local Projects, a New York-based media design company that has created interactive platforms and installations for museums, cities, galleries and schools.
At the Cleveland Museum of Art, Local Projects has developed some excellent works that offer greater engagement without taking away from the traditional experience of visiting a gallery and viewing exhibits up close.
The company created an interactive wall where users can view different items in the museum’s collection and curate their own tours to share with others, as well as an interactive game that uses facial recognition software to re-create artworks in the museum using visitors’ faces:
It also developed the media for the 9/11 memorial in New York: using recordings from visitors, survivors and people around the world recounting their memories of the day to create a powerful alternative to an audio guide or curator tour, and creating a database where visitors can search for names among the thousands listed on the memorial fountain and view people they are connected with, either personally or through events that took place on the day.
Both use technology to create more immersive experiences that enable visitors to create their own stories as well as find out about others’. And in each case, Barton said the company reversed the traditional creative process of planning before designing and testing, building prototypes throughout. While he acknowledged it can be an inefficient way of working, he also said it leads to better work in the long run and is how the company approaches all of its projects.
Thomas Hulme – open-sourced design
After Pecha Kucha style talks from a range of creative graduates (see the line-up and links to their work here), and an interesting talk on branding from Wolf Ollins’ Ije Nwokorie in which he stressed a need to create brands that people can engage and have fun with, was a talk on the democratisation of design from Tom Hulme, co-founder of IDEO’s collaborative creative platform, OpenIDEO.
OpenIDEO is in its early stages but is effectively a crowd-sourcing platform where people can pose a problem or idea and work with other users to create solutions and prototypes in response. People can then rate and evaluate suggestions and winning ideas will be developed.
The company regularly works with charities to set briefs: it launched a challenge with Amnesty International to design a device to help people at risk of kidnap and, earlier this month, launched a challenge for people to create solutions to help improve safety for women and girls living in slums.
Like an open online suggestion box the platform is designed to act as a blank canvas, explained Hulme, allowing anyone to collaborate and build on others ideas.
While it raised questions over ownership and the role of trained professional designers, Hulme said they still have a vital part to play – but will have to listen to rather than dictate how products or designs will be used in the future (presumably through collaborating on platforms like OpenIDEO). It’s a fantastic platform for charity and grassroots initiatives as well as local problems, already achieving some impressive results.
Thomas Heatherwick – Cape Town development
The last talk of the day was from Thomas Heatherwick, who discussed several recent projects including the famed Olympic torch and cauldron (see image top of post), the new London buses, a university campus in Singapore and the UK pavilion for the Shanghai Expo.
Explaining the briefs set for each and the problems these posed, Heatherwick spoke about creating a campus free of monotonous lecture halls and long corridors (the Singapore building has 57 rooms with no corners) to create a university with a more inspiring human feel, and re-edesigning London’s buses to make them more enjoyable to use, putting user experience at the heart of every project.
He also discussed the garden bridge and a project he is working on in Cape Town, which will see an old grain silo on the V&A waterfront turned into a space showcasing contemporary African art: a challenging project given the tube-like structure of the building and lack of a central space.
Full details of this year’s Design Indaba are at designindaba.com.
Duncannon Street, Westminster; 1902, photographer: unknown © Museum of London. A view of Duncannon Street decorated with bunting and banners for the coronation ceremony of Edward VII. There are pedestrians and vehicles in the foreground and the National Gallery is visible in the distance.
First launched in 2010, the Museum of London‘s Streetmuseum app has just been updated with 103 new locations. And to mark the update, a series of ‘hybrid’ images showing historic and contemporary views of the capital have also been released…
Cheapside; 1893, photographer: Paul Martin © The Estate of Paul Martin. A street seller of sherbert and water is photographed on Cheapside completely unawares of the camera. Paul Martin was the first photographer to roam around the streets of London with a disguised camera taking candid pictures such as this solely for the purpose of showing ‘life as it is’.
Developed once again with creative agency Brothers and Sisters, the new app has improved functionality and the option to order prints of some of the images featured from Museum of London’s website. (Our post on the app’s launch four years ago is here.)
Covent Garden; c.1930, photographer: George Davison Reid © Museum of London. A street scene in London’s Covent Garden with the underground station and a horse and cart in the background. George Davison Reid photographed activity in the marketplace from opposite Covent Garden Underground station on Long Acre. The long established market place was under pressure to move. The congested facilities were described at the time as ‘altogether inadequate to the necessities of the trade’. The fruit and vegetable market relocated in 1973.
As before, the app works across various sites in London. When users open up Streetmuseum on an iPhone, a map reveals their position and details the locations of where the nearest “hidden histories” are. Using it in-situ, with the phone’s camera and the ‘3D view’ enabled, the app then overlays a historic image from the Museum’s extensive photographic collection over the screen.
Palace Theatre; 1958, photographer: Bob Collinsn© Estate of Bob Collins/Museum of London. A night shot outside the Palace Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, before an evening’s performance. Collins created a number of night-time photographs playing with the bright lights of the West End to record people enjoying the buzz of fifties nightlife.
Byward Street (Tower Hill); c.1930, photographer: George Davison Reid © Museum of London. This photograph shows Byward Street near Tower Hill, looking west with the church of All Hallows by the tower on the left and the former Mark Lane Underground station on the right. Reid photographed the streets and buildings of London and the activity in them in the 1920s and 1930s.
To mark the increased points from which the images ranging from 1868 to 2003 can be accessed, the museum has released 16 hybrid images of London, nine of which are shown here.
According to the Museum the images for the 2014 update were taken by renowned late 19th and 20th century photographers including Henry Grant, Wolfgang Suschitsky, Roger Mayne and George Davison Reid, and include locations in London “which have changed dramatically in the intervening years”, such as Blackfriars station c.1930, Victoria Station in 1950, the view of London’s skyline from Tower Bridge c.1930, and Brick Lane in 1957.
Charing Cross Road; c. 1935, photographer: Wolfgang Suschitzky © Wolf Suschitzky/Museum of London. An evening street scene outside Foyles book shop on Charing Cross Road, c.1935. The street is renowned for its specialist and second-hand bookshops and Suschitzky was attracted by the extensive array of these, along with the teahouses, and the crowds that flocked to them. The resulting series of photographs are amongst Suschitzky’s most acclaimed work.
Bow Lane; c.1930, photographer: George Davison Reid © Museum of London. A view of Bow Lane, off Cheapside in the City of London, looking south to the crossing with Watling Street and St. Mary Aldermary in the middle distance. ‘Ye Olde Watling’ tavern was originally built just after the Great Fire of 1666. George Davison Reid supported the Society of Antiquaries of London, which promoted the study of London’s architecture, and was interested in photographing older architecture and locations. He took this photo of Bow Lane in the late 1930s.
Victoria Station; 1950 photographer: Henry Grant © Henry Grant Collection/Museum of London. Boy shining shoes outside the Tea Room at Victoria station. A group of porters can be seen with their trolleys waiting to help travellers with their luggage.
“The new locations also expand to the suburbs and outer boroughs of London,” say the Museum, “from Richmond mods in 1964, Brent Cross road construction in the 1970s to Ealing Suffragettes in 1912 – providing an even more comprehensive reach for the app.”
Streetmuseum 2.0 can be downloaded for both iPad and iPhone here. Caption information supplied by the Museum of London.
Piccadilly Circus; June 1953, photographer: Wolfgang Suschitzky © Wolf Suschitzky/Museum of London. Piccadilly Circus on Coronation Day, 2 June 1953. Crowds gather to witness the Coronation procession of Elizabeth II. The coronation went ahead in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, and at the Queen’s request, the entire ceremony was televised throughout the Commonwealth, and watched by an estimated twenty million people.
Our March issue is a craft special and examines how a range of creative work was made, including Maya Almeida’s underwater photographs and a 3D-printed slipcase by Helen Yentus. We also explore the science behind Jessica Eaton’s extraordinary images, and go behind-the-scenes of new ads for Schwartz and Honda…
On top of all that we look at the BBC’s new iWonder platform, review the Design of Understanding conference and books by Wally Olins and on the Ulm School of Design, and Paul Belford explains the power behind one of the most famous posters from Paris 1968.
The March issue of Creative Review will be available to buy direct from us here. Better yet, subscribe to make sure that you never miss out on a copy – you’ll save money, too. Details here.
Opening the issue, our Month in Review section looks back at the The Lego Movies’ ‘ad break takeover’; Black + Decker’s new identity; the return of the Old Spice guy; and the debate around the new Squarespace Logo service.
Daniel Benneworth-Gray raises a sleep-deprived toast to working through the night; while Michael Evamy’s Logo Log salutes the Mobil identity on its 50th anniversary.
Our craft features begin with a look at the work of underwater photographer, Maya Almeida. Antonia Wilson talks to her about what it takes to create her beautiful images…
And Helen Yentus, art director at Riverhead Books in New York, talks us through her radical 3D-printed slipcase she recently designed for a special edition of Chang-Rae Lee’s novel, On Such a Full Sea. (Yentus also created this month’s cover.)
Rachael Steven looks at the thinking behind iWonder, the new online storytelling platform from the BBC…
…While six of the objects that appear in BarberOsgerby’s In the Making show at the Design Museum are featured – each one ‘paused’ midway through its manufacture and beautifully shot by György Körössy (two pound coin shown, above right).
Antonia Wilson also talks to photographer Jessica Eaton about the process behind making her stunning images of cubic forms.
And Eliza Williams discovers how over a hundred sacks of spices were blown up in a new ad for Schwartz…
… while a more sedate approach is explored in a behind-the-scenes look at Honda’s Inner Beauty spot from Wieden + Kennedy.
We also look at why VFX is becoming more invisible, and (above) look at the latest trends in packaging.
In Crit, Nick Asbury reviews Wally Olins’ new book, Brand New…
…Mark Sinclair reports back from the recent Design of Understanding conference…
… and Professor Ian McLaren looks at a new book on the influential Ulm School of Design, which he attended in the early 1960s.
Finally, this month’s edition of Monograph, free with subscriber copies of CR, features photographs of Norfolk by designer Pearce Marchbank.
The March issue of Creative Review will be available to buy direct from us here. Better yet, subscribe to make sure that you never miss out on a copy – you’ll save money, too. Details here.
Creative agency Uniform has designed an interactive donations box for Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre, based on research that suggests increasing visitor engagement could boost donation revenue at free venues.
The Pixel ArtCade machine is made up of three giant, illuminated pixels. When visitors insert money, the pixels change colour, shifting one step along the RGB colour wheel. Visitors who create a triadic colour combination (a mix of colours evenly spaced on the colour wheel) unlock a secret game.
The concept is based on a study carried out by local game design company Denki on whether video game theory and design could be used to improve donations.
Denki began by comparing DCA’s visitor donations to similar venues to determine if figures were below average, but discovered the amount received was “pretty typical”. The company then interviewed a number of people about donating to free venues and found that most didn’t see it as a priority.
“If the lights are on, the doors are open and there aren’t any reports of imminent closure…then their assumption is that free-entry organisations are already adequately funded…so they don’t feel especially compelled to give further,” says Denki’s managing director Colin Anderson.
Despite it being easy to donate via a box at the venue’s entrance, visitors were choosing not to, and Denki concluded that this was due to a lack of engagement, rather than a lack of convenience.
“We had to create something that not only asked for donations but gave something back. The most successful route was to create something that was playful…physical and tangible,” explains Anderson.
Denki appointed Uniform to create the installation and the agency worked with Professor Jon Rogers, chair of creative technology at the University of Dundee, and Patrick Stevenson-Keating at London-based studio PSK, on its build and design.
Pete Thomas, Futures Director at Uniform, says there were several constraints to the project – mainly a lack of sound. “It was important for both ticket desk and galleries teams tha the machine didn’t make any noise in operation, so the interaction is very simple.
“When money is dropped into it, a laser is broken, the pixel changes colour and message box flashes up a ‘thank you’ for in the same colour for a few seconds. The pixels will stay on this new colour until a new player changes them,” he explains.
The machine also had to appeal to both adults and children and be durable enough to withstand “late night revellers,” says Thomas.
As well as housing a shop, print studio, restaurant and research hub, DCA is home to an art gallery and cinema and regularly hosts multimedia and screen based art, which Thomas says inspired the studio’s decision to create an RGB light installation. “It was important that we created reflected the scope of activities at DCA,” he says.
The project is one of a series supported by the Digital R&D Fund for Arts and Culture Organisations in Scotland, an initiative funded by Nesta, Creative Scotland and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Lorna Edwards, programme manager for Nesta, says the fund has financed 10 schemes that utilise technology to increase revenue to arts and cultural organisations.
In London, Barger Osgerby and Universal Design Studio recently created a ‘Fundraiser Desk‘ for London’s Science Museum, which visitors had to pass through on entering the venue. The project increased donations by 80 percent and received a gold award at DBA’s Design Effectiveness Awards last week.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
