Hasta La Ideas

A+B Studio has produced graphics, branding and animations for a new exhibition about 3D printing at London’s Science Museum.

3D: printing the future explores recent developments in 3D printing and how it can be used in industrial manufacturing and medicine. The exhibition also aims to shed some light on popular myths and concerns surrounding its use, and looks at the range of products that can be made as the technology becomes more affordable and accessible.

A+B worked on the identity and graphics for the show and collaborated with designer Gabrielle Underwood on its centrepiece: a wall featuring more than 600 3D printed objects, including a bladder, a gun and a prosthetic hand.

“The design reflects the explosion of creativity that has been made possible by 3D printing,” explains A+B creative partner Benji Wiedemann. “This idea of a creative explosion is central to the whole narrative of the exhibition – all of a sudden, there has been this avalanche of incredible 3D printed products and designs, from light hearted objects to major technological advancements.

“We wanted to communicate that in a way that would really stand out, using lots of colourful objects against a blank white canvas. We worked very closely with the lighting team at DHA Lighting, too, who created some great effects, casting shadows of the objects and type on to the wall to make it more dramatic,” he adds.

A+B used a 3D printer to make signage, label stands and numbers, inspired by the polygon wireframes used in 3D printing. “We wanted to create a visual language for the exhibition that could connect the 2D, 3D and 4D elements. These frames are part of the fabric of the technology, and reflect how rapidly changing it is and how much of it is open source – the digital frames are uploaded and shared and can be easily manipulated on a computer,” says Wiedemann.

The polygon device works well in 3D and 2D – it has also been applied to stands. The museum is divided into four subsections: print it, try it, heal it and perfect it, and A+B has assigned a different colour to each, creating matching screens, labels and captions.

The studio also worked with Hardy Seiler on animations designed to support items displayed at the exhibition. One explains how 3D printing can be used to manufacture hollow plane parts, making lighter, more efficient vehicles, and another explains how parts of a human skull can be manufactured using 3D printing. The skull is displayed in a perspex case and the animation is projected on to it from behind (stills below).

“I had been aware of Hardy’s work for a while, and the animations are really on par with what we wanted to create – a connection between the branding and the items on display, showing how those polygons are adapted into tangible objects. It’s really quite beautiful to watch the pieces come to life,” adds Wiedemann.

A+B has been working on the exhibition since April. “It’s been pretty intense, but the museum has been great to work with – we were given a lot of creative freedom but it was also a really collaborative process,” he says. “What’s really nice with this show is that the graphics are a real feature: we have a strong physical presence. It’s always a pleasure designing arts and exhibition projects, but quite often what you do isn’t immediately obvious when you walk into the space. In this case, it is.”

“We also really enjoy working on projects that integrate digital and tangible design – we didn’t just start the design process with a pen and paper, but by thinking about different technologies, formats and processes we could use and experiment with,” he adds.

3d: printing the future is open until July 2014 at the Science Museum, Exhibition Road, South Kensington SW7 2DD. For details, see sciencemuseum.org.uk

Images: Jennie Hills, Science Museum and Alex Lampe, A+B Studio

Weekly music magazine NME has been given a makeover by art director Mark Neil. We asked Neil about the reasons for the redesign – and its strong resemblance to iconic style mag The Face.

When we were sent a cover shot of the new-look NME this week (on sale today), it made us – and a lot of you – think immediately of The Face. The white out of red logo, plus signs, underlines and type treatment look a lot like Phil Bicker-era covers of the late style and culture mag.

But whatever your thoughts on its resemblance to the Face, the new NME looks sleeker, brighter, sharper and a lot more exciting than the old. Neil has introduced a new size, structure and colour palette – and says he was influenced by Barney Bubbles and Bauhaus as much as Bicker.

When did you start work on the re-design and what was the brief?

I started discussing it with editor Mike Williams in June – two or three months after I joined NME. From our discussions, we formed a brief that accurately pinpointed what the NME is: timely, informative, credible, inclusive, essential. We felt it had lost its attitude a little over the years, and we wanted to make it an iconic brand again and one that people are proud to be seen with. It was more than just changing a few fonts – we needed to change our design and editorial approach.

What particular features did you set out to address with the re-design?

NME had become a little confused in its visual language. It was still using a very text heavy, newspaper-like design and readers in focus groups said it was bland. My mission was to inject a bit of energy into it and connect the visual language with the editorial – something magazines like Bloomberg do fantastically well.

What major changes have you introduced?

One major aspect we changed was the structure. NME has sections like any other but it’s these sections that really give it its value for the reader: there’s The Week (everything that matters in music), Radar (new bands – the heart of NME); Reviews (the definitive verdict) and NME guide (what’s on, going out and staying in). It made sense to group these together at the front of the book and end with a meatier features section, stuff you can archive and read forever. This is bookended with a new From the Vaults feature, one that we pick out from the past and try to bring into context today.

We’ve also downsized – the magazine has been reduced to 215mm wide by 280mm high. This was the first major design decision: before, NME had an uncomfortable width and was awkward to carry around. It was still grasping on to its tabloid days. But times have changed and we need to move with it. It now feels more like a weekly and will sit better on a newsstand. It works well on iPad format, too, which is no bad thing.

What about the new colour palette and typefaces?

The colour scheme before was really dull so we’ve brightened things up using CMYK alongside greens and purples, celebrating the fact that we’re still in print. We’ve kept the red for NME but there are regular flashes of magenta, the guide section uses shades of green and the reviews a lot of cyan and yellow. The reviews section in each issue will open with an illustration by Jimmy Turrel (see this month’s, below).

The new display font is Lucas Sharp’s Sharp Sans, sans serif is Calbre by Klim’s Kris Sowersby and serif is Sowersby’s TeimposText. The typefaces are all modern font designs that celebrate old classic neo-grotesque/geometric aesthetics. Sharp Sans was perfect for the main display font as it has a fun retro character but used in bold, it adds a maturity that can be applied well to features.

What were your main sources of inspiration?

You have to look back to go forward – working for a historic brand such as the NME, my first stop was the archive cupboard. My favourite time in NME’s history is the Barney Bubbles era – I’m a big fan of his original stencil treatment to the masthead and his illustrative attitude towards the paper during a time when production was so limited.

I then started to look at old magazines that represented that timeless, iconic, being part of a club look, along with other graphic design that connects in the same way – classic album covers and posters for example. I’m a massive follower of Bob Newman’s blog and one of my favourite inclusions was covers of NY Rocker from the late seventies/early eighties. This was the kind of thing I needed to inject into this project – a cut and paste illustrative fanzine kind of feel that can be produced effectively in a modern, weekly publication.

Moving on through time, style magazines such as ID, Dazed & Confused and The Face maintained an identity that became a statement for its readers. The period of The Face I remember most is the late nineties/early 2000s, when my passion for editorial design started.

Some people have said already that the new NME looks like The Face because of the nature of the mast. It is a homage but I must add that it’s a dollop of homage with a twist of coincidence too. The classic, iconic identity that is created with block white type on a red box is one that has existed for years. The Face mast is no more successful than the likes of Life, Picture Post, Ebony and many more. It’s a statement, it’s a stamp and it works well – it will always work well. And it’s going to work for NME.

Another obvious inspiration is the graphic design of the Bauhaus movement, with its solid primary colours and geometric shapes and angles. 45 degree angles are used throughout, from the page folios to the franchises.

The underlines and highlighting stem from the cut and paste, punky/DIY look I was trying to achieve and from what Mike told me about NME being the definitive guide. I was trying to think of ways to make things look definitive, authoritative and immediate. The stencil feel of the Rader, Reviews and Guide headers is supposed to add to this graffiti-d notebook feel, as is the sticker on the font – ***About $%#£ time***. It’s little bits of character like this that help re-inforce the older NME attitude.

We’re also using a 15 column grid with 12 horizontal modules, which again adds to the cut and paste feel while adhering to some rules and structure. This approach allows us to have fun with the content, because fun is important here. My favourite design is design that makes people smile.

Were you concerned people would liken it to The Face? There are a lot of similarities?

I think the cover shot makes it appear more like The Face than usual – we won’t always use an image of a subject shot against a neutral background. The Face was a huge influence but it’s in no way a direct copy. We’re just trying to be iconic like so many other magazine brands before us – it makes me laugh that no-one has mentioned Life magazine, [also a key influence].

How will the changes be applied online?

It will be mostly subtle changes at first and a lot less radical than the magazine, as the website is more about being clear and immediate. It’s all about the news on NME online so we’ll be experimenting less with the site but some changes are going live today.

The NME is to relaunch on October 9 with a new logo, website and cover design, the latter of which bears an uncanny resemblance to a late, lamented style magazine

Ahead of the relaunch, an email was sent out today by NME’s publisher IPC. Attached was this image of the cover for the October 12 issue.

It’s not just the redrawn, white out of red logo which reminds us so strongly of Phil Bicker-era Face covers – the type treatment, the underlines, even the plus signs all feel strongly reminiscent of The Face in the 90s.

A deliberate homage to a much-loved title or just coincidence? The cover is the only aspect of the redesign we’ve seen so far – we’ll report back on the rest of the redesign soon.

Following widespread outcry over the introduction of its current club crest in May, Everton has unveiled a new badge, chosen via an online poll of supporters, which will be adopted for the 2014/15 season

In May this year, Everton announced a redesign of its club crest, to be introduced at the beginning of the current season. As we reported at the time, the club went to some lengths to explain the thinking of the in-house team which designed the new look but many fans were deeply unhappy with the new design.

The Everton crest introduced at the start of the 2013/14 season

The crest used from 2000 to 2013

Evolution of the Everton crest

In response to sustained criticism from fans, the club conducted a consultation process as a first step to finding an acceptable replacement for the new badge. As reported on the club’s website, what fans most objected to about the new design was the fact that it the club motto Nil Satis Nisi Optimum had been dropped and the distinctive Prince Rupert’s tower redrawn.

According to the club, fans felt that “The Tower should reflect the heritage and design from previous Crests – especially the 1991 (60% preferred) and 1938 (24%) versions, reflecting not a photographic representation of the real Tower, but the heritage of previous Club Crests and the dreams and aspirations of supporters. As one person put it: “The Tower has been idolised forever, why change that now?” As another put it, “The Tower is Everton’s equivalent of Arsenal’s canon”.”

Fans also made it clear that “Nil Satis Nisi Optimum is a non-negotiable inclusion for the future Club Crest. Whilst the majority are ambivalent about it appearing in a scroll as in previous crests, it must be written in full and in Latin, and not be dumbed-down and weakened through abbreviation.”

Other elements deemed important were the club name, laurel wreaths, and founding date. “Whilst many supporters feel passionate about the inclusion of 1878 and the Laurel Wreaths, these two elements were ranked lowest overall in the survey and so have become regarded as secondary elements, with less support from participants in the consultation,” the club reported.

The next stage was to work with design consultancy Kenyon Fraser to present fans with three options to choose from.

Option A (shown here as applied to a club shirt) was close to the 1991-2000 version, featured all the elements deemed important by fans and dropped the amber accent colour used previously.

Option B retained more of the feel of the current crest, and the amber accent, but with the addition of the motto

Option C introduced a redrawn shield

Option A (shown below as it will appear at the ground) was the clear winner with 78% of the votes of the 20,000 fans who took part in the exercise.

The new badge in reverse

Main version

So what are the lessons here for designers? If you are going to consult, make sure you ask the right people the right questions and you ask enough of them to give you a credible result would be one obvious conclusion.

In our original post on this story, we praised the fact that the club had attempted to consult with fans and had been open about the process. However, it is clear that that process was flawed as it failed to identify key elements in the previous design which fans felt a particular attachment to – the motto and the way in which the tower was rendered. Although the new version of the tower was more accurate, the club’s more extensive survey following the outcry revealed that fans felt that “The Tower should reflect the heritage and design from previous Crests – especially the 1991 (60% preferred) and 1938 (24%) versions, reflecting not a photographic representation of the real Tower, but the heritage of previous Club Crests and the dreams and aspirations of supporters.” Emotional attachment was far more important than accuracy. The old drawing of the tower may bear little resemblance to how it actually looks but that wasn’t the point – it was the image which people felt an attachment to not the building itself. Likewise, the club had failed to realise the importance to fans of the club’s Latin motto.

So have Everton ended up with a better club crest as a result of all this? The trite answer is, well if that’s what the fans want, then yes. Personally I think it has more authority than the current badge and it expresses the heritage and values of the club better. The shield is a better shape, dropping the amber makes it feel more classy but the type on the motto is awful.

Whatever your feelings on the new design v the old, this whole episode provides a fascinating case study on the power of logos, the difficulties of making change, how (or how not) to consult with fans (or consumers), the way in which we imbue graphic symbols with deep meaning, the role of social media in the relationship between an organisation and those it serves (or its customers) and the role of the designer.

“The creative philosophy here is that there isn’t one,” says Eddie Opara of the many-splendored life at Pentagram, where he has been a partner since 2010. “No one’s trying to tell you to change your philosophy or methodologies of design, but [to] live within, or live with, other philosophies, because there’s never one.” It’s a multifaceted perspective that Opara has applied most recently to Platform, a new non-profit that aims to boost participation of underrepresented groups—particularly African-Americans, Latinos, and women—in technology and entrepreneurship. The designer and his team created the identity and website for the organization, as well as the graphics for the first Platform Summit, a TED-style confab held in July at the MIT Media Lab. Sneak a peek inside Pentagram and learn more about Opara in the below video, created by Athletics as part of the urbane graphic design extravaganza that is “Image of the Studio,” which opens today at Cooper Union’s Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography.

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