IKEA is re-launching the original piece of furniture that kick-started the flatpack revolution – the Lovbacken table. It first appeared in the 1956 Ikea catalogue, complete with original IKEA logo designed by founder Ingvar Kamprad
The 1956 catalogue cover features graphics by Gillis Lundgren, who also designed the Lovet table. The story goes that the table was being used in a catalogue photography session but its three-legged, leaf shape proved too cumbersome for designer Lundgren to fit into the car. To solve this, Lundgren sawed off the legs and, at that moment started a flatpack, self-assembly revolution.
IKEA is bringing back the table in August with the launch of the its new catalogue.
Here’s a close-up view of that 1956 logo
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The July issue of Creative Review is a type special, with features on the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the new Whitney identity and the resurgence of type-only design. Plus the Logo Lounge Trend Report, how Ideas Foundation is encouraging diversity in advertising and more.
Agency MARC USA has created a sizzling – and somewhat disturbing – campaign for The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh for its series of summer exhibitions.
The three exhibitions feature non-traditional artists – musician and visual artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, photographer Caldwell Linker and sculptor/tattoo artist Nick Bubash. In keeping with the museum’s overarching aim to challenge people to step out of their comfort zone, MARC decided to focus on the message that summer is different at the Warhol.
The theme resulted in a set of images that subvert instantly recognisable summer scenarios and emblems (the bright beachball used as a gag, for example, the flip flops made from barbed wire or the hot dog bun containing a can-full of worms), designed to unsettle viewers just as the artists’ work does.
The images were created in collaboration between photographer Russ Quackenbush and retoucher Chris Bodie. They “pay tribute ot the way Andy might push convention”, says lead creative director Josh Blasingame, and they build on the idea that the three artists’ work on show over the summer is meant to provoke and make viewers uncomfortable.
The campaign is being rolled out outdoors throughout the summer, including at city festivals and other events, and the print campaign runs in newspapers and will be distributed throughout the city as postcards.
MARC has been working with the museum for about a year. “The ‘challenge yourself’ theme is the bigger picture,” says Blasingame. “That is what Warhol was all about. He really looked at art and life through a different lens than everyone else and some would say that he really revolutionised the art world. The museum believes in carrying that torch into the future. So whether or not the next campaign is as shocking as this one, it will find a way to challenge people to challenge themselves.”
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The July issue of Creative Review is a type special, with features on the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the new Whitney identity and the resurgence of type-only design. Plus the Logo Lounge Trend Report, how Ideas Foundation is encouraging diversity in advertising and more.
Chevrolet unveiled the winners of its Young Creative Chevrolet 2013 awards, crowning a wide range of talent from across Europe.
The art and design competition is open to applied art school students from 15 European countries, and this year its brief asked entrants to explore fans’ passion for football, in categories visual arts, photography, video and fashion.
The video category contained a particularly pleasing array of different approaches to the brief, which asked entrants to submit an “upbeat, entertaining film that not only explains the rules and ‘world’ of football to those who do not follow it, but also turns them into fans”.
The winners, Daniela Stenzenberger and Roman Beck from the University of Applied Arts Vienna, might have a different version of football’s rules than others, but their animated review of footballing history – from prehistoric egg-kicking dinosaurs, via Newton kicking away his falling apple, to the buzz of the today’s stadium – provides a charming take on the theme, ending in the tagline ‘And we still love it’. See the video below, followed by runners-up.
Winner of the YCC video category, by Daniela Stenzenberger and Roman Beck (University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria)
Runner up, by Stefan Katanić (Fakultet Primenjenih Umetnosti, Serbia)
3rd place video category winner, by Gioacchino D’Amico, Alessia Capuccini and Giovanni Pietro Stella (RUFA, Rome, Italy)
The photography entrants were challenged to “capture an image that sheds light on football’s universal appeal”, with winner Juraj Holček from Slovakia focusing on the dedication of young fans.
Winner of the photography category, by Juraj Holček (Slovenská technická univerzita v Bratislave, Slovakia)
2nd prize, photography category, by Dario Belić, Dino Šertović (Academy of Dramatic Art, University of Zagreb, Croatia)
Photography 3rd prize winner, by Charline Destree, Rose Dufournier Fortin and Sandra Gury (MJM Paris, France)
The visual arts category asked students to design a Manchester United special edition Chevrolet ‘fan-transporter’, and Jan Šlégr and Ján Bača of the Tomas Bata University in the Czech Republic won for their design, which incorporated the club’s flag and colours as well as slogans and mottos taken from fan anthems. The main aim was to “evoke authentic impression of work made collectively by dozens of Manchester United fans”.
Winner, YCC visual arts category, by Jan Šlégr and Ján Bača (Univerzita Tomáše Bati Zlín, Czech Republic)
Visual arts category runner-up, by Mihailo Kalabić (Fakultet Primenjenih Umetnosti, Serbia)
3rd prize visual arts winner, by Siska Mingneau (KASK Gent, Belgium)
The top three European YCC winners in each creative discipline receive a cash prize of €5,200, €4,200 and €3,200, respectively. Each first-place European winner can also take part in a work experience placement with artists and experts from their creative discipline.
For more details of entrants and other country winners, visit the YCC website.
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The July issue of Creative Review is a type special, with features on the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the new Whitney identity and the resurgence of type-only design. Plus the Logo Lounge Trend Report, how Ideas Foundation is encouraging diversity in advertising and more.
Barcelona-based studio Hey‘s irreverent reinterpretation of a selection of classic deities comes to London next month, in the Oh my God exhibition at the Kemistry Gallery.
Presenting a playful experimentation with character design, the show also reflects the studio’s simple and geometric style, which is always in evidence, whether in self-initiated or more commercial projects.
As Hey’s Verònica Fuerte says, the studio’s personal projects are “almost as important as the commercial ones – the illustration or graphic process is the same as when we work on commercial works. The difference is that we have more freedom to create, experiment or sometimes innovate”.
Opening next month, the exhibition takes a humorous approach to the gods, presenting deities such as Zeus and Neptune as “icons that have their own powers, weaknesses, history and followers – we think they are the real superheroes”, according to Fuerte. “We wanted it to be far away from the classic view.” (See artwork above and below.)
Oh my God will feature 30 original illustrations, with prints and posters available to purchase in the gallery and online. “We always try to make our work reach a wide audience and be simple to understand,” says Fuerte. “Playing around with this synthesis, you come upon solutions that are quite basic and obvious and which many people usually like.”
Hey Studio: Oh my God runs from August 1 – September 14; kemistrygallery.co.uk. For Hey Studio’s new online shop, visit heyshop.es
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The July issue of Creative Review is a type special, with features on the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the new Whitney identity and the resurgence of type-only design. Plus the Logo Lounge Trend Report, how Ideas Foundation is encouraging diversity in advertising and more.
Over the course of this year’s degree show season, CR readers will be guest blogging reviews of shows up and down the UK (and beyond). Here, Melly-Em Clark visits the University of Lincoln Degree Shows 2013
Jon Cottam’s innovative re-workings of iconic film posters (above, below and top) give modern classics a fresh new aesthetic, challenging stereotypical colour palettes so commonly associated with the horror genre. As well as being visually arresting, Jon’s images express an in-depth observation, understanding and appreciation for the films’ concepts, themes and narratives.
Stephen Sharpe’s Final Major Project focused on illustrating engaging quotes from beloved comedians such as Jo Brand and Eddie Izzard. Stephen’s work both displays his expertise in usage of colour and composition and portrays the lively, bizarre and comedic aspects of the quotes, encapsulating the highlights of British wit.
Rachel Sanson’s impressive usage of collage and mixed media creates a uniquely textured aesthetic within her expertly rendered images. Rachel’s quirky character design and memorable visual signature makes her a promising new voice within the industry of Illustration, her work ideal for children’s picture books and book jacket design.
Portraiture is an art form that, at times, can heavily rely upon a knowledge of personality and attributes. Christopher Bagnall’s paintings are based on observations of strangers, people he knows nothing about. Working in this way focuses the portrait to appreciate the immediate and external aspects of a person. With its expressive nature and fascinating composition, Christopher captures the anonymity of strangers and the fleeting moments in which we encounter them.
Chloe Leach’s exhibit communicates the impossible preservation of organic life and its inevitable decay and death. In her installation, Galanthus, Nivalis and Narcissus, she entraps a vast amount of elegant plants within a small doorway, As the show ran its two week course, visitors were able to witness the transformation and gradual decline of vitality. As the display slowly withers, we are encouraged to appreciate and notice nature for its beauty, while it lasts. Looking into Chloe’s work arouses curiosity and admiration for the life and death of nature.
Within the art industry, identity is crucial, we analyse and display ourselves, our interests and influences. Within her work, Claire Elizabeth Slade explores identity through the most commonly used part of the artist, the hands. Claire’s focus on the physical aspects of character, such as teeth and fingerprints, rather than personality or presentation, is a refreshing approach to the concept. Claire’s exhibit is beautifully arranged and displayed, with intricate attention to detail, creating a very elegant aesthetic.
Chris Jellinek’s book cover design for Ken Kasey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest uses simplistic imagery with strong connotations to represent the story’s theme. In his strongest design, he uses the powerful iconography of cogs, a visual signifier for intricacy, technology and complication. With Kasey’s story being arranged within a psychiatric hospital, this image work perfectly. With a beautifully rendered illustration and gentle typography, Chris’ cover represents the book with professionalism and understanding.
CONTEMPORARY LENS MEDIA
Chiara Simpson
Chiara Simpson’s work, Older People in Havana, Cuba, are vibrant, energetic portraits that reflect the warm and vivacious nature of the cultural landscape of Cuba. Her approach to the camera is simplistic, drawing the focus to the lively and charismatic subjects encompassing the frame. These images, part of a series, are a fascinating documentation of one person’s reaction to a culture with many layers of history and beauty.
Photos by Dominic Clark
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The July issue of Creative Review is a type special, with features on the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the new Whitney identity and the resurgence of type-only design. Plus the Logo Lounge Trend Report, how Ideas Foundation is encouraging diversity in advertising and more.
The bubbling vat of creative talent at Wired magazine has yielded a new design director for Fortune. Tim Leong will join the Time Inc. title on August 5. He was previously director of digital design at Wired and is also a newly published author: Leong’s Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Comic Book Universe is out today from Chronicle Books.
“He is a multi-talented guy who worked on all aspects of the Wired brand with an emphasis his last two years on the digital extensions, including all tablet editions, coordinating motion and programming, e-books, e-features, as well as working directly with the website,” wrote Fortune creative director (and fellow Wired veteran) Brandon Cavulla in an e-mail sent today. “Tim was also a part of Wired‘s conferences, working with me on motion graphics/film and overall identity.” He succeeds Emily Kehe, who left Fortune in December and is now creative director at People StyleWatch.
Dutch illustrator Stang Gubbels has brightened up the ward of an Amsterdam children’s hospital with some cheerful illustrations of UFOs, rockets and helicopters.
The transport-themed designs are aimed at four to 12 year-olds at the Emma Children’s Hospital – one of The Netherlands’s largest paediatric centres.
Gubbels worked on the project for two years while the ward, for long-term patients and those with serious illnesses, was being re-developed. Interior designers Opera Amsterdam Art Associates and architects OD205 have also re-designed and commissioned illustrations for other wards at the centre, including a neonatal care unit with sensory rooms and botanical paintings.
The printed illustrations are based on digital images created using Illustrator and covered with a protective layer. The colour palette was chosen by Opera, but Gubbels was free to design modes of transport of his chioce, from polka dot horses to unicycles, cranes and monster trucks.
“My agent [Art Associates] was asked to nominate an illustrator for the project by Opera Art. I was chosen because my work fits well with children – it’s bright and humorous” say Gubbels.
“I’ve made quite a lot of illustrations in this style – although never for interiors,” he adds. Gubbels has also designed exterior window installations in Rotterdam (photo: Scagliola/Brakkee / CBK Rotterdam).
UK hospitals have also teamed up with illustrators and design agencies to inject some colour into an unsettling place for young children – you can read our feature on The Royal London children’s unit (below) designed by Vital Arts in the April issue of Creative Review, and see Chelsea Children’s Hospital’s healing spaces here.
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The July issue of Creative Review is a type special, with features on the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the new Whitney identity and the resurgence of type-only design. Plus the Logo Lounge Trend Report, how Ideas Foundation is encouraging diversity in advertising and more.
Newspaper Club and cycling brand Vulpine have joined forces with some top illustrators and designers to create a promotional paper that doubles as a handy shoe-drying kit
The paper is a collaboration between Newspaper Club co-founder Terrett (who is also head of design at the Government Digital Service) and James Greig at Vulpine . Between them they recruited a host of illustrators and designers to contribute work around the theme of cycling in the rain.
The paper features contributions from the likes of Bloomberg Businessweek’s Richard Turley, Anthony Burrill, Carolyn Roberts of the Observer and Matt Jones from Google Creative Lab.
The paper will be available on Sunday at the Vulpine summer fete. “The idea is to give it to cycling shops and they can make them available – for free – when it’s raining,” Terrett says.
And when cyclists are done reading it, they can scrunch it up and use it to dry their shoes.
Back cover, with shoe-stuffing instructions
Or, as The Observer’s Carolyn Roberts suggests in this spread, they could keep their nice Vulpine paper, and use a mid-market tabloid instead
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The July issue of Creative Review is a type special, with features on the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the new Whitney identity and the resurgence of type-only design. Plus the Logo Lounge Trend Report, how Ideas Foundation is encouraging diversity in advertising and more.
Creative agency Studio Output has designed an advertising campaign and extended brand identity for online classical music magazine Sinfini.
The ads – which will be launched in print and online next week – combine strong colours with bold black Euclid type. Images associated with music and classical composers such as a drum, a piano and a bust have been cut through and partially replaced with texture fills to reflect the brand’s tagline, Cutting Through Classical.
Owned by Universal, Sinfini describes itself as a site where readers can explore classical music whether they are “new to the genre or already something of an expert”. As well as articles, reviews and downloads, the site provides glossaries, timelines and guides explaining instruments, musical styles and the history of classical.
“Sinfini is quite a new platform – it’s a bit like the Pitchfork [an independent music site] of classical music – but the editors were concerned that because it’s online, it was struggling to develop a strong, identifiable brand image. The web is constantly changing and being updated so there is no finished, permanent product like a printed magazine or newspaper, and they were keen to bring the brand together a bit more,” explains Laura Newman-Cardwell, producer on the campaign.
Sinfini editors were also keen to avoid anything “old-fashioned or too traditional”, says Newman-Cardwell.
“Classical isn’t all about Mozart and Bach and music from hundreds of years ago, and Sinfini wanted to reflect that. Of course, they target classical fans but they’re also a site aimed at people who might not have much of an understanding of it. They wanted to create something that was fresh and a little edgier than other classical sites, and they definitely didn’t want to use any musical notes or clefs,” she adds.
Studio Output has also designed a promotional oyster card holder with print insert featuring a flowchart quiz (below).
The cut through device, designed to mirror the ‘n’ in Sinfini, is a clever way to reflect the brand’s values, with each texture fill designed to represent a key Sinfini principle: landscapes, for example, represent discovery (top), while the silver metallic cut through is intended to represent innovation. “We initially planned to create around 20 but Sinfini only wanted a few,” says Newman-Cardwell.
The technique can also be applied to parts of the website to give Sinfini greater ownership of content, she adds. “It could be used for banners, images on the website or printed supplements and would be much more interesting than just using a logo.”
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The July issue of Creative Review is a type special, with features on the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the new Whitney identity and the resurgence of type-only design. Plus the Logo Lounge Trend Report, how Ideas Foundation is encouraging diversity in advertising and more.
As the world waits with bated breath for the latest addition to the British royal family to arrive, communications company and gallery KK Outlet London have collaborated with illustrator Lee Boulton to create a ‘Royalphabet’ poster to mark the occasion.
The regally themed alphabet chart features 26 specially created illustrations, with each letter representing something associated with British royalty and the escapades of the family. The more customary Q is for Queen and J is for Jewels, are mixed with the slightly more controversial D is for Divorce and I is for Inbred. Ouch.
KK Outlet had previously created a series of commemorative souvenir plates for Kate and Will’s wedding in 2011 – quirky alternatives to the standard royal wedding memorabilia.
The bone china plates included messages such as “Thanks for the free day off”, and “It should have been me”, along with a design featuring an imagined Facebook post announcing the nuptials, with ‘likes’ from Prince Charles, The Queen and 6,000,000 others.
The limited edition poster is available to buy from KK Outlet, 42 Hoxton Square, London, N1 6PB. www.kkoutlet.com
Check out Lee’s other work at leeleelee.com, including some Julian Opie-esque pet portraiture and tour posters for the Kaiser Chiefs.
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The July issue of Creative Review is a type special, with features on the Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the new Whitney identity and the resurgence of type-only design. Plus the Logo Lounge Trend Report, how Ideas Foundation is encouraging diversity in advertising and more.
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