Mar 21

Dancing life drawings

Posted in: Uncategorized

We first featured Matt Robinson and Tom Wrigglesworth back in 2009 as fresh graduates with bundles of potential. The duo’s latest work is a charming animated film to promote life drawing classes at The Book Club in London…

“Every easel forming a circle around a life drawing model offers a different view,” says Wrigglesworth of the approach to the film. “We created the film by editing each drawing with the next, moving 360 degrees around the circle of easels.”

Life Drawing at The Book Club from Wriggles & Robins on Vimeo.

Wrigglesworth and Robinson, known as Wriggles & Robins, are actually making a move from being a creative team at an ad agency towards being a directorial duo.

“We’ve been a creative team at Fallon for a couple of years but we’ve always done films on the side,” explains Wrigglesworth, “and we’re now trying to take it much more seriously. Being full time creatives is good, but we’ve always wanted to produce more things.”

The duo is currently still at Fallon and are soon to direct an ad throught the agency. They’re also currently scouting for a location for their first music video commission which they’re shooting with production company RSA.

See more of the duo’s work at wrigglesandrobins.com.

Also check out the film Wrigglesworth directed with Mathieu Cavelier in 2011 about a philosophical Parisian piano shop owner 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.

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Mar 14

Behind the scenes of ITV3’s papercut idents

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Tundra* has teamed up with Studio M Andersen to create six new paper-cut animated idents for ITV3. The new idents aren’t due to be aired for a while but we wanted to share them here on the CR blog and reveal something of the creative processes involved in creating them…

The six new idents are the result of a collaboration between illustration and animation house Tundra* and Martin Andersen of Studio M Andersen – who also roped in the model making skills of his model-making sister Line Andersen.

The films follow on from those which the same creative team made for the launch of the comprehensive rebrand across all ITV channels earlier in the year – with each ident representing a genre of programming that lives on the ITV3

“The concept of the stories collected in bell jars was mine and this is what was pitched out to three animation companies,” explains ITV’s head of creative for broadcast, Tony Pipes. “It came from the idea that ITV3 was the curator of great, well-crafted drama. This informed what we wanted the worlds to look like and I became a little obsessed with it all being handmade.”

ITV3 Idents 2013 from Tony Pipes on Vimeo.

You’ll notice that some of the freshly completed batch of idents, directed by Espen Haslene at Tundra* through production company Soup Factory, have a winter theme and have actually been designed to be screened much later in the year, closer to Christmas. However, a screening this week wouldn’t be amiss given the spell of wintry weather we’re currently experiencing here in the UK!

In terms of how the films were made, director Espen Haslene explained to CR that, using a team of animators, illustrators and model makers and working with the Andersen siblings’ expertise, they were able to get round the time restrictions set by the delivery dates and create films that look like they’ve been created in-camera.

“The way we worked around the timeframe issue,” he explains, “was to first make animatics from storyboards and then have Karine Faou [art director on the project] and her illustrators work up all the layers and elements in Illustrator, making the whole world and sculpture work as digital illustrations first.

“Then we fed each layer to the model makers and cutters and these paper models went to Martin and he shot them against green screen which were then fed to an After Effects team of animators and compositors. So every layer you see in the films has been created physically in paper but composited in After Effects.”

Here’s a making-of film to give more insight to the processes involved:

ITV3 Idents: Behind The Scenes from Tony Pipes on Vimeo.

We have, of course, featured the collaborative work of Line Andersen (she was one of our Creative Futures back in 2006) and her brother Martin on several occasions. You can see some of their previous work together here and also here.

See more of Tundra*’s work at tundragroupfilms.com.

Credits

Director Espen Haslene
Co-director Martin M. Andersen
Art director Karine Faou
Executive creative producer Andy Soup / Soup Factory Ltd.
Producers Jason Underhill, Ben Sullivan Production Assistant Jade Bogue
Senior model maker Line Lunnemann Andersen
Model makers & cutters Cat Johnston, Helene Baum, Rosy Nicholas
Illustration Keeley Sheppard, Paulina Slebodzinska
Storyboard artist Oscar Arancibia
Animation & compositing Dominic Burgess, Aaron Trinder, Marc Hardman, Letty Fox , Oscar Granse
Compositing assistant – Adam Stewart, Phoebe
3D modelling & CGI Duncan Burch @ Lumiere Studios
Sound design / Music composition Mikkel H. Eriksen (Instrument Studio)
Studio manager Elina Masai Andersen

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.

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Mar 14

From radio to the iPlayer

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Ninety years of innovation at the BBC is celebrated in a new campaign from the broadcaster, complete with an interactive time-line of technological achievements…

Agency RKCR/Y&R worked on the campaign with the BBC, while the 60 second launch film was produced by Red Bee Media.

The short tells the story of broadcasting at the Beeb, outlining various significant moments of technological progress that have happened since 1922. This takes in radio and TV (including outside broadcasts and colour), the BBC Micro Computer (in schools!) and Ceefax, to the iPlayer and the broadcaster’s expanding digital content, as seen at the London Olympics.

Blending together archive footage, characters in the film appear to walk between one moment and the next.

Watch it here (unfortunately we are unable to embed it).

Interestingly, the soundtrack is by the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, which was relaunched last year. The campaign premieres on-air this weekend; there’s an accompanying making-of video here (scroll down), and also an interactive timeline of innovation, 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.

 

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Mar 14

Sign Painters film

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Last year we ran an extract from the excellent Sign Painters book in the magazine, and now the accompanying documentary film is about to get its first preview in the US. If the trailer is anything to go by, it’s going to be a lovely piece of work…

Since 2010, Faythe Levine and Sam Macon’s project has been to document the work of artists who have put brush and paint to storefronts, murals, banners, barn signs, billboards, and even street signs across America, but who have seen their skilled trade “overrun by the techno-fueled promise of quicker and cheaper,” say the filmmakers.


“The resulting proliferation of computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and inkjet printers has ushered a creeping sameness into our landscape,” they continue. “Fortunately, there is a growing trend to seek out traditional sign painters and a renaissance in the trade.”

Sign Painters is, say Levine and Macon, the first anecdotal history of the craft and features interview with two dozen sign painters working throughout the US, from the new vanguard working solo to the collaborative shops New Bohemia Signs in San Francisco and Colossal Media’s Sky High Murals in New York.

Two screenings in the US have been confirmed so far. They are: March 30 at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC. More info here; and June 7 and 8 at the Rio Theatre, 1660 East Broadway, Commercial Drive, Vancouver, Canada.

As for the UK, Levine recommends keeping an eye on the Sign Painters blog, below, and their Twitter feed at @signpainterdoc. We will also post news on CR blog on any dates as they are announced. For now, enjoy the trailer above.

The Sign Painters book was published by Princeton Architectural Press in November 2012 features a foreword by legendary artist (and former sign painter) Ed Ruscha. More at signpaintermovie.blogspot.co.uk.

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.

 

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Mar 13

Deadmau5 and Imogen Heap let fans animate video

Posted in: Uncategorized

Electro-house music producer Deadmau5 and singer songwriter Imogen Heap invited fans to animate the video to their collaborative single Telemiscommunications.

The duo launched an open competition late last year, asking for submissions to animate a set storyline – a business man at an airport trying to have a meaningful mobile phone conversation with a loved one. The brief included a sketch for the length of the video showing the position of the character on screen including a 3D plane, as well as the colour palette for each section and some direction on mood.

The idea for the competition came about due to time constraints – a number of animators with the freedom to ceate their own film within the film would provide a quicker route to an aminated video, explains project director Colin Gordon. “This also worked for Imogen as she’s very keen on getting fans involved in creating her music, and uses crowd-sourcing ideas a lot.”

The final video was created by 19 animators, who were paid $50 per second of their work, and includes a number of animation styles, from stop-motion to detailed illustration.

Opening section created by Irish visual artist and film-maker Eoghan Kidney

By California-based animator and painter Eric Spivey

Work by illustrator and animator Kat Michaelidis

Still from London-based illustrator and animator Ewen Farr’s section

Section from Montreal-based cartoonist Paloma Dawkins

According to Gordon the set colour palette helped a lot with pulling the differing animation styles together – “it allowed for the otherwise jarring styles to blend with each other quite nicely”.

Selecting the final contributors was tricky, he adds. “We had to think about how the piece would work as a whole and not necessarily who we thought was the best animator, so it was about getting a good mix of styles and techniques as much as anything.”

For more information about the animators between each section, visit the competition website here.

Credits
Video creative direction: Imogen Heap and Colin Gordon
Project coordinator — Colin Gordon
Editor: Alexander Goodman
Animators: Eoghan Kidney, Jake Zhang, Alex Aguilar-Rudametkin, Eric Spivey, Marc Fleps, Kat Michaelides, Sitji Chou, Mayra Hernández Ríos, Ewen Farr, Eric Funk, Rory Waudby-Tolley, Dru Henderson, Oana Nechifor, Paloma Dawkins, Djoh Djoh (Joe DeMarie), Alexandre Siqueira, Stella Salumaa, Chris Butcher, Ty Coyle

 

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.

 

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Mar 13

DNA explained

Posted in: Uncategorized

London-based studio Territory has created a pleasingly retro three minute animation for BBC Knowledge & Learning that looks to explain what DNA is and how it functions…

Knowledge & Learning is actually a forthcoming website that the BBC is currently working on. The idea is that it will be full of content created specially by a dedicated editorial team that will range from various learning formats such as revision guides for students and BBC programme clips that can be used by teachers in classrooms – through to topical features around arts, food, science, history and health. Whatever the subject or format, the idea is that all of its content is “optimised for learning”.

The DNA video (below) by Territory is a great example of how the BBC are creating and commissioning new content specially geared towards making the digestion of complicated information that much easier.

BBC Knowledge Explainer DNA from Territory on Vimeo.

“It was evident to me from the start that we needed to find a graphic style that would communicate the beauty and intricate function of DNA,” says Territory’s William Samuel who directed the film, “so we came up with a simple geometric look that focused on form, movement and colour.”

“I also wanted to create some nostalgia, taking the audience back to the days of textbook diagrams and old science documentaries such as Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and Charles and Ray Eames’ 1977 Powers of Ten film which was distributed by IBM,” he explains of the graphic approach.

“Our aim was to combine all this whilst maintaining a consistent flow to the animation, keeping the double helix theme at its centre throughout,” adds Samuel.

See more of Territory’s work at territorystudio.com.

Credits:

Client BBC Knowledge
Studio Territory Studio
Creative director David Sheldon-hicks
Art director William Samuel
Producer Sam Hart
Writer Andrew S Walsh
Scientist Dr Mathew Adams
Voice director Andy S Walsh
VO actor Simon Poland
Animation director William Samuel
Animation Alasdair Wilson, David Penn, Marti Romances, William Samuel
Sound track and mix Room 24

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.

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Mar 11

More microscopic magic by Craig Ward

Posted in: Uncategorized

Craig Ward‘s short promo film for Jon Hopkins‘ forthcoming album, Immunity, (out on Domino in early June) features unlikely stars: microscopic food dye crystals…

Jon Hopkins – Immunity official teaser video from Craig Ward on Vimeo.

Ward worked on the promo with Linden Gledhill (regular CR blog readers may recall the pair worked together on last year’s Cascades video for Ryan Teague) who combined the role of ‘crystal cultivator’ and DOP, growing food dye crystals and shooting them using a research grade Olympus BH-2 microscope and a Canon EOS 5D mark II camera rigged up with some LED lighting and a high speed flash.

“The microscope also uses Differencial Interference Contrast optics (DIC), a special technique which allow the observer to see normally transparant objects,” Gledhill explains of his set-up. “It’s the tuning of these optics which creates the wide range of colours. Most of the images were done at 100 to 1000x magnification.”

A selection of images from the 10,000+ images taken by Gledhill during the process will also be used in the design of the album cover which Ward is currently working on.

Credits

Director Craig Ward
Producer Cathy Kwan
Exec producer James Stevenson Bretton
Production company Blinkart & Hornet Inc.
Crystal cultivator/DOP Linden Gledhill
Editor R.J. Glass
Compositor Shir Lieberman
Colour correction Yussef Cole

See more of Craig Ward’s work at BlinkArt.

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.

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Mar 07

How to create a James Bond title sequence

Posted in: Uncategorized

Director Daniel Kleinman has become the go-to guy when it comes to directing Bond movie title sequences. In this filmed interview he explains the formula for the perfect Bond opener and reflects on his wider career

So what makes for a perfect Bond title sequence? According to Kleinman it’s:

Gun barrel +
A narrative element +
Sex +
Humour +
Surprise +
A dash of surrealism +
A long, long boring list of names

 

The film was created by watchthetitles.com, a website specialising in film titles, with work from over 100 designers. More here

 

All of which begs the question, which is the greatest Bond title sequence of all time? Got to be Robert Brownjohn’s Goldfinger surely?

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.

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Feb 28

Kawamura and his dancing sperm

Posted in: Uncategorized

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.

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Feb 26

Floria Sigismondi directs new David Bowie video

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The video for the second single to be taken from David Bowie’s The Next Day album, The Stars (Are Out Tonight), is directed by Floria Sigismondi and stars Tilda Swinton as a slightly unhinged Mrs B…

Sigismondi directed the videos for two of Bowie’s releases in the 1990s – Little Wonder and Dead Man Walking – and for his latest offering injects a real sense of the bizarre into the suburban setting.

Watch as the Bowies do their shopping and return home to find that a celebrity couple has moved in next door, complete with band. Then things get a little, well, Sigismondian. Swinton is excellent, particularly in a scene with a rather undercooked chicken, which Bowie really doesn’t seem to like the look of.

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