King Adz is on the front line of creative culture. He’s an art director, writer and photographer constantly pursuing the leading edge of the zeitgeist. Whether it’s hiding in the heart of Durban or exploring the outskirts of Tel Aviv, King Adz is looking for the ‘stuff you can’t bottle‘ – the subject of his latest book. We were his audience for an evening ‘At the Bar‘ – one of the regular inspiration talks we have at our studio in Amsterdam.

He kicked off with a film to introduce his work, immediately grabbing everyone’s attention when he explained that “Brands need the youth to sell to the youth.” Over 15 minutes the film bombarded us with raw creativity alongside interview snippets from Adz’s peers and youth on the streets. Of note; a young girl wearing an Obey sweatshirt who’s not ‘into’ brands. She sees the extensive marketing brands carry out in a negative light. Adz points out that Obey could be considered a brand, but she seems to see Obey in a different way. Another clip presents a couple of boys talking about youth as vehicles for advertising – we may use the cringe-worthy term “brand ambassadors” for them, but the boys feel they’re being exploited. Despite the youth doing the work to start something original, it’s the brands that get the pay off by ‘hijacking’ the trends.

Skaters in Israel

Adz’s current line of work is a mixture of writing about, publicising and connecting talented artists and designers on the streets with brands who will sponsor and support them. He sees roots movements grow using company money. It’s a nice position to be in. It has taken his whole career, in a round about way, to get there, but it was only after he left advertising in 2006 when things started going in this particular direction in earnest. He released 100proofTRUTH – 1percent: an online pdf magazine that was jam-packed with the things he loved – culture that wasn’t about the money, it was about finding the real up and coming talent from the streets. 100 Proof TRUTH only released a couple of issues before it was noticed by Jamie Camplin, MD of Thames & Hudson, with whom he went on to publish a series of books.

King Adz work for Lacoste

Adz became truly engrossed in street culture. He co-wrote a book that unveiled the now infamous Blek le Rat to the world and also worked up his own project The Urban Cookbook - a book that plays match maker to vibrant street cultures and fresh local cuisine.

While he has been successful as a result of his investment in street culture (working with giants such as Lacoste, Levis and Smirnoff) he explained there is a Catch 22: The problem of roots culture drying up the second a brand touches it. The real stuff is on the street, not online; it’s not born from some branding ‘big wig”s office or studio, even. A funny analogy he gave is “if you’ve read about it in The Guardian, it’s over”. He believes people are not involved in a movement simply by buying something. That’s consuming – not contributing or building.

As the global community expands, brands look to the emerging BRIC markets for their next audience. It’s in these parts of the world that he is looking for his new talents. One of his ventures will see young fashion designers from South Africa (a place very close to his heart) taken to Germany for the Berlin Fashion Trade Show.

Image of South African designer spliced with cityscape

Photo by King Adz from the streets of South Africa

So can brands expand in these emerging markets without corrupting the local sub-cultures? Can they work with the youth to bring something fresh to their own enterprise? Adz suggested that brands could be more effective than established charities in helping 3rd world communities. There are a few companies that are making moves to become truly involved, who are starting to live their brand messages. Notably Diesel’s Only The Brave Foundation is having positive effects throughout Mali, but it feels like the tip of the iceberg. King Adz continues to investigate the future of branding vs culture in the largest emerging markets. It’s something we should all be paying attention to as our world gets smaller and the sustenance of genuine local cultures becomes more important.

For further info about King Adz and his exploits have a read of this interview on Slamxhype, and check out the video below to promote Stuff You Can’t Bottle.

Photo mashup of South African coast and urban sunset.

Germany agency Kolle Rebbe has created the world’s first Tea Calendar for Hälssen & Lyon. Tea leaves have been pressed into wafer thin pages of a calendar that can be torn off to brew a fresh cup of tea for every day of the year. Found via Neatorama and Junk Culture.

Being a bit of a fan of paper sculptures, I couldn’t resist sharing these animals by Brooklyn-based artist José Suris IV. Some of them are based on specific characters from cartoons or games such as Pokemon or Zelda, made into either masks or mounted heads; others are sculptures of the whole animal. They are built from a mix of different papers, paper clay, wire and styrofoam, and the intricate work involved to create the fur, feathers or fins is just incredible. Found via My Modern Met.

Illustrator and designer Si Scott also uses 3D paper sculptures in some of his work, but I was initially drawn to his pen and ink illustrations of insects, found via Colossal. His Resonate series of animal illustrations was created for Silent Records, but he has also worked on projects for Nike, Dove and Coca Cola to name a few.

Photographer Beth Galton teamed up with food stylist Charlotte Omnès to show us what popular dishes look like on the inside. The food cut in half project was inspired by a photo shoot where they had to cut a burrito in two. As food photography usually focuses around appetite appeal, it was interesting to explore a different perspective by shooting a cross section the interior of certain products instead. Found via Feel Desain.

I have stumbled across a number of artists recently whose work involves the alteration of portraits, often changing the face dramatically to give a slightly jarring effect. Julie Cockburn and Henrietta Harris are a couple that spring to mind. One of the nicer examples found was Nandan Ghiya’s work on NYC Arts, where he manipulates not just the image but the structure of the frame too. It reminded me of tools like Glitche, mentioned in a previous Friday Favourites, used to corrupt pixels in digital photos.

“What is the world’s most beautiful compost bin?” Yes, that’s what I typed into the search engine.

Why? Because last week was Compost Awareness Week (who knew). Plus, if we’re all about good design, then surely we should be looking at the stuff that is well designed, helps us live a more sustainable lifestyle, and in a more rewarding fashion.
In the UK composting has had a considerable uptake because of our obsession with gardening, along with government schemes encouraging more homes to compost in order to divert waste, so you might think that an article on composting might seem a bit Brit-centric. However, when I typed in my search criteria, scrolling past all the typical formats, I discovered an unlikely composting ally in Southern India: that’s right, it’s all the rage in Hyderabad. And I think Hyderabadis do it better. Look at this:

Khamba – stackable terracota compost bins

Okay, so they might not be to everyone’s taste, but as gardens are increasingly a considered part of the home in design terms, it certainly makes you think differently about the notion of a what a compost bin should be. It doesn’t have to be morbid statement of dark plastic looming in the garden that literally chews up waste; instead, something that feels a bit more in keeping with a natural environment, whilst delivering great functionality in its everyday context. Also available unpainted:

Check out Hyderabad Goes Green for more interesting ideas.

This installation for the Hermès store at Hong Kong International airport was created by French artists Zim&Zou, who are famous for their intricate, colourful sculptures. Using leather off cuts from the Hermès workshops, they have built wonderfully detailed jungle animals to sit alongside scarves, ties and jewellery as part of The Eternal Jungle. We featured Zim&Zou’s paper objects on a previous Friday Favourites, so I was a bit excited to discover this new project on If It’s Hip, It’s Here.

Thanks to Chris A for sharing Your Logo Is Not Hardcore – a great Tumblr idea which points out how many samey X-based logos there are around. It’s astounding that there are enough examples to fill several pages, showing the same brand identity style for niche clothing brands, bars and restaurants, craft beers, artisan food brands and much more. It seems it’s a case of if in doubt, put some stuff in the gaps around an X shape, shove it in a roundel and you’re done. Just STOP IT everyone.
You can follow Your Logo Is Not Hardcore @LO_X_GO

Thanks to Holly for finding this: “Objects of Use is a shop in Oxford full of beautifully crafted objects from around the world – everything from sponges to pencil sharpeners – beautifully curated and really inspiring! They now have an online shop – perfect for pressie-buying but also lovely photography too…”

If you’re a bit of a type geek, you’ll love this wonderful little animation by Ben Barrett-Forrest. It tells the history of type, using simple paper cutouts to tell the story of how various fonts came about and the impact of computers on lettering. Found by Iona on the Good.is blog.

Thanks to Dan P for finding this beautiful work by Alessandro Lupi. He takes individual strands of thread, paints them with fluorescent paint, then arranges them, back-lit,  to create ethereal, ghost-like figures floating in space. Found via Beautiful Decay.

Thanks to Daniel for finding the work of Jonty Hurwitz who created a series of anamorphic sculptures that cleverly reveal themselves when positioned next to a reflective cylinder. He describes himself as an ‘artist scientist archetype’, but he has also been described as a ‘mathematical sculptor’ as he uses algorithms to create interesting forms and visual interpretations of ideas. Check out his website for more of his work. He has a varied work history; apart from his sculpture work he is of the founder of both Wonga.com and the Separated Child Foundation. Found via Ignant.

Dave H spotted this latest Bompas and Parr project via an email from our friends at research company The Big Picture. To celebrate the launch of five new flavours of Heinz Baked Beans, Bompas and Parr have invented a  musical spoon that you listen to through your mouth, which comes with a different type of bowl to match each flavour. Each spoon has a tiny MP3 player inside it, which is inaudible to anyone else but the person using it. On biting down on the spoon (which thankfully is plastic, not metal) the taster hears music which fits the flavour of the beans.

For the cheese flavour, the bowl is made from yellow cast wax shaped like a traditional wheel of cheese, and the spoon plays a tune inspired by Elgin played with a cheese wire. The garlic and herb flavoured beans have a bowl shaped like a bulb of garlic which is made up of layers of laser cut paper, to replicate the nature of garlic skin. In the spoon users can hear the sound of garlic skins being rustled and tins being knocked together.

For the fiery Chilli beans, the bowl is made from spiky layers of wood and metal, with the spoon’s soundtrack playing high frequency sounds to replicate the sharp kick of the chilli. The bowl for the Curry beans is inspired by the shape of piles of spices, the spoon playing bhangra inspired music created from tins filled with various spices and seeds.

The Barbecue beans bowl is made of charred limestone to give a scent of smokiness, accompanied by a spoon that plays the blues and sizzling sounds. Genius. The Heinz Beanz Flavour Experience is available in limited numbers from Fortnum and Mason in London. It featured on many blogs this week, including Dezeen. Check out the video below to hear Bompas and Barr describe the project in more detail.

Thanks to Dan P for finding a couple of great examples of posters showing graphic depictions of quotes. Ryan McArthur has has taken punchy quotes from famous names including Oscar Wilde, Thomas Edison and Victor Hugo and created a witty graphic treatment for each one. Found via Shortlist, and you can buy the posters here on Etsy.

These typographic artworks by Pete Ware feature characters and quotes from famous films. Some of them are more legible than others; they seem to work best when they are simple and colourful and you can recognise the film or character. Found via several blogs including HiConsumption. Again, you can buy them on Etsy.

Beertone is a colour guide for beers in Switzerland, created by Alexander Michelbach and Daniel Eugster. Taking inspiration from Pantone books and including Pantone colour references for each beer, the chart is designed for beer enthusiasts, with each card detailing the brewery, alcohol percentage, taste, location of the origin and more. The project has been successfully funded by Kickstarter, and the guides and gift sets are now available to buy. Found via If It’s Hip, It’s Here.

I loved these embroidered images created from sections of the New York Times by Lauren DiCioccio. Laurent’s work explores the notion of everyday mass-produced objects (such as newspapers) being at risk of becoming obsolete, using painstaking handiwork to preserve them. Thanks to Dan P for finding these via Beautiful Decay: “I particularly like the way they’re sort of half finished, and they look like they’re caught in the middle between unravelling and appearing out of the mist.”

Thanks to Chris for sharing Pete Fecteau‘s portrait of Martin Luther King, which uses over 4000 Rubik’s Cubes carefully rearranged to create a mosaic effect. He has built several other portraits of famous people in the same way, including Einstein and Lincoln among others. Found via MAKE.

I loved this sound installation by Studio Weave, it’s such an innovative use of an ordinarily dull space. The ‘Lullaby Factory’ is a network of musical pipework within an enclosed space between London’s Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and the building next door. Inspired by the exterior pipework, the industrial tubes have been enhanced by decorative horns and vessels that create ‘listening pipes’, which pump out a soundtrack of lullabies created by sound artist Jessica Curry. Some of the taps and gauges used were recycled from a decommissioned hospital boiler house.
In case you hadn’t seen their work before, Studio Weave have created some lovely sound installation work in the past, including The Hear Heres - a series of trumpets which amplify the sounds of the countryside. Found via Dezeen.

Thanks to Robin for sharing this, found via Colossal: “Everybody loves a good sunset pic (right?). These ones come with added technical brilliance and artistic flare. Matt Molloy has devised a way of stacking photos – up to 500 frames for one image – in Photoshop in order to create incredible skyscapes straight out of an impressionist’s dream.”

Russian street artist Sy makes stunning murals that are clearly inspired by 8-bit graphics and 80s video game art. The blocky  panels of colour and light make them appear as if they could be brought to life in 3D using either LEGO or card.  Sy’s work has been knocking about a few blogs over the past couple of weeks, but I first saw it on Beautiful Decay. See more on his Flickr stream.

The winner of the Cool Graphic Designer Dad award must go to David LaFerreira. To make his kids’ lunchtimes at school more fun, he decided to draw a different illustration on their sandwich bags every day using Sharpies. He’s been doing it since 2008, so has built up quite a collection of illustrations, so the challenge is to find a new idea every day that can be drawn quickly and confidently. Thanks to Becky for sharing this, which was on a few different blogs this week, including Buzzfeed.

Finally, this inspired cover for Boston Magazine caught more than a few eyes within DB this week. Design director Brian Struble used running shoes from the Boston Marathon runners to create a striking image. Found via Explore.

We were excited to hear that two of our projects have been shortlisted for New York Festivals International Advertising awards this week. Our identity and retail branding work on Dress2Kill was shortlisted in the Design competition, as well as our 25th Anniversary book, 25 Stories. The final round of judging will take place this week involving thirty of the world’s most respected creative directors on the jury. Results are announced on 2nd May, so fingers crossed!

Our work on bespoke tailoring brand Dress2Kill covers everything from brand identity to in store branding, copywriting and tone of voice, art directed photography, as well as press and billboard ads featuring rugby player Chris Robshaw. Check out the full case study here. 

25 Stories is a coffee table book we created to celebrate Design Bridge’s 25th anniversary, to capture who we are and share ideas, anecdotes and stories that have made us the company we are today. Given just to DB employees and clients, it’s not available to buy, but if you’re passing any of our three offices you can browse through the copies in reception.

Claire Parker, Creative Director at our Amsterdam office, is part of the ‘corporate design panel’ of Marketing Tribune magazine, so every month she will judge a corporate design, together with Tom Dorresteijn from Studio Dumbar and Stefan Pangratz from VBAT. This time the design panel was asked to judge the corporate identity of the recently started online fashion store: Bulls and Birds  designed by Pirate.

Bulls&Birds is an online fashion store with lifestyle shopping aspirations initially for the Dutch market. With Bulls&Birds you can buy a complete outfit: from clothing, shoes to accessories. Bulls&Birds loves fashion, comfort, quality and affordability. Target Group: Men and Woman 20-45 years. Here’s an inspirational introduction video and here’s the full translated article:

With so many different cultures at our Amsterdam office (Dutch, Italian, Hungarian, Venezuelan, Spanish, British, French, German, Irish, New Zealand, Swedish and Greek) you always learn something new from others and it’s nice to exchange information about your home country or exchange travel tips. We’ve had a German lunch, a true French Epiphany cake, we celebrated Saint Lucia (Scandinavian) and this time the Brits -24 amongst us!- wanted to celebrate all things great (and not-so-great) in true British fashion. Robin White, one of our (British) designers, explains:

Beige. That’s what makes a true British platter isn’t it?

Longing for the comforts of home, some of the more anglo-orientated members of the Amsterdam studio decided it was time to have a good old Blighty themed knees-up. Festooning the studio with great British delicacies and decor, Design Bridge Amsterdam was set up for an evening of thoroughly British capers and a slap-up meal.

Afternoon tea was served at the civilised hour of 4pm, accompanied by an excellent range of biscuits (not cookies). Chocolate digestives, HobNobs, custard creams and Jaffa Cakes all featured. With the primary ingredients in place – jollity ensued. The mid afternoon break did everyone a great deal of good. Spirit and morale lifted, quaint phrases and guffawing could be heard drifting through the building.

Later the festivities continued into the evening with a full spectrum of beige providing something of a cultural melting pot for the Dutch and English. While there are many differences between these great nations, the desire for quality carbs is a common pursuit. Much appreciation was shown for the sausage rolls, the cucumber sandwiches, pork pies, scotch eggs and of course the crisp sandwiches (come on – you lav it don’tcha?!). Dessert was of a similarly high standard; further biscuit consumption accompanying strawberries with whipped cream and an outstanding home made lemon meringue pie (Sam Wilkes – you legend).

Social étiquette starting to dwindle and refreshment required to balance the posh nosh, we sampled the Pimms, Newcy Brown and the Guinness. Inevitably the mood shifted from ‘high tea on the village green’ to something resembling the Royle family on a lazy Sunday. So what better way to round it all off than to slump on the sofas with a nice bit of telly?

All in all, the evening was a triumph, bringing all nationalities together to enjoy some of the smaller things that make Britain great.

Nathan Sawaya, aka The Brick Artist has teamed up with photographer Dean West to create these hyper realistic scenes, which feature props made of thousands of LEGO bricks. The In Pieces project was on show recently at the Avant Gallery in New York. Earlier this year some of the team in our Singapore office visited his work at Art of the Brick, currently on at the Marina Sands Bay Hotel, which is continuing a tour of Asia and the US this year. Can it come to the UK please? Found via So Bad So Good.

We’ve featured quite a few nice creative ideas that have used Google Maps, Street View or Google Earth in previous Friday Favourites and here’s another interesting example. Postcards From Google Earth is a project by Clement Valla, an artist and designer whose work explores computer systems and digital technologies. He has collected ‘anomalies’ from Google Earth, which at first look like images that have been somehow digitally corrupted, but they are in fact created from the natural effect of the visual records for Google Earth being updated from a variety of sources over time. I love the way the roads appear to have developed a melted, almost liquid quality. More details on Twisted Sifter. Thanks to James for finding this one.

This reminded me of something else I found this week on a similar theme, via Creative Applications. Glitché is a new iPhone app created by Vladimir Schreider that deliberately corrupts your photographs to create some rather nice (if sometimes migraine-inducing) effects. Here are just a few examples but you can see more here.

Thanks to Paul M for sharing these simple graphic posters of deconstructed famous packaging, which are for sale in order to raise money for Storehouse and Dundee Foodbank, two food charities in Scotland. These were found via MakeMatter, a great fundraising idea from Ed Watt, Creative Director of O Street and contributor to FormFiftyFive. He ‘matches creative projects with worthwhile causes’ and invites creatives to submit projects and ideas that can be brought to life and sold, with all profits going to charity.

These long exposure photographs of wakeboarders at night are from a project called Motion to Light, by light painter Patrick Rochon. Created in collaboration with Snap! Orlando and a bunch of famous wakeboarders whose boards were fitted with lights, the project was for the Red Bull Illume photography competition. I preferred the stills to the film, but it’s worth a watch. Thanks to Gav for sharing this, via HypeBeast and also on FastCompany.

As you may have noticed from previous blog posts, we do like a bit of lettering and signage here at DB. With previous visits to vintage signage specialist Glyphics, and the neon fest that is God’s Own Junkyard, it was time to check out some big brand signage made from scratch.

This week the 3D team had the pleasure of visiting John Anthony Signs in Essex, who create beautifully crafted signage for famous brands such as Harrods, Louis Vuitton and Ferrari. We were welcomed by Jamie and David, who very kindly answered all our questions and gave us a tour of their very capable facility. Besides the usual machinery and work benches you’d expect to see in a factory, the place was full of interesting letter off cuts, colourful vinyls and beautiful bits of 3D type waiting to become a sign.

I guess the main point I’m making, is that when most of us walk down the high street, we don’t realise how much tender love and craft is put into creating shop signs, and how much expertise is necessary to create one of high quality. Of course there are signs and there are SIGNS.

John Anthony Signs are responsible for all the Starbucks signs across the UK and Ireland and also created the stunning high end Louis Vuitton sign seen at the flagship store in London’s New Bond Street.

So we came back pretty impressed and inspired. One of the most interesting things was their study on LEDs. They created an LED wall (below), a simple, yet effective way to communicate how there are tons of manufacturers out there who claim they produce ‘white’ LEDs and how very different they look in reality; ‘white’ appearing in a multitude of shades. The box on the far left of the image looked orange, so it can be deceitful. Proper white LEDs are more expensive and large quantities are used even in a single sign, so using cheaper ones can have implications for brand colours.

These guys do not sacrifice on the quality of the end product. They are exceptional at creating bespoke signage no matter the size or the requirements and that is probably what we like most: they are willing to push the boundaries and find new and innovative ways to make things happen… a philosophy close to our hearts.

Gunilla Klingberg is a Swedish artist whose work often features elaborate pattern, using familiar symbols. Her Wheel of Everyday Life installation was recently on show at the Rice Gallery in Houston, Texas, featuring brand logos joined together to create a mandala, a spiritual symbol used in a number of religions. The work explores themes around consumerism and spirituality. She has created several installations of this type in various different cities, each one containing brands that the visitor in that country would be familiar with. Check out the video below where she explains the inspiration behind the work.  Found via Lost at E Minor.

We’re a bit excited about the reopening of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and were pleased to find these dairy packaging designs launched by Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn. The limited edition packaging shows 18 different famous artworks from the museum from Van Gogh to Dick Bruna. The design is by Irma Boom, creators of the new Rijksmuseum identity, in collaboration with Skip Intro. Found by Marguerite, via Design Week.

Thanks to James L for sharing the Google Street View Hyperlapse tool from Teehan+Lax Labs. You need Google Chrome and a superfast connection to get the full effect, but the video below gives you the idea of what it does. Basically they’ve created a tool using source data from Google Street View, where you can map a short route, pretty much anywhere in the world, and get a time lapse video of the journey. It’s amazing. You can also take pre-set journeys across Yosemite National Park, or the Florida Keys, for example. It’s appeared on a few blogs this week including Colossal. Here are a few screengrabs of my journey down London’s Embankment.

Or you can pop over to Yosemite National Park..

Malaysian Artist Hong Yi recently created these stunning illustrations by playing with her food. She built one almost every day for a month, with the parameters being simply to have a white plate as a backdrop, and the images to be made entirely from edible ingredients. Found by Tjeerd, via Colossal.

Thanks to Audrey T for sharing these mugshots from the 1920s, which were found in an archive from Australia’s Historic Houses Trust. Although they are pictures purely for the purpose of recording criminals, they  have a certain sartorial appeal to them, resembling the style of a fashion shoot. Found via Core77, originally from Twisted Sifter.

We were excited to find out that our limited edition Halloween design for Lyle’s Black Treacle, a.k.a Trick or Treacle, has been shortlisted for a Design Week Award.

After the success of our Queen’s Jubilee limited edition for Tate & Lyle at last year’s Pentawards, and a Design Effectiveness Award for To Have and To Hold, we’re keeping everything crossed that we can bag another award for this latest limited edition work for Tate & Lyle.

In case you missed our blog about the Trick or Treacle project when it came out in the autumn, it was one of those enviable projects that everyone was keen to work on, so the project was run in a slightly different way within the studio. The limited edition design has since become a bit of an in-house favourite, scoring the highest in our internal Dog’s Bollocks Awards at the end of last year.

Results will be announced at the Design Week Awards ceremony in London on 4th June. Fingers crossed!

All you Letterpress lovers out there will appreciate The Beauty of Letterpress – a new site launched by paper company Neenah Paper. Apart from being a fantastic source of inspiration, with details from project work by notable designers and letterpress printers, they are also campaigning to save the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in the US. Every month the gallery is curated by a different designer, the first one being from Jennifer James of Two Paper Dolls. The project for The Rabbit Hole Ideation Cafe (shown above) is particularly good. Check out more details on If It’s Hip, It’s Here.

Thanks to Dan P for sharing the Penguin Underground Lines book set: ”I think it’s interesting that the underground is so iconic that almost makes it too difficult to do tie ins that don’t seem cheesy and opportunistic. Perhaps it’s because the nature of the lines taking different routes through London, through different clusters of different types of people, and being different ages etc. makes them seem quite different in character – and because they’re about travel they lend themselves well to stories. Whatever, I think it’s a nice idea; simple and classic visual treatment and I want it on my shelf!”

Still on the book cover theme, James K shared this great work by Christophe Gowans, where he has taken best-selling songs and albums re-imagined them as book covers. Check out more of his work for magazines, projects and also his bubble bath decapitations here.

Thanks to Robin for sharing the innovative stop-motion work of Wriggles and Robins: “This film promoting life drawing classes at The Book Club in London is a lovely twist (watch the video and then excuse the pun) on an ancient medium that’s resulted in a sweet little piece of advertising. The energy and speed of the animation captures the spirit of life drawing, often seen as a dull and lifeless activity. Anyone who’s taken a life drawing class will remember the pressure to release your creative flow as you practise on the 30 second, or 1 and 2 minute drawings. It’s this delicate intensity that’s successfully conveyed in the ad. I defy anyone not to be inspired to pick up the charcoal after watching this. Found via Colossal.

Wriggles and Robins also produced another fantastic film for Valentines day (a little late bringing it to attention I know but better late than never). This time employing stop motion as a means to an end, the final product being a piece of live action film. I think there’s something really special about the imagery here. Similar to watching a fire where you just can’t take your eyes away; the constant and rapid change of the breath brings passion to the classical type and icons. The air that we breath is also something we can all relate too.” Found via wrigglesandrobins.com

Thanks to Grace A for sharing the work of her brother Max, whose video was recently a Staff Pick on Vimeo (yay!). Max Italiaander/ MaxMana’s music video for Dutch electronic musician Mike Luck shows an ambient drive through a surreal crystal desert landscape in hot wheels, with tons of reflection. Make sure you watch it full screen as the window it’s in here really doesn’t do it justice..

Claire Parker, Creative Director at our Amsterdam office, is part of the ‘corporate design panel’ of Marketing Tribune magazine, so every month she will judge a corporate design, together with Tom Dorresteijn from Studio Dumbar and Stefan Pangratz from VBAT. This time the design panel was asked to judge the corporate identity of a.s.r., designed by  John Doe. a.s.r. is an insurer that wants to raise people’s financial awareness, enter into a dialogue with customers, and seeks to truly understand its customers: “We want to translate this understanding into transparent products, services and communication so that customers are able to make their own conscious choices.”

Here’s the full translated article:

ASR is now a.s.r. The insurer wants to help people. An example of their helping hand is that a.s.r. offered their sponsorship space of Feyenoord to Rotterdam zoo Diergaarde Blijdorp. The new style, developed by John Doe and asr itself, is daring: a letter logo. Marketing Director Bob Stehmann: “With this new logo you know exactly what a.s.r. is and does. ‘The black and white should project austerity and solidity, the lowercase projects our modesty.”

I love this work by Nadine Boughton, where she has taken images from vintage furniture catalogues, and interrupted the tranquility of the idealistic home setting by adding scenes of peril from adventure stories of the same era. They just work so well and they really made me smile. Found via So Bad So Good.

Thanks to Jade for sharing the Whisky Tornado from Bompas and Parr: “I am a huge fan of these guys. They create some truly experiential foodie treats – from the London skyline created in jelly to the gin and tonic room and the pop up boating lake and golf course on top of Selfridges (where your score card smelt like a Bakewell tart). The Whisky Tornado is a machine that creates a spinning vapour which you can inhale, and is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream. The tornado effect is created by humidifiers that react with negative air pressure. The installation comments on the diverse weather conditions in the Scottish Highlands, which apparently enriches the flavour of Scotch whisky.”  The project is part of Feed Your Mind: The King’s Festival of Food and Ideas, currently running at King’s College London. Found via the Bompas and Parr newsletter, Design Week and also the Stylesight blog.

Shin Okada has created this rather lovely minimalist design for a humidifier, made out of thin, curved sheets of Japanese cypress (hinoki). Called the Mast Humidifier, the water is absorbed from the ‘hull’ and diffused into the air through the ‘mast’, which gives off a naturally refreshing scent. Thanks to Nicolle for sharing this one, which was found via Design You Trust.

Our Head of Copy, Holly shared this campaign for Frozen Dutch ice cream, found via It’s Nice That:

“A lovely approach to both art direction and copy – Art director Mr. Boonstra commissioned photographer Wyne Veen to capture Frozen Dutch’s nine new flavours and then asked writer Zack McDonald to create some short stories based around how they tasted. It’s a great campaign idea and something I’ve noticed a lot in the frozen yogurt category, with brands like SNOG creating a really ownable brand tone of voice in every touchpoint.”

Thanks to Thibault who shared this neat colour picking tool, ColourCo.de. The user interface is lovely – you can move your mouse from corner to corner across the main screen to go through the spectrum of colours, and it gives you the relevant number values and conversions for hex, rgb and hsl. Or you can scroll top to bottom to see darker and lighter versions of them. It also allows you to pick swatches of colours, rearrange them and see selections of colour schemes and choose complimentary colours in various formats too. Still images don’t do it justice (nor does my description) so play around with it here.

I’m a fan of meat. I always have been and always will be. Being a member of a group called M.E.A.T. – Men Eating Animals Together – it’s often the case that we try to out do one another by adding flesh to our meat credentials, so to speak. So when I was offered the chance to attend an evening of butchery, meat eating and wine drinking at London’s premium butcher’s shop, The Ginger Pig, I jumped in feet first.

As you have probably heard, the consumption of meat and meat trading standards are currently a big topic of conversation in the UK. The horse meat scandal, involving top UK supermarkets and large European corporate food groups has tested consumer trust in all food industries in the past weeks. A report from the Guardian claims 6 in 10 consumers have changed their shopping habits as a result, with 30% now buying less processed meat. Confidence in food safety and quality has taken a big hit and at times like these authentic local butchers, fishmongers and grocers can take advantage and look to regain loyalty from concerned shoppers. I thought I’d reflect on how one butcher shop is clearly working hard to sell not only quality meat but great brand experiences, and how their approach is making a name for itself.

The class took place on the shop floor, alongside an abundance of fresh meat, cooked deli-style produce and home made condiments. Huddled around a butcher’s block we learnt about the brand, the breeds and the farms, and how long the meat had been aged. The butchers at Ginger Pig are real butchers, and you can sense a real passion for their work. They gave us tips on how to ask for the best meat, but referenced our local butchers – suggesting true support for the butcher community, not just The Ginger Pigs.

You can choose to butcher, pig, lamb or beef, or attend a sausage making class. I chose the largest of the herd. Beef! We studied the anatomy comprehensively, and got stuck into butchering our own cuts of meat. Once we had fully dissected our carcass, we had to put it all back together. It was like a scene from Crystal Maze, only none of us cared if we got locked in.

We were given our own hefty joints to take home and stood around the cutting block chatting to the butchers, drinking wine and eating meat they had been preparing over the course of the evening. It was a great experience and felt like amazing value for money – I bagged a £70 cut of beef, leaving full of great food and certainly well oiled.

And this got me thinking. This is just a butcher shop, right? I’d heard of The Ginger Pig before, and had seen it’s beautiful calligraphic logo around, but now I know them intimately. I’ve stood behind the counter weighing my own meat and wrapping it in the infamous greaseproof paper. I know the butchers, their sources, and I know what to ask for with confidence. I own their book and now cook their recipes. To see a Ginger Pig carrier bag in the street, it’s hard not to wonder what that customer bought and what they’ll make of it. I’m hooked.

Fresh meat is a hard thing to brand. Granted, The Ginger Pig is not in the supermarket and they never will be, as it’s the very opposite of what they stand for. On the contrary, the brand is working hard enough on an emotional level to pull people out of the supermarket and into their local butcher’s shop. Soon, supermarkets won’t be able to hide their long face. (sorry, couldn’t resist).

It seems everything the brand is doing is right; great design, authentic and passionate ambassadors, quality produce and delivering a truly engaging experience. For meat lovers everywhere, this one is for you!

The video for French musicians Cauboyz’ latest song uses kinetic typography, incorporating some rather lovely type in the process. However, I found that the making of the video for Husbands was almost more interesting than the film itself. Cauboyz built individual light boxes which held each laser-cut or hand-cut word or phrase. These were wired up to labeled switches, which are then ‘played’ to activate the song lyrics. I think it works quite well as an installation anyway, so even the music’s not up your street, it’s compelling to watch how the video all fits together. Found via Creative Bloq.

Thanks to Jade for sharing Noisy Jelly, a game created by students Marianne Cauvard and Raphaël Pluvinage. First, you make your own jelly ‘instruments’ which are then placed on an electronic board. Using Arduino and Max/MSP, sound is then generated by the players ‘playing’ the jelly, which makes different noises depending on the shape and salt content of the jellies. I was a bit overexcited about this idea. It really makes you want to have a go at it, so I think would definitely buy this if it were on the market. More information about how it works in their press pack.

I stumbled across the work of Estonian artist Eiko Ojala this week, whilst on a mission to find some examples of paper cut works (a bit of a personal favourite of mine on Friday Faves). I was amazed to find out these are actually created digitally, without using 3D software but still hand drawn, to make them look as if they are made from paper. I think I’d still like to see a real life paper cut version, but they’re pretty impressive nevertheless.  Check out more of his illustration work on his website. Found via Colossal.

Thanks to Dan for finding these – as he describes them – ‘beautiful, if slightly disturbing’ photographs of hitchhikers and travellers by Mike Brodie. In 2004 Mike travelled with a group of carefree, un-showered young hipsters and photographed them as they roughed it together across America. In spite of the success of these pictures which have appeared in a number of exhibitions and even won a Baum award for emerging photographers, he hasn’t made any more work since. After four intense years making photographs, Mike recently graduated from the Nashville Auto Diesel College and is now working as a mobile diesel mechanic. Found via It’s Nice That.

Neon has fascinated me for a while now. It’s the ultimate human bug zapper, drawing drunken revelers to dirty kebabs as easily as tempting fashionistas to ridiculously priced shoes. It has seen something of a resurgence with notable artists taking up the cause and bending glass to make bold statements with this craft, which believe it or not, dates back to the 1800s.

Chris Bracey, founder of God’s Own Junkyard, has been producing iconic neon art works from his studio in the back end of Walthamstow for more than 30 years, working with artists such as David LaChapelle and Martin Creed. He recently popped up a shop in Soho where I was so amazed by his witty and oh-so-colourful creations that I had to find out more.

Spotting Chris’ treasure trove of knackered signs, ageing metal and countless letters from the Overground train, I took that as a sign from above to make an appointment at the junkyard to meet the ‘Neon Man’ and get a bit of inspiration out of the office.

Chris and his lovely wife made us feel very welcome from the start, letting us wander about for as long as we wanted, wide eyed at the huge collection of salvaged signs, bespoke neon and found objects.

Chris is surprisingly down to earth when discussing his trade, which he learnt from his father, a fairground sign maker in the early 1950s. This is at odds with the work he has done with Hollywood to create movie props for blockbuster films; in fact he became much more excited talking about a fun project where he turned a shed into a religious neon shrine, than discussing requests of directors or stars.

The yard is a sleeping Aladdin’s cave. You can feel the bulbs and neon just waiting to be switched on to reveal that warm and welcoming glow that should be overpowering, but is in fact surprisingly calming.

It is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon, for a junkyard it is a place of second chances and rebirth for old metal that has found a new home.
Chris describes it best: “Neon is only happy when it’s on, when it’s alive.” – I have to agree.

God’s Own Junkyard is on Vallentin Road, Walthamstow, London, and is open to the public by appointment. I would definitely recommend a visit.

At The Bar is a series of inspirational talks curated and hosted by us here at Design Bridge, Amsterdam. The common thread with our guests is simple; they have a passion in life and a story to tell. Most recently Matthew Murray was invited to talk about his work. Matthew has worked as a commercial photographer on a number of commissions for major advertising agencies and for a diverse range of clients. This commercial work is paralleled by an ongoing flow of personal projects that Murray gleans from his everyday visual experiences and his extensive travels.

By Matthew Murray

Starting off the evening, Matthew gave us an insight into his influences that ranged from classic album covers to promotional films of Birmingham from the 70’s, narrated no less, by ‘Kojak’ star Telly Savalas. Matthew found photography at a young age and like many with their first camera, he chose his immediate surroundings for his subject matter. Unlike many, Matthew was able to observe something different in the everyday. He went on to develop a style that mixes the ordinary with the bizarre. From the expressions of Birmingham city centre shoppers to a dog on a surf board.

Situations that are usually only witnessed in passing are turned into observations a viewer can feel are their own. His photographs present people in a frank and honest manner that allow us to make a connection with the subject. Often witty and forcing a smile out of us the humour belies a lot of the effort that goes into his work. Matthew is constantly researching new locations, obscure landmarks and holiday destinations from a different age to find the perfect image.

'Murray's World: Benidorm Man, Spain' by Matthew Murray

More recently Matthew released a series of images that moved from documentary photography to the studio. Maintaining the refreshing honesty Matthew chose to shoot clubbers at a ska club in Northern England. The result is a series of intimate and eye-catching portraits that bring us face to face with a more unusual outfit within society.

'Ska: Jack, 2012' by Matthew Murray

This At The Bar was a highly engaging one, the familiarity of the scenes striking a chord with many in the audience. Matthews work is highly memorable and had us thinking about our own photographic experiences and cultural backgrounds.

'Ipanema Beach, Rio, Brazil' by Matthew Murray

Find more of Matthew’s work here:
http://matthewmurray.co.uk/
http://www.galleryvassie.com/matthew_murray

Brand identity/logo designer Dan Fleming has combined typography design and illustration to create these cute animal characters from the letters of the animal’s name. I love the puzzle-like quality about them, and the fact they’re based on quite a simple idea but cleverly injected with personality. Found via My Modern Met.

Thanks to Dan P for finding these Flight Tag Prints by Neil Stevens: “I love it when someone sees art in the everyday; making a connection that no-one else has and finding a new angle in something old. These are a great example how a simple graphic treatment and a change of format has lead to something entirely new and visually inspiring.” Found via Shortlist.

Thanks to Robin, who found this great film via Colossal: “Indulge for 5 minutes. This hypnotic piece of film by Michael Langan reminds me of the photographic work by Eadweard Muybridge from over a century ago. It’s an excellent update on the study of movement in the human body overlaying 32 sequential instances of a single film. But the fluid motions of the dancer and music and high production values turn this study into a cinematic feast for the viewer. Headphones advisable.”

These have been popular across quite a few blogs this week, but worth sharing again nevertheless. David Schwen has made these rather satisfying Pantone Pairings which use food pairs rather than complimentary colours. Soon available to buy as prints. Thanks to Nicolle for finding these via Design Boom and also on Beautiful Decay.

Can’t decide whether to wear flats or heels? Marguerite found these pretty sweet sneaker designs from BE&D where you can (kind of) wear both. The revolver and skeleton designs are also rather good.

This is a lovely concept by designer Tamara Mihajlovic, whose idea for a honey brand called BEEloved was found by Nicolle, on Behance. Read more about the idea behind the identity and how it would work across the touchpoints here.

Yesterday I went along to the EcoBuild exhibition at London’s ExCel, and was inspired by a sustainable architect stalwart, Bill Dunster. His Zed brand and ZedFactory practice has been expanding over the years and it was really inspiring to see. I went to listen to one of Bill’s talks on sustainable design and architecture and the crux of his overall message was this: No coercion, no ethical drum-beating, just great design propositions that rethink the drive for sustainability and simply promote design for better living. Appealing because they solve people’s problems; not just because it’s the right thing to do.

Later, as people milled around the Zedfactory partners stand, there was a genuine air of curiosity and excitement about the range of solutions on offer – from homes, to utilities, communities and public transport: accessible homes that mean no utility bills; solar roofs which double as light and airy loft living spaces; bikes that require half the pedal power.

The exhibition stand stood out from the crowd not just because of how interactive it was (it pretty much had its own velodrome!), but because of Zedfactory’s attitude to sustainability. It was not compliance-led, it was about seizing opportunity and finding benefit-led propositions, that drive mass trade and consumers alike to get involved in the sustainability movement on their own terms – by being inspired by great design.

Strategist Chris Allan recommended the work of his photographer friend Will Knott:

“My friend Will Knott lives in Seoul, South Korea and has been a photographer for 3 years. He manages to capture mood and movement, natural expressions and detailed textures – all amounting to a lot of drama in a still image. Impressive stuff. But I’m biased!”

Taken on Otres Beach in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

Taken in Sokcho, South Korea. Hiking Seorak mountain allows for impressive views of the surrounding valleys rich in autumnal colour.

Taken in Roscommon, Ireland (click to enlarge).

Taken in Kyoto, Japan. A Geisha looks into the lens whilst walking around Kyoto dressed in all her finest.

Client Business Director Emma Tranter and her husband developed two children’s apps, which are interactive stories about the lifecycle of different animals. So far there are two stories, about Franklin Frog and Parker Penguin. Emma said: “The first reached number 2 in the UK book chart and is currently featured in a Sunday Times feature about the top 500 apps in the world. It was shortlisted for a prize and won a Kirkus star. The week it launched, it was in the Guardian top 10 apps of the week as well as USA Today’s equivalent. Apple gave it the much coveted top spot in the App Store – first position in the New and Noteworthy section of the homepage. It has been reviewed on TV in Texas and, having been translated into several languages, is being used by teachers in classrooms around the world.”

Iona MacDonald, Client Director in London suggested her good friend Lily Smith:

Lily Smith is a writer and director of music videos and short films, living in London. Lily described her background and inspiration behind her work: “I’ve worked as a director’s rep for some incredible music video directors at the production companies Colonel Blimp and Skin Flicks, and I’ve been directing my own music videos and shorts for about 4 years now. I have an MA in Independent Film, Video and New Screen Media which means I’ve made some video art that I hope never sees the light of day, and my favourite music video directors are Hype Williams, Dougal Wilson, Saam and Alex & Liane. I’m inspired by foreign sweetie wrappers, Brutalist architecture and the music of Prince. I really, really love Prince. It’s probably a bit weird but his music and his persona are both fascinating to me, and occasionally I even like to dress up like him..”

Check out  more of Lily’s work on Vimeo, or follow her on Twitter @thatlilysmith.
Of Lily’s work on Vimeo, I’ve chosen Matthew Herbert ‘Cafe de Flore’ because I love the idea, it made me smile and the styling is stunning:

Designer Ashleigh Lambert recommended her illustrator friend Tane Williams:

“My friend Tane Williams is an awesome illustrator who recently moved over here from NZ. He has a really distinct style and was featured on It’s Nice That a few weeks ago.”

Creative Director Claire Parker suggested we feature her friend Jason Denham, who set up his own denim brand, Denham,  5 years ago.

“As he gets a lot of his denim from Japan he recently got involved with helping the fisherman who suffered during the Tsunami. They also produced a fantastic 5th Anniversary book that is worth a look.”

PR Coordinator Marguerite recommended her photographer friend Rene Bosch:

“Rene Bosch is a good friend of mine and a great photographer, whose #whatsappkisses work I tweeted about recently. Last year he won silver in the mixed media category at the PANL Awards and is hoping to win an ADCN Award (or get a nomination) for his latest work for Bolletje.”

Frederick Marns is a bit of a legend at Design Bridge. We hired him over twenty years ago to do some calligraphy work on a limited edition Christmas Toblerone pack*, and have had the pleasure of working with him on a huge variety of projects ever since. To us, Fred is not a ‘supplier’, he’s a treasured addition to the team, a hugely inspiring person to work with who always produces outstanding results. An expert copperplate calligrapher and illustrator, Fred’s work has featured on many of our award winning projects including Banks 5 Island Rum, Banks The Endeavour, Love 2 Bake, and Plymouth Gin, his illustrations appearing on many of our wines and spirits projects.

I interviewed Fred to find out more about how he got into his field of work and about the projects he has worked on both in and outside of Design Bridge. I was also curious to know if he had any advice for people looking to move into the industry now.

Talking to Fred about what he does, hearing about how he works and seeing some of his intricate illustrations, you get a sense of someone who is incredibly passionate about his craft. In his 63rd year of work, it’s fascinating to talk to someone who has done so much but still has such a humble view of his work.

Apart from a short refresher course at what was then the Bromley College of Art (now Ravensbourne), Fred received no formal training in terms of a University education, and describes himself at school as ‘the worst pupil in all history’, regularly in detention and with a notebook full of ink blots. He explained how, after dozens of detentions and punishments, he was ordered to report to the headmaster’s office every day. At first, he expected to be punished even more. Instead, the headmaster started to teach him, from the first letter of the alphabet, how to write properly in the style of Victorian copy books, which is where he was first introduced to copperplate calligraphy. He said:

“I wasn’t afraid. When you start you’re the worst at it, but you have the benefit of having no bad habits. Because you’re so bad, it’s a perfect way of starting something in the right way. Slowly and surely I got more interested in it every day; the teacher had excellent experience of the perfect line of beauty. We copied from Victorian copy books, it was simply about learning to write and to form those perfect letters.”

He went on to explain how important it was to understand the five senses before you could even begin, as they play such a huge part in calligraphy. Most people find it hard to write with a calligraphy pen at first, so touch is important – your touch to the paper has to be ‘supreme’ or the point will just stick into it. Sound is important – you need to listen to what’s happening at the nib, to know whether your touch is too heavy or too light. He said:

“I realised that if I didn’t do what he said, I’d never do anything worthwhile in life. I’d love to have been able to tell the Headmaster how good I became at it, and how it gave me a living. It’s amazing when you think about it, that he took the trouble to take a bad pupil and turn him into something better. What we all need is encouragement.”

When I asked him about how he works, encouragement, persistence and stamina seemed to be recurring themes throughout the conversations I had with not just Fred himself, but also the people who worked with him. Creative Director Asa Cook has worked with Fred on many of the award winning projects at Design Bridge, and commented:

“Fred is an absolute perfectionist. He is not happy with doing work that is ‘almost right’. This means that he will often put far more time into his work than we have asked of him. If we talk on a Friday about what we might want to do at the next stage of design, we will come in on the Monday to find that Fred has spent the weekend working on it. He loves what he does and it shows.”

He taught some calligraphy classes here in the London office recently, and Dan Parkinson who runs the classes described Fred’s regular pearls of wisdom as the ‘Tao of Fred’ – a kind of philosophy to live by; some of it almost meditative. He describes the simple mixing of gouache in preparation for copperplate writing as ‘an important exercise of stilling the mind, to put yourself in a position of calm, before you start.’ He talks a lot about the notion of detachment in a craft – how if you detach yourself and enable yourself to give the task your attention with the senses, you will have greater clarity and focus.

“Calligraphy is so calming – it’s impossible to do it if you’re wound up or stressed out. I sometimes think that if everyone in the world spend time doing calligraphy, it would be a more peaceful world.”

I asked him about his wonderfully detailed pencil illustrations, which, when viewed close up seem to include every leaf, every wrinkle in the tree bark, every groove in the texture of the wood. He describes how he started drawing:

“I spent a lot of time in Woolworths as a boy buying tracing books and materials. Tracing is how I began to hone efficiency with my hand, and learn fine control. I was never taught how to draw, or taught how to use perspective, but I love drawing now because I learnt by using those tracing books. I became very sharp at following the line of what was underneath, by understanding shapes and how they fit together. Now I look when I look outside and draw real life, it’s like I’m just tracing what’s already there.

It can take me three weeks to do a drawing because I want to make sure I include all the fine details – I don’t believe in chance or shortcuts when it comes to drawing and I think it’s important to represent what’s really there as best as you can.”

I asked him if he had particular advice for designers getting into the industry now:

“Any really fine designer needs to have some connection with drawing and using their hands. It’s very useful for a designer to be able to draw what’s in their mind. You can’t expect every one of them to be able to do that. Lots of people have great ideas but being able to draw makes the complete designer.”

He told me an important lesson he learned about ownership of your work:

“When I was a boy I used to make models and spend hours perfecting them. My mum was very into cleaning, and one day she said that the models were looking dusty so she washed them under the tap, and, well, that was the end of that. I learned that what you do is not yours anyway, it’s for someone else. The better you do something, the better it’s received by someone else. You should never claim something you’ve done as yours, or you can’t give anything away. The doing of something is so important – the making of it is the point of it. If you see something you’ve made as ‘yours’ you’ll stop yourself from moving on. My aim is always to create the most accurate impression of what’s out there (points out the window). You’re always aiming for perfection but it’s the doing of it that counts.”

He has a very modest view of his work and will often say that what he has done could have been better (usually we can’t see what he means, as his work tends to look immaculate). The first book he worked on was to craft the Sonnets of William Shakespeare, and he described the process:

“I started the book and got halfway through and abandoned the job, because I realised that there was no way you could stop improving – so as you go along the book style would change as you became more practised in the writing. So halfway through I started again and in the end got a consistent style. I was never happy with that book though. You can never do anything where you look back and say you couldn’t improve on it. It’s like great painters – they live with the work for a long time before they consider it to be done.”

Fred meeting Peggy Ashcroft at Canada House, for the Sonnets of William Shakespeare book launch

Fred’s handiwork has featured in a huge variety of projects, his first famous one was when he worked on the special typeface for Abram Games‘ Festival of Britain posters.

For 25 consecutive years he was an artist in residence at Art in Action, an event that still goes on today, featuring artists and craftspeople demonstrating all sorts of skills from ceramics to painting, textiles to carving. They usually change the artists in residence every year, but Fred was invited back again and again.

I asked Senior Designer Hayley Barrett what working with Fred has taught her about design, or life in general and she replied:

“Work hard, take your time and always enjoy what you are doing. He’s particularly wise and a joy to listen to, and he’s very modest about his work – just today he bought in his portfolio of his work throughout the years, and we turned the page to an anniversary invite that he had done… “just a small invite” he says… on closer inspection, it was for the Queen! We love having him around the studio. Such an inspiration.”

Hand crafted Golden Wedding Anniversary invitation for the Queen and Prince Philip, by Frederick Marns

On the subject of what it’s like to work with us at Design Bridge, he’s endlessly positive:

“Compared to other places I’ve been to, I’ve noticed that here people really work together, the approach is much more collaborative. You can’t do good design without everybody’s cooperation, otherwise you don’t get the best result. The best companies have a great sense of togetherness, aiming at one thing together rather than working as individuals. Of course we’re all individuals, but if we can combine with other people collecting our brains together it makes an enormous difference.

I can’t say which of the jobs I’ve done with Design Bridge are the most enjoyable as they’re all enjoyable. I make the simplest job as enjoyable as it can be as there’s beauty in everything. I go out into the country, drawing. It’s not just what you look at which is perceived to be beautiful, it’s your intention of what you put into it. The simplest jobs can often be the hardest.”

He told me that his main aim when working with the team here and by teaching the calligraphy classes is to give people using computers a better understanding of what a shape entails. He talks a lot about the Universal Line of Beauty, the most essential teaching of any visual cartouche in lettering. He said:

“The line of beauty is the best thing for anyone to practice.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or an experienced artist, trying to achieve that line of beauty is the best way to start any drawing session. It’s so beautiful and lyrical that it’s almost impossible to achieve it – I’ve been trying for 63 years and I still can’t do it! It’s trying to do it that counts, like many things.

I want to pass on my skills to the next person so that they can become the skilled person for the future. We’re all part of the bigger picture.”

Asa’s view on working with Fred, and what it has taught him about design, summed up Fred’s mission nicely:

“We often use the word ‘crafting’ at Design Bridge, but working with Fred frequently reminds me what it really means and how to do it. Everybody is used to working at a very fast pace and knows that ‘everything is done on computers these days’. It’s easy for our clients to imagine that when we come up with design ideas, they instantly come together on a Mac. But the truth is that a computer is just a tool and that real crafting takes real time and true patience. It’s worth holding up a piece of Fredrick’s work, for ourselves and our clients, and thinking ‘it took three days and a lifetime of practice to get this one word just right.’”

Fred’s view of what he does is simpler than this, and is one I think we’d all like to have about our work:

“I call what I do a hobby. If I didn’t have to earn a living I’d do it for nothing anyway.”

*The first project Fred worked on for Design Bridge.

Charlotte Newbold, one of our Amsterdam office Senior Designers, put forward the work of her friend Sarah Goodreau:

“Sarah Goodreau is a freelance illustrator and designer friend of mine from New York. She moved to live amidst the canals of Amsterdam a couple of years ago.
The characters and stories she creates always bring a smile to mind with their curious charm and dark twist of subtle humour. I love the beautiful muted palettes of colour she works with. She also makes tiny fantastical creatures into fabric sculptures that she sometimes brings to life in animation. Check them out on her website.
In her words, she likes ‘strong coffee and conversations with the moon, bike rides and whiskey sunsets’. She is (in my words) a wonderfully talented lady with endless imagination. She posts new work almost every day.”

One of our Market Analysts, Jim Worlund has been making hand stitched leather wallets and journals for some time now, sold on his Jim Whittle website:

“Growing up in the shadows of Mt Rainier opened the door to the thrills and beauty of nature. My parents were adventurous souls; Yellowstone was an area my father called home in his youth and my mother was a ski patroller for most of her adult life. The appetite I inherited, so the wilderness I explored.

During my own adventures my relationship with nature became a simple and beautiful give and take between myself and the mountain or ocean. The snow and the water. Ultimately settling on a more humble and intimate bond. To celebrate this, I sparingly use classic materials to create simple and humble products. Minimalist designs and quality materials come together to make our daily adventures a success.”

London-based Designer Jon Ferriday mentioned his friend Olivia Franklin, who is a portraiture artist:

“Olivia is a friend that I went to college with, who later went to Oxford Brookes to do Fine Art and now lives in Cape Town. She won lots of awards while at uni for her portraiture and has added to her body of work whilst in South Africa. She now has a gallery she runs alongside a café. She has worked on a couple of animations as well, one of which she had to paint 97 different pictures!”

Check out Olivia’s work on her website, or Like her Facebook page.

Charlotte Robson, from our London Client Servicing team uses photomontages combined with illustration in her work. Check out more on her Tumblr.

“I have a massive interest in architecture and so this becomes a regular subject matter for me. Using mixed media allows me to experiment in a number of textures and layers which is really pertinent with montage work. I love to do photomontages completely by hand using sometimes hundreds of photos, and then pen illustrations from the montages which creates a skewed perception of the buildings that I’m drawing.”

Dan Parkinson, Brand Strategist in our London office has an exhibition on at the moment of his illustrations and paper cut work, at a local 1920s bar/cafe called The Step. Dan often works from photos, but usually tries to capture his image directly in the final medium without rough sketching or outlining. Photos below are courtesy of Richard Whitaker.

“I’ve always enjoyed drawing birds and animals, and find that the strong graphic lines and shapes of bird are often really enhanced by the bold contrast of black and white, whether pen and ink or papercut. I find that sometimes, when roughing an illustration out, I can almost lose the energy of the pose or the character; in trying to get it just right, it can almost get over-drawn. By forcing myself to commit to the paper with permanent marks, it often makes it easier for me to capture its fluidity, to capture a more natural pose.”

Keep your eyes peeled for another Friends of Friday Favourites post in a few weeks’ time..