I could do with some help assessing widths

I could do with some help assessing widths

Please note: This post may be temporary if it messes up the page for a lot of people. A little interactive exercise. It would help me to know which of these arrows you can see in its entirety without it impinging on the sidebars of the blog. If you can see all of all of…

I like the Olympic Logo

I like the Olympic Logo

It seems to be fashionable to be against the Olympic Logo, so I am going to be for it. One reason is that I was once rude about a logo I had seen, and then discovered that the person I was talking to was the person who designed it. I was mortified and have not…

Alan Fletcher at the Design Museum

Alan Fletcher at the Design Museum

Yesterday we went to see the exhibition of Alan Fletcher’s work at the Design Museum in London (This is Alan Fletcher the designer, not Alan Fletcher the Dr Karl Kennedy of ‘Neighbours’). I find Alan Fletcher’s work inspiring and have done for a number of years since being directed to ‘the Art of Looking Sideways‘….

The Rudiments of Wisdom

Here’s a fantastic link for a Saturday: The Rudiments of Wisdom Cartoon Encyclopedia by Tim Hunkin. Tim has undertaken all manner of other wierd and wonderful projects, details of which can be found on his website. Don’t miss the eccentric arcade machines on Southwold pier. Thanks to Russell who has also posted a few links…

Office chair advice

Office chair advice

I have back pain. I am going to take a multi-pronged and many-faceted approach by getting a new office chair and also seeing whether I can think of any other ways to improve matters. At the moment I sit on a wooden chair all day as it hurts my back less than the more conventional…

Flat pack 3D calendars

Flat pack 3D calendars

This morning I received this letter and also a very similar one asking for information about flat pack calendars. When I was young I remember writing off to various people asking for information or samples. There was a ‘beer mat’ collecting craze when I was at primary school and we all used to write to…

Howies takeover

Howies is a company making “Environmentally conscious casual clothing and sportswear designed for bikers, skateboarders and snowboarders“. They’ve recently announced that they are being taken over by Timberland, who make boots and things. Joe (who runs the Freedom Clothing Project who did some of the Greenbelt t-shirts this year among other things) isn’t impressed: Next…

Beverage poetry

Beverage poetry

I was pleased to discover that British Railways are putting poetry on the site of their cups. I particularly enjoyed this beverage-related piece entitled ‘O Coffee, O Tea’. The text in full: O Coffee O Tea O Espresso O Caffe Latte O Macchiatto O Cappuccino O Hot Chocolate Quite beautiful. Moving almost.

Sister Corita Kent

Sister Corita Kent

Admired by Charles and Ray Eames, Buckminster Fuller and Saul Bass, Sister Corita Kent (1918-1986) was one of the most innovative and unusual pop artists of the 1960s, battling the political and religious establishments, revolutionising graphic design and encouraging the creativity of thousands of people – all while living and practicing as a Catholic nun…

Toothbrushes

Toothbrushes

Today I am taking a break from my prolonged and detailed commentary on Anglican goings-on to return to the in-depth analysis which is the bread and butter of this internet column. The subject for today’s essay: toothbrushes. I am aware that many of you now use electric toothbrushes. I still use a manual model for…

Cycle lanes

Tim posted this great site in the comments. It shows monthly examples of poorly designed Cycle lanes, cycle paths and cycle routes. Amusing, but beware, you can waste a bit of time looking at them all. I should know. I have to say I’m not sure whether cycle lanes are a good idea. The roads…

Tube maps

The London Underground map has been beaten into second place in the Great British Design Quest by the Concorde. Oh well. No doubt the London Underground Tube Diary Blog (bit slow without broadband) will have more on this story shortly. Meanwhile London Underground has set its lawyers on UK blogger Geofftech for unauthorised use of…

New logo

New logo

Christian Aid has a new logo. It was designed by Johnson Banks, who, as an aside, have a great website. It uses Flash or something I think so may not work if your computer is old and rubbish. I particularly like the ‘work tree’ section showing projects they have done over the years. You will…

The Great British Design Quest (2)

The Great British Design Quest (which I posted about a while back) is now down to the final 3. The Anglepoise Lamp, the Aston Martin DB5, the British road and motorway signage system, the Catseye, the Dr Martens boot, the Dyson vacuum cleaner, the E-Type Jaguar, the Grand Theft Auto video game, the K2 phone…

The Great British Design Quest

A few of our Wibloggers have been linking to the Great British Design Quest. The top 5 have got to be (in my opinion): The chopper The British road and motorway signage system The Routemaster bus The London Underground map The K2 telephone kiosk It seems I have a tendency to like London-orientated transport-related street…