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PaperCo

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The brief set by Paper Co was to create a new format of desktop calendar which promoted sustainability and diverse use of paper, whilst being able to be sent out by post in a normal envelope.

Because the target audience was printers and designers, who collect large quanities of paper and have huge amounts of scraps, I designed the calendar as a set of stamps which could be attached to scrap pieces of paper meaning that the user can collect together their own calendar using scraps they like. This fits in perfectly with the mapgie tendencies of the target audience and the sustainability aspect of the brief, as the scraps are being reused rather than thrown away.

Furthermore a 1-colour process (blackk and white) is used to make the printing as environmentally friendly as possible and, due to the size of the booklet, the least amount of paper possible is used. The paper is 100% recycled and the calendar would be mailed out with dummies and samples to keep down the carbon footprint.

Whilst this is extremely embarrassing, and I’m not sure I should feature it, I was also interviewed by Media140 whilst showing work at OFFF. You can hear the interview below:

Many thanks to Media140 for the interview and we thoroughly recommend you have a look at their website, a really worthwhile endeavour! (And apologies for sounding as eloquent as a footballer!)

It’s an honour to finish a runner up in this year’s Stereohype Badge Competition as the quality of the entries was very high. To see my entry along with other runner ups and, of course, the winning entries please visit: Stereohype

Big thanks to David Pache for thinking my work and DAHRA worthy of being featured in his 100 brands of interest – part II

204 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. Home. Without sounding too sentimental or “hollywood” this is home – or at least it is for the next 5 weeks. During which time I’ll be working on Michael Bierut’s team at Pentagram New York

For those of you who don’t know who Pentagram are, or for those who’ve heard of them but not quite sure what they do, I’ve found this video:

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a blog of any length or substance beyond the realms of work and the only excuse I can offer is that time and tested one, I’ve been extremely busy!

However a combination of a fascinating quote and the fact that I have devoured 60 of Michael Bierut’s 79 essays on design in next to no time has prompted me to flex my creative writing muscles once again and to come out of my long exodus.

The quote in question is:

“Maybe they all think it’s my last tour.”

Sachin Tendulkar on the standing ovations he gets wherever he plays in the world. March 20, 2009

Before I get onto the quote just a brief word about Michael Bierut’s book entitled “79 Short Essays on Design,” which if you haven’t read I thoroughly recommend purchasing. What struck me is the variety of subjects in these essays, some focusing on other design disciplines and others focusing on other disciplines altogether. And it is this variety and breadth of knowledge which left an impression of me the most and made me think about how designers are inspired by the world around them. However as, I’m sure you can all testify, it is seemingly very easy to become obsessed with design and forget to look elsewhere I have decided to focus another one of my great passions to draw parallels and inspiration.

For those of you who don’t know, and there must be very few who don’t, cricket is a great passion of mine. Perhaps it’s my sub-continental heritage or perhaps it’s just a love of the game, either way it’s safe to say “I don’t like cricket, I love it!” However every time I think of cricket one name always pops into my consciousness first, Sachin Tendulkar.

Much has been made about his god like status in India and within the history of the game itself (most number of Test and ODI runs, most number of Test and ODI centuries etc) but when this is combined with the mob culture of Indian cricket fans and their short term memories (it was only in 2005 that his home crowd of Mumbai booed their “Little Champion” off the ground) it makes his life untenable. I cannot claim to be the only one infatuated by his batting, as a nation of over a billion people will testify, however I, perhaps unlike most, can admit to being infatuated for completely selfish reasons.

Having just scored 160 against New Zealand in the first Test of the series in 2009 I’m sure people will think that is nothing more than another piece of fanfare, however I think this falls more into the lines of a confession. The nerves were still there as I watched well into the early hours of the morning, hoping and praying that he does well and waiting with abated breath as he stood out in the middle on 99. However if he had failed to get that one run I would have been the first to defend him against all the accusations of the nervous 90’s and other outlandish remarks from people who are best described as “couch cricketers.” This is because when I watch Sachin bat he’s not batting to win a test match but to give me that little bit of hope. Hope that in all the chaos and panic something beautiful can be crafted.

And this is where the link to design comes in, we, as visual communicators, all appreciate something beautiful even if we argue that function should come first. We strive to find that balance whereby we answer the clients brief and produce something beautiful. And that is what Sachin Tendulkar does when goes to bat, he creates masterpieces worthy which are, dare I use the cliché, true poetry in motion. So as a designer every time I see this 5ft 4 man make batting look like the simplest thing in the world I can’t help but see the complete beauty of it, it is the perfect marriage of form (entertaining) vs function (helping his team win)… it is a piece of great design.

So back to the quote, much has been made in the press recently of his ability to go on and on and for the world of cricket to have one last gasp from their genius. For once it truly is the billions of fans, an entire nation and cricket lovers every where who have become besotted with “Peter Pan” syndrome, urging this legend to never grow old. However the reality is that one day, and most likely soon, that light will dim and a sport will be left without its greatest icon, like Tiger Woods in Golf and Roger Federer in Tennis. So whilst Sachin might hint that this isn’t his last tour of these countries I don’t blame the crowd for rising to their feet to cheer this beloved champion, I know I do so from my living room. If I were ever asked to describe true beauty it would be Sachin batting, and so whether his retirement is looming or not, this is one man who deserves a standing ovation every time. Genius and beauty are truly rare things.

Alas my inclinations as a designer kick in now and I have the great urge to justify how this relates to design or what designers can take from this. Should we take from this the idea that as fundamental as function is sometimes form could and should be appreciated? Or perhaps that reverence is a fickle thing and only someone who truly loves what they’re doing for the right reasons can survive? Moreover maybe the idea of inspiration lying elsewhere is pivotal to designers or perhaps all of the above? Or, just maybe, this article should be appreciated for what it is (like Sachin’s batting) and thus doesn’t need to be defined.

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D&AD Student Awards 2009 – Faber & Faber

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This was my response to the Faber & Faber brief for the D&AD Student Awards 2009 which asked the designer to make at least 3 covers for their new Print-On-Demand service using primarily typography.

As this was focussed on FF’s film titles I decided to try and find something unique about film which for me is the fact that film as a medium relies on emotions and feelings in storytelling. As such I created a typeface that when used to spell out the title of the book in the background creates a bespoke pattern which sums up the feeling of the book. This was to be used on a dot matrix grid to create frames, with each frame being 3×3 dots. The typeface is designed so each letter form manipulates the frame in an unique way. This reflects film, as each frame in a piece of footage is unique. When these frames are combined they create the feeling and tone of the film and as such these frames combined on the book cover create a bespoke tone and feeling unique to that title.

The typeface is not meant to be legible and is indeed reversed out so that the forms become more abstract and one has to focus on the feeling they create.

The covers would be computer generated by a simple programme which would place the type on the relevant grid. This makes it ideal for the POD service as the books can be easily produced for online and print purposes. Furthermore titles can be added to the series with ease and they are ensured their own bespoke cover in both B-Format and Demi-Format.

Didot was used as the secondary typeface in order to compliment the Avant Garde feel to the aesthetic created by the grid system.

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Ravensbourne College of Communication and Design

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This was a solution to a Design in Context brief. We were asked to design something which would explain Rockets to Illiterate Adults.

Illiterate Adults learn best through a combination of cognitive learning and informational conformity. With that in mind a video seemed the best option as it combined the use of two senses, sight and sound, which is the best way for an illiterate adult to learn. This is because every sense is being delivered the same message and therefore they absorb it. Thus to keep the information simple I used pictograms.

The information was distilled down into 5 topics to make it digestible for an illiterate audience and yet give them a broad overview. Just because someone is illiterate doesn’t mean they don’t want to learn and as such this video would be part of a series entitled “5 Things You Need To Know About…” Whilst these are designed to be accessible for illiterate adults, they would be targeted at everone in order to reduce embarrassment for illiterate buyers.

This aim to reduce embarrassment is reflected in the packaging, which uses foilblocking on black 135 gsm paper, to create something you’d be proud to buy and collect. Indeed it is hopefuly because of this that people will not be embarrassed to pick it up in the first place or buy the entire series. Therefore a few words have been put into the video in the hope of starting to teach illiterate adults to read – or at least to allow scope for this in the future.

Voice over by: Chelsea Palmer

This was a pleasant surprise but thanks to Thinking For A Living for featuring my portfolio in their online resources section

For those of you who don’t know Thinking For A Living is run by Duane King who is a creative director at BBDK, who have an amazing portfolio and it is a great honour to be featured on the blog

Furthermore I have also found people have been saving my website on their Del.ic.ious so a big thanks to everyone for their support. The next blog post should be coming from NYC in a few weeks – more to be revealed soon

Many thanks to Mark Sinclair and Patrick Burgoyne over atCreative Review for the feature

You can read the full article here

Also a massive thanks to DT magazine for their support in featuring the DATA book in their March issue

Buy the Book here