Greetings for Christmas and the New Year 2011

Designer Christmas gifts

Stuck for a Christmas present for the designer in your life? The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog is a great typographic game by Brazilian design agency ps.2. Alternatively, Le Grand Jeu du Logo should keep you entertained over the holidays.

H²0 ecology - the new luxury. Design workshop

Workshop for the Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique, exploring the creation of an eco-responsible mineral water brand and packaging design.
View more presentations from Paul Vickers.

Packaging Design conference and workshop at Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique

I will be giving a lecture on Packaging Design and animating a workshop at the Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique, from 6 December. The workshop will explore the scenario 'H²0 - ecology the new luxury'. We will be looking at new design philosophies and positioning in the mineral water market and creating an eco-responsible water brand and packaging. The resulting work will be exhibited at the LuxePack Monaco exhibition in 2011.

Our work in 'The Package Design Book' by Taschen

Our award winning packaging design for Lucibel, created with nouvel oeuvre, has just been published in The Package Design Book, a collection of the world's best packaging design 2008-2010. Taschen - Pentawards €39.99

Brand identity for 10.10.10

We have just created the brand identity for 10.10.10. Launched on 10 october 2010. www.10.10.10.com coming soon.

23 million white tiles, 21 400 arrows, 273 metro stations...

The 'metro + beau' Paris RATP renovation project will be completed in 2016 and involves refurbishing 273 stations. The new signage is bold, clear and successful. I will try to get some more pictures of it. Combined with new tiling, brighter station lighting and 'smiling' Akiko seating it hugely improves the metro travel experience.

Publicity stunt, crowdsourcing or serious redesign?

Gap's announcement of the launch of a new Gap brand, a banal Helvetica typestyle and insignificant little blue box, has captured the attention of the design world, bloggers and even the world's media. 100 000's of messages were posted on the subject.
Marka Hansen, Gap President USA, even stooped as low as to announcing crowdsourcing for the logo redesign. The big question is was this just a publicity stunt for free editorial and buzz or a serious proposal? Gap have now announced they will stick with their distinctive original logo.

Cool animated Nordkyn destination brand

Remarkable destination branding for Nordkyn in the very northernmost tip of Europe, in Finnmark, Norway. The beauty of the brand is communicated in its cool animated version which displays the changing colours and facets of this beautiful, rugged, Arctic place. The logotype morphs continually subject to weather change, wind direction and temperature!
See the animation here. Design by Neue Design Studio, Oslo.
The brand is so powerful that it makes you want to get on a plane right now to discover a place you have never even heard of before. Now that's successful.

Business card for a bicycle maintenance company

This is the sort of intelligent, understated design that I adore. A great business card in the form of a multifunctional bike tool, by Rethink! for Broke Bike Alley.

David Smith and the art of sign writing

With so much horrendously kerned insensitive type and signage about, it is inspiring and reassuring to see the work of David Smith, an English sign writer. Perpetuating the tradition of hand cut, gilded ornamental glass signs, he creates the magnificent signs that can be found in pubs throughout Great Britain. A master class in typography and the art of sign writing.

Paul is on Behance Network

www.behance.net/paulvickers

Rubberband Alphabet

Brilliantly observed typeface by eylab via accidental mysteries.blogspot.com

Retail design at St Pancras International Station

Sourced Market, recently opened at London's St Pancras station, is a great example of station retailing and food services.

It has all the ambiance and quality ingredients of an outdoor market, locally sourced food, fine wines and great design by Shaun Clarkson and branding by Thoughtmatic. An original concept for a rail station. Also at St Pancras is the Grand Champagne Bar, ideal for a drink before boarding the Euro Star.

As someone who travels through Paris’s Gare d’Austerlitz station almost every week, I wish the SNCF would upgrade the quality of services offered here, the overall interior design and furnishings which do not appear to have been touched for 50 years.

When we lived in New York I travelled through Grand Central Station each day. A great restaurant overlooks the main ticket hall and on the lower level there is the Grand Central Oyster Bar. With quality services, restaurants and retailing, rail stations can become a genuine destination and an experience, not just a functional travel hub.
Top images St Pancras, last image Gare d'Austerlitz

Logorama - the world of brands

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

For those that have not seen it, the Oscar winning animated film by François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy and Ludovic Houplain of H5 French film collective, starring 3 000 logos. Four years in production, it opened the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won a 2010 academy award in the category of animated short film.

World's first billboard written entirely by bees

SOS - Save Our Swarm - is the first message ever written by bees. 100 000 bees attracted by the Pheromone of a Queen Bee spell out the message for Plan Bee, an environmental agency, in Devon. Creating quite a buzz!

Useful info graphic - Largest Bankruptcies in History

Click to enlarge

You can't miss the bike shop

Sign for a bike shop in Altlandsberg, Germany, made of 120 bicycles.

logolounge's 2010 logotype/brand trends

Always a fascinating insight, Bill Gardner's, analysis of branding and logotype design trends has just been published. Identifiable trends from the 35 000 odd logotypes analysed include:

• O shaped designs inspired by the Obama Presidential campaign,
  
• Transparency as an expression of honesty and ethics,
  
• Brighter colours, influenced by screen based applications as opposed to print based, and signifying a message of optimism,
• Faceting, animation and circles...

For the full article: logolounge.com

Gotham - the typeface of the decade

Created for GQ magazine, famously used for the Obama 'Yes We Can' campaign, adding gravitas to film posters and Coke advertising, Gotham by Hoefler & Frere-Jones is the typeface of the decade. The full story here.

What are we working on today?

One of the major projects that we have on the go right now is an important branding and packaging design assignment for an industry leader in the Heath & Beauty category.
The project includes naming and verbal identity, brand identity development and global packaging graphics.
Currently confidential we are targeting, with the client, a product launch in the Spring of 2011. Watch this space.

A truck full of nuts...

Amongst on-going projects for Fazillac Noix, we are working on branding development, stationary, new packaging and collateral. Here is our proposal for a printed colour full vinyl wrap for delivery vehicles. The bag - but big!

Strate Collège Designers workshop/critique

Final presentation and Paul's critique workshop at Strate Collège Designers with 4th Year and Master's students of the Branding/Packaging/Merchandising assignment: 'Active Sportswear Product' - Using design to bridge the gap between the product and the consumer.
Projects include Illusion Snowboard goggles using optical illusions, the visible and invisible; Alfalfa edible packaging for horse riding accessories; Silence a shrink wrapped white blank-canvas skateboard for personalisation and Golfing Polo's packed in transparent plastic tubes set in a green growing wall.

New packaging projects for Fazillac Noix

Three years ago we created and launched the Fazillac Noix brand of walnuts and 100% virgin walnut oil. Following the creation of the distinctive brand identity, that is grounded in regional south west French authenticity, we designed the packaging and labelling for flow-packs and glass bottles. A new brand launch, it has been very successful and is now distributed by major supermarkets throughout the country. We are currently working on several new branding and design projects for Fazillac Noix.

The Mori Hills Building on Omotesando

The Mori Hills Building on Omotesando, Tokyo continues Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum spiral architecture concept, but here the building fits into a triangular site as opposed to a circle. I visited it just after its opening and the effect of walking from the top floor to the ground down a continuous gentle slope is still a bit disturbing. Nice use of OLED lights on the restaurant window.

Coke Crate Man Johannesburg

A nice brand happening, art piece, sculpture and recycling project for Coca-Cola in Johannesburg. Particularly like his friendly Lego man look.

Frost byte for the State Library NSW

Some more examples of the typeface and design work developed by Frost Design for the State Library of NSW, Australia. A unique typeface created as part of the Libraries identity.

Go Global, Get into Australia campaign

Two more typographic posters from the Sydney Vodaphone campaign by Yello Brands and Am I Collective.

Ecole Bleue for The Haiti Poster Project

Work by my 4th Year students in support of the Haiti Poster Project is exhibited on the HPP website and in the accompanying exhibition and catalogue. It can also be seen on the Ecole Bleue website.

Grand Paris at the Ecole Bleue

The Grand Paris project, initiated by the French Government, aims to envisage the future vision of the Paris Metropole: urbanism, environment, transport, culture, ecology and the diversity and vitality of a major 21st century metropolis. 4th year students at the Ecole Bleue, responded with a poster campaign to communicate the concept.

The brand as activists weapon

I do not in any way endorse the defacing of brands and logotypes, which have been conceived in a genuinely strategic and creative process between client and designer, but what is undoubtedly interesting is the power of the brand as an icon of an industry or business and its potential for détournement for other ends.
This example of the bp brand is from the Greenpeace operation in reaction to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The brand becomes the message, design becomes an activist tool for demonstration and counter communication - it is more powerful than words or images.

Sydney Biennale

Graphics for the 17th Biennale of Sydney, May - August 2010. Web site here.

Moulin Rouge brand identity reviewed by Paul

My review of the new brand identity for the Moulin Rouge Paris has been published at Brand New. here

Sydney Australia

A great business trip to Sydney. Always good to see the North Shore ferries coming into Circular Quay, yachts passing the Opera House, the Parakeets and Sulphur crested Cockatoos flying through the palm trees. Some really nice typographic illustrations of Sydney on the Vodaphone poster campaign.

Dubai Airport

Dubai international terminal and OLED's in glass curtain wall.

Burj Dubai & Dubai airport

Whilst in Dubai on my trip to Sydney I saw the Burj Dubai tower: 200 floors. Dubai airport is also very impressive in terms of architecture, design and signage. The use of OLED's in glass walls creating a mosaic grid of lights in glass is most impressive.

Packaging Design Conference

Here is my Packaging Design Conference talk presented at the Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique and Parsons Paris.

View more presentations from Paul Vickers.

“Daddy, What’s a Brand?” and 9 More Awkward Questions for Uncertain Times

Stimulating reading from Graham Button in Fast Company here
and a great piece of typographic poetry by Ronnie Bruce to sum up with:

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Japan - The Strange Country

Japan - The Strange Country (Japanese ver.) . Excellent info graphic animation by Japanese designer Kenichi.

Do you matter? How great design will make people love your company

Highly recommended reading for CEO's, marketing and communications directors and just about anybody interested in the benefits of design. http://www.doyoumatter.com/
A review in French at http://www.larevuedudesign.com/2010/04/21/design-maters-robert-brunner-stewart-emery/

New Flag for Europe

Our design proposals for the new flag for Europe are amongst designs on exhibition at the European Commission at The Hague and on The Hague Design & Government web site. http://www.designdenhaag.eu/en/node/3123

New web site under construction

We are currently building a new vision 360° web site to compliment the des!gn think!ng blog.
This is the design proposal for the home page. The site will be a more institutional and portfolio credentials site, and content will be built up under Projects, Bio and Press navigation tabs.