Typographic design programme

Examples of work produced in the concept phase of a typographic design workshop with 3rd Year students at the Ecole Bleue. Each student will create a unique 2D or 3D alphabet.

Old England closes its doors on 31 March

Old England, with its quintessential facade and signage, will close its doors definitively on 31 March 2012 after 144 years of purveying a certain English life style to Parisians and homesick expats. Listed as a Monument Historique the facades will be conserved.

Autolib' at Design Museum Designs of the Year

Paris autolib' at London Design Museum Year show.

Picasso light painting. He can who thinks he can...

Brand Bangkok design work

Brand Bangkok work from the workshop. A contemporary typeface based on organic banana leaf packaging, BKK using actualised Thai patterns and Bangkok the city where everyone fits in.

Suvarnabhumi International Airport Bangkok

Suvarnabhumi Airport opened in 2006 is the world's 4th largest airport building, covering half a million square meters and catering to 48 million passengers. I counted 50 passport control desks on arrival. Returning to CDG Paris at 6.00am hundreds of passengers waited at 7 open passport control desks and two mal-functioning biometric control gates. The Air France Bus ticket distributors were all 'en panne'... Bienvenu en Europe.

Vintage Coke and soda crates

Sourced on e-bay, these vintage soda crates make great shelving. Via notcot.com

Branding, Retail Design Workshop

We are running a Branding and Retail Design Workshop with Y4 students at the Ecole Bleue. The workshop kicked-off with branding and visual communications over three weeks and will then move into architecture, interior design and lighting etc, finishing with a global presentation of all design disciplines. Some examples of projects.

Top 20 slogans of all time

Creative Review February for the top 20 slogans of all time.

Circles in Thailand

Kept noticing the presence of circles whilst in Bangkok. So here is 'Circles in Thailand'.

The end of the dog... literally

The 'Chien Caniveau' concept and associated signage is finally at an end. As illustrated by this sign fragment seen in Paris this week. The pavement has been relaid to create Autolib parking and the hind quarters of the dog is all that remains of the Caniveau sign. The end of an era!

CommDe Open Studio Bangkok

I have just run the Open Studio workshop with CommDe, the school of design of Chula longkorn University Bangkok. The workshop with 3rd and 2nd Year students explored destination branding and the creation of a new brand for Bangkok. Plus, a one day session with MBA and Master's students concentrated on 'Design for added value in business' and a hands-on workshop activity.

No Balloon's!

Intrigued by No Balloon's, on the Bangkok BTS Skytrain. Hopefully one of my Thai students will explain what it is all about.

Thai Telecoms Olympics

Interesting twist on the Olympics symbol seen on the streets of Bangkok, sponsored by Thai Telecoms.

True internet digital flip display wall

Entire wall digital flip display in True wi-fi cafe, in Siam Square. True have 80% on the Bangkok internet and mobile market.

Bangkok signs and street graphics

Walking Street, Siam Square, great semiotic representation of a walk... Direction signs get the point across. Bangkok Skytrain pictograms including No Hawking. Street signs in Chinatown on the eve of Chinese New Year. Thai Tuk-Tuk registration.

Design travels in Bangkok

Amused on my first day in Bangkok to see someone wearing a t shirt with the iconic logotype design that I created as part of the tsunami disaster relief programme. Design travels...

2012 card extensively featured in the design press

As in the last few years, my 2012 New Year card has been extensively featured in the design press and on design websites. A good start to the New Year.

Queen's knighthood for Sir Jonathan Ive

Jonathan Ive, joins British designers Sir Terence Conran, Sir Paul Smith, Sir James Dyson, Sir Norman Foster and others, knighted for their contribution to the British design industry.

2012 on Designspiration

2012 card design in Creative Review

Destination Branding Bangkok

I am working on a destination branding workshop and conference that I will be running at CommDe, The International Programme in Communication Design, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.

The workshop will run for one week in January 2012 for design undergraduate and PhD students.

2012 best wishes

Organic Cosmetics branding & packaging workshop

I have just run a branding & packaging design workshop with the Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique.

The workshop looked at positioning organic cosmetic as a viable alternative to the industrial model, and included strategy, naming as well as brand and packaging design. Some realizations coming soon.

Peace 11 11 11 11 campaign poster

Our poster for Peace 11 11 11 11 - Armistice Day campaign 2011. Posters and die-cut poppy stickers.

Politically correct toothpaste

Anyone who travelled in South East Asia before the 1980's will recall the distinctive packaging of Darkie brand toothpaste. I still have an original pack in my collection. Political correctness oblige, Darkie became Darlie and finally changed from Black to White. The eclectic look was lost but amusingly the Cantonese name still translates as Black Man Toothpaste. You just can't win!

Packaging Design Conference: the role of the packaging designer

Part of my Packaging Design 2012 conference, exploring the role and responsibilities of the designer, the tools, materials and technologies available.

My projects and inspiration on Designspiration

Pure Balanced Water at LuxePack

The full story here.

Iconic Jobs tributes

Google 'Steve Jobs tribute' and the first four images found, in over 1.2 million, include Jon- athan Mak's iconic twist on the apple logo and my iDream poster.

AIGA on free speculative work for the Obama administation

The full letter at AIGA here.