What is visual communications?

I am working on a keynote presentation / conference on the role of visual communications in global design. Coming soon.

BHV from a 60's joke to bland anonymity...

The BHV  f i n a l l y  gets round to a new identity and logotype.
The old cubic thing was really just a joke. So 60's, so unrelated to an upmarket department store, so 'heavy construction company'... so irrelevant! It amazed me every day I went past it. Just very disappointing to see that the new identity by Publicis Royalties is so characterless, bland and 'passe partout', it could be used for anything and it says absolutely nothing about the very unique BHV. Shame, a missed opportunity.

The Fallen 9000 Peace Day project

9 000 silhouettes etched in the sand on the Normandy beaches to commemorate the 9 000 combined casualties of D-Day 6 June 1944 and mark Peace Day 2013.
http://thefallen9000.info

Over 13 000 visits to my Slideshare presentations

Valentine logotype by Charles Loupot circa 1930's

Superb example of Charles Loupot's Valtentine logotype painted on a roof gable in the sud-ouest. The colours with todays azure sky - about perfect! Loupot is also the creator of the Saint-Raphaël barmen logo and posters.

Our latest Help Syria's Children poster

All aid to www.unhcr.org

Rio 2016 & Tokyo 2020 logotypes

Tonight Tokyo won the right to host the 2020 Olympics. The logotype design was definitely better than the competitor cities - maybe the deciding factor? Tokyo 2020 created by design student Ai Shimamine. Rio 2016 designed by Brazil agency Tatil.

Now one million child refugees and 426 children killed by chemical weapons...

Sadly we have had too update our UNHCR Syria poster. All aid to www.unhcr.org

Boden shoots at Paris mosaics that I have already discussed on this blog

British fashion brand Boden shoots their Paris fashion pages infront of the same mosaics on the old La Samaritaine store that I illustrated here a couple of months ago. They are part of the Parisian retail and design culture - to be preserved.

Sketchbook with some recent and ongoing projects

The Boycott Sochi 2014 Olympics poster

Red is the colour of Saint Tropez

007 in the Great Britain tourism campaign

James Bond does his bit for Queen & country in the Great Britain tourism campaign, with a little help from Aston Martin.
Talking tourism, France is the worlds No.1 destination in terms of visitor numbers at 33m, but tourism income is half that spent each day in the UK and a third of that spent in the USA. And Paris (12.92m visitors) has now slipped to the world's 3rd most popular city after 2nd London (15.96m) and 1st Bangkok (15.98m).

Pinterest Paul Vickers Design - latest

Sunflowers and Van Gogh branding

The brilliant and evocative Van Gogh Museum branding by Koeweiden Postma. The distinctive 'brush strokes' pattern works really well with the Rietveld inspired cubist shape. Sunflower colors are also used in the museography very well.

Rijksmuseum branding by Irma Boom Office

The Rijksmuseum logotype, branding, typefaces and color palette, which is based on the colours found in the collections masterpieces, are exhibited and explained in the museum. Nice detail.

Amsterdam loves bikes logo

Logo on floating bike park and free bike repair workshop, Amsterdam.

My Mon'op brand review

My Mon'op banding review on the new look Brand New site.

France & UK stamp design - a different philosophy...

A new version of the Marianne stamp has been unveiled by François Holland, creating polemic, of course. Interesting to compare the different national design philosophies. France has Inna Shevchenko, the founder of Femen. The UK has the Arnold Machin bas-relief of Elizabeth II originally created in 1966 and updated.
Inna Shevchenko on Twitter says:
"Femen sur les timbres français. Maintenant, tous les homophobes, extrémistes et fascistes devront me lécher le cul avant d'envoyer une lettre !"
The design, illustration, layout and typography quality is seriously lacking in this retro-kitsch Ciappa and Kawena version of Marianne.

The semiotics of 'no entry' signs

The 'no entry' branding for Société Générale always amazes me.
A white horizontal bar on a red ground is a universal symbol for no entry. Société Générale have even gone to the extreme in not writing their name on the brand lock-up. To me it is unwelcoming and says walk on...