While perusing the quite wonderful site Brand New, (like one does in order to stay ahead in this game), I came across this new(ish) identity from Landor. (logo #1)

Nothing special you might say. You may be right. You may be wrong. Either opinion is ok as healthy discussion is good. No, the thing that resonated with me was the similarity to something I did for an Agency in London in 2010.(logo #2) It was almost if the Art Director from Landor had been spying on my design process from the cupboard under the stairs. Ok, I don’t have a cupboard under the stairs! It’s called Artistic Licence.

The logo is based on the art of Origami. A clever idea that has the potential to open up a multitude of possibilities. And look, they’ve used a ligature too!
Lost marks for not including a Unicorn though- I think the marrying of Unicorns and Origami hints at something a little out of the ordinary. An alternative take on the world. A different view on problem solving if you like. Unfortunately, this particular direction never made it past the drawing board. The Agency decided on a different naming strategy so this was binned.

C’est la vie.

Almost every day my cycle route takes me through the heart of the 19th and 20th arrondissements. From Blvd Ménilmontant via Blvds Belleville and Villette on towards Stalingrad via Jaurès, this is not a place for the faint of heart.3 days of the week it is a maelstrom of noise, smells and images emanating from the multitude of markets that frequent this very ‘real’ quartier of Paris. Its a fantastically invigorating ride and with so many reasons to stop and capture a picture, its often a wonder that I get into work at all!

Many market traders arrive with their wares in outrageously colourful hand painted vans. They vary in quality. Some are not so good, some are great. They are all colourful. This is one is brilliant and is my current favourite. The guy has talent, it is clear to see. Maybe this giant business card gained him some business outside of the van-painting circle. I like to think so.

It’s coming soon…

Taking it’s form from two reflected S letterforms from the name, this logo has a devilish character to it. For as we all know, any self-respecting female fashionista would sell her soul to get her hands on this season’s incredible creations. No?
This particular boutique de la haute culture will sell you Aspiration, Quality, and Elegance with a service akin to that expected by royalty. So, there we have it -A voluptuous, enticing, Royal purple marque for your delectation.
Oh, and in case anyone is wondering about the type treatment, the client overrode my typeface recommendation. It’s not my preferred font but they wouldn’t listen. C’est la vie…

When, for experimentations sake I overlaid some grid combinations that I had concocted for my current web project it took me back down memory lane. Maybe it’s just a geeky/nerdy (delete as appropriate) designer thing but I was instantly reminded of iD magazine. It could be a trick of the mind, maybe it was Face magazine instead but no matter, I got my thrill.

Forget the content, as clearly iPAds et al are not 1984 at all. It was the blocks of fluro green that overlaid the magazine-like layout. It’s a thing of beauty.
I only wish I could present it to the client with some kind of rationale that they could buy into ;-). Naturally I had to check if my mind was indeed playing tricks so I typed ‘id magazine 1984′ into Google.com Check out that green- it’s uncanny! Are you curious enough to do the same?

Oh, actually this post was meant to be about the organic nature of grids but I rather like the direction it has taken so i’ll keep that little nugget for another day!

Just a little detail from from a recent project I was working on for one of those large global corporations that supply you with all the consumer products you love. You know the one. It’s BIG! Hair, shaving, beauty, laundry etc etc.
Anyway, this was a direction that wasn’t selected for development. At the time I took it personally. Big mistake. Never get emotionally attached to work you do for clients. Easier said than done, especially when one has crafted an intricate icon that would just sit perfick in an iPhone app icon. Never mind. The chosen one is not bad either. Hold on to your hats’. All will eventually be revealed…

Frankly, this has to be one of the most amazing animated gif’s that I have ever seen! The level of intricacy is quite wonderful and it looks like it has come directly off the drawing board of MC Escher.  It’s rather refreshing in this era of bigger/faster/shinier what can be achieved with a so called obsolete process. Complex yet simple by equal measures.

See the full 17,000px wide panoramic on Flickr (5Mb)

Well, I have been honoured and privileged to have had the opportunity to feast on this wall of creativity pretty much every day for the last year. Ever changing and morphing into different forms, Rue des Pyrenées has been a vast canvas for urban essays issuing from the cans of some of the finest street artists in Paris. It’s been mentioned here before on these pages, but this time it’s real. The ephemeral nature of the artform has finely caught up with this particular incarnation. The demolition crew have been brought in and the Marie of paris has authorised the razing of the former bus station-one wall of which you see here. I can’t help but wonder what is going to replace this little coloured corner of South East Paris. Je vie dans l’espoir that it will 1 tenth of a percent as interesting as what it is replacing!