It had to happen sooner or later. The Cannes International Advertising Festival, after proudly separating ad agencies from their money for 54 years, has decided to introduce design categories for next year.

The November issue of Creative Review is dedicated to giving you a behind-the-scenes look at how work gets made. From initial sketches to final artwork, our features for this issue follow a variety of projects along the rocky road of the creative process. As a taster, here’s an insight into the work of Karen Caldicott Shown above, stage one in the creation of a portrait of Barbra Streisand

McEwans Lager ad featuring You’ve Got the Power by Win (agency: Collett Dickenson Pearce, 1986)

As an adult, it’s rare to be frightened by an advert. But back in the mid-80s, I remember one TV ad scaring the living shit out of me (shown above). I can recall everything about it: the zombie-like characters, the concept of pushing giant balls up neverending steps and the stirring music that seemed to suit the desolate tone perfectly. It was immersive, gripping and (for me) pretty pant-soiling stuff. But ads don’t employ this aesthetic anymore: they don’t want to scare you. In fact they do the complete opposite – they’re frequently soft, fluffy, handmade-looking things for products that just want to be your friend. And invariably, the choice of music or soundtrack follows suit: arpeggiated acoustic guitar? Check. Softly spoken, whimsical vocals? Check. These are prerequisites in advertising’s obsession with the sound of twee.

Harry Beck’s London Underground map continues to exert its influence on contemporary design, this time as the central feature of the re-fitted offices for digital agency, Poke. A striped aluminium cable tray snakes around the space carrying all the unsightly wires over the heads of the workers below and adding a splash of colour to the standard-issue concrete and white. Feeling nosey? Let’s poke around some more (sorry)…

In the UK alone, 12.5 million tonnes of paper and cardboard is thrown into landfill every year, much of it created by graphic designers. We asked Caroline Clark, founder of the Lovely As A Tree website and a graphic designer herself, for her tips on how print designers can lessen the impact of their work.

Hi everyone

As was previously posted here, we did have some problems with people registering to post comments. That problem has now, happily, been resolved although I should point out that all comments are monitored and, therefore, there may be a slight delay in them appearing here.

best wishes
Patrick