At home with Michael Wolff
The latest issue of YCN’s members’ magazine features an interview with Wolff Olins co-founder Michael Wolff. To accompany the article, YCN has also released a short film shot at the designer’s home in North London…
Collector’s Edition: the cover bomb series
Artists, designers and musicians including Stanley Donwood, Wayne Coyne, Nick Cave and Robert ‘3D’ del Naja have ‘cover bombed’ copies of limited edition packaging book Collector’s Edition. The one-off designs will be auctioned online by author Stuart Tolley to raise money for The Alzheimer’s Society.
CR September: Graduate issue
This year we’ve approached our graduate issue slightly differently. Covering the shows (and talent) on the blog, in print we decided to see just where a creative education can take you – from becoming production designer on Game of Thrones or Rihanna’s creative director, to working as head of visual creative for Save the Children
Jude Law stars in new Johnnie Walker ad
Johnnie Walker Blue Label has released a new ad-cum-short film online, which features actors Jude Law and Giancarlo Giannini engaging in a ‘gentlemen’s wager’ over the ownership of a beautiful sail boat…
Sagmeister and the ‘bullshit’ around storytelling
Stefan Sagmeister has vehemently dismissed the current vogue among creative types to label themselves ‘storytellers’ as ‘bullshit’.
TDC: Judges’ Choices
Ahead of the announcement of the winners of this year’s Type Directors Club awards, we have the judges’ choices of their favourite projects this year
Sagmeister & Walsh rebrand New York’s Jewish Museum
Sagmeister & Walsh has designed a new visual identity for New York’s Jewish Museum based on the same ancient geometry as the Star of David.
Stories from Cape Town
Collaboration was a strong theme at this year’s Design Indaba, with talks from a diverse range of speakers
Design Indaba Day 3
The final day of Design Indaba featured some moving, funny and uplifting presentations rom Stefan Sagmeister, Alt Group’s Dean Poole and South Africa’s most treasured photographer, David Goldblatt. Here’s a look at some of the best bits…
Design Indaba: Day 2
Day 2 of Design Indaba featured talks from Pentagram designer DJ Stout, South African photographers Zanele Muholi and Nandipha Mntambo and AlmapBBDO creative director Marcello Serpa…
What’s On
CR’s pick of exhibitions, design events and creative activities for the week ahead including data visualisation exhibition Beautiful Science at the British Library, Erwin Blumenfeld in Zürich, Design Indaba in Cape Town, scrap metal graphics from David Buckingham in London, a letterpress masterclass at the Ditchling Museum, Hipgnosis album artwork talk and signing in Birmingham, Letizia Battaglia in Liverpool, and the Arctic Design Week …
Design Indaba 2014
Global creative conference Design Indaba returns to Cape Town on February 26. The line-up so far is impressive, with talks from Thomas Heatherwick, Stefan Sagmeister, Experimental Jetset and photographer David Goldblatt…
Ben & Jerry’s: Peace, love and ice cream
Ben & Jerry’s global social mission officer Dave Rapaport talks to Anna Burzlaff, head of cultural insights and strategy agency Truth, about the brand’s approach to activism, and what it takes to make credible change in the world today
Can creativity save restaurants from Covid-19?
Hospitality has been hit hard by the pandemic, but in the midst of increased restrictions restaurateurs are finding creative ways to reach hungry punters at home. Here, we delve into how restaurant brands are adapting to the new normal
Xinmei Liu’s images are inspired by old Chinese propaganda posters
With commissions from the New York Times and Medium, Xinmei Liu enjoys combining nostalgia with satire to create surreal and surprising illustrations
Getting to know Tony’s Chocolonely
The Tony’s Chocolonely brand started as a way to change the cocoa industry. Here, we get an insight into its visual branding and what being a responsible chocolate brand means
How I Got Here: Brian Rea
Modern Love illustrator Brian Rea recounts a childhood filled with stories, shares the struggles of embracing his style and tells CR why words have gained a new importance for him later in his career
The BakeKing’s hyperrealistic cake creations
Ben Cullen has built up a cult following for his mesmerising illusion cakes, which have appeared everywhere from Slowthai’s recent music video to Jurgen Klopp’s birthday party. He talks about how his career journey took him from graphic design to tattooing to cake artistry
Oxford Circus’s tube signs are now PlayStation-themed
TfL’s hallowed roundel has been transformed into the iconic PlayStation symbols, as part of a stunt to celebrate the launch of Sony’s latest console
Teenagers dress for proms that never happened in Alys Tomlinson’s Lost Summer
The photographer’s portraits of teenagers, taken after the cancellation of milestone events such as proms and graduations, emphasise the impact of 2020’s summer lockdown
Can an algorithm unpick gender bias in storytelling?
A new illustrated book of classic fairytales uses technology to illuminate gender bias by reversing the gender of the characters and narratives
Irvine Welsh on creativity and cancel culture
The author explores the rise of cancel culture in new documentary Offended by Irvine Welsh, where he discusses the threat that the phenomenon poses to the creative industries and why he thinks Trainspotting wouldn’t be published today
Stanley Donwood takes uplifting new artworks to the streets
The artist and long-time Radiohead collaborator has left his “depressing flyposters” behind in favour of new artworks designed to spread joy in ten cities across the UK
The theatrics of Lucy Prebble
Following the release of her explosive phone-hack series I Hate Suzie, Lucy Prebble talks about her belief that every story benefits from a little drama, and how an ongoing infatuation with tech inspired her to write for video games
Logos are losing their taches for Movember
Julius Pringles and Colonel Sanders have both been subjected to a shave to celebrate the month-long Movember challenge
Sunil Gupta on 45 years of making pictures
As a new exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery in London brings together over four decades of his work, we speak to photographer Sunil Gupta about how his work straddles the world of activism, documentary and art
Life through an iPhone lens
Ghanaian visual artist Prince Gyasi creates striking, vivid imagery photographed with an iPhone. CR talks to him about his unconventional practice and how it helps local children get an education
Inside the surreal world of Hiro Murai
Hiro Murai’s dream-like vision has produced unforgettable imagery for artists including Childish Gambino and FKA twigs. Here, the filmmaker discusses the joys of collaboration, exploring the realm of television with the series Atlanta, and why This is America is an anomaly in music videos
Has game advertising gone soft?
With new Sony and Microsoft ad campaigns out, CR explores whether game advertising has lost its edge, and what the future holds for console makers operating in a more complicated market than ever before
Immerse yourself in the world of Accidentally Wes Anderson
The cult Instagram account celebrating real-life Anderson-esque moments has been reimagined in book form – complete with a foreword written by the director himself
Behind the scenes at Spitting Image
Satirical puppet show Spitting Image is back after a 24-year hiatus, and features everyone from President Trump’s tweeting anus to a James Corden-Cats hybrid. Here, we speak to the creatives behind the programme’s unique brand of public service satire
Creative Collaborators: How Burger King’s award-winning work gets made
Continuing our series on creative partnerships, RBI global CMO Fernando Machado and Pancho Cassis, global CCO at agency David, reveal how 5am WhatsApp chats, lawyers and healthy arguments go into Burger King’s award-winning work
Bond Redesigned: Reimagining the classic 007 film poster
Cardiff-based illustrator and graphic designer Matt Needle has spent the last seven months putting his own spin on all 25 of the original posters from the cult James Bond film franchise
Photographer Paul Graham and the Great North Road
Originally published in 1983, Graham’s first photography book A1: The Great North Road is being republished by Mack. Here he reflects on the project nearly 40 years later
