Designers Journal | A chronicle of jottings, doodles & boutique design treats

Joshua Hibbert {London}

18/04/2012

by DJ

Young London based graphic and sound designer, Joshua Hibbert plies his trade mainly in illustration, type and fashion photography. Gaining his degree at London College of Communication only last year, Joshua specialises in interactive design, developing projects such as emotive furnitures and philosophical soundscapes.

Says Hibbert; “My work embraces many influences but can be described as controlled pyschedelia crossed with conceptual minimalism, i love to use a whole complex of technologies mainly digital, but i usually combine it with a handmade ethic, giving the work more life and importantly authencity. Additionally found resources old leftovers inpire me when working, I’m driven to bring discarded objects to life, the link between beauty and destruction is very vital in my works.

“Throughout the years my influences have evolved but I’m always interested in art movements such as gutai, surrealism and dada. Sciences such as philosophy and biochemistry provide my work with a elemental edge too. Currently rare 80’s minimal wave tape music controls my sonical thinking and bizarre junk shop books help to keep intrigue in my work process. I would say im very rhizomatic in my style and keeping esoteric conceptually drives me on daily.”

Hibbert’s ebullient work is eclectic, challenging and full of ardor. I really like it.

Caliber {Dallas, Tx}

16/04/2012

by DJ

Awesome agencies

Dallas, Texas. Home of triumphant dishes of delight served up by Caliber.

“We at Caliber believe hard work combined with smart, inspired thinking leads to great things. Unique things. The very things a consumer audience thirsts after and seeks out, because of the fact it’s different or new or unique.”

Glorious… delve into their folio and find their work in the beer industry particularly consistently inspired.

Hunt Studio {Melbourne}

12/04/2012

by LWC

Awesome agencies / LWC

One of my favourite design publications at the moment (obviously discounting the beauties I write for) has to be Process Journal. Beautiful crafting goes hand in hand with engaging content, wandering happily down the track of design critique. The credit for this piece of greatness goes to Hunt Studio based over in Melbourne. In addition to their work on the journal they also find the time to craft considered pieces of bespoke design across a range of mediums. Issue 6 of Process Journal is out now, get your hands on a copy and feast your eyes on the treats below.

www.huntstudio.com.au
www.publishedbyprocess.com
Tw. @followprocess

Mercy {Liverpool}

09/04/2012

by DJ

Awesome agencies

How to summise Liverpool’s Mercy? Getting to know them a little makes it clear they’re not cut from a cloth of norm. Not your average run of the mill graphic show ponies, these chaps and chapettes have more than a trick or two in their stable immersing themselves in a broad world or workshops, performance, arts events, exhibition and, intriguingly, a venture where they set up their interns last year (but that’s a story for another day)… oh, and of course a sprinkling design.

So, if we can’t encapsulate them in a paragraph, can they? They say; “Everyone always tells us that they can’t really work out what it is that we do and that’s great because it means we can keep inventing new things, and ways of doing them without looking like we just made it up… We’re equally a design agency and an arts organisation and neither side would survive without the other. Our arts events allow us to collaborate in circles we’d never impregnate as designers (or art directors or whatever). Ditto, the arts organisation gains an independent sustainability from commissions and sponsorship that filter through the agency.”

“We’re a very small, very tight team and we’ve grown very very slowly over the last 10 years. We don’t have sixteen wages to pay every month and we don’t have to chase shitty jobs. We still try go on holiday together every year and we love each other very a lot.”

Mercy have been on our hit list to feature for quite a while – I love these guys’ work and moreover, their ethos (plus their application of the word impregnate). Personality and talent in abundance, they’re one to keep a eye on as they continue to break moulds.

Tw. @mercyuk

Swearwords {Melbourne}

05/04/2012

by LWC

Awesome agencies / LWC

They have a blog dedicated to bikes, they brand their own pencils, they review tasty restaurants and new beers, they blog about typography and create their own software AND they design beautifully effective web, print and packaging… phew… take a breath will you.

Swearwords are based over in Melbourne and recently did me the honour of filling my inbox with juicy new design work hot off their press. If the above isn’t enough to shower them with high fives, check out the below design fodder… still not enough, the founder, Scott, is a kiwi. There you go, hooked!

Tw. @swear_words

Creative Inc {Dublin}

03/04/2012

by DJ

Awesome agencies

If your work is considered good enough to be published in Angus Hyland and Steven Bateman’s Symbol book, clearly, you’re doing something right. If you’ve got three marks sitting pretty in that bad boy then it’s probably safe to give yourself a nice pat on the back.

Dublin’s Creative Inc are in such a covetous position, and with a menagerie of design treats on view in their portfolio, they live by the mantra “great design is a powerful tool for improvement in all walks of life. We bring this conviction to every project we take on.” Suits you sir.

Cheltenham Design Festival 2012

02/04/2012

by DJ

News

Get ’em while they’re hot… tickets for the 2012 Cheltenham Design Festival are out now and selling like hot potatoes. Taking place over three days in April 2012 (20th–22nd), the festival will showcase some of the most innovative and creative thinkers operating on a global level today, providing a unique opportunity to engage with innovators from the world’s creative community who influence our lives through original thought…

STEFAN SAGMEISTER: AN AUDIENCE WITH…: 21 April, 11.45am and DESIGN & HAPPINESS: 21 April, 4-5.00pm
Stefan Sagmeister (pictured above, ©John Madere) makes an exclusive visit to the UK to participate at the CDF. This is a rare opportunity to hear the graphic design maestro share his ideas which are original, occasionally controversial, yet always exciting. In the first talk he will reveal design anecdotes through his collaborations with such musical greats as David Byrne and Brian Eno. In the second talk, Sagmeister will explore the ways of achieving happiness as a designer and how he ensures his work remains a calling rather than deteriorating into a job. He will also be designing pieces that induce happiness within the audience.

POSTCARD FROM THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES: 20 April, 10.00-11.30am
Some of the UK’s top creative directors – David Hillman, Bruce Duckworth and others, chaired by John Brewer – will debate changes to the creative landscape and consider the design industry’s future requirements. Exploring the role of new talent, focusing on ideas, skills and attitude, the discussion will ask how newcomers can survive, whether they should they specialise and what exactly should they know.

PROFITS OF DOOM: The Supreme Values of Ideas in these Challenging Times: 20 April, 7-8.00pm
We all have pitch moments – the job interview, the first date, the meeting with the bank manager… In work and play – life’s a pitch. Design commentator Stephen Bayley and Roger Mavity, CEO of the Conran Group, discuss the ideas in their best-selling book Life’s a Pitch – which is perhaps more compelling in today’s climate than when it was first published. With wit, passion and bags of experience, they will examine the space where business and art meet, which is, as Bayley says, what design is all about.

IS THERE A FUTURE FOR DESIGN? 20 April, 6.00-7.15pm
Design is the spine that supports industry, innovation and social wellbeing. So isn’t it time that the government acknowledged design education as vital to our future growth? A distinguished panel drawn from the worlds of design, politics and education – including Sir John Sorrell, Adrian Shaughnessy, Jonathan Worth and others, chaired by Stephen Marston – will debate the issue and take questions from the audience in this entertaining and thought-provoking event. The Cheltenham Design Festival will show how important the role of creative thinking plays – not only to our daily lives but also in assuring our future.

For more information, or to get your sticky paws on some tickets just click here.
Tw. @cheltdesignfest

Creative minds sharing their ideas and philosophy at the Cheltenham Design Festival include: Stephen Bayley (design commentator), Nick Bell (3D/interactive designer), Mark Champkins (founder of Concentrate/inventor-in-residence, Science Museum, Oli Christie (CEO Neon Play), Peter Clegg (of architectural practice Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios), Gary Collins (architect, Berman Guedes Stretton), Bruce Duckworth (award-winning brand designer), Kenneth Grange (legendary product designer, Steve Haggarty (brand innovation specialist), Sir John Hegarty (global creative director, Bogle Bartle Hegarty), David Hillman (leading graphic designer), Stephen Hodder (Vice President, RIBA), Lucy Holmes (graphic designer/wayfinding expert), Matthew Humphries (Chief Designer, Morgan Motors), Nick Jankel (creative thinker/Innovation expert), Simon Kavanagh (KaosPilots ideas school), Charles Landry (urban strategist/creative thinker), Ptolemy Mann (textile artist/designer), Stephen Marshall (architect), Stephen Marsten (Vice-Chancellor, University of Gloucestershire), Roger Mavity (CEO Conran Group), Ed Douglas Miller (founder of eco company Remarkable), Dan Pearson (landscape designer), Paul Priestman (product/transport/industrial designer), Torsten Reil (digital innovator/CEO, NaturalMotion), John Roberts (Chief Engineer, A380 Airbus in the UK), Stefan Sagmeister (graphic designer), Brita von Schoenaich (landscape architect), Adrian Shaughnessy (designer/visiting professor, RCA), Sir John Sorrell (British design ambassador), Frank Stephenson (Design Director, McLaren), Gav Strange (digital designer, Aardman), Professor Daniella Tilbury (Director of Sustainability, University of Gloucestershire), Mills Ustwo (digital designer/co-founder, Ustwo), Simon Waterfall (digital designer), Matthew Wells (director, Techniker structural engineers), Craig White (architect/design advisor, Carbon Trust) and Jonathan Worth (photographer/social media innovator/lecturer).

Incidently, the Festival is supported by Julian Dunkerton, founder of the SuperDry clothing brand and global retailer SuperGroup which was happily established in Cheltenham.

Nicknack {Adelaide}

29/03/2012

by LWC

Awesome agencies / LWC

Here on Cloud 9 we love the not-so-large fish, especially when we see them swimming briskly past the so called big boys with a confident fishy smile on their chirpy faces. Meet Nicknack, who operate from Australian waters, Adelaide to be more specific (you remember Parallax right – go Adelaide!) They talked to us about how, in such a culturally changing, new and emerging world, the playing field is levelling; smaller players are now stealing the first-mover advantage and upstaging their more established and typically better-resourced competitors.

The secret, say Nicknack, is to attract audiences at the newer touch points to which they’ve migrated with more engaging content. Very well put. Now into their 15th year, they’re clearly doing something very right…