Tuesday 29 November 2011

Another Printer...?

This is amazing.


In this age of all things digital, it's very difficult to produce something that uses paper in a non wasteful way. In fact the cons outweigh the positives in using paper so much that it looks to be obsolete in 20 years. But this little printer is very neat, concise and innovative. It picks and prints out snippets of tweets, images, news, (and pretty much anything thing else you want on there) out on a piece of paper- the size of a receipt. Not only does it bring the digital age back down to a more traditional approach, it is relevant and in my opinion, convenient for the consumer. If you've only got five minutes, print out the information and you have it on a bit of paper- want to come back to it? pin it onto your fridge, keep it on your desk.

So it may not be perfect, and there may be a huge road ahead for improvements and developments, but I like where it is going.

Thursday 13 October 2011

Saachi Gallery, London

I have wanted to visit the Gallery for a while and just stumbled upon the opportunity a couple of days ago. Having had high expectations, I definitely was not let down. I was greeted with a very cheery employee who didn't get waste any time to mention the free tour. The tour, a bit short for my liking, picked out a few exhibitions and noted the artists ideas within their work, and also gave me the freedom to explore the other works without any pre connotations of knowing what they were about.

The gallery itself was very spacious, and I was very impressed how they trusted the visitors to "behave". A simple but clear sign by each exhibition stated that they appreciated a "no hands" policy, to avoid cornering off each sculpture. This is how a museum should be, to view the pieces as they are, without the distance, and WITH interaction. The spacious rooms gave the whole gallery a calm and open feel, focusing on quality rather than quantity- something other museums need to pick up on.

A few picks from the gallery (all pieces are personal collections of Charles Saachi himself!)

(Kris Martin)- The tiny paper cross really puts the rock in perspective.

(Richard Wilson) A perfect juxtaposition how something so ugly can be so still and beautiful. (The floor is actually flooded with oil)

(Folkert De Jong) Colourful but toxic, this circus scene is made from styrofoam.

(Thomas Houseago) The rough and 'unfinished' sculptures resonated with my idea of the vulnerability and imperfections of the modern world.

(all images from Saachi Gallery, London)

Friday 5 August 2011

Brand Reversions

This is fantastic. Graham Smith has taken logos of competing companies and swapped them around to produce this mind boggling result. You can view more reversions on his website www.imjustcreative.co.uk/brandreversioning


The logos could not look more natural or unnerving at the same time. Natural because it would take a second glance to realise the names are different and unnerving because we all recognise what the real companies are.

This project really highlights the subjectivity of graphic design. On one hand, it shows how brands have become recognisable in an instant but also how little the name actually matters, because a quick glance over may not see anything out of the ordinary....which can be a problem when the two companies are rivals. Are competing companies all that different from one another?