Promoting Tap Water

We've al heard about unnecessary packaging and eco-friendly products and everything we can possibly learn about recycling.

With so much (packaging) going to waste, the government has to find different ways of attracting consumers to join the plea and this is one of them. 

The whole concept of buying bottled water to me is unbelievable. So man people complain about scams and excessive pricing, yet they don't seem to attack this sector, the idea of buying water when clean, drinkable water comes for free (almost) out of a tap. I can understand that it is a good idea, to have water accessible to those that need it outside the home, but things have gone too far with the level of branding out there. How did it become such a big sector in business?

This company is dedicated to promoting tap water, selling reusable bottles for £6. Yes it is a little pricey but the money that would be saved in the long term makes it worth it. I really like the design of the bottle aswell, very contemporary and straight forward. I wouldn't be ashamed of carrying that around.

If you have the time visit their site, and if you have the money, buy a bottle!

Emotional Design

A really great book for anyone who is interested in advertising, product design and psychology. It gives a very persuasive argument how aesthetically pleasing objects tend to be preferred even if the product is useless at its job because it is innate for people to be attracted to beautiful/pretty things. It also follows on to discuss how people can become emotionally attached to certain objects, usually for sentimental reasons as it represents/symbolises a memory or something special. It also analyses other areas of design, linking it back to the effects on people.

It is a delightful read, so can be enjoyed casually rather than an educational book that needs to be read.

New Coin Designs

Revealed back in April this year, the new coin designs were created by Matthew Dent, and when they are all put together it makes the Royal shield of Arms. That's cool.

It's a shame it doesn't include the £2 coin, and separately they look a bit odd- maybe it just needs time to get use to the asymmetrical design but I'm already imagining scenes where everyone tries to "make the shield" by fishing around their pockets and wallets for the new coins.  

Styles, Schools and Movements

This is a really good reference book for most of the art movements through the past couple of centuries. Ignoring the name of the book (because it sounds rather childish), it has some really useful information for each movement as well as giving examples of the different artists that used those techniques.