In 2020 D&AD decided not to do a printed annual, a yearly book of some of the best advertising and design that year, adored and collected by many. Rhys Hughes and Barret Helander took this opportunity to create a bootleg annual, manually sourcing all the content themselves and giving the people what they wanted.
This is such a clever idea. As simple as taking the product of the client and making it move, relying on the fact that everybody in the world knows what your product looks like. So happy it wasn't quashed by the usual client response "But nobody will get it, we need to put big type over the top that reads – This is a picture of a Big Mac being moved at speed." ;)
Paris based agency Marcel have created an ingenious way of advertising the beautiful game for La Ligue – Get the soccer coaches to conduct the orchestra. A version of the "performance" shown here serves as Prime Video Sports' new opening credits sequence for La Ligue games each weekend. The symphony will also also play on jumbo screens in stadiums, and discussions are underway to make it available to the masses via Amazon Music. I wish they had used some of Guardiola booting a water bottle into the opposition bench though!
Darby Arens has produced some very clever and lovely pieces of art using what we've all been using for the past few years – The beautiful blue medical mask. There's something soothing about this particular blue color that we all associate with a crazy few years. Great collage black and white compositions simply transform the mask into very striking pieces of Art. You can purchase prints on her website here for $30. I'd love a set of these to frame in the office so am ordering mine now. They will definitely raise a smile from clients who can now visit our office, in person, without having to wear a mask.
Refractory is a furniture, lighting and object design studio based in Chicago. Refractory reflects a distinctly contemporary American design approach. One that is born of the spirit of the American West. The typography, graphic language and style really feels Wild West but in a modern way. The clever use of the upside down R to create the Y is reminiscent of forgery and riding equipment. It's such a beautifully simple idea that fits the client perfectly and is immaculately crafted, down to the tiniest detail.
A digital-video “book clock” by Japanese artist and designer Masaaki Hiromura from a decade ago. An ever-repeating video loop features 3 books representing the hours, minutes and seconds of a single day. One hand is seen to repeatedly turn each page, obsessively, exhaustingly, relentlessly to keep up with each second as it passes. The video shows the book clock in a Muji Shibuya window.
Sir Jony Ive and his team at LoveFrom have designed this year's red nose for Comic Relief. Having grown up celebrating this day as a kid in the UK (and adult), buying the new red nose each year was very important. There was no being cheap and wearing one from last year, or painting a ping pong ball red and doing a Blue Peter job on it. This was for an important charity.
The design uses recyclable materials and is built with ease of transport in mind – folding out from a flat crescent shape into a paper sphere when used.
As with everything that LoveFrom create — The attention to detail and functionality of the nose is beautiful. From how it opens, folds and stays on your nose, all the way down to the lovely little package the nose comes in.
Whale Tales is funded by the NSW Government in Australia. It's an initiative to help revitalize and celebrate Sydney’s Western Harbor Precinct. Interbrand Australia created a lovely identity and brand playing on the idea of 'Tales' and 'Tails'. Each sculpture lining the waterfront is created by a local artist and features a story celebrating Sydney. The logo is fantastic, cleverly combining a book and a tail. I especially love the die cut bookmark.
This is a lovely identity overall, but it's that achingly perfect mark that stands out. It’s such a fun concept, executed with exquisite precision – without losing any of its energy or life. No mean feat. I could just sit and stare at that G for an unhealthy amount of time.