Guardian 200 Years

In 2021, the Guardian turned 200, and the newspaper wanted to celebrate the milestone with existing readers whilst gaining new subscribers. Instead of celebrating past achievements, the Guardian chose to focus on what comes next.

The campaign uses very clever copywriting and juxtaposition of billboards — Obviously a copy led direction for a newspaper but definitely not obvious copy. Fantastic work by Oliver Agency who have structured themselves to exclusively design, build and run bespoke in-house agencies and marketing systems for brands. This must be a real challenge as a model but they are proving that it works by producing great work like this.

Busaba

Paul Belford Ltd.

Rob Duncan:

A wonderful identity, beautifully and cleverly crafted by Paul Belford Ltd. for a Thai restaurant. It’s been years since I did some marbling. Perfectly representing the lovely spices being blended together. The logo, represents a flower, alluding to the fact that ‘Busaba’ can mean ‘flower’ in Thai. The petals of the flower logo are heart-shaped, drawing on two of the important philosophies that inform Busaba’s culture: ‘sookjai’ and ‘namjai’. ‘Sookjai’, meaning ‘happy heart’. Very tasty!

Rail Road

Pacifica

Bob Young:

Rail Road is an exceptional project designed by Pacifica. The book is the print documentary of a film about the Portuguese surfer Nic von Rupp, directed by Gustavo Imigrante. Remarkably they have managed to create a physical piece that not only serves as a companion to the film but works as a compelling standalone book.

Super Trash

Seachange

Jamie Ellul:

I’m in love with this work by my new fave agency Seachange. Supertrash is a disruptive new player in the waste management sector. A small, family-run collection service with a big purpose; to help divert waste from landfill through circular solutions. Seachange have created an iconic globe logo that references the circular economy. Overprinting is utilised to evoke repurposing and recycling, paired with bold pattern and copy.

Imagine if all rubbish collections looked this good.

Amsterdam Sinfonietta

Studio Dumbar

Shane Keane:

Studio Dumbar’s work for Amsterdam Sinfonietta is wonderful in how it does so much with so little. Just type, colour, and scale. Oh, and it really sings when animated. Orchestras afford plenty of creative latitude to graphic designers—yet it’s rare to to see something this distinct, beautiful and off the beaten track. Encore!

The Lester Prize for Portraiture

Block

Kevin Finn:

Previously called the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture, the institution has been renamed The Lester Prize for Portraiture in honour of the founding patron Richard Lester.

This shift has resulted in a simple and dynamic identity, cleverly leveraging the universal structure of portraits but in a minimal way. Just lovely…

Resource Identity Refresh

Executive

Kevin Finn:

Such a beautifully crafted icon and identity. Clever and simple.

For a company that distributes furniture and helps with saving space, this identity program is a great example of restraint—balanced with enough character, and in the most appropriate way, while still ensuring legibility remains. I’m quite a fan of this one…

MacDonald’s Mobile Ordering Ads

Rob Duncan:

Not sure which agency did these but very clever indeed. Made me smile!

Teach them to fish, (or be creative)…

Keri Smith

Andrew Ashton:

Many designers around the world understand that creative thinking can make a difference, and yet only a few people outside of the creative field understand the difference it can make. This publication by Keri Smith takes a long term view to solve the community’s creative deficit, by inspiring the next generation to creatively challenge the status quo via exploring ideas and process that are in our everyday.

Wreck this Journal
Keri Smith
ISBN 978 0141 97614 3

Keri’s website