Picnic Coffee
Supple Studio
Rob Duncan:

I love a clever word mark almost as much as I love Bath. Supple Studio have created a charming identity for a coffee shop in Bath, UK. Their mission is to make good coffee accessible to everyone – specialty coffee without the pomp. Clever solutions such as these definitely appeal to the mass consumer. They make you smile and create an immediate emotional connection with the public. Using the illustrations to highlight the hidden cups creates a playful and extremely accessible visual language. Perfect work Jamie and team.

Mastercard
Pentagram
Rob Duncan:

A clean up of possibly the 2 most famous circles in the world. The temptation of making a stand and changing for the sake of change is enormous for designers. The proper thing and the humble thing to do is exactly what Pentagram did. Make an icon more iconic, and give new tools for the brand to express itself. Putting egos aside they did exactly what the brand needed.

‘I’m an Activist for Action for Children’ Glastonbury
Neon
Jim Sutherland:

A beautifully simple idea of using paper hats to get campaign messages across and people actively involved.

Arrels
Pepe & Javier Llaudet
Tilman Sole:

Arrels, which means “roots” in English, is a Barcelona based footwear brand created by two cousins: Pepe and Javier Llaudet. The brand has two concepts: the countryside and tradition on one side and the city and innovation on the other. Their motto is “upbeat shoes”. They co-create their collections with illustrators, musicians, graphic designers or perfumers. With care and detail, like every artisan, they create unique shoes.

El Dorado
Folch Studio
Tilman Sole:

Every designer has imagined the day when the ideal client asks you to do your dream magazine. This will not happen… unless you decide to do it yourself. And that is exactly was Folch Studio and Goroka did with Eldorado. A magazine seeking intimate travel moments, searching the sublime aesthetic of nature. The project has grown and is now a transmedia editorial platform created by a collective of content creators, filmmakers, designers and storytellers. Take a journey on Eldorado and enjoy.

Southwark Underground Roundel
Michael Craig-Martin
Matt Baxter:

Amid all of the justified hoo-ha surrounding the recent opening of the Tate’s new Switch House gallery extension, this lovely detail caught my attention. Sadly not permanent, Michael Craig-Martin’s wonderfully dayglo interpretation of the London Underground roundel brought a burst of fizzy colour out of the gallery and into the world. (And we Brits could all do with a bit more fizzy colour right now.) Image by Fred Butler.

Lest We Forget Stamps for Royal Mail
hat-trick design
Jamie Ellul:

hat-trick design have been creating beautiful Lest We Forget remembrance stamps for the Royal Mail since 2006. They’ve taken the humble poppy and elevated it to art form over and over with these wonderful designs and clever collaborations – working with everyone from photographer John Ross to artist Howard Hodgkin. And this years remembrance stamp in collaboration with photographer Giles Revel is just stunning. One icon but so many ideas – amazing. Can’t wait for next years.

Mucem — Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée
Spassky Fischer
Mitch Paone:

Striking work by Paris based studio Spassky and Fischer for the Mucem – Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée. Sometimes all you need is perfectly set type and great colors.

Animail
Osborne Ross
Rob Duncan:

Not only is it a FANTASTIC idea, but the animals are beautifully designed too. Osborne Ross designed a series of 6 animal stamps to appeal to children (and adults!). The stamps also have fold marks, showing where to position them on the envelope so they look like they are clinging onto the edge. Genius. And getting the post office to actually do this. Double Genius!