Archive for the 'Cities' Category

Forthcoming Events

TLATEHIIN PAVILION 2012

Monday, 14 May 2012

The island of Tlaethiin rose from the melting arctic ice like a glimmering jewel, establishing itself as a country of wealth and opulence.

To celebrate the unveiling of the new arctic nation you are invited to the opening of:
TLATEHIIN PAVILION OF THE 2012 WORLD EXPO.

Opening to the world from 8pm May 14th.

For more information please contact solveigsuess@hotmail.com

Before this special opening an exclusive dining extravaganza will be taking place, exploring Tlatehiin through the decadence of confectionary. Places for the dining event are limited, with a raffle being held to secure a seat.

If you would like to be in with a chance of experiencing this arctic treat, please come equipped with one gold coin ready to be transferred into your lucky number and contact:

Izzykertland@gmail.com
or come by the office:
Graphic Design,Visual Communication.
floor 2, Skypark 5.

Image: Tlatehiin- Jewel of the Arctic

Perspectives on the City

News that a group of urban explorers had broken in to and climbed the as-yet unfinished ‘Shard’ in London, got me thinking back to an amazing thread of articles on BldgBlog about explorers of urban tunnels. Finding new perspectives on the city creates some interesting opportunities to push at the definition of what is or isn’t public space, and how our cities are planned, built and run, (and who owns the view). It also raised the question of space vs population, and what if we need to start building down, as well as up?

There’s a further article here, called What it’s like to (illegally) climb London’s tallest building, and John Thackara uses this unusual perspective on urban living as a route in to looking at the bigger picture here.

Postcards from India #5: The Final Installment


12 hours til our flight back home, just chillin’
— see you on monday :)

Occupy Design?

Folk might be interested in this forthcoming event: I personally have some questions about the idea of ‘occupy design’ but undoubtedly the event will be a melting pot of ideas and proposals and one which could lead to some interesting outcomes.

‘This Space Is Not For Hire’ will take place at the Bank of Ideas, an occupied former bank near Liverpool Street Station.

Running across the afternoons of Saturday the 28 and Sunday 29 January 2012, will be a range of talks on topics such as: radical forms of communication and design activism; the precariousness of design employment; and exposing and reflecting upon the ways design is used to give a friendly veneer to the worst kinds of Corporate behaviour.

via Eye blog » Higher ground. Occupy Design is an opportunity to change design, and design for change..

Postcards from India #4

According to the students at NID, Seb is really Bill Gates in disguise. And Ross, obviously, is Tom Cruise. The boys seem to have survived their stomach bug and are back in school, hopeful they will be well enough for the eight hour bus ride to the desert tonight

Postcards from India #3

highlights so far:

beth – cheap fags
lydia – her cheese sandwich
callum – photographing EVERYTHING
seb – becoming recognized as the worlds richest man
ross – becoming recognized as a worldwide heart-throb / scientologist

yours truly,

bill (seb) and tom (ross)

Postcards from India #2

“All the boys are feeling a bit wobbly today, just left Ross hugging a bucket in the hotel room, the intrepid Lydia and Beth are off filming somewhere and me and Callum are just catching up on emails. (Having a good time for the most part, but being a voyeur on slum life can be a bit unsettling). Here is a video of one of our many chauffeurs.”

See more.

Studio Surfing

Open Studio Club is a nice idea, a bit like couch-surfing for designers.

The Occupied Times of London

Creative Review surveys The Occupied Times of London. Obviously, whether the protest and occupation are ‘nicely designed’ is missing the point, but nevertheless, its interesting to see something that is in someways more imaginative than the standard fare of left-of-centre graphic clichés, I think. And also good, regardless of what you think of the aesthetic/ethics, to see people deploying their design skills in a hands-on way, rather than the obscure and meaningless distant quest for a logo of this approach.

For more information on Occupy Glasgow, click this.

Glasgow 1980

Glasgow 1980, as viewed by Oscar Marzaroli, from 1971. In reference to Nostalgia Now brief.

Every Movement Needs a Logo?

Comment on the design politics of Occupy Wall Street. (Originally) from the NY times.

Whose Legacy?

Friday 21st October, 2-30-4.30. Clubroom, Upstairs at The Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), 350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD

The Commonwealth Games 2014: Whose Legacy?

Short introductory talk by Dr Libby Porter (Urban Planner and Researcher, Glasgow Uni) and Neil Gray (Writer and Researcher, Glasgow Uni) about the Legacy of Mega-Events,  and large-scale urban regeneration plans in the UK and worldwide.

A discussion will follow with a series of live accounts by residents – including carers from the Save the Accord centre, who are campaigning to retain a day care centre for people with learning disabilities, and Margaret Jaconelli, who has recently been evicted from her home. The residents will talk about about the impact the Commonwealth Games development is having upon their lives.

This discussion, focusing on media portrayal and the right of residents to ‘stay put’ in the face of large-scale urban transformation and displacement, will be interspersed with a series of short films that highlight recent  experiences on, and nearby, the site of the Commonwealth Games Village

Includes special screening of a short film about Margaret Jaconelli and the forthcoming Commonwealth Games  by Glasgow documentary photographer and filmmaker, Chris Leslie. (14 mins) www.chrisleslie.com

Riots by Design: Blaming the London Olympics

An interesting article on the Design Altruism blog by Daniel Drenan on the role designers and design education could play in helping communities to resist Gentrification and the numerous negative affects Mega-events such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games have on their host cities.

Amongst many interesting observations the article gives an account of a series of workshops that happened in a college in Beirut in which students were given four groups to research in terms of particular Olympic games cities and their communicated messages: The Olympic Committee itself, the host city government, the design firm responsible for the corporate identity, and any protesters they could find. The article then goes on to discuss the information gathered by the students research and the work that was created in response to it.

For up to date  information on the London Olympics the Gamesmonitor site is worth a visit.  I would also thoroughly recommend watching Five Ring Circus a film about the Vancouver Winter Olympics available to watch free online and Olympicfield a film found in the year 2015 near the London Olympics site.

in 2015 near the London Olympics site

911

On 911, identity and architecture. Also, an interesting take on this from the perspective of the pervasive influence of the vivid visual image.

Sown: Exhibition Opening

Photography: Daniele Sambo / Design Maeve Redmond + Sophie Dyer

Social Media, Public Space

This really interesting post; Tahrir Square: Social Media, Public Space (on Design Observer), looks at the parallel role of virtual and physical space in recent events in the Middle East. With #Jan25, #Bahrain and the like ’trending’ on twitter, (not to mention the implication of Wikileaks earlier in the story), there’s much talk of this being a ‘communication’ revolution, but the article contextualises this nicely alongside some analysis of shared public spaces.

London Study Trip

1st Year Department of Visual Communication

London Study Trip
24-27 January 2011

25.1.11
DAY 1

VISIT / 10.00am
- Company / Alex Swain
http://www.company-london.com/
- An informal insight into business acumen combined with how to take a client on a creative journey.

VISIT / 11.30am
- The Association of Illustrators / Paul Ryding
http://www.theaoi.com/
- There is very little former graduate Paul Ryding does not know about contemporary illustration.

VISIT / 1.00pm
- Tomato / Michael Horsham
http://www.tomato.co.uk/
- An intimate sharing of large and small projects from one of the most influential agencies. There portfolio goes back to 1991 and are continuing to work with Underworld.

VISIT / 4.00pm
- Pentagram / Jane Pluer
http://pentagram.com/en/portfolio/
- One of the most impressive offices in the creative industries with a workshop to match. Imperious work delivered with style and elegance.

26.1.11
DAY 2

VISIT / 11.00am
- Browns Design / Jonathan Ellery
http://brownsdesign.com/
- Jonathan engaged with the students immediately by asking how they defined art compared to design. Award winning work from a man who applauds the students form outside London including The Glasgow School of Art.

VISIT / 1.30pm
- Field / Vera-Maria Glahn
http://www.field.io/
- A German duo working with all the latest programming software and code to produce really beautiful ‘cross-media’ work. Cool rooftop garden with views over to the City of London.

VISIT / 4.30pm
- Build / Nicky and Michael Place with former graduate Lynne Devine
http://wearebuild.com/
- Michael allowed us to touch, feel and sniff the quality of his best design for print. Designers Republic guru happy to be working in a small agency with one of our best graduates.

Alcoholics Anonymous

Yet another quick link to a great video resource on the AA website. As with so much, it’s via Manystuff.

Dead Drops

Dead Drops is a fantastically clandestine and covert way to share information. Thanks to Philip Blakie, PD.

Uncorporate and Critical Identity

I don’t often write posts about the book and website of the week (see right), but these two are worth a special mention. Uncorporate Identity, if I may be subjective for a moment, is the current book to read about visual language, identity (crisis), urbanism, politics and design – erudite and far-sighted, an awkward and exhilarating ride. DxCrit is a very useful design criticism resource, allied to the design criticism course at SVA in NYC. A video from that below, on failure and design.

Crossing the Line: The 2010 D-Crit Conference: Peter Hall from D-Crit on Vimeo.