Come to the Typocircle talk last week

November 29, 2016

A short post to say thanks to everyone who came to the Typocircle talk about A Smile in the Mind last week, which I failed to announce in advance on this blog.

It was good fun talking to a knowledgeable audience, who listened patiently as Greg Quinton and I explained how and why we updated the book, and talked through some of the projects featured. There were monsters, birds, bananas, gravestones, Everton shops, upside-down shops, grumpy faces, Trump posters and a brief appearance from Herr Kutz.

The event wasn’t filmed, but it was sketched (by Phil Carter, one of many great interviewees in the book). You will have to imagine the rest, or come along last week if you can.

Society of Design Conference 2015

October 20, 2015

Just back from an extended trip to Philadelphia to talk at the Society of Design conference. It took place in the Harrison Auditorium in Penn Museum and was hosted by Craig Welsh of Go Welsh.

As part of my talk, I revived the rearranging-corporate-copy idea of Corpoetics to write a poem based on Go Welsh’s profile copy.

I also took the chance to talk about a few interesting pieces of writing spotted over the last year or so.

And it was my first opportunity to talk about a new version of this book, which will be coming out early next year.

The best part was being able to hear from six other speakers, all from different disciplines. To give an idea of the range:

John Ryan talked about his work as Director of Interaction Design at Local Projects, including this City Pulse installation at One World Trade Center.

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Oskar Zieta talked about his studio’s mind-boggling technique for inflating steel with high-pressured air to create strong but lightweight forms, for use in everything from furniture to space stations.

Spencer Charles and Kelly Thorn spoke about their beautiful work, previously for Louise Fili and now independently – I was a particular fan of this layered ampersand poster.

Alisa Wolfson gave an insight into design as part of a big ad agency – she heads the Department of Design at Leo Burnett in Chicago. Recipeace is the award-winning D&AD White Pencil project, but I also liked this single-minded branding work for McDonald’s.

Craig Dykers runs architectural firm Snøhetta, which is responsible for a wonderful array of buildings, including The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet and the 9/11 Memorial Museum Pavilion.

When Snøhetta turned its attention briefly from architecture to graphics, it immediately created one of the stand-out projects of the last decade. These Norwegian banknotes won a competition a while back and are coming into circulation next year.

Finally, Annie Atkins talked about her graphic design work for The Boxtrolls and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Not only great work, but also a fascinating story told with clarity and humour.

Thanks to Craig Welsh and everyone who provided such gracious hospitality.

Talking writing

September 2, 2015

It’s not often I get away from my desk, but I’ve had the privilege of being invited to a Society of Design conference in Philadephia this October, thanks to organiser Craig Welsh at Go Welsh.

If this blog has any readers in or near Philadelphia, please come along – in fact, email me and I may be able to arrange a discount. You can find more information on the speakers (an interesting and eclectic line-up) and venue here: societyofdesign.org

I’ll be talking about the writing I like, the way writing works with design, giving some insight into a book I’ve been working on, and talking about anything else I can think of between now and October. Afterwards, I will have a beer with anyone who will drink with me.