We'll have no lip here.

Seen on the Underground. I really enjoy witnessing how words and signs can be abused by their surroundings. This is a great example, reflected in the announcement of the driver; after the ever predictable “Mind the doors,” came, “That means you sir. Which part of ‘Stand clear of the doors’ do you not understand? You stupid little man.” I get so tired of the repetitive, non-informative looped announcements it’s nice to hear a real tube driver with a real personality.

Who is Dan Bowskill?

Dan has to be a creative guy if he is reusing other peoples adverts to promote himself like this. Resourceful too. I am sure if I wandered around this tube station I would see some more DIY ads for his new album. This gives me an idea… nice one Dan, thanks.

handwriting

If my handwriting was half a tidy as this I too would be tempted to write on the walls.

Stencils

I thought I would back-post some things that have caught my eye recently.
Northern stencils are going strong: A sample of the niceties I have seen on the streets of Newcastle recently. There’s some hard work that has gone into these for sure.

Going going gone

Went to my first Auction today. Got caught up and bought a piece of art for R. Last of the big spenders I am not. Quite fun and must do it again.

Branding

Interesting perspective on Brands by Zefrank. Movie here
In summary (if you don't want to watch it, 5 mins or so) The New York Times reports that DNA tests refute claims by creepy-looking football head John Karr that he was involved in the killing of Jon-Benet Ramsey. County district attorney Mary Lacey asked that the arrest warrant be dismissed, saying no evidence has developed, other than his repeated admissions, to place Mr. Karr at the scene of the crime.

What was this man doing? He was trying to leverage popularity by attaching himself to a brand. [the] Jon-Benet brand. It's just not one most people would want to associate themselves with. And it worked! He got a business-class flight out of it, and the overall brand experience now includes his weird head. What do you mean by brand?

A brand is an emotional aftertaste that's conjured up by, but not necessarily dependent on, a series of experiences.

And so he goes on.

To be wanted

Apparently everyone needs design, and therefore everyone needs designers (which, as a designer myself, is comforting to know) or we are in deep sh**. So said the mighty Sir George Cox, Chairman of THE Design Conference at a seminar I went to last night. I am thinking of getting a white van, an 0800 number and a boiler suit for all those design emergencies. He had one or two interesting things to say, but all very non-specific without being too applicable on an individual level, more about large scale business getting out of their ruts and trying new things. Keys in the ashtray perhaps?

True Story

Heard in a cafe up here in the North:
Q: What's the fish?
A: It's battered.
Q: No, what type of fish?
A: I'll just look on the box… No, we don't have any fish.

True story.

The Brand Museum

While I would hesitate to call this bizarre collection of paraphernalia and actual museum I still rate it. The madness that possessed someone to horde and collect items that most of us consider as junk most of the time somehow transforms itself into a spooky glimpse into the pantries of days gone by. For us designers there is a mountain of inspiration, in particular watching how a brand such as Johnson's & Johnson's has stayed up to date without really changing year by year, although it has. For the non-designer it might be a expensive trip down memory lane. I hear Smash Mash is about to make a come-back. Full circle. Some of those old washing powders are a million times better than what litters out supermarket shelves nowadays. I say lets bring 'em back!

Time flies with you

Funny how time flies. Even when you are.
NYC was great. Nice to have such a central base to call home (along with the 5 billion or so cockroaches, rats and other less welcome neighbours). This will have to be a highlights show, I'm afraid. So many little details went un-recorded, but it felt appropriate at the time.
Overall impression of the city: more friendly than last time (10 yrs ago)
Overall impression of the people: loud.
Actually (honk) I'll have to add that (honk) of all the (honkhonk) places I have ever been none (honkcrash) have ever been as noisy (bang) as Manhattan (honk). 24/7. Whether it is the roar of the air conditioners at 3am or the power tools destroying the roads and snarling up the traffic causing everyone within 3ft of a horn to feel an unshakable urge to lean on it, you are constantly being assaulted by noise after noise after noise.
That aside there was time for reflection. Actually what I really want to share is the very cool invention/art piece Ummit and I stumbled across. It is called The Lonely Jacket. Made of Velcro© this hooded jacket is designed to change the way we interact with strangers (or to be more specific, strangers also wearing the same jacket). It was a laugh putting it on and pratting about in the gallery, and as a conceptual piece well worth the entry fee (actually it was free but you catch my drift).
Strolling over the Brooklyn Bridge was more interesting than you might expect too.
Boozing on the roof terrace of a bar with a million dollar view; the Chrysler and the Empire States, lit up with their own colour codes, incomprehensible to me but stunning nonetheless.
A home game at Yankee Stadium in the sun, where the chants have a long way to go before they can compete in the international chanting championships.