Will there be a better advert this year?
Malika Favre has produced a series of posters along with Human After All for the 2015 BAFTA awards. They are pretty fantastic.
Grand Budapest Hotel
Birdman
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
A collection of typography & penmanship found in a book called ‘Speedball – textbook for pen & brush lettering – 18th edition’ (23rd edition available here). As the book I had is rather old, a lot of the type has been cleaned up after it was scanned in. Some lovely penmanship here
While working on some scanned typography in the new Photoshop CC 2014, I found a glitch which produced some pretty eye catching stuff.
This year I have been working on a A3 map & guide for Preston City Centre with
Pete Thompson and Preston City Council. It is to be available for free around the
city to be used as a guide on how to get around and see what Preston has to offer.
This post is a guide through the development of the project. The full project can
be seen here.
Research & Reference
Preston City Centre Map – Previous (A5)
Guild Wheel Map – Bicycle route of Preston (A2 approx)
Illustrated Preston City Centre Map (A3 approx)
Bristol City Map (A3) [link]
Newcastle Map (426mm x 426mm) [link]
Pentagram NYC Wayfinding [link]
Development
Development of the first version of the map where the initial groundwork was done for
the transport system and natural environments. While being as accurate as possible,
it was important for this map to be clear and simple so some roads have been slightly
simplified and not all roads have been included as they are not necessary for this map.
This video shows the development of the map from start to finish.
Project Extension
Based from the finished map that was produced, Preston Council along with fwdesign have produced a detailed version for a way-finding system. It essentially zooms into the initial design, adding extra detail which is necessary for way-finding signage. The system will be implemented into the redevelopment of Preston City Centre from August 2014. Picture to come…
To see the full project, please click here.
Typeface
Icons
I have worked with maps for a number of years now before the opportunity arose for the creation of a new map for Preston city centre. I am really looking forward to all the hard work finally in print and being used.
– Pete Thompson
Colours
Map
To see Development and Project Extension, Click Here
Client: Preston City Council
Date Published: 18/02/14
Design: Ric Bixter & Pete Thompson
For the Grand National this year I created a poster showing all the runners with (roughly) their ratings and odds. Useful for sweepstakes! If you would like a printable version for your own sweepstakes, you can download it Here
Information collected on 02/04/14 from
grand-national-guide.co.uk
grandnational.racingpost.com
grand-national2014.co.uk
In 2013 there was plenty of amazing design like David Pearson – Nineteen Eighty-Four Cover and SagmeisterWalsh – Function Engineering. It is impossible to just pick one definite favourite but, for the purpose of a blog post, I decided to pick The Independent re-design as my Design of 2013.
The bold redesign is a clean and stylistic look at newspaper design. With the new logotype sprawled down the side creates an instant impact, especially compared to the previous (and by no means worst) design.
The changes themselves are less a redesign and more a complete overhaul, thanks in part to the new set of typefaces designed by Henrik Kubel of A2/SW/HK and A2-Type, that are worked through the newspaper. Designing from the type up has meant that the way each page works has been rethought, restructured, and, in particular, de-cluttered and simplified.
[Creative Review 07/11/13]
The paper’s new design, its third since 2010, took three months – and Willey worked closely with head of creative Dan Barber and Stephen Petch, art director of the Sunday New Review. According to editor Amol Rajan, the aim was to recreate the ‘classic with a twist’ design of its 1986 launch, and radiate “the feeling of a broadsheet in compact form.”
While The Independent retains its compact format, a fresh editorial strategy informed the redesign. Willey says that stories are now mainly short news-in-briefs or longer features, with less mid-length content. This enabled the team to contrast the story lengths, creating more clean space on each page.
Nowhere is this more prominent than on the front page, where the new masthead placement is intended to allow the lead image and headline room for impact. However, the new layout presents a common editorial design challenge: by positioning the picture story directly above the lead story, there is a danger the two could be perceived as connected, placing increased pressure on the main headline to create the necessary visual hierarchy.
[Computer Arts Issue 222]
And now for a selection of my favourite spreads/shots of the design.
Designed by Matt Willey and the in-house team at The Independent
Part One and two of a fantastic and terrifying video on creativity and time.
Part one-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C_HReR_McQ
Part two-