Matt Tams™

This is in response to the (now not-so-)new HP logo created by...

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:23:37 +0000

This is in response to the (now not-so-)new HP logo created by Moving Brands. And I like it. I do. But if that’s a ‘p’, then surely that ‘h’ could be interpreted as a ‘b’? Probably best to avoid any association to the letters ‘BP’ at the moment.

So I thought, well how would I do it? Like I said, I like the overall simplicity of what Moving Brands have done, so I didn’t want to completely start afresh. I took the four slanted vertical lines and played around a bit.

First, I added some serif-like curves, just to echo the letters ‘h’ and ‘p’ a bit more literally.

Then I thought, ‘what about rounded corners?’ This second version strongly hints at ‘h’ and ‘p’ shapes, but the large, gentle curves lost the logo’s overall feeling of being rooted in technology.

So thirdly, I played with diagonal cuts in place of the curves. Introducing these cuts at the extremities of the ‘h’ and ‘p’ seemed to enhance this particular logo’s effect.

I looked back at Moving Brands’ version, and while I’d gone for an 8-degree slant, they’d referred to the original HP logo’s 13-degree slant. So I tried this on my three versions, and found that reducing the height by 80% gave each logo a very welcome compactness.

Ultimately, I thought the most effective logo overall was the third version, in its compact, 13-degree form. Dare I say slightly prefer it to what Moving Brands have come up with..?

Monks Cross II: Where I stand

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:08:05 +0000

After having seen the numerous Say No to Monks Cross II! posters throughout the shop windows of York’s city centre independents, I thought I’d better find out more about this MCII proposal, and just what on earth it is.

Cue an(other) excellent article from new, York-based media company One&Other. I tried to keep as open a mind as possible whilst reading it, and, when I reached the end (and skimmed a couple of the comments at the bottom), came to this conclusion:

How is MCII such a bad thing?

York can’t be stuck in the past. Now don’t get me wrong: this beautiful city has a varied, fascinating and utterly unique history, celebrated not only by the likes of Jorvik, but simply by the presence of the city itself. From the ancient city walls to Shambles, from Clifford’s Tower to the Minster, the city is both quaintly charming and gloriously magnificent. Even its more recent history in confectionery is something to shout about. The proof is in the pudding: new attraction York’s Sweet Story is due to open 31st March.

Then there’s the racecourse, Betty’s, the award-winning York Maize, the markets, and the wonderful variety of festivals ranging from Illuminate York to the Food and Drink Festival. Hundreds flock to the city during Christmas to appreciate the dazzling beauty of York by winter, and to enjoy some fantastic pantomimes put on at both the Grand Opera House and the Theatre Royal. (I can tell you now, Berwick Kaler’s productions are a must-see.)

On top of all this comes the vibrancy and buzz of being a two-university city. Between York St John University and the University of York, the city is capable of catering for all manner of subjects and courses, attracting the attention of both international students and those from the UK. Vast numbers of students say they’d like to stay in the city beyond completing their degree; parents approve of their sons and daughters studying here too. And it doesn’t matter too much where in Britain you’re from, as York is fantastically well-connected by rail - the railways being another aspect of its history which I neglected to mention earlier.

Will Monks Cross II lay any of this to waste? I sincerely doubt it. I respect that I’m a student here. An ‘interloper’. But I love York and I want to see it do well; for that to happen, it can’t be allowed to stagnate.

Right now, York seems to be seen as an alternative to the ‘big day out’ experience of places such as Leeds or Manchester, and in the mind of the tourist is in fact more equatable to the likes of Harrogate, Chester or Bath. This is not a weakness; far from it. But MCII will provide more choices, more possibilities, allowing it to compete against both the Manchesters and the Chesters.

Besides shopping, MCII promises to offer facilities to aid the continuing growth of York St John, and a multi-purpose Community Stadium to house both York City Football Club and York City Knights Rugby League Football Club.

I’ll hold my hands up now and admit that I’ve never taken a trip to see the Knights - not even in their fixture against my home-town Halifax RLFC (although I really wanted to). But having been to Bootham Crescent, it seems fairly safe to say that the city’s one and only football club could only benefit from the new facilities on offer, if it is to advance much further beyond its current Conference-level status. And naturally, progression has to be the aim - where’s the worth in simply making up the numbers?

MCII will not wipe people’s memories of all that York currently has to offer - nor will it detract from those attractions. But what it will do is boost the potential for progression for its sporting clubs, advance what it has to offer to students, and expand the possibilities for both job-seekers and tourists. I kept my mind open; now my mind’s made up.

You can't be wrong; only experienced.

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:17:00 +0000

In the creative industries, there is surely no right or wrong. A product can be good, or even great, but it can’t be ‘right’. It should be in a constant state of revision and evolution, infinitely unfinished. Nothing should be considered the ultimate, complete incarnation of itself. Even great designs can be, and have been, vastly improved.

Likewise, that which isn’t so good can’t be ‘wrong’. This is merely one of many explorations taken by someone who is actually curious enough to investigate all avenues. Mistakes should not be discarded. They exist to be learnt from, to aid the development of a truly well thought-out proposal. Try avoiding mistakes, and you may as well try making an omelette without breaking any eggs. If you manage to do this, show me how.

No creative should be afraid of being wrong. Whether you’re a graphic designer, an industrial designer, a musician, a film-maker, an actor, a photographer… whatever. You can’t be ‘wrong’. You can only be ‘experienced’.

If you don’t fail at least 90 percent of the time, you’re not aiming high enough. - Alan Kay

Took this photo with an early Christmas present from my...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:11:00 +0000

Took this photo with an early Christmas present from my parents. It’s a Samsung Galaxy S2, it really is a great phone (my experience so far hasn’t fallen much short of the all the reviews it’s been getting, barring a couple of teething issues), and I’m a very lucky boy!

Discover Define Develop Deliver Discover: There’s a...

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:10:00 +0000

Discover Define Develop Deliver

Discover: There’s a problem with many of the waste disposal systems provided for residents of flats and apartments. Clearly. This is where the residents of one particular apartment block have to take their bin bags. But what are the root causes of these problems? And how may they be resolved?

Inspired by the Post-It Wars, Ryan from the SU wanted to use...

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:49:00 +0000

Inspired by the Post-It Wars, Ryan from the SU wanted to use post-it notes to raise awareness of the importance of programme representatives at the university - the idea was that programme reps are the ‘heroes of your course!’ (As a programme rep, it was very hard to stay modest about this)

I sketched a superhero image and finished it off in Photoshop, which was used to map out where the post-it notes should go. This superhero figure was also used on posters as a kind of promo for this guerilla project (see below!).

Scenario

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:50:45 +0100

Throughout the summer I’ve been researching areas of design that interest me; this began with the idea of reinventing now-defunct products (probably just because I love the Valentine so much), and, through various avenues and dead-ends of thought, I reached the interesting topic of designers’ responsibility, with emphasis on sustainability.

What role has design had to play in creating and/or sustaining a throwaway culture?
What about its role (and possible responsibility) in changing this culture?
… What’s so wrong with a throwaway culture anyway?

Chasing this for a more specific subject, I’ve followed the theme of sustainability and ended up going almost full-circle, thinking about the possibility of redefining a product’s function. Or, “repurposing it at the end of its useful life”.

I found a great many examples of this when I went to the Design Museum last month, and it’s definitely a relevant and contemporary challenge. Catch is, our products and briefs need to be scenario-driven. Which, let’s face it, is what our careers will be like once we leave the university bubble. So what’s the scenario?

As I’ve already hinted at, we now live in a throwaway society. The Industrial Revolution gave rise to a whole new way of producing and selling goods; the IR also occurred at a time when our understanding of nature was much poorer than it is today. In the mid-1800s, nature was perceived as an immovable, omnipotent force, rich for material exploitation to drive the Revolution.

Nowadays, we’d like to think we know better. We certainly know that nature is in a far more delicate balance than our relatives could ever have imagined. Yet our society is still founded on the principles founded during the IR: we take what we want, and we dump what we don’t - this is true at both industrial and consumer levels. The art of Andy Warhol is a great example of how this attitude has developed into the culture we have today.

With each generation, a particular way of living is passed down. Many moons ago, that way of living used to be to make things last; that’s developed into letting things go to waste, because, frankly, it’s easier. We as individuals can afford to waste things now; our grandparents and great-grandparents weren’t in such a fortunate position, and held dear their sturdy, reliable possessions. But the values we hold dear today are almost the complete opposite: newer, bigger, better, quicker. In a word, “more”. We value having more. More powerful, more often. What happens to the old stuff? Doesn’t matter; it’s waste. We can afford to waste. We’re living the good life.

And living such luxurious lives as ours, it’s easy to understand why the majority struggle to sympathise with the need to reduce, reuse, recycle - particularly so when this is a need born directly of our biggest luxury: waste. We can afford to waste.

So telling people the world’s in danger directly because of their consumerism only makes them feel like the environment is some great big chore; the biggest inconvenience to living their life. When all someone wants at the end of a hard day’s work is a Starbucks coffee, is it really responsible to be yelling at that person through various media that his or her coffee cup will be contributing to the masses of unresolvable landfill? Why guilt-trip the individual?

As a society, we have gotten far too used to living wastefully to give it up at the drop of a hat. Take recycling, for example. (I bet you cringed a little at that word.) It’s taken the best part of 20 years to get domestic recycling implemented. Even then, this is still much the same process as the standard disposal of waste; throw away what you’re done with, and let someone take both it and your responsibility for it away. As soon as the bin man comes to my street, all those tins and plastic bottles aren’t my responsibility any more. Exactly the same as I treat my standard waste. People like familiarity and convenience. As such, attitudes won’t change overnight.

So the scenario is this: we’re a wasteful society who won’t respond to guilt, and nor should we have to. Ultimately, people are using what has been designed for them to use. And, if instead of designing for a single usage, we can create products that significantly reduce the waste involved in getting the product to market (typically, any product you will eventually throw away, such as a BIC pen, represents only 5-10% of the waste involved in making it), encourage people to reuse with little conscious input - nay, products that people will want to reuse - and/or make it simpler, plainer and more efficient to recycle their products at the end of their useful life, then we as designers can play a significant role in changing our throwaway culture.

I think I’ve got my scenario.

So there’s some interesting-looking things going on at the...

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:18:17 +0100

So there’s some interesting-looking things going on at the Design Museum this month. Definitely thinking of getting myself down there.

20 July - 30 Ocotber: Kenneth Grange - Making Britain Modern

24 August - 22 January: Designers in Residence

24 August - 22 January: This is Design

Only problem is that one ticket gets you into two exhibitions, not three. Gonna have to do some deciding, I think.

Travel looks pretty easy though! I’ll probably have to catch the Megabus down from Yorkshire, but it gets better after that - the Museum’s right by the Tower Hill stop, which shouldn’t be a problem on the Underground. Anyone know where I can buy a one-day ticket for Underground zones 1 & 2?

Riot Rhythm

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:43:39 +0100

After speaking to my family, friends, gauging people’s reactions in the media and on Twitter, and reading an excellent post by Russell Brand (of all people), my stance on the riots has just slightly altered. You can find what I published earlier here.

The question on everyone’s lips is “Why did the rioters do what they did?” For a number of contributory reasons, I guess. We all have our opinions, but the long and short of it is that they could. That’s it. You, sat or stood here reading this, or I, sipping my cuppa as I write this, couldn’t. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to even want to trash our communities like this, because we value them. We value the hard work and livelihoods of the people in our - our - communities. We’ve been brought up to respect them. Sure, we all had our rebellious streaks when we were younger (some more than others, Mr. Brand), but like the characters of Cemetery Junction, we knew right from wrong; we were just seeing how far we could push it. Rebelling is what teenagers have always done.

But this goes beyond rebellion, or anarchy, or uprising. Rebellion en masse requires a cause to fight for (see: “Arab Spring”). You show your face, proud to stand up for something you believe in. These rioters in England, young and… well, slightly less young, were simply violent beyond any reason. Lives were lost. Buildings destroyed, livelihoods wrecked. And all because a few people, who got together on Facebook or BBM, did it ‘cos they could.

Fortunately, our glorious leaders generously cut short their jollies just for us, their people, to use such strong words as “condemn” and even “sick” (which I thought was bordering on overkill), to bring an end to these riots. But in the midst of the immediate aftermath, can we answer: “How could so many feel so little for their communities that their moral compass should point toward such destruction? How could they feel like they could just do it?”

This is the biggest question of all. And I doubt some 20-year-old design-minded twerp can find the answer all by himself. But for what it’s worth, the years of neglect and being shunned from the upper echelons of society, combined with a lack of love in the family home, a system that makes it all too easy to reject the value of a good day’s hard work and honest graft (see: “Jezzer Kyle”), and the sight of self-serving governments and upper classes with barely an apparent thought for the Britons at the bottom of the social class ladder (and a good point well made, Mr. Brand), has resulted in these people feeling a disassociation from the community on such a scale that trashing it is of no consequence to them. It holds nothing for them and it never did.

I’m not painting these people as innocent victims (particularly those who are comparatively quite privileged). They all knew exactly what they were doing and their actions were criminal, there’s no two ways about it. The law says so and everything. And any one of them getting away with it would be an injustice, nay an insult, to the honest tax-paying majority of this country. They should be made to feel the full force of the law (not that I have much faith of this “force” being little more powerful than the waggle of a feather duster, but my point stands).

But if we carry on as we are, then more riots of this kind are simply a question of when, not if. Things need to change. We need to take a long, hard look at why rioting has come so easily to these people, and an even longer, harder look at our own practices and policies that could have bred this. I can’t recall the precise quote, but following the atrocities in Norway, their government stated that they would “respond with more democracy”. How wonderful would that be to see here? Alas, I can only see the UK responding with even more bans and silly blanket laws, aimed with all the good intention in the world of outlawing such rioting from ever happening again, but implemented with the foresight of a bat and a mole playing hide-and-seek in a damp and darkened room…

“HOODIE BAN: ‘WE DIDN’T REALISE COMMON FOLK WOULD GET WET IN THE RAIN’ SAYS PM”

Title stolen from the excellent Sleigh Bells song “Riot Rhythm”. Just so you know.

Making products that last...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 00:48:47 +0100

… is a thing of the past.

Sounds like a cute little ditty, but from where I’m sitting, that seems to be mostly true - at least in the Western world. Just look at Apple, and their apparently endless stream of iPhones and iPads. The first generation of iPads was released last April (2010); iPad 3 is now being geared up for release this autumn. What was so wrong with iPads 1 and 2 that a 3rd generation is already required? Nothing much, really. They were just missing a few little bits and pieces: gen 2 addressed some of the ‘missing’ features of gen 1, whilst gen 3 will have one or two extra or more powerful features than gen 2. Really, they barely warrant the label of “new generation”, but doing so enables Apple to constantly make sure that their product line is sparkly and new, keeping customers enticed and, more importantly, buying. Your standard Western consumer is a sucker for new toys, gismos, fads, trends, must-haves and prestige products that enhance their apparent social status (yes, I’m definitely guilty of this too), regardless of how well the thing actually works.

As such, if you’re in the technology industry and you try battling Apple with your own tablet PC, designed not to be replaced every three weeks with a better version but instead designed to last the user many, many years (difficult in the tech world, granted, but for argument’s sake), then you’re going to find your product falling away very, very quickly, even if you could match Apple’s brand-power (which is a whole different blog post in itself). Because owning new things is a sign not only of good taste and ability to be one step ahead of the crowd, but also a sign of wealth. And if you can keep buying new things over and over, then that shows you must really be doing well for yourself - a very attractive thing indeed.

But, whilst some of the most obvious examples of “out with the old, in with the new” are in the technology market, it seems applicable almost everywhere that the consumer turns. “Vintage” now simply means that the product has been inspired by objects of the past - if you can actually get hold of an original, it’ll probably cost you an arm and a leg, even if it was pretty cheap in the first place. Our love of new things has left us to ditch the values of our war-faring relatives, that the best things are the things that last.

I must admit, I’m typing and editing this simply as it comes to me, so I’d like to return to the original point I was trying to make: The problem now with design is that a company can simply no longer compete by making things that last. It’s just not a viable way of running a profitable business - unless you’re in a very niche market. So how are we supposed to “reduce, reuse, recycle”? We’ve harked on about the three Rs for so long, and yet people still insist on barely reusing, lazily recycling and not even coming close to reducing. Designers now can have some input: one way, for instance, would be by reducing the materials used in products, making them easier to be broken down for recycling and/or reusing. But in my honest opinion, we’ve got to teach children from a young age of the importance of reducing their waste, reusing their reusable objects and recycling effectively. It can’t be seen as a hippy, far-out, peace-and-love thing to do any more - it’s got to be mainstream. And not just “look at my cute little eco shopping-bag” mainstream.

And what’s the answer to achieving that?

… Working that out is just half the fun of being a design student.

Just a dull, picture-less update.

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 14:54:20 +0100

Okay, so after considering too many topics to count for my product/thesis next semester, I’ve managed to reach a final three which I think I’d be happy choosing from:

Design for minimal living
Design for reducing materials and processes
Brand expansion

I think all three are subjects which I could approach with a lot of passion and drive (exactly the sort of thing I’ve been searching for - this has got to keep me interested from now until Christmas, y’know?), but “design for reducing materials and processes” is, at the moment, a bit vague; it might be difficult to pin that down to a specific area of design which I’d still be interested in working in. The best way of showing my interest in that is probably to make it a feature of my final products from the other two subjects.

So that leaves “brand expansion” and “design for minimal living”. Brand expansion would be relatively straightforward - it’s ground we’ve already covered in year 2, and depending on who my client is, the project could still easily be fresh and challenging, as well as displaying my passion for branding. After all, you want to show in your exhibition the areas of design that you’re most interested in; it’s all with the aim of being hired, and you want your career to be about something you like. Helping to expand the brand of local, independent coffee store The Perky Peacock (where I currently work) is a possible contender right now.

As for minimal living, well… watch this video and you’ll get the idea. This guy only has what he needs - no more. If I could address a particular area of the home that’s guilty of unnecessary wastefulness - no matter what form “wastefulness” comes in - then I’d hopefully be helping people to live a less wasteful life, like Jay.

Your Sheffield photographs are beautiful. Is photography important to you?

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 14:53:42 +0100

Thank you! How flattering, they were only ever meant for observation!

Generally, yes, I’d say photography is important. It’s not exactly my greatest skill, but I can appreciate a good photo, and it’s plain to see from press releases and such that a good photo can be all-important to how well the public take to a new product. There’s all sorts of tricks you can pull too, with angles, lighting, composition, focus, etc., to create just the right mood and atmosphere for something. So yeah, photography’s definitely important.

It’s been a whirlwind last few days, but last Monday we...

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 12:00:06 +0100

It’s been a whirlwind last few days, but last Monday we concluded our placement with the City of York Council. The proposal we presented them with is Spare The Air, an effort to build upon the council’s Car-Free Day.

The first thing we all thought was to rename the event - “car-free” immediately focuses on what can’t be done, rather than on what suddenly can be done. The event is an empowering one: in previous years, it has opened up the streets of Fossgate (2009, 2010) and Micklegate (2010) to pedestrians, allowing the local shops and businesses to bring their façades to life, encouraging people to enjoy all that these places have to offer, and reinvigorating streets that may otherwise be overlooked as mere roadways for traffic.

This isn’t the only purpose of a Car-Free Day. We suggested that there are three primary benefits of holding such an event:

Improving air quality - “sparing the air”. Global warming is clichéd nowadays, but its challenges have never been more relevant. If the residents and commuters of York can be helped to find practical lower-emission or emission-free alternatives to their car, such as cycling, then the city would be making huge steps to reducing its own carbon footprint. Even if you sit on Jeremy Clarkson’s side of the green fence, the benefits are still pretty indisputable of the cleaner air that would result.
Encouraging positive lifestyle changes. Healthier lifestyles are a natural side-effect of reducing car usage. Making the commute to work by bike or on foot is undoubtedly better exercise than making the trip by car - it could even be the recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise that you’d been struggling to find the time for.
Bringing more of York’s civic space to life. With more people now walking, cycling or using public transport, fewer cars would be on the roads. This means places such as Fossgate and even the busy Lendal Bridge can be opened up and used to their full potential as beautiful and enjoyable public spaces, and not simple thoroughfares.

That’s what Spare The Air’s all about - we’d like to see Car Free Day expanded to a week, during which a huge variety of events can be put on in places never normally reserved for such activity. The purpose of hosting these acts in these places is to illustrate the potential that streets like Fossgate have, as well as giving people something to celebrate, enjoy, and get involved with. Spare The Air promotes this, healthy living and a better environment to enjoy it all in. It all starts by leaving the car at home.

Here, I’ve only posted my contributions to the outcome of the project. The photographs used in the posters have, hopefully, the feel of film photography or Polaroid to them, rather than that of digital photography. Above all else, it just felt right that they should be like that, but it possibly refers back to a time when we weren’t so dependant on cars; you’ll notice that, despite these being pictures of modern-day York, there’s no car shown in either image. It’s a happy meeting of old ways and new times. It also makes the subject matter feel more personable (I waffled on about the warmth of analogue v the sterile digital in my last blog post) - these are the sort of emotions I’d like to see conjured up by our event.

I also hope the logo and typographical elements do this justice. I went with simple and clean, yet still modern - something complicated or jazzy would go against the grain of the feeling created by those analogue photos.

However, it’s one thing to try and hit the nail on the head, and another to actually do it - so it’s great that the councillors seemed to really like all of this. I thought Robert Walker was especially impressed. As the man who’s overseen the last two Car-Free Days, that’s encouraging. Placement is over, but Spare The Air might not be!

With the ever-increasing pace of modern technology, former...

Wed, 25 May 2011 23:55:40 +0100

With the ever-increasing pace of modern technology, former favourites are quickly becoming relics. Record tapes are a good example of this, but the recent high-profile closure of typewriter manufacturers Godrej & Boyce really compounds just how quickly old technologies are becoming obsolete.

But if ways of completing a task are becoming simpler, easier and faster, then isn’t design doing its job? In this instance, the laptop keyboard has replaced the typewriter, as a means of producing a neatly-printed document (and more). With the ability to easily erase typos, and an almost infinite choice of colours, fonts, sizes and styles, then it’s clear that the typewriter is no match for its modern-day equivalent.

And yet, the news of Godrej & Boyce’s closure saddened people; people who don’t buy typewriters and have no need for them. I’m included in this group of people.

Pictured is Ettore Sottsass’ Valentine typewriter, created for Olivetti. It’s one of a very few products that I genuinely adore, and I’d count myself incredibly lucky to own one (whether there was one or one million of them in existence. Rarity has nothing to do with it). But why do I feel such a strong emotional attachment to a technology which I’ve never even used, let alone one which is fast becoming extinct? Yes, I find that it’s exquisitely designed (I could preach about its design features all day and all night) but so are umpteen other things which I just don’t feel the same about. Nor do I think it is because of its designer. I hail Sottsass as a genius visionary of his time - almost as a saviour of design - but he came up with all sorts of bonkers creations that pushed boundaries just for the sake of it (the importance and relevance of doing so is another story for another time), and none of which I find particularly attractive.

Typewriters are not alone here - I’ve already mentioned tape recorders. Then of course is film photography, which seems to have dragged itself from the jaws of death by virtue of a trend for vintage fashion and items. Unlike fashionable trends, however, it looks as though film photography is here to stay, co-existing with digital cameras in much the same vane as digital and analogue clocks do. I can honestly say I’m glad about that.

Could it therefore make an interesting and ultimately rewarding thesis to investigate this kind of emotional attachment to the products of the analogue age?

What people seem to love about it is that ability to get hands-on with your work: getting into a dark room to process your photos and watching the images unfold, or seeing a typewriter turn your thoughts and ideas into words on a page right before your eyes. Pixels and computer screens just don’t have that same effect; they don’t nurture a culture of love, craft, dedication, pride and joy in your work. At least, not in the same way. Steve Jobs may disagree.

The danger of taking this route for a thesis topic is that it is so emotive: it’s difficult to provide both quantitive and qualitive information on it, which is what’s required. On top of that, we should be referring to recognised authors, reading and referencing their journals on the subject - but which recognised author, if any, has spoken objectively and authoritatively on this subject? Not enough for a strong thesis, I’d bet.

But it’s good to write about a subject you’re passionate about, to keep up a head of steam. So where could I go with this? By a complete accident, I found this:

Could the re-imagining of bygone products be the way forward? Again, designers’ motives for doing this are going to be quite emotive, so that’s a minefield to avoid. But beyond that, there may be the bones of a good thesis. This could easily divert away from emotion and toward the idea of recycling, and indeed ‘upcycling’ - the process of not only creating new products from old, but also making them desirable whilst avoiding waste all at the same time. Granted, the Valentine Notebook is not such an example of that, though forging the old with the new - i.e. the styling with the technology - is a very interesting concept.

But back to upcycling. I’ve barely scratched the surface here, but, if there’s a few people who’ve written for journals on this subject, then I might well be on to something.

Final Year

Tue, 24 May 2011 22:31:28 +0100

Beyond placement, our course rumbles on. We might more or less have second year tied up now, but, already, we’ve really got to start thinking about our third-year projects. I’m not just talking about next semester; I mean thinking as far ahead as this time next year, when it’ll be our stuff that’s on show at the university’s annual Create event. Scary.

I feel fairly well-informed now on the big, generic dos and don’ts of masterminding both a successful third year and a successful Create exhibition. Alongside our first-semester dissertation and pulling together our professional portfolio in the second semester, we have two personal projects: to be treated as opportunities to either show exhibition-goers the field of design we’d like to find employment in, or, if we’re not sure where we’d like to be employed yet, the fields of design which we’re most passionate about and which we personally excel in. Having two projects gives us a chance to show a bit of diversity too.

There’s one thing I hadn’t thought about until today, though. Straight after our meeting with the council, we dashed over to the Create venue to meet with James, our Head of Programme, for a talk about what we can expect from third year, and to look around the current exhibition. The need to keep a consistent image across your entire exhibition was highlighted - something I’d kind of taken for granted.

Now. I won’t have a problem coming up with some form of identity or another - I’m always messing around with that sort of thing. That’s not the issue. My issue is going to be keeping the damn thing. I’m forever growing bored of how stuff looks and changing it all. Making a brand for myself and keeping it isn’t going to be any different.

So I think my best bet will be to find a really simple font and a really simple colourscheme that I’m happy with, and putting those together to create a really simple identity - after all, it’s often the simplest identities that are the most effective. For my own sake, I’ll repeat that:

“a really simple font and a really simple colourscheme that I’m happy with”

Because from September 2011 to May 2012 and (probably) beyond, it needs to be the only identity that I use.

Bearing that in mind, I drafted this - just Bebas Neue in light blue. Works on most coloured backgrounds, and in black & white. Should look okay at both large and small scales, it plays on the symmetry in my name (being the Memorable Factor), whilst the asterisk balances everything out and just takes the edge off it being too boring and word-heavy. I have all summer to tweak it, but I want to avoid over-complicating it since it’s going to need to go on all my work. Let me know what you think of it!

A Howard Street for York?

Thu, 19 May 2011 11:46:00 +0100

So I went to Sheffield on my little research jaunt, and managed to get a good collection of photos and videos. (I also persuaded myself to get a Moleskine - yeah they’re expensive, but being marketed as a quality notebook makes me want to keep it with me and write all sorts of notes in it, and that’s what I want from a notebook. But that’s another topic for another blog post.)

I think the trip was a pretty successful one. I got around the notable sights and destinations of Sheffield, and was really impressed with how one place leads to another, from the second you step out from the train station. Howard Street was particularly relevant: a simple but effective pedestrianised road taking you from Sheaf Square to the Millenium Gallery, and from there on to Winter Gardens, the Crucible, Peace Gardens… etc.

The road is decoratively punctuated with a flowing, elegant water feature, whilst alongside it the use of trees gives a strong but not overpowering natural presence and feel to the place. The paving is simple and smooth, with a layout that gives people a sense of direction, rather than stark monotone blandness. The seating finishes the place off nicely, located at welcoming intervals, and again following simple shapes and colours. I think that the advantage of being the block-like shape that they are is that, unlike a traditional bench, these don’t dictate the direction in which people should face when they sit down.

These are easily-transferable elements which York could make the most of, particularly in areas away from centuries-old buildings. Parliament Street would be an ideal location, whilst Station Road - the route from station to city centre - is our very own Howard Street. Admittedly, the Station Road/Lendal Bridge route is considerably longer than Howard Street, and this also makes up a section of the inner ring road. But what’s to stop a well-crafted pedestrian crossing guiding people over the road from the station and towards the city walls? (But not the walls themselves, they’re tiny.) After all, the walls follow the same route as the road, to about as far as Lendal Bridge. From there, it would be feasible to create a Millennium-Bridge-esque pedestrian route which runs alongside Lendal Bridge.

In the more immediate future, if a diversion can be found for delivery trucks, it would be interesting to see the effects of closing Station Road/Lendal Bridge to road-users. Hypothetically, this should empower pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users. The FTR service, for instance, is a good example of how buses can be used as trams, and is a service which could possibly be used more extensively than it currently is.

However, like I’ve said, this is part of the ring road. When I discussed it with my housemates, they raised very valid points with regard to access for emergency vehicles, and the impact on those amongst the elderly and disabled population who find it uncomfortable or near-impossible to use public transport. These shouldn’t be new challenges though; the pedestrianisations of Copenhagen and Freiburg, amongst others, will have addressed these. Now, it’s just about finding out how they did it.

Today, I go to Sheffield

Tue, 17 May 2011 09:01:05 +0100

I never did blog last night, did I? I was aiming to finish my research on Sheffield and never really did. Never mind.

At yesterday’s first day of placement, at the council’s City Strategy building, we were introduced to Guy Hanson and Derek Gauld. They’ll be acting as our line managers. Guy is an architect with the council, whilst Derek holds the title of Head of Major Development. They were keen to point out early on that in their department, a short-term strategy is usually around five years long, whilst longer ones work over the course of 20 or 30 years. That’s dedication. These are the guys who help form documents such as York’s Local Development Framework and the New City Beautiful report. They help set in motion the plans for how York will evolve over the coming years.

Both are keen on changing perceptions of what a ‘pedestrianised city’ means to people, and are huge believers in the beauty of a city being of great value to it. It sounds as though this belief in beauty isn’t a view held by a lot of their peers. But they do try and make people see the worth in aesthetics though, and regularly flagged up Sheffield to us as an example of how architectural beauty in the public realm can be of benefit to a city.

So that’s where I’m going today. Me and my group of Holly, Danny and Jess have taken yesterday afternoon and today to go out and get some research done on the council’s projects that we’re passionate about. We’ll present these to each other on Wednesday morning. Without wanting to give too much away, the council have four prominent projects which they’d like to work on, and in turn would like us to work on. Each of the two groups is going to take one of those projects and, at the end of three weeks, turn in something decent to them.

Steel City, here I come.

Working in the Creative Industries

Mon, 16 May 2011 08:51:16 +0100

When I started this blog, I did mean to keep it updated a bit more regularly than I have been doing lately. But, deadlines and the like have kept it looking like this.

I’m sure you’ll be glad to know that everything was handed in a-okay - I’ll post here on what my final submissions were when the results get back to us. Sorry everyone, you’re just gonna have to wait!

Meanwhile, today is my first day of placement, as part of our module 2CD021 Working in the Creative Industries. How creative this industry is might be questionable, but nevertheless, our placement with the City of York Council was won in another module - our design proposal for the renovation of Parliament Street in the city centre, branded Gravitate - so there’s bound to be something more to our job description over the next three weeks than making cuppas.

I’m not sure what to expect. I think that, more than anything else, I hope we’re treated and tested as professionals, rather than humoured with a little side-project and patted on the head for doing well. This placement is about experience, not ticking boxes. It would be great to get a good idea of what everyone gets up to in the more design-orientated sector of the council, but being based at the university as we are, I’m not sure how much we’ll get to see. Still, gonna take my camera/camcorder and see if I catch anything good.

The plan right now is to update this blog daily, with a nice little summary of what was done that day, starting tonight. Wish me luck!

Branding a Country

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 17:37:00 +0100

How does a country brand itself? Until recently, it’s not something I’d ever given much thought to. But it was only recently I was made aware that Peru’s got itself a shiny new brand.

Comparing these before and after images, I’d have to say they’ve done an amazing job. Peru is revitalised as a desirable, contemporary tourist destination, brimming with tradition and culture. The logo itself is a fun play on the patterns found in the Incan history of the country.

But who’s ‘they’? Who created this brand?

Futurebrand is who they are. And really, they seem pretty deeply involved in this stuff - more than I realised anyone could be. Their 2010 Country Brand Index (CBI) outlines both the world’s top 25 country brands (the UK, if you’re interested, sits 9th) and just how on earth they found this stuff out. Even just the idea of taking a whole nation - its people, its culture, its laws - and popping it all into a nice little neatly-wrapped package is an incredible one.

So what makes a good “country brand”? After all, countries aren’t products to be sold to market - are they? Reading through the CBI, you might just be surprised.

All in all, it turns out that a strong and successful country brand relies on consistency. I’ll hand over to the words of Futurebrand here.

What do these leading country brands have in common? Above all else, they stand for something and carry their values into politics, business, tourism and culture – from the brands they export to the celebrities they cultivate. A strong sense of identity, developed over time and presented consistently across touch points, is critical to brand success … Country brands create strong and positive impressions that generate desire and demand.

So really, it turns out that it’s like any other brand. Consistency is key - instead of bringing about mass change, Peru’s new brand actually works with and promotes the values we’ve all already come to associate with the country. And I tell you what - I wouldn’t mind buying into it any time soon.

A blessing in disguise?

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:46:00 +0100

I was 2 parts away from finishing a CAD model of my cabinet this morning when disaster struck - all my files on my memory stick went corrupt. Bad times. So glad I keep things backed up! But the unexpected halt in progress, plus talking to Alan Bennett (who had helped set up this project), really made me think about my proposal.

This is how far I got - all I needed to add were the drawers and the ‘tray’ on which the drawers will run. But I started looking again at the frames, which are the linchpin of this design. Plastic is a material our tutor encouraged us away from, due to its higher cost vs. alternative materials; these frames need to be plastic, they necessitate a lot of other parts to be plastic too, and they’re pretty complex shapes compared to, say, a basic cabinet carcass. But they need to be there. Or so I thought…

Forgive the crudeness, but this quick sketch outlines this new idea I’ve got. On the left is the frame I’d been working with in the CAD model. The layout on the right means the previous clips can be scrapped and replaced with basic hollow cylinders. Two of these cylinders combine with a thin cuboid to create a part that the doors’ hinges, the draws’ runner tray, and the main body of the cabinet can all fix on. And it all relies on nothing more than a snug fit and gravity. I still think plastic will be the best material for this new ‘two-cylinder’ component, but, importantly, it’s a smaller, simpler shape to make. And now there’s no reason why the rest of the cabinet can’t be made from other materials such as melamine-faced chipboard.

Back to the CAD programme.