Noisy Decent Graphics

Randomly accessed memories: 2

We were on holiday in Menorca with some friends and their 1yo son, it was their first holiday since the baby had been born. I think we had an apartment with a shared swimming pool. I assume we flew out on the Sunday or the Monday, we hadn't been there long.

On the Tuesday we went out for the day, we had hired a car and we drove around the island looking for stuff to look at, I think, I don't remember this part very well. I remember popping into a bar and asking for directions somewhere and on the TV I could see a building on fire but didn't think anything of it.

We returned to the apartment in the early evening and headed into the town for dinner. As we approached the town square we could hear the bongs of the BBC News at 6. They were unusually loud. I have this recollection of people starting to run, or walking faster towards the big screen. We heard the opening lines of the news, I can't remember exactly but it was something like, 'America Under Attack' and we started running. As we turned the corner we saw a massive TV that one of the bars had rigged up showing footage of the planes going into the Twin Towers. It was 7pm in Spain on Tuesday September 11th 2001 and we'd spent all day completely unaware of this huge worldwide news story. We ate dinner and watched the news in disbelief.

The next morning my friend and I queued round the block of a small newsagent buying every newspaper we could find, just like all the other Brits. There was internet obvs but there weren't smartphones and there weren't good, frequently updated news websites. I'd brought a copy of the Economist with me and for the first time I read the Asia section. In one story there was a nonchalant mention of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. It already seemed like a more innocent time.

The week before we flew out we'd bought a flat, my first. The deal actually went through on September 10th. As I devoured the newspapers I remember being terrified about mortgage rates and house prices. It felt like a different world now.

Most scaffolding in a special build award

The old Top Shop on Oxford St will soon be an Ikea. While they are carrying out the refurbishments they've made the front of the building look like a massive Ikea blue bag. I love this.

It's a simple idea, maybe the most obvious idea, and all the better for that. Nothing else needed.

I keep waiting for the 6 minutes BTS video on LinkedIn by some agency talking about the activation and the purpose and everything else. Nothing yet but lots of chat in the marketing press. The creative agency was Mother. 

It was built by Embrace Building Wraps and the stats we really want come from Scaff Mag, the scaffolding industry's leading source for cutting edge news and commentary. In their article they report that "the installation necessitated 1,000 linear metres of scaffold tubes and 2,400 m2 of environmentally-conscious PVC-free (Kavalan Sunlight Weldable) scaffold wraps – a space equivalent to 44 double-decker buses." Marketing journos take note. 

Related: 12 years ago I wrote about Massive Happy Things.

 

 

What fish do you want? Small, regular or large?

This would make a great text based website

A blog or a Tumblr or Mastadon or Threads or Whatever.

Originally posted by Russell.

"I’m going to settle for small, random stabs of extreme interestingness – moments of intense awareness of the things I’m about to lose, and of gladness that they exist. Things that remind me of other things. Tiny scenes. Words that people choose, their accidentally biblical turns of phrase. Hand-lettered signs, quotes from books, offhand remarks that make me think of dead people, or of living ones I can no longer stand the sight of. I plan to keep writing them down"

Helen Garner on happiness: ‘It’s taken me 80 years to figure out it’s not a tranquil, sunlit realm’

I didn't realise at the time but this is exactly what I was doing with this post.

We've been featured in ooh.directory!

I'm delighted to announce that we've been featured in the ooh.directory.

Ooh.directory is a simple curated list of blogs on the internet. As they say, "a place to find good blogs that interest you". It's a good way to broaden the spectrum of things you read or maybe go deeper on a particular topic. There's a good section on design and that's where you'll find us.

I love the clean design and the simple functionality coupled with the upbeat, optimistic colours.

Ooh.directory was started by an artisanal grass mower and occasional coder somewhere in the countryside outside of London. Thanks for featuring us!

Notice. Collect. Share.

Kellie has been collecting all the instances of 'your way' used in marketing. It's fascinating and interesting. Have it your way — A journey into personalisation in advertising.

She's following the time honoured method of Notice. Collect. Share. 

Now we just wait for the inevitable 'Login to your MyAccount your way'.

Design research urls #20

Issue number 20. Yay!

98. Everyday Automation Observatory, this is a great initiative from Rachel Coldicutt. "Collecting everyday examples of ways automated processes are popping up everywhere. Share your pictures of QR codes, self-service machines, app interfaces and delivery robots."

99. Some New York lawyers got paid $90m for ensuring that Musk went through with the Twitter acquisition. They didn't do a lot other than being on hand to "enforce the terms of the merger agreement" if necessary. The FT has more details here. (£)

But the totally cold sales email they sent the Exec Team at Twitter is incredible. If you make cold contacts with people in your day job have a read of this and bear in mind they got paid $90m for doing not that much off the back of it.

100. We all know naming things is hard. ULEZ being the most recent example of this. What a wasted opportunity.

101. Nick Asbury has been railing against purpose + brands for a while now. I don't always agree with him but he writes thoughtfully and sensibly about the topic. This post on Coutts + Farage is a great example and really good way into a piece of critical thinking. (Also; what a mess.)

The Barbie Dreamhouse on Architectural Digest

Haven't seen the movie but this walk through of The Barbie Dreamhouse by Architectural Digest is fascinating. Not for the promo/colab stuff but for the look behind the scenes at the set making. 

It's Degree Show time! Go see.

Go and see some exciting, inspiring and different to your work, student work. I recommend the UAL shows obvs but there are other universities and there's probably one near you. Dates vary but they're basically on from now until the end of July.

Here are the dates for the various UAL Shows.

Camberwell College of Arts

Central Saint Martins

Chelsea College of Arts

London College of Communication

London College of Fashion

Wimbledon College of Arts

Design research urls #19

The 'Design research urls' series was one of the best things I did on this blog so let's start it up again.

93. I really don't like it when they mess around with zebra crossings. They might look fun at first but massive black and white stripes are excellent for partially sighted pedestrians or, say, a distracted driver in a fast moving car. Optical illusions, multiple coloured bars, or typography? Not so much. They say it's meant to slow down traffic, I don't buy that at all. It may slow you down but at the price of confusion which is never worth it.

94. This is a good thread on bananas and their relatives. Or lack of.

 

95. I've only just found out about the Derelict London Website. Not a minute too soon as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.

 

96. Another thread, this time the The unintentional dystopian beauty of oil rigs.

 

97. All the newsletters are rubbish, apart from Guy's which is always full of things I've never seen before that are so beautiful they make me want to cry. Like this. Read then sign up here.

A 61 year old alphabet

61 years ago Anne's Granddad completed an alphabet of sticks he had found. He framed them and hung it on the wall. Lovely.

From the blog My Granddad Is Keeping Busy where Anne blogs every day of her Granddad's diary. Follow along here.

Ai Weiwei at the Design Muesum

I went to see Ai Weiwei give a talk at the Design Museum. He was asked if he had a favourite museum to exhibit his work in. He said, "No. They are all just packaging."

I'm still thinking about that. 

Ai Weiwei: Making Sense at the Design Museum until July.

I love you, but you are not serious people

I've always hated Kind Regards as an email sign off. Might use this from now on.

It's a quote from Succession and here you can listen to Michael Bierut discussing the latest episode. Which is the best combination ever. Michael opens by saying he watches the show because in his career he's had 500+ clients and every one of them is represented in the show.

So so good.

Headline writers dream

Whatever the pros or cons of the policy this has a real cones hotline feel to it. All the comedians must think it's Christmas. For my younger listeners, Cones Hotline.

The biggest lie on the internet, still

Lonely Rolex clock

The other day, after a meeting, I took a different route back to the office. Down a winding alley just off Fleet Street I saw this clock. It was outside some flats, not a Rolex showroom, and it was set to the wrong time.

Odd. 

Hockney at the Lightroom

I really loved Hockney at Lightroom. I've seen lots of sniffy reviews about "immersive art" and about this Hockney show. I haven't seen the Van Gogh one and I need to for a real comparison, but I think there's a difference between viewing paintings from an artist who died 130 years ago and one who's still alive and whose work lends itself to time based media. Hockney's polaroids and iPad paintings work really well here. Hockney's voiceover also worked well.

To be continued.

See also All of the lights.

P-A-R-T-Y (Phil Alice Russell Thank You)

As a special gift for the RSS Pisceans here's my first ever blog weeknotes. There will be no more. Just be grateful it's not a newsletter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Got up reassuringly early all days apart from Friday.

The unpredictable weather and the unpredictable trains made my plans more unpredictable than I would have liked.

The puncture I fixed last week punctured again. Bought a new tyre and in a text book upsell booked myself a bike service. First one since covid I think?

S got 91% in his A-level Art coursework.

Went out four nights in a row. Not big nights but still Out. Utterly unsustainable, so I cancelled the fifth night. 

S and A dog sat a dog while we went to the school show. Everyone survived.

Tried my first ever non alcoholic hipster beer. The ones with the scratchy illustrations on the cans. Didn't hate it as much as I thought I would.

Scraped the mud off the path. Lifted four patio slabs. Fitted a light to the porch. 

Messaged a neighbour to ask if he had a jet wash I could borrow for the aforementioned path, he replied that he had a jet accompanied with a picture of him on a private jet.

Saw Jason Statham in the village.

Y accidentally washed her phone with her school uniform. 

 

Two very good posts from two very good Matts

1. An AI poem clock by Webb.

2. Gridshare grid game by Jones.

(Not necessarily in that order.) 

Write a song about Ben Terrett in the style of George Michael. 3 verses.

 

There's lots of blogging about AI. Lots of friends are pondering the implications and the opportunities. I know people implementing ChatGPT in their work. At their work. I know people experimenting and building things.

I asked it to write a song about me in the style of George Michael.

Verse 1:
He's a designer extraordinaire, 
visionary with style and flair,
Ben Terrett is the name,
His work will leave you amazed.

With his talents in design,
He makes the world a better place,
From government to start-ups,
He's got the skills to solve the case.

Chorus:
Ben Terrett, oh how you inspire,
Your creativity takes us higher,
You make the world a better place,
With your skills, we all embrace.

Verse 2:
From digital to print,
His work is second to none,
With simplicity and clarity,
His designs always stun.

He's a leader in his field,
A mentor to many,
With a heart full of gold,
His kindness is plenty.

Chorus:
Ben Terrett, oh how you inspire,
Your creativity takes us higher,
You make the world a better place,
With your skills, we all embrace.

Verse 3:
In the world of design,
His name is a legend,
From the UK to the US,
His influence is heaven-sent.

He's a man of many talents,
With a passion for design,
Ben Terrett, oh how we admire,
Your work is truly divine.

Chorus:
Ben Terrett, oh how you inspire,
Your creativity takes us higher,
You make the world a better place,
With your skills, we all embrace.