Merry Christmas from all of us

We had a bit of fun creating our Christmas card last week. Take a peek here and we'll see you in the New Year (we might have to work on our percussion over the winter break though).

Christmas capers

It's been a week and we've now recovered from the annual event that is the studio Christmas party. Monday was not the most obvious night to party but we soon got in the flow, helped by an ingenious quiz and pub crawl! Our hosts (Martin & John) tested our addled brains with events ranging from Deal or No Deal to the Generation Game. Highlights included Martin's Noel Edmonds impression, the Intros round (Never Mind the Buzzcocks) combined with Mulled Cider and Call my Bluff – but let's keep the Lions story to ourselves. All topped off with a Nepalese Curry at the Gurka and the prize giving ceremony. An excellent afternoon and evening, with some well-judged Secret Santa's... but who did give Kate the mask? Censored photos included.

Woven technicolour

Here's some stunning work from mix media artist Gabriel Dawe, taken from his latest site specific installation at the Dallas Contemporary. As you can see the large scale pieces shown are aesthetically beautiful featuring bold yet gentle colours with some interesting geometric patterns woven and twisted to stunning effect.

We only wish is that Gabriel could exhibits these pieces in the UK so that we may have the opportunity to experience the installation in person, but in the mean time you can keep informed of his works through his Website here.

Here's a little bit more background on the artist taken from his Biography:
Gabriel Dawe was born in Mexico City where he grew up surrounded by the intensity and color of Mexican culture. After working as a graphic designer, he moved to Montreal, Canada in 2000 following a desire to explore foreign land. In search for creative freedom he started experimenting and creating artwork, which eventually led him to explore textiles and embroidery - activities traditionally associated with women and which were forbidden for a boy growing up in Mexico. Because of this, his work is subversive of notions of masculinity and machismo that are so ingrained in his culture. By working with thread and textiles, Dawe's work has evolved into creating large-scale installations with thread, creating environments that deal with notions of social constructions and their relation to evolutionary theory and the self-organizing force of nature.

A sense of discovery...

Hot off the press are Visit Cornwall's 2011 guides. We have built on the success of last years design with fresh content that pushes the boundary of a destination 'brochure' whilst highlighting the best bits of our amazing county. The creative copy from Richard Barbary is entertaining with Dame Judy Dench sharing her love of lobsters and you can follow a Fifteen recipe from their head Chef. Once again we worked with some great photographers (thanks to Matt Jessop), commissioning fresh imagery which capture the personal experience of uncovering places that make memories from holidays. The design is deliberately simple and fuss free, hinting at the personality and charm that's on offer here. Over 120,000 guides have been produced and are available on request from Visit Cornwall and are distributed globally.

What's your type?

Japanese font makers Morisawa can spend up to four years and spend €800,000 on producing a typeface! They draw each character by hand with a basic Japanese font set containing more than 23,000 characters! Many designers today (across all disciplines) conduct their work on computers - making Morisawa a refreshing example of how traditional methods are still being used and just how effective they are!

To see some of the finished typefaces visit their website

A weekend of activity

This weekend saw the Falmouth Oyster Festival come to end. The festival celebrates the not so humble oyster, the start of the dredging season and in particular, one of the last remaining traditional oyster fisheries, dredging by sail and hand punt. Oh and you can eat a load and listen to some sea shanties too.

It's also all change just outside our windows as winter is announced by the removal of yachts from the harbour onto dry land. Winter let off for one weekend at least as the October sun provided one last opportunity at some bass fishing... Lovely.

This year's top 5 picks from La Biennale di Venezia - Gendall gives you the rundown.

#5: Cloudscapes by Tetsuo Kondo Architects and Transsolar

At number 5 is a fascinating entry from Japanese studio Tetsuo Kondo Architects and environmental engineering firm Transsolar whereby a cloud has been suspended inside the exhibition space!

This installation perfectly adheres to this year's Biennale theme of 'People Meet in Architecture' and has a spiral walkway to guide visitors up through the layers to emerge above the cloud, before they descend back down through the vapour to the floor.

So how is this done? Three layers of air are pumped into the space: cold dry air at the bottom, hot humid air in the middle and hot dry air at the top (feels a bit like being in the Rainforest Biome at The Eden Project!).

If you would like to experience it for yourself the Biennale continues until 21st November...

Photograph: www.irishtimes.com


#4: 1000 Singapores - A Model of the Compact City

Singapore is capable of housing 6.5 million people. Singapore occupies only about 710 sq km.

Multiply that by 1000, and it is possible to fit the entire population of the world into a land area approximately twice that of Italy, equal to Texas, one-fifth of India, and one-tenth of China.

This exhibition is a portrait of the diversity of the living environment and the people who live in it. It exercises the idea that if 6.5 million people are able to live sustainably on 710 sq km, this can offer a powerful model for the compact city of the future.. Interesting thought.

Looking at the display of the exhibition itself - 1000 A5 photographs fill the walls either side of you, completely immersing you in the different character and qualities a compact city has. Interestingly, structural shots of buildings and landscapes are in black and white and any shots of people are in colour...


#3: What Architects Desire - Germany

 

A beautiful and intricate collection of 182 sketches using "desire" as the topic of a survey among architects ; answers are given through drawings.

Each drawing is unique and shows the different reactions they had to the notion of desire and longing.. a very contemplative involvement is created with the viewer - you may be there for hours trying to de-code what it is they actually desire...

You can buy the book displaying all drawings here!


#2: Made in Venice - England

Part of the British entry at the Biennale includes a new project by Wolfgang Scheppe drawing on both John Ruskin’s original notebooks and a series of historical photographs of Venice taken by local residents, Alvio and Gabriella Gavagnin.

John Ruskin's original venetian notebooks from 1849-50 are on display (7 of them) showing the most detailed drawings and notes on the buildings of the famous Italian city. These, juxtaposed with the photographs by local residents of the city, makes for an extremely interesting view!


#1: Your Split Second House, by Olafur Eliasson

This installation is one for the senses and comes in at number 1 for it's simplicity and mesmerising outcome.

In a nutshell, you walk into a dark room where three streams of water are twisting in the air, falling from the roof to the floor in an erratic motion.

There is strobe lighting to illuminate the room in tiny intervals, during which you catch glimpses of the water almost frozen in time. It all seems strange and dramatic at first as you are trying to figure out what it is you are actually seeing - which is probably part of the concept - making you investigate further!

Want to know even more? Click here for further info on the Biennale and this year's entries.

Photograph: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images

Windows Phone 7

Windows Phone 7 is soon to be released. Specifically, October for the EU, and November for the US.

For those that haven't checked out Windows Phone 7 already, it looks great. The apps are slick too (check out the foursquare video for example). It's all based on Window's new design paradigm, called "Metro". The WP7 homescreen presents you with a bunch of dynamic tiles as a starting point, allowing you to see everything that important to you at a glance.

Despite it's shiny new look and feel, whether it will be able to compete with the iPhone's massive following of users and developers has yet to be seen.

New flexible PWC brand by Wolff Olins...

With the rebrand of Accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Wolff Olins have created a flexible brand identity that adapts to it's application. The panes of colour scale to create endless varieties of brand expression. It's a lovely expressive brand scheme for the accountancy industry,  that's filled with sans serif fonts and generally a blue colour spectrum. It will no doubt 'inspire' many design schemes to come...

Redefining Luxury in Cornwall

Cornwall has long been known as a tourist haven, evoking childhood memories and rejuvenating the senses of weary visitors. Improved travel links to the county, top-notch restaurants and a plethora of luxury accommodation options are redefining the image of Cornwall and the expectations of visitors.

Sail-Lofts offer a variety of boutique self-catering apartments and spa treatments based in the beautiful north coast fishing town of St Ives. Sheltered from the brunt of the Atlantic by headland, St Ives boasts a thriving arts scene, great restaurants and a number of spectacular beaches all within walking distance of the Sail-Lofts apartments.

Sail-Lofts approached us because their existing website design was beginning to date, struggling to cope with the rapidly expanding offering of the company and increasing customer expectations. Our proven track record with bespoke booking systems and experience with premium brands meant we were perfectly positioned to fulfil the brief.

Our challenge was to produce a website which represented the effortless style, personality and Luxx nature of the Sail-Lofts apartments and spa, whilst ensuring that its booking system was both robust and a breeze to use. Working closely with the team at Sail-Lofts, the resulting site design incorporates elegant design, stunning photography, compelling copy and an intuitive booking system.

To see the website please visit: www.thesaillofts.co.uk

Falmouth Week (with a brand new feel)...

Falmouth Week is here once more and this year it's great to see the new Falmouth brand out there amongst the celebrations. After a long consultation with key Falmouth BID stakeholders and members of the public that started in the winter the Falmouth brand can now be seen on town maps, street furniture, flags with much more in the pipeline. We are currently building the new website which will act as a key marketing tool for the town so watch this space. Until then here's a glimpse at the Falmouth brand in action...

Battling in the bay

This week sees the start of Falmouth Week, lots of sea and shore based activities and one of the highlights will be the Pendennis Cup. The largest sailing yachts on the water will be competing for prestige and a chance to hold the trophy. The yachts are an amazing sight, the largest of the entrants is Adela, over 55 metres with her masts visible over the height of the National Maritime Museum's tower. The last event in 2008 saw some dramatic racing with broken yachts and bones. As well as creating the branding and exhibition materials for this year's event we have a competitor too - Danielle our Finance Manager will be crewing for Tomohawk so we wish them the best of luck. The yachts are all moored close to our studio in Events Square and the racing is happening across the bay, for more info: www.thependenniscup.co.uk

Truro uncovered

Last weekend saw the conclusion of a three-day exhibition on Lemon Quay that revealed Truro's rich and varied past. Our brief was to create an engaging and unusual display that would help to uncover the wealth of stories hidden in Cornwall's archives. Truro's success was built around trade and the port,

did you know ships used to moor outside the Hall for Cornwall? 

We took the theme of trade and gave it a modern twist using palettes as our modular structures, these provided a cost-effective, recycled framework and provided a textural contrast to the smooth graphic panels. Eye-catching colours dominated – a refreshing change from the usual Farrow & Ball tones associated with heritage exhibitions. The bright colours were mirrored in the audio chairs that captured first-hand stories of mischief and intrigue from Truro's older residents. The smells of the quay in the 1900's were brought back to life and children were given the opportunity to steer a ship through the Carrick Roads. It made for a packed marquee which drew large crowds and really successful and innovative use of HLF funding. The exhibition now moves to Royal Cornwall Museum so if you missed it it opens there from mid-July.www.trurouncovered.co.uk

A simple recipe

Cornwall is a real foodie destination with a reputation for great local produce and fine dining,  and our latest client, George Thomas of Coswarth Farm, Newquay has struck upon a golden opportunity. You are likely to be familiar with the bright yellow fields that populate the countryside but may be unaware that Rapeseed can produce a culinary oil that boasts half the saturated fat of olive oil, high levels of Omega 3 and 6 and has a great taste. George's Oil has a fabulous golden colour and a mild, nutty flavour that is produced using no artificial anything.

Our challenge was to name, brand and produce shelf-ready packaging in time to launch at this year's Royal Cornwall Show. Working closely with George we established a strong set of values that would help shape the brand and produce a contemporary Cornish product with a powerful shelf presence. 'Simply' reflects the oils honest production methods and allows scope for future product ranges,  punchy typography and a bold colour scheme transferred straight over to the marketing material to create a vibrant backdrop at the show. It was a pleasure be involved in such an original idea that has been so well received by both the public and trade and we look forward to working on more Simply products.

Lighthouses: Life on the Rocks shortlisted for National Lottery Awards 2010

'Lighthouses: Life on the Rocks' the major new exhibition currently running at the National Maritime Museum has been shortlisted to the semi-finals in the National Lottery Awards 2010. The hard work and late nights back in November and December of last year are a distant memory now as 25,000 museum visitors have so far immersed themselves in the story of Lighthouses and their keepers; from the tall tales of the lighthouse keepers themselves, to the massive scale of these triumphs of engineering. We created the branding and graphic interpretation and worked alongside NMMC and Concept Shed to design and produce the interactive features. A rich and dramatic subject has been delivered in an engaging and emotive design scheme that brings the subject to life.

The voting is now closed for The National Lottery Awards 2010 so fingers crossed 'Lighthouses: Life on the Rocks get's the recognition it deserves.

Click here to see images from the exhibition on Flickr.