Stadiums

Now, being a Liverpool fan at the moment there is a lot of talk about the new stadium plans. The new American owners have scrapped the old plans for the New Anfield and have re-designed the stadium to emphasize the Kop as well as allowing room for expansion at a later date. The plans are to be released soon but it has made me look at other stadia being developed and built around the world. My question is about the seemingly generic appearance of many stadia around the world. They are all becoming the same 'bowl' shape and are moving away from the old 'atmospheric' feel, something which i feel is integral to the whole football experience.


Original Plans for the new Anfield, above.


and an alternative design emphasizing the Kop and keeping an 'old fashioned' look.

The search for these new stadia led me to many different examples:

Nottingham Forest's proposed new stadium, bearing in mind they are in league one do they expect to fill it?


Similar story in Brighton...

...and Doncaster...

...and Luton...

...and Milton Keynes...

...and Southend, with a wierd little growth off the side of it. Bizare!


Of course the Americans have always been into their bowled stadia and this is just the latest edition, the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium - http://stadium.dallascowboys.com/



For good measure though...

...Oldham Athletic, that's more like it!

Do people agree that the designs are generic? or are they a mark of the modern era of architectural designing?

SE7EN Opening Credits

By Kyle Cooper, Jennifer Shainin. 1996. Nominated for D&AD.

"Cooper's celebrated opening titles for David Finsher's SE7EN set the dark mood of the film with their jumpy, out-of-register graphics superimposed on fetishistic shots of a serial murderer's grubby paraphernalia. The normal practise of using a pin-register camera to prevent titles from 'weaving' against the background plates was deliberately avoided in order to exaggerate the out-of-kilter sense of menace." Rewind. Forty Years of Design & Advertising." D&AD (2002) p.316

The title sequence to this film reminded me of Alan's lecture on the use of semiotics. Each piece of imagery in this title sequence relates to a specific moment in the movie as well as setting up the "dark mood". A great start to a truly fantastic film.

Wimbledon 2007

Here is the BBC advert for this years Wimbledon Championships. Like the Bob Monkhouse advert mentioned earlier the advert has used computer generation to create a championship point that includes many of the great past champions. The advert is therefore successful in using nostalgia for the older audience as well as catching the younger audience with the newer players. It therefore relates perfectly to the historic nature of the tournament.

giveafewbob

The new advert for prostrate cancer featuring the deceased Bob Monkhouse, who died himself of the cancer 4 years ago.

The advert shows the advanced nature of TV advertising, especially in the field of charity advertisement. Bob's widow has said how she cannot watch the advert because it upsets her but she does not have any problem against it. It is after all a brilliant way of creating awareness for the disease.

Swedish vodka brand Absolut has unveiled a new range called Absolut 100, with packaging and identity by Pearlfisher.

Developed for the duty free and travel retail market, the vodka’s look uses a minimal, masculine colour palette of semi-opaque black glass, with chrome typography contrasted with grey lettering.

The design aims to convey ‘strength through masculinity and exclusivity’, ensuring that there is no confusion among the flavoured vodkas in the market.

1Absolut 100, with packaging and identity by PearlfisherThe 100° proof/50 per cent abv spirit is aimed at the discerning, responsible drinking business traveller.

Pearlfisher, which is a long-term strategic design partner for Absolut, was briefed to base the design around strength, and has used the iconic Absolut identity and bottle shape.

‘Absolut 100 is a drink that is not for everyone,’ says Pearlfisher creative partner Jonathan Ford. ‘The concept needed to reflect masculinity and exclusivity, and we were inspired by the contemporary visual language of performance cars and cutting-edge technology.’

http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135141/Pearlfisher+creates+packs+for+new+Absolut+vodka.html

Interesting that to reflect masculinity there was a link to performance cars and the sleek look. Does the "responsible drinking business traveller" favour this image? It is also interesting how the new design is limited to the duty free market. Personally i think the sleek black minimal look would increase sales in up-market bars...saying that its probably the same market!

3D Adverts (continued...)

Following on from the other 3D signs...this one from Niagra Falls.

Funny Canadian Signs

Ok so this was more a case of see a silly sign take a picture. A little project while i was on holiday. Funny none the less!

"Turn Your Knob To Bob" -> Bob FM


"Jug City - More Than Just Milk"

Street Art in Toronto

These images are again taken in the heart of Toronto. To watch this guy in action was fantastic and there was an immense sense of respect for what he was doing. In a busy street that is crowded at the best of times the public did not walk on his work, instead they stopped and admired even for a few seconds. Debatable whether that would be the same in the UK.

3D Advertisements/Billboards

Here are four photos taken on a trip to Toronto last summer. The top two images show a 3D billboard for Dairy Milk whilst the last two show, amongst other things, a large inflatable Labatts can. It was amazing to see a different advertising culture, one where every last bit of space is used to advertise brands to the public. The use of different forms of media in this busy section of Toronto is obviously a way to differentiate the product from the other media messages the public are being bombarded with.
It also makes me look like an obsessed design student who took pictures of adverts on his holiday!

2012 logo designed to be a ‘blank canvas’

Chairman Brian Boylan’s claim in an e-mail to Wolff Olins staff that the London 2012 branding will get the ‘recognition it deserves’ may refer to the revelation that the initial logo format is intended to be a blank canvas.

According to reports, which have now been confirmed by a London 2012 spokesman, images will be used to fill the spaces, such as photographs and sponsorship messages, many of which will be created by the public following competitions held every six months.

1Already, the London 2012 sponsor Lloyds TSB has advertised in the press using the logo, but with its own corporate colours, as an example of the brand’s adaptability.

Separate versions of the logo, each with their own theme, will appear at sports venues throughout the games.

These plans link back to claims by Lord Coe and London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton that the logo will ‘evolve’, and will be ever-changing and not static.

Separately, Ken Livingstone’s office has declined to comment on reports that the word London was only added to the completed logo at the Mayor’s insistence.



http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135080/2012+logo+designed+to+be+a+%e2%80%98blank+canvas%e2%80%99.html

I'm becoming more intrigued by the logo. The fact is that it is not a logo, it is a brand. Wolff Olins is a brand management company more than anything and this article highlights this approach. They have in fact produced an identity that can be evolved and changed to suit it's needs and environment. It is therefore a more versatile logo than previous Olympic identities.

Coley Porter Bell Shine Awards

Packaging and branding group Coley Porter Bell has announced details of its sixth student design competition, Shine.

Aimed at second-year graphic design students graduating in 2008, the competition offers a prize of £3000 and a three-month, paid work placement at the consultancy.

Students are asked to submit a piece of work from their portfolio that most distinguishes their personal style and talent.

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to present their work to Coley Porter Bell, from which ten finalists will be selected to design next year’s competition poster.

Last year’s winner, Christopher Andrew-Barrett, from Kingston University, has designed the call for entries poster that will be displayed at participating colleges and universities around the UK.

This year’s judging panel includes Chivas Brothers marketing director Sophie Gallois and CPB creative director Stephen Bell.

The competition was set up in 2001 to help identify emerging talent in the field of graphic design.

The deadline for entries this year is 22 June 2007.

http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135077/Coley+Porter+Bell+announces+student+competition.html

http://www.cpb.co.uk/

Tyrannosaurus Alan - Volvic's latest branding

As part of Volvic's latest branding Tyrannosaurus Alan and Volcano George have been introduced. The adverts are appealing to the younger and older audiences but there has got to be a question about its life expectancy. Three commercials into the campaign and the product range has been promoted and it is hard to see how the idea can be stretched further.

Tyrannosaurus Alan is slowly becoming a cult legend though, something Volvic would have been hopeful of achieving from the campaign.

Audi A5 - A rhythm of lines

I saw this advert last night and thought it was a new take on a car advert. The simple use of classical music and lines is brought together to emphasise the curvy and sleek design of the car. A subtle advert that is easy on the eye and has a good "rhythm of lines".

Sunday Telegraph Re-Design

The Sunday Telegraph was the latest weekend paper to undergo a revamp, with a fresh design launched on 10th June, just a week after the Independent on Sunday revealed its latest revamp.




"Overseen by The Telegraph’s art director Nick Donaldson, the paper will sport a more cohesive layout of all sections, from sport to business.

‘It’s not a huge revamp, it’s mainly about the geography of the paper. We’ve changed the headline fonts and made the type used across the paper more uniform. The idea, really, is that you will be able to pick up any section of the paper and know it is The Sunday Telegraph that you’re reading,’ says Donaldson.

The masthead has also been redrawn, externally, by typographer Dave Farey, in a bid to condense and soften its current ‘Germanic’ style. The subtle change includes a tweak of the ‘A’ of the letter form.

Donaldson says it is the first time that the paper’s layout and design has been reconsidered in two and a half years.

‘It needed to freshen and tighten up. We hope to give the paper a slightly more upmarket feel with the business section packing more punch,’ he adds."

http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135067/New+look+for+Sunday+Telegraph+.html

It's interesting how newspapers are even trying to create their own brand identity to differentiate themselves from the others. As the art director points out he wants people to know just from its appearance that it's the Sunday Telegraph. This is more noticeable in the tabloids but now it seems the broadsheets are trying to have this effect too.

Commemorative issue of ‘Queen’s head’ stamps

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Arnold Machin’s iconic image of the Queen, the Royal Mail has issued a special commemorative miniature sheet, designed by Jeffrey Matthews in conjunction with Together Design.






The sheet also includes a new 1st class stamp, featuring a portrait of Machin himself – the first time the Royal Mail has honoured a stamp designer in this way.

A little Austrian town named...

The newspaper article is particularly funny...



It does raise some questions though...

Are the residents called Fuckers?

What are their mothers called?

What would you be learning at the Fucking High School?

Does the Fucking Hospital help you with anything else?

If your friend came from another town, he wouldn't be your Fucking friend.

London 2012 Logo - The Debate Continues

And so this is what £400,000 got us to. It has been a cause of debate the past week and the vast majority are against it.
The design is supposed to attract the younger audience but many feel the bright colours and jagged edges patronise the intended audience and seem to take away from the nature of the competition. After all the Olympics is a prestigious event, an historic event, an event which is well established in its roots. Does this represent this? Oh and now there's fears over epilepsy...how was that overlooked in the design process?!

To be fair to the logo it does work well as an animation, except for the epilepsy of course, but as a static identity it has many flaws, one being the fact that it need explaining that it supposedly says 2012!

There have been protests and online petitions to scrap the logo but personally i think this is now a time to back the logo, no matter how much we hate it. Do we really want to be the country who wins the Olympic bid, create a logo then scrap it?! We'd surely be a laughing stock, even more so than we are now! Maybe the Olympics in London will be remembered as the best Olympics, but the one with the shit logo? Maybe that's the best we can hope for.

On 7th June MPs called for a rethink on the logo but where do we go from there? If they do decide to scrap the logo who designs the new one? How long have they got to do it? The BBC ran a feature on logos designed by members of the public, shown below. Some of these are actually rather good and many would feel these would show London, and Britain of course, in a better light BUT if there is a re-design and one of these was used, even as a basis, would the world not just think then..."That was designed by Joe Bloggs"?

It's a difficult one to call and many will be debating this for weeks and months to come. Is it best for us to scrap it though? I personally think not...Back the Bid, Back the Logo!



My personal favourites above and below






Here are a couple of redesigns that perhaps capture the public opinion best!

Dulay Seymour Creative Communications

http://www.dulayseymour.com/

I came across this site whilst searching for potential placements. The portfolio is the main focus of the site but is delivered in such a way that the user needs to interact as if he or she is looking through a real portfolio.

Although the address etc is given at the top of the screen any information on vacancies and contact details are at the end of the book. The user wanting these details therefore has to look through the whole of the companies portfolio, get a feeling of what the company does and is about, before they can get to the information they need.

The Chip Shop Awards

The Chip Shop Awards originated 15 years ago and has become an alternative award system for designers. The categories are not the norm and allow designers, whether they be from companies or students, to enter work that would probably have no chance of winning a D&AD for example. Categories range from Best Consumer Campaign Ad or Campaign to Reject of the Year.

The current identity for the awards was in fact a previous winner in 2006 in the Best Use of Plagiarism category.

Although entry for this year competition has closed there are still previous entries to look at and soon this years nominations will be on the site.

The full category list:

1) Grand Prix
2) Chairman's Award
3) Best Consumer Campaign Ad or Campaign
4) Best Business to Business Advertisement
5) Best Charity Advertisement
6) Best Corporate Identity
7) Best Work for Relative or Friend
8) Best Work for Global Brand You Haven't a Hope of Winning
9) Best Work for a Client You Have but Haven't a Hope of Running
10)Reject of the Year
11)Best Use of Bad Taste
12)Best TV Commercial
13)Best Radio Advertisement
14)Best Press Advertisement
15)Best Piece of Direct Mail
16)Best Packaging Design/Point of Sale
17)Best Outdoor Advertisement
18)Best Use of Shop Window Postcard Space
19)Best Use of Plagiarism
20)Best Non-PC
21)Best Ambient Media
22)Invent your own category





http://www.chipshopawards.com/