A delicate identity for the World of Wedgwood

SomeOne has created a new visual identity for the World of Wedgwood, the home of the historic pottery brand based near Stoke-on-Trent.

Visitors to the World of Wedgwood can meet the people who craft the intricate pieces, and elsewhere on site, there is a gin distillery, shops, a tearoom decked out in Wedgwood, a fine dining restaurant, and a V&A collection featuring archive pieces.

The new identity showcases the brand’s signature Wedgwood blue colour – a light blue developed by founder Josiah Wedgwood while experimenting with his ‘jasper’ stoneware. This is accompanied by complementary colours that are designed to feel seasonal, and others that work year-round.

The art direction for the photography is restrained but feels in keeping with tasteful interior or beauty brands, making the most of textures associated with pottery, including powder, paint, clay, bone china, and slip (clay particles suspended in water).

As part of the project, SomeOne also created a set of illustrations inspired by the lines formed in clay on a potter’s wheel, as well as a verbal identity that aims to “invigorate” the historic brand.

It would have been all too easy to lean into typical heritage or craft aesthetics here, yet the new identity manages to gently push the World of Wedgwood in a more thoughtful direction.

Manual unveils a ‘dancing’ logo for Louisa Parris

Tom Crabtree, creative director at Manual, says the main focus of the brief was to push the brand forward to “be more assertive and opinionated”. Early conversations with the founder discussed her own interest in “distinct typography”, as well as her disappointment that other fashion brands were “stamping out all of their unique typographic personality and opting for deadpan sans serifs”.

The studio drew inspiration from several design movements, including Art Deco, Bauhaus and Wiener Werkstätte – all of which have influenced Louisa Parris’ approach. The brand’s garment design process also played a key role. “Louisa’s bold designs often begin as hand-drawn patterns on a square grid and then evolve into prints on fine garments,” says Manual art director Jerome Louisick.

“Her process inspired us to design a logotype that was constructed entirely on a grid structure and built from straight and semi-circle lines. The unusual sizing of the letters captures the movement and free-flowing nature of the garments while creating a logo that feels both classic and contemporary.”

Take away your takeaway

Takeaway packaging is the third largest source of littering in cities across the world, according to recent research by the University of Cádiz in Spain.

As Norway’s largest takeaway restaurant chain, McDonald’s is a substantial part of the problem in Norwegian cities – and it doesn’t help that its iconic golden arches make its packaging very noticeable. But in a new campaign led by Nord DDB, the fast food chain is taking ownership of this role.

Leading with the message ‘take away your take away’, the campaign is all about showcasing the ugly side of McDonald’s packaging and encouraging fast food lovers to help the brand reduce littering.

Photos of McDonald’s trash lying around in the streets of Oslo have been artfully captured by photographer Jói Kjartans for print, social media, OOH displays and McDonald’s trays in order to reach as many customers as possible.

Trash cans have been placed next to OOH displays so that the golden arches can be used as a trash-guide, and the campaign also includes a commercial shown on TV and online. As for the longer term, the brand has initiated several measures to create long-term solutions.

Magazine covers of the year 2022

Time, The Resilience of Ukraine

Valeriia also provided the inspiration for Time’s first cover addressing the war, created by JR – an artist known for his large-scale activist works. A drone was used to capture the powerful final cover image, which illustrates how a 45-metre tarp print of Valeriia’s photograph was unfurled and hoisted by more than 100 people outside Lviv’s National Opera.

New York, Who Becomes a “Murderer” in Post-Roe America?

The New York Times Magazine, The New York Issue

FT Weekend Magazine, Queen Elizabeth II 1926 – 2022

The world’s media was full of tributes to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in September. British Vogue paid its respects with a royal purple cover, free from any other adornment, which it had previously published to commemorate the loss of George V and George VI. For its weekend magazine supplement, the Financial Times commissioned Estonian illustrator Eiko Ojala to create a beautifully crafted memorial cover. The cut-out inspired design depicts the monarch through different periods of her life, repurposing the portrait that became synonymous with the longest-reigning monarch in British history.

Soho House launches new magazine with a splash

Soho House is known for its luxe members-only clubs around the world, as well as a growing array of offshoots, like its plush homeware and skincare ranges. So the new Soho House magazine may surprise those who would expect the dimmed lights and muted luxury of those spaces to be translated onto its pages. Yet surprise is exactly what recently appointed editorial creative director Andrew Diprose, who previously worked at titles like Wired, GQ, and Elle, was hoping to achieve.

The magazine, Diprose says, is entirely new, and not a revival of House Notes, the publication that Soho House used to produce before the pandemic. Its launch dovetails with Soho House’s new awards (which he also worked on) celebrating talent across the worlds of culture and creativity, and is being used to support the scheme by housing a range of profiles on the winners. Spot acting elite John Boyega and Paapa Essiedu in the issue alongside fashion designers Harris Reed and Bianca Saunders.

The first issue has a core palette of six splashy, ice lolly hues that pop off the page, while the bold display typeface is joined by a bubbly guest typeface, which Diprose says has “just the right amount of readability”. The hyper-saturated palette is woven throughout the issue: you’ll see it in the colouramas used in the photoshoots, or the illustrations by Lucy Jones commissioned for op-eds, or even in the objects that Christopher Mitchell shot for the still life story.

It might be a “glorious experiment” but the design still relied on plenty of “geekery”, he insists, whether in the similarity between the CMYK and RGB references that ensure consistency across print and digital, or the ‘golden ratio’ created by the page proportions. “Obviously anyone who is geeky about design is going to love sneaking in a golden section to a page layout!”

Some design elements, like the condensed display typeface and the grid layouts designed to evoke the brand’s square logo, will remain as the “nuts and bolts” of future issues, yet the rest is open to evolution. “It’s all up for grabs!”

Soho House magazine is available in the private members clubs, and will be stocked at selected newsstands and galleries; sohohouse.com

Ryvita rebrand

Founded in 1925 by John Edwin Garratt, Ryvita was brought to life when the world was a far simpler place – and consumer choice was much more limited.

The rye-based crispbread is one of those brands that many of us grew up with, but was typically viewed as as a ‘diet’ option for weight conscious mums.

Since Ryvita’s heyday, society’s relationship with health and wellbeing has shifted significantly, with a huge amount of choice springing up in the health food category. As a result, Ryvita has struggled to stay relevant in the ‘healthy alternative’ landscape.

The team behind the brand approched London-based branding agency Springetts to challenge traditional perceptions of the crispbread and reignite its relevance among consumers.

Through a combination of bold typography, accessible photography and a more playful tone of voice, the new brand looks to bring a new energy to the brand while remaining recognisably Ryvita.

springetts.co.uk

Africa best design work

Art and design publisher Counter-Print has released From Africa, the seventh book in its popular From series, which has so far brought us work from Japan, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Switzerland and South Korea. Each book is a celebration of the design culture belonging to the different countries and regions.

The book emphasises Africa’s cultural diversity, and huge mix of design influences. As Counter-Print co-founder Jon Dowling writes in the book’s intro, “its many, diverse countries are sources of vibrant design and African influences are seen in art and culture around the world. However, there is no one ‘African style’ and we should refrain from generalising a continent of such vast scale.”

In his introduction, Dowling also comments on the tendency to stereotype the stories of the continent, which extends to its design output which has too often been represented by “ethnic prints, earthy colours and textures”.

B&Q poster campaign

Shot by photographer James Day, who is known for his work for the New York Times, New Yorker and Wallpaper, the new B&Q ads are simple yet beautiful.

Each features a mobile phone with a B&Q product bursting from it, including paint, a roll of wallpaper and a bloom of flowers. The only text accompanying this is the brand’s web address, which alongside the image of the phone is enough to send home the message that you can order all these products digitally.

McDonalds BIN IT

This campaign is Belgium’s take on the theme, created by TBWA, which puts bins centre stage. “We want to make trash bins as popular as the burgers,” says Jeremie Goldwasser, creative director at TBWA.

The campaign, which will run on posters, social and in McDonald’s restaurants across Belgium, puts the spotlight on rubbish bins, bathing them in light and pairing them with witty copy.

“We asked Studio Wauters – McDonald’s’ permanent food photographer – to photograph the trash bins,” continues Goldwasser. “The challenge? Making bins look just as attractive and tempting as their burgers. We then applied the typical copywriting and design expertise to the bins, resulting in appetising design and quirky names such as the Big Bin, the Bin Deluxe and the Bin Royal.”

Here’s comes the Sun

Created by Base Design, the new campaign for the eyewear brand Ace & Tate puts the emphasis on why you need sunglasses, rather than what they look like.

It’s a bold move for an eyewear business to create an ad campaign featuring absolutely no specs or shades, but the campaign is surprisingly evocative. It features pleasingly unretouched portraits of people screwing up their eyes as they’re caught in a beam of sunlight, accompanied by a simple tagline: Bring on the sun.

Base Design’s partner and ECD Thierry Brunfaut says the posters embrace a “universal feeling” of being dazzled by the sun. According to him, the campaign is the next stage in Ace & Tate’s ‘brand evolution’, as the eight-year-old business faces up to an influx of new competitors.

That’s not to say its personality-free, however. “The visuals speak for themselves; they embody a sunny spirit and cheerful mood,” says Brunfaut. “The brand strikes that ‘Dutch Design’ balance: be thorough and serious about what you do, but stay offbeat.”

And Base Design’s approach seems to be paying off, with the campaign widely praised on social media, and also apparently winning Ace & Tate its second best sales day the weekend after launch.