Innehållsförteckning för November 2018 från Computer Arts

With Studio Sutherl& winning the top spot for the second time, Jim was faced with topping his own work, the wonderful glow in the dark 2017 cover. We’ll let him explain his thought processes behind this year’s austere beauty… “As this issue is a celebration of the United Kingdom and the great design that comes out of it, we decided to reconfigure the national flag – taking the shapes of the Union Jack and playing with them. Our idea was born out of an interest in flags as symbols of national identity. I think it’s important to physically play as part of our professional practice. Doing the roughs for the cover with paper cuts – rather than working on the computer – is a key way of starting, generating and…

BEREN NEALE EDITOR Beren gorged himself on culture this month with a 10 day stay in Rome. Holiday reading included The Name of the Rose, The Old Man and the Sea, and Mr Men’s Mr Grumpy (it’s a stone cold classic). MARK WYNNE ART EDITOR With ‘The Lord’ Beren swanning it in Rome, Mark was briefly acting editor. The power didn’t go too much to his head, but on his return Beren was slightly alarmed to find several life size paintings of Mark in the office. AARON POTTER PRODUCTION EDITOR This month Aaron joined the pop culture elite and finally finished the latest season of Game of Thrones. With that in mind, he’s considering starting a new awards event: the DDAs (Dragon Design Awards).…

Looking to prove that life is more fun when we share, Whirli is a new global subscription service aiming to reduce the waste garnered from unwanted children’s toys by letting subscribers send them to others. Think Noel Edmonds’ Swap Shop, but updated for the modern era. To launch this first-of-its-kind business entrepreneur Nigel Phan enlisted the aid of London-based branding agency Ragged Edge, who handled such important aspects as naming, strategy and identity. The studio’s brief was to create an exciting brand that encompassed a ‘share the joy’ sentiment – one that would act as an exciting proposition for adults and kids alike. “The need to balance the requirements of two very distinct audiences is what made this a really appealing challenge,” says Ragged Edge co-founder Max Ottignon. “Nigel was…

Based in the small town of Arrecifes, Buenos Aires, Florencia Pernicone’s journey to freelance illustration began at a very young age, in her pursuit to entertain. "Around the age of 17 I got really interested in comics and illustration," she says, “and had a lot of fun drawing, and I loved making other people laugh with it.” Specialising in irreverent, grotesque 2D character illustrations, since going freelance Pernicone has had great success working in multiple mediums. "I find work making different kinds of things for comics, covers, animation, T-shirts… I also sell prints, stickers and self-edited zines." With regards to inspiration, Pernicone reveals that she never needs to look far. "I like to take in the details and the fun from the everyday – the things and the people around…

Poor old millennials: maligned for their #shamelessselfies, their avocado toast, their general persistence in existing and need to rapidly tweet about it. But one thing that unites this generation of glossy-haired do-gooders is a trait that surely none of us can vilify: they – for the most part – actively want to buy and consume more ethically. The idea of ethical branding might have once upon a time conjured up little more than images of hemp sandals and compost toilets, but the ethical brands of 2018 are far slicker, less patchouli-scented beasts, whether we’re looking at fashion, food, homeware or even toilet paper. Such ethics are centred around a few basic tenets: how good (or bad) the brand’s production is for the environment; how that production affects people (from those…

1. CELEBRATE PLAYFULNESS Innovation often comes from being playful. We put this principle into practice when Maxon asked us to put the R20 version of its Cinema 4D application through its paces and explore new creative territories. Influencers, the film we made, is inspired by animism and the folklore tradition of trickster spirits taking over everyday objects. Drawing out the intrigue in the everyday, it’s a celebration of the creative process and a meditation on the way we work in 3D; an unbridled celebration of playfulness and surreal domestic creativity. 2. DON’T BE AFRAID TO WRITE UNCONVENTIONAL NARRATIVES Another great way to grab attention is by employing an unconventional narrative. This is what we’ve been doing with Auto Nom, a series of self-penned character animations following Autonomous Rolf, a fictitious…

The process began with a lot of sketching; a chaotic phase where we studied the dialogue between the letters and the entanglement of the forms, finding the meaning while trying to narrow down our ideas. At this stage, we were not looking to discover definite solutions, but to set ourselves on several valid paths. From the sketches, we designed and selected five potential logos, all with original typographical designs, and presented the work to our clients. Some were more towards fitness, art, the club atmosphere or the representation of a hot-air balloon, but all our proposals carried real graphical intent. Our clients quickly chose the one they liked and we began refining and improving on it. We tested many typographic options, paying attention to the shapes A, M and R,…

Nearly all my infographics start out on a piece of paper. They’re not very pretty, they’re just to remind me of how I think I might go about it. Sometimes, depending on the data set, I have a pretty good idea straight away, and sometimes I’ll keep going and generate a few ideas and see what works. I did far fewer sketches than usual for this project, as I knew that most of the visuals would incorporate photography. Each set of sketches is usually accompanied by a table of numbers/information on the subject of the infographic. Things can fall apart at this stage, but it’s usually a case of removing or adding subjects to the data set, or revising how the data is presented – it’s about exploring all other…

As a kid, after kindergarten, I used to walk over to my mum’s work place – she had an office job. Note, this was during the pre-computer days in East Germany. There were typewriters, big green linoleum desk covers, blue carbon paper that would stain your fingers and a wicker-style cup with ballpoint pens, rulers, geometric triangles and a couple of blue and red pencils – Czechoslovakian Koh-I-Noor 1561 copying pencils, as I eventually found out later. While my mum finished her last hour or so of working, I was set down to spend that time quietly with the office supplies. That might not sound all that exciting, but for this five-year-old, it surely was. Taking stock of my supplies on this desk I remember thinking, ‘I could spend hours…

Studio Sutherl& has been voted the top design studio in the UK for the second year in a row, and when working with him (and fellow studio creative Rosey Trickett) for this issue’s cover, it’s easy to see why. Both of them are ridiculously creative, of course, and presented us with an array of ideas for the cover early on (have a look on page 3 for more on that). But what really struck me was how unflappable Jim was when faced with the inevitable changes and tweaks that occur on mag covers – especially when you consider the four-way negotiations between editorial team, Studio Sutherl&, cover treatment gurus Celloglas and printers William Gibbons. I’m sure that attitude and approach was considered when the panel of 60 industry leaders voted…

Poppy is a London-based papercut artist who breathes new life into a traditional craft. Her brand Poppy’s Papercuts aims "To amaze and amuse" with intricate cut-outs, each sliced from a single sheet of paper. She layers colours under bold black outlines bringing images of her contemporary world to life. Whether she’s encouraging people to laugh at themselves, enjoy their bodies or make their voices heard, her artworks are a call to action, and collaborating with brands has allowed her work to flourish. “I work on a small scale using just a cutting mat and a scalpel, so to see my work embroidered onto clothing or painted as a huge mural lets it exist on a whole new platform,” she explains. See more: www.poppyspapercuts.com @poppyspapercuts…

Bob Young Alphabetical London Sally Hope Arts University Bournemouth Nick Asbury Asbury & Asbury Macclesfield Lee Bradley B&W Studio Leeds Matt Baxter Baxter & Bailey Brighton Blair Thomson Believe In Exeter Louise Sloper BMB London Mike Bond Bond & Coyne London Nick Carson Brand Impact Awards Bristol Louise Kyme Branding consultant London Paul Taylor BrandOpus London David Jones Buddy Creative Exeter Rebecca Wright Central Saint Martins London Lisa Campana Consultant creative director London Chloe Templeman Design Bridge London James Littlewood Design Project Leeds Simon Dixon DixonBaxi London Daniel Freytag Freytag Anderson Glasgow Mark Bonner GBH London Kyle Wilkinson Hacksaw Barnsley Gareth Howat Hat-trick London Kate Marlow Here London Jack Renwick Jack Renwick Studio London Sean Thomas Jones Knowles Ritchie London Miles Gould Kaleido Grafik Bristol Craig Burston London College of…

INTRODUCTION Thomas Hedger I feel like I have experimented a lot within my style, and reflecting on that has led me to look at what connects my work as a whole. I have always enjoyed playing with negative space and mundane scenarios. In this project, I took this forward in an unexpected series, which looks at how negative space can pause time and pull you in to build a story, while colour can create a clash between a playful and sombre mood. The outcome is a series of three A3 risograph prints which began as individual drawing experiments, but through the process turned into a series which, at first glance, have a muted appearance, but on a closer inspection turn out to be a lot more optimistic in their context.…

JAMIE ELLUL Supple Studio’s founder and creative director digs deep into why designers should try and achieve a ‘work-love’, not work-life balance, over on page 24. www.supplestudio.com DAVID ORMONDROYD On page 18, Ragged Edge’s head of copy David Ormondroyd sheds light on all the ways branding agencies could be taking the power of words more seriously. www.raggededge.com EMILY GOSLING Making ethical purchase decisions is harder than it should be, so we had Emily Gosling talk to the brands getting it right in today’s market. Go to page 44 for more. www.emilygosling.com HENRIK MAULER On page 76, founder of visual trend lab foam Studio, Henrik Mauler, reveals how he and the team create such striking visuals for their list of big-name clients. www.foam.studio THOMAS HEDGER London-based visual artist Thomas Hedger shows…

The idea of ethical branding is nothing new and neither is the idea that now is the time it’s becoming more relevant than ever. In a 1997 piece for Marketing Week, penned just after Labour’s general election win, the author wrote that “there’s little doubt that ethical considerations are a potentially powerful influence on consumer purchasing decisions.” The piece vilifies brands like Shell “with its environmental policies and its treatment of indigenous peoples” and Nike “with its cheap labour sourcing policies” (doesn’t seem to have done them too much harm in the long run); with praise going to the Body Shop. “Wearing your ethical heart on your sleeves can do wonders for sales,” Marketing Week surmised. More than a decade later, The Financial Times recently reported that according to not-for-profit…

Founded in 2016 as a spin-off from ZEITGUISED, foam Studio is an award-winning studio of artists, designers and technologists that provides consultancy for synthetic design using creative direction and production. Based in Berlin like its parent, foam Studio specialises in cutting-edge integrated media, including experiential, interactive, digital and print. Its creatives develop holistic concepts and visual stories, directing brand image culture via key visuals and CG films. Though relatively new in the design space, foam Studio has already built up an enviable client list including Adobe, Chanel, Dior and more. We spoke to Henrik Mauler, the architect behind both ZEITGUISED and foam Studio, to learn the secrets of its success. How and why was foam Studio founded? Henrik Mauler: We founded foam Studio in 2015 as a service layer of…

BEWARE OF FANTASIES Some branding often reflects clients in exaggerated or even totally false ways, with designers wanting their client to be something they’re not. We try to capture the spirit of clients and give it a strong personality, letting customers experience this honestly. DON’T TRY TO BE COOL While there is a lot of conformity in the world of branding, being daring for the sake of it can backfire. We’re all sensitive to the graphic canons of our time but it’s up to us designers to find the right level of risk taking in order to make the work distinctive. EXPERIMENT WITH ANYTHING If a project is being run by good people and isn’t damaging the environment, we will give it our best. There are no areas or industries…