On Tuesday I went to the student D&AD awards at Old Spitalfields Market. Where my NYC Spaghetti was nominated for an award in the open brief category.

I took fellow Uclanonian Ruth with me and had a great day. The setting was really nice with a cool stage….nice tables and stools, food and free drink. We were there for a good while before it started taking in the atmosphere and talking to a few other nominees from different categories as well as those nominated in my category.

Eventually they got around to my category where I was awarded a commendation…a little downhearted at first, but after talking with people after wards have realized it is still a good achievement! I will strive to get the pencil next year instead!!

So overall a great day, we finished up at the vibe bar off Brick Lane and although a bit worse for ware on Weds morning it was a great experience and one I hope to have again very soon!

On a side note a few weeks back my Dieline award came through the post! Check it out here

So last year…we did a zine task! And if im honest…I didnt get it! I tried the first time….didnt get it…and tried harder the second.. but although better…it never really worked how I wanted! I wish I had been to this place before hand…

The annual Zine Symposium was held in the bowels of Brick Lane in a pretty shabby yet charming studio. Two big long rooms full of people, full of tables, full of zines. Insane!! The people there were, the ‘shoreditch crowd’ all vegans…and all wearing glasses… even if they had 20/20 vision. Im generalizing but you get the idea.

I get the idea of Zines now…its just…free. I think. It jus helps if your a bit on the perculiar side perhaps? A bit eccentric… I am that..but maybe it doesnt translate to Zines! I will keep trying though!

Not all of it was good though… at the end of the day.. if you have the balls to try and sell your zines, then anything goes. And some of it was pretty pants!

I prefered the things that weren’t so ‘out there’, something with a bit of structure. So I bought something that went along those philosophies! I will add that bit up later! These are things that I think living in London are all about!

Check out the photos… and fill your boots full of zines if you can…

P.S. On a side note…dont but zines from Magma if you can help it! They cost a bomb…these things cost a max £3…an that was the biggens!

A hugely nerve wracking place to start off with, 4 floors of design and strategy teams each with a name…and a face…that I had to try and remember. I was pretty worried and the first week was a struggle, getting used to a place where although shown the ropes and looked after, u spend some time during the day getting on with work by yourself. A bit of shock considering I had been at Ziggurat for 3 months where banter was 2nd to design!

But surprisingly for me the need to talk subsided and I slowly got more and more work to do! Sometimes working til 8 or 9 at night, just to fit it all in! But I wasnt complaining it was really great to have the responsibility of projects and being left to delegate your time accordingly. Landor was unlike my other placements, my time was booked in by Hannah off I went to work.

I was lucky to work on some great projects and some really interesting in house projects too. For such a big company alot of people had time for me, to speak to me in the kitchen or whilst in the cutting room. So all really good!

We are coming to the end of our placement year now and move out at the beginning of July. And what I year! I have a few bits n pieces to add so will get onto it soon!

So we have been upto a few bits and bats recently that I havent posted. Firstly… we went to the museum of Packaging and Branding a few weeks ago just near Portobello Road…

As the standard Circle line weekend closures landed us in a bit of bother we finally made it to White Shitty…and I was shown the wonder that was the BBC Broadcasting house! After a bit of long walk we got to Portobello Road and met up with Ben Thorpe and his mate. I was excited to see Portobello Road having grown up with Bed Knobs and Broomsticks. I assumed parades and musical outbreaks were the norm. They were not! A pretty cool place with some pretty weird, but cool people as well. Anyway we grabbed some lunch then went off to the museum.

In my head I visioned an old ladies back room she had made into a museum, and although it probably started like that it was actually really well put together. You start off at the beginning in the 1800s and slowly walk through the to the millenium. The crafting and use of materials early on is brilliant, its straight to the point whilst looking beautiful. And even during the ratioend war time period when paper was at a minimum it still looks great.

Another amazing thing, is how long some products have been going on for. After you have walked through the decades of packaging there is a section of the museum dedicated to the evolution of brands. I.e. starting off with Nesquik chocolate powder nearly a hundred years ago…to what we see today! This is shown with Dairy Milk, Coke, cadburys milk tray etc etc. And in many ways I wonder if designers saw the history of the product they were designing they might think otherwise about sticking a cheeky rabbit on a tub of chocolate milk! Just saying…anyway check out the photos of the day.

Cheers

www.alexcreamer.co.uk

And Tango’s pisstake of the bouncy ball Sony Bravia Ad too.

Since the World Cup is on the way, we put a few of our collected pieces of furniture to use. Outdoor football tv watching is pretty awesome and if the weather holds up then it will be done again. Also Benny has been collecting his World Cup stickers and World Cup wall chart. We are ready to go! Are you…………..?

A brilliant and maybe suspiciously relevant video courtesy of modern toss…literally! Check out the blog as well when you get 5 minutes http://www.moderntoss.com/

Saw this today, not in person, but on Its Nice That.

Anyway a series of labels have been stuck around the centre of London on the Bus information signs, specifically in the Oxford Street area. It is to encourage people to walk the length of a couple of stops instead of catching the bus. It was designed by London based design platform Three Green Dots.

“Walk fatty you might pass a cake shop”
“Walk your socks off you can always go buy some more”

Really nice idea, with a real use!

Check out the project here

Also every month or so Landor do a TED talks lunchtime. TED if you didnt know is all about “Ideas Worth Spreading”, they set up conferences and talks in America, the UK etc about Design, Business, Technology etc. And you can view them for free online.
The talks we had yesterday were really interesting, so interesting me, Matt and Mark watched one again in the evening. The talk was by Ogilvy vice Chairman Rory Sutherland. And I recommend you watch it and any others people have recommended! Opens your eyes!

Here is the link to the video we watched…well worth 19mins of your time!

www.alexcreamer.co.uk