Dutch creative studio Autobahn was never meant to be a design outfit at all: it was meant to be a band. It seemed music would be the destiny of four graphic design classmates, who between them, could play guitar, piano and bass; mix beats; and “sort of” sing. But it…
Alphabetical was founded around 11 years ago by Bob Young and Tommy Taylor, and has made a name for itself as a studio that can work across multiple disciplines with a huge breadth of different clients. Some excellent recent work includes digital designs for University of the Arts London, which saw…
Ever since it launched in 2016, SOFA magazine has always been as much about images as it is about words. Founded by Ricarda Messner, publisher of Berlin-based Flaneur magazine and co-editor-in-chief Caia Hagel, the magazine was a deliberate riposte to many other indie mags that were around at that time, which…
Over the past 15 years or so, London-based studio Zak Group has quietly made a name for itself as an outfit that produces work that’s both exceptionally beautiful, and very, very cool. While some of this work is slick, minimal (perhaps a nod to founder Zak Kyes’ background as the…
An unreleased cassette tape with an interview of John Lennon and Yoko Ono was sold at auction last month for a whopping 64,700 Euros (around £55,383) / USD 75.500 (including buyer’s premium). On the 33 minute recording, made in 1970, you can hear the conversation between the couple and the…
As a celebration of print and the physical artefact of the magazine, it can’t have been easy for indie mag celebration magCulture Live to not be able to do things IRL last year. Now, though, the London conference is back with something of a bang: the 2021 event’s speakers include…
Like many bands, New York-based post punk outfit Parquet Courts has long straddled both the visual art world and the music scene. The band began life in 2010, with frontman Andrew Savage having met guitarist/keyboard player Austin Brown while both students at the University of North Texas. It was there…
Novo Typo is a type foundry that aims to “make the world a little bit more beautiful, happier and less boring” through its typefaces, according to its founder Mark Van Wageningen. Based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Novo Typo has made a name for itself thanks to what Eye magazine calls…
When you think of the term “brand”, it’s usually the global big guns that spring to mind – maybe Nike, or Google, or McDonalds. You don’t think of, say, Peter Rabbit. This, then, is a very unusual kind of “brand refresh”, since it concerns Beatrix Potter’s most famous bunny. Penguin…
Magpie Studio is behind the designs for new Singaporean restaurant Straits Kitchen, drawing inspiration from the idea of a “melting pot of cultures.” The restaurant is based in the Pan Pacific Hotel in Liverpool Street, east London, serving a menu inspired by The Straits of Malacca, a narrow stretch of…
Over the past half-decade, artist Stuart Semple has been unwavering in his mission to democratise colour, “liberating” certain hues that have hitherto been banned by certain spoilsports (artists, artists’ estates, big brands) so that we can all paint with them. It’s certainly a worthy mission, we reckon: no one likes…
We all learned a lot in 2020, and that’s not always a bad thing. Certain alternatives we were forced to turn to in light of the pandemic turned out to be solutions that can last far beyond. Take the D&AD Annual, for instance: last year it made its debut as…
“I was at a point where I was just sitting in meetings instead of being a designer or art director and I really questioned if this is what I want to do in the future,” says Malte Gruhl, reflecting on the moment he hit on the idea of setting out…
We can’t really think of many records that can accurately be described as “an album, book and feminist critique” – and which also take the form of an augemented-reality app. We also can’t think of too many musicians that are truly competent in creating all those aspects while also doing…
Well this brings us right back to the days of peeling a Refresher bar off a newsprint cover, spending half of Christmas day poring over an annual and insisting you carry heavy shopping bags in a bid to stretch your arms out like Minnie the Minx… we’ve all been there,…
It was really only a matter of time before Rough Trade Books launched an ‘Art’ Series, and now that it’s here, it certainly doesn’t disappoint. Rough Trade Books is, as you’ve probably guessed, the publishing arm of the iconic indie record label. Launched in 2018, it’s billed as a publishing…
Since it’s nearly picking season, what better time to explore the stunning new tome from modern day psychedelia-whizz Brian Blomerth and his celebration of mushrooms? If you know Blomerth’s work, it won’t come as a huge surprise that these are very much magical mushrooms. Back in 2019, he released the…
Over the past near-two-decades, London Design Festival has championed the power of design across multiple disciplines and celebrated its place in the capital. Now, in its 19th year, the links between London, creativity and the economy have become even more explicit: the event specifically bills itself as “exploring the power…
While some 20th century graphic design heavyweights feel like part of the very language of the discipline – Herb Lubalin, Milton Glaser, for instance; or more recently, the likes of Paula Scher, Neville Brody and Peter Saville – some of the field’s pioneers’ names are far less ubiquitous. One such…
Hailing from what he describes as “the beautiful town” of Graz in Austria, over the years Lukas Haider has become known for his thoughtful, striking and highly original approach to graphic design and typography. Haider studied “so-called ‘Information Design’,” as he puts it, at the FH Joanneum in Graz, a…