Apple of my Eye: The many apps of an iphone

It won't be the first time we at The Think Tank have found ourselves rather giddy about the many new i-phone apps that currently available for download. It goes without saying that phones are set to be the new computers by 2015; to this fact, we have all resigned. What is so exciting however is the speed and diverse nature to which these applications are being created.

Take for example the creation of the Nike Training Club app (a get fit customizable training regime), the Nash Ramblas app (a guide to the London festival of architecture) or even the Rob Walters Salary Checker (a guide to find out how much you are really worth), it's anybody's guess as to what the next app creation will be. So, let's get guessing!

A Canopy of Colour

Arguably the most colourful food market experience in Europe, Santa Caterina Market in Barcelona has a restored roof made of 300,000 wave like multicoloured ceramic hexagons. These hexagons are be seen as representations of fruits and vegetables in an unique and innovative way; a classic in post modern architecture.

The architect of the market explains, “The first mistake is to talk about old and new. Whatever has managed to survive into the present is current, useful, and contemporary. And it permits us to move back in time in order to continue forward.”

To read more on the inspiration for the design click here

A novel poster: The writing is on the wall

Whether you are a lover of descriptive classical literature, or prefer the shortcomings of a 160 character tweet - we at the Think Tank cannot deny our love of text and the influence these variations can have on our day.

Novel Poster have set up a project to celebrate this diverse mix and evolution of writing with a collection of ten unique poster designs highlighting five classic novels of literary acclaim and five of the most well-known twitter users. The novel poster prints are entirely composed of only the book's complete text, from beginning to end, and are fully legible. The celebrity ones are composed of only the twitter feeds, and are also fully legible.

The interest and popularity surrounding this project has resulted in Novel Poster setting up on Kickstarter to allow people to pre-order the posters via pledges.

Our initial thoughts are, with his extensive twitter feed and many a published book, essay and script, what WOULD the size of Stephen Fry's poster need to be??

Delicious Design from Penguin

You may remember the Penguin on Design or Penguin by Ilustrators series, produced by er Penguin. Well, whether you do or don't, Penguin have an entirely new themed collection for you to chew over: 'Great Food'

This exciting new collection is set to be released in April and the 20 books that make this series are, according to Penguin, 'the sharpest, funniest, most delicious writing about food from the past 400 years.' The covers available for viewing have been designed by Penguin's senior cover designer Coralie Bickford-Smith. Each one draws on a decorative ceramic style relevant to the period of the writing concerned.

Cover for Love in a Dish (picture insert right) and other pieces by MFK Fisher is based on a pattern from a Century side plate by Eva Zeisel for Hallcraft, 1957. All the covers feature embossed lettering and spot varnishes to pick out the of details of the illustrations. Bickford-Smith worked closely with picture editor Samantha Johnson and lettering artist Stephen Raw on the series. Personally, my favourite design aspect is the Penguin logo itself featuring the Penguin armed with both knife and fork ready to devour the content within the pages.

To check out the series available for purchase at £6.99 each from the 7th April 2011 click here.