Zaha Hadid to Develop Plans for New London Airport

In the latest move forward for a new airport for London Boris Johnson has appointed Zaha Hadid Architects, along with aviation experts, to develop designs for a multi runway hub, to be built in the southeast.

Zaha Hadid will submit plans that will also help make recommendations on the location of the airport, which the Mayor of London sees as vital to rejuvenating the British economy and to solve the current aviation crisis.

Other organisations asked to prepare plans, as part of an airport design and infrastructure panel, were Atkins, a British design and engineering company, and Pascall & Watson architects, who worked on St. Pancras international and Heathrow Terminal 5.

Find out more via the full press release here.

Design Museum open exhibition of permanent collection

The Design Museum  has opened a new exhibition containing some of its permanent collection.

Extraordinary Stories about Ordinary Things will be on display on the top floor of the current home of the Design Museum, broken up into six themes or "stories". 

The 'Identity & Design' story features items that contribute to national identity such as the K2 Phone Box by Giles Gilbert Scott, UK road signage by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert, and the London 2012 logo by Wolff Olins.

The 'Taste' story charts the influence of modenism on British design and includes pieces by Marcel Breuer and Erno Goldfinger.

'Why We Collect' features recycled designs from Jasper Morrison's table made of bicycle handlebars to the Campana Brothers' Cartoon Chair made of soft toys.

'Materials & Process' charts the development of plastic technology.

Whilst 'Icons' follows iterations of the Anglepoise Lamp.

'Finally Fashion' focuses trends from the 1960's to the 1990's.

The exhibition was designed by Gitta Gschwendter and consists of the objects being displayed on rough, chunky shelving alongside contextual images and documents. It will run until the museum moves to its new home next year in the former Commonwealth Institute building in South West London, which is currently being redeveloped by John Pawson.

A brand identity for a new way to power LED lighting

The Think Tank was recently appointed to develop the brand identity and launch a new way of powering and controlling LED lighting from a start up company, Isotera.

The challenge was to develop a clear identity and messaging that allowed audiences to gain a quick understanding of what the company offered whilst explaining a completely new concept in installing LED lighting.

We worked with Isotera to develop their brand values and positioning and then created an identity that represented these and communicated the core offering of the business. The Think Tank developed a marketing strategy to bring the new product to market and launch the brand combining Press Relations, Direct Marketing and Events.

The initial response to the launch of this innovative new system has been very positive and it is set to change the way LED lighting is installed both in the UK and beyond.

for more information please view their temporary website here. A new website will be launched early in the new year.

The changing face of logos

This new book 'Logo Life' is a must for logo buffs, celebrating the development of 100 famous logos over the years. From Lego to Apple and Gap to Adidas, see how your favourite logos have evolved.

The book is by BIS Publishers and you can see an online preview of the book here. 

Giant fish wash up on beach in Rio

This enormous outdoor installation of fish is part of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)  and was constructed using discarded plastic bottles on Botafogo beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The sculptures are illuminated from the inside creating a pretty spectacular light show at night.

See more over on this Rio+20 Flicker set.

A new media neutral idea for Glidden

The Think Tank was invited, through a formal pitch process, to develop a new media neutral (MNI) idea for the Glidden Trade which would support the marketing and positioning of the brand over the next few years.
This MNI would be required to work across a wide range of marketing channels and collateral including advertising, point-of-sale, direct marketing, digital channels, social media and sales collateral.

See how we got on - click here

Top Five Building Product Brands Chosen by Architects

A new survey of UK architects lists Kingspan, Trespa, Velux, Schüco and Otis as the "strongest brands in building materials."

In the Q1 2011 research from the European Architectural Barometer, which is a quarterly study of attitudes of 1200 architects across Europe, architects were asked which brands they perceived as "strongest" in building materials such as bricks, concrete, mortar, insulation, facade and cladding material, aluminium systems, construction floors and roofing material. The top five firms for the UK were Kingspan (with 40% of responses), Trespa (15%), VELUX (8%), Schüco (7%) and Otis (6%).  

Read more on Building Products

Salary Checker app reviewed as 'Brilliant' in Stylist Magazine

The Salary Checker iPhone app, recently developed by The Think Tank for Robert Walters Associates, has been featured in Stylist Magazine today and has been reviewed by a lawyer who comments that it is 'Brilliant'.

See the full piece below.

RWA Salary Checker Article.pdf (219 kb)

Robert Walters Associates App hits top 10 downloads in first week

The Think Tank has recently developed a multinational Salary Survey App for global recruitment consultants, Robert Walters Associates which has reached the top spot in the Top 10 iPhone Free Business Apps chart for Singapore - the first region to launch.

A complex app, the Robert Walter Associates Salary Survey provides an interactive salary checker for a wide range of professional roles, including accountancy and finance, banking, human resources, IT, legal and compliance, sales and marketing, secretarial, engineering and supply chain & procurement, across many countries and regions.

After several months of development the app has been a great success across the globe, with many great reviews and has reached 16th in the overall Business App Chart.

The Robert Walters Associates Salary Checker app is now being marketed to professionals worldwide. To check out whether you are being paid the right salary download the app here.