New glass technique from Lasvit delivers organic flows

On display at Milan Design Week 2012, 'Liquidkristal' is a new glass technique developed by British designer Ross Lovegrove in collaboration with Czech glass and crystal producers Lasvit.

Using a high precision heat transfer process to create organic-like glass panels, this innovative product has been developed for use in large-scale architectural installations. The manufacturer says 'The system facilitates the precise forming of any mathematically describable design, and individual panels can showcase slightly 'shifted' versions of the model, creating the effect of an organically flowing pattern across a building or other large structure.'

This innovative production method lets designers or architects control the level of opacity of segments of glass, allowing the creation of spaces where features can be highlighted and others blended through a play of colour and light.

A very interesting development. Find out more here.

More colours from Pantone

Ever worried about not having enough colours to choose from? Then this will make your day.

Pantone has issued an additional 336 colours in its 'plus' range to reflect the selection of points within the existing colour spaces to add nuances of tone.

More choice for the creative team to mull over!

Find out more here.

The poster that changes your colleagues' music choice

Have you sat in your office and cringed at your colleagues' awful taste in music? Then the "Change the Tune" poster, invented by Agency Republic will have you cheering.

The agency plays music via Spotify over their sound system and have rigged up a poster with a motion sensor that changes the song when it's hit by something. A great idea but watch out for unidentified flying objects and the Health and Safety squad.

Oddest political ad ever?

This has got to one of the oddest political ads we have ever seen - and guess hwat - its from the US Republican primaries.

A very interesting way to represent tax effects on small business. If you love rabbits look away now!

Sony World Photography Awards 2012 winners announced

American photographer Mitch Dobrowner has been announced as this year’s winner of the L’Iris d’Or - the 2012 Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year.


Dobrowner was presented with the award during the Sony World Photography Awards Gala ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in London’s Park Lane for his extraordinary series of images, Storms. This beautiful series of black and white photographs are quite stunning.

He was chosen as the winner by a panel of nine judges and wins a $25,000 cash prize and Sony’s latest digital imaging camera equipment.

Other winners included Tobias Bräuning from Germany as overall Open winner, William Klein for Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award and Asef Ali Mohammad from Middlesex University, UK, for Student Focus Award.

See more of the award winning photography here or you can visit the awards exhibition at Somerset House, London until 20th May. Tickets on the door.

Burberry goes on world tour

Burberry launched their flagship store in Taipei in April with Burberry World Live, a 360 immersive experience.

A custom-made cylindrical space was designed by Christopher Bailey and brought to life the Burberry worlds of British Heritage, Fashion, Music and Weather.

It combined an eight part 360 degree film, a live musical performance and digital weather experience. Burberry World Live will be touring the world, coming to cities including London, Hong Kong and Chicago later this year.The multi sensory experience blurs the physical and digital dimensions of the brand to great effect.

Quite an experience. See how the event went below:

An novel way to promote WIFI

This may be taking experiential activities a bit far but an intertesting take on community engagement in Mexico.

Mexican internet portal Terra is offering free wifi for dog owners who poop and scoop. Piloting the concept in 10 parks across Mexico City, when people throw away their bags of poop in a special contraption in the park, it calculates the weight and then Terra gives everyone free minutes of Wi-Fi in the park.

The greater the weight, the more minutes -- they have even supplied a chart that estimates the number of minutes by dog type.

An interesting concept but not sure whethe rit would work in the UK.

See the video here:

Raising the profile of Signalling Solutions

In the build up to a period of significant investment in the UK's rail infrastructure Signalling Solutions approached The Think Tank to raise the profile of the brand and support the marketing function of the business in a variety of ways.  

Signalling Solutions is a joint venture between leading energy and transport solutions company Alstom and Balfour Beatty, one of the world's leading infrastructure businesses. It was formed to provide advanced signalling solutions to the rail sector in the UK, combining the technology of Alstom with the contracting expertise of Balfour Beatty. The company provides design, installation, testing, commissioning and product support for signalling, power and telecommunications applications. 

In answer to the brief, The Think Tank developed an eye-catching advertising campaign that promoted the three core products provided by Signalling Solutions. These combined abstract images that represented the core benefits of the products alongside a new brand style for current and future advertising.  

This campaign was also extended to a corporate advert which brought together the three core solutions to demonstrate the opportunities for integration that Signalling Solutions offers.  

An advertising schedule was planned by the client with ads appearing across the rail press in the build up to a series of tender opportunities. The goal was to position the Signalling Solutions brand at the forefront of the minds of specifiers and purchasers within the sector during this period, raising awareness whilst also communicating the brand ethos and values.   

Find out more about Signalling Solutions here.

Film on the Rocks is all at sea

If you fancy a night out at the cinema then you will have to get your swimming trunks on to see the first edition of Film on the Rocks at the Archipelago Cinema.

Designed by German-born and Beijing-based architect Ole Scheeren, VIP guests were taken by boat through the darkness to arrive on a glowing raft in the middle of the quiet waters of Nai Pi Lae lagoon on Kudu Island.

This beautiful setting is surrounded by a dramatic landscape of towering rocks and the audience experience combined film with nature.

“The thought of watching films here seemed surprising,“ said Ole Scheeren. "A screen, nestled somewhere between the rocks. And the audience… floating… hovering above the sea, somewhere in the middle of this incredible space of the lagoon, focused on the moving images across the water: A sense of temporality, randomness, almost like driftwood. Or maybe something more architectural: Modular pieces, loosely assembled, like a group of little islands that congregate to form an auditorium.“

The design of the Archipelago Cinema was based on techniques used by fishermen to construct floating lobster farms. It was built from recycled materials in modules that allowed flexibility for its future use. 

A fantastic experience. Find out more on Arch Daily.

Make it with a Fireman

Here's one for the ladies - combine a hunk of a fireman with a kitten, French and Sauza tequila and this is the result.

'Make it with a Fireman'  - Enjoy!

Does your website breach new EU legislation for cookies?

Is your website ready to meet the new data protection rules that come into force on 26th May?  

If you run cookies on your website to track and store information about users then from 26th May you will need their permission or you may be in breach of new EU legislation.  

The only exception to this rule, according to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) is, 'if what you are doing is ‘strictly necessary’ for a service requested by the user. This exception is a narrow one but might apply, for example, to a cookie you use to ensure that when a user of your site has chosen the goods they wish to buy and clicks the ‘add to basket’ or ‘proceed to checkout’ button, your site ‘remembers’ what they chose on a previous page. You would not need to get consent for this type of activity.  

How you gain this approval is the next challenge. If you visit the ICO's website you will see that they now ask you the following question:  

'The ICO would like to place cookies on your computer to help us make this website better. To find out more about the cookies, see our privacy notice.'  

'I accept cookies from this site'  

Many sites will be able to ask a specific question when users register for a service or locked off content however others will also need to ask similar questions not to be in breach of the legislation.  

The ICO has issued a guidance document on this subject which you can download below.

advice_on_the_new_cookies_regulations.pdf (122 kb)

tokyobike store comes to London

The super cool Japanese bike brand, tokyobike has opened its first permanent shop in London this week.

They are offering limited edition models, new frame colours, recent collaborations and a whole host of accessories and Japanese lifestyle products at the new store on Tabernacle Street EC2, which opened today (Friday 20th April).

There promotional material says, 'An instant hit with urban cyclists due to their simple designs and expert handling, tokyobikes weigh just 10kg and comes in almost any colour you can think of and a range of styles. As well as striking new colours- including pastels and the long awaited saffron, the London store will stock the full tokyobike collection and a vast range of accessories including some lesser-known brands like French saddle maker Gilles Berthoud as well as beautifully designed Japanese lifestyle products.'

A great new way to get on 'yer bike.

Click here to see their online store

Armageddon comes to Paris - or does it?

A scene of Armageddon or not? This French ad keeps you and the victim entranced until the end.

Very clever and quite unexpected.

From giant rats to hand fishing, US reality TV bites

If you thought that TV reality programmes could not get much worse than 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' then think again.

Cable TV programmes in the US beat us hands down for niche and outrageous content. Here are a selection of unbelievable programmes:

"Hillbilly Handfishin" 
Some amazing people catch catfish by hand and feet. A net is a lot easier.  

"Cajun Justice"
Crazy times with Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office, Louisiana, that promises a range of reports including one of a shape-shifting swamp creature called the Rougarou. It must be a swamp thing.  

"Tattoo School"
Following students who take two weeks to learn "what most tattoo artists spend years learning" in Louisiana. Watch out for the spelling mistakes.  

"Rat Bastards"
Follow the hunters of nutria, which are large, ecologically ruinous rodents. Set in Louisiana - there's a theme here.  

"Full Metal Jousting"
Medieval jousting is back as an extreme sport with modern steel suits and "big money" prizes. A train crash in the making.  

"Texas Multi Mamas"
A programme that follows the lives of mothers of twins, triplets and quadruplets in Texas. Double, triple and quadruple trouble.  

"Doomsday Preppers"
Hunting out Americans that are getting themselves ready for the end of the world. An expert joins in advising them whether their survival tactics would work in the face of Armageddon, the Rapture or a mile-wide asteroid. Good to be prepared.  

"Confessions: Animal Hoarding"
Visiting people who have a compulsion for accumulating various critters. Move over Doctor Doolittle.  

"American Stuffers"
Don't say goodbye to your pets with the taxidermist in this programme. Time to run away and hide we think.  

Bring back Rogue Traders, all is forgiven.

Measuring Online Advertising Response

We recently found a very interesting article in AdAge by Kathryn Koegel looking into measurement of online advertising and calls for definitions to be changed for when an ad is viewed.

Making Measurement Make Sense, or 3Ms, is an initiative backed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, 4A's, the Association of National Advertisers, the Media Ratings Council, MediaLink and Bain Consulting and calls for a whole new definition of an ad, based on whether anyone actually saw it.

According to a recent study by ComScore in the US of 18 campaigns from advertisers including Kellogg's, Allstate, Ford and eTrade, up to 31% of online ad impressions served were never viewed, even though they counted as impressions in the campaigns.

This is because whether an ad is viewed or not is based upon whether the ad technically loaded on to a page rather than whether someone had the opportununity to see it.  

IAB Senior VP of Research, Analytics and Measurement Sherrill Mane commented,  "We want to put display-ad units on an equal footing with other media. The adoption of viewable impressions will ... give the media community comfort and security for brand advertisers to move forward."

Linda Abraham, CMO of ComScore commented, " Typically, top-of-page placements command highest prices, but research shows that in many cases these are overlooked in favour of in-content or below-the-fold placements -- it all depends on the type of content and how people consume it. What's surprising is how little of these publishers know and use.

"As an example, recipe sites actually have higher viewability rates of ads below-the-fold than top of page placements and we're now "able to unearth the gold below the fold."

This may be US focussed but an interesting article on measurement of online advertising and how it is being addressed.

Read the full article here. And you can find out more about 'making Measurement Make Sense' and their five principles here.

Photosynthesis conveys link between nature and man at Milan Design Week

This year's Milan Design Week sees an installation by Japanese architect Akihisa Hirata who has designed 'Photosynthesis', an installation for Panasonic that celebrates the biological process of storing solar energy.

Panasonic wish to show a potential link between nature and man-made materials through the installation and  'Photosynthesis' will be exhibited at Interni Legacy from the 16th until the 30th April. The installation will transform the Cortile della Farmacia courtyard into a space in which the visitors can experience the natural and technical, futuristic and traditional simultaneously.

The installation creates an artificial ecosystem with solar panels representing leaves, energy storage batteries as the fruits and LEDs and OLED panels represent the flowers.

Find out more on Design Boom.

Two new interiors shows to open in London in 2013

Two new interior design trade fairs are set to open their doors in London next year.

In a brave move in a market that has seen the demise of several shows, including Design Prima, in recent years Office Interiors at Earls Court and DX, at Excel, will avoid the September Interiors scrum focussing on the beginning of the year.

Office Interiors is organised by Diversified Business Communications and will be held on 13th and 14th February. The organisers present the show as a 'vibrant, fresh and exciting new event dedicated to the UK's office interior industry'. 

DX is organised by UBM and launched by Ian Rudge, co-founder of the 100% Design and Tent shows, in collaboration with graphic designer Neville Brody and architect Ad Rogers. The show will focus on the relationship between design and technology and will be at Excel on 19th and 21st May 2013.

To find out more about DX click here

To find out more about Office Interiors click here.

Architecture in fabric; Installation by Do Ho Suh

Hovering like ghostly aparitions of architecture these fabric installations by Korean artist Do Ho Suh create new environments within his exhibition using silk and metal structures.

The artist’s architectural sculptures have been brought together for an exhibition called ‘Home Within Home‘ at the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea.

Previously on display at New York’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery, they explore the idea of home and the sense of cultural displacement that comes with immigrating to a new place. 

See more of these beautiful structures here on Design Boom

Drama descends on a Belgian town

To launch a new TV station, TNT, in Belgium agency Duval Guillaume installed a giant red button in the middle of a Flemish square of an average Flemish town. A sign with the text "Push to add drama" was hung above it, inviting the general public to use the button. 

When one of the locals did the results were certainly dramatic, with a gun battle, ambulances and more.