6/18 Royal College of Art Show

The RCA show was really big and really cool. I was also very impressed and very inspired by this show. I don't even know where to start because there was so much. I fell in love with these wine glasses that had the goblet or glass part suspended by these different tree branch forms that wrapped around. I liked all the ceramics, glass, patterns, fashion, furniture, jewelry, design products, architectural design, and animation... to name a few. It was really cool to see a design problem carried out to the finished stages, having a finished physical product that was the solution to the problem. The range of ideas was limitless. It was also nice to see how each person chose to display their work, something I have been thinking about with our senior year coming up.

Johanna Jansson, the lady who did the wine glasses I loved.

6/15-17 My wonderful family in Scotland

I took the train to Scotland to visit my family for the weekend. I was staying with my aunt, uncle and two cousins (Emma, Gary, Eve, and Haydn) and would also be seeing my grandmother and my aunt Louise. Luckily, I had reserved a seat on the train because it was verrry full and somehow I was lucky enough to have the seat next to me free after the first stop. It was really nice to be travelling by myself. The scenary along the way was beautiful, that's what really makes me feel like I am in Britain. When I arrived at Leuchars station my aunt and cousins were waiting on the platform for me! Eve had made me a card in school that was super cute, it had been 3 years since I had seen them. We stopped by Nan's on the way home and she had made chocolate sticky, which is my favorite!! Emma and Gary had just redone their house and it was gorgeous with heated floors, which is now a must in any house I own because it was so amazing (esp in Scotland because its freezing). I was pretty tired from travelling and ended up going to bed fairly early.
The next day, we went shopping in Dundee. Emma and Gary had asked me what I wanted to do and I told them I wanted fish and chips and that was about it... haha. So we went to Libo's, my favorite place to get fish and chips in Cupar. We went over to Nan's to eat the fish and chips and hang out. Nan was taking us all out for dinner that night to Harvey Mcguires, which was delicious. I had fried brie, steak pie, and banoffe pie. We went home for some drinks and called it a night.
The next day, Gary made a Sunday lunch for everyone before I had to leave for my train. Nan, Louise, and Emma came with me to drop me off for the train... it was really hard to say goodbye, it always is. I was very grateful for being able to see my family, but of course I wish it could have been for longer.

6/14 Abbey Road and Graham Fink

We went to Abbey Road this morning and were huge tourists...which im okay with. I hadn't been that excited to go, but it ended up being pretty cool to actually see Abbey Road, stop traffic, and tag the wall.

Later in the day we had a talk with Graham Fink, when we got there I really liked all the wall paper, different colors and doodles all over the offices (and also the lobby that was graffitied by the daydream network). Graham Fink talked to us mainly about where ideas come from, as well as creativity and originality. As the story goes, when you're trying to think of an idea you cant, and when you're not you do. I personally get most of my ideas from the sleep fairy, either right as Im falling asleep or when I wake up. He talked about nothing being original, but it is in forming relationships between two things in a specific context that gives new meaning. I really liked the VW commercial they showed us with the guy singing in the rain. Afterwards a bunch of us went to get a drink at the pub with Graham Fink and his assistant and happened to run into the people from the Daydream Network, the ones that did the lobby which was very cool.

"Only those with short memories claim originality"

6/13 Barbican and Faulkners

At the Barbican they had an exhibit called Panic Attack, art in the punk years. A lot of the work was pretty obscene, which is expected I guess from a punk art exhibit. There was a series of 12 black and white photographs that caught my eye. I thought the building was pretty ugly, not really my taste, and it was pretty hard to navigate out of.
The guys from Faulkners talked to us at the Art Workers Guild about books. Robert Sheppard told us the story about the most expensive book the Great Omar. It didn't sell so they sold it to an American for half, but the book was on the Titanic (that sucks). Robert told us that the craft of bookbinding has hardly changed in the past 400-500 years.

6/12 Michael Johnson, The Pepper Tree, and Eye Magazine

Michael Johnson of JohnsonBanks spoke to us first about transforming aging brands. They redid the BFI (British Film Institute) logo into a lensflare that was flexible and could be used at different angles, definitely something to think about when creating any logo. They also helped Save the Children with a new identity and had kids create typefaces and color in the logo to give it an authentic look. Who better to ask then the kids themselves? I really liked their Royal Mail stamps that were fruits and veggies with stickers to put faces on them, the ones that got sent back to them were pretty funny. They also had a project called "send a letter", which were postcards in the shape of a letter of the alphabet. Michael Johnson was kind enough to play the guitar for us, which was very enjoyable. He said that he had to pick either music or design.

The Pepper Tree lunch was the best meal I've had yet, by far (finally full for once). We had chicken satay and wontons, chicken pad thai, and white chocolate ice cream.... mmmm.

When we got settled in at Eye Magazine the fire alarm went off in the whole office building, so we evacuated and started our talk in a nearby park. John Walters was interested in hearing what we had to say, more than him talking to us. He was curious about what we thought the realm of design was moving towards and also if magazines still fit into peoples lives. With everything and everyone on the web all the time, do people still invest in magazines and take the time to read them. I personally enjoy buying a nice magazine and being able to add it to the collection and use it as reference. I also cant ever be bothered to read anything on the screen, if it is of length I have to print it out to be able to hold it and read it. There definitely is something nice about the experience of holding a magazine and reading it opposed to staring at a computer screen. I think Jillian also brought up a good point that it depends on where the content of the magazine is moving, if things are movining towards web it most likely best suited on the web and if something is print it is best displayed in print.

6/11 British Library and Peter Saville

Cathrine Dixon from Central St. Martins showed us around the British Library. I saw the famous beatle lyrics written on napkins that I had heard so much about. We also went to an exhibit called Sacred, with many religious texts. In many religious texts, when they get to the end of a line they will fill the rest of the space with a decorative block. Also, in the Hebrew Bible they were limited to the amount of illustrations they scould use, so they made images out of text which is called micography(?). Another thing I thought was cool were these really small Qurans that were in their own cases, that were meant to be carried with you. They werent necessarily meant to be read, it was more about having the power of the words with you.

Peter Saville talked to us at the Art Directors Guild. It was really bizarre because literally the night before a bunch of us had had a discussion that related to a significant part of what Peter Saville was talking about. Larry started wondering/worrying about the professions we were leading into and if it was selfish and insignificant, like what if we should be doing something that really helps people or gives back (for example medicine, teaching, etc.). So then we have Peter Saville talking about design and how we need to make sure that we have the sense of doing something good in what we do. I believe that as designers we have the power to make the world a little bit better, with the creativity and the ability to communicate to certain audiences you can help a cause (we all just have to make sure we dont do advertising for cigarettes). He also said that trying to do something great for something you dont care about will be crap (very good point). Peter Saville mentioned that he was surprised that our generation isnt making a bigger deal about war, and that we should. I would say that Peter Saville's talk was a nice change of pace, not hearing a super positive talk felt real and couldn't have come at a better time.

"The solution's in the problem"

6/10 dead.

I died today.
We went to the Ministry of Sound last night, which was amazing... but on top of a rediculously long busy week (with hardly any sleep because of jetlag and 2am wake up calls for stonehenge) I knew I was gonna be sick today. Luckily, it was our first day off and I laid in bed all day and rested and literally did not get up. Not to mention my entire flat is sick or is getting sick.

6/9 Luigi Colani, Borough Market, and the Tate

Note: Design Museum is not easy to find.

We arrived kinda late to the design museum, only to find a very happy Bill Deering (not what we expected). He explained how he had found Luigi Colani himself sitting in the cafe and was willing to walk us around his exhibit. WOW. I had no idea who he was, but Luigi Colani just looked cool, definitely someone you wanna walk around with. He designs machines for water and on land, including trains, planes, cars, underwater crude oil carriers. He also designed a Cannon camera, chair, tea set to name a few. Alot of his machines were taken from nature, there was a plane designed like a how a swan lands, or a shark airplane, this is because these animals are natural streamliners. He also has gold business cards and was sitting outside on a seafoam green deck chair smoking a box of cigars talking about how he would be helicoptered to UD to talk to us. What a life.

Borough Market was heaven. One, they give out samples. Two, Bill gave us 5 pounds for lunch. It was so hard to decide what to have to eat. I sampled some cheese, olives, wheat beer, greek dips and ended up splitting fish and chips with Jill and bought a punnet of strawberries. They also had this brilliant stand of chocolate covered EVERYTHING, like bananas, honeycomb, and nuts.

Exhausted at this point...we then went to the Tate to see the Dali and Film exhibit and Helio Oiticica exhibit. I enjoyed the Dali exhibit more than Helio Oiticica's Body of Colour. It was cool seeing Dali's sketches and watercolors and seeing his paintings in real life. I love the way Dali does his surrealistic/abstract shadows usually of people. His paintings have so much fine detail that could be easily overlooked, like little groups of buildings burrowed into a rock in the painting.

6/8 Stonehenge

We were picked up by the bus at 2am to drive to stonehenge. The weather was looking pretty ominous on the way there, it was raining but with Britain you never know... the rain could pass or the weather could be beautiful 30 minutes up the road. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best and their was no official sunrise but regardless WE WERE IN STONEHENGE, like with the rocks. They had changed it since the last time I had been there and the paths let you get much closer, but I still felt ultra privileged to be allowed inside. It was such an amazing feeling to stand in the middle looking out on stonehenge, rather than at it. We became one with the rocks and had some pretty stellar photo shoots, hahaha. The boys also took some pretty good band pictures with the rocks. And then it was time to get to sketching before our hour was up.

6/7 Greyworld Amazingness

Andrew Shoben from Greyworld had all 32 of us in his little studio. He had a desk lamp that was enlarged like 20x in his living room as a real lamp, very cool.
What they do:
Greyworld does sound based urban installations that are quick and easy to understand. There are about 4 of them that work together. They have a carpeted bridge that as you walk over it, it plays different sounds. They tuned pipes to play a certain song when you ran a stick along it, like a child does running past a park fence. They designed a tail and walked around town filming different things that Andrew did, they also believe that everyone will want a tail or should have a tail. In bus stops they have a lady that speaks to you that is obsessed with color. They did the design for the London Stock Exchange with balls that moved up and down on string to spell out different things, they got alot of business for building atriums, but they wanted to do stuff in the urban setting that could be seen publicly. Had an idea to to use the idea of a magic trick to have flowers pop out as you walked along a wall, errupting and disappearing. There is a world bench network where there is half a bench with the other half projected where you can talk to someone else in the world sitting on the otherside of the bench. They are creating a statue for outside the V&A that is standing in a position and then mimics other people as they walk by.

It was really cool to hear Andrew talk about his projects and ideas so endlessly. Hes just constantly thinking of cool ideas and will actually figure out a way to do them. He has gotten to a point that he can think of an idea and then propose it if they want or someone can come to them and he can do whatever he wants. The entire time we were there he was spitting out ideas that were coming into his head. I think some of the best advice we have gotten yet was when he said that editting an idea before it comes out of your mouth is the saddest thing ever. There are always so many fantastic ideas lost because of your own censorship. How ever many ideas you have just let them keep coming and dont say good or bad. Andrew had the best energy, moving about when he talks, being totally enthusiastic about what he does... he seems like such a great person to work with or even just have conversation or a good time.

It's really funny cause this was probably my favorite visit and it was definitely one of those days when I was dreading the second visit of the day because I was so tired, didn't expect much at all, and it proved to be such a great experience (which is what always happens when you feel that way).

"Anything written in Latin sounds clever"

6/6 Pentagram and Saatchi & Saatchi

Pentagram- Debbie Taffler
Partner led, each partner has about 3 or 4 designers working for them, you are hired by the partner in which you will work for.
Why do they exist? making you think a certain way because of the way something looks.
known for identity, mainly graphic design- citi bank, saks fifth avenue (one of my favorites) a combination of classic and contemporary
package design reputation is increasing- Espa (making your own brand makes more money), Tiffany & Co, Calloway
product desig (3D visual language)- Dell, Nike, Krug Champagne (not doing better branding on ice bucket, but branding a new ice bucket)
Signage- toilet signs (making them 3D, backlighting them), airport signage (simplistic but needs to communicate/work)
Architecture and Interiors- muzak a company that does music for the workplace (sent a truck with a big "m" on it up and down the street to spark interest), EAT. (went shopping with clients of what kind of things you would find, contrasting Pret)
words of wisdom-
how do you judge if its any good?
-design awards are just other designers, its the people who invest their money
- did i answer the clients brief?
more comps show a lack of confidence, in a pile of 20 there are 2 you like the best.
remember that often the client is not the target audience of the product
getting hired: want to know how you think, dont do too much, say what your objective was and what you trashed to get there, can you porblem solve?, figure out where you fit.

Saatchi & Saatchi- Kate Sanders
a woman in advertising that is an executive creative director, had an advertising father. Some of their clients are Carlsberg, Toyota, NSCPP, Lexus, Guiness, Dr. Martens. Had an interesting Carlsberg viral, dropping 20 pound notes on the street with a speak bubble coming out of the queen. Dr. Martens website called Freedom, created a whole forum for people to post artwork, more than just about their shoes but more of a life style.

6/5 "Bunnies will be everywhere"

Happy Birthday Dad!

Trend Union- trend forcasting methodologies
-Li Edelkoort, the fashion predicting guru
-the trends they talk about are predicted 2 years in advance
-they give out color cards, for that seasons colors, which can then be altered by bigger companies
-trends cover all aspects including: food, paper, electronics, airlines, clothing, interiors, packaging, scent, make up, music, cars
-Scandinvia has the most interesting interior design
-"Survival of Craft" as textiles and production move to China, then countries such as Italy and France lose knowledge for future generations because the skill or trade wont be passed down. (interesting because my dad works in textiles and he keeps talking about everything moving to China because it is so much cheaper and mills are constantly shutting down, there isnt much demand anymore)

Overall the talk was pretty "brainwashing" to say the least. It would be better if they claimed that they make trends and set them for people to follow, but instead they have this lady that "just knows" and somehow it always just happens, whatever it is that she predicts will be trendy.

BBH- Bartle Bogle Hagerty
talked with a creative team of a girl and a boy, who had worked together in college. Somewhat different from the US because typically you can get hired as an individual and you dont have to apply as an existing team already. Some of their clients are audi, levis, Robinsons, vodaphone, Johnie Walker, British Airways, Persil, Flora. Their approach to Flora (margarine) is to talk about the benefits and not the actual product itself. I also saw a Robinsons Juice ad I liked that was to do with Wimbeldon, they have a childlike illustrationy quality, and it was a flower sprouting and said something about having No.1 seeds. Alot of their work I recognized that was posted all over london, like billboards and in the underground.

6/4 V&A

Today we went to the V&A's Surreal Things exhibit and had a talk with Zoe Whitely and NB Studio.
The Surreal Things exhibit ranged from theatre to fashion to furniture. A lot of ideas and objects pulled from nature, like the Eileen Agar hat made from wood and shells or the table with bird legs. My favorite part of the exhibit though was the fashion, they had an elegant dress that displayed the bones of the body. Everything was pretty bizarre... the lobster telephone, which even more bizarre is the explanation of why it is a lobster telephone. I also liked the oh so very functional furniture, there was a piece that claimed to have 18 different functions, stool, chair, table, etc.
Zoe Whitely curated an exhibit at the V&A called "Uncomfortable Truths" and NB Studio did the identity. The had brought in boards that showed their very detailed process of creating the branding. How they came about doing ink splots and all the different versions they had. They showed us some of their other work and they stressed hand doing things, like actually building or creating the thing it is that you want (heard that somewhere before?)

6/3 we made it to our flats!

our building is gorgeous, not what i expected. It's actually an office building with conference rooms and things on the first 4 floors and then our flats on the 5th floor. After only ever seeing my aunts flat in london (for one person) I had imagined what uncomfortably small living conditions we would have, but they were so BIG! (now we know where our tuition goes). The maid was still cleaning when we arrived and informed us that our toilets weren't working... no big deal... yeah right. There were 3 bedrooms for the 6 of us and one room had BUNKBEDS (gew). So because everyone absolutely detested the bunkbeds, we paired up and picked numbers for the bedrooms to be fair. I knew if I picked I would get the bunkbeds just because I probably hated them the most. I have a loft bed at home and have not slept on it for at least 6 years, instead I sleep on a mattress on the floor. So Rosie and I got the bunkbeds, no surprise there. We immediately figured out how we could dismantle them because there was no way that for 5 weeks we would be able to surivive sleeping on top of each other. Even better the two biggest girls get the smallest room... hahaha im over it now, kinda.
We had these gorgeous balconies outside our windows that we all immediately went out on and were loving life and then had a meeting with the anglo-american guy and told us that we werent allowed on them and if we did they would seal our windows shut, whoops. Also, on top of the toilets not working one of our showers flood... but we still love our flat!!!
We went food shopping at Sainsbury, which luckily is right on the corner. While shopping I needed the toilet and realized that I couldnt go back to the flat to use ours and was in quite the pickle so I asked a lady working if I could use theirs (which of course in a city there are no public toilets). I explained my situation and she said that she would let me use them she just had to tell her managers first, on the way to find her managers she mentioned that she would have to tell them that I was pregnant. Pretty funny and I definitely didnt care at this point and I would also have to skip on buying that bottle of wine I had wanted. haha
We went exploring a little around the area and found a place for dinner and then hit up our first pub.

6/2 day of departure

I packed and repacked my bags 3 times and was ready to leave for the airport. Checked in and said goodbye to my parents and Jr before going through security. We were left with time to eat dinner and shop at duty free, where the guy gave us a discount because he wanted us to consider doing web design for him (seems that just saying you are able to do web design pays off without actually having to do it).
I love flying bristish airways. The flight attendants are the best, they are always so nice and friendly and will give you anything you ask for, not to mention ok plane food. And this was the beginning of the british accents which always excites me :) Flying is by far one of my favorite things to do, I used to want to be a flight attendant when i grew up or a pilot (but mostly a flight attendant). There was this one male flight attendant that was very "vivacious" and totally loved his job it seemed like, he was so happy singing "hate it.. or love it" as he walked down the aisles asking people for their rubbish. I slept about 30 min total and watched movies the rest of the time. Gotta love having individual tv screens and being able to start about 20 different movies and watch about 10 minutes before deciding you want to watch something else (my attention span on an airplane isnt too impressive).