Usually a weekend in London with the girls is messy, full of mojitos, dancing and cupcakes! However, last month we decided that we needed to immerse ourselves in a bit of culture and headed off to the Digital Decode exhibition at the V&A (after the mojitos and cupcakes). A brilliant afternoon and well worth a visit. The exhibition showcases the latest digital design sensations – everything from digitally growing plants to mechanical eyes that mirror your gaze. The exhibition was split into three: Code, Network and Interactivity.

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Saul Bass was not only one of the great graphic designers of the mid-20th century, but also the undisputed master of film title design. With a career spanning over fifty years – which included collaborations with Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese (among others) – the work he produced was consistently innovative. While always of the moment, Saul Bass’ work is as relevant today as it was fifty years ago as it continues to appeal to the audience’s emotions and intellect. Read more…

Call to actions. They are those pesky things that designers hate because the client always wants them bigger… and the designer wants it to be tucked away so the masterpiece he/she has created won’t be ruined by commercialism. But what if the advert itself was the call to action… and by simply taking a picture of the advert you can automatically be connected to a website where you can get more information or call a number where you can give your details and more information.

Sound daft? Well believe it or not those clever people at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have developed a mobile phone app for iPhone and Android that turns a multitude of items; from DVD and CD covers to Film Posters and Adverts into call to actions… so the design is the response device! Designers rejoice!

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You, your wand and an adventure. Sounds deeply suspicious. But actually it’s the basic principle of a new live-action role-playing game called MagiQuest.

MagiQuest is your story, your adventure, your imagination brought to life. So says the blurb. It’s certainly unlike anything you’ve encountered before. Playing the part of a ‘Magi’ – kind of like an apprentice wizard – you have to complete quests, find gold and, here’s the really good bit, challenge your mates to wand-to-wand duels.

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Imagine a museum of British Design and Art that has over 100,000 items for you to view… but rather than walk round this museum, you can get round it with a few clicks from a computer mouse! Welcome to the Visual Arts Data Service (VADS)… the online resource for visual arts and design.

VADS has provided services to the academic community for 12 years and has built up a considerable portfolio of visual art collections that are freely available and copyright cleared for use in learning, teaching and research in the UK… and now this entire collection is available to view online.

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Do you like music? Okay, stupid question: I might as well ask if you like converting oxygen into carbon dioxide, or Christmas Dinner. Everyone loves a good tune – with the possible exception of Andrew Lloyd Webber – and there’s nothing better than getting it for nothing. Remember how the holy grail of free music lured an entire generation into the open paws of that creepy Napster cat? Until the Recording Industry Association tied the bugger up in a burlap sack and chucked it in the Mississippi, of course.

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It probably hasn’t escaped your notice that in September an edition of Entertainment Weekly in the US will feature the world’s first video-in-print advert. Previewing programmes from CBS’s upcoming season as well as adverts for Pepsi… the video advert will work by having slim screens inserted into the magazine that are activated when the magazine pages are opened – kinda like what happens on greeting cards.

Each chip that feeds the screen can hold up to 40 minutes of video with the battery that powers the chip and screen being able to play for about 65 to 70 minutes. This battery can then be recharged by plugging in a mini USB cord and once you’ve got bored of the content contained in the chip… you can download additional content from the Web. Sounds clever, and expensive… so will it take off?

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QR Codes. Great little invention… bloody boring to look at though. Well not any more thanks to the Tokyo based agency SET who have found a way to make these two dimensional barcodes visually more interesting.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with QR Codes. A QR Code (The QR standing for Quick Response) is a Japanese invention that was initially used for tracking vehicle parts in vehicle manufacturing. They are common in japan and with the rise in popularity in smart phones on these shores… we’re beginning to see a lot of them in adverts and magazines.

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