30 November – 6 December 2020 – Design Week

This online experience wants to help people talk about death

Henry Wong — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 16:35:46 +0000

Online platform Life Support has been launched with the aim of providing practical routes into important and often taboo conversations around death. The self-initiated project has been created by London studio The Liminal Space, with government funding from Innovate UK (which was started this year to drive innovation). While a vaccine may be in sight, 2020 has seen a heightened awareness of…

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Management software Resource Guru rebrands to restore “harmony and balance”

Henry Wong — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 15:06:22 +0000

Management software company Resource Guru has rebranded with the aim of modernising its personality while retaining a sense of “playfulness and magic”. Created in collaboration with design studios Co&Co, Paraform and the company’s in-house team, the new branding includes a pared-back guru logo and bespoke set of illustrations. It rolls out across the website and app.

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“More science than art”: exploring UX design practice

Sydney Anh Mai — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 14:46:07 +0000

Fresh out of college, I joined the creative intern summer class at one of the biggest ad agencies in the world. My novice self found everything impressive, from the war rooms littered with visual concepts to the cereal machine on the 7th floor. Every Friday, the designers on my team would print out a week’s worth of UI mocks, stick them on whiteboards, debate visual styles, and throw out any mocks…

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Why age is often the “least relevant thing” when co-designing with the elderly

Molly Long — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 12:17:06 +0000

“I think from a society standpoint, we’ve been taught to be afraid of ageing,” John Zapolski tells Design Week. “Our imagination is burdened with the idea that life just gets worse as we get older and this affects the way we design.” Zapolski is the founder of Alive Ventures, a start-up studio working to build and design products and services that help older adults “live, work and love”.

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How can design help communicate the Covid vaccination roll out?

Henry Wong — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 16:46:01 +0000

The vaccines came in quick succession. First there was Pfizer/BioNTech’s announcement, then Moderna and finally Oxford/AstraZeneca. Less than a month on, the UK is planning for a nationwide roll-out of the Pfizer vaccine. After becoming the first Western country to approve a Covid vaccine, health secretary Matt Hancock announced that it would be rolled out to the most vulnerable next week.

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Is this lidless design the future of disposable coffee cups?

Molly Long — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 16:10:35 +0000

A new plastic-free, lidless coffee cup is launching in the UK with the aim of being “the world’s most environmentally friendly disposable cup”. The ButterflyCup is the invention of a start-up business of the same name. Company founder Tommy McLoughlin hopes the design will “lift the lid on the eco disaster” in which disposable cups plays a increasing role. Britons throw away 2.5…

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Christmas window displays 2020: 60s psychedelia, festive cherry pickers and more

Molly Long — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 14:39:29 +0000

With a global pandemic still to contend with, the window display designers at Harvey Nichols say it’s okay to feel a little “Scrooge-y”. In fact, the store’s head of visual display Janet Wardley says the team is “reflecting the sentiment” felt by many right now by blasting “Bah Humbug” across its windows. The neon sign sits across three sets of windows in the Knightsbridge store and is decorated…

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Opel reveals “electrified” rebrand inspired by modern German culture

Henry Wong — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 13:11:46 +0000

German car manufacturer Opel has unveiled a “young-minded” rebrand which incorporates a neon yellow colour to match its electric ambitions. The new identity is a collaboration between Opel and Velocity McCann, a McCann-run agency that works on Vauxhall’s marketing. In the UK, Opel vehicles are sold under the Vauxhall brand (which also unveiled a new flat design logo recently).

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Renewable supplier So Energy rebrands to “empower” customers

Henry Wong — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 16:40:46 +0000

Studio Blackburn has rebranded renewable energy supplier So Energy with a “straightforward and simple” identity. The work includes a new visual identity, digital billboard campaign as well as templates for customer communication. An app is also in development. Established in 2015, the West London-based company hopes to serve a million UK customers by 2023. Its name derives from co-founder…

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Coventry City’s new football kit honours City of Culture 2021 celebrations

Molly Long — Tue, 01 Dec 2020 15:02:53 +0000

Coventry City Football Club (CCFC) has unveiled a new kit design which celebrates the city’s position as UK City of Culture for 2021. Located in the West Midlands, Coventry will be the third city to hold the title since its establishment in 2013. The announcement that Coventry was to be the next to take up the mantle came in December 2017, during Hull’s tenure as City of Culture. Back in July…

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