At last, Olymic merchandise that's my cup of tea.

Nobody who reads my sporadic blogs will be under any misapprehensions about my dislike of the 2012 branding and communications, so you won't be surprised to learn that it was with sinking heart that I read the subject line of the latest email from the 2012 shop:

Decorative Wedgwood tableware, perfect for Easter afternoon tea.

I feared the worst. Actually though, I was pleasantly surprised; the design is, typically for Wedgwood, elegant, restrained and attractive. How have they managed this? By using the graphics from the 1948 London games, not this one. 'Nuff said really.

 

England's green and pleasant bland...

Hats off to Johnny Bull, my über-talented former partner – now upsetting the locals in rural Wiltshire – whose moniker still makes up half the company name.

Brought up like me in a grubbier era when you actually did get your hands dirty when making artwork, he still waxes lyrical on the business of creativity and bemoans the tedium and lack of fun which permeates much of what passes for advertising and design these days.

Check out his latest blog post here: http://bit.ly/AcflVy

S.W.A.L.K

This image was embedded into an e-mail and sent to our clients on Valentine's Day. Although it contained no chocolates or flowers it still put a smile on faces. After all, who doesn't like to receive a Valentine's?

 

The Only Way is Hoxton...

... or should that be Made In Shoreditch? in any event, a reality show based on the hipsters round here would be a real winner. We could even make sense of some of the terms which TOWIE has made famous.

 

Mad Men returns

Everybody's favourite advertising agency drama returns to screens in a few weeks time. Mad Men has proved enormously popular, winning 4 Golden Globes as well as notching up well over a hundred award nominations.

The highly anticipated Season 5 has recently been advertised in NYC with minimalist style posters that play on the opening Saul Bass-inspired title sequence. Judging by some of the additions added on the posters below, it would seem that commuters have been having a little play themselves.

Mad Men's two-hour season 5 premiere airs Sunday, March 25th on AMC. No news on the UK release yet but it'll be interesting to see if we're treated to the same the style posters on the underground and if so, what scenarios Don Draper will find himself falling into.

Baby, it's cold outside

The festive season represents an annual challenge to graphic designers; not only having to come up with cool ideas for clients’ Christmas cards, but also agonising over your own. After all, it’s the perfect opportunity to show how original and creative we can be.

At Bull Rodger we love Christmas and have always tried to balance wit with simplicity in our cards; this year is no exception. Designed by the lovely Eve Entwisle, the design comes in three forms, showing our mastery of print, digital and 3D (we’ve created a ‘display’ wall in our studio which is increasingly being used for installations). Personally, I think it’s one of the best we’ve done – brrrrrrrilliant, in fact.