Design Debate

The beauty market is saturated, full of promises and and competing claims. This product from South Korea is called simply "Make Me Lovely Cream". What I like about this smooth tube is the abstract pattern that surrounds the cream. I think all woman want to look their loveliest. The branding is fresh faced and youthful but also fun and classy.  Designed by Triangle Studio this little tube would make me pause as a walked overwhelmed through the beauty isle. Whether it comes good on its title is another matter. But I think 'lovely' is an inner confidence that shines through, and perhaps it will shine through a smiling face smoothed with "Make Me Lovely Cream" , who knows. Packaging-wise, spot on.    Read more at The Dieline .

Ok so the architects say they were inspired by a musical instrument, a trombone, but I see wooden wormhole! This brilliant little cabin was designed by architect Espen Folgerø with students from the Bergen School of Architecture  and can be found on the edge of  Bergen, Norway. Known as the Tubakuba Mountain Hub, you can actually stay in this intriguing space free of charge.  The cabin is made of 95% wood and it was quite a feat to achieve. The brilliant moulded wooden entrance needed the strips of wood to be soaked in water, they used two repurposed water boilers and applied the wood wet. The architects wanted the cabin to be used by families, kids would enjoy the tunnel and everyone would enjoy the view! The 14-square-metre hut has no electricity but a little wood burner, there is a separate enclosed bathroom with a sleeping space on top and a suspended floor that creates a sheltered picnic area.   I think this would be a perf...

I wanted to focus on a great graphic designer who really had an impact on the world of advertising, Lou Dorfsman. In particular, his typographic wall. Dorfsman's life spanned from 1918 to 2008 and he spent his working life at CBS, Columbia Broadcasting System, a career that defined the company's identity in every detail. He worked his way up by treating every project with great importance and using his trademark style of "clear typography, simple slogans and smart illustration" (New York Times) to leave an impression. Dorfsman's greatest achievement, or most memorable must be the wall he created in the CBS building. He was responsible for every detail of this giant company, ensuring the brand was maintained from the barricades that surrounded the site while under construction, to the art on the walls in the hallways, to the signage in the lobbies, to the letterheads and business cards.  Dorfsman was responsible for all of the building'...

I came across the work of Rui Veiga today and I love the composition, clarity and contrast. Black and white photography is eternal, no matter how colour photography advances there is nothing quite like the impact a black and white image can have.  Veiga posts his images on Instagram,  @_darkwhite_ using symmetry, contrast and shadow in the urban environment. He is based in Lausanne, Switzerland and themes of loneliness in the city come through. I also think the images work really well in the square format Instagram allows. Little moments in time, bold and speaking loudly but without words. 

Have you heard of the stepwells? I must confess on my visit to India about 5 years ago I didn't have a clue. We traveled all around this enchanting country taking in forts, palaces and peoples and I knew nothing of what was going on underground.  Chicago journalist Victoria Lautman has spent four years photographing these forgotten structures, 120 sites in total, to help raise awareness. These intricate and beautiful feats of engineering are crumbling and decaying with neglect. Once essential to hold the country's water, now some are being used as rubbish dumps, filled with soil or just abandoned.  The architecture is fascinating, spirals of stairs going down and down, all the detail and design show how important water was regarded. Now India is considering re-opening some of these wells to help prevent shortages.  I find these sites quite amazing, from the 2nd to the 4th centuries A.D. the rich poured the money literally i...