Design Debate

I am excited to announce the launch of a new website for Lizard Holiday Cottages .  Lizard Holiday Cottages came to us with a beautiful portfolio of traditional Cornish cottages and Modern sea view homes looking to create a website and brand that reflected the idyllic setting of their holiday accommodation.  First I started with the logo, being inspired by all the charm of the seaside, drawing a boat and seagull and using fresh blues. Then with the website I introduced a sandy yellow and a bright post box red.  The website has many features and has been made from scratch so is completely bespoke to our client. The home page has an image carrousel, feature boxes, Twitter feed and custom social media buttons. Each cottage has its own page with a gallery fully editable by the client and a section for reviews. There is also a search facility and a custom designed availability checker matching the style of the site completely.  I have also designed g...

Solar Panel roads have markings that would light up This truly brilliant idea comes from American electrical engineer Scott Brusaw . He suggests replacing tarmac with solar panelled road tiles - creating many advantages.  The roads would be able to input energy directly into the national power-grid through photovoltaics which could power an entire country.  This concept opens the way to such potential. It could mean electric cars could be recharged virtually anywhere, and even small business could benefit by being able to go 'off-grid' with EV charging stations. Above: without, bellow: with solar panels These solar roads can provide clean renewable energy but at the same time they can improve safety. With embedded LEDs the road can actually tell drivers if an animal is on the road, and light up road markings make dangerous stretches of road easier to navigate. As well of course it would also be easier in accedients to redirect traffic too. I have to say ...

We at Pickle Design have a very sweet little 'log cabin' studio, fits us all in nicely as well as all of the design paraphernalia we've accumulated over the years.  I do have an interest then in other small spaces, and this 'blob VB3' by dmvA, is really intriguing.  This nose-like structure can be an extension to the house, office or guest accommodation. The blob even houses a bathroom and has plenty of storage space. The'nose' part automatically flips open providing a porch and a gateway to the outside world!  I found this quirky annex at design for mankind

Anything to make life simpler and less cluttered I'm a fan of, and this paint pen is so clever.  The idea is rather than having to store lots of have empty tins of paint for touch ups in your home, you just keep some of each colour in a pen and use it as and when needed.  Really quite smart, it might get a bit addictive though! This Slobproof Paint Pen will last years, smart stuff. Found via  Design Sponge .

Two things that I adore: Chocolate and good packaging, and both can be found in  Amelia Rope 's chocolates . I love how wonderfully modern this packaging feels, but no less luxurious or indulgent. The contrast of texture and colour just work so well. The rough natural card reveals the vibrant wrapped foils, so simple and so satisfying! Found via Plenty of Colour .

This fabulous reception is for creative design agency Boys and Girls. Fed up with their standard entrance, they decided to work with company Twisted Image to design a desk that really was bespoke.  So this is what they come up with! One side of the desk is supported by giant Jenga blocks, and the other, well it looks like it is being held up by helium baloons. Actually these are a permanent rubber composite made to look like balloons and the ribbons are carbo-titanium, but so realistic! Found via  Design For Mankind .

This is one from the Design Debate archives: a branding project we created for Just Fab, an interior design and fabric showroom based in Launceston, Cornwall. Just Fab first came to us after seeing the hand-drawn bottle illustrations we had created for Wadebridge Wines . They loved their distinctive, illustrative feel and asked us to bring some of that character to their own brand. We worked with Just Fab on a new identity, refining their logo and developing a bold blue colour palette with an abstract, textural image that could be carried across the brand. The identity needed to work particularly hard on the exterior signage. The brief was simply to ‘stop traffic’ – safely, of course! – and the vivid blue certainly gave the showroom plenty of presence on the road through Launceston. We carried the same look through the stationery too, including letterheads, compliment slips and a beautifully bold business card. Next came the w...