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14.12.07
Thought for the week review of the year, part one
We ended last year with a review of our musical highlights of 2006, and this year thought we’d go a little further. This is the first part of our review, part two will follow next week.
The ‘wish we’d done that’ design award 
Sometimes London-based design consultancy The Partners attracts more than its fair share of mutterers and grumblers (possibly due to its penchant for ‘not really real’ projects and its blanket-bombing approach to awards schemes). But the naysayers will have been spluttering into their vanilla lattes when this fabulous project for the National Gallery came out. Cannily using the sponsorship of HP, old masters sprung up in perfect facsimile framed fashion all over London. Is it advertising, design or just the best bit of ambient since Britart? Who cares, it’s great.
The ‘wish we’d done that too’ design award... 
…goes to this much blogged and discussed project by Michael Bierut for Saks Fifth Avenue, which created almost infinite tessellations of a tiled version of the new ‘old’ logo. Lovely. Mr Bierut is right up there for book of the year with his collection of articles too.
The ‘wish we’d done that as well (but we’re not sure about the type)’ award...
...goes to this interesting scheme for the Casa da Música in Portugal by Stefan Sagmeister. An interesting 2d take on a 3d idea. Very neat.
The ‘you’ve got to admire their chutzpah’ award
To Wolff Olins for consistently designing things that get up people’s noses, but not caring two hoots about it. Their schemes for the Olympics and Wacom attracted huge amounts of pixel-and-print based vitriol but we’re willing to bet that the old adage about no such thing as bad publicity has been much used at WO this year. The Alex Ferguson school of siege mentality management goes to Creative Director Patrick Cox’s comments about the olympics logo being ‘the little thorn in the chair that gets you to breathe in, sit up and take notice’.
With all the spleen-venting over the other two, the NYC logo has come out, and despite a really nasty version of it appearing on the New York taxis, it looks OK to us. Of course in the hands of the agency the logo retreats back into the corner (no surprise there then)...
...but if layouts like this ever get out of the powerpoint file and into applications it will be an interesting scheme.
The most useful website of the year
Ok, now this was a tough one. Many hours were spent on del.icio.us and Facebook at johnson banks towers, much gazing at the fantastic Designboom and the hardy perennial Swiss Miss. The girls in the office are lobbying to include the Topshop website too. Mmmm not sure. But at number one it just has to be FFFFound - ever since a friend invited us we’ve been completely hooked on its constant variety and magically easy interface. Visual scrapbooking was never easier. Beg, borrow or steal an invite as soon as you can. Our consistently hilarious website read of the year goes to... 
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs is truly great. If you haven’t been, put twenty minutes aside, read and weep with laughter. If you’re looking for entertainment of a different variety, try David Airey :: Graphic and Logo Designer.
Our best web-article of the year 
A very tough category but it has to be this marvellous article by Armin Vit, lifting the lid on this year’s must-have typographic tic – counterless, blocky type. Like any good bit of writing, Armin’s piece simply verbalises what we’d all been thinking, that there’s a heck of a lot of that idea around. Anything that you’ve seen or done in this style this year is going to look so 2007 in just a few months time.
Our records of the year
Well in terms of ‘most played’ it would have to be this year’s Cinematic Orchestra, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem and, er, Mika (sorry). Slightly embarrassingly we’re still playing Hot Chip as well. Whilst in memory lane we’re hammering old Rage albums and those early seventies Miles Davis albums like Live Evil and On the corner. Still sound great.
The gig of the year
Well The Cinematic Orchestra at the Albert Hall was quite something, and sadly we can’t tell you what the Rage reunion at Coachella was like, but we wish we’d been there. We can, however, tell you that Zeppelin at the O2 was truly awesome (dude).
Must-have designer gadget of the year
It has to be the iphone. But we’re waiting until it’s 3G,
sorry Steve.
Must-have designer domestic present of the year 
It has to be these Pantone mugs. Never has your dishwasher looked so colourful. (But not pink – bizarrely PMS 239 can only be handwashed. Weird). Last but not least - confectionery revival of the year 
The return of the 80s staple for fatties everywhere, the Wispa.
That’s all for now. The review of the johnson banks year will follow next week.
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