24.01.06
An Olympian task

The shortlist to do the London 2012 Olympic graphics is out and hey guess what, it’s a list of the predicted brand-jockeys. There’s no room on the list for the most consistently creative British design company of the last 30 years (Pentagram). Or the design company that regularly wins Creative Review’s peer poll, Graphic Thought Facility. We aren’t on the list but that doesn’t come as a great surprise either. Luckily we’ll be able to count on ‘New Solutions’ and ‘Fitch’ to pull something out of the bag. Actually, semi-seriously, spare a thought for all the jockeys’ creative departments, as they try to design an Olympic logo that will be implemented in the next decade. Brushstrokes, anyone?

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17.01.06
Websites and kittens

OK we’ll admit to being a bit pushed to write a proper thought this week but here’s the best reaction to our new website so far:

‘It’s like a small kitten that you just can’t put down’

What a bizarre analogy.

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10.01.06
All shopped out

We’ve just received a copy of this eco-shopping bag that we designed for an exhibition in Japan. 100 or so designers were asked to contribute a canvas bag design that people could carry around with them and hence use less plastic ones. We wanted to try and make use of the handles, for once.

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03.01.06
It’s a scream

On a recent server clear out we found this. We were asked to donate a painted canvas to a charity auction a couple of years ago and produced this bizarre ‘anti-brand’ collage. We were obviously having a Naomi Klein moment. If memory serves us correctly it took a placement a couple of weeks to cut out all the logos and stick them down correctly.

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Thought for the week is a regular posting-place for the visual and verbal observations of London design consultancy johnson banks.

Follow this link if you want to see some recent work.

If you want to comment or suggest something yourself please contact thought@johnsonbanks.co.uk

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Latest thoughts

07.09.10
Not quite what we expected

01.09.10
That’s a lot of stop frame

20.08.10
Logo mash-ups, part two

12.08.10
Logo mash-ups, part one

09.08.10
Going forwards, reading backwards

Best thoughts so far...

about Photoshop

about the Royal College of Art

about combining English and Japanese

about branding London

about how typefaces date

about student degree shows

about great designers being born or nurtured

about assessing effectiveness

about why people become graphic designers

about crowdsourcing design

about hanging on to obsolete software

about branding’s future

about blogging

about brand Obama

about designer monographs

about turning into Monocle man

about found alphabets

about moodboards

about guitars and graphics

about how designers can never agree

about how to do a Pecha Kucha

about how long a logo lasts

about explaining design to children

about the economics of design

about the questions we often get asked

about working for La Villette

about eighties design

about making clients value design a little more

about the copyright of ideas

about going green

about hidden design

about D&AD’s annual covers

about Indian billboards

about logo design

about sketchbooks

about subway maps

about Mr B’s book

about accidental design

about the early days of design companies

about designing ethically

about flexible identities

about Olympic logos

about Save the Children

about student portfolios

about design education

about the future of graphic design

about the end of a style

about the crossover of design and advertising

about design awards

about reading lists for designers

about Alan Fletcher

about rounded typefaces