For many, it's the biggest and most nerve-wracking night in the creative calendar. D&AD held its 63rd awards ceremony last nightat London's Southbank Centre and handed out a record-breaking 668 Pencils across all categories. Most significantly, three coveted Black Pencils—the highest D&AD accolade—were awarded to groundbreaking work that exemplified the year's themes of commercial impact and narrative excellence. With no quota system for Pencil awards, D&AD maintains its reputation for uncompromising standards. In some years, no Black Pencils are given out at all, making the awarding of three a significant achievement for these winners: Designing Paris 2024 by W Conran Design won in Graphic Design for its innovative approach to sports marketing. The judges highlighted how the design created a unifying yet distinctive feel that successfully merged heritage elements with modern sporting aesthetics. A$AP Rocky - Tailor Swif by Iconoclast LA won in Music Videos, exemplifying the year's emphasis on narrative storytelling. The winning work featured long-form storytelling where music was integral to the narrative structure rather than an afterthought, demonstrating how narrative arcs can transcend different mediums and artistic disciplines. Spreadbeats by FCB New York won in Digital Marketing for what the agency described as "Innovation through nostalgic technologies." This work aligned with a trend of brands cleverly inserting themselves into events, sports, and games through inventive approaches. Commercial and creative This year's judging process marked a major evolution in D&AD's approach. Jurors emphasised the critical importance of commercial viability, seeking work that demonstrates tangible business impact and drives meaningful behavioural change rather than celebrating creativity for its own sake. In other words, if there was ever a danger that agencies would make work primarily to win awards rather than serve the client, that's now history. In 2025, you have to do both. "This year's awards celebrated the power of design not just as a form of art but as a catalyst for commercial success and behavioural change," noted Dara Lynch, CEO of D&AD. "The idea is that innovative ideas must possess both aesthetic appeal and tangible impact." The Black Pencil winners perfectly embodied this philosophy. For instance, W Conran Design's 'Designing Paris 2024' was recognised for illustrating how design thinking can transform an entire city's attitude and behaviour. Judges from the Graphic Design category praised it as "a breakthrough for sports marketing and traditional sports marketing aesthetics," noting its playful yet scalable approach that successfully blended heritage with contemporary sport. The return of craftsmanship Alongside commercial effectiveness, jurors were looking for exceptional craft. From Radio and Audio to Film, their message was clear: in an increasingly automated creative landscape, looking good simply isn't enough. "The resurgence of craftsmanship stands as a reminder that in an era of automation, true excellence lies in the thoughtful execution of ideas," Dara explained. "It's not enough just to look good; true creative excellence must also leave a lasting impression." This was particularly evident in D&AD's new Creator Content category, where judges called for clearer definitions of craft excellence and higher standards in content creation. The winning entries all demonstrated work that creates meaningful impact and genuinely engages audiences. Global Participation The 2025 D&AD Awards achieved unprecedented global reach, with entries submitted from 86 countries worldwide—the highest number in the awards' history. This international participation resulted in over 30,000 pieces of work from 11,689 total entries. "It's exciting to see so many brands and companies refreshing their identities," said D&AD trustee Lisa Smith, global executive creative director at Jones Knowles Ritchie. "Judging has been challenging. Too many entries follow the same established design codes and trends, making everything start to look and feel alike, regardless of category. The work that stood out was the kind that breaks away from the expected: inspiring, well-crafted, and truly fit for purpose." The awards ceremony also recognised outstanding agency performance across various specialisations. FCB New York claimed the prestigious title of Advertising Agency of the Year, while Serviceplan Design was named Design Agency of the Year for the first time. DIVISION continued their remarkable winning streak, earning Production Company of the Year for the fifth consecutive year. In the network categories, Serviceplan took home Independent Network of the Year, while FCB was also named Network of the Year. Apple received recognition as Client of the Year, acknowledging its commitment to creative excellence across its marketing initiatives. Presidential recognition The 2025 D&AD President's Award went to Koichiro Tanaka, founder of interdisciplinary creative boutique Projector. Chosen by D&AD President Kwame Taylor-Hayford, Tanaka was recognised for his pioneering work at the intersection of storytelling, interactivity, and craft, which helped define a formative era in digital creativity. "I'm very honoured," Tanaka said. "To receive this award from D&AD, which has lived longer than I have, and to feel part of its long story is now something I live with. Being recognised with care and an open heart is a special thing to me." Kwame, who is co-founder of Kin, explained his choice: "Koichiro Tanaka's pioneering work at the intersection of storytelling, interactivity, and craft helped define a formative era in digital creativity. His career journey, bold ideas, and meticulous attention to detail have been a constant source of personal inspiration." Beyond the three Black Pencils, the ceremony awarded three White Pencils, 48 Yellow Pencils, 176 Graphite Pencils and 434 Wood Pencils. Additionally, four Future Impact Pencils were awarded, recognising work that demonstrates potential for significant positive change. The diverse range of winning work spanned 44 categories, from traditional advertising and design to emerging areas like Gaming & Virtual Worlds and the newly introduced Creator Content category. Craft categories collectively garnered 198 Pencils, underscoring the year's emphasis on exceptional execution. The complete list of Pencil-winning work and shortlisted entries are showcased on the D&AD website, while the official D&AD Rankings will be released alongside the digital D&AD Annual. These rankings provide definitive tables of the most successful companies, networks, countries and clients based on the awards results. #dampampad #awards #who #won #what

Formula E has always felt like a sport from the future, with electric cars zipping through city circuits and drivers navigating attack modes and energy boosts with joystick-like precision. So when Nissan's Formula E team wanted to create a campaign for their home race in Tokyo, leaning into the world of retro gaming didn't just make sense—it felt inevitable. The result is 'NISMO Electric Racer Tokyo', a '90s-style arcade game developed by creative agency Dark Horses in collaboration with Japanese-Australian illustrator Kentaro Yoshida. Free to play on desktop and mobile, the game puts players in the hot seat of a stylised Nissan Formula E car, tearing through an 8-bit Tokyo cityscape at top speeds of 322kph, which is the same velocity as the real Nissan E-4ORCE 04. With nods to pixelated classics like Outrun and Street Fighter, the game channels the energy of a bygone gaming era while cleverly linking back to real motorsport. "We've always talked about how Formula E itself feels like a video game," says Dark Horses creative Hannah Rendell. "With its unpredictability, pit boosts, and attack modes, it felt natural to bring those mechanics into a playable world." It's essentially a nostalgic thrill ride packed with thoughtful details. From cherry blossoms and Mount Fuji in the background to lightning bolt speed boosts symbolising attack mode, everything has been designed to reflect both the culture of Japan and the mechanics of the race. Get too slow, and you'll see a 'Game Over' screen – a cheeky nod to Formula E's emphasis on energy management. For creative duo Hannah and Lara Hallam, Tokyo provided the perfect setting for such a concept. "Nineties gaming is making a huge return to pop culture," explains Lara. "So playing into that nostalgic and retro world for the Tokyo E-Prix, a city so iconic for its gaming culture, felt like a no-brainer." The game is part of a wider campaign activation that includes a special edition race livery, which was recently revealed ahead of the Tokyo E-Prix on 14 May. The livery, also designed by Kentaro, reimagines the team's Sakura theme through the same vibrant, pastel-toned aesthetic seen in the game. His illustrations were then translated into crisp pixel art, creating visual cohesion across both digital and physical formats. "Using Kentaro's illustrations as a base, and then transforming them into 8-bit pixel art, meant we ended up with designs that felt truly unique to our game and Japanese culture as a whole," says Hannah. It marks Kentaro's first foray into the world of gaming and one that's already generating buzz across design and motorsport circles alike. Creative consistency was key across the entire campaign, from the game itself to the accompanying video spot, which riffs on classic 90s toy commercials. Live-action footage is spliced with gameplay and VHS-style overlays, mimicking the look and feel of old-school arcade advertising. It's tongue-in-cheek and era-authentic but with a modern twist, much like the game itself. "This is our strategy of noisy thinking," said Dark Horses creative directors Sean Johnson and Josh Pearce. "Generating creatively distinct and individual social-based ideas that drive constant awareness and engagement, working at its very best." The studio has built a reputation for unconventional sports marketing, and this campaign is no exception. While most motorsport content focuses on realism, tension, and competition, NISMO Electric Racer Tokyo invites a sense of play, not just for superfans but also for casual players and culturally curious audiences. "You don't have to be a Formula E fan to want to battle it out on the track in our game," says Lara. "But you can guarantee that after playing it, you'll see Nissan as an exciting team to watch out for." Nissan's Formula E journey is a story of resilience and ambition. Having entered the championship in 2018, the team started at the back of the pack, but this year, they're leading the standings. That trajectory mirrors the underdog thrill of a good racing game: start slow, learn the mechanics, and eventually take the win. "We're very excited to return to our home E-Prix in Tokyo," said Tommaso Volpe, managing director and team principal of the Nissan Formula E Team. "This race is not only a major moment for us as a team but also a chance to celebrate our Japanese heritage. With 'NISMO Electric Racer Tokyo', we've created something that captures the energy we bring to the track while celebrating Japan's legendary gaming culture." For Nissan, this campaign is part of a broader push to electrify its brand identity through how it connects with fans and its vehicles. As the first Japanese manufacturer in Formula E and a pioneer in electric powertrains, Nissan has long positioned itself as a future-forward player. But this activation also shows they're equally comfortable mining the past for creative inspiration. It's quite a unique blend of heritage and innovation through a campaign that brings together game design, illustration, advertising, and automotive branding in one cohesive world. Whether you're a gamer, a designer, or a motorsport die-hard, there's something irresistibly satisfying about seeing a 90s-style arcade racer reimagined for the electric age. If you're thinking of trying it out, just be aware that Nissan's own drivers, Oliver Rowland and Norman Nato, have already set the bar high on the leaderboard. #dark #horses #nissan #launch #retroinspired

The ocean. Inspiration doesn’t come much bigger than that, and it’s the theme French artist Jean Jullien is celebrating with his latest work – Osaka Kaiju. The installation, now on display in the France Pavillion at EXPO 2025 in Osaka, is an enormous whale-like being, which might just be the biggest piece in the artist’s career so far. Kaiju come from Japanese folklore and continue to feature in popular culture, in Japan and around the world. They’re the monsters you see in the Godzilla films, but Osaka Kaiju isn’t bent on destruction. His mission is a peaceful one: his skin tells the story of the ocean so people realise the importance of the sea and protecting it.Yuki OnishiNanzukaNanzuka “Osaka Kaiju’s body is covered in drawings, lines, scars or tattoos – however you want to see it – creating a panorama of the many myths, gods and legends that tell of our relationship with the ocean,” says Jean. “From Poseidon to European sea dragons to Inca deities, with a large emphasis on Japanese Yokai as well.” As the artwork continues along his flanks, new mythical creatures appear, which Jean has created to represent topics like over-fishing, dangerous migration by sea, climate change, plastic pollution and more. “I’ve always been fascinated by storytelling and how mythology manages to sum up big, complex notions and funnel them into characters. I wanted to use that language to address contemporary matters,” he adds. Typically, Jean Julien’s work consists of highly accessible, humorous, hand drawn, comic strip-style artwork. Here he is taking it into three dimensions, painting directly onto the surface of the sculpture. Inside Osaka Kaiju is a metal and wooden frame, which is covered in a balloon-like material. The installation was built in a warehouse in Tochigi by AD Japan and the Nanzuka art gallery for Jean.Balthazar JullienBalthazar JullienBalthazar Jullien When complete, the skin was removed, and the artwork transported to the pavilion and reconstructed. To accompany the piece, the artist’s brother Nicolas Julien has composed thematic music which plays as Osaka Kaiju floats among colourful fish, illuminated in its darkened space. Evenly lighting the creature was one of the trickiest parts of the display. “The ocean is important to me for two reasons. Sentimentally, first, because of my upbringing and family roots in Britanny. I grew up in Nantes and we would go to Lesconil where the fishing industry was alive but slowly declining,” says Jean. “Secondly, it’s important to me as a human being, because we literally can’t live without it. It’s an essential part of life. Without it we all die.”NanzukaNanzuka And the big message in this enormous work? “You have to know where you come from in order to know where you’re going,” says Jean. “It's important to realise that as our knowledge of the ocean has deepened, how we tell its story has lightened. In mythology it’s often threatening, dark, mysterious and a bringer of death. Now, when we tell stories its incarnation is often very friendly and joyful. I'm hoping installations and narratives like the Osaka Kaiju can inspire younger generations to become positive actors for the future.” Osaka Kaiju is a collaboration between Jean Jullien and the Tara Ocean Foundation, in partnership with AXA, Cofrex and Nanzuka. The gentle creature will be on show at EXPO 2025 until 12 June. #jean #jullien #having #whale #time

For our Financial Transparency theme, independent design executive and educator Rachel Gogel gets into navigating pay disparities, pricing for value, and why true success lies in unlocking human energy, not just income. Rachel Gogel’s career spans some of the most recognisable names in publishing and tech – GQ, The New York Times, Meta – and now, as an independent creative executive, she brings that experience to startups, nonprofits, and purpose-driven ventures alike. But the journey to building a financially sustainable, values-led practice wasn’t always smooth. From -an-hour gigs to leading multimillion-dollar design teams, Rachel has faced the realities of wage gaps, client pushback, and burnout culture head-on. In this powerful Q&A, she shares the hard-earned lessons that shaped her pricing philosophy, the tools that helped her take control, and why choosing impact over scale is her definition of success. How did you learn to navigate pricing, salaries, or negotiations in your field? My journey with pricing started from a place of absolute uncertainty. After graduating during the 2009 recession amid a hiring freeze, I took an internship at Diane von Furstenberg for about a day, just trying to get my foot in the door. When they later offered me an hour as a “full-time freelancer,” I thought that was a normal starting point! My first real design contract at Travel + Leisure was /hour—which felt like a fortune compared to my internship. Around the same time, I quoted a WordPress project for GQ at /hour, originally estimating it would take only 15 hours. I still remember sending that first email, nervously suggesting just for the entire project. My contact called me immediately to say, “This is not my money, this is GQ’s money. You should have a down payment for taking on the project, then charge an hourly rate after that.” That conversation was a trigger to start taking myself more seriously. With each career move, I learned to negotiate better. From my base starting salary at GQ, to as Creative Director at The New York Times, to plus stock and bonuses at Facebook—each step taught me to advocate for my worth. When I officially launched my independent design business in 2020, I had this history to draw from, but establishing consistent pricing still involved a lot of trial and error. What transformed my approach was implementing a time trackerwhich helped me gather real data on how long projects actually take versus my estimates. This was eye-opening and gave me confidence in pricing conversations. Today, I maintain a sliding scale across client types and engagement models. My fractional executive work commands /hour, while nonprofits start at /hour. For my Airbnb creative director maternity coverage contract, I’ve structured a /hour rate with /hour overtime. I’ve also diversified beyond hourly rates to include day rates and project-based fees tailored to specific services. The biggest shift came when I stopped thinking about charging purely for hours and started charging for value—my unique perspective, expertise, and what the work will do for a client’s business. As Jessica Strelioff from Goodside puts it: “We built Goodside to do good work for good people but we also built it to fit into the lives we want to live. Staying small is hard but it’s worth it and it’s what works for us.” This resonated deeply with me as I’ve built a practice focused on quality and impact rather than size. Have you ever experienced pay disparity or financial challenges in your career? Absolutely. Early in my career, I discovered through casual conversations that male colleagues with similar or even less experience were making substantially more than me. That realization was both infuriating and motivating—it pushed me to become more assertive in negotiations and more transparent about compensation. Throughout my career trajectory, being a woman in this industry has come with distinct financial challenges. I’ve been challenged during salary negotiations and requests for promotions in ways my male colleagues haven’t. As an independent practitioner, I’ve received comments about being “too expensive” from potential clients—feedback that often makes me wonder if male creatives face the same resistance. These micro-aggressions around compensation reinforce why I encourage women—and all marginalized voices—at every stage of their careers to talk more openly about money so we can help each other get paid equitably. Going independent came with its own financial challenges. The feast-or-famine cycle hit hard, especially in 2023 when clients rescinded contracts and my projected income fell short by about K from what I had forecasted. There were months when I questioned everything about my business model. But these challenges taught me to build financial resilience—creating a robust emergency fund, diversifying income streams through teaching and speaking engagements, and being much more strategic about planning for both busy and quiet periods. I’ve had to acknowledge the privilege embedded in my trajectory too—being a 37-year-old white woman in a dual-income household has allowed me to capitalise on opportunities not available to all. The volatility can be stressful, but I’ve learned that transparency about these challenges helps others prepare for similar situations. What’s the best piece of financial advice you’ve received as a creative professional? “If you’re not embarrassed by the amount you’re asking for, you’re not asking for enough.” A friend told me this early in my career, and it completely changed my approach to negotiations. As creatives, especially those of us who identify as women, we often undervalue our contributions. This advice pushed me to recognise my worth and ask for compensation that reflects not just my time, but the unique perspective I bring as a designer working at the intersection of brand, culture, and technology. When I transitioned from in-house roles to founding my San Francisco-based solo consultancy, this advice became even more crucial. What’s often left unsaid is that going independent can be financially empowering—especially for those historically underpaid in conventional roles. By setting our own rates and being transparent about money, we’re not just making a living—we’re thriving. While the business logistics may seem daunting, the real breakthrough is mental: realising we have the ability to create sustainable businesses on our own terms, often matching or exceeding previous full-time compensation. How do you balance making a living with doing work that feels meaningful? I visualise my work as a Venn diagram of activities that bring me joy, generate income, and create impact. The sweet spot is where all three overlap, but I don’t expect every project to hit that trifecta. My consulting workprovides financial stability and allows me to be selective about other opportunities. I deliberately allocate time for teaching at California College of the Arts, mentoring and volunteering, and both speaking and writing. While these non-consulting activities may not always be as financially lucrative, they fulfill my desire to support the next generation of creatives, contribute to causes I believe in, and share my perspective with wider audiences. I’ve learned to say no to projects that might pay well but don’t align with my values or wouldn’t allow me to do my best work. This has sometimes meant walking away from significant income, but it’s preserved my energy for more meaningful opportunities like collaborating with women-founded ventures such as A Space, In Between, Acora, Anew, and Chicken & Egg Films. Success isn’t necessarily about scaling up, and growth doesn’t always mean expansion. For me, it means intentionally keeping things small and intimate. There’s power in being selective; there’s wisdom in recognizing that sometimes, less is more—especially in a society that subconsciously breeds burnout, and women especially are not giving themselves permission to rest. As Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Acumen, once asked: “What if we measured true success not by the amount of money you have, but by the amount of human energy you unlock, the amount of potential you enable? If that were our metric, our world would be a different place.” This question has become central to how I approach my solo venture. For me, it’s always been about depth of impact rather than breadth of reach. #rachel #gogel #valuing #your #worth

What does it mean to treat food as art? For Bon Appétit, it means more than aesthetic plating or a perfectly crisp croissant on your feed. It's a deeper recognition of the visual culture, artistic intention, and emotional storytelling that underpin how we cook, eat, and experience food. That philosophy is the driving force behind the magazine's first-ever Art & Design issue, a vibrant, visually rich edition that sharply focuses on the often-overlooked connections between culinary culture and the creative industries. "As a brand, Bon Appétit aims to illustrate how food shapes culture and society," says editor-in-chief Jamila Robinson. "It's not only essential for life, but it's a creative expression." That thinking permeates every page of the special issue, from recipes riffing on iconic paintings to cutlery designed with sculptural ambition. The magazine has always been known for its sharp visuals and stylish sensibility, but this issue turns the dial up to eleven, and the cover alone is a striking signal of intent. Commissioned by French-based Argentine artist Matías Larraín, it's a bold, poster-like work that distils the spirit of the edition: colour-forward, culture-rich, and unabashedly design-minded. "His vibrant palette and distinctive aesthetic resonated with our brand's creative direction," explains Creative Director Caroline Newton, adding that his fascination with food as subject matter made him a natural choice for the project. Inside, the magazine takes readers on a multisensory journey across disciplines, from still lifes and museum-inspired meals to flatware that's equal parts sculpture and utensil and a digital cover that nods to Wayne Thiebaud's saccharine 1979 Cake Slice. There are also restaurant features that spotlight spaces like Clemente Bar in Manhattan and Central in Lima, where dining and visual storytelling go hand in hand. When it came to curating the content, Newton says the ideas came thick and fast. "When the theme was announced, our creative team was flooded with ideas," she recalls. "We refined our concepts, seeking a balance of diverse visual and cultural references that explore the intersections of art, design, and food." The result is a publication that feels both eclectic and intentional – not just a celebration of beautiful things but an invitation to look at the everyday through a more creative lens. It's also a showcase of Bon Appétit's own talent. "This issue is an important showcase for our extraordinarily talented creative department who make our dishes look so beautiful," says Jamila. From the editorial team to the test kitchen, there's a sense of creative cross-pollination behind each feature. Take A Bite at the Museum, a centrepiece story that brings together diverse contributors to reimagine food through fine art, flexing a different creative muscle in the process. Food, after all, is a medium most of us use every day. "Food is the art form we all participate in," Jamila writes in the issue's foreword – a mantra that underpins the editorial direction. Whether it's the way colour impacts our cravings or how food photography has evolved in the social media age, the magazine explores the role of visual culture in shaping what and how we eat. "Social media is simply a continuum, a modern means of communicating our relationship with food," Jamila reflects. "Humans have chronicled what we eat from the beginning, whether that's a cave painting, a still life, or a TikTok." Beyond the magazine, the edition also highlights a growing shift in hospitality spaces, from gallery-like interiors to artist collaborations that blur the boundaries between form, function, and flavour. "The visual storytelling in restaurants often gives you a sense of place," says Jamila. "It can convey the relationship the chefs have with these other art forms and helps open people to other kinds of expression." That immersive quality and the idea that food can tell stories beyond the plate is echoed throughout the issue. There's also a sense of fun underpinning it all. "We are not in the business of being bored," laughs Caroline when asked how chefs and creatives are using artistic processes in their work. Whether sketching, sculpting, or throwing a dinner party inspired by personal heritage, the magazine revels in food's ability to inspire and surprise. With its first Art & Design issue, Bon Appétit positions itself not just as a food publication but as a curator of culture that champions creativity in its many edible forms. "I hope readers are inspired to take note of the artist who drew the doodles on their apron," says Jamila. "I hope they gaze at the mural that is outside their favourite taco spot. Or pick up their phone and share a picture of their favourite dish – or something they cooked that turned out beautifully – with the rest of us." If there's one takeaway from this issue, it's that food isn't just something we consume. It's something we create. And sometimes, it belongs on a coffee table just as much as on a dinner plate. #feast #eyes #bon #appétit039s #first

Luxury has always been a moving target – one minute defined by mechanical prowess and the next by minimalist interiors or digital interfaces. In a time of AI advancements, relentless upgrades, and short attention spans, Lexus is betting on something more timeless: emotion. Their new brand platform, The Standard of Amazing, is less a tagline and more a philosophical pivot. Developed in collaboration with creative agency Team One, the platform builds on the Japanese marque's legacy of precisionand experience-led designwhile introducing a bolder, more unified purpose to make every touchpoint resonate. At its core, The Standard of Amazing is a statement of intent—not just that Lexus vehicles should deliver excellence but that they should stir an unmistakable emotional response in the driver. As Chris Graves, chief creative officer at Team One, puts it, "By re-establishing the driver at the centre, Lexus is ensuring that innovation doesn't come at the cost of emotional connection." The launch follows a strong product run. Recent models like the IS, RX, TX, and the radically reimagined GX have all injected fresh energy into the brand. That momentum gave Team One the opportunity to evolve Lexus' story. Executive creative director Jason Stinsmuehlen explains, "Lexus had come off a series of incredible years of record sales and model success… We had a unique opportunity to build upon recent product momentum and drive overall brand desire." This is about standards as much as it's about desire, though. While Experience Amazing first signalled a shift from engineering excellence to emotional engagement, it was never fully launched with a comprehensive brand campaign. This new platform finally gives it the scale and clarity to land. "We wanted to reintroduce the line with a new POV," Jason continues, "that with 'Amazing' there are no half measures… If an automobile doesn't make you feel something, it stops short of amazing." That sentiment drives the creative thinking across the campaign, from a cinematic 30-second spot titled No Such Thing to expansive OOH placements rolling out in cities like LA, New York, Chicago and Miami this summer. Directed by Johan Renck, the film blends sweeping visuals with intimate moments, portraying a series of high-standard individuals, each hard to impress, each moved by a Lexus. "Our goal was to show a swath of humanity that has almost impossible standards for themselves and for the things they own," says Jason. "A Lexus Driver is someone you must bring your A-Game to impress." The imagery is equally considered in print and outdoors. Photographer Clemens Asher was brought in to capture vehicles not just as objects but as emotional catalysts. The message is clear: Beauty is nothing without meaning, and performance is incomplete without feeling. Underpinning the visuals is a design philosophy defined by three tonal filters: Modern, Elevated, and Human. "If any choice we made missed any of those marks, we recalibrated," says Jason. From colour grading and casting to cinematography, every element was refined to ensure it landed not just aspirationally but with emotional clarity. That human-centric approach is mirrored in the product storytelling. Rather than speak only to specs, the campaign explores how each model creates a different emotional response. The RC might channel confidence, the RX comfort, and the LC pure exhilaration. Lexus' famed Takumi craftspeople and racing teams are also brought into the narrative, not as behind-the-scenes technicians but as emotional engineers. Even the smallest sensory details, like the sound of a door closing or the torque of a dial, are positioned as tools for connection. "Lexus has always considered and anticipated what people need," Jason explains. "The question is, can it serve a higher emotional function? Can a car not just unlock itself for the driver, but actually know the driver and customise itself for them?" That framing is particularly important given the campaign's target: a new generation of luxury buyers who expect more than status. These consumers seek purpose, feeling, and alignment with their values. Crucially, Lexus doesn't need to reinvent the wheel to reach them. "The happy truth is the Lexus lineup is already aimed at this generation," says Jason. "Models like the TX, GX and IS just need their stories authentically told—and the next generation is lining up to buy them." The development of The Standard of Amazing also marks a new level of collaboration between Lexus and Team One. "There has never been more fruitful collaboration across the myriad groups within Lexus and Team One," Jason says. "Our director talked directly to our clients. The lines were blurred like never before. We were on a mission." That mission isn't confined to one campaign, either. The Standard of Amazing will underpin Lexus' marketing, product launches, sales events, and digital touchpoints moving forward. #lexus #recalibrates #luxury #with #039the

What does it feel like when your first donation comes in? That moment when your big idea – whether it's a marathon, a boxing match or a bionic arm – suddenly becomes real. That's the emotional flashpoint GOOD has bottled for JustGiving's latest brand campaign, It Just Got Real, designed to resonate with a younger, more diverse wave of fundraisers. This high-energy, platform-native campaign marks a strategic evolution for JustGiving, a household name in fundraising that is now repositioning itself as the go-to for personal causes as much as traditional charity events. Centred on the visceral moment that fundraising moves from concept to commitment, the work is a vibrant call to action for anyone with a mission, message, or movement. "We wanted the campaign to feel electric," says GOOD creative Kia Wing. "Like standing right at the edge of something big – and a bit scary. Because that's what fundraising is, right? It starts with an idea, and the moment someone donates, it gets real. That was the tone we chased, that rush of adrenaline." The campaign features three real fundraisers: Freya Morgan, a human rights lawyer who's run over 2,500km for Bail for Immigration Detainees dressed as a mirrorball; Javeno Mclean, a TikTok-famous fitness coach boxing for mental health; and Matthew Ashton-Rickhardt, a drummer crowdfunding for a bionic arm after a motorbike accident. Their stories are personal, powerful, and perfectly pitched to show the range of fundraising in 2025. Rather than dramatising their causes in a traditional way, GOOD chose to focus on the pulse of energy that hits when a donation notification lands. In the video spots, snappy, TikTok-style transitions flip the viewer from everyday scenarios into full fundraising action. One second, you're towel-drying your hair; the next, you're shadowboxing for Mind in front of a crowd. These stylistic whiplashes keep the pace high and the emotion real. For GOOD, the spark behind the idea was rooted in user insight. "The campaign was based on the understanding that doing any fundraising activity is personal," says senior planner Gaby Morgan. "It's turning something you dreamt of into a reality. And JustGiving has a powerful role to play in that – it gives you the platform to take action. But it's that moment the donation comes in that really turns the idea into a living reality." That shift from concept to commitment drives the entire creative. The work doesn't dwell on sacrifice or guilt but on potential, which is dynamic, bold, and dripping with energy. From thumping music and punchy transitions to full-bleed colour and BIG expressions, the campaign is engineered to both stand out and fit in across social and digital platforms. Crucially, the creative team knew they had to earn their place on younger audiences' feeds. "We had to bake the platforms' visual language into the bones of the work," says Kia. "Fast cuts, punchy transitions, as quippy as a TikTok itself, but our audience shaped more than just the look. Younger fundraisers are still doing events, for sure, but they're also turning personal missions into public movements. They're crowdfunding more and rallying friends behind something that moves them." "That shift – from charity event to personal mission – reflects wider changes in the fundraising landscape. GOOD's campaign positions JustGiving as the platform that can power it all. Whether you're running, drumming or disco-ball-jogging, it's the place where "ideas become action." "It's a fitting evolution for the brand," says creative director Jo Ratcliffe. "JustGiving is the original fundraising platform and the obvious go-to for many. However, younger audiences are less familiar with its legacy, so this campaign aims to galvanise a new generation. Whatever your cause, JustGiving helps you make it real." It's a tricky line to walk: staying true to the real fundraisers' stories while making sure the creative lands in 15 seconds or less. GOOD approached this by grounding everything in authenticity – and then dialling it up with flair. "Our scripts were all rooted in truth and feature the fundraisers themselves," Jo explains. "We simply heightened the storytelling with a few flourishes. We took some visual cues from Netflix's Sex Education for the set design and used playful transitions, SFX and motion graphics to dial up the energy." Even the static OOH executionspack a punch. "The OOH had a big job: freeze that feeling," says Kia. "We kept it simple. Bold type, full-bleed colour, and our fundraisers are front and centre. You didn't need the full story. You just needed to feel it. The buzz, the nerves, the YES of it all." Working alongside MI Media and Brainlabs, the campaign rolled out across digital, social, and out-of-home from April 24. It's already gaining traction, not just for the causes themselves, but also for the shift it signals in purpose-led branding. GOOD isn't just selling platform functionality here; they're selling possibility, and a new emotional entry point for taking action. "This campaign proves that purpose-led branding can be upbeat, playful and even sequin-encrusted," says Jo. "Telling real stories in an authentic way doesn't mean the creative needs to be serious or worthy. We can absolutely have fun whilst highlighting important causes at the heart of the story." Fun is exactly what this campaign delivers, alongside plenty of heart, urgency, and a healthy dose of adrenaline. #good #injects #new #energy #into

On the surface, the towering pile of fake banknotes stacked in the window of a glistening skincare store could be interpreted as a marketing stunt, but behind the glass, the message is serious. The Cost of Influence – a new physical installation created by Uncommon for The Ordinary – was designed to highlight the hidden fees consumers pay for celebrity endorsements in the beauty industry, not tucked away in the ingredients list but embedded in the price. The campaign, live during the brand's flagship relaunch, makes The Ordinary's positioning crystal clear: no inflated costs, no gimmicks, just science-backed skincare. "What the industry is trying to keep under wraps is the complete opposite of transparency," says Joe Sare, art director at Uncommon. "Brands are paying significant sums of money for celebrities to endorse their products and passing those costs onto the consumer. So, we decided to reveal this 'secret ingredient' to the world, to reinforce the brand's commitment to being truly open." Far from a traditional ad campaign, the team leaned into something more visceral that people could touch, feel, and share. At the heart of the installation is a cold, almost sterile stack of imitation cash, deliberately stripped of the polish we might associate with retail window dressing. "A huge pile of money feels quite cold, and at first glance, it could almost look like a pile of rubbish," Joe explains. "Then, your eyes are drawn to the words on the window that explain what you're seeing, and the penny drops – no pun intended." The display's impact lies in its tension: blending stark visual simplicity with an idea that demands a second thought. Uncommon consciously leaned into that duality. "While the installation was physical, we went into the process with social virality in mind," says Joe. "We did play around with other, more intricate ways of showing the money – it flying around in a box, shapes other than the pile, making it interactive – but we landed on this execution as the most honest and impactful way of telling the story." On the glass, bold copy spells out that one of the most expensive ingredients in many beauty products is influence. Alongside the pile are tongue-in-cheek "price tags" assigning monetary values to fictional endorsements—the going rate, perhaps, for a 'celebrity serum' or moisturiser marketed by your favourite A-lister. Rather than preaching or pointing fingers, the tone is playful and inclusive. "We're ultimately on the audiences' side," says Marco Del Valle, Planning Director at Uncommon. "This isn't about judging them for buying other brands, but revealing something to them that they likely were not aware of." For a brand like The Ordinary – whose identity is rooted in radical transparency – the message isn't an opportunistic call-out but a reflection of its founding values. "The Ordinary is not anti-celebrity," Marco continues, "but it is against using unnecessary, bolt-on ingredients that ultimately cost customers more… and often the most expensive ingredient is a celebrity endorsement." That clarity of perspective helped shape the creative direction. According to the Uncommon team, the collaboration was genuinely collaborative—not just signed off but co-authored. "They're a dream to work alongside," says Joe. The entire team has such a strong sense of what the brand stands for and a deep passion for bringing that to life. We were on the journey together at every stage… from the creative to the messaging. It's a true partnership." The work also taps into a broader shift in what audiences want and expect from brands, especially in beauty and wellness, where the mood is turning from aspiration to honesty. "We've always set out to build the brands people wish existed," says Marco. "And for us, a big part of this is doing work that uncovers and/or addresses real cultural tensions. Every single category has multiple tensions and untold stories within it – the world of beauty is no exception." What's striking is how the piece walks the line between creative expression and brand activism without slipping into moralising. Instead of issuing a lecture, it sparks a conversation, both on the high street and online, where its simplicity proved especially shareable. According to Joe, most passers-by stopped to take pictures, with social sentiment "overwhelmingly positive." For Uncommon, it marks another step in its evolution as a studio that blends brand storytelling with cultural critique. As Marco puts it: "We are living in an increasingly fragmented, hyper-visual reality. Social media has shortened our attention spans and increased the need for brands to create thumb-stopping content. "On top of this, in the current socio-economic climate, consumers are becoming more discerning about the companies they choose to engage with. They're looking for brands with depth, brands that stand for something." In that sense, The Cost of Influence is a provocation, holding a mirror up to an industry and nudging us to question what we're buying into. #ordinary #uncommon #lift #lid #beauty

I started writing my own film scripts when I was ten, and I basically wanted to be Indiana Jones. Well, I wanted to be Indy, the director and the guy who did the stunts and the storyboards after seeing Temple of Doom with my dad at the Harrogate Odeon. He'd bought me the Official Souvenir Magazine – I knew it was important – which was full of colourful costume sketches, storyboards detailing some of the action I'd just seen, and glossy pictures of cast and crew in glamorous locations. I think that was the first time I had an inkling of what I wanted to do with my life, but growing up in a small Yorkshire town wasn't exactly conducive to being Indiana Jones: the most useful film locations there were my buddy Richard's back garden and the local woods, but we endeavoured and made a three-minute epic where I, as Indy, swung across imagined alligator-infested swamps and ran through not-so-dense forests pursued by invisible tribesmen. Growing up in the Eighties was a fertile time for the imagination of anyone, particularly anyone who wanted to follow in the footsteps of Lucas and Spielberg. By the time I'd left school prematurely at sixteen and worked as a film assistantbefore returning to higher education, my friend Derek had already worked on the new Star Wars film, rubbed shoulders with Robert Altman and Tim Burton, and slept on a lot of mates' sofas. That, I thought, was my next goal. Not the sofas part – the working on big movies part. World History Archive / Alamy Stock Photo But again, there's this persistent myth that one has to "break into" the film industry, as Spielberg himself did; all one has to do is occupy an empty office at a film studio and pretend one works there until one does. The sad truth is that the film industry doesn't want you. I mean, it might do – but it just doesn't know it yet. Either way, you hear all kinds of motivational and anti-motivational stories in the press: everything from "Just pick up a phone and make a film" to "You can't just pick up a phone and make a film." Or "don't ask permission: be a rebel and just do what you want" but then also "make friends with producers and nurture working relationships" to get your films made. So which is it? I'm here to tell you it's both. I had years of making my own feature filmswhere I didn't ask permission to do so, just found private investors and gathered a cast and crew each time, to different levels of ambition and difficulty. There's a Spielberg quote in the Official Souvenir Magazine of Temple of Doom that I always remember, and it's something like: "You look at the script and think, how are we going to do all this? But somehow or other, it gets done." That's been the driving force of every movie I've made to date: we found the money, we gathered the crew, we did everything. Sure, some of them played in cinemas and then didn't do anything else, but some won awards, and one even made it to Blu-ray. Score! But then came the pandemic, and I'd be lying if I didn't say it punctured the ambitions of just about everyone. It was not just the personal crises, loss, and fear it faced us with, but also the seemingly insurmountable heights to scale to get films made – which was already a challenge. In 2020, you might have thought things were picking up speed: we released our latest lo-fi feature film – the zombie comedy Zomblogalypse, which ended up on the aforementioned Blu-ray – in cinemas and film festivals, and I met with producers to sign a script deal for my ambitious action-horror. And then came about two years of "the market is dead" and "no one's making anything at the moment" and a hundred times the usual cliched setback talk of "it's not a good time right now…" except it was painfully, abundantly clear that this was in fact true. Zomblogalypse So during this time, all the while trying in earnest to get any movie off the ground, somewhere during the process, I decided to stop thinking of myself as a producer and director and just be a writer for a while. This was partly due to the amount of times I was told in producer meetings – both in TV and film – that they'd find a director for my script. And a co-writer. And a development executive. Now, I knew who all these people were because I'd read my Indiana Jones Official Souvenir Magazine, but the key point was that I needed to stop trying to do everything and focus on the scripts. A director, unless they're Mr Spielberg, can only direct every few years, while a writer can always write on a notepad by the bed, on the Notes app on their phone, on their laptop with half an hour to spare, and so forth. And yes, you're saying, but what if a writer doesn't have half an hour to spare because of their job or their family? And to that, I say yes, noted, but… you have to write. Find the time. In every minimum wage job I ever had, I wrote scripts. Sorry, former employers: you were all funding my screenwriting habit. I actually left secure andpaid employment fifteen years ago this very week and haven't looked back – but that's another story... Steven Spielberg– Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo The pointis that I decided to double down as a writer and pen a movie trilogy. Why, you ask? As if it isn't hard enough getting one screenplay written and submitted to a producer. And it is hard: I submitted my action-horror to my producer five years ago, after five years of scribbling and re-drafting and working with a co-writer and trying to get the damn thing self-financed and finally getting an industry producer to read it… why would I now, while I wait for that one to bear fruit – through strikes and fires and other Hollywood nonsense – go and do something stupid like write a trilogy? It comes down to that rebellious notion of not asking permission. I've got a trilogy in me, so why not go for broke and write all three? Advice from my peers so far is a mix of "just write one and sell that first" because that's hard enough, and "f^&k yeah, go for it! No one else is writing a trilogy!" So, having written what has now evidently become the middle chapter, I've set to work on writing the first and drafting out the third. They're a mix of genres, but each one does stand alone, just in case I'm only able to get one into production. I don't know how wise it's going to prove to write three films at once, but so far, I'm enjoying the challenge. Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo I'm a huge fan of the Back to the Future trilogyand how Bobs Zemeckis and Gale wrote the second and third as back-to-back projects, so I'm inspired by that and other well-made trilogies like Ginger Snaps and the more recent Fear Street. I like the format, and I've never written this way before. But after five years of stalled production and juggling one-off ideas, I'm doubling down for what, at age fifty, is my most ambitious project to date: writing a trilogy that may never get made, but which I'll do everything to try and get made. I'd rather make up for lost time than not make anything again. And as a writer, it's the ultimate project. Who doesn't love a trilogy? Hopefully, one day, a producer will agree with me that being this insanely ambitious is the way forward. Because I've been hiding in the shadows for too long as a struggling director, it's time to be a writer! #why #decided #broke #write #movie

What do you do when the sun vanishes behind the rooftops just as you've settled in for an evening beer with friends? The answer is simple: grab your chair, rally your mates, and hike to the nearest hilltop to catch the last golden rays with a cold one in hand. This joyfully absurd premise forms the basis of Chairs, the hero film in Birra Moretti's newly launched global campaign, created by Lucky Generals and directed by Sam Pilling. It's a whimsical, cinematic ode to community, ritual, and the pleasure of doing something simple together. The campaign centres around the line "Enjoy Life's Simple Pleasures", a brand platform that aims to cut through the chaos of modern life with a message rooted in authenticity, warmth, and good humour. At a time when attention spans are short, and everything seems increasingly complex, Birra Moretti offers an alternative: slow down, pull up a chair, and enjoy a beer with the people you love. "In a world that's increasingly busy, noisy and complex, we look to Italy, where life's greatest pleasures are often the simplest," says Sam Fielding, global brand lead at Birra Moretti. "Our new global campaign playfully brings this idea to life, sharing the simple joy of connecting with your favourite people and enjoying a Birra Moretti in a beautiful Tuscan setting." That idea is carried across Chairs, and the companion spot Pull Up A Chair, in which a man carts his living room armchair to a bar when no other seats are available. There's a gentle absurdity to both stories, but the message is that pleasure doesn't have to be complicated and great moments are often found in everyday rituals, especially when beer, food and friends are involved. For Gareth Morgan, creative director at Lucky Generals, the idea was born from a desire to reflect real, relatable joy in a chaotic world. "Birra Moretti is here to remind us all that in an increasingly confusing and complicated world, pleasure is, well, simple. Your best mates, ice-cold beers, some antipasti and a sunset. What else do you need?" The campaign leans heavily on visual storytelling to strike an emotional chord without straying into sentimentality. Shot on film in a nostalgic 4:3 ratio, the scenes unfold with a timeless charm as we see sun-drenched village squares, weathered stone walls, and characters with stories etched into their faces. "There are very few places on Earth that know how to slow down and enjoy the moment better than a tiny village in Tuscany," says Gareth. "We tried to use the visual world, particularly the location and cast, to help with the emotion." That sense of place is no accident. Tuscany's cultural richness, from food and landscape to the rhythm of everyday life, was essential to capturing the campaign's tone. "Birra Moretti is from Tuscany, and the beer is literally called L'Autentica, so we were very keen to try and make everything feel as authentically Italian as possible," Gareth adds. The landscape is incredible, the food is banging, and the people are characterful and interesting." It turns out that the chair is more than a cute visual gag. "Everyone loves a sunset beer," Gareth explains. "And the whole village carrying chairs to the top of the hill to chase that last bit of sun felt like the perfect metaphor for what we were trying to say." Simple pleasures, after all, aren't passive. They're something we chase, share, and sometimes go out of our way to protect. The humble chair becomes a stand-in for that intention and a way to invite others in to make time for what matters. The campaign also marks the unveiling of a refreshed brand world for Birra Moretti, building on existing assets like its iconic Baffo character while giving the identity a contemporary update. With executions rolling out across film, social, digital and seasonal activations, the brand is establishing a more cohesive and emotionally resonant global presence. "We wanted to show people a window into Italy that didn't feel stereotypical but, instead, felt like somewhere you wanted to be," Gareth says. "Sipping on a Birra Moretti with your pals." The evolved visual language brings together heritage and modernity, keeping one foot firmly in tradition while opening the door to new drinkers in multiple global markets over the next 18 months. The media rollout includes digital activations, stills, and social content pillars tailored to brand, seasonal, and product-specific storytelling. With so many beer brands chasing novelty, disruption, or viral punchlines, Birra Moretti's campaign feels refreshingly low-key and all the more powerful for it. There's no over-engineered plot, no celebrity cameo, no lab-grown slogans—just a beautifully shot reminder that the best things in life tend to be the simplest. #birra #moretti039s #global #campaign #makes

Tony's Chocolonely has unveiled a new look, partnering with Chuck Studios to launch a fresh culinary identity that puts the chocolate front and centre. The Dutch impact-led brand, known for its bright wrappers and mission to end exploitation in the cocoa supply chain, is now turning its focus to the product itself, giving its famously chunky bars the spotlight. Chuck Studios, whose client roster includes KFC, McDonald's and Knorr, were brought on to help strengthen Tony's brand distinction in an increasingly saturated category. Their approach started with a simple yet powerful insight: the most iconic thing about a Tony's bar is its unapologetic chunkiness. More than just a texture, the bar's chunky form and famously uneven pieces are a visual metaphor for inequality in the chocolate supply chain. Olaf van Gerwen, co-founder and global creative director at Chuck Studios says: "While Tony's Chocolonely's mission-led marketing built the platform it stands on today, it's the product that will truly set Tony's apart in the crowded chocolate industry." Central to this new culinary identity is the introduction of a new brand asset: 'Neil.' Named after Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the moon, Neil is a pair of bite-sized chocolate chunks that represent everything Tony's stands for. They're broken, not cut, thick, not flat, and always shown tilted, with crumbs and inclusions spilling out to evoke deliciousness and dynamism. According to Chuck Studios, consumers often instinctively snap off the same two chunks when opening a bar. By spotlighting these pieces and giving them character, the brand turns a common user behaviour into a memorable visual code. From now on, Neil will appear across all touchpoints as the edible emblem of Tony's. Chuck Studios also developed a detailed system of visual codes designed to boost memorability and ensure consistency across the entire product range. The first of these is the Golden Ratio. Bars should be shown two-thirds wrapped and one-third unwrapped, with torn edges and exposed foil to highlight texture and premium feel. Next is the Balancing Bar. Every bar should be displayed at a 66-degree angle, a detail drawn from Tony's existing visual identity. Then there's the Paper Background: chocolate bars must sit on real paper texture backgrounds, colour-matched to the bar's wrapper, or defaulting to Tony's signature red in group shots. Finally, Inclusions on Show: ingredients inside the bars should always be visible in the shot, with a mix of whole pieces, crumbs and chunks to showcase the bar's flavour and bite. These visual rules apply across Tony's growing product range, from its bestselling Milk Caramel Sea Salt to the US-market Everything Bar. The idea is to create a strong, sensory-first aesthetic that not only looks delicious but also feels unmistakably Tony's. Sadira Furlow, chief marketing officer at Tony's Chocolonely, explains: "As our voice in the cocoa space grows louder and our impact expands, we realised we hadn't yet fully captured the visual magic of our chocolate. We needed a visual language that matched our purpose and passion." The result is a brand identity that invites people to "taste with their eyes" – a move that cleverly balances Tony's ethical mission with indulgent appeal. For a brand that has always challenged the norms of what a chocolate company can be, it marks an important evolution: one that connects its purpose-driven DNA with product-led storytelling. Olaf adds: "Food and product depiction play a huge role in brand building. Developing a culinary identity creates a consistent and ownable representation of your food across touchpoints. In the case of Tony's, it was already a stand-out product on the shelves. "The new culinary identity shines a light on the deliciousness of their chocolate and shows it in a unique way, so it becomes recognisable even without the brand name." #tony039s #chocolonely #gets #tasty #new

Clerkenwell Design Week is never shy of spectacle, but this year's edition feels particularly expansive. Maybe it's the stunning new spaces, including Charterhouse Square, alongside returning favourites, like the atmospheric vaults of the House of Detention, that add extra depth and drama. Or maybe it's the festival's continued focus on interactivity, tactility, and visual theatre. Either way, 2025's event feels like the most immersive to date, packed with installations that surprise, amuse, and linger in the mind. It's also a year that makes space for both monumental engineering and ephemeral charm. The tension between permanence and play is a running theme, seen most clearly in A Spring At The Knees, a major new public artwork by British artist Alex Chinneck. Rising from Charterhouse Square, the 12-tonne brick and steel sculpture is playful but grounded, quite literally. It's built from a skeleton that uses over 300 metres of repurposed steel – salvaged from the demolition of the old American Embassy in London – and clad with warped, origami-like brickwork and bending windows. Chinneck, who became known for his 2013 'sliding house' in Margate, returns here to familiar material language but adds new layers of accessibility and interactivity. Arches span the path, inviting visitors to walk through the structure rather than merely observe it. It's also far from temporary. "This is a free-standing piece, engineered with a full steel skeleton," Chinneck explained at the press preview, noting that over 320kg of glue was used to bind the bricks. Though part of the festival, the piece will live on well beyond its six-week run on-site, standing as a semi-permanent marker of how design can meet sculpture and storytelling can meet structure. A Spring At The Knees Nearby on Clerkenwell Green, Brick from a Stone: Arch Revival offers a more traditional but no less impressive take on material innovation. Designed by Hawkins\Brown in collaboration with Albion Stone and Hutton Stone, the pavilion showcases a pair of vaulted arches that demonstrate the strength and beauty of British quarried stone. One arch is built from sandstone in a warm palette of tones sourced from Northumberland's Hutton Stone quarries, while the other uses the creamy, mineral-rich Portland stone from Dorset. Each arch is constructed from a single layer of 102mm-thick stone bricks, engineered by Webb Yates to prove just how far the material can go as a load-bearing structure. The effect is quietly monumental, serving as a celebration without showboating, in perfect keeping with the festival's roots in material and making. Brick from a Stone: Arch Revival Water, too, emerges as a major motif this year, not just in theme, but in form. Harmonic Tides, a large-scale installation by architect Arthur Mamou-Mani, mimics the natural flow of ocean currents and eddies to form a 'water corridor' in the heart of Clerkenwell. Constructed as part of the Shaping Water initiative by Ideal Standard and Villeroy & Boch, the piece uses 3D-printed components to translate the invisible logic of aquatic movement into tangible waves. It's an installation that manages to feel both calming and kinetic, gently coaxing the viewer to move through its fluid geometry. Harmonic Tides The theme of interactivity continues indoors at Light, the aptly named returning exhibition in the atmospheric House of Detention, a former Victorian prison that now hosts some of the festival's most cutting-edge lighting brands. Highlights here include Tabitha Bargh's sculptural light shades, which are crafted from recycled cardboard and repurposed estate agent signs, a playful nod to consumer excess, remade as tactile elegance. Curiosa collection makes a strong impression, too, with bold, joyful lighting pieces that are colourful without being chaotic and refreshingly unafraid to have fun. Also in the vaults, local creative studio Pixel Artworks makes its Clerkenwell Design Week debut with Feel the Pull, a mesmerising installation celebrating the studio's 20th anniversary. Using motion-sensing technology and magnetic visual fields, the installation responds to visitors as they move through sound and light. The result is a space that feels alive, drawing you in and pulsing and shifting in real time. Feel the Pull Curiosa Meanwhile, on the streets of Clerkenwell, Italian tile manufacturer Italgraniti adds a welcome note of whimsy with Automatica, a vending machine-style installation devised in collaboration with architect Simon Astridge. Located at three different sites, the machines offer porcelain tile samples in exchange for a token collected from the Solus showroom. Playfully riffing on factory automation and the relationship between humans and machines, the project recasts the humble vending machine as a tool for design distribution. Part nostalgic novelty, part smart commentary on manufacturing, it's a project that brings a little levity to the streets and a sample to your pocket. Italian design also gets a dedicated showcase via Moroso, whose Clerkenwell outpost is transformed with immersive vignettes featuring new launches and iconic pieces. With sets styled in collaboration with Studio Irvine and curated around form, colour and texture, the display champions the idea of living with design rather than merely observing it. It's a reminder that good design should feel as tactile and emotionally engaging as it is functional. Automatica In a year when the festival feels more physically embedded in the neighbourhood than ever before—stretching across arches, squares, showrooms, and subterranean vaults—this latest edition of Clerkenwell Design Week is a reminder that scale doesn't need to compromise soul. Whether it's bricks bending into art, light made from cardboard, or machines dispensing porcelain, the most impactful moments are often the ones that blur boundaries, spark curiosity, and invite us to look a little closer. If you leave with a tile sample, a new light crush, and a greater appreciation for engineered stone, then you've experienced Clerkenwell at its best. Moroso X Studio Irvine #clerkenwell #design #week #new #spaces

What does sound look like? It’s a question that guided Studio Marcus Kraft through three years of work for Klangwelt Toggenburg, an institution nestled in the Swiss Alps that weaves together music, nature, and tradition. The answer is rich, flexible, and deeply resonant. These are three principles that underpin the institution’s brand identity, which was created to reimagine the visual language of sound while giving the organisation a voice of its own. Klangwelt Toggenburg – which translates as “Sound World Toggenburg” – comprises four venues across the region, including the newly built Klanghaus, a striking timber structure known as a “walk-in instrument”. However, for creative director Marcus Kraft, the identity had to extend far beyond architecture. “Since the Klangwelt also has three other buildings, so we didn’t want to focus too much on the architecture of the Klanghaus,” he explains. Instead, the design zeroes in on the institution’s broader mission: to make the world of sound – from alpine folk traditions to experimental music – accessible to a wider, international audience. With this in mind, Marcus and his team developed a bespoke typographic system that acts as the cornerstone of the new identity. Rooted in the science of overtones, the modular letterforms mirror the harmonic patterns found in nature and music, subtly nodding to the rhythms of both. “Visually, we wanted people to see the design and inevitably think of sound and resonance,” he says. Far from being a quick fix, the project unfolded over three years, which shaped the nuance of the outcome. “It was a great opportunity to be involved in the entire process so early on,” Marcus reflects. “This gave us time to let things mature.” That maturity is visible in the restraint and refinement of the visual system. Typography does much of the heavy lifting, with a single font – used only in regular weight – serving as the backbone of the entire identity. “The visual toolkit is very minimalist,” Marcus says. “We consistently use only a single font. No light, no bold – only regular. This is intended to help prevent the appearance from becoming too diluted and to maintain high recognizability. However, you can play around within the fairly strict and clear rules.” It’s not uncommon for brand identities to balloon into overly complex systems, yet this stripped-back approach is strikingly effective. Across wayfinding, digital touchpoints, printed materials and even animation, the tone remains consistent, coherent, and confident without being showy. Of course, sound plays more than just a conceptual role. The project includes a sound logo, developed in tandem with the visual identity, to reinforce the sensory connection at the heart of the brand. Meanwhile, subtle motion design adds another layer of expression, mimicking the fluid, oscillating behaviour of acoustic resonance. Together, these elements create a brand that doesn’t just speak but sings. Klangwelt’s new identity also had to strike a balance between audiences: from niche cultural institutions and avant-garde composers to casual tourists looking for an afternoon’s escape. “We wanted to give the institution a contemporary graphic identity that would also help it transform from an insider tip into an institution with international appeal,” says Marcus. The solution? “By trying to give the institution ‘its own voice’ … very simple, but also very recognisable.” Images and editorial content play a vital supporting role, allowing the graphic identity to focus on its core theme—sound—while communicating the richness of the region and programme through visuals and language. The overall effect is immersive, elegant, and grounded. This isn’t the first time Marcus Kraft has applied this level of conceptual rigour to a place-based brand. A few years ago, his studio led the rebrand for Zurich Tourism, a project that, like Klangwelt, demanded clarity, flexibility, and cultural specificity. However, he sees Klangwelt Toggenburg as a particular milestone. “Together with the rebranding for Zurich Tourism, which we completed a few years ago, this project is probably the most holistic one,” he says. “It would be great to be able to realise more projects within this scope.” Through typographic rhythm, tonal simplicity, and careful restraint, Studio Marcus Kraft has translated the intangible into the tangible. Klangwelt Toggenburg doesn’t just look like sound – it looks like its sound. #studio #marcus #kraft #designs #living

Designing for the British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale is never simply about surface-level graphics. For TEMPLO, now in its third year collaborating with the British Council on the project, it's become an exercise in turning complex political, historical, and geological themes into a rich, resonant visual language. This year's exhibition – GBR – Geology of Britannic Repair –is no exception. Curated by Jayden Ali, Meneesha Kellay, Victoria Broackes, and Rashid Ali, and with architecture by Nairobi-based cave_bureau, the 2025 Pavilion delves into ideas of extractivism, colonial legacies, and geopolitical fragmentation. It casts architecture not just as a practice of form but of land and memory. TEMPLO's response is a brand identity that mirrors these themes in every detail, from tectonic type to movement-led visuals. It's an approach built not around a traditional logo-first mindset but through what managing director Anoushka Rodda calls a "graphic toolbox". It's flexible enough to span everything from wayfinding signage and social media posts to films, merchandise, and even sound. "Over our three years of working with the British Council in Venice, we've developed a deeply collaborative and interpretative approach," says Anoushka. "That requires a very close working relationship, which we built with an initial workshop and then regular catch-ups with the curatorial team." The result is an identity that doesn't shy away from complexity but embraces it. At its core is the symbolism of the Rift Valley, one of the most significant geological formations on Earth and a site rich with colonial, ecological, and geopolitical resonance. "Given the exhibition's thematic anchor in the Rift Valley, we had to develop an engaging and accessible visual system that could communicate multi-faceted and complex ideas, which could be all too easy to caricature," says co-founder and creative director Pali Palavathanan. The Rift Valley offered both metaphorical weight and formal inspiration for the project. Typography, in particular, was key, and the team began with a sharp, authoritative serif, which is a deliberate nod to imperial structures and colonial architecture. Through a process of carefully chipping away, serifs were softened, and corners were bevelled. The result is a custom treatment that feels weathered, precise and grounded. This softened, fragmented type treatment takes cues directly from the Pavilion's architecture. The British Pavilion's façade, typically defined by its neoclassical columns, has been veiled in a beaded skin by cave_bureau, crafted from agricultural waste, clay from Kenya and India, and shards of red glass. Inspired by Maasai manyatta dwellings, the veil transforms the building's tone from dominant to open, echoing the Pavilion's thematic commitment to repair and transformation. "We wanted to reflect this effect in the identity," says Pali. "So we chose a sharp-edged, authoritative typeface that conveys an impression of imperiousness – colonial authority, almost – which we then 'softened' by bevelling the edges, trimming the serifs and corners to create something more organic, earthy and geographic." Colour also plays a quiet but powerful role. Rather than using overt national or cultural motifs, TEMPLO wove in subtle references to Kenya, an intentional move given that the British Pavilion is part of the British Council's Year of Kenya season. Earthy tones inspired by the Kenyan flag lend the identity warmth and weight without leaning on cliché or pastiche. Movement truly brings the identity to life through type that fractures, shifts, pulls apart and converges. These tectonic actions are present both literally and symbolically, animated in digital formats and implied through dimensional perspective in static applications. "Movement was something that emerged organically early in the process," says Pali. "It soon became clear that movement is integral to the concept of architecture as earth practice, to the tectonic actions of the earth in forming the Rift Valley – the shifting of tectonic plates, the pulling apart and coming together – and to the extractive actions of humans upon the land." The effect is one of tension and possibility: a visual system always on the brink of something, whether it's collapse, repair, destruction, or reformation. That energy carries through all aspects of the campaign, from animated posters and online videos to physical lanyards and in-situ signage. "We are creating a digital campaign of film, audio and social media content for the world to experience, which to us is just as important as the experience in Venice," says Anoushka. Ensuring that cohesion across such a broad spectrum of media is no small task, but for TEMPLO, the answer was to resist the temptation of leading with a static mark. "If you start with a logo and treat everything else as secondary, it's easy to end up with something incoherent or introduce weaker visual elements," Anoushka continues. "But by transforming thematic ideas into a graphic toolbox that can be used to create brand elements of every kind – whether that's the logo, a piece of exhibition signage, a lanyard, or a piece of digital film – the identity becomes expansive, not restrictive." As with much of TEMPLO's work, the personal undercurrents are strong. The agency has long engaged with issues of climate justice, cultural restitution, and postcolonial narratives, but this year's Pavilion feels especially aligned. "Climate change and colonialism are at the heart of what we do," says Pali. "The curators' interests map perfectly onto our own values and personal stories. The Rift Valley begins in Lebanon, where Anoushka has roots, and my family came to the UK from a village in Sri Lanka that was used as a source for extraction." That emotional connection added extra weight to the Pavilion's opening, where the curators dedicated the space to colonised peoplesfrom Kenya to Palestine. For TEMPLO, it affirmed the value of design that moves beyond visual language into something more civic, ethical, and effective. "The British Pavilion is always about much more than architecture; it provides a platform for unheard voices and alternative perspectives," says Anoushka. "That's what drives us as an agency to continue to want to collaborate with the British Council – there's a consistent bravery to what they do." In Geology of Britannic Repair, that bravery takes shape through topography and typography, fracture and form, a quietly radical reimagining of what national representation at Venice can be. For TEMPLO, it's not about spectacle. It's about systems that move – across media, meanings, and geographies – with care, clarity, and conscience. #templo #brings #bold #new #identity

What does it mean to design from the inside out? For Ionut Radulescu, the answer lies in work that's unapologetically personal, often intimate, sometimes raw, and always resonant. Whether crafting bold editorial collages, expressive lettering or hand-drawn brand campaigns, the Romanian-born, Brooklyn-based designer and illustrator builds visual worlds with heart. "I think there's a certain power in being vulnerable, raw, authentic," he says. "And people can feel that – they can resonate and react to these visual messages." Ionut's creative language spans illustration, type, print and digital, often sitting at the intersection of identity and motivation. His clients include The New York Times, Peloton, Converse, Teen Vogue, Pepsi, and Dipsea, but his visual voice first gained traction through personal projects. Posted to Instagram like visual diary entries, these self-initiated pieces soon caught the attention of like-minded brands seeking a similar honesty and intensity. "The series Shapes and Flesh, these collages, shapes, sometimes mixed with type, were inspired by my queer life. I wanted to translate those experiences into abstract visuals," he explains. "The same goes for my Words Are Images typographical quotes. Words have a strong visual impact, and I wanted to explore that." Ionut's is an instinctive, emotion-led approach shaped by more than a decade of exploration. Originally trained in industrial design at the Marin Sorescu Art High School in Craiova, Ionut later studied graphic arts at the National Art and Design University in Bucharest, where he would go on to co-teach illustration and lettering classes alongside professor Stela Lie. The two remain close collaborators through Romania's Illustrator's Club, which is a creative community from which Ionut still draws inspiration. "Europe and Romania have a more experimental approach to visual culture in general. There are a lot of indie artistic festivals and platforms that play more and explore interesting ways of storytelling," he says. "I'm part of the Illustrator's Club Romania, and we have members in there with very unique, experimental voices." While his early influences included British illustrators Marion Deuchars and Sara Fanelli, a move to New York helped sharpen Ionut's visual style, stripping it back and simplifying the language but dialling up the emotional directness. Bold colour, graphic forms, and a preference for hand-crafted imperfection became key to his work, whether for print, editorial, or branding. "It's important to me that you can feel the human touch. Even if it's a final digital piece, I want it to have that emotion," he says. For a Dipsea cover, for instance, the ink-drawn type was sketched on large sheets of paper before being digitised. "The computer can't always capture the spontaneity, the energy, the roughness. I like seeing that imperfection." It's a philosophy that shaped his recent award-winning work, too. His recent American Illustration win celebrated a collage and type piece that plays with balance, boldness and visual rhythm – a kind of structured chaos that invites interpretation. This blend of freedom and form is what makes Ionut's output feel both striking and sincere. Beyond the craft, it's the message that always matters most for Ionut. From collages on queer identity to affirming typographic statements on confidence and self-worth, his illustrations often speak directly to viewers' emotional states. That connection is part of the goal. "I want to inspire and motivate people," he says. "I want them to feel, react, reflect and stay with the artwork for a bit, even if it's just a short moment. That makes me happy. That means the message came across." He recalls messages from strangers who've seen his work and felt lifted or comforted by the sentiment. "It goes beyond aesthetics and creative craft," he adds. "Sometimes we just need to hear something or see it in order to feel better." That personal resonance translates into his commercial work, too. Ionut's ability to channel emotional and cultural themes has led to collaborations with brands that value not just good design but meaningful storytelling. From feminist and sex-positive narratives at Thinx and Dipsea to identity-affirming work for Hello Mr. magazine, the thread between personal and professional remains strong. "Queer themes, identity, sexuality, feminism, motivation — these are important to the clients I've worked with, and I was fortunate to be able to come in and express those things to a wider audience," he says. Of course, Ionut's process can differ with each project. Editorial and personal projects might be led by instinct and reflection, but campaigns and branding briefs often require strategic alignment, mood boards, deck presentations, and collaborative iteration. Still, Ionut welcomes the structure, especially when it allows space for meaning. "I've learned to enjoy the creative journey," he says. "The most important thing is working with a good team toward a common goal: to make something great and meaningful that makes you feel, that makes you react." Outside of client work, Ionut has also been active as a mentor, educator, and awards judge, most recently for global platforms like The One Club. Teaching, he says, is a way to give back and keep learning. "I think we live in exciting but challenging times. Technology is moving fast, so I try to ground students to ask the right questions and think beyond trends," he says. "It made me really happy to see some using analogue mediums in really experimental ways. There's still so much potential in that." For someone who began his creative life before touching a computer, print remains a powerful medium. His limited-edition screen prints for Print Club London speak to that love: tactile, imperfect, handmade. "Print has tactility," he says. "You can touch it, hold it, experience it in a way digital can't replicate." Yet he isn't precious about tools. While Ionut still favours hand-drawn elements and lo-fi media, he's curious about technology's role, including animation and, tentatively, AI. "I want to animate my lettering, type and illustration pieces more and maybe explore sound," he says. "I've experimented a bit with Blender while keeping that handmade feeling. And I've used AI in subtle ways to enhance images or speed up production." But for Ionut, the tools are secondary. "Ultimately, it's just that – tools. What matters is the craft and the voice. That took me years to build, and I'm still evolving." As for what's next, Ionut is pretty open. "I want to let myself be surprised," he says. "I want to work with great people, be excited about the process, and be part of a community. Keep learning, keep exploring." That sense of curiosity and openness runs through all of Ionut's work. Whether working with global brands or drawing for himself, he returns to a simple, striking idea: creativity as self-expression, crafted with care and shared without shame. #collage #courage #craft #ionut #radulescu

For many creatives, there are few times in life that are more thrilling and filled with possibilities than the summer you graduate. At the same time, there's usually a fair bit of anxiety, and in 2025, there are good reasons for that. If you're a creative graduate preparing to enter the workforce, you face a rapidly changing landscape shaped by technological advancements, shifting work paradigms and unprecedented challenges. In short, you'll be navigating uncharted waters as you transition from structured academic environments to the professional world. To help bridge this gap, we've gathered industry-leading advice from established leaders across various disciplines. These veterans have weathered economic shifts, tech revolutions, and cultural transformations throughout their careers. As such, their collective wisdom offers a compass for any graduate at a time of extraordinary opportunity and complexity. 1. Be kind to yourself First things first. You'll want to get into decent-paid work straight away, but in the current job market, that might not happen. That completely sucks, of course, but the important thing is that you don't beat yourself up over it. Creative director Charlie Bowden acknowledges the challenges of getting your foot in the door, even with a degree. "Converting an internship into a job is hard and may take longer than you'd like," he cautions. "So be kind to yourself. The best work comes when you're happy." Adrian Carroll, creative director at D8, agrees. "Don't be too hard on yourself if you don't land a role straight away," he stresses. "It's an incredibly tough market for graduates at the moment. Fewer people are setting up agencies, and more people are opting to freelance, which is tough if you don't have much experience." 2. Build your personal brand In a crowded jobs market, you need to stand out. That can be challenging for many creatives, especially if you're shy or introverted. But the important thing to understand, according to Simon Manchipp, founding partner at SomeOne, is this: "YOU ARE A BRAND. Like it or not." With that in mind, he recommends you: "Get your story straight. Make it stick. Website. Insta. LinkedIn. Behance. They should sing the same song—and it should sound like you. SHOW WORK. NOT PROMISES. Don't tell us what you want to do; show us what you did. Projects are better than platitudes. Side hustles count. So do failed ones. Especially failed ones." 3. Craft a portfolio with cut-through When it comes to your portfolio, Alex Rexworthy, co-founder and design director at Outlaw, advises showcasing development alongside final work. "Show your process, not just a flashy render," he urges. "Take the reader on a journey through each project in your portfolio. Start with the brief, share your initial ideas, and explain how you arrived at the final result." Above all, encourages Cat How, founder and ECD at How Studio, make an impact. "Go big, or go home," she says. "This is your time to shine, so you owe it to yourself to be OUTRAGEOUS." 4. Stay true to your vision When you're struggling to get work, it's natural to want to apply for everything and maybe even pretend to be someone you're not. But Paul Leon, creative director at U037, reckons you'll ultimately be more successful if you focus on your authentic creative path. "Focus on what you really want to do and head for that," he advises. "If you feel something's not right for you, don't be afraid to speak up, and don't be afraid to say no. Value yourself: the journey is where all the good stuff happens. Detours, etc, are fine." When applying for a job at an agency, you obviously need to do your research. But Charlie notes that you need to look beyond an agency's portfolio. "Consider the culture, not just the work," he explains. "Certain agencies make great work, but their culture may not be right for you. Internships are a great way of getting a gauge of this, but so is asking to come in for coffee and a crit, so you can see what the agency is like first-hand." 5. Embrace the beginner's mindset You need confidence to succeed in life, but that confidence shouldn't spill over into overconfidence or the idea that you already know it all; you don't. With that in mind, Kiser Barnes, partner and chief creative officer at Red Antler, stresses the importance of humility paired with curiosity. "Be humble and stay wildly curious," he says. "Finishing school feels like reaching the peak… until you realise you're right back at the bottom of a new hill again. That's okay. The people who thrive in this industry are the ones most open to learning, evolving and collaborating." Barrington Reeves, creative director at Too Gallus, offers similar advice. "Be ready to learn," he urges. "The change from education to commercial can sometimes be daunting. But although you've just been through a full course of education, the real learning begins now. " Part of that means adapting to commercial timeframes. "Don't be discouraged by the pace of change and iteration," he stresses. "While university might teach you to nurture and grow an idea over a prolonged period of time, in the commercial market, it is an incredible skill to be able to think—and fail—fast." 6. Develop leadership skills early Being humble doesn't mean you can't have one eye on the future and start developing your leadership skills. With that in mind, Ashleigh Hansberger, co-founder and COO at Motto, suggests you: "Start studying business and leadership now. Leadership isn't about title; it's about behaviour. That means building discipline, making clear decisions, being accountable, and taking responsibility for your actions and impact. "Practise your own leadership development early," she adds. "Read about it. Reflect on it. Try it. Accumulate experience and wisdom through the unglamorous work of getting 1% better every day. That's how you grow into someone people want to follow." 7. Master your craft while embracing technology Emerging technologies might be disrupting everything right now, with negative consequences for employment. But Kiser encourages graduates to engage with them all the same. "Don't be afraid of AI—tinker with it, play with it, understand it," he says. "Use your fresh perspective to imagine better ways of working. The world doesn't need more copies of what already exists. It needs people who can push the whole system forward." Matthew Schneider, director of product marketing at LucidLink, takes a similar line. "Know your craft, but don't be afraid of new tech," he advises. "When I started, a single video editing system cost well over k; now, a subscription to professional editing software might cost as little as monthly." And the moral of this story? "Now people have access to great tools, what sets you apart is how you use them and the story you ultimately tell with them," Matthew explains. "Growing up an aspiring filmmaker myself, my mother would always tell me, 'It's not the story; it's the storytelling'. She's right!" Tom Munckton, ECD at Fold7Design, similarly notes the accelerating pace of industry evolution right now. "The industry used to shift annually; now it feels more like monthly—with processes and project delivery being challenged by AI and other democratising factors," he says. Ultimately, though, he recommends focusing on creative direction over specific tools. "Regardless of the tool or method you use right now or in the future, confidence will come from being clear about the type of work you want to make and making constant steps towards that," he reasons. 8. Embrace discomfort as growth Finding all this stressful and frightening? Many creative people feel like they don't "belong" in normal society, but the good news is that agencies are generally pretty friendly places and are probably filled with other people who've felt like outsiders themselves. Take Claire Parker, group creative partner at The Chase. "I never fitted in at school—couldn't do maths, couldn't spell—but I could create," she recalls. "The world needs curious minds like yours. Creativity isn't about having all the answers; it's about asking better questions. "Stay interested, stay committed, and back yourself even when you feel out of your depth," she adds. "In fact, especially then, as David Bowie said, 'Always go a little further into the water'. That's where the magic happens. Be more Bowie." #creative #leaders #share #their #golden

In 2025, no brand, regardless of its heritage or customer loyalty, is immune to cyber threats. This April, we saw a very public example of that when Marks & Spencer—one of Britain's most beloved high street retailers—fell victim to a series of cyberattacks. This wasn't just a shocking example of large-scale criminal activity. It was also a stark reminder of how quickly a brand's reputation can be placed in jeopardy. Three weeks after the attack, the retailer continues to grapple with its aftermath, with online orders still suspended and customer data compromised. So, what lessons does this offer to legacy brands navigating an increasingly treacherous digital landscape? We asked leaders from the creative industry for their thoughts. What happened? First, though, let's remind ourselves what actually happened. The trouble began over the Easter weekend when M&S experienced difficulties with contactless payments and click-and-collect orders. By 23 April, CEO Stuart Machin confirmed the company was dealing with a cyber incident, and two days later, M&S suspended all orders through its website. The attack has since been attributed to 'Scattered Spider', a splinter group of the hacking collective Lapsuswhich has previously targeted high-profile organisations, including Transport for London and MGM Resorts. The sophistication of the attack has left M&S struggling to restore normal operations even weeks later. Last Tuesday, the situation worsened when M&S revealed that personal customer data had been stolen in the breach. The compromised information could include telephone numbers, home addresses, dates of birth and online order histories. While the retailer emphasised that no usable payment details or account passwords were taken, the incident has raised serious concerns about identity fraud for its customers. The financial impact has also been substantial, with analysis from Bank of America Global Research estimating that the retailer is losing approximately £43 million per week in sales. Moreover, M&S is reportedly preparing to make a cyber insurance claim that could total as much as £100 million. How has it damaged the brand? For a legacy retailer like M&S, though, the impact extends far beyond immediate losses. The sustained disruption has placed significant strain on customer loyalty and trust, two cornerstones of its long-established brand identity. salarko - stock.adobe.com With an estimated 9.4 million active online customers affected, the scale of the reputational damage is immense. The company's inability to process online orders for weeks has not only frustrated customers but also raised questions about its digital preparedness. "This should act as a stark reminder for other brands of the importance of building brand resilience," says Dave Mayer, senior partner for marketing and customer strategy at Lippincott. "While hacks are more frequent than ever, this sustained attack and suspension of online ordering has placed a significant strain on customer loyalty for the brand." The importance of brand equity in a crisis At the same time, there is some good news for the retailer. "Our research tells us that M&S is a 'comfort' brand, a brand loved by its customers," Dave points out. "And comfort brands are usually forgiven when things go wrong." Here's where the importance of brand equity comes in. "For M&S, the ability to bounce back from crises like these hasn't been built overnight," Dave notes. "It comes from the consistent implementation of long-term brand-building techniques to boost affinity, trust and loyalty with their customers. Coupled with open and honest communication, M&S has chartered these turbulent waters with success thus far." Sue Benson, founder and CEO of The Behaviours Agency, agrees that M&S appears to be weathering the storm better than many would expect. "The attack has undoubtedly caused disruption and impacted sales, but brand trust has remained remarkably stable," she explains. "This resilience speaks to M&S's legacy and long-standing reputation, which appear to have shielded it from long-term damage. "From a behavioural science perspective, the principle of reciprocity is key: M&S's history of delivering customer satisfaction is now being repaid with trust and loyalty. Lesser-known brands may not have been shown the same grace." Crisis management: communication as a key tool That doesn't mean, of course, that things aren't extremely challenging for M&S right now. "In these moments, brand management must shift gears rapidly," says Lewis Jones, managing partner at Coley Porter Bell. "Transparency becomes a brand's most powerful tool. The design and delivery of information, rooted in the clear expression of a brand's values, is vital." He stresses that the message itself and the way information is delivered are critical. "If a crisis hub is hard to find, visually inconsistent, the tone of voice is unsympathetic and off-brand, or updates are buried in poorly structured pages, the brand's reliability erodes further. Strong brand design can bring order to chaos, signpost clarity, reinforce identity, offer reassurance in a moment of doubt, and maintain consumer confidence." chrisdorney - stock.adobe.com In short, this is no time to innovate or start changing the brand's story. As Charlotte Black, chief strategy officer at Saffron Brand Consultants, says: "What's critical is returning to the original commitments brands have made to customers and delivering communications in that same style. A crisis is no time to deviate." So far, it seems that M&S has been following such advice, with CEO Stuart Machin personally communicating with customers about the breach. In his statement, he acknowledged that "unfortunately, some personal customer information has been taken" while reassuring customers that there was "no evidence that the information has been shared". The company has also taken proactive steps by emailing all website users, prompting customers to reset account passwords "for extra peace of mind," and reporting the case to relevant authorities. This approach aligns with what Charlotte describes as "staying true to its distinctive brand voice, with a flexible tone that effectively matches the circumstance." Learning from past examples Of course, M&S isn't the first brand to fall victim to criminal actions, and there are valuable lessons to be drawn from previous incidents. Sue points, for example, to British Airways' response to its 2018 data breach as an example of how to do things right. "Full-page apologies leaned on transparency and the honesty bias, reducing uncertainty and reinforcing sincerity," she recalls. "BA also tackled loss aversion by reassuring customers and outlining preventive measures, something M&S would do well to follow." As M&S works to restore its systems and services, the focus will ultimately shift from crisis management to rebuilding customer confidence. Dave recommends that "beyond better cybersecurity, M&S will benefit from continuing its communication with its shoppers and working to rebuild the goodwill it's just drawn down, with a thank-you to current and recently lapsed shoppers." Five key lessons Here are five essential lessons for legacy brands facing similar crises. 1. Invest in brand resilience before crisis strikes: As Lewis puts it, "Trust isn't built in a single moment. It's the result of years of consistent investment in the brand and the development of well-managed brand systems across the entire business." 2. Maintain authentic communication: Charlotte emphasises that brands must communicate in line with their established values and voice. "Defining and living up to brand values and having a clear voice with an adaptable tone is how brands weather these sorts of storms," she reasons. 3. Deploy transparency as a strategic tool: Lewis highlights how the delivery of information in a crisis is critical: "This is where brand values, expression, and UX come into their own." So, clear, accessible, and empathetic communication about what happened, what the company is doing about it, and how customers might be affected is essential. 4. Acknowledge the impact on customers: It's crucial to recognise and address customer frustrations directly. Sue notes how "with online sales still paused after 17 days, customer frustration is rising. M&S must not rest on its laurels". 5. Use crisis as a catalyst for improvement: Dave suggests that recovery should include not just fixing the immediate problem but strengthening the brand's overall value proposition. For M&S, this means considering "new ways to not only be loved but also provide products and services that shoppers can't get anywhere else". Conclusion The M&S cyberattack serves as a powerful case study of how legacy brands can leverage their heritage and customer loyalty during times of crisis. While the incident has undoubtedly damaged the retailer financially and operationally, the brand's deep reserves of trust have provided a cushion that many newer companies would not enjoy. As Charlotte puts it: "This is when 'brand' becomes a real asset. If a business has the right foundational tools in place, it has the guidance it needs to navigate both good times and bad." The lesson is clear: brand building is not just about driving sales during good times; it's about creating resilience for the inevitable storms. The true test of a legacy brand is not whether it can avoid crises altogether but how effectively it can deploy its accumulated trust and goodwill when disaster strikes. In a world where cyber threats continue to evolve in sophistication, this resilience is not merely advantageous; it's essential. The M&S case demonstrates that while no brand is impervious to attack, those with strong foundations can emerge from even the most significant challenges with their core identity intact. #lessons #cyberattack #how #brands #can

Baxter & Bailey could've taken the safe route for their Friday evening talk at OFFF. They could've showcased slick work for the Royal Parks, the Royal Mail, or the London Soundtrack Festival. Instead, they pulled back the curtain on what really goes on behind the pristine curtain of the design industry, revealing a tangle of mistakes, mishaps and moments of pure chaos. "We live in a world where everything we see is finished, polished and presented, which can be quite a daunting prospect for young designers entering the industry," they explained. "It's a nice reminder that even the most experienced designers mess up sometimes." With that, Matt and Dom launched into an hour of confession, comedy, and collective therapy. It was an airing of creative dirty laundry, shared in the spirit of learning and laughter. Practice what you preach Baxter & Bailey started with their own biggest fumbles, warming the crowd up for what was to come. Dom kicked things off with a tale from a night train journey in Russia en route to a crucial pitch for a telecoms giant. Sharing a cabin with a snoring stranger called Constantin from Moscow, he awoke to find his roommate enjoying breakfast in nothing but his pants. In the panic to flee, Dom left his carefully crafted presentation boards on the train. "What I learnt from that mistake was: even if you wake up and the first thing you see is an old Russian man's crotch, keep cool, don't panic and remember what you're doing," Dom told the crowd. Matt followed with a story from a concept presentation a decade ago. Just a few minutes in, the client's top boss entered the boardroom, watched in silence… then stood up, gave a thumbs down, and stuck out his tongue with a rude noise of disapproval. "I still cringe every time I hear that story," said Dom. A little help from their friends The pair soon revealed they weren't alone in their confessions. Before the talk, they'd floated the idea to British design legend Rian Hughes, who not only approved but offered his own disaster story. On screen, Rian recalled his first job interview at a Camden agency. Lost, rain-soaked, and 45 minutes late, he finally arrived with his portfolio strapped to a trolley. As he lifted it onto the table, he noticed something brown on his sleeve and realised he'd rolled the trolley through dog poo. One side of his portfolio was covered, and so was the director's mahogany table. "Despite this auspicious beginning, I got the job," said Rian. "But I don't recommend it as an interview technique – and the job was shit anyway. I lasted three months." With proof of concept secured, Baxter & Bailey launched The Design Laundry, a growing archive of creative calamities submitted by designers across the industry. The idea is that people share their worst moments, get them out in the open, and maybe learn something in the process. Here are just a few they aired at OFFF. Email fail Jamie Ellul, founder of Supple Studio, joined in from the remote countryside to share his cautionary tale. Early in his solo career, he landed a job designing a brochure for an accountancy firm. "I think it might have actually looked worse than it did in the beginning when I was finished," Jamie admitted. He sent the final artwork to print, then forwarded the printer's quote to the client before hopping on a train. Following weeks of radio silence, the client finally replied: 'Hi Jamie, I've been wondering how to respond to your email, having seen your note to the printer below on the email chain'. That note read: 'Please don't judge me—this is the shittest thing I've ever designed'. Cue laughter from the crowd – and a lesson in double-checking email chains. As Matt and Dom pointed out, email fails were the most common type of submission. We've all been there. Rude royal Next up: Francis Jackson, formerly of MetaDesign and OPX and now a psychotherapist, shared her story in a letter. Years ago, she worked with The King's Trust on a beautifully designed book promoting the value of art in the built environment, Art in the Public Environment. The problem was that a glaring typo was revealed by none other than the King of England himself after hundreds of printed copies went out across the country. What the front cover actually said was: 'Art in the Pubic Realm'. When the King was handed a copy while visiting the offices, he swiftly returned it, eyebrows raised. I'm sure Francis was hoping for the ground to open up beneath her at that moment! Rock shock Daljit Singh, co-founder of pioneering digital agency Digit, appeared onscreen in sunglasses, mid-holiday, to recount a transatlantic disaster. After landing in the UK from New York in 2007, Daljit got a message: Gene Simmonswanted to meet him. Being a huge fan, he turned around, caught the next flight back, and headed straight to the hotel. But as he flew, doubt crept in, and he asked himself: could it be a prank? He'd played an elaborate hoax on his friend Simon not too long ago, so when told to ask for "Simon Smith" at reception, his suspicions grew. Still, he went upstairs, knocked on the door, and shouted, "Simon, come out, you massive tosser." None other than Gene Simmons opened the door. "You English guys have got such strange senses of humour," he said, before ushering Daljit in. The meeting lasted three awkward minutes. They didn't get the job. Lessons from the laundry After airing these disasters, Matt and Dom returned to each story to highlight the learning points. Jamie reminded us to treat every jobwith care. Francis' typo showed that even major mistakes fade with time. Daljit's story offered a reminder not to let doubt derail bold decisions. The laundry pile grew with more stories, laughs, and stains, and the pair could've gone all night. Luckily, this won't be the last spin cycle for The Design Laundry. Dom and Matt are bringing the idea to future events and inviting more submissions through their website. Because if creativity is a messy process, there's no shame in airing a little dirty laundry. #baxter #ampamp #bailey #bring #design

In November last year, Jaguar Land Roverunveiled a radical rebranding exercise. The iconic British car brand, known for its sleek designs, racing heritage and unmistakable growler emblem featuring its big cat mascot, made a dramatic pivot that both alienated its existing customer base and failed to resonate with new audiences. Spearheaded by agency Accenture Song, the new identity introduced a minimalist 'J' logo, replacing the iconic 'growler' logo, along with advertisements that conspicuously lacked cars. Instead, the campaign featured an array of abstract visuals and diverse models with slogans like 'Live Vivid' and 'Delete Ordinary'. It was all part of a strategic shift to position Jaguar as an all-electric luxury brand by 2026. But the public response was swift and devastating. And the backlash wasn't limited to social media outrage: it translated directly to Jaguar's bottom line. Global sales plummeted from 61,661 vehicles in 2022 to just 33,320 in 2024, marking a nearly 50% decline. Now, the company is actively seeking a new advertising agency, effectively acknowledging that the rebrand has failed to achieve its objectives. So what went wrong, and what lessons can other brands learn from this costly misstep? What went wrong? Sue Benson, founder and CEO of The Behaviours Agency, lists some of the reasons she feels the new approach failed. "There are few, if any, cars in the ads, which leaves audiences unsure what the brand even stands for. Heuristics like the leaping cat logo have been discarded, weakening mental shortcuts consumers rely on. Emotion has suffered, too; rather than stirring pride or aspiration, the new identity feels cold and aloof. And in terms of consistency, the shift has been jarring, with little cohesion between legacy and future." In short, the brand destroyed more equity than it built. By abandoning recognisable elements that consumers had emotional connections with, Jaguar created a vacuum that its abstract new positioning couldn't fill. "In a market where EV brands are multiplying, distinctiveness matters more than ever," Sue reasons. "Jaguar already had strong emotional and cultural heritage, so it's worth questioning whether stripping that away in favour of minimalism was the right move." Sign of desperation Of course, many of us like radical change, and many people in the design industry were pretty excited when the rebrand was first launched. But sometimes, 'radical' can go too far and end up throwing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater. "The scale of the transformation was hard to ignore," says Gabor Schreier, chief creative officer at Saffron Brand Consultants. "If Rolls-Royce were to abandon the Spirit of Ecstasy, the reaction would be immediate. Jaguar's move belonged in the same category. Abandoning that legacy and sacrificing vital brand assets might be seen as either a bold, forward-looking strategy or a sign of desperation disguised as a provocation. A leap so detached from its heritage, they might as well have changed the name entirely." Typically, a successful rebrand will maintain a sufficient connection to a brand's core identity so that consumers can follow the evolution. Jaguar, however, created a chasm so wide that the rebrand appeared to be a complete reinvention rather than an evolution, leaving consumers confused about what Jaguar now stood for. A broader identity crisis Of course, none of this happened in a vacuum. Lewis Jones, managing partner at Coley Porter Bell, frames Jaguar's struggles within the broader context of the auto industry's shift to electric. He suggests that the problem goes beyond the rebrand itself to a more existential question about what makes cars desirable in the electric age. "The traditional thrills of internal combustion such as sound, speed and mechanical drama are fast becoming irrelevant," Lewis notes. "As EVs lean into minimalism, efficiency and tech-led rationality, the emotional connection to the car risks being left behind." In this light, a car brand needs to not only maintain its own identity but also solve the broader problem of creating emotional connections in a category increasingly defined by sameness. Instead, though, Jaguar leaned into the very minimalism that risks making electric vehicles feel interchangeable. "Design is where this battle will be won or lost," believes Lewis. "It is no coincidence that one of the most talked-about EVs of 2024 is the Renault 5, a masterclass in retro-modern design. It is not the specs or software that excited people. It is the character, the charm, the identity. It feels like something. In an era of indistinguishable EV silhouettes, design becomes the new sound of the engine. It is the thing that stirs emotion." Despite the failure of Jaguar's rebrand, though, Lewis acknowledges one potential positive: it has "elevated design into a cultural conversation." More specifically, the unveiling of the Type 00 concept car at Miami Art Week in December 2024, which showcased the brand's future electric design direction, did generate significant attention, albeit with the same polarised reception as the rebrand itself. In short, while Jaguar's execution may have been flawed, its instinct to differentiate through bold design wasn't entirely misguided. The failure was in how that design connected—or failed to connect—to the brand's heritage and values. Lessons for brands So, what have we learned from all this? Here are five big lessons for other brands contemplating significant repositioning. 1. Evolution, not revolution Gabor's comment that "right now, it feels as if a Jaguar might no longer be a Jaguar" encapsulates perhaps the most critical lesson. Overly radical rebrands risk destroying more equity than they create. Successful rebrands, in contrast, maintain sufficient connections to a brand's heritage while moving it forward. 2. Maintain distinctive assets Sue highlights the importance of maintaining recognisable elements that create mental shortcuts for consumers. Jaguar's abandonment of the growler logo eliminated a powerful visual cue that had built recognition over decades. The simple lesson is that brands should carefully audit their distinctive assets before discarding them. 3. Solve emotional connection challenges Lewis's about the EV category point to the challenge of creating emotional connections in categories undergoing technological transformation. Brands need to find new ways to create emotional resonance when traditional sources of differentiation disappear. 4. Test with core audiences Jaguar's rebrand appears to have been developed with an idealised future customer in mind, without sufficient consideration for existing loyal customers. Brands should test significant changes with core audiences before full implementation. 5. Ensure clarity of purpose Perhaps most fundamentally, Jaguar's rebrand created confusion about what the brand now stands for; as Sue notes, there was a marked absence of actual cars in the ads. A successful rebrand should clarify rather than confuse a brand's purpose. The road ahead As Jaguar looks to appoint a new ad agency, it faces the challenge of deciding whether to double down on its controversial new direction or course-correct back toward its heritage. Gabor notes, "As someone once said, to err is human; to rectify, wise. Even the most daring strategies leave room for course correction." No brand should be so committed to something that it cannot adjust when the market provides clear feedback. What's clear is that Jaguar's next agency will need to help the brand reconnect with consumers on an emotional level while distinguishing itself in the increasingly crowded electric vehicle market. As Lewis states, "The agency it chooses will need to build on this momentum, not just to sell cars but to help people reconnect emotionally with the act of driving." Whether that means embracing the controversial new direction with better execution, or finding a middle ground that honours Jaguar's heritage while looking to the future, remains to be seen. Either way, the stakes couldn't be higher for this storied British brand. #why #jaguar039s #rebrand #failed #what

It doesn't matter where you go, or who you talk to, in the creative industries right now. There's one tool that we're about hearing, over and over, again: Adobe Express. It seems like everyone from content creators to marketing professionals, photographers to animators, are discovering that they can use it to create professional content, quickly and easily, and without a big learning curve. To discover more, we spoke with two Adobe Express Ambassadors: Angel White, a small business advocate focused on entrepreneur wellbeing, and Aseil Amgheib, founder and lead graphic designer at Design Wolf LDN. Their stories reveal some of the biggest benefits of using Adobe Express, and they offer their personal tips on getting the most out of the software. "It's such a game-changer!" Aseil's journey to founding Design Wolf LDN took several creative turns, from earning a first-class honours degree in Interior Architecture to working on Netflix sets and fashion shoots before finding her true calling in brand design. Throughout this evolution, Adobe tools such as Photoshop and After Effects have been a constant companion. When she launched a design agency, though, Aseil discovered how Adobe Express could transform her workflow, particularly for clients requiring regular content. "I had retainer clients who needed work every month," she explains. "I used to spend hours coming up with ideas and designing brand templates for them. Then I discovered Adobe Express, and it made my life so much easier. As it evolved, so did my workflow. I could schedule posts, link client accounts, and create brand kits that made designing for clients way faster. Now I use it alongside Acrobat, and honestly, the two together are a chef's kiss!" For Aseil, the platform offers the perfect balance between pro-grade design capabilities and practical efficiency. "I'm on Illustrator every day, but sometimes I just want to design something quickly without overthinking it," she shares. "I've already set up a Design Wolf brand kit with our colours and fonts, so I don't get distracted. I just design on the go." This efficiency extends to cross-platform content creation, an increasingly important aspect of digital marketing. "The best part is that I can instantly resize content for other platforms. We've been growing our Pinterest, so that feature has been a lifesaver!" "It's like having a design team in your phone" While Aseil is a professional designer, Angel White's experience demonstrates how the platform empowers those without formal design training. Based in Hull, Angel runs multiple businesses including Pink Angel Studios and The Small Biz Angel, working from a renovated pink caravan. Her mission focuses specifically on supporting fellow entrepreneurs with both practical skills and wellbeing advice. "I started The Small Biz Angel to help like-minded entrepreneurs, as I felt there wasn't much support around the mental health and wellbeing of small business owners," she explains. "It's always 'do this, do that, you need to have this' blah blah blah. But there was never any focus on taking care of yourself whilst you're running a business... well, until I came along." For Angel, Adobe Express is more than just a design tool: it's a solution to the overwhelming pressure many small business owners face. "Many entrepreneurs struggle with design, feeling like they need advanced skills or expensive tools to make their content stand out," she points out. "Adobe Express has been a game changer in helping me empower small business owners to create professional, on-brand content without feeling overwhelmed." This accessibility aligns perfectly with Angel's core mission. "For me, it's not just about creating content—it's about giving small business owners the confidence to show up consistently and make an impact," she explains. "With Adobe Express, I can teach entrepreneurs how to build a recognisable brand, streamline their content creation, and focus on what they do best to grow their businesses. It's like having a design team in your phone, and that's exactly the kind of support solopreneurs need." Angel adds that Adobe Express helps address a critical but often overlooked aspect of entrepreneurship: mental wellbeing. "Content creation can be one of the most overwhelming tasks, especially for those managing everything solo," she points out. "The pressure to be consistent, creative, and engaging on social media can quickly lead to burnout. That's why tools like Adobe Express are so valuable—they simplify the process and take the stress out of designing content." Aseil agrees and notes how such tools help him maintain creative energy. "When you're starting a digital business, you're already wearing a million hats, so finding tools that save time, streamline processes and keep you organised is so important. The less time you spend on manual, repetitive tasks, the more you can focus on creativity." "No more manually swapping brand elements" With both Aseil and Angel so enthusiastic about the platform, it made sense for them to join Adobe Express Ambassador Programme. Launched in February 2025, this programme brings together passionate creatives who are harnessing the power of Adobe Express to transform their businesses. Collectively, these Ambassadors are dedicated to showcasing to their fellow creatives how Adobe Express is breaking down traditional barriers to professional-grade design and making sophisticated content creation accessible to everyone. So, let's get specific for a moment: what are the standout features when it comes to Aseil and Angel's day-to-day use of Adobe Express? "Haha, honestly, that's like asking me to pick a favourite child. I love all of them!" Aseil laughs. "But if I had to shout out a few, I'd say the Brand Kits, quick resizing, and the scheduler. They make everything so seamless, especially when juggling multiple clients and platforms." For Angel too, the Brand Kits feature has been especially transformative. "Since I run multiple brands, each with its own unique style, being able to switch between different logos, colour palettes, and fonts effortlessly makes content creation so much faster and more seamless," she explains. "No more manually swapping brand elements or second-guessing if my colours are correct: it's all set up and ready to go." She's also a big fan of the Content Scheduler. "It means I can plan, design, and schedule posts for my different businesses all in one place, without jumping between multiple apps or platforms," she shares. "It helps me stay consistent, keeps my content organised, and saves me hours of manual posting. Instead of scrambling to create last-minute posts, I can batch my content and let the scheduler handle the rest." Both creators emphasise how these practical features translate into tangible business outcomes. "They make Adobe Express more than just a design tool—it's an efficiency powerhouse that allows me to stay on top of content creation without feeling overwhelmed," explains Angel. Tips for creative entrepreneurs New to content creation? Then here are some top tips from Angel on using Adobe Express. Start with a Brand Kit: "Set up your logo, brand colors, and fonts in Adobe Express so every piece of content stays visually cohesive," says Angel. "This builds recognition and makes your brand feel polished and professional." Use templates to save time: "Don't get stuck trying to design everything from scratch," she adds. "Adobe Express has templates that can be customised in minutes, helping you create content quickly while still making it unique to your brand." Keep it consistent, not perfect: "Your content doesn't have to be flawless!" Angel stresses. "It just needs to feel authentic and aligned with your brand. Simple, well-branded posts will make a bigger impact than overly complicated designs." Experiment and have fun: "Content creation should feel exciting, not overwhelming," Angel reminds us. "Play around with different styles, try new templates, and see what resonates with your audience. I always say trial and error is so important and needed." Conclusion Both Angel and Aseil see enormous potential for how accessible design tools will shape the creative industry's future. "By leveraging digital design tools like Adobe Express," says Angel, "solopreneurs can focus on growing their business instead of getting lost in design stress." Aseil adds, "It also empowers businesses to create high-quality, professional visuals without needing a huge team, which is great for smaller studios and freelancers." As Angel aptly puts it: "At the end of the day, content creation should feel empowering, not draining. Adobe Express helps solopreneurs show up consistently, create with confidence, and reduce the stress that often comes with managing a brand alone." #how #adobe #express #empowering #content

In a saturated beauty market where "clean" and "science-led" are often tossed around as buzzwords, new skincare brand Kind Atoms stands out by actually delivering on both. London design studio Run For The Hills was brought on to bring the brand's story, identity and debut product to life, and the results are nothing short of stunning. Rooted in tradition and realised with scientific rigour, Kind Atoms draws inspiration from its founders' South Asian heritage. Disheartened by the lack of effective yet gentle skincare for sensitive skin, the team looked inwardto childhood memories of natural remedies: turmeric, saffron, amla, and honey passed down through generations. Blending these time-honoured rituals with cutting-edge cosmetic chemistry, the founders – who also happen to be trained scientists – have created a brand that doesn't just trade on nostalgia. It builds on it. The result is a skincare brand that's kind in every sense of the word. To help bring their vision to life, the team tapped creative studio Run For The Hills, known for its work across branding, interiors and art direction. Co-founder and creative lead Chris Trotman steered the creative direction, designing a visual identity that balances the old with the new, the natural with the technical. At the heart of the branding is a bespoke serif logotype and an elliptical atomic logomark, nodding to the fusion of science and nature. "We designed the logo to be timeless and elegant," Chris explains. "Intentionally to feel more premium than the product's price point might suggest, offering skincare lovers a pleasantly unexpected touch of luxury." The same approach carries through to the packaging design. The brand's first product, The Atomic Moisturiser, comes in a sleek matte green bottle, embossed with delicate gold lettering and topped with a satisfying twist mechanism. Housed in a matching green box finished with gold typography, it's designed to feel luxurious but never exclusionary. True to its name, Kind Atoms aims to make high-quality skincare more accessible. The debut product is priced fairly, ensuring that the tactile unboxing experience and elevated visuals don't come at the cost of inclusivity. It's a clever balance, delivering aesthetic polish without drifting into elitism. The visual identity leans into earthy tones, like mustard yellow, deep green, cream, and charcoal black, offering warmth and grounded sophistication. "Every element from the bespoke logotype to the rich, earthy colour palette reflects our ethos of fusing nature with science," say co-founders Jusna Ali and Roxanna Maani. "Run For The Hills instinctively understood our vision, translating it into a design language that feels both timeless and modern." That clarity of vision extended into the launch campaign, which Run For The Hills art directed. The brand photography avoids overly stylised gloss in favour of an organic, tactile feel. Products were shot against softly coloured paper backdrops and paired with natural props like bark and olive branches foraged from local parks and gardens. "For the product shoot, we wanted to fully embrace the brand's deep connection to nature," says Chris. "We gathered props straight from our surroundings – wood stumps and bark from the park, olive branches from our garden – to bring an organic, authentic feel to the imagery." Real women—friends of the founders—were used as models, adding an extra layer of authenticity to the visuals. The brand's aesthetic is natural and elegant, one that feels deliberate and thoughtful without trying too hard. To complete the launch, Run For The Hills also designed and developed Kind Atoms' Shopify-powered website. A clean, scrollable layout allows for immersive storytelling, layering parallax visuals with generous negative space. The result is a minimalist yet engaging digital experience that foregrounds the brand's values: calm, clarity, and care. The Atomic Moisturiser may be the first product, but it sets the tone for a brand that promises to expand with care. While rooted in personal experience and cultural memory, Kind Atoms is looking ahead, creating products that are not only scientifically sound but also beautifully considered. In a category often dominated by extremes, with clinical minimalism on one end and chaotic maximalism on the other, Kind Atoms occupies a quietly confident middle ground. It doesn't shout, doesn't posture and shows what's possible when you take the time to do things properly. #ancient #rituals #meet #modern #science

This month marked the start of Beach of Dreams, a festival with scale, heart, and purpose. Running until 1 June 2025, the month-long creative programme is transforming the UK's coastlines into a dynamic stage for climate action and cultural storytelling, all through the lens of art. Led by participatory arts organisation Kinetika, with support from Arts Council England and Historic England, Beach of Dreams has unfolded across the shores of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, activating over 90 events, eight major artist commissions, and a national touring artwork to reimagine our collective relationship with the coast. It's ambitious in scope but rooted in local stories. It celebrates heritage, calls for resilience, and provides a platform for communities to be seen, heard, and felt. A coastline in flux As sea levels rise and storm surges increase, the UK's 19,000 miles of coastline are facing unprecedented environmental pressures. But Beach of Dreams isn't just about drawing attention to what's at risk. It's about uncovering what we love, what we fear, and what we might create together in response. "Through Beach of Dreams, we are journeying from the Beach of Broken Dreams in Thurrock to shine a spotlight on the coastal gems, organisations, people, and projects across the UK that are creating positive change and inspiring hope," says Ali Pretty, artistic director of Beach of Dreams and founder of Kinetika. "In these uncertain times, Beach of Dreams emphasises the power of local communities to shape their own futures." The silks that started it all At the heart of the programme is The Beach of Dreams Silks, a national artwork made up of 838 naturally dyed silk pennants, each one carrying a personal story and Climate Commitment from participants around the country. Installed at key moments throughout the month, the silks will ripple across beaches from Fife to Felixstowe, forming a vast, mobile artwork infused with care, memory, and intention. Each pennant represents an individual's connection to the coast, often made in community workshops using foraged materials and natural dyes. As the silks tour, they become a kind of collective archive – one that is strikingly beautiful but also quietly urgent in its call for stewardship and solidarity. Eight commissions, infinite perspectives The silks may be the symbolic thread, but the festival's soul lies in its artist commissions, each developed in collaboration with communities and exploring a different question about our relationship to the sea. In Tilbury, the festival launched on 3 May with Threads for Tomorrow, a poignant commission by designer Rahemur Rahman. Working with local sewing groups, Rahman has transformed damaged silk pennants – torn during a 2023 storm – into richly embroidered panels using waste materials and naturally dyed threads. These panels will embellish carnival structures inspired by Bangladeshi sampans, merging cultural identity with ecological reinvention in a live performance led by choreographer Charlene Low. Further north, sound artist Jason Singh brings Cyd-Wrandoto Colwyn Bay, Wales. Here, community participants are invited to hear the subtle signals of the environment – from honeycomb worms to ancient yews – via a site-specific soundscape accessed through AR markers along the coastline. It's immersive, interactive, and deeply tuned into the dialogue between land and sea. In South Tyneside, The Power of Nature sees photographer Tessa Bunney and writer Stevie Ronnie exploring how underwater habitats like kelp forests and oyster reefs can stabilise our coasts and boost biodiversity. Developed with local groups through Stronger Shores, a DEFRA-funded resilience programme, the project includes an outdoor photography exhibition and original poetry created by the community. Over in Northern Ireland, Our Siren Song by Beat Carnival channels myth and music. From 13–17 May, a week of coastal walks, storytelling, carnival arts and music workshops will culminate in a spectacular procession through Millisle, featuring a four-metre-tall operatic siren, community choirs, and musicians singing out across the sea. Meanwhile, in Fife, artist Julie Brook crafts Tide Line – a 100-metre sculptural intervention made from local stones and built at low tide. Accompanied by walking journeys, creative workshops, and new choral work, the project draws attention to erosion, plastic pollution, and rising seas – making visible the invisible forces shaping our shorelines. Other commissions include Collecting Dreams, Shifting Futures in East Anglia, a story-gathering project supported by Historic England and taking place in Great Yarmouth, Harwich and Orford Ness, and The Beach of Dreams Village, a striking, sustainable installation in Great Yarmouth designed with Bamboology's Joseph Williams. Both offer joyful, participatory spaces for reflection, learning and celebration. A digital storytelling platform and an invitation to act While the physical artworks form the festival's public face, Beach of Dreams is just as alive online. A digital Stories platform serves as an evolving archive of community voices, creative processes, and climate reflections, offering behind-the-scenes access and amplifying regional perspectives. Importantly, anyone can participate, whether by joining a walk, submitting a workshop idea, or sharing a Climate Commitment on the Beach of Dreams website. These tangible pledges, like planting seagrass or reducing plastic use, add up to a national network of local action. Legacy and reflection Although the festival runs until 1 June, its legacy continues later in the year. In September, Beach of Dreams will culminate in a final performance – Sonnet of Samsara – in partnership with Activate Performing Arts as part of Inside Out Dorset. The piece will weave together movement, silk installations, and storytelling along Weymouth Beach, offering a moment of collective reflection. It will also mark the start of a new residency, bringing together artists, thinkers, and local voices to explore how the festival's's creative energy can seed longer-term change. With its mix of spectacle and sensitivity, Beach of Dreams is more than a festival. It's's a model for how art can hold space for complexity – beauty and vulnerability, tradition and change, grief and imagination – all while inviting us to walk, listen, make, and care a little more deeply for the places we so often take for granted. #beach #dreams #nationwide #creative #journey

If I were an avocado, how would I move? Or a strawberry? A spring onion, maybe? These are questions most of us seldom ponder, but they were front of mind for illustrator and animator Emily Redfearn as she created a charming new campaign for one of the UK's biggest supermarket chains. Lidl Foodies is a project that has put groceries in motion, encouraging kids to eat healthily and showing them how to grow their own fruit and veg. It all began with a pitch to create a set of simple yet impactful fruit- and veg-based characters for kids. Emily mocked up the imagery along with some straplines, which opened the door to an extensive animation project. Collaborating closely with Lidl via the campaign agency, Accenture Song, and her talent agency, Roar, Emily then developed the characters further and applied the Lidl colour palette. It happens to be full of primary colours, which are ideal for children. All the while, she kept in mind that the strawberry, lemon, pepper, avocado, spring onion and tomato would come to life in short animations. "We wanted to make sure they all had their own vibe," says Emily. "It was important that we played off the natural shape of the characters. The avocado is very clunky and heavy, so we knew the action would need to reflect that, whereas the strawberry felt very springy and bouncy – both in taste and look – which we reflected in the bouncy movements we gave it." Whenever she needed inspiration for the project, Emily could step out into her garden, where she already grows lots of veggies—including ones in the animations. Using her hands-on experience, she was able to storyboard the instructional content, which some of the art directors tested on their own children. Propagating strawberries is actually trickier to explain than you might think, as Sheffield-based Emily explains: "We debated how literally to take some of the instructions. For example, normally, you shave a piece off a strawberry in order to plant the seeds, as they are so small. In practice, it almost looked gory to have the strawberry peel off its own skin! So, we creatively solved a lot of problems like this by simplifying it down to just a single seed being plucked." WIP: Line work and frames from the storyboard. Initially titled Lidl Growers, Emily developed an impactful logotype for the campaign. While her logotype may not have been deployed, she still had fun creating it, and there may yet be scope for her to expand the Lidl Foodies world. "The amount of work involved in the project was a challenge," says Emily. "There were many moving parts happening at once, with the animations and logo all being developed. It was a dream project in that way – everyone involved, from Lidl to the Accenture Song agency to my own agents Skye Kelly-Barrett and Sally Paley, were all so on the ball that it made the workload run so smoothly." #lidl #foodies #campaign #big #character

Founded in 2008 in Madrid, Bertone Studio is powered by the creativity of Eduardo Bertone and Michiyo Sato. Their collaboration has led to the studio's unique illustration and animation style, which has been labelled psychedelic folk art but really entails so much more. Stunning in terms of both colour and detail, the looping animations Michiyo and Eduardo create aren't just loopy – the work is a labour of love, the result of a dedication to the craft of animation. Every frame and every detail is carefully considered and drawn by hand, and the results are dazzling. Whether it's a self-initiated project released on social media or animation created for a major commercial campaign, the animation doesn't get much more mesmerising. Triumph of Colour over Darkness Juxtaposed Nature Giant Robots "Working frame-by-frame is time-consuming and requires much effort, but I enjoy every second," says Eduardo. "The same goes for the complex artworks I create, occasionally leading to horror vacui. Nonetheless, I believe this kind of artwork possesses a beauty that only arises when it is handmade." Eduardo and Michiyo are a couple as well as artistic collaborators. Originally from Argentina, Eduardo's background is in graphic design, though he was drawn to illustration in the early 2000s. Meanwhile, Michiyo came to Madrid after completing her Fine Arts degree in Kyoto and began with internships with design studios but felt more comfortable with her illustrative work. Complementing Eduardo's obsession with detail, Michiyo oversees the creative direction of each project they tackle. Mobile Vikings artwork in Brussels. Artwork created for McDonald's. "We both enjoy blending elements from different worlds, attempting to establish a feeling of unity when we combine them. From Japanese ukiyo-eto pre-colonial Argentinian culture, as well as manga, anime, cartoons, and spontaneous doodles with realism, this approach adds dynamism to the artwork. It takes you on a journey through different times and places." When tackling a creative brief for a major brand – McDonalds, Honda or Adidas, for example – Bertone Studio aims to create something genuinely unique. The eclectic style, wild ideas, and diverse range of influences lead to projects their clients would never have imagined, sometimes pushing the boundaries of what global brands might feel comfortable with. Many of their works challenge our perception of beauty with the Japanese busa Kawaicoming to the fore – 'ugly yet cute'. Nintendo animation. Hyakki Yagyo Osaka Of course, there is overlap when it comes to inspiration, but the psychedelic aspects tend to come from Eduardo, who is interested in altered states of mind, psychedelic art and Art Brut. He sees them as areas untouched by globalisation or prejudice. Meanwhile, Michiyo appreciates the authenticity of folk art. "It doesn't aspire to penetrate the art market, which can sometimes be arrogant," she explains. "Folk art is modest and authentic, rooted in distinctive histories and traditions. It varies from nation to nation, and you can find numerous fresh perspectives on the world via folk art, which expand the boundaries of your creative mind." At a time when many feel tempted to generate animation using AI and other digital procedures, Bertone Studio remains devoted to creating by hand and ensuring the results are fresh and different each time. "I'm not opposed to technological advancement, and I value artists who utilise innovative methods for self-expression," says Eduardo. "Still, I love spending hours and hours drawing and animating. I love the whole process, and I don't want to miss that, so I don't see the point in using AI to do that for me." #bertone #studio #putting #psychedelic #folk

With over three decades at the helm of MoreySmith and now StudioMorey, Linda Morey-Burrows has built a reputation as one of the UK's most respected design leaders, known for her clarity of vision, exacting standards, and deep creative insight. Her approach to leadership is grounded in resilience: from handling client bias with wry humour to shaping a thriving employee-owned studio of 35 people spanning five decades in age. In this straight-talking Q&A, Linda reflects on what it really takes to lead, why systemic support matters more than empty empowerment, and the business advice that's stayed with her since the 90s. What does leadership mean to you, and how has your approach evolved? My team of 35 are a very diverse mix of creatives and highly intelligent technicians and architects, very international, and aged from 20 to 60. Having a strong leadership is key to our success as they look to me to make the right decisions, bring in the best projects/work and steer the business through turbulent times. I'm not always popular, but I'd say I'm respected. Dealing with everyone's individual needs and demands and keeping everyone happy whilst delivering the most innovative designs and architecture with the challenges of the construction process and the economic climate certainly needs strong leadership. Have you faced any challenges as a woman in leadership? Ha yes of course, especially when I was younger. Older people and men didn't always enjoy being led by a young female. I do still face issues with new clients and professionals who look to the man in the room for leadership of our projects or business decisions, which I used to get really upset about. Now I find it quite amusing. I try to make sure the same doesn't happen to my female senior team, but sadly it's still prevalent. What's the best or worst leadership advice you've received? I don't remember ever having any leadership advice. The only business advice I ever really had was an established architect in the early 90's told me to always have at least £100,000 in the bank and to invoice £100,000 a head per annum. How can we encourage more women to step into leadership roles in creative industries? It's difficult as having children and childcare still mostly sits with the woman in most relationships. I was lucky that Patrick and I shared this responsibility and we had a nanny and a cleaner. If we want women to return to work and take senior leadership roles, they would need the same support system. Controversially taking a year off plus for each child and then having to look after the home and unwell children over the years isn't going to allow women to achieve a successful leadership role. Many women take one to three years out, which can be more difficult, and there would still need to be a support system of nursery/childcare and family support to make things work and not be too stressful. I think this is when many women decide to work for themselves in a way that suits their work-life balance. #linda #moreyburrows #leadership #longevity #calling

To mark the 100th anniversary of McVitie's Chocolate Digestives, TBWA has launched a tongue-in-cheek campaign that positions the beloved snack alongside the wheel and the telephone in the canon of history's greatest human achievements. And frankly, they make a pretty compelling case. The campaign, which rolled out across out-of-home, digital, experiential and PR, takes a playful but purposeful approach to celebrating the "Choc Dig" – as the team affectionately call it – as a cultural icon. "The brief was to reassert the 'Choc Dig' as an irreplaceable British icon, using its 100th anniversary to elevate it from a mass brand to a timeless one," says Matt Tassell, Creative at TBWA. "We quickly realised that – despite its humble appearance and familiar reputation – the Choc Dig shares a number of traits with some of humanity's greatest inventions." It's a wry, knowing comparison, but one that's underpinned by genuine admiration for the biscuit's staying power and cultural significance. "The joke is we're not joking," Matt explains. "There's a fun tension at play in the campaign, and the lighthearted tone of voice grounds the reverential visuals." This tension plays out beautifully in the creative. Posters feature a giant Chocolate Digestive hovering above landscapes like some sort of snack-shaped Stonehenge, while a limited-run pop-up – The McVitie's Chocolate Digestives Experience – invited the public to indulge their inner biscuit nerd at London's Piccadilly Lights. "Our iconic poster campaign featured a Choc Dig looming large above all else, so it was only fitting that we ran it on Europe's largest single digital billboard," says Matt. "The fact that the Experience was hosted at the very base of the Lights, in the very epicentre of the nation's capital, tied everything together in celebratory fashion and reinforced the magnitude of the Chocolate Digestive's place in British culture." Of course, anniversaries like this are catnip for nostalgic Brits, but what elevates this campaign is the level of craft, humour and genuine storytelling across the full ecosystem. As Matt puts it, "We had a genuinely legendary product to play with and a simple, strong creative idea to anchor everything back to." That clarity of vision allowed TBWA to deliver a campaign that feels cohesive across channels while also giving collaborators and media partners a clear framework with which to align. At the heart of that framework is a distinct tone of voice that's affectionate, cheeky and quietly profound. It reminds people why they've loved Chocolate Digestives for so long but also hints at why they might continue to do so for the next hundred years. "We wanted to awaken some of that nostalgia and comfort," says Matt. "And playfully articulate its place in the world we all live in." That articulation went far beyond traditional media into a series of large-scale activations, including DOOH takeovers and landmark projections, which brought the campaign to life in ways that felt both irreverent and ambitious. "Bringing the DOOH and landmark projections to life meant juggling our big idea with even bigger tech," Matt admits. "There was plenty of discussion around timing, permissions, pixel capabilities, and, of course, the weather. But the payoff was more than worth it." The use of cutting-edge digital media also speaks to the other narrative strand running through the campaign – one of innovation and reinvention. "The great thing about the Chocolate Digestive is that its longevity doesn't define it exclusively," says Matt. "It's always on the front foot, pushing out new NPDs and fresh twists on its iconic blueprint." In other words, it's not just a relic of biscuit history – it's still a living, evolving part of British food culture. That's where this campaign really shines: it doesn't just mark 100 years of something old; it positions McVitie's as a brand that understands how to stay relevant. "Like any good innovator, McVitie's is ever-curious," Matt says. "Constantly developing new products, flavours, and collaborations to win over the next generation of biscuit munchers. It's all about staying as relevant and pivotal to British culture today as it has been for the past century." There's a lot to be said for a campaign that can simultaneously land a punchline, pull off a Piccadilly takeover, and plant the seed for future brand evolution. By treating the Chocolate Digestive with the same reverenceas history's greatest invention, TBWA has made a case for the biscuit as a British icon that continues to delight, surprise, and unite people across generations. I mean, can't most problems be solved with a cup of tea and a biscuit? #mcvitie039s #chocolate #digestives #turn #with

In an industry where typefaces are designed to be used by thousands, a radical new concept has emerged that turns conventional type distribution on its head. David Březina, managing director at Rosetta Type, has created a typographic experiment called Only Yours: a typeface system that generates unique variants available exclusively to individual customers. The premise is brilliantly simple yet revolutionary: nine new variants of the typeface are released every day. Once purchased, a variant is permanently removed from circulation, ensuring that no one else will ever own that specific design. "The idea for a typeface that would be different for each customer has been on my mind for a few years," explains David. "According to surveys, most designers do not know how to use OpenType features and hence letter alternates. I'd been working on a still-unreleased typeface called Sacco, and at some point, it was so easy to create more and more letter alternates that it seemed like a shame to keep them tucked away somewhere in the font where no one would look." This observation sparked a more profound question: what if instead of hiding alternates within a font's features, the alternates themselves became the foundation for entirely unique typeface variants? Inspired by Dylan The concept lay dormant, though, until a surprising moment of inspiration. "I sat on it for a few years," recalls David. "The project seemed intimidating in scope, and I didn't really see a good reason to do it. "Then I went to see Bob Dylan, who's known for constantly rewriting his songs, in concert. It occurred to me that having so many perceivably different variants would bring more authenticity to the users. They could each have a unique font, in the same way concert-goers can attend a unique performance." This parallel between the legendary musician's ever-evolving performances and the notion of typographic uniqueness crystallised the concept. What began as design work in December 2025 led to a soft launch at the Automatic Type Design conference in Nancy, France, in February 2025. Science behind the system Only Yours isn't merely a stylistic exercise; it's grounded in David's PhD research on letter similarity perception. "I studied how they are clearly different, yet, in a well-designed font, they also look visually coherent," he explains. Technical implementation is where things become fascinatingly complex. Rather than designing alternative letters, David took a more fundamental approach. "Similarity perception is explained in terms of distinctive visual features that are shared by some of the letters, but not necessarily all of them," he explains. "More shared features mean stronger perceived similarity between the letters. It occurred to me that I could hack into this system and design alternates, not for the letters as we're used to from contemporary fonts, but for the individual features." While keeping some aspects of the generation process proprietary, David confirms that this feature-based approach allows for remarkable diversity while maintaining design coherence. "Using a reverse-contrast design remotely related to Antique Olive also helped to incorporate some rectangular elements more easily. The coherence does not need to be perfect, after all. Some of my favourite variants come from unexpected violations of the overall coherence." Scarcity as a feature, not a bug In an era of unlimited digital reproduction, Only Yours deliberately introduces scarcity. With over a million variants, the decision to release just nine per day transforms typography selection into something akin to a daily treasure hunt. "We didn't want to design a system for users to pick and choose," David notes. "The value of the project is not in providing all the options. It is in exclusivity. "Originally, I wanted the variant to be chosen randomly for the customers," he added. "But that did not seem right, so we settled on a compromise: offering nine new variants every day, which also turns it into a game. They're never shown again, so if you like one, you better get it." This approach creates a fascinating tension between the digital nature of typefaces and the artificial scarcity that makes each variant valuable. Once a customer purchases a weight from a variant, all weights within that variant become exclusive to them, preventing anyone else from fragmenting their unique typographic identity. Redefining typographic identity When sharing his concept with fellow designers before launch, David received some scepticism. "When I tried to discuss this idea with some friends, graphic designers, in November, they told me that it would be 'totally useless for branding'," he recalls with amusement. I disagree: since every variant is exclusive, it is perfect for branding!" Far from being an obstacle to professional use, the consistency within each variant across weights ensures practical usability while maintaining uniqueness. "Each variant of Only Yours is consistent across multiple weights, so it should work just fine in professional contexts," he asserts. The potential applications extend beyond individual designers. "Creating unique experiences in branding is not new. There is Freitag with their bags, each original, or even Coca-Cola with their named cans, which is a step in that direction," David points out. "Perhaps Only Yours could make it easier in some cases. We could, theoretically, generate thousands of unique variants for someone to licence as a bulk. Or a magazine could get a new variant for each issue." Looking to the future: Softly Yours Building on the success of Only Yours, Rosetta Type has already announced plans for Softly Yours, a rounded version using the same generative framework. "We set the price quite affordable to be more flexible," David adds. "We do have customers who already purchased multiple variants." Overall, this project represents a fascinating intersection of typographic design, computational creativity and exclusivity marketing. In a world increasingly concerned with digital ownership and authenticity, Rosetta Type has created something that feels almost paradoxical: a digital asset that can't be perfectly duplicated. For graphic designers and branding specialists, Rosetta Type offers something truly novel: the guarantee that your typographic voice won't be inadvertently duplicated by competitors. In an industry constantly searching for uniqueness, David has engineered it directly into the fabric of his typeface. As the nine variants change daily and customers claim their exclusive pieces of typographic history, Only Yours and Softly Yours aren't just new fonts. They represent a new relationship between designers and their tools, where scarcity, exclusivity and personal connection have been reintroduced to the digital realm. #only #yours #bold #new #approach

The world could use a little more Flower Block right now. Beautifully illustrated by Ho Chi Minh City-based artist Hoang Giang, Lanisha Butterfield's story is about a little boy called Jeremiah, whose sunflower seeds grow out of control all the way up through the apartment block where he lives. But instead of chaos and discord, the magical plant brings the community together. In a gentle, organic palette, with jaunty little characters full of wonder at the incredible stalk, Giang's artwork strikes the perfect tone alongside the narrative. Her illustrations in Flower Block have won the Derby Children's Picture Book Award 2025 and have been longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration. The book has also been shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and has been added to Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Flower Block is like a new telling of Jack and the Beanstalk. Despite the growing recognition for her work, Giang is as humble as can be. "I think the success of Flower Block comes largely from Lanisha Butterfield's story," she says. "It captures the harmony of community – something deeply important and relevant in today's world, especially at a time when we're witnessing so much division and polarisation across the globe." Originally from Dalat in the highlands of Vietnam, Giang moved to Ho Chi Minh City to study economics but found her way into illustration driven by a life-long love of art. For years, she taught herself the tools and techniques of the trade, illustrating stories, drawing comic zines, and freelancing. Then, she moved to the UK to study for an MA in Illustration and Book Arts at Angela Ruskin University in Cambridge. Doctor Fairytale is one of Giang's favourite recent projects. Now back in Vietnam, she's represented by the agency Illo and is busy with the brushwork on a variety of projects with UK publishers. September will see the release of Bear Heart by Louise Greig, published by Flying Eye Books. We can't show you pictures just yet, but keep an eye out for them. "I'm most drawn to stories I can personally relate to – where I can feel the truth of the author's experience behind the words," says Giang. "And when both the author and publisher share the same vision with me for how the story should be visualised, that's the perfect collaboration." One of the interesting things about Giang's journey in children's illustration so far is the variety and flexibility in her artwork. Rather than establishing a strong, individual style, she adapts the look and feel of the images to each narrative she tackles. "I used to criticise myself for not having a single, recognisable style," she explains. "But over time, I've come to realise that what matters most to me is the story. Depending on the tone or feeling a story requires, I choose the visual approach – whether in style or medium – that feels right." My Father's Dragon artwork. Personal artworks. If AI ruins the illustration scene, Giang's backup plan is to make and sell onigiri rice balls as breakfast takeaway food in Vietnam. She'll also always draw comics and picture books on the side. Her self-initiated comic series Xóm Om Xòm has reached five volumes in Vietnam, and she's busy with the next instalment. It's her creative commentary on traditional life in Vietnam and what happens when that collides with the country's rapid modernisation in recent decades. "It's a collection of humorous stories about a group of animals living in a rural Southern Vietnamese village," says Giang. "While the characters reflect the thoughts and behaviours of modern people, it's set years ago – before technology became such a dominant force in daily life. The series blends nostalgia with satire, and it's my personal way of observing and commenting on society through a playful lens. The Xóm Om Xòm series. Creature/character sketches. Personal artworks. Source: https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/how-picture-book-illustrator-hoang-giangs-career-is-blossoming/ #how #picture #book #illustrator #hoang #giang039s #career #blossoming

What happens when globally renowned artists trade studios for the clatter of machines, industrial dyes, and production lines? At the National Festival of Making in Blackburn, the result is a bold, joyful, and often surprising collision of creativity and craft. Now entering its ninth year, the festival's flagship commissioning programme, Art in Manufacturing, has announced three major new residencies for 2025. This year's headline artists are Matter at Hand, the new studio of Lewis Jones (co-founder of Turner Prize-winning Assemble), graphic artist and community powerhouse Morag Myerscough, and collage and sculpture specialist Liaqat Rasul. Each will embed themselves inside a leading UK manufacturer in Lancashire, creating ambitious site-specific works that celebrate the region's legacy of making while pushing the boundaries of material and form. Held annually in Blackburn town centre, the National Festival of Making draws tens of thousands each July for a free weekend of performances, exhibitions, talks, and installations. Its Art in Manufacturing strand has become a vital national model for artist-industry collaboration, pairing artists with factories to produce original work from heritage processes, specialist tools, and skilled workforces. Since its launch in 2016, over 30 artists have taken part across 20 manufacturers. Lewis Jones. Credit: Niamh Riordan "These commissions have always been about shining a light on the extraordinary creativity behind closed doors," says Elena Jackson, Co-Director and Curator of Art in Manufacturing. "It's an invitation for artists to experiment with materials and scale." This year, she adds, is no exception: "The artists are exploring clay, colour and collage - making new permanent work for Blackburn, turning industrial waste into finely crafted collage, and through an expanded two-year placement, developing in-depth research into sustainable making practices through new architectural and sculptural outcomes." Jones's project, through his new practice Matter at Hand, marks the start of an extended two-year residency inside Darwen Terracotta, one of the UK's leading manufacturers of architectural ceramics. Stationed on the factory floor, Jones is working on an interactive installation inside Blackburn Cathedral that reimagines clay as a sustainable material for the built environment. His installation will showcase new prototypes and sculptural experiments drawn from Darwen's heritage techniques, blending material innovation with architectural storytelling. Morag Myerscough. Credit: Marc Sethi For Morag Myerscough, the festival is a chance to inject her signature burst of positivity into Blackburn's urban fabric. Working with Crown Paints, she will create three new public-facing works, including a permanent mural, participatory workshops, and a garden-inspired installation that speaks to greening the high street. Her 'Colour Factory' takeover of Prism Contemporary promises to be one of the festival's most immersive and energetic moments. Meanwhile, Liaqat Rasul will bring his deeply personal, collage-based practice to Herbert Parkinson, part of the John Lewis Partnership. Through intimate workshops with John Lewis Partners, Rasul will explore themes of memory, identity and community. His final installation of sculptural mobiles will invite audiences to slow down and reflect, celebrating the human stories behind everyday manufacturing. Liaqat Arnold. Credit: Daniel Farmer Photography These three projects exemplify the festival's ethos: that art and making are not separate spheres but overlapping, collaborative forces. By embedding artists within factories, Art in Manufacturing collapses the distance between creative experimentation and real-world production and, in doing so, gives both artists and manufacturers a platform to innovate. A new publication, Radical Pairings, will launch at this year's festival. It documents the programme's history and legacy and features an essay by art critic Elizabeth Fullerton. The essay explores the unusual and inspiring nature of these residencies and the potential of creative partnerships to reframe both industry and art. Art in Manufacturing 2025 will debut at the National Festival of Making on 5–6 July, with installations continuing in venues across Blackburn thereafter. For those curious about what happens when artists roll up their sleeves and step into the engine rooms of British industry, it's not one to miss. Source: https://www.creativeboom.com/news/national-festival-of-making-unveils-2025-art-in-manufacturing-commissions/ #national #festival #making #unveils #art #manufacturing #commissions

In a world saturated with intrusive marketing, Dan Knowlton has pioneered a refreshing approach. As co-founder of video and social media marketing agency Knowlton, Dan has perfected the art of what he calls Advertainment—a creative methodology that's transforming how businesses connect with their audiences. "Advertainment is our unique approach that fuses advertising with entertainment," he explains. "Instead of pushing traditional, sales-heavy content that people tend to scroll past, we create content that audiences actually want to watch. It's about being so engaging that it's impossible to ignore while still weaving in strategic messaging that drives results." Intriguing, right? We caught up with Dan to learn more about his journey, how Advertainment is created in practice, the role that Adobe Express plays in his workflow, and his tips for crafting marketable content yourself. Origin story Knowlton was born of humble origins. In 2017, Dan and his brother Lloyd started their agency from their parents' spare room after becoming "sick of intrusive, over-salesy marketing." They began by producing funny videos to promote their company. Then, gradually, they realised the need to structure these videos strategically to drive business. "For our clients, this approach has been a game-changer," Dan reflects. "It's helped us generate millions in trackable revenue and secure major contracts. Because people are not just seeing the content: they're enjoying it, sharing it, and taking action because of it." Today, their client list includes Wahl, Sunny D, Boston Consulting Group, BBC Storyworks, and Channel 4. And the timing couldn't have been better. After all, the social media marketing landscape has undergone significant shifts in recent years, requiring businesses to adapt their strategies accordingly. "Social media marketing has become way more visual and fast-paced," Dan observes. "It's no longer about just pushing out long-form content or polished ads. People want something that feels more authentic and real. Video is massive, and short, engaging clips are what people are looking for." The right tools Behind every successful creative is a toolkit that enables rapid ideation and execution. For Dan and his team, Adobe Express—the quick and easy content creation app for designers and non-designers alike—has become an indispensable resource for developing their content. "Adobe Express is a really practical tool for us, especially when we're working fast and need high-quality visuals," Dan enthuses. "One specific way I use it is to make quick edits to pitches that our designers have created using other Adobe software. As I'm not a professional designer, it's super-handy because it makes the process straightforward without needing advanced design skills." The team will also use Adobe Express to create social media graphics, video thumbnails and visual elements for campaigns. "It's great for maintaining brand consistency while still being flexible enough to adapt to different campaign needs," says Dan. Standout features The crucial thing is to boost speed and efficiency without sacrificing quality. Dan highlights specific features in Adobe Express that help square that circle. "The huge library of Adobe-quality templates is a lifesaver when we need to create visuals fast," he notes. We can easily tweak them to fit our brand or the specific campaign." He particularly values the Brand Kit feature. "This keeps our branding consistent, especially when we're working on multiple projects at once," he explains. We can store logos, fonts, and colour schemes and apply them with just a few clicks." Adobe Express also excels at quick edits. "Things like background removal and resizing are just really easy to do without any hassle," Dan points out. Finally, he praises the software's collaborative tools. "Since the team often works on projects together, these make it simple to pick up where someone else left off," he explains. In summary, Dan explains that "Adobe Express is not about overcomplicating things—it's a really practical tool that makes us more efficient." Real-world results So, how does this all work in practice? Dan shares a specific example of how Adobe Express transformed a marketing campaign. "We were working on paid creative assets for a large SaaS business we supported during their UK relaunch," he recalls. "The client needed some tweaks to their existing designs to make them more engaging. We used Adobe Express to quickly adjust layouts, update messaging, and test a few different variations." The results speak for themselves. "The refreshed ads we created significantly outperformed the original assets they were using: higher click-through rates and way more engagement," Dan reveals. "It just shows how making a few quick design tweaks can make a massive difference, especially when you're working with a tight turnaround." No surprise, then, that Dan is now an Adobe Express Ambassador: you can find details of the programme, and how you can join it, here. Content tips for small businesses Dan has some valuable insights for small businesses aiming to create engaging video content using tools like Adobe Express. "Tell a story," he urges. "Make your videos about people, stories, or real experiences rather than just products. That's what makes them relatable. But make them short and sweet: People don't have time for long-winded content. Get to the point quickly and make it punchy." Feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to create content? Then, step back and take a deep breath. "Don't try to reinvent the wheel every time," Dan stresses. "Some of our best content ideas come from seeing what's already working for other creators, particularly on platforms like TikTok. If you see a format or trend that's performing well, put your own spin on it rather than starting from scratch. Also, you don't need to be everywhere at once. Pick one platform where your audience hangs out and master it before branching out." Furthermore, he emphasises consistency over perfection: "Use tools like Adobe Express to quickly repurpose content. For example, if you make a great video, turn it into a few shorter clips or add some graphics to create a new post." Finally, Dan encourages businesses to: "show your personality. Don't be afraid to be a bit quirky or real; that's what people connect with. But at the same time, stay on-brand. Use consistent colours, fonts and logos to make sure people know it's you." The power of humour The thing Dan's best known for, of course, is his use of humour. And there's no reason you can't follow him down that route, too. "Humour is a game-changer when it's done right," he asserts. "Too many brands play it safe, but being funny is a great way to stand out and make people remember you." For inspiration, Dan suggests looking to the professionals. "Draw inspiration from comedy creators like Imogen Andrews, Al Nash, Jack Joseph, or even shows like Peep Show and Aunty Donna," he urges. "These creators have a knack for making relatable, funny content that people can't help but engage with." When it comes to creating your own content, he adds, "Don't overthink it. Humour is about having fun, and if your content feels too forced, it won't resonate. Experiment, learn from what works, and lean into that." A mission to transform marketing What began as a rebellion against intrusive marketing has evolved into a successful agency with an in-house team of 15 and a pool of over 50 trusted freelancers. Dan's mission is clear: "To rid the world of crap marketing". Through the power of Advertainment and with tools like Adobe Express at his disposal, Knowlton is showing that marketing doesn't have to be an interruption—it can be content that audiences genuinely enjoy. As Dan puts it: "We make audiences enjoy the process of being convinced to buy your products and services." And in today's competitive landscape, that might just be the most valuable skill a marketer can offer. Source: https://www.creativeboom.com/insight/the-art-of-advertainment-dan-knowlton-on-transforming-your-marketing-through-humour/ #dan #knowlton #how #make #content #audiences #genuinely #love