Introducing the launch of a new studio: Fieldwork a creative partnership of designers Loz Ives and Andy Gott.

There is already a smorgasbord of design treats to sample on their handsome new website, looking forward to seeing it grow. All the best lads.

This is a film about a design and cultural phenomenon; the Designers Republic™ (tDR), one of the most influential graphic design studios of the last two decades.

If you’re a tDR fan, you might be interested in this – production company LCM Digital are attempting to raise kickstarter funding for “an ambitious, observational study of tDR™ and its continued global influence over the 25 years since its conception”. Through interviews with Ian Anderson as well as previous employees, industry professionals, clients and a local and international network of fans and aficionados, the film sets to reveal the myth and the reality of tDR™.

For further information, and to contribute to the documentory, please see LCMDigital’s kickstarter page.

Enjoying the simple graphic illustrations of Ryan Chapman

To wet our whistle ahead of his upcoming LongLunch talk at The Design Museum, we caught up with Hamish, Creative Director of Brighton based Studio Makgill.

Could you sum up in a few words what you do?

We are a graphic design agency that makes beautifully simple work.

Can you tell us a little about the team behind StudioMakgill?

We are currently four permanent staff with a rolling roster of freelancers and interns to help with the workload.

What spurred you on to start your own studio, and how did you make the leap?

This is actually the second agency I have run. I founded Red Design with a friend back in 1996. So the process of setting up StudioMakgill wasn’t scary to me. In between Red Design and StudioMakgill I spent four years working with some great agencies in London and this had really helped shape the kind of agency I wanted to run.

You’re based in Brighton, what influence do you think location has on a studio’s output?

The decision to be in Brighton is because I live down here and I want to have a decent quality of life with my family. StudioMakgill was very nearly based in London, but the thought of being a lifelong commuter was too depressing.

It presents some challenges, but I feel that you really don’t need to be London based to be recognised as a serious agency. I hope that we are proving that to be true.

How do you approach creating ‘beautifully simple work’?

I think firstly it isn’t a completely conscious process. It comes from a desire for and appreciation of simplicity. But there is a process which in itself is actually quite simple. We constantly ask ourselves what is important in a design. What can we get rid of before we compromise the meaning or integrity of that piece.

Do clients ever come to you with something specific in mind?

Of course.

We don’t take on every project that comes to us. But a client with something in mind can either be a great thing or it can be potentially toxic.

It really depends on so many factors. It requires learning a lot about people and becoming a good judge of character. Experience has really helped here, though taking on the wrong client is a mistake that can still happen. Read more

Sweet illustrated typography by David McLeod

Live & Learn is a collection of quotes and phrases from great minds, compiled and designed by We Are Raw Creative Director Rob Watson. Available to download to mobile, tablet & desktop.

Without a logo you are nothing. Get yours designed here here by the talented crew at MultiAdaptor and donate to charity.

Thank you to Greg Moss for sending us a copy of his photography journal in which he documents the industrial landscapes and workforces of his hometown Southampton. One of the locations includes the Ford factory, which recently and sadly announced it’s imminent closure.

Greg says “It’s a project that is close to my heart, being a local lad, I know how much of an influence these industries and environments have had on the city.”

— Thanks Greg

Ross from GBH got in touch to tell us about their recent sterling branding work of the unconventional hotel Mama Shelter.

— Positioned as ‘affordable luxury’, the Mama way is a unique mix of warmth, friendliness, communality with chic and eclectic design interiors but with a touch of surreal humour.

The Mama Shelter logo is very bold and unconventional, playing off the values of Mama it’s both warm and cozy but also surreal and surprising, we even hid an egg within the sheltering legs of Mama. This logo has been adapted with a tag to signal each new location.

The messaging and tone of Mama is many different overlapping tones, with exposed concrete walls colliding with graffitied blackboard ceilings and retro artefacts, its unique atmosphere is a combination of relaxed cosiness and an offbeat artist’s commune.

We were briefed to create the identity and all touch points throughout the hotels. We needed something memorable and unusual to reflect the electric nature of Mama Shelter.

For the rest of the items, we had a very ‘non-branding’ attitude from the owner, where each location is to have it’s own version of keycard holders, restaurant menus and do not disturb signs. The items are meant to feel unbranded and ‘found’ so instead of having the logo plastered on everything, we built on the Mama brand through the tone of each objects.

There are multiples of each idea too, so for example there are 8 other chicken keycard holders.

Also we have done some work for Mama Pizzeria, it was a tiny identity for their in house Pizzeria. Mama’s take on the fat jolly cartoon italian chef you normally get on pizzeria’s boxes.

— Thanks Ross!

Big fan of Disarm‘s minimal ‘tease and reveal’ poster series to promote the new Dancing Around Duchamp season at the Barbican.

As well as being one of the nicest and most humble gentlemen you’re ever likely to meet, the hugely talented California based Mr Corey Holms has stacks of new work on his website since we last featured him in 2008 – lots of which you’ll already be familiar with.

Also, worth checking out are Mr Holms’ tumblr of personal tumblr & “brain farts”. Great stuff.

In his spare time, Corey is also a keen photographer, some of his beautiful shots are available on Print-Process, see the rest on his flickr photostream.

Swash & Kern is the bespoke lettering and typeface design alter ego of Positye‘s Neil Summerour.

KK Outlet turned an ordinary looking East London corner into a musical instrument that played itself whenever anyone picked up a Red Stripe, much to people’s surprise. See the making of video here. “It’s like some sort of Ghetto theme-park”!

More information on the project here.

Details: Creative Idea: KK Outlet Direction: Greg Brunkalla / Stinkdigital London Creative Technologists: Hirsch & Mann

Peter Clarkson‘s clean portfolio spans the disciplines of branding, identity, type design, online, interactive to 3 dimensional design and environments.

Progressive design studio Moving Brands have launched their new website