Shown before the feature film at Curzon Cinemas.

“Whether the Curzon project is effective communication in this setting is open to question. For anyone with concerns about these issues, it offers useful encouragement; it is good to know that others feel the same way, and support from an ‘official’ source carries some weight. If there really were audience members who had never previously thought about globalisation, terrorism and the need for difference to maintain a healthy society, then a portentous announcement lasting just a couple of minutes can only take them so far.”

Read full article here.

Sources
Article by Rick Poynor, Cognitive Dissonance, Eye Magazine.
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Source: Metro, 25th October 2006

We stand at a pivotal moment in the human story. For 20,000 generations, our species lived in nature, taking our cues from the sky, the wind, the sea, the animals. We only entered into an electronic environment a generation or two ago. Now we’re getting our cues from glowing screens. We watch nature shows instead of going venturing into the forest. We laugh at recorded jokes instead of joking around together and drool over internet porn instead of having actual sex. Slowly, we move toward a goal that Swiss author Max Frisch once described as “arranging the world so that we do not experience it.”

Source: Design Anarchy, Kalle Lasn, 2006

Source: Design Anarchy, Kalle Lasn, 2006

“Ralph Lauren will become the first external company in 129 years to outfit the British tennis event’s 570 umpires, ball girls and ball boys.”

Not only that, but Ralph Lauren have also enlarged their polo pony logo, considerably, presumably to make it easier recognise at a distance. What seemed before as an inconspicuous mark on expensive clothing, now appears as a super conspicuous sign with all the regular signifieds and connotations, just taken that one step further.

Wimbledon, despite many other world tennis grand slam events, enjoys a good deal of freedom from major corporate sponsors plastering their graphics all over the venues (not to mention kitting out all the umpires, ball girls and ball boys in high-end designer clobber). The deal worth £10,000,000 to Wimbledon must have proved too much money to refuse. It does indeed appear that everyone has their price, despite 129 years of tradition. If you are going to break over 100 years of tradition, do it in style - arguably.

Sources:
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp.
MSNBC

“There are now about 1.6 million Indian house holds that spend $9,000 a year on luxury goods.”

“Just before New Year’s Eve [2005], Tag Heuer hosted an all-night party for big spenders in Goa. About 400 diamond-dripping, air kissing, Indians decked out in brands like Manolo Blahnik and Balenciaga sipped champagne and sampled canapes as they watched Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan play volleyball and emcee a bikini contest. “India cannot hide behind the fact that it is a developing country anymore,” says Khan. “Every Indian now wants to own products that inspire awe and envy.” Can the French sell cake to people who not long ago had to scramble for bread? Given the ambitious plans luxury brands have for India, they seem to think so.”

Source: Time, April 10 2006
Article by Jessica Carsen/London

Photograph by Vinita Davé taken in October 2005.

Irrespective of India’s new rich, the majority still do ’scramble for
bread’ Jessica.

As India experiences tremendous economic development “…the appearance of Western gadgets [become one of] the most reliable spurs to economic growth. [A] theory, which we might term the theory of ‘pressurizing’ or economic training in consumption, linked to pressurized economic growth, is seductive.  It shows up-forced acculturation to the process of consumption as the logical next stage in the development of the industrial system…”.

Far from being passive victims in an innevitable system of development, new rich consumers should to some degree be attuned to the “whole logic of differentiation, the distinguishing processes of class or caste which are fundamental to the social structure and are given free rein in ‘democratic’ society.  In short, there is a whole sociological dimension of difference, status etc., lacking here in consequence of signs and differences, a dimension no longer grounding consumption as limited in terms of ‘harmonious’ individual satisfaction (which might thus be limited in terms of the ideal norms of ‘nature’), but as an unlimited social activity.”

Source: The Consumer Society, Myths & Structures, Jean Baudrillard, 1970.

A list of the top 10 best movies of all time, that you must see before you die, according to a newspaper clipping I found lying around my flat from The Times, 9th June 2005.

1. Tokyo Story (Japan, 1953, Yasujiro Ozu)
2. La Règle du Jeu (France, 1939, Jean Renoir)
3. Lawrence of Arabia (GB, 1962, David Lean)
4. The Godfather Trilogy (US, 1972, 1974, 1990, Francis Ford Coppola)
5. The Seven Samurai (Japan, 1954, Akira Kurosawa)
6. Citizen Kane (US, 1941, Orson Welles)
7. Raging Bull (US, 1980, Martin Scorsese)
8. Vertigo (US, 1958, Alfred Hitchcock)
9. Some Like It Hot (US, 1959, Billy Wilder)
10. 8 1/2 (Italy, 1963, Frederico Fellini)

Source: Adbusters © July/August 2006

Copyright Adbusters © May/June 2006

“I write following your article on five hoodies who were thought to have mugged a man but who actually saved his life (Metro, Thu). Seeing the confusion that was caused by the fact that these young people performed a good act, I offer a couple of pointers as to the hoodies who can be trusted and those who cannot.

First, if the said hoodie has the name or motif of a band on his or her clothing, do not fear. These people are alternative and can be trusted.

However, if the hoodie displays any reference to brand names, run in terror. These hoodies are chavs and happy-slappers.  Also, look for baggy jeans, long hair and piercings in alternative young people, and baldness, red faces and hoop earrings among bad hoodies.”

Ed Blann, Birmingham

Source: Metro, 20th May 2006

“Pane-ful: Ray Pearce studies the perfect imprint left by a tawny owl which flew into his patio door at night. The impression was left on the glass by an explosion of the powder down producted by the birds[’] feathers. ‘We’ll keep it until the window cleaner comes,’ said Mr Pearce, 75, of Wigston, Leicestershire.”

Source: Metro, May 2006
Photo: Raymonds Press

“It may have something to do with their reputation for prudence, but the Scottish accent is the most trusted in the banking industry. People who have a London or Yorkshire dialect are also seen as trustworthy, a poll shows, but Mancunians, Scousers and Brummies are not.

A spokesman for the International Financial Services District in Glasgow said: ‘Customers need to feel they are dealing with competent people’.”

Source: Metro, 20th June 2006

“One of the British national daily newspapers is asking readers, “what it means to be British?”

‘Being British is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then travelling home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish kebab on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American shows on a Japanese TV.’

…And the most British thing of all? Suspicion of anything foreign.”

Source: random email

As one Apple tattoo recipient states, “I’m a Mac freak–I identify strongly with Apple and Mac computers–I got it done to convince myself I would always be true to Apple, not for religious or political reasons, but to convince myself that Macs are the way ahead”.

(more…)

A shibboleth is a kind of linguistic password: A way of speaking (a pronunciation, or the use of a particular expression) that identifies one as a member of an ‘in’ group. The purpose of a shibboleth is exclusionary as much as inclusionary: A person whose way of speaking violates a shibboleth is identified as an outsider and thereby excluded by the group. (This phenomenon is part of the “Judge a book by its cover” tendency apparently embedded in human cognition, and the use of language to distinguish social groups).

(more…)

…is usually harboured by individuals [and] is stabilised by the norm. Moreover, it is sustained by institutions:

“Society creates the institutions and organs with which it influences aesthetic value through regulation or evaluation of art works. Among those institutions are art criticism, expertise, artistic training (including art schools and institutions whose goal is the cultivation of passive contemplation), the marketing of art works and its advertising, surveys to determine the most valuable of art, art shows, museums, public libraries, competitions, prizes, academies and frequently, censorship.”

Jan Mukaŕovský

“A few educators interviewed for this article further estimate that as many as 50 percent of their own B.A. and B.F.A. graduates or certificate holders actually quit design within a year after graduation. The reasons for this vary: Certain programs provide inadequate tutelage and job counseling; or just as critical, many students are simply ill-suited to be graphic designers. Yet once accepted into a school or program, administrators are reluctant to “thin the herd.” Instead they allow natural selection to take its course, and while survival of the fittest is widely accepted in the professional jungle, for an educational institution to release unprepared grads is irresponsible to the student and the profession.”

By Steven Heller, AIGA
Click here to read the rest of the article.

July 2005
Zest Magazine

May 2005 vol 22 no 5
Health & Fitness Magazine

31 March 2005
Design Week