A lot of these are NOT ads, which might be a little unusual for this feature...but as W+K London’s Branding and Design Studio, our inspiration comes from a wide range of places. For me personally, I tend to find that I get most inspired by being outdoors in forests and up hills - but I wasn’t sure a picture of a hill or a tree would be all that inspiring for LBB’s readers...
Burberry - Logo
Like many, we’ve all very much been enjoying the de-sans-ification of the Burberry logo. It’s the first creative expression under new CCO Daniel Lee, and it’s great to see the brand digging back into the archives with the return of the charging knight and a beautifully crafted serif word mark. The brilliantly art directed campaign launched alongside it is a delight too - I love how it embraces the brand’s British Heritage and a very British sense of humour.
The Face Magazine x Thibaut Grevet
Sticking with fashion and humour, one of our senior designers, Jonny Isaacson, shared this with me the other day and I loved it. Why? Because it takes what we expect from an industry that generally takes itself very seriously, and eats it alive (quite literally). It’s ridiculous, and that makes it brilliant in my eyes.
CALM - 'Suicidal Doesn’t Always Look Suicidal'
Agency: cain&abelDDB
Production: adam&eveDDB
Director: Max Fisher
Post: Rascal
Editorial: Final Cut London x The Quarry
As a stark contrast, no work has moved me as much as this campaign in recent time. An ad, a press campaign and an outdoor exhibition on the South Bank in London all show the last photos and videos of those that have take their own lives - taken by their loved ones. It’s incredibly powerful, and really makes you think about how people around you could be suffering in silence.
Brian Collins
Anyone in the branding and design world is looking at Brian and the great work of his team right now. Us included. But that’s not why he’s on my top five. Our industry can be full of hate (just take a look at ‘Design Twitter') and posturing - but Brian is the opposite. He spreads joy and balanced intelligent opinion, but I’m sharing this for his kindness. A young designer in Auckland
tweets about the work of Collins, and Brian invites him for breakfast. We need more kindness like this in our industry.
BIG - 'The Lego House'
I’ve mentioned that I get more inspired walking around and gazing at stuff than I do design blogs - and architecture is a big part of that. I also love Lego (don’t we all?). In a couple of weeks I’m taking my kids to The Lego House in Billund, Denmark, and I think I’m more excited than them. Designed by architectural firm BIG, it’s constructed from 21 white bricks stacked on top of one another, and houses amazing exhibits including a 15m high tree made from more than six million bricks. I’ll report back...