We Made This

Wired

Wired magazine has always been one of our favourite reads, so we were dead glad when they launched their new UK edition last month. As usual, the magazine's a mix of ideas, technology, culture and business (as it says on the cover), but now with a bit more of a British twist, both in terms of content and contributors.

We grabbed their rather fine subscription offer (£2 per issue), which means that the latest issue arrived by post. And just how brilliant is it that ripping open the mailer (above) revealed the Superman logo, just as if Clark Kent were tearing open his shirt? Clever stuff.

House of Propellers

Just downstairs from We Made This, the good folks at Represent have just opened up their new gallery, House of Propellers, and have kicked things off with a tasty little show by illustrator Rupert Meats from Rude.

The show riffs on travel and location, with a particular London twist, and features a mix of originals and rather fine limited edition screenprints.

House of Propellers should be a space to watch, with upcoming shows from James Graham, Will Broome and Clare Shillard. Check out the HOP Facebook page for more information.

Let the right one in

Crikey. Chilling much?

We finally managed to check out Let the Right One In this weekend, and it's a corker of a movie.

Directed by Tomas Alfredson, it's an adaptation of the book of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist (who also wrote the screenplay for the film); and tells the story of a bullied 12-year-old boy who falls in love with a vampire.

It's a disturbing blend of horror, euro art-house, romance and family drama; and felt utterly unique. There are a couple of dud moments where the limited budget shows through (CGI cats, we're looking at you right now), but apart from that it's quite brilliant. The cinematography, by Hoyte van Hoytema, is particularly tasty; and the two leads are perfectly cast.

It's being marketed as a standard horror flick, with a genre poster that looks like half a dozen japanese horror remakes. 

It's far better than that - go check it out. Here's the trailer to whet your appetite.

UPDATE

After Michael pointed out in the comments section that the European posters were better, we tracked down an incredibly comprehensive selection of the movie's international posters over at MoviePosterDB.com. Really interesting to see how the source imagery is adapted for the different markets - clockwise from top left they're: Spain, UK, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. Still, be nice to see an old-school Polish illustrated version...

Ephemera Society Bazaar

Heck, where does the time go? The next Ephemera Society Bazaar is nearly upon us.

Just trundle along to the Park Inn on Southampton Row on Sunday 19 April, between 11 and 4, to find all manner of paper based goodness.

Check out Alistair's Ephemera Flickr set to see the type of thing you can lay your mits on.

Monumental

This is a tasty little number. It's a screengrab of a daily timelapse, shot from the top of London's recently re-opened Monument.

The Monument View is an "ambient responsive outdoor installation" by Chris Meigh-Andrews, which shoots a continuous timelapse birds-eye view of the city. You can use the Explore button on the top right to search through a back-catalogue of the sequences.

Brilliant.

Ravensbourne College of Blank and Blank

Times are tough, and it seems like design students are getting increasingly resourceful in response.

After the Design Auction held recently by the graphics kids at Lincoln School of Art & Design, the gang over at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication are getting busy with their own lot of lots, at their Blank Canvas silent auction.

They've sent out a selection of brik-a-brak to a who's who of the design world (Glaser, Barnbrook, Carson, GTF, Garland and a host of others), asking them to customise them as they see fit. They're auctioning off the resulting pieces at the Vibe Bar on Brick Lane on 30 April.

A portion of the proceeds will be going to the Whitechapel Gallery's Artist in Residence scheme too, which is kinda groovy.

Studio 1

If you're a regular reader of this blog (we're assured they exist), you may have noticed that lately we've not been posting as frequently as usual. 

This is partly just the ebb and flow of our work / blog / life balance, but it's also because we've been rather busy moving studios. 

We've said goodbye to Brixton, and have moved north and east to Clerkenwell, sharing studio space with the rather wonderful Fitzroy & Finn and David Pearson.

You can find us at Studio 1, Albion Buildings, 1 Back Hill, London EC1R 5HT. We've just about finished unpacking, arguing with BT, painting the walls and generally settling in; so normal service should resume soon.

Eighth Annual Friends of St Bride Library Conference

  

The ever wonderful Friends of St Bride Library Conference is nearly upon us again, and this year's theme is Revival. Speakers include the sultry David Pearson, the lovely Eleanor Crow from Faber & Faber, the luscious Kath and Julia from Johnson Banks, as well as the double-double-consonanted Ben Terrett and Russell Davies, and a host of others.

The conference is on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 April, and at the time of writing there are a hundred or so tickets left. You can check out the full programme here.

FaceOut Books

There are a plethora of sites out there that showcase lovely bits of graphic design, and an increasing number of those are devoted to the world of cover design. (See our earlier post.)

FaceOut Books, from the Oregon design studio The Design Works Group, takes this a step further though, and looks in detail at the process of creating those covers. They post regularly each Monday, and have quickly created a real treasure trove of delights.

Really great and worth taking some time out to have a look through.

⌘X & ⌘V

The latest Cut & Paste Digital Design Tournament hits London at the beginning of April, with a selection of pixel wizards doing their thing down at the Coronet in Elephant & Castle. No news yet on who's competing or judging, but it should be a grand night. Tickets from Amiando.