the new office c(g)raze….?!

Over the last week or so, the Cuckoo studio has been delighting itself with “Nature Delivered”… that is, the seduction of a tasty Graze Box….

On receipt of a special promotional code, I went about choosing what healthy treats I might like to nibble on during my day, which is then delivered on whatever day I choose, to wherever I choose…Predictably, the intrigue of a funky little cardboard box arriving through the post and landing straight onto my desk proved all too enticing for my colleagues who went about their own Graze explorations….

The remains of today's boxed delights....

Not only is it quite a nice novelty daytime treat, but the company “look”, ethics and website are all pretty pleasing to the eye too.

Fancy a bit yourself?

Claim a free box by visiting Graze.com and typing in 7TZDP6Y in the promo code box. My gift to you! I know, I’m all heart……

of love, I’d say….?! Philadelphia’s Love Letter is an outdoor project created by the artist Stephen Powers. Some 50 mural paintings are positioned on walls and rooftops about the city, two thirds of which can be seen by the 160 odd thousand of commuters that use the city’s Market-Frankford elevated train line every day….

View the Love Letter website.

One way to tell the world about that special person in your life, I suppose!

Browse…some of them are pretty impressive!

It’s a common problem if you are a dog owner….

After your pooch has been scamping around a muddy field having lots of fun, how are you supposed to welcome him/her back to his/her favourite spot on the persian rug in front of the fire when he/she stinks of cow pats and looks as if he/she still has the contents of the said muddy field attached to his/her (normally glossy, sweet smelling) coat….?

Answer: Put him/her into a “Dog Wash Machine” at Pet World Joyful Honda in Tokyo, Japan…. a tear-free shampoo, rinse and blow dry in the 30-minute course, bargain price of 1,000 yen..(that’s about £7.00) ….plus the price of your air-fare, of course.

Dog-o-matic...

An interesting exhibition on Alan Fletcher is on at CUBE, Portland Street.

Alan is regarded as Britain best ever graphic designer ( by the observer) and one of the giants of 20th century design (by the guardian) and worked with Peter Saville at Pentagram.

Looks good…

The exhibition is on until 3rd April – £4 entry.

…Well, that’s how it appears anyway…

Tokyo Flash sells watches, yes that’s right, watches- something that, in it’s fundamental design, is supposed to let you know the time of day at the glance of an eye rather than you having to lug around your sundial….What’s the problem?….none, I suppose, if in the time it takes you to read the time, the time has actually changed!

Perhaps I’ve just completely and utterly missed the point and it isn’t really about being aware of your time keeping, it’s all about having a snappy little number on your wrist…I wonder if it would be quicker to get my camera/mp3/radio player/calculator/GPRS/internet ready mobile out my pocket and call the Speaking Clock….

"...At the third stroke, the time from BT will be...."

A good kern is something of an art in the graphic world. Many people believe it is a given for a designer, when in fact, it is very much a carefully honed skill, one not to be trifled with!

Courtesy of the lovely people at Veer you can test your kerning skills and stamina by clicking on the picture…(it’s not as easy as it looks, you know!)

The Sochi 2014 embelm for the Winter Olympic Games has been unveiled today

I personally prefer it to the (slight) dog dinner that is London 2012…”Simple” and “Basic” it may be and whether it’s the typographer in me shouting it’s corner or not, I really like the elegant typographic symmetry, and the coloured prominence of the 5 Olympic Rings leaves no doubt as to what exactly we’re looking at (unlike London!). The mirror of “Sochi” and “2014″ (apparantly) also reflects that Sochi is the meeting point between the sea and the mountains, but what makes it quite clever though and somewhat unique to all it’s predecessors is the inclusion of the official URL….

The blurb tells us that Sochi 2014 began the brand development process by surveying people from Russia and several countries around the world. In that, they gathered thousands of ideas and insights that have been used as building blocks for Sochi 2014’s new brand. That said, I wonder whether the Russians love their logo as much as we Brits love ours…?

As with all London 2012 Olympics creative, the newly released pictograms have received a bevy of mixed reviews…

I am in the postive camp and think they’re a refreshing change from the ‘usual’ pictograms that have seemingly become an expectation since the Munich Games of 72.

Beat me for using such a word but… the design boffins responsible for them say they’re pretty dynamic (agggghhhh!!! did I use that word?!?!?!) and I’m inclined to agree…. they’re a nice flip-side to the some-what questionable logo…

Your opinion?

Next month (November) see’s the 1st and 3rd birthdays of my 2 children. There’s only 6 days apart between the dates so it’ll be a hectic few weekends of cake, fruit shoots and general hyper-active chaos.

For the last few years I’ve been meaning to get a homemade birthday card read out on the TV  but one thing or another (ie a new child last year!) let it slip down my list of priorities.

This year though I’ve been super organised and today posted off 2 homemade birthday cards to Cbeebies (BBC) and Milkshake (Channel 5). They recommend 1 month in advance and there’s no guarantee that they’ll get shown so it’s a bit of a gamble.

Below is the artwork for Abbie’s. This ‘concept’ is based on the lovable fun that is ‘In the night garden’. As you can see, Abbie’s photo is inside the Ninky-Nonk with Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy waving from above but I guess that was obvious to you all!

Hopefully revealed in a months time on Cbeebies

Next up is Joe’s card. Sent to Channel 5′s pre-school rival to Beebies… Milkshake.

Hopefully revealed in a months time on Milkshake

‘My thinking’ behind this piece of artwork shows Joe as Fireman Sam, in the company of Peppa Pig and that ol’ favorite Thomas.

So all I have to do now is wait a month with my V+ poised to record and hopefully this will go national. If not I vow to only ever be watch ITV and Channel 4 for the rest of my life!

It seems that Cuckoo isn’t the only one to join in the tache-love…Ryan Dixon is indulging in a some tache appreciation too, albeit in ‘typographic’ way rather than in the ‘growing the real thing’ kind of way…

Just click here to see…