This summer, Instagram was flooded with the hashtag 'PrettyLittleLondon'. Sun-kissed pastel colour homes, blooming roses, wisterias and picture postcard perfection.
How about bad graffiti? A growing underbelly of anger, chaos, rebellion presenting itself in tacky and provocative sticker plastered walls. And our favourite subject Donald Trump.
A Gritty Little London.
D&AD has always been one of those awards that I have admired since my early advertising days more than a decade ago. So this year I got the opportunity to attend the show to see some amazing works, talks and sessions. The setting itself was brilliant, the historic Old Truman Brewery London that made for the perfect large and open space for the displays and workshops. Here are my favourites from the poster/ packaging design winners.
I love this series 'Study Opposite Styles' So striking at first glance, and all those details.
By Dentsu Inc. for Tokai Polytechnic College.
This ad set is for Soy Sauce. I liked the simplicity in this idea and execution. The best graphic design still seem to be coming out of Japan.
By Ogilvy and Mather Japan for Sagawa Shoyu Inc.
This set is titled 'Eating Kabuki with your fingers' So brilliant- the colours and composition.
By Dentsu for Sochiku Minami-za
A set of Water Bottle Packaging H2O for G20 by Jung Won Matt.
Some clever book covers.
Funny and interactive. I love this simple piece for Ikea
This was not part of the awards. But an initiative by Mother London, an advertising agency in Shoreditch. I hear a lot of people around me say that they never faced or saw any gender discrimination happening in their workplaces. Worse, some even claim that because of all the debate and attention, women are given special preference over men.
I can tell you that I didn't get a raise in my work place for 3 years. Every time I asked for it, I was told '3 months' or '6 months' or that the books are not looking good. This in spite of me getting in a big account for the agency in 2016, and single handedly in charge of the creative department. Being a woman from an ethnic minority is a double whammy. I wonder if a man in my position would have gone three years without a penny raise.
There is a silver lining. This motivated me to start my own business, and trust my own art to earn me an income. End of the day, the only person you can depend on is yourself. Man or woman.
The Bank Holiday. An hour long wait. Pouring rain. None of that seemed to dampen the spirits of Londoners who queued up for Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs exhibit of the actual sets used in the film. If god is in the details, I saw seventeen of them, meticulously crafted by hand.
The film was made with a team of 670 people, 240 sets and 1,097 puppets creating the 144,000 still frames. Among the 17 sets on display are the Taiko drummers who open the film, Professor Watanabe’s Laboratory, Megasaki City, several Trash island scenes and Spots’ landing.
In this brilliant exhibition at the Store X, at the Strand, they have also created a life size set of the Noodle bar where you can enjoy a hot bowl of ramen with sake. Perfect antidote to the cold and rain. I haven't seen the film yet, but definitely going to appreciate it a lot more after seeing the effort gone into making these sets.
