Yellow Car Design: The Blog » London

Misfits – the show not the band

ycd — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:59:00 +0000

IFC started showing Season 1 of Misfits, a science-fiction drama TV series produced in the UK about a group of young offenders (some of which are typical English chavs who remind us of people we used to know in England…aww memories!) forced to work in a community service programme. They get supernatural powers after a weird electrical storm. It’s not super recent – channel E4 started airing the first season in November 2009 – but it’s new for us and we thought we’d just do a quick blog post about the show’s intro. Not only do we like the song used (Echoes by The Rapture), but we love the way they treated the typography and images to give them that a “rough” and “underground” look. The animation sequence is well done; we particularly love the bit where the cat jumps (of course!). It really pictures well the whole atmosphere of the show: dramatic but funny and absurd at the same time. The first time we saw it we were reminded of the cool picture below; we took it in an underpass somewhere in London a few years ago. We think it suits perfectly the Misfits and could have easily been used as part of their branding! If only the series producers had known; they could have contacted us and bought the right to the picture… E4 would have been a nice client to add to our portfolio… Anyways, watch it (IFC Canada – Wednesday @ 11 PM) and enjoy!

London 2012 Olympic Mascots

ycd — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:52:26 +0000

London 2012 Mascots

As regular readers may already know (if there are any left that is, sorry for the lack of updates we have been busy in a good way but it has meant this has had to take a back seat for a little while) here at Yellow Car design we’re big fans of Olympic Design and to tie in with the recent Vancouver 2010 Winter games we made a post giving our views on all the Winter Olympic mascots there has been (although Vicky’s favourite were the Vancouver mascots I have a soft spot for the fruity cowboy/girl bears from Calgary 88 ).

Yesterday the mascots were revealed for the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics to be held in London and they’re unsurprisingly (after the debacle that is the 2012 logo) rubbish! They look like a cross between Earthworm Jim and the secondary characters in 90′s kids show Reboot which after been melded together have then being polished into an inch of their life.

Earthworm Jim

Apparently they were designed with the help of focus groups made up of children and families which to me is a major no no. All focus groups do is basically make everything flat and beige, anything that stands out or has character is taken away as somebody in the group won’t like it leaving you with a finished article that while has function has very little form. Could you imagine David Carson changing his early style because somebody who viewed say a copy of Raygun had trouble reading it? Of course not and had he we would have been robbed of one of the great Graphic Design innovators of the last 20 years and while not really such a big deal the 2012 Summer Olympics not only have a shitty logo but now also have two metal slugs to go with it, thanks focus groups you rock!

Okay deep breaths, reading through the BBC article linked above there is the odd good thing about them: while at first the names seem pretty lame the reasons for them are quite good and the linking back to the history of the Olympics and how Britain played a part in the modern version is a nice touch and maybe gives kids a reason to study the Olympics in more detail as well as showing Britain in a good light. Also trying to bring other parts of the country into the Olympics by showing how they helped in the creation is a good idea although I’m sure if that’s how you’re going to be included they’d rather not be.

But then they ruin the good will by telling us that the mascots wear the Olympic rings as friendship bracelets which is just tacky… If these Olympics had been when I was young the mascots would have ended up looking like Mr T then having Olympic themed pogs, stickers, Game Boys or whatever else was flavour of the month in the school yard at the time. The same children who gave these ideas have probably already moved onto many different things leaving the mascots out-dated before they Olympics have even taken place.

They’re also going to have their own Facebook and Twitter pages, sign up kids to read riveting updates such as ‘Sport is enjoyable’, ‘ The Olympics are good’, ‘We’re having acceptable levels of fun!’. I’m sure there also going to be an iPhone app on the way as well as whatever else is considered to be at the forefront of Internet technology. While I understand the reason for using these methods to connect I really just hate the way everything has to feature them in some way. If you ever watch the CBC Toronto news and the iDesk with Mike Wise 90% of the content is just whatever Apple, Google, Twitter and Facebook are doing that day. It’s like the easiest and most pointless job in the world but for some reason gets a major slot on the news where it just basically gives free advertising. Even though they have all innovated in the way we communicate and use the internet, at the end of the day (and maybe this is just me) it’s all rubbish and I would rather have a proper catch up with somebody I haven’t seen in years rather than have them ‘like’ my update on what I ate for dinner…

This is going on way too long, the 2012 Olympic Mascots are awful and sit proudly alongside the terrible logo if you want to see for yourself in more detail please click this link.

Obey vs The Labour Party

ycd — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 02:03:34 +0000

Shepard Fairey

Way before Shepard Fairey became famous for having designed the Obama “HOPE” poster, we went to one of his exhibition at Stolenspace Gallery, a very cool place in London (http://www.stolenspace.com). We fell in love with the picture above (it was gigantic; the size of a wall so very impressive) and decided that we wanted it as artwork in the bedroom. We got a print of it, framed it and put it on the wall. Unfortunately, when we moved from England to Canada we were unable to take it with us so it’s still there, along with *sigh* our design books, portfolios and other stuff *sigh*.

That was back in 2007, so I had almost forgot about my love for that print until I came across the 2010 Manifesto for the Labour Party (UK). Even though it’s probably unintended, it does look a bit like a weak imitation of the Obey poster… Except that instead of looking at a polluted city the couple on the manifesto are looking at an nuclear explosion at the sun — but seriously; let’s be realistic — when did the UK become such a sunny destination???

2010 Manifesto

In the first image, the tag line These sunsets are to die for! actually makes sense with the picture in the way that yes, pollution will eventually kill you, no matter how lovely it makes the sky look.

On the second one they’re apparently staring into the future or as the manifesto says A future fair for all. I don’t really see how a blinding sunrise signifies a ‘A future fair for all’… To me it’s saying that they’re staring into the abyss, an uncertain future so keep those closest to you close as what’s coming might not be good times. This is basically the last thing you want to hear from a party trying to get your vote and really poor work by the design team as they have (to me at least) created an image that does the opposite of what it’s supposed to… One thing is for sure: the second image won’t make it as artwork for the bedroom for sure!

Vick @ Yellow Car Design

Underground Map Design

ycd — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:57:22 +0000

Underground Map

Anyone who’s been to London is familiar with this map. Overwhelming at first – it does illustrate 11 lines and 270 stations – it doesn’t take too long to get accustomed and know how to use it, even for lost tourists. For this, we have to be thankful to Harry Beck, designer of the tube map in 1933. The story behind the map design is very interesting; especially the fact that poor Harry was paid only the equivalent of £5 for his work (his boss didn’t think that the map would be a success so didn’t bother paying him much…£5 is a real bargain for a design that is still the basis of the map used nowadays)!

We came across this version of the map today. It is a representation of how the tube lines exactly are:

Geographical Map

Comparing the two maps confirms Beck’s opinion that “If you’re going underground, why do you need to bother about geography?”. This is great thinking that combines functionality, accuracy and excellent design; no wonder if inspired most other major cities’ subway system maps.

Its electrical diagram shape might have inspired (and still be inspiring) many map designers, still its simplicity and “prettyness,” on a design point of view and according to me, is rarely matched. Take for example the Toronto subway map. It’s not a bad design, but I am not a big fan of mixing the vintage look of the logo to the modern design of the map. A choice should be made to either one of the style. If choosing the modern approach, then I would suggest to whoever revamp the logo to choose a font that makes a bit more sense with the word ‘rocket’…

Toronto's Rocket

Going back to the Tube, while doing a bit of research for this blog I found a website that gives fascinating facts you never knew about the London Underground and thought I’d list a few here, even though most are not design-related:

-The most popular route for tourists is Leicester Square to Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line. It is quicker to walk this distance than travel on the tube.

-The oldest tube line in the world is the Metropolitan line. It opened on the 10th January 1863.

-More of the London Underground is open than in a tunnel (why don’t they change the name to Topground?).

-The peak hour for tube suicides is 11am — People who commit suicide by throwing themselves under tube are called “one-unders”. In New York they are known as “track pizza” (does anyone know what they’re called here, in Toronto?).

-Edward Johnston designed the font for the London Underground in 1916 (and it is now available for sale to use as a commercial fonthere).

-The air in the underground is on average 10°C hotter than the air on the surface.

-Green grapes cause more accidents on the London Underground than banana skins (?!?).

-Only one person was ever born in a tube carriage and her name is Thelma Ursula Beatrice Eleanor – check out her initials. She was born in 1924 on a Bakerloo line train at Elephant & Castle.

-Yellow Car Design once spent a whole night sitting on the floor of a station waiting for their train home because the tube had encountered some difficulties (a one-under, maybe?).

This last fact might have inspired the topic of this blog post. Indeed, beside dodgy people and drunk chavs there wasn’t much to look at at the station during that one night… No wonder the map on the wall in front of us left such an impression on me!

vicky

Alessi – Kitchenware too pretty to use!

ycd — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:21:26 +0000

Mr. & Mrs. Chin - Alessi Brook Street (London)

Alessi is an Italian kitchenware/houseware company that we first discovered while browsing among the million of nicely designed kitchen items sold at John Lewis (yes, browsing through the kitchenware aisles of big department stores is one of our cherished pastimes). We fell in love with their ‘plastic’ stuff, such as the Mr & Mrs Chin shakers that are proudly displayed on our counter top. This particular line was created in collaboration with the National Palace Museum of Taiwan and, as you would expect, they are way too nice to be used for condiments!

The company is divided into three brands: the fun and playful Alessi (includes the Chin line), the ‘good design at affordable price’ diAlessi and finally the posh, refined and very expensive Officina Alessi. Talking about posh stuff, we once went into the Alessi flagship store in London… That was an interesting experience! We felt very… hum… poor! So, if like us you’re from a ‘more modest’ background you might prefer to order their products on Amazon.

To conclude, here is a picture of what our cats would really like to buy from Alessi:

Tigrito - Cat Bowl

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Alessi – Trop beaux pour être utilisés!

Alessi est une compagnie italienne se spécialisant dans le design d’accessoires de cuisine et de décoration. Nous adorons particulièrement leur collection “plastique” dont fait partie la salière et poivrière de Mr Chin présentées ci-haut. Cette collection a été créée en collaboration avec le Musée du Palais National de Taiwan, et comme vous vous en doutez sûrement, c’est beaucoup trop beau pour être utilisé!

La companie se divise en trois marques: Alessi, la joyeuse et colorée; diAlessi, le design à bon prix; et Officina Alessi, sophistiquée et très dispendieuse. Parlant de choses sophistiquées et dispendieuses, nous sommes allés une fois au magasin Alessi à Londres…Ce fut une expérience intéressante: nous ne nous étions jamais sentis si… pauvres!

En conclusion, voici ce que nos chatons aiment vraiment chez Alessi:

Tigrito - Cat Bowl