
Here’s a good read (thank you, as always, Nautilus) on why we should take words (and writing) seriously. Especially puns. Why? Because the ambiguity our language offers isn’t simply an excuse for seriously unpunny puns, but an opportunity to explore “how languages use words to capture reality and how the words we inherit as native […]

The simply perfect ‘Building blocks Signage / Wayfinding’ by Australia’s Design by Toko which now owns playful where signage is concerned: The design is “based on children’s building blocks, for the East Sydney Early Learning and Community Centre featuring superb architecture by ABA.” Can’t think of a neater way of saying everything you’d ever want […]

Prompted by an article forwarded to me today, in Autocar, where BMW were reported as speculating (as always) on the future shape (and even future of) the car dealership, I remembered the day before news about Shanghai studio Neri&Hu’s project, converting an old missile factory in Beijing into an office… …and car repair garage. The Garage […]

With the news that the original set of emoji’s are now honoured at the MoMA, the explosion of a new language of characters (beyond our humble 26 plus numbers and diacritics in English) to express what were thinking can seem a little, well, flat, sometimes. But no longer, thanks to Rejoinders, by Molly Young which […]

Spotted on FastCo’s design magazine, here’s the thing: how do you design packaging to protect its contents without spending more money on expensive protective materials? The answer is… you don’t. You make use of an ingenious camouflage: No matter who was doing the shipping, too many of our bikes arrived looking like they’d been through […]

I’ve just finished Robert Macfarlane’s ‘Landmarks’ and if you were ever lost for words, here’s the perfect antidote. The book is a paean (a song of praise or triumph, in this instance to the names we give {gave?} things) against the steady erosion of words which perfectly capture the smallest of observations (so a smeuse? […]

Spotted this collection of matchbook covers, and apart from the gift of match-based metaphors, what struck me (sorry) was how valuable this very particular media opportunity used to be. Seeing as how so few people use or need matches now, the art of the matchbook cover has surprising parallels with many of our more usual […]