Katie Kirk's retro selection

Katie Kirk's retro style.

Paper wow

Absolutely gorgeous style produced by Robert Ryan. His brand is extremely recognisable and his techniques truly unique. All of his works are cut into paper then scanned or photographed to produce an individual way of presenting work. I LOVE the shop design and would happily cover my whole house in his fascinating and adorable pieces.

Election graphics

This is a stunning design for "THE OXFORD STUDENT" Newspaper. It depicts the big parties in a three horse race... not only is the concept admirable but the execution is lovely. The mixture of Illustration photography and 3d-effects makes a really stunning and simple cover.

MacDonalds drawing

Tom Pearson did this illustration for a MacDonalds design competition. I love how intricate the design is. He hoped that when produced as a wall vinyl it would visually appeal to children in the restaurant. I think it would be, it would keep me entertained for a while!

Pottery goes pop

I love this gorgeous illustration that Wood McGrath created for Pottery Goes Pop. It was designed for an exhibition case in the Design Museum London. The display celebrates the work and life of Susan Williams-Ellis, who co-created Portmerrion Pottery. All the elements of the drawing are drawn from the earthenware pottery on display and the colour pallete also reflects the colours of the raw pottery. The element which ties the design together is the geometric custom typeface.

Book adverts on TV (bad ones)

It isn't often that you see book adverts on TV. Unless it's a collection of books from WHSmith or Jordan's new autobiography. So when an advert for James Patterson's book collection appeared at primetime tonight this made me think how strange it is and notice the considerable gap in the market.

When I looked into Patterson I found out that he used to be in advertising, which explained a lot. Unsurprisingly, he was the chairman of America's largest advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson. I found that he ferociously scrutinises the designs of his book jackets and pours money into his marketing campaigns out his own pocket.

So why aren't book adverts rife on TV? In 1992, Patterson's own publisher refused to fund a TV advert which shows how adverse the industry is to TV advertising. As an advertising genius he can clearly see the benefit of advertising to a mass medium which the book industry does not. He went on to fund his own advert and the book was so successful that it has now been transformed into two films starring Morgan Freeman.

But even with all the experience Patterson's campaign is a collection of pretty awful Americanised adverts. They make me cringe....

Find more videos like this on The James Patterson Community

Cartoon Particles

Rainbowmonkey

I love this self-motivated project from The Rainbowmonkey. He has taken classic cartoon characters and created each element as a separate object. I couldn't guess what any of them are, (even though they are now really obvious) can you?

New Arena in Leeds

Due to great public demand, Leeds is getting a new Arena. The Leeds Arena will have one of the most striking and unique Arena designs in Europe. Using an ever-changing kaleidoscope of coloured lights, the honeycomb design will act as a commanding gateway to Leeds city centre and come ‘alive’ at night.

Computer arts

Cover design for Computer Arts by Emily Alston. On the top of the image it has a lovely UV gloss of the criss-cross pattern on bank notes. Emily's alter ego is Emily Forget. She has a unique playful screen-print style to her work which makes it instantly recognisable.

It's nice that: Tell us a good fact

Emilyforgot: An elephant is the only mammal that can’t jump.

Book design

Beautifully illustrated book design by Amy Rodchester. It is simple, eye-catching and ties in neatly with the storyline of the book.

e-ink... the future?

Is this the future of advertising? If it is then will we get to a time when all adverts/magazines/direct mailing using this technology won't stand out from the crowd anymore? This was released in 2008 so until the technology becomes cheaper and more readily available I think not. Audiences don't seem so impressed by it either.

Moving image in print...

http://www.esquire.com/the-side/video/e-ink-cover-video