Category: Design

This is a link to a blog post that contains 70 different business card designs. A lot of nice looking cards, my favorites are the interactive ones like the one pictured above. [Link]

A really cool photo set of soda bottles, cans and logos dating from the 60s through to the 80s. Coca Cola launched their classic bottle awhile back but someone should tell 7up to do the same thing. Their can design pictured above from the 70s is extremely funky. [Link]

After finishing work today I decided to walk along the river past the London Eye. I actually thought I was walking back to the hotel but only after around an hour walk did I realize I was actually heading the wrong way. As I was about to turn back I noticed an interesting looking bridge in the distance. Turned out it was the Millennium Bridge which I had seen in pictures before. Its a pedestrian bridge that stretches out across the River Thames and it looks really futuristic because of its low profile. I took the picture above before I got on the bridge and the one below from the bridge.

Here are links to better pictures I found on Flickr.
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4

These are some seriously funky Reeboks designed by John Maeda for women. They go on sale on March 31st and only 100 pairs will be available. They will only be available on the RBKcustom website. [Link]

For the Eiffel Tower’s upcoming 120th Anniversary, a new extended observation tower will be added to the top floor. It seems a design competition was held a while back and the architecture group Serero won with the design above. I think it looks pretty cool, very futuristic and alien like. [Link]

Records recycled into bowls and coasters, I imagine the bowl is pretty fragile but still looks pretty awesome. [The Bowl] and [The Coasters]

My favorite advertising campaign this year and best of all, it was produced in our region.

Advertising Agency: Promoseven, Dubai, UAE
Creative Director / Copywriter: Ali Ali
Art Director: George Azmy
Illustrator/3D: Furia

Click here to view them bigger.

I found this lamp at Sultan Center and its called LivingColors by Philips. The lamp can project light in over 16 million different colors in which you can control by a color wheel on a remote control. It looks really cool but I am still trying to figure out if its worth KD64. You can try it out at Sultan Center, they have a live one on display for you to play with. More information available on the Philips website. [Link]

Here is also a YouTube video of the light in action. [YouTube]

Event: 5th Annual Exhibition of Architecture
Host: Kuwait Architectural Student Association [KASA]
Type: Exhibition of the students work
Date: March 9th to the 13th, 2008
Location: Al-Raya Complex, Sharq district, Kuwait City

Click here to view the banner in full size. [Banner]

What do they have in common? Well yesterday I was sitting with the creative director of FutureBrand who designed the Zain identity and it turns he also designed the Bvlgari logo. Now that’s pretty cool.

Update: FutureBrand are one of the leading branding agencies in the world, I think they are in the top 3 or top 5.

Every now and then a local company revamps their identity and the end result turns out to be great but that doesn’t happen too often. Most of the time the new identity turns out to be crap and it pisses me off. Salhia released a new identity last month and I have to say, I love it! Ever since I saw it I’ve been compelled to write about it but only just now did I manage to find the website with the new logo. When I first saw the logo I didn’t think it matched the atmosphere of the “Salhia Complex” but after reading their press release I realized the new logo replaces the Salhia Real Estate Company logo not the Salhia Complex logo. That makes a lot more sense since Salhia Complex is a lot warmer in reality while the new logo is colder and more corporate. Anyone know the agency behind this rebranding? [Link]

iPhone and iPod Touch wallpapers from a selection of designers and illustrators from around the world.

Poolga have the funkiest wallpapers I have seen so far, very tasteful artsy stuff. [Link]

I really want the Herman Miller Aeron chair for my office. One of my clients has them in their conference room and the chair is super comfy. I checked on Amazon and they sell the chair for KD205 ($749). The price at the local dealer? KD420.

I thought the Burgan Bank logo was bad but the new ABK logo is even worse. Where do I start? First the typography, why is the letter “a” in lowercase while “BK” in uppercase? The Arabic and English types also don’t match, I think the English should have been based on the Arabic one and both should have at least been the same weight. Currently the English type is too heavy compared to the Arabic while in the old logo they were more balanced. The new icon also looks very generic and flat compared to the old one. The new icon is simply a square box while the older one had a more interesting open shape to it. I am sure they changed the logo because they wanted something that looks more modern which has actually worked in this case but I think thats the only thing that has worked. I would have posted about this logo Friday when I first saw the billboards on the Gulf Road but I couldn’t get a hold of the new logo since up until now their website hasn’t been updated. I had to get the logo from Fonzy’s blog who has also posted about the new logo. If anyone knows the name of the branding agency behind the new logo please post it in the comments.

The new identity looks pretty good but next thing they should do is redesign their money notes since they look pretty outdated compared to the rest of Dubai. [Link]