Shopping for pictures

It’s not every day you go to an exhibition opening in a shopping mall. But East, at the Getty Images gallery at Westfield Stratford, is all about the neighbourhood – so it was our duty to hurl ourselves into the packed preview and have a quick shufty over a glass of bubbly. Lydia beat her private view personal best by five minutes and was out in 10. Appropriate, we feel, in an Olympic borough. We’ll be back for a proper look at the pictures when it’s nice and quiet but we’ve spotted some beauties of shopkeeping and industrial history.

Miss!

It’s educational, going back to the classroom. Activities that have become like breathing over decades of professional practice have to be broken down into understandable bits, explained and put into context. This was the calm before the ideas-wrangling at Haggerston School in Hackney, for the Ideas Foundation.

Wonderful, wonderful

Copenhagen – Lydia’s destination of choice for some New Year inspiration. Cool, yet at the same time warm it’s a city of classic 1950s and 60s design, cutting-edge architecture, nice people, knitwear and exceptional pastries.

This was taken at the excellent Design Museum Danmark. More pictures here.

Space – and Worcester sauce

The kind of work we do takes us into some interesting places. This week, through our work with SEPnet and Venture Thinking we’ve been to the House of Commons. The Parliamentary Space Committee hosted two events celebrating the launch of the Mars magazine for kids produced by the winners of the Cosmic Futures competition and the launch of the National Space Academy. It’s not every day you watch a presentation involving dry ice and Lea & Perrins sauce…

Sporting numerals

Even amid the thrill of going to one of the first test events at the Olympic Park, it’s hard to look away from a nice piece of typography. This was a design diversion from the goalball action and the new views of the Olympic venues from inside the park.

A joyous exhibition for the curious-minded

A practice that likes projects with lots to think about goes for the same in its exhibition choices. Grayson Perry’s The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman at the British Museum is a show that must have involved colossal amounts of research and yet it illuminates in a way that makes visitors smile. It’s heartening to see the people who have cast, fired, woven and moulded works of art credited alongside the artist. And full marks to the British Museum for allowing objects from its collection to be part of the thoughtful title piece, touching to anyone who has ever been, or known, a craftsman.

A typography moment

A friend and client’s son had a big birthday on 20.11.2011. Time for a typography moment.

Brain food

This being a design practice with an enquiring mind, lunching at the Wellcome Collection, we also had a look at Miracles & Charms – two linked exhibitions exploring faith, hope and chance. Infinitas Gracias: Mexican Miracle Paintings is the first major display of Mexican votive paintings outside Mexico. Well worth a look for anyone interested in narrative illustration, these are thank-you notes to the saints for prayers answered. What does this picture have to do with Mexican miracle paintings, we hear you ask? Absolutely nothing: we just liked the lighting in the café.

Wooden type

We like type. Enough not to care how nerdy it looks when we photograph it while out on a walk. This is part of Goal!, an artwork by Berlin artists Köbberling & Kaltwasser by the View Tube at the Olympic Park.

A queue with a view

A fashion moment, courtesy of our client Land Securities: the Grazia fashion show at One New Change in aid of The Prince’s Trust. Working for those looks, we queued on the roof terrace in not-entirely-clement weather – but what a view… The landmark Jean Nouvel design makes the most of the vistas.