2011 July

London 2012

Whatever you think about the branding for the London 2012 Olympics there’s one thing for certain – it’s memorable. You may not like the emblem, but it is uniquely recognisable and therefore doing it’s job.

It’s been a talking point since the Wolff Olins launched it in 2007 and as the coundown continues we’ve gradually got used to it. I guess the test will be whether we’ll look back and think of it as a great piece of design.

I really don’t think we’ll feel the same about the 2012 mascots.

iPad, Penultimate and the AluPen

Although I completely embrace new technology, as a designer I still don’t underestimate the importance of putting pen to paper when it comes to generating ideas. I have a pile of layout pads to hand and I like to get my ideas down on them before I transfer to the computer.
That is until now…

Now I can also use an iPad and a simple app called Penultimate. It’s one of the best notebook apps I’ve seen and with the help of an AluPen, which is an oversized stylus, I can draw and make notes directly on my iPad. I can then organise the notes into notebooks and even share the content via email. Infact this website started out as a Penultimate note.