Three weeks ago I was wandering around the streets of Manhattan in awe at the scale and grandeur of everything. Before I went I was told how The City of New York was the ‘greatest city in the world’ and it did not disappoint.
I’d wanted to visit since I was a child, having been fascinated by the promise of tall buildings, a Concorde flight (at the time), the Statue of Liberty and my discovery of the ‘I Love New York t-shirt logo’ as I called it then.
Although many may be familiar with the history behind New York’s main icons such as the Empire State building and the Statue of Liberty, very few know the story behind the I Love New York logo.
Allow me to enlighten you:
The logo (pictured on my t-shirt above) was designed in 1977 by graphic designer Milton Glaser originally as part of a marketing campaign for New York State, commissioned by William S. Doyle. Glaser created the logo for free, expecting it to only last the few months of the short campaign, but the logo fast became an icon and a direct association with New York City.
The logo continues to be used by the Official New York State Tourism board and can be found on numerous merchandise, much of which remains unofficial.
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, Glaser modified the logo as a sign of respect to read ‘I Love New York More Than Ever’, placing a black mark on the lower left of the heart to symbolise the approximate location of World Trade Center site on Manhattan Island.
So if you ever go to New York, make sure you grab a piece of history on a t-shirt and show that you ? New York too.
Last night I had the pleasure of going to see the opera ‘Monkey: Journey to the West’. The opera is a stage adaptation of the 16th Century Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’, by Wu Cheng’en.
The project was conceived and created by the Chinese actor and director Chen Shi-zheng, together with the British musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett. This is the first piece of work between Albarn and Hewlett, since they collaborated together on Gorillaz, the most successful virtual band ever created.
The opera combines the music composed by Albarn, animation, set and costumes designed by Hewlett and the circus style performances of the talented cast. It brings together many different styles – pop and classical, Western and Eastern.
The opera was performed at ‘Monkey’s World’, a specially designed theatre, built just outside the O2. The arena features a restaurant, bar and even a Chinese foot massage parlour, giving people the opportunity to “start the journey” before the performance has even begun.
You may also remember the characters from the opera being used in an animation sequence titled ‘Journey to the East’ which was used by the BBC to introduce coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing.
It was a dazzling spectacle, with brilliant music, breathtaking imagery and daring performances.
To learn more about the opera and get a synopsis of the story, visit: www.monkeyjourneytothewest.com
Below is a news article about the recent Chopsticks Club 15th Anniversary Celebration.
As you can see it is in Chinese, so if you are unable to read it, use Google translate for a rough translation, or even better find someone to translate it for you – enjoy!
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Today sees the beginning of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing and with it comes the 27th logo* to represent a city’s hosting of the Games.
From the iconic logos of Mexico 68 (designed by Lance Wyman) and Munich 1972 (designed by Otl Aicher) to the controversial logo for the upcoming London 2012 games (designed by Wolff Olins), the Olympics has inspired designers throughout the world to produce some intriguing and brilliant logo designs.
The ‘Unofficial 2008 Beijing Olympics Blog’ has collated an extensive list of all the Olympic logos from 1896 through to the logo for London’s hosting of the Olympics in 2012 (logos for the Winter Games are omitted but can be found here). It is interesting to see which logos have the longevity of a true timeless classic and which logos immediately feel outdated.
Of course the true Olympic logo that will never feel outdated is the logo of the five coloured interlocking rings designed in the 1920s by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. With each ring representing one of the five continents and at least one of the five colours appearing in every national flag, it has to be one of the greatest logos ever created and a true example of simplicity and excellence in design.
The opening ceremony begins at 13:00 (BST) and the Games run until 24th August.
[*The three missing logos belong to the 1916, 1940 and 1944 Games which were all cancelled because of war.]
As part of ‘The Good Design Plan’, a new three-year national strategy for design by the UK Design Council, leading figures in the design industry offer their definition of good design in a new video.
One of the contributors is Nick Leon, Director of Design London and a client of TheFrameworks. The video (included above) highlights the five objectives for the council:
- Business and public service innovation
- Public and community engagement
- Design skills development
- Design policy and promotion
- Organisational and operational efficiency.
