It’s the second time I have been treated to a little bit of space in Design Week recently. This time for a project I have been working on at Cog for clients The Cogency and CreateKX. I will be able to show more of the project closer to the launch date on 22 April, but for now this is what featured in Design Week.

It seems to have been a while since I last posted an entry…I got man-flu, then had to move house – that’s my excuse anyway. I have been busy though. Cog is thriving as always and I have been working on a new identity for a client for the last couple of months – all will be revealed soon.

In a little bit of time I conjured up, I visited the Céleste Boursier-Mougenot installation at the Barbican. A really interesting piece exploring the relationships between movement and sound. I did manage to get a quick photo before being told off (I wasn’t the only one taking photos!), which is the one shown above. Go and see it if you can.

A little while ago I wrote about a project I worked on at Cog to redesign the Arts Catalyst website. It was nice to see that it wasn’t just the client that liked the result as it got a nice little mention in Design Week…and on their website.

I’ve been reading a few Cormac McCarthy novels recently, re-released with new covers in 2010 designed by the very talented David Pearson. A great use of typography. I strongly recommend reading any you can get your hands on and I strongly recommend visiting the site of David Pearson.

As a total fad-a-holic I love the fickleness of the web and new technology and the way it moves on at a ridiculous rate of development, particularly with mobile technology. Recently, I have being doing some investigating into data matrixs (is that the plural? Matri?), semacode and QR code. Hailing from the world of print design, I have always maintained a keen interest on ways to bring the world of print and interactive closer together. So, it comes as no surprise that I almost let out a little bit of wee when I started researching semacode.

Those who know all about this are sure to be aware of the potential of semacode and it’s counterparts. Those who don’t know anything about it, allow me to try and briefly explain. Semacode is a matrix barcode, formulated to contain information like any other barcode. The exciting bit is we can formulate these barcodes to contain web addresses, mail-to addresses etc. Then all you need is a data matrix reader and you can retrieve this information. I downloaded one to my iPhone in less than a minute. I can strongly recommend “i-nigma” for the iPhone (free) – not sure what you’d use on another device, but they are out there. You then take a photo/scan the barcode and it reveals the information (and I’m talking in seconds).

The image shown in this post directs you to my website (www.jonbeedesign.com). Also, quite excitingly, because the barcode only requires a 20% contrast ratio to work you can produce them in pretty much any colour you like. To generate your data matrix barcode, visit www.invx.com.

If you’re still failing to imagine the possibilities, allow me to give you an example:
Way back in 2007, H&M used the technology on an outdoor poster campaign. A model shows off an item of clothing in the poster, you like it, you scan the barcode and it takes you to a web page (on your mobile device) to select the size, the colour and ultimately purchase the said garment. 2007 strikes me as a little bit ahead of it’s time – possibly why I didn’t hear about it then.

With the technology and mobile internet so widely available (and let’s be honest, free) the conditions are just right for the data matrix to be the next big thing. Vive la revolution!

I’m not sure I totally agree with the sentiment but this did make me chuckle this morning.

A little while back I thought train graffiti was a dying art but it now seems to be back with a vengeance, in fact there’s barely an overland or underground train I see that hasn’t had something scrawled on to it’s shell. However, with an apparent abundance of street ‘artists’ there seems to be a distinct lack of talent. I remember seeing graffiti as a kid in the 80s, and even into the 90s, and just being in awe at it’s sheer brilliance. Maybe that’s the “Curly Whirly Syndrome’ (you know, like when you were a kid and a Curly Whirly was the size of your arm – of course having nothing to do with the fact that your hands were the size of a 50 pence-piece) and standards were as bad then as they are now.

So, another little project I have been working on at Cog went live over the festive break. This time in the form of a website for The Arts Catalyst, who commission contemporary art that experimentally and critically engages with science. I must add that I merely designed the site and the very technically knowledgeable web team at Cog built the beast.

It was important that the design was a good representation of what they do, mixing art and science, so what better excuse than to build a site based around the rule of thirds – unfortunately, those pesky pixels wouldn’t allow me to be as accurate as the golden section. The end result is clean and contemporary.

The last couple of days I have been documenting my journey into work in what can only be described as quite epic sunrises. I am going to get some of the results up on my Flickr account (it’s about time I uploaded something to it!) but I thought I would give a sneak-peek in case I don’t get round to it for a while. Above are a couple of nice examples – I love the flare you get off the dirty train windows.

I got sent this today from a good friend of mine, who now lives in Hong Kong, with a nice little Xmas message – thanks Westy! It’s too good not to share. She’s got a blog too (as all us hip young kids have got), which you can visit here…but don’t forget to come back.

Tanya, if you read this I am trying to free some time before Xmas to return the favour.

You will notice I have developed a bit of a fetish for black and white illustration lately (ok, I know there’s red in there too!). Here’s another one. I have been toying with this idea for a while now, sketching out endless illustrations to get it to work. Turns out I was missing a trick and simplicity was the key. I’ve had a few requests to get it on a t-shirt; who knows, that might happen if I get enough requests.