I’ll have mine to go … 28/07/08
Today, just as any other weekday, I stopped off on my way to the studio to pick up my morning coffee. But for the first time ever, I actually looked around at everyone else with their little plastic lidded paper cups, and thought about what a fantastic piece of design this little container really was.
I’ve been a fan of this little item for quite some time, often giving them their own little personalities and leaving them to watch on from the window ledge at my desk, but had never thought about who was actually responsible for their initial concept.
Needless to say, Wikipedia has a good little write up on the origin of the paper cup, but nothing about who actually designed it, which is a shame. Interestingly, Dixie Cups were the first to brand the paper cup, and the logo for their cup was created by Saul Bass in 1969.
Coincidently (or not), I received an email this morning about Objetified, Gary Hurswits (Helvetica) forthcoming documentary feature about industrial design and the objects we surround ourselves with, and with the people who make them.
The film sounds great, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing if Gary is able to top Helvetica, though somehow, I don’t think the paper cup is going to get a mention.
NEXT WAVE 2008 13/05/08
Form the 15th until the 31st of May, the Next Wave festival will once be taking place in Melbourne. To find out whats on and where, head over the website, which was built by Barking Sparrows in conjunction with Chase & Galley, who came up with this years amazing festival identity.
ABC to rebrand 25/02/08
In a bold move, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has confirmed that they are planning to re-brand, which will see the end of the famous ’squiggle’ logo that has served them for more than 40 years. The plan is to bring the original channel in line with the two new digital networks, ABC2 and ABC3. More here.
WON magazine 06/02/08
Reclaim Magenta 04/11/07
What a sad state of affairs we must be in when a corporation believes they have the exclusive right to a colour. The German telco company T-Mobile claims to own the rights for the use of the colour magenta. They have so far filed a law suit against Compello and are urging “Slam FM” and “100% NL” to stop using the colour in their branding as well or risk facing similar action.
If, like me, this boils your blood and you would like to do something about it, there is an online petition which you can sign, a facebook group you can join and you can digg the petition. I am utterly bemused at how anyone can think they own the copyright to something as universal as a colour. I think this comment from the petition really sums up how ridiculous it really is:
” … why stop there, Coca-Cola can take Red, McDonalds can take Yellow and Blue goes to Ford. Then in pre-school they can teach children that the sky is Ford, and the sun is McDolands … “
