For my last university project, I had to design a chillax space for the MTV staff that works at the headquarters building in Camden Town, London. I begun with researching MTV. I also made a survey and then asked people who work in offices to fill in. I used the data I collected to design the space, to fit everybody's needs and to be a relaxing area to spend the break. 

The space (before) 

Outside of the headquarters building.

As I wanted the space to look alive, but not over coloured, I decided to go for a fun but organic feel, I chose soft colours and soft shapes inspired by things I saw at the borough market.

The nests on the right, inspired by ivy, were designed to provide a sense of privacy to the employees without making them claustrophobic. The seating area on the left can be used by the employees to have a cup of coffee or read a book. The bean bags sit on top of a felt rug that recalls grass.

The skylight on the roof allows enough light during daytime, and when it gets darker the bar glows along with the lamps by the wall and the lamp bulbs hanging on top of the nests. The customers can order something to eat or drink at the bar, behind which there is a living wall to makes the space look more lively.

Below are some pages from the specification document.

I fell in love with Tim Burton watching Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood. But after a few let downs (Alice In Wonderland was the worst of them all) and an impressive number of unoriginal remakes featuring the three Ds (Danny Elfman, Johnny Depp and Dark stuff), I started to lose interest. Tim Burton's strong style was slowly fading into monotony. When I watch the trailer of Frankenweenie, I saw something different, something that was well hidden in Alice in Wonderland; so I decided to give it a shot.

Frankenweenie tells the story of Victor, a lonely boy that loses his dog and best friend Sparky in a car accident. Not being able to accept his loss, Victor figures out a way to bring him back to life. The film is a remake of Tim Burton's homonymous short film from 1984. It has only a few changes that make the moral of the story a little more complex and complete.

The design of the film, similar to most of Tim Burton's works, is very original and meticulous, with impressive results. While it had a sort of “home made” feel to it, the movements of the characters and their expressions were incredibly natural. It was decided to make the film black and white to match the story, the design of the characters and their personality. It also adds a slight Pleasantville feel to it, as the film touches the theme of ignorance and prejudice. The characters have the distinctive Tim Burton-style dark look. It doesn't necessarily match the overall mood of the movie, as some parts are quite humorous, but it works very well in the context nevertheless.

Luckily I got to see the Frankenweenie's exhibition at the BFI a few days before it was over. The exhibition included original drawings by Tim Burton and models from the set. I also got a creepy picture of me looking into Victor's classroom from the door. The staff was very informative, and they told me a few interesting facts about the making of the film. I knew that making a stop motion film is a matter of great patience and precision, but I only realise what amount of each is needed when I visited the exhibition. It takes an animator a whole week to produce 5.8 minutes of animation, and it took the same amount of time to make Victor's baseball costume.

Getting to see the exhibition and learning more about the making of the film, really helped me to appreciate Tim Burton's efforts, and made me really glad I decided to give it a chance. Frankenweenie gives a lesson about friendship in such an accomplished way that any audience can learn from it. Victor was only able to bring back Sparky because he was doing it for the right reason, love: that is something I hope to see again in Tim Burton's future films.

During foundation year I tried different printing techniques: solar plate, wood cut, lino cut and screen printing. I was really fascinated by all of them, but I never fully understood the real potential behind each of them. After more than a year since the last time I even got close to the printing studio, I decided to give screen printing another try. I wanted a logo with a hand made look to it, so I decided to try something different from photoshop. I also recently watched a very cool documentary about Helvetica (the title is Helvetica), so I thought of trying to make my own font. I wanted it to be a mix between "kind" and "design" so I mixed straight lines and organic lines. It turned out a little bit "arabic" like my friend said, but I am ok with it after all. I designed it with illustrator first, and then I tried different colour combinations.

I know I could have probably achieved something really close to the final design if I made it with just photoshop and illustrator, but I really wanted to try something different. So I brought the design to the printing studio and printed it on different kinds of paper.

I always get something wrong, so that's why there is some noise on top of it, but I left it there because I kind of like it. Then I scanned it and played with it a little on photoshop.

didn't like this one

and this was the final! Im ok with it, but I would like to screen print again and figure out how to do it right. Next thing I would like to try again is woodcut.

During the London Design Festival, I had the pleasure to visit Roca's gallery, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, in west London. Roca is a leading global bathroom brand, and for the 2012 London Design Festival, it organised an architectural biking tour that linked Earl's Court to the gallery.

Throughout the tour, the guide made a few stops and talked about the past and the close future of some of London's renowned architecture. Among them: Lots Road power station and Brompton cemetery. The tour was informative and the guide was very kind and helpful.

Once we reached the destination, we had the chance to walk around the gallery and ask questions about its design. Before entering, the facade introduced us to the organic theme of the design and walking in, I felt like a drop of water in its natural environment. The space represents perfectly the meaning of the brand in an innovative and modern way. The architecture takes inspiration by the movement of water, creating an organic space where Roca's designs are exhibited. The gallery also includes a meeting area.

A guide showed us around and told us the “behind the scenes” of the design. Constructing the space was tricky, as each piece that make up the ceiling and the walls is unique. They all have a specific spot allocated, creating a big 3D jigsaw and a striking effect. The floor is made out of resin and cement, and the ceramic tiles that cover some parts of the gallery, also have unique shapes that contribute at making the effect stronger. The different areas of the gallery are connected by big black and white water drops on the ceiling and on the walls.

Everything in the space aims at creating a stream, in such way that the lack of indication and labelling, is filled by the natural sense of orientation given by the flow of the curves. The final intent of the design was to give Roca's products an environment that would explain the visitors its visual meaning, without the use of words. This was achieved beautifully as the products merge with the architecture, and this allows them to expand their design through the whole gallery.  

While combing through London Design Festival's events page, I found out about the Prism tour at the V&A. The event was described in such way that once I was done reading about it, I knew less than when I began. It apparently had something to do with London. I booked a ticket on the website and the day after I was there 30 minutes early, charged with curiosity.

Prism is an installation commissioned and sponsored by champagne brand Veuve Clicquot to architect Keiichi Matsuda. It is located in an area of the V&A that was opened to the public for the first time for this event. To get to it, tours are scheduled every 20 minutes or so, and the visitors are led up to a narrow, to say the least, spiral staircase. Then, you find yourself in a round room, on top of the ceramics section of the museum.

The installation, hanging in the middle, has the shape of an irregular prism, and each face has a different colourful pattern. The prism works as London's hub: it receives real time data from all over the city, and then the data is decoded into animated patterns that react to it accordingly. The data includes how many barclays bikes are available in certain location, and how much energy is being used at 10 Downing street. The V&A was chosen as the location for the hub as it is London's centre of culture and design. The function of the installation is to connect the contemporary world of data and information to art, craft and design.

I believe the figure in the picture above is Keiichi.

The best part of the tour, was being able to speak to Keiichi Matsuda, the mastermind responsible for the project. This was really helpful to understand the idea behind each choice better, as well as how the final piece was achieved. Keiichi is always looking for new challenges and innovative ideas, this is why he was excited to work on this project. He explained me that 15 minds are behind the designs of the patterns: each of them researched London and the V&A to come up with a figure that relates well to the chosen data. Once the patterns are put together they create a patchwork-like composition. Japanese paper is used for the faces of the prism, as its rough finish, along with the patchwork effect, gives the installation a “craft” look, that links back to the museum. Five projectors inside the prism project the patterns onto the faces.

To finish the tour, the visitors are led to a terrace located high up, on top of the building, which allows a beautiful 360 degrees view over London. It felt like reading a book, and then watching the film based on it. Passing from a virtual view of London, to the real one. The tour was like a jigsaw: everything works perfectly together once you have all the pieces. I was also really lucky to have Keiichi giving hints on where to place each of them. And at the end of it, I really did feel like it was completed.  

While walking towards the V&A, something curious caught my attention in front of South Kensington station: treelogy. 

The installation, by Bartlett School of Architecture, is made out of three (tree) pieces, each carrying a different tale from London's past. The trees (which in british culture represent the celebration of an achievement) were installed for the Olympics. 

The patterns covering all four sides of each piace and growing out of the top like branches, represent London and UK's greatest landmarks.

Looking at it I have the feeling that the installation could have been better executed; yet I do really like the idea of reminding londoners and tourists, of London's secret and forgotten history. The patterns and the idea behind using the shape of a tree also work really well. As a Londoner, going home from South Kensington station, you will love your city a little more and you will be a little more curious about it. As a tourist, going back to your country, you will feel a little more "Londoner".