london olympic logo

Well much comment and criticism has been spewed over the recent London Olympics 2012 logo design. It seems us Londoner's are a bunch of design conscious people. Having been shown our garish and boxey design, made by Wolff Olins, we are all in arms. I totally agree that this design is a disaster. The colour is horrid. The shapes are unrecognizable (I only clicked yesterday that it is supposed to spell 2012). The text looks like Comic Sans. And in general it looks like a 12 year old has designed it. Actually, that wouldn't be a bad thing. They wanted this design to appeal to the youth market so why not get their input and design ideas. Clearly this logo has suffered a design by committee with several groups vetoing other ideas. Some have said this logo looks like the Nazi swastika. Others have said it looks like Lisa Simpson performing a sex act. What is clear is that Joe Public hates this logo. A recent showing of the animated version had to be removed as it caused epilepsy in 18 people. People are so incensed that they are even sending in their own ideas and some of them are actually really good. Do you feel strongly about this logo? Have your say at the online petition.

meditainment

This caught my eye on my last trip to the Clapham Picturehouse. It is meditation taken to the next level. You enter the cinema and enjoy this interactive experience with the rest of the audience. Using glow sticks you vote for different aspects to the guided visuals. You then sit back, relax and go on a journey. It sounds incredible. It must be amazing to be immersed in an audio visual environment and be consumed by waves of relaxation. It all starts on the 4th of January and may well be a great way to unwind after the last couple of weeks of craziness. Check it out here.

iPod the next generation

So it is holiday season and Apple look set to clean up AGAIN. I was in the London Apple Store today buying gift certificates for my cousins and lo they have an express lane for buying an iPod (and thankfully gift certificates). Seriously they have lined them up like sweets in a sweetie shop and with all those sugary colours it was difficult not to walk out with a paper bag full of goodies.

It looks likely that Apple will be updating it's line of mac products in the very near future and to be honest I think a total refresh of it's brand is wise. Now that Vista is just about released and looks like a clone of Aqua (2 releases ago) thus today the rumours started flying about a total revamp to it's interface named Illuminous . This iPod demo is something I would be very excited to see as I think it really pushes the boundaries of interface design. Now couple that with a phone and decent camera and you really are talking :)

Itsu good

I got the chance yesterday to venture out into the cold streets of London on my lunch break and try out Itsu a new chain of sushi restaurants opening up in central London. I had seen their soho branch before but never gone in. The Picadilly branch is a lot closer to work so off I trotted. What is great about this place is the way they have packaged their product. Everything looks achingly yummy. The fish really is beautifully fresh and their selection of togo sushi looks all too tempting. I grabbed the omega 3 salmon sampler which had three salmon rolls, 3 chilli salmon rolls, 3 veggie rolls and a beautiful glass noodle and herb salad. The dressing for the salad was sweet and spicy and the usual pickled ginger and wasabi went well with the sushi (although thinking about it I couldn't open the wasabi packet). The restaurant itself has a small amount of seating along bars so you can dine in if need be. Everything from the logo design to the interior decor to the staff uniform is clean and crisp which is totally the message they are trying to get across. They also sell things like boxes of noodles; packets of wasabi peas; jasmine tea; bowls of exotic fruit sliced lengthways (which really does make fruit look more tempting). On the whole I think their product is spot on. I will be back (when my budget allows....yes it is expensive). This is by far the best fast food sushi in London at the moment and the place was suitably packed.