Illustrator Kate Bingaman has spent 3 years of her life drawing everything she’s bought. A really interesting insight into the everyday objects many of us take for granted.

Is this the punctuation mark that could save those all those apologies and misunderstandings…

Its an interesting idea… I wonder if this will proliferate?

A program to calculate the perfect grid, I think it looks like a really handy tool. It’s much better explained on their website, check out the video. The poster below is also designed by the Designers Bookshop. I especially like the slighly offset gird for images, very handy.

The brixton pound was launched last Thursday at Lambeth Town hall. Designed by Rob Adderly we like the jaunty angles, colours & bold typography, I just hope Rob lives in Brixton with the whole idea of the project keeping local money in the Brixton economy. The notes feature local heros, pictured is Olive Morris, Brixton Black Women’s Group Founder. But time will tell if they really catch on. Being Brixtonians ourselves we look forward to getting hold of more of the currency in the coming months. It’s a pity theres no David Bowie, however all those featured on the note thoroughly deserve the recognition. Read more about the Brixton Pound on their blog here.

Interesting illustration style… we like the retro feel, www.taviscoburn.com

London will host competitions in 2D, 3D, and Motion Graphics for Digital Design Tournament 2009. When you’re ready to roll, enter the Call for Competitors here. Judges from all three design disciplines will be announced in the coming weeks. Basically 8 designers go head to head to answer a brief in 15 minutes, think your fast with Photoshop or Illustrator, a king of the bezier even?  This is for you. It’s on the 4th of April, not sure where but last year it was at the Truman Brewery in Brick Lane.

Back in the nineties I recall reading with interest an article in Mondo 2000 about the future of publishing and the reality of electronic paper. Well, 15 years later the reality of electronic paper is here. (Ok, the geeks out there know that Nicholas K. Sheridon from Xerox PARC was already onto it as far back as the early seventies)

As a celebration of their 75th birthday Esquire magazine have created the first electronic ink magazine cover. Ok, its not going to change the world just yet and you’d expect something a bit special in terms of graphics for such an event, but sadly they’ve let the side down on that department. It will be interesting to see if someone can ‘hack’ the unit and make it work for their own needs.

In terms of Mondo’s predictions, I’m still waiting for the union of human and machine article to become reality.

Very Nearly Almost (VNA) Magazine released it’s 7th issue recently and had a little party at Concrete Hermit to celebrate. Good magazine and well worth a read. Left page sticker by foe.

Massimo Vignelli’s 1972 New York subway map was hailed as an instant graphic design classic. With clean 45 and 90 degree angles, echoing the London underground map designed by Harry Beck. Now it has been updated by the very same designer to include the modern New York subway system. It looks fantastic to my eyes and seams a lot clearer than the present New York Subway map. But not being a new yorker means I cannot really comment on which ones the best. This style seams to work for London. The redesign was commissioned by Men’s Vogue and 500 limited edition printed signed by the designer have already sold out. Are New Yorker’s looking to find a better way home?

A large archive of work by one of the most influential graphic designers of the 20th century.