TwinFish design the Foreign Office Ski Safety campaign

TwinFish were commissioned by the Lyon Consulate to design a poster campaign targeted at young British tourists warning them of the dangers of alcohol consumption at high altitude and the need to be properly insured on the slopes.
The posters, flyers and beermats will be seen in all the Alpine resorts this winter as well as in airports, train stations and on ferries.
The new FCO youth campaign will target all young travellers including those on package holidays, weekend breaks, gap year travels, adventure or activity holidays and honeymoons. Working with travel industry partners, youth organisations and other concerned bodies, the campaign aims to deliver ten key tips for safer, more enjoyable travel.
Press realeases : The Times Online
TimesOnLine
The Guardian
article 2 The Guardian
Le Dauphine Libéré
REUTERS
Le Progrès

dead fly art

Creativity is making use out of the useless.... In this case dead flies !

See more of these clever pictures at AcidCow.com

Japanese Typographic town logos

Japanese town logos — official symbols designed to communicate the identity of each municipality — come in a vast array of shapes and colors. Many of these municipal symbols incorporate typographical elements into their designs. The more complex logos encode the name of the town into a puzzle-like symbol - see more at Pink Tentacle

great packaging design

Great packaging design - click here for more examples

Life Poster

We have just launched a website for a brand new business called Life Poster. Life Poster is all about turning your digital photos into something pretty awesome that you hang on your wall. Basically, you choose your life poster and then upload your digital photos and a few days later you receive your printed life poster (and framed / mounted if you’ve opted for it) through the post. Do check it out - we think it’s great!

The website required a clean look that put the main focus on the products and made it easy for customers to make their purchase. The site runs on the WordPress CMS which enables easy updating of the site and blog.

www.lifeposter.co.uk

Work

Great quote from Gaping Void : “I work extremely hard doing what I love, mainly to ensure that I don’t have to work extremely hard doing what I hate.” http://www.gapingvoid.com

Rallye des Papillons 2009 - overview

Cars lined up for the first leg of the TSD rally in Tozeur.A royal send-off from the local primary school at the hotel !The technical assistance lorry was always on hand to distribute water and help pull those who got stuck out of the sand and mud. ( fortunately we didn’t need them !!)Passing camel trains on the desert roads - a frequent sight. Arriving in Douz after a day of scaling the big dunes at Star Wars Relieved to arrive at the camp in Timbaine in one piece. Still haven’t figured out at this point how to do the calculations and still hang on to the roadbook, chronometer and scan the horizen for hidden check points. The car lit up at night using Nanolight technology for DeltaLight and MarvalWay An evening run up the dunes for a view of the camp and a welcome moment of solitude. The battery was leaking acid ! Thankfully Joel noticed and carried out the necessary repairs before we set off for Ksar Ghilene. More bumpy terrain would have reeked havoc.A beautiful sunset over the fortress at Ksar Ghislene. 150km south of Douz into the heart of the Sahara. The camp at Tsar Ghislane - no creature comforts just the sand and make shift tents to protect us from the bitterly cold night.Christine and Mrs Mohammed Gammoudi (Nadia’s mother) at the camp in Tsar GhislaneDiscussing the whereabouts of one missing car over dinner at the camp. Thankfully the army found them in good shape after a 6 hour search.Early morning stillness in the desert. A magical moment.Our car stuck in sand just after arrival at the final check point. So we laughed and let the men tow us out.A welcome cup of sweet green tea after a bumpy ride and complicated navigation over dunes and gravel tracks. Last photo of the Tea Time Girls and our Toyota Landcruiser before joining the convoy for a 500km drive north to Hammamet.Winners of the 2009 rally receiving their trophy at the Gala dinner in Hammamet - Nathalie Chamard and Jean-Marc Chennivesse (also from Lyon).

T-shirts for the TEA TIME girl team

Carol Neiley a styliste and owner of New York based Basic French Ltd has designed an exclusive range of t-shirts for the Rallye des Papillons.  The logo ‘Tea Time Girls’ is also featured on the car and the helmets ...
TEE-SHIRTS pour l’équipe des TEA TIME GIRLS
La styliste Carol Nelley, propriétaire de Basic French LTD, basé à New York, a créé une ligne exclusive de T-shirts destinés au rallye des papillons. Le logo “TEA TIME GIRLS” apparaît également sur les voitures et sur les casques…

Preparing for the Rallye des Papillons 2009

Rachel participates in the Rallye des Papillons in Tunisia from the 14th to the 21st March. Teaming up with Christine Renaudin (pictured below) owner and driver of the Toyota landcruiser, they will be covering 1800km of desert terrain and in the spirit of the rally, taking time on route to distribute clothes, books and school materials to the local villages. 
Our thanks go to our generous sponsors : Delta Light France, MW Marval Way, Design Bois, CGPME-Rhône Alpes, Imprimerie de l’Alphabet, La Mouette, Purpl’& Corporate Coaching, Studio Solo, Dugas Grands Formats, Chanavat Paysagistes, RMF, Domaine de Rotisson, La Galerie et L’Heure du Thé. The covering of the car with our sponsors’ logos was organised by Dugas Grands Formats in Villeurbanne.

Much Ado about Nothing – 3rd millennium style

2009. The last year of the first decade of the 21st century. Otherwise known as “the Noughties”. Other alternatives include “the zeros”, the “double 0s” or just “the 2000s”. But somehow, they don’t have the same ring. That ring, that certain something is a fine example of how flexible – and witty – the English language can be. Take the name of a number: nought, give it a twist and you come up with a name for the decade that’s appropriate, catchy and fun.

“Noughties” is, of course, also a pun on the word “naughty” – malicious and cruel when extreme, sexy when playful, childish when caught out… All pretty plausible descriptions of our current era if you look back over the last 9 years.
So, if the Sixties were Swinging and the Twenties were Roaring, what’s the betting that our soon-to-be-over decade will one day be coined the Naughty Noughties?

A thought which leads naturally on to yet more praise for the flexibility and inventiveness of the English language. A glance at the Robert Dictionary of French Synonyms and Nuances reveals only three alternatives for the word “zéro” (zero, nought) as a number and five for the word “rien” (nothing). The Oxford Thesaurus of the English Language, on the other hand, comes up with over twenty in both cases. These range from the simple nil to zilch, via bubkis, nix, nowt, zip or even sweet f.a. and diddly squat – not to mention naught as well as nought (bringing us back to the Naughty Noughties).

In fact, naught is an archaic form, probably originating in Scotland, and now more widely used in North America, whereas nought is the common modern form in Britain (does that make the Americans naughtier than the Brits?). The immortal playwright quoted in the title of this piece would probably have been more familiar with the word “cipher”, whereas cricket fans hope their team won’t come up with a “duck” – yes, out for a duck means a batsman has been taken out of play by the opposing side without having scored a single run. And is there another language in the world where sport and romance combine, only to produce absolutely nothing? Surely you’ve heard the umpire at Wimbledon or Flushing Meadows call “40-love”!

But as 2009 gets underway, the Noughties are nearly over. Just eleven months of noughtiness, naughtiness, but hopefully not nothingness, to go. And what will come next? Some are predicting the Teenies – will they be Tiny, Torrid, Terrible? It’s true, in the late Noughties, economic growth is lower than zero, but let’s be optimistic. Let’s hope the Teenies will be Tremendous!

Sara Green, W5 Editorial

British-born and Lyon-based, Sara Green doesn’t usually write about nothing. In fact, she writes some pretty serious - and sometimes award-winning - copy for international business clients, through her company W5 Editorial. W5 is France’s only corporate communications agency specialising in English language writing for business. For more information, visit http://www.w5editorial.com.

Rien à dire… ou presque

Il est vrai, comme le dit si justement ma complice anglophile, que la langue de Shakespeare (elle n’aime en rien cette formule) recèle un foisonnement de synonymes… même quand il ne s’agit de rien.
Comment peut-on espérer se mesurer en rien à des prouesses vernaculaires tel le très monty-pythonien diddly squat, les frères zaméricains zip et zilch ou le yiddishiste bubkiss ? Notre argotique parisianisme “que dalle” fait pâle figure linguistique face à cette avalanche d’analogues. Et puis, surtout, comment espérer gagner le moindre tie-break quand on a contre soi le très tennistique “40-love” ?

Hélas, il n’y a effectivement rien à dire ou, comme le disais le grand Raymond Devos dans son célèbre sketch, “lorsque je n’ai rien à dire, je veux qu’on le sache !”
Mais, le français aurait-il une arme cachée pour faire face à cette abondance de néant ? Le bon vieux Petit Robert nous livre non moins d’une page entière de variations pour dire des choses avec rien et nous rappelle ainsi que le génie de la langue française provient davantage de la diversité de ses formulations que de l’envergure de son vocabulaire.

Quelle autre langue peut se targuer de faire apparaître rien dans un dictionnaire en premier sens comme étant “quelque chose, dans un contexte qui n’est pas affirmatif.” Exemple : “il fut incapable de rien dire”. Donc, rien en français, c’est souvent plus que rien et au moins mieux que rien du tout. Cela dit, c’est moins que rien de rien, surtout quand on ne regrette rien.
En cherchant sans rien forcer, on tombe sur moins que rien et on découvre que ce n’est toujours pas rien. Merci pour rien. De rien ! Mais, rien au monde ne nous oblige de s’arrêter là. On n’y comprendrait rien. Allons donc un rien plus loin. En rajoutant un second rien, on obtient deux fois rien, qui est déjà pas mal, tandis que trois fois rien, même si ce n’est toujours que peu, c’est déjà quelque chose. Ce qui prouve au moins que rien n’est pas rien puisque trois fois rien fait plus que rien et que rien tout seul, ce n’est pas rien.

Il y a rien à faire, le rien se répète mais ne se ressemble pas. Rien que ça ! Mais, après toutes ces élucubrations, on peut se demander si on est bon en rien ou plutôt bon à rien ou encore doit-on se résigner à dire qu’on ne comprend toujours rien à rien ? Non, je m’insurge, il n’en est rien ! Rien que d’y penser, je me dis que je pourrais reprendre un petit rien, sans rien forcer. Mais, cessons de nous fatiguer pour rien. Puisque, sans rien vous cacher, mon objectif, cher lecteur, est de vous entendre dire qu’il n’y a rien à dire, ce qui me permettrait de conclure que c’est parfait !

Quand il ne fait pas rien, Michel Celemenski rédige des textes en français et en anglais pour des entreprises, avec son associée Sara Green de W5 Editorial. Si vous ne savez rien sur eux, allez faire un tour sur http://www.W5editorial.com. Mais, rien ne vous y oblige…

Moss Mats

This has to be the craziest product launch I’ve seen so far.
A new bathmat made of moss is kept alive by the water that drips from your body as you dry.

The mat contains a total of 70 pieces of ball, island and forest moss measuring 2.4in (6cm) each in diameter.
It feels soft underfoot and does not smell when it gets damp.
Each piece of moss is cut into a foam frame, which prevents the moss from spreading or growing out of control.
Its designer, Nguyen La Chanh, from Switzerland, says the mat is very relaxing and needs little care.
She said: “I think this mat would appeal people who miss a corner of nature in their appartment - perhaps if they live in an urban environment, far from parks and nature areas.
Miss Nguyen is looking for financial backing so she can mass produce the mat for less than the £220 it cost her to make.

Field of Light

Excellent lighting designer Bruce Munro will present his Field of Light installation at the Eden Project in Cornwall, England, this winter.The installation, consisting of 6,000 acrylic tubes containing optical fibres, is inspired by the way the desert flowers after a rainstorm.
For more details see de zeen design magazine

What is graphic design then?

Entry for the ‘What is Graphic Design?’ competition run by the ever so talented Veerle.

Rather than going for the obvious approach of nice image and some airy fairy copy about graphic design, I went for the more tongue in cheek approach of this.

The winners were graphically very good, but some a little too predictable!

funky lighting

Love this lighting which allows you to create changing forms and patterns on walls and ceilings. See shado website for more of their great design ideas.

There’s a famous seaside place called Blackpool

That’s noted for fresh air and fun, And Mr. and Mrs. Ramsbottom, Went there with young Albert, their son.

They didn’t think much to the Ocean: The waves, they was fiddlin’ and small,

There was no wrecks… until now

Festival of light - Lyon 2007

A giant Newton’s pendulum which gradually changes colour as the balls touch one another in simulated kinetic rhythm can be found in the centre of Lyon’s Presque île for the light festival on the 8th and 9th December.

On the banks of the Rhône, hundreds of light cubes in changing phosphorescent shades decorate the terraces of Guillotière.

A impressive snow shaker dome has appeared over the famous statue of Louis XIV in Bellecour sporting the new slogan ONLY LYON.

Voitures du futur

Une competition de création automobile pour les marques italiennes Fiat, Alfa Romeo, et Lancia a donné lieu à des lignes futuristes et très esthétiques.
Cliquer sur Design competition pour plus d’images.

angelodesigns

Voici une manière raffinée de présenter les cartes postales de cet été, à condition de les selectionner, les écrire et se les envoyer soi-même !

visitez le site de Angelo Designs

The newest addition

It’s been a long wait, but he’s finally here: Ethan Roy James Barry came into the world on Monday 16th July at 01.43am, weighing in at 7lbs 15oz. Have to say that I’m really proud of Abbie and the way she coped with the whole birth - an experience that will last a lifetime.

So, what’s in a name? Ethan originates from the Hebrew Eythan and means constant, firm, strong and long lived. The name actually appears in the Bible as 4 minor characters - the most significant of which was Ethan the Ezrarite whose wisdom was surpassed only by Solomon.

This first week has passed in a flash and reminds me to make sure I make the most of every moment (though changing nappies at 2am it’s hard to think like that!).

So, there we go. Short and sweet with quite big feet.

Solution to IE6’s ‘Click to activate Flash’ problem. A slightly geeky post.

I am not one to really talk about techy stuff (even though that is what I spend a lot of my day thinking about), but thought this might be helpful to others out there who have been wrestling with this issue.

The issue in question occurs in Internet Explorer (surprise!) when a flash movie embedded into a web page would only play once the user clicked on the movie to activate it. This is down to a security update that Microsoft released - initially as an optional update.

The workaround involves abandoning the traditional method of embedding Flash movies in a web page ( object or embed for example) and instead, using Javascript to bring the Flash movie in. A very useful guide to a number of workarounds can be found on Adobe’s website.

Flash used to be unaffected by the differences in the way different browsers displayed a web page. It’s a shame that, yet again, Internet Explorer is causing a few headaches.

Loopy Lighting

Love this wild mass of flimsy tubing that gives out incandescent light. Visit the 2 Jane website

Do Ré Mi

For all budding musicians, these glasses are a must. Tap out your favourite tunes over a glass of milk...
You can purchase them from this site

Why Fair Trade Begins at Home

Recently we created a promotional brochure for Farm Crisis Network. Entitled ‘Why Fair Trade Begins at Home’, it highlights the importance of supporting your local farmers. We often think of Fair Trade as a cause to ensure suppliers in developing countries receive a fair price for their produce - this is a good thing, but we can easily overlook farmers in the UK who also face hardship.

One way you can help farmers in the UK is to shop with care. This means not shopping at Tesco’s for starters. Try a local farmers market or buy your veg using a market garden box scheme. Yes, it will cost a little more, but you WILL notice the difference in taste and you will be helping to ensure that food suppliers receive a fair price.

After all Fair Trade begins at home.

ding

J’adore ce produit ! Pour quelques idées de plus visitez ce site de design produit allemand

New York New York … so good they named it twice

A week in New york City is just what the doctor ordered to recharge the creative batteries. This town is buzzing with life, excitement and new trends.

The Cooper Hewitt Museum on current design trends across all areas of modern living is small but stimulating, and definately worth a visit if you’re on the Museum Mile. Particularly at the moment as it is host to the National Design Trienniel. See their site for details : design museum NYC

The Apple Store on 5th Ave is a must for all Mac junkies. Funny how time stops when you descend into the the circular glass elevator… And how your purse seems lighter when you emerge X hours later.

Artistic expression is everywhere.... From a memorial wall of ceramic tiles for lives lost in 9/11

To a monument to the art of recycling in East village !

A TwinFish Retrospective

Thought it would be good to share a little about the design of our site and to show how the design has progressed (in our eyes at least!!) over the last couple of years.

The original version of the site was launched not long after TwinFish Design was born as a company. Technically it was a mix of css, html and tables. Using Dreamweaver and Fireworks to put the site together was (mostly) a pain-free process. The navigation design was chosen to reflect the squares that feature in the full version of our logo. The navigation also made use of Fireworks menu feature.

Due to the Bi-lingual nature of TwinFish the original site was split into two version - english and french. This meant coding the site up twice - made easier using Dreamweaver templates.

The ‘fish’ also made their debut on the original version. Not particularly grand by any means, a simple flash animation added a certain ‘quirkiness’ that has been tamed a little now.

The first site was static - ie. any updates had to be done through Dreamweaver and then uploaded to the server via FTP. This made the portfolio a little time consuming to update - so much so that we didn’t.

Version 2 of TwinFish Design was a much bolder effort. Featuring full CSS / XHTML code running on a CMS (Textpattern), the site served our needs much better. The trickiest feature at the time was the graded navigation bar! Again, the site was Bi-lingual and was split over two sites. It was at this point that we realised how unproductive this actually was in practice.

Version 2 also featured a blog or journal. This was managed as a sub-site, but without the language split. It’s at this time we discovered comment spam…

At this point we were using CSS and XHTML in client sites and could see the benefits. Putting a list of what we wanted out of version 3 of the site was a long, but productive process. Near the top of the list was a flexible and easy to update portfolio section. Now, with version 3 of the site (the one you are looking at!) the whole site is dynamic - running on the ever so fantastic Expression Engine. Also, by combining english and french means that we only have to update one version of the site!

As for the ‘fish’, well we’ll see…

Lyon’s Light festival (Fête de la Lumière)

Another fabulous show of lights in Lyon this year for the traditional festival on the 8th December. Despite driving rain and a bitter north wind, thousands of people took to the streets to watch, hear and even smell (!) the show. This year at the place des Celestins there was perfume in the air as the lights played off the fountains to eerie music. Website for info on the Lyon Light festival

Christmas comes late in France

It’s the 5th December and I’ve just been asked to produce a Christmas card for a company which has to be ready for dispatch on the ......2nd January.

This is quite normal. In fact Christmas is more of a “fête” or celebration spreading to the new year and French companies will send out their greetings cards until the 30th January.

So no panic; there’s still plenty of time ! Here are a couple that have just been finished.