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Design Inspiration: Four Beards One Pencil. Vol. 8

Do hazard symbols have an expiry date? Can sharks swim in glass? Can a country get a re-branding? The answer is no to one of those questions, read this edition of design inspiration to find out which one it is!

James Marriott
5 Min Read

Let’s take a look at what’s tickled our design team’s beards this month.

N.B. – the growth of facial hair is not a requirement for working here.

Missed Design Inspiration vol. 7?

1) Cool structural design of the month - Ben Young:

Ben Young transforms sheets of glass into luminous sculptures that give a glimpse into a moment in time or space.

These incredible sculptures by Ben Young transport us to little crystalline islands you want to live on and oceans that you just want to dive into.

2) System design of the month - Hololens technology:

A Fluent Design System exploration from Microsoft, using the Hololens technology. This is the future of user interfaces!

3D Slices of beautiful landscapes are referenced again (could this be a trend?) in Microsoft’s exploration of dimensionality in UI. As part of their Fluent design system, they have created some examples of how interactions could become more captivating and immersive. We hope to see these floating around our screens and better, home and workspaces soon.

https://gfycat.com/gifs/detail/dizzyflawedcanadagoose

3) Poster of the month - Black Mirror:

Celebrating our favourite series of misanthropic escapades, these animated posters by Francesco Hashitha Moorthy have got us all debating our favourite episodes and which poster represents them best.

Touches of motion progress the poster format toward a Brooker-esque future.

4) Story of the month - Huffpost's editorial design:

The article feels like the future of long-form storytelling. With bespoke interactions propelling you through the narrative and a gorgeous 8-bit aesthetic, learning about the inherent disadvantages millennials face becomes a truly engaging experience.

5) Country of the month - Russia's rebrand:

A Kandinsky inspired motif creates a dynamic new identity for Russia’s tourist board.

The distinct arrangement of basic shapes lends itself to endless customisation and motion treatments while at the same time retaining recognisability and harking back to the visual language associated with the motherland.

6) Naming platform of the month - Onym:

If you’ve ever sat in on a naming meeting, you know how hard it is to pluck out a name for a product out of thin air. It’s the absolute foundation for a brand, and the myriad connotations, the uniqueness of the word for searchability, word length and pronounceability present a minefield.

Enter Onym – your new naming toolkit. Encompasses dictionaries, subject-specific lists and glossaries of inspiration (the list of islands makes us want to launch something with the name Lofoten) as well as generators and even cautionary tales, Onym is a great one to pull out when you reach the bottom of the product-naming barrel.

7) Visual identity of the month - Formula E brand:

Electric car racing championship Formula E has unveiled a new visual identity, as it looks to appeal to a younger audience.

Last year we featured the reboot of the racing game Wipeout on the beards – this year it looks like life is mirroring art as Formula E’s new futuristic rebrand is launched.

The electric car equivalent to Formula 1, just lacks the game’s plasma cannons as its slick new identity of blocky glyphs and neon chevrons, which draws on our visual vernacular for space-age sports that Wipeout helped define.

8) Design problem of the month - 99% Invisible & Vox:

The collaboration of the youtube and podcast powerhouses continues with an awesome insight into how our symbols for radiation and biohazardous materials were invented and entered our visual vocabulary.

This episode discusses the design problem of communicating environmental hazards to a civilization that has forgotten our languages and presents some of the incredible and imaginative ways envisioned by designers.

Published on 31 January 2018, last updated on 18 June 2018