Happy Birthday London Underground!

On 9 January 2013, London Underground celebrates 150 years since the first underground journey took place between Paddington and Farringdon on the Metropolitan Railway

Harry Beck, engineering draftsman with the London Underground’s Signals Office, designed the first diagrammatic tube map in 1931in his spare time.

For design-standard lovers here is a link to Transport for London.

Always aped but never bettered, here are a few examples of London Underground inspired designs.

Sam Loman created this original illustration of the inner workings of the human body using the underground map as a point of reference.

Japanese designer Yuri Suzuki has made a radio from an electronic circuit board that’s arranged to look like the London tube map.

Advertising Agency Saatchi & Saatchi, (Australia) created a London Underground map inspired ad for Sony

Disney at War.

The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Walt Disney received an early morning call from his studio manager. “Walt, the army is moving in on us,” the man said. “They came up and said that wanted to move in. I said I’d have to call you and they said ‘Call him, but we’re moving in anyway.’ ” With that, five hundred US Army troops marched into the Disney studio. Part of the force stationed in the hills around Los Angeles to protect airplane factories, they repaired equipment in the large sound stage, stored ammunition in the parking sheds, and posted guards at all the entrances. They remained at the studio - the only Hollywood facility the army took over - for eight months. Thus the Disney Studio began it’s encounter with the American government and the War.

Disney’s war effort is often overlooked and throughout the war Disney Studio’s created 400,000 feet of educational war films inc the classic Donald Duck; Der Fuehrer’s Face as well as creating over 1,200 emblems and insignia at cost and even at a loss. A remarkable feat considering the occupation of his studio the the loss of key animators who were drafted.

One day in 1942, when new Navy torpedo boats were being launched, Lieutenant E. S. Caldwell, then of the Naval Operations office in Washington, wrote a letter to Walt Disney in Hollywood. He asked Disney to design an emblem appropriate for this new fleet of “mosquito boats.” A few days later, back to the fleet came an emblem. It was a little mosquito, streaking through the water with a tar’s hat on his head and a shiny torpedo held between his many legs. The insignia was such a hit that every torpedo boat in the fleet soon had a Disney mosquito.

Skype Brand Guidelines.

imjustcreative blog is an interesting and practical blog for graphic designers.

There is an interesting section on brand guidelines, of particular interest are the  Skype Brand Identity Book and Guidelines.

It’s always enlightening and inspiring to look at company brand guidelines, particularly  for large brands such as Skype, I Love New York, FourSquare and even NASA. A great resource available in one place!

The Human Body as a Subway Map.

Sam Loman created this original illustration of the inner workings of the human body using the underground map as a point of reference.

Also check out Sam’s animals on the underground illustrations.

Typo/graphic Posters.

Typo/graphic posters is a community for inspiration and promotion of good design through the poster culture.

focusing exclusively on typographical and graphical posters, those that challenge type, colors and shapes to express a message.

Established online on in November2008 to gather and showcase our love for type and design in a medium that connects to our essence.

Teacake.

Teacake are a creative partnership specialising in brand identity, typography and editorial design.

Inspired by traditional craft values, Teacake’s work is simple, engaging,beautiful and elegant.

Amon Tobin Box Set.

This beautifully beautifully designed packaging for Amon Tobin’s limited edition boxset by Oscar & Ewan.

Comprising of 6 x 10” vinyl, 7 x CD, 2 x DVD, folded screenprinted poster, and 4 x photographic prints, are sandwiched between two thick pieces of black MDF and held together with four large screws. The physical interaction and raw industrial materials remind of the tactile sounds of Amon Tobin’s music.

Also, check out a nice little making of video by Think Tank Media who produced the box set.

Ghost Signs.

The Ghostsigns Project, is a collaborative national effort to photograph, research and archive the remaining examples of hand painted wall advertising in the UK and Ireland.

Typically, Ghostsigns are faded remains of advertising that was once painted by hand onto the brickwork of buildings. They can be found in cities, towns and villages across the country advertising many different products and services, some familiar, some less so.

Many signs have survived until today but many more have been lost due to weathering, being painted over or their host building being destroyed. The project has created a permanent record of their existence for the benefit of our own and future generations’ understanding of this important but often overlooked part of our commercial, craft and advertising history. The work of pulling this together has been co-ordinated among photographers, researchers and other volunteers via the web and is now available as an online archive hosted by the History of Advertising Trust.

Check out their website and their Flickr group. If you spot any why not photograph it and submit it to the archive!