Rationale

Being a year in industry student, I was lucky enough during placement to become aware of the importance of blogs in a designer’s everyday life. Not only for each individual to note down inspirations and day-to-day findings, but also to use other blogs to critique other’s opinions and inspire our own creations. Having set up my own blog during placement and regularly uploading posts on all aspects of life that I saw to be of interest, I found the transition from posting for fun in my spare time, to posting for a university module, incredibly easy and enjoyable.

By actively seeking new designs and inspirations I have widely increased my awareness of the design world. As a university student it is very easy to become caught up in a bubble where you tend to forget about ‘the bigger picture’. With little contact from the outside world, we begin to think that we will finish our degree as a fully-fledged designer and with a complete understanding of the subject of design. This brief allowed me to question my existing design knowledge, and has given me the confidence to criticise work in a way that I was not capable of before.

Design is purely subjective, and something that I found through blogging and commenting on others blogs was that it was often the case that people’s opinions would differ. Whilst one person found an advert for Cadbury’s to be incredibly stimulating and innovative, another would question its relevance to the product. Thus one would consider it a success, whilst the other would not. From a number of my own posts that focused on rebranding going wrong, and from the different opinions of others in specific posts, it is clear that when designing something it is not necessarily the designer’s opinion that will make the product be a success. It’s important to ask others, your target market. Using social media like blogging is a good way to give your opinions on a design, but you cannot always assume that you will be right, which is the same when creating your own designs.

Although I was aware that the purpose of this brief was to lead me to a rough topic for my independent project, I chose to start this blog with an open mind. I did not want to automatically limit myself to one subject, and therefore chose to see what my natural trail of thoughts would bring to me. My style of blogging was completely sporadic. If I saw something I liked, or visited somewhere of interest then I would post about it. Therefore my posts ranged from a sculpture I found in Norway ‘Telemegaphone”, to the new Argos Christmas advert. Whilst on placement I was also encouraged to regularly visit design sites such as Creative Review and Campaign Live, which I now check everyday out of habit, as well as some lesser-known design blogs from which I have drawn inspiration. This not only benefited me in my day-to-day design work, but also continued to increase my knowledge of the industry.

Being faced with advertising everyday, whether I choose to be or not, it was not entirely surprising that most of my posts were centred around this aspect of design. The diversity of the subject from online to television adverts has not only given me a broader awareness, but also allowed me to begin to think about what type of design I would like to focus my independent project on. From a design point of view I have always swayed towards advertising within module briefs, and having focused on this during placement I have become increasingly aware of its importance to make a brand successful. Without realising we subject ourselves to advertising in our daily lives, and that is something that I have found to very interesting. Advertising is literally everywhere. My blog posts have only strengthened my choice to use advertising within my independent project.

I was initially concerned from looking at the wide range of topics that I had shown interest in that there would be no thought pattern in my posts. However part way through the brief I became aware that I was unintentionally focusing a number of my posts on British culture. Whether this is because I am faced with it every day so it cannot be avoided, or if it is something I am genuinely interested in I was not completely sure, but I would like to believe that it is a mixture of the two. These posts have so far ranged from looking at the ‘This is England 86’ television series featuring British punks, to Cath Kidston’s quintessential English fabric prints, to the culture of Notting Hill Carnival.  The diversity of British culture is clear from these posts, traditional England mixing with a modern multicultural England, something I found particularly interesting in my posts concerning Notting Hill. Without realising it we subject ourselves to British traditions everyday, whether by having a cup of tea or by going on a country walk. From this blog I would be very interested in looking further into the revival of traditional England, or of an area concerning today’s British culture. The subject is expansive, and through further posts I hope to be able to narrow my interests down into a more precise topic.

In conclusion writing a summer blog has been an invaluable experience. Not only has it opened me up to a new way of analysing designs and questioning other’s opinions, but it has also allowed me to develop my interests into a subject that has the possibility to be used for my independent project. Although the brief is now finished I hope to continue this blog in the future to allow me to continue to broaden my design knowledge, and continue to be aware of current issues within industry.

Jack Wills

As I mentioned in a previous post, it definitely seems that old English clothing brands are coming back into fashion. Jack Wills 'the university outfitters', is an English brand for the younger generation that brings these old English styles with a modern twist. I regularly get the Jack Wills Handbook through the post, which is a high quality catalogue for the brand containing a lot of arty lifestyle imagery. The brand has a lot of critics, mainly due to the price of their clothing and the typical 'rah' that would be seen in them, however it has become a lot more commonplace in the past few years and brings with it a quintessential English lifestyle with Polo and manor houses.

I have to admit as a brand I really enjoy Jack Wills. Not just because of the clothing, it's incredibly overpriced, but in the way that it has created such a brand identity for itself and has managed to convert many critics into lovers. English is back in a big way and Jack Wills is making sure that the public know about it. The website is updated regularly and has a lifestyle section which currently holds dates of a university tour. Targeting the market perfectly I think.

Tom Gauld for Diet Coke

Some really nice illustrative work by Tom Gauld for Diet Coke. I've been looking at co-branding for my dissertation and really liked the use of it here. Diet Coke have teamed up with charity 'The Heart Truth' to create these can designs. It looks very feminine, the main audience for Diet Coke, whilst the charity also focuses on women's heart problems.

Dead Star

I really like this piece of sculpture by Michel de Broin which is made from discarded batteries. I don't think I would want it in my own house but the idea that a piece of art can be made from something that you would just normally throw away, and would never consider to be somewhat attractive is really interesting. It looks like a futuristic rock. Maybe this is what the environment will begin to look like in a few centuries time?

English Revival

Old English clothing brands are definitely being revived in todays fashion. I lost count of the number of Hunter wellington boots that I saw at Bestival over the summer, and everyone around campus is wearing Barbour jackets. I like that such brands that are the backbone of English clothing are now coming into fashion.

A year ago many people wouldn't have been seen dead in most of this clothing, mainly because it's main target market are farmers, a not so glamorous profession, however it just shows the influence that the media has on today's fashion. If it wasn't for Kate Moss wearing her Hunter wellington boots to the first festival of the summer, then I very much doubt that so many would have been sold over the past few months. Style icons influence us every day, even when we don't realise it.

The Barbour jacket - how it's meant to be worn

In fashion today

Kate Moss in her Hunter boots - practical, and now thanks to her also fashionable.

Guilty Pleasures...

As a student there are a lot of things that we're not meant to be able to afford, ie. food and such. But one thing I will always have (just) enough money to buy is Cath Kidston. I don't know what it is about her designs but I can't get enough of them. If it was just any old designer who had created the patterns I would probably hate them. They are, afterall, quite grandma/charity shop -esque. Maybe it's just following the trends of everyone else? 

D&AD Annual 2010

Designing a book that will be displaying the best advertising design of the year was always going to be hard but artist Bob & Roberta Smith has done a pretty good job. Introducing a theme of 'Everything is Made' to the book, D&AD President Brazier comments "I love that sentiment. To me, it sums up what being a creative is all about. It's not just coming up with an original idea, it's about crafting it, nurturing it, doing it justice".

The book is a brilliant piece of art in itself. It's bold, bright and exciting. Even more more I agree with Brazier's comment about having to craft design. Currently coming up to the end of a university project, we are constantly taught the importance of development and the potential in every idea. It's not just about the first good idea that pops into your head.  

Advertising doesn't sell stuff...

I was looking at the Brand Republic site and came across a blog post by a man called Dave Trott. I thought it had been written really well and was pretty much true for myself! ...

I always loved Bill Berbach’s advertising for the VW Beetle.
But I never bought one.
I loved John Webster’s Honey Monster advertising.
But I never ate Sugar Puffs.
I also loved John’s advertising the Guardian.
But I never bought it.
I loved David Abbott’s advertising for The Economist.
But I never read it.
I loved Saatchi’s advertising for The Conservatives.
But I never voted for them.
I loved Trevor Beattie’s ad for Wonderbra.
But I never wore one.
I loved Terry Lovelock’s ads for Heineken.
But I never drank it.
I liked Alex Taylor’s ads for The Army.
But I never joined it.
I like VCCP’s ads for Compare The Meerkat.
But I’ve never visited the site.
I loved BBH’s ads for Paddy Power.
But I’ve never been in their betting shops.
I liked Barbara Noakes’s ads for Dr. White’s tampons.
But I’ve never used any.
I liked Paul Arden’s ads for Silk Cut.
But I’ve never smoked them.
I liked Fallon’s Drumming Gorilla.
But I’ve never bought a bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk.
In fact there are loads of ads I love.
But often, I don’t buy the product
So where does that leave advertising?
Does that mean it doesn’t work?
Well it depends on what you think advertising’s job is.
If you think its job is to sell products to people who don’t want them then no, it doesn’t work.
If you define a great ad as making people rush out and buy something they could never imagine buying, then no, it doesn’t do that either.
So how do you define advertising?
I’ll tell you what it is to me.
It gives my client an edge over their competitor.
But that’s all it is, an edge.
And an edge can’t do the whole job on its own.
If you’re in the market for a car, maybe I can make you buy my brand.
But you’ve got to be in the market for a car in the first place.
If you’d never even consider a car, I can’t make you want one.
I can’t turn a core non-user into a core user.
Because advertising is just one of many factors involved in the process.
Factors like product quality, is it any good?
Factors like distribution, do they sell it near me?
Factors like cost, is it more expensive?
Factors like personal taste, is it available in a colour I like?
Advertising isn’t the be-all and end-all of selling something.
True, in a parity situation, advertising can give you an unfair advantage.
But advertising is just one of the factors that will influence selling.
That’s why many products sell despite bad advertising.
Because they’re good products.
Or they’re widely available.
Or they’re cheap.
Or consumers like them.
All advertising can do is influence a consumer.
But only influence.
All other things being equal, it can tip the balance.
But it can’t do the whole job on its own.
If you’ve got a good pitch for your product, advertising can get someone to listen.
It can get their attention and get your case heard.
At best it can create a ‘propensity to purchase’.
A willingness to buy, a curiosity to try.
If, it’s available where I shop.
If, the price is right.
If, it’s in my size.
If, it’s in a colour I like.
If, I like the taste.
If, I’m in the mood.
If, it’s the right time of year.
If, I’m the right age, sex, religious persuasion.
If, I have the right interest, habits, predilections.
If I tick all those boxes good advertising will work.
But most advertising doesn’t work.

Because most advertising is done by people who don’t understand that.

iHobo App

Searching through the top free apps in the App Store last night (I'm still a student - the only app I have willingly paid for is a Glee one) I came across the iHobo app, of which I downloaded. Initially finding the name of the app comical, I thought the app's contents would be the same....

iHobo is a game that takes place in real-time over 3 days. You are given a homeless man to live on your phone for 72 hours. In that time you have to be there to provide him with every need, whether it be food, money or a sleeping bag. If you're not there for him then he can turn to drugs, or even die. Annoyingly, I didn't request push notifications on this, so when my homeless man wanted something I wasn't there for him. Basically, when I checked up on him by the morning he had been mugged for his sleeping bag, didn't have any money for a hostel and had taken drugs to stop the cold. Clearly I'm not cut out for this malarkey.

The app was created by Publicis London to raise awareness of Depaul UK, a charity devoted to youth homelessness, with the aim of trying to get more young people involved in the issue. I found it to be effective in the way that it instills a sense of guilt in you when you come back to find out what's been happening with your hobo after leaving him for the night - putting the issue into an almost entertaining setting helps the user to understand what can happen when homeless, and hopefully will encourage others to think twice when they pass a real homeless person on the street.

Waitrose by Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw

I've been aware of the Waitrose advertising campaign with Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal for a while now. Using two of the countries best known chefs, particularly two from such a middle classed background, was a clever take on the Sainsburys campaign which used Jamie Oliver. Great way to personify a brand through a cook. 

Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw worked with Waitrose on the release of this campaign after the MyWaitrose website had been launched. This site focused on the closest Waitrose customers, the most active members of MyWaitrose and the most influential food bloggers. The idea was that the best advertising isn't simply just heard, its talked about. This lead the design agency to come up with a food box containing all the ingredients for Delia's first TV advert recipe and to deliver it to the most active MyWaitrose members so they could make the recipe themselves. 

The outcome was a great success and over half of the receivers wrote about it on their blogs. What had been achieved was the customers had launched the campaign for Waitrose themselves. 

Looking at more designs from Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw, I really liked the way that they had put their work under the title 'how to', such as 'how to get your customer's talking', 'how to rebrand 15 million people' and 'how to sell hope'. It really looks like they know exactly what they're doing meaning clients will be encouraged to use them.

Leeds City Museum

I have to admit that having been away from Leeds for a year has made me appreciate the city a lot more. I feel that I have become a lot more involved within university, as well as taking advantage of some of the local sites around the city. That's why during a visit into town this weekend I chose to stop by the Leeds City Museum. I particularly likes the Leeds Story gallery as I rarely think of Leeds having much history aside from being an industrial city.

The museum in Millennium Square, originally opened in 1819, but re-opened in 2008 and used to be the Mechanic's Institute. Millenium Square has recently been renovated and contains many modern bars and restaurants, so I really like the contrast between the old and new buildings within the square. When researching into it I came across a story concerning the 'Leeds Tiger', a stuffed animal within the museum. It was so loved by the locals that when the museum planned to remove it the Yorkshire Post newspaper held a campaign to keep it. What I found to be quite interesting was that it originally came to the museum as a tiger skin rug which was then combined with a number of other tiger skins to create the overall tiger effect. The museum had wanted to get rid of it as it had been stuffed with straw and had for over a century had a permanent sagginess to it, as well as the possibility of it being dangerous due to the Victorians who may have preserved it with arsenic soap.

Cadburys Chocolate Fingers

Pizza Express Test Lab

I found out about the new Pizza Express in Richmond, from a friend who lives there. The chain have opened the restaurant as a 'living lab' by testing out new opening hours (8.45am), new menus and a new service style in the form of a takeaway kiosk. The idea is that they will see what works in this restaurant, and then roll it out over the rest of the chain.

A lot of companies seem to make assumptions on what they think will and won't work so I really liked the idea of Pizza Express doing some 'real' testing with their customers. Not only are they updating the brand by bringing into light key trends, but they are also ensuring that they will work with their clientele.

Pretty Photography

Researching into my current university project to create a brand identity for a new charm jewelry range, I came across this image on another person's blog. Lace automatically reminds me of my grandma, or vintage style and the way the material is used in this image automatically makes me feel that it was taken a long time ago, but clearly wasn't.

Bless You!

Mark Brumell for Project Gesundheit.

Remind me of myself in hayfever season!

Not quite Christmas

When moving my stuff up to Leeds during the summer, I popped into Sainsburys only to be confronted with a selection of Christmas cakes. Christmas definitely is getting earlier and earlier each year....

And now the Christmas adverts have started, primarily with the new Argos advert which is for their new catalogue and features a beat boxing (to White Christmas) Bing Crosby. Very clever, however I still think it's too early to begin preparing for festivities. I do however like the way that they have taken something that many people will automatically recognise and be familiar with and have slightly changed it. I can imagine it getting a lot of criticism however for 'ruining a classic'.

MySpace - Reviving the Brand?

As in a previous post I mentioned the public reaction to the new GAP logo, and the problem being that GAP had not done enough investigation into the opinions of the audience before it was published on the website - leading to complaints.


Now another brand is looking to redesign their logo in the hope to revive itself - MySpace. One of the original social networking sites, since the introduction of Facebook it has lost popularity, and is now about to begin a brand relaunch. 


The idea of the logo is that it makes a visual change in the brand since it first came about in 2003. The new logo will replace the 'Space' with a blank line, in which user generated images can be placed as MySpace is about the user and is what you make it according to Mike Macadaan (MySpace vice president of user experience and design);

"If we really are getting into a place where you're going to be able to show off what you're into - or what it is you're trying to get famous by - the logo needs to be a vessel, an empty stage. It can't be a logo that is all about some big company that's trying to express a whole bunch of their own philosophies."

Although I like the new design, in all honesty I think that it is going to take much more than logo design to revive MySpace as a brand. The decline of it has very little to do with the logo but more with the user experience. People are taking to Facebook and other forms of social media, which although may not seem to be as visually appealing, are much easier for networking and have a much wider target audience.

René Gruau

I really liked these images created by fashion illustrator Rene Gruau, who was considered by some to be the fashion illustrator of the 20th century. An exhibition containing his work between 1946-1984 is currently on at the Major Gallery in London.

Gruau originally found fame with his work for Christian Dior (see below images), however I feel the images above seem to be more effective through their simplicity and block painted colours. Compared to fashion illustration now they are striking in their lack of detail, as well as the top image not even including any type of clothing. 

The only thing that frustrates me about images like this is that they are so simple they look like they took a matter of seconds to create (they may however have had years of thought put into them, this is just my surveillance), yet the artist is now being named one of the best fashion illustrators of the 20th century. 

Is there a minimum amount of time that must be spent on a design or a piece of art before it can be considered worth anything?

Where Children Sleep

I noticed this book displayed on the Creative Review blog a couple of months ago and thought it was a really interesting insight into the way that children around the world live in their 'personal space'. I was only recently reminded of it when I saw that it was also displayed in the Photography Annual, winning the prize for Best in Book.

The photographer James Mollison, came about with the idea when set a brief to create a project on the subject of children's rights. This led him to reflect on the role that having his own space as a child had on his childhood development.

Each room is displayed with an image of the child on a plain white background next to it - displaying each child as an equal, whilst showing each of their rooms which display their life and personality.

The cultural ideas behind the images are outstanding - from Kenya to Tokyo, Israel to Brazil. Some of the images are quite upsetting, especially the image of a 4-year-old boy who lives on the outskirts of Rome and sleeps on a mattress in a field with his family.

17-year-old 'X' who lives in Brazil

15-year-old Risa who lives in a Teahouse in Japan

4-year-old Jivan, who lives in a skyscraper in New York

Unnamed 4-year-old boy who lives on the outskirts of Rome and sleeps on the pictured mattress with his family

Gap Logo

Gap's new logo has been pulled by the company after criticism through social media. The logo had originally replaced the existing one on the website, where many people become confused as to whether it was more to encourage debate than to actually be changing. A Gap spokesperson however stated that they had wanted to make the logo more contemporary whilst still including the blue box, but after all the criticism also invited the public to give their suggestions.

It looks like the public won, as Gap have now reinstated their original logo. I can understand why a company may want to update their logo to make it more 'with the times', however the new logo is completely different to the original and a lot of the more successful changes are much more subtle. A change of typeface for example. I definitely prefer the original and as Gap is such a global brand, think that if they were to change their logo they should create much more of a media storm than just changing it on the website.

Adverts getting into the Music

Just a couple of adverts that seem to be following a similar style with music that have been aired over the past few days, IKEA and YeoValley. Definitely prefer the YeoValley milk one, mainly because the lyrics are so clever!

The IKEA Kitchen Party



Yeo Valley

This is England

I've just got round to catching up on the 'This is England 86' television series on Channel 4, and I have to admit that I'm quite disappointed with it. The original film was brilliant, portraying the times and problems facing skinheads at the time perfectly (or so I assume having not actually been born then). It was shocking, whilst also being incredibly realistic and the actors worked well within the script. I particularly liked the way that it was filmed quite 'messily' and made everything at that time look dark and dingy. It was also like a history lesson, bringing into light the wars on at the time and issues within politics.

Of course sequels are never going to be as good as the first film, however the hype that was set up around the series was a bit too much. I was almost upset that I wouldn't be in the country for the first show. It takes four hours of watching it, not only to depress you but also for you to realise that actually the actor's aren't very good at all. The best parts had been covered in the film, and by creating a new series it seems like they were just attempting to cash in on the success of the film rather than having new ideas to cover. I still like the way it's filmed, however maybe a bit too much of it is a bit too depressing in my opinion.

I did like the line 'we're not growing up, we're growing sideways'.

Eadweard Muybridge at Tate Britain

When I go back to London at Christmas I will be going to this Eadweard Muybridge exhibition at the Tate Britain. Studying art at school, Muybridge's name came up regularly as being one of the most influential photographers ever.

He created many images of animals and humans in motion, including proving that a horse can 'fly' as it lifts all four hooves off the ground at one point during running. This was something that had never been seen before. He also contributed towards the development of cinema by creating the zoopraxiscope, which was a way of projecting animated versions of his photographs as short sequences.

I love going to the Tate Britain as it's such a large space where history and art are combined, and this exhibition is a perfect example of what can be displayed. The exhibition is the first time in which his full range of art will be displayed. It's on until 16th January so a Christmas holiday visit will be needed!

Leland Stanford Jr., on his pony 'Gypsy'

'Phases of a stride by a pony while Cantering' 1879

Mr Happy for Specsavers

This advert for Specsavers made me laugh when I saw it mentioned on the Brand Republic newsletter. Specsavers really stand out to me as a company that is interested in being quite innovative in it's advertising campaigns, especially as each is based around the 'Should have gone to Specsavers'.

This new one containing the Mr Men is by far my favourite. Not only does it give most people a sense of nostalgia through the animation, but it also is incredibly humourous whilst talking about the advantages to being a Specsavers customer.

Mr Happy is not happy as his glasses have broken, and he didn't get given a second pair free, or any of the other offers that Specsavers gives their customers.

'Looks like someone should have gone to Specsavers.'

No Logo

In all honestly I had never heard of this book until about a month ago when on holiday with a fellow design student, who had 'cleverly' brought it to read by the pool for her dissertation. Maybe not the easiest read it turned out as she managed about 1 chapter and gave up due to the heat.

She did however, encourage me to buy it and try reading it for my dissertation, as what she read had been really interesting. Now, I'm about to read it I've done a bit of a google on the book and it looks like it has created quite a lot of hype in the design world. The book, first published in 2000, although mainly about branding, focuses on anti-globalization and four main chapters;

1. No Space - how the expansion of major brands such as 'Nike' are no longer just a name on a product but have begun to pop up everywhere and become almost a lifestyle.
2. No Choice - about how large brands use their size to limit the number of choices available to the public and dominate the market.
3. No Jobs - a major point of anti-globalization where many of the brands can be seen as unethical by moving their factories to other countries and using sweatshops.
4. No Logo - discusses the movements during the 1990s such as the culture jamming movement... I would go into them, however until I've read the book I have to admit I don't actually know what they are!

Reading the reviews and the general overview of the book has made me think that from a designers perspective it's going to be quite a challenging read. Multinational brands are leaders in the markets and putting them into a negative view can only be asking for criticism...but hopefully something in it will come up that I can use in my dissertation on 'co-branding'.

Cosmo on Campus

Walking around university most people keep their head downs to avoid the hundreds of leaflets, advertising events or special offers that are shoved into their faces. Being handed out today however was a new magazine by Cosmopolitan called Cosmo on Campus. Most of it is advertising, in fact more than 1/3, but I thought it was a really good way to reach the student female population who a lot of the time don't buy magazines to save money. Giving out a free magazine which can be related to a full price one is a really good form of brand recognition as people will choose to read it over another less known magazine.

Seven Days

Seven Days is Channel 4's new programme focusing on a wide, diverse group of people who all live in Notting Hill. As I mentioned in a previous post (Notting Hill Carnival) about this part of London, Notting Hill is incredibly diverse in the kinds of people that live there and this show focuses on this. From aspiring actresses, to gay hairdressers to unemployed soon-to-be teenage parents.

What stands out most about the show however, is that it's filmed the week it's broadcast, and along with a ChatNav facility on the Channel 4 website, viewers can comment on the characters and give opinions and advice on what they should do next. It makes for good watching when you see some of the characters react to bad comments, and even people coming up to talk to two of them in a cafe and ask 'is this all that you really talk about?'. 

I thought this was a really innovative way to create a show. So much of it is based on the viewer. The subject may not be to many people's tastes as to be honest the character's don't really do much but the interaction between them and the viewers comments makes the show stand out against other documentaries.

Guardian/Observer - Guess the Film.

Now I'm not the best at films. I haven't watched the Matrix, nor all of the James Bond's. I'm pretty sure I haven't even watched Edward Scissorhands.

So apologies that I was unable to guess even half of the 26 films referenced in this advert by Wieden + Kennedy for the Guardian/Observer, which promotes their film season.

The illustrations and designs behind the advert are really simple, with clear colour palettes and easy-to-the-eye graphics. The only qualm I have about it is that for an advert it takes a lot of concentration. I'm sure many people would happily go online to guess the 26 films, however even though I've seen it on television it wasn't until I happened to come across it online that I chose to look further into it. Aside from that it's an interesting piece of film, which combines some of the worlds best loved cinematography into a short snappy ad that would probably get film buffs jiggling about in their seats.

39p Hotdogs

Living quite close to an Ikea at home, my friends and I would always make trips to it just to sample the cheap Ikea restaurant with it's 39p hotdogs and £1.20 meal deals. Now however, Ikea has gone one step up in the world of food with a new book which makes baking into more of an art.

The 140 page book by Forsman and Bodenfor, makes the ingredients, and outcomes, for the 30 Swedish recipes into works of art, whilst also promoting Ikea's kitchen ranges.

When I think of Ikea as a brand, I think of minimalist, clean cut, simple and easy. This is exactly how the ingredients, and outcomes are displayed. A perfect way to illustrate a brand in such an innovative way.