Category Archives: History

Postcards from Paradise

Who needs the hassle of traffic jams, rammed airports, heaving ferries and bloated beaches when you can hang out at the Southbank. This glorious rolling festival has been the hit of the summer with thrilling exhibitions, ambush fountains, curious pavilions, an allotment in the sky, and an intriguing language installation that has set everyone talking [...]

Also posted in 26, Advertising, Art, Brand, Business, Campaigning, Design, Graffiti, Jargon, London, Photography, Poetry, Politics, Reading, Storytelling, Tone of voice, Travel, Writing | Leave a comment

Calisthenics for the brain

The writing process can help us to think through what we know and develop richer, more useful, more valuable, more considered interpretations of the world.

Also posted in Books, Letters, Reading, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Colourful language

I saw this lovely shop in Delft. I was rather taken with the poem they have in the window – a characterful piece of DIY brand writing.

Also posted in Art, Brand, Business, Design, Photography, Poetry, Tone of voice, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Could be foggy

The English language in America is fog-bound. This is hellish serious, more serious than who will be the next Republican nominee for the Presidency

Also posted in Jargon, Letters, Magazines, Plain English, Tone of voice, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Between the lines

Despite the Cold War editorial shadow play, much of what Encounter published seems thoughtful, considered and independent, and certainly bears reading today.

Also posted in Books, Design, Magazines, Politics, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Southbank Centre celebrates the Festival of Britain

The English language is a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up wonder and the great leveller we all have in common.

Also posted in Art, Brand, Business, Campaigning, Design, London, Photography, Poetry, Politics, Storytelling, Tone of voice, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Visual editing

A contemporary version of Swiss Design doesn’t have to mean clean lines and stark type, just the unremitting application of logic, analysis and clarity to the design process.

Also posted in Books, Copy analysis, Design, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

You’ve got mail

There are some profoundly important pieces in this collection – asides, sideswipes and ruminations that bring the often complex theories and personalities of individuals into the language of everyday life.

Also posted in Authors, Letters, Politics, Reading, Speechwriting, Tone of voice, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Finger Licking Good

The human race has recently discovered what its thumbs are for. Texters and mobile emailers are becoming indigenously thumbidextrous; the nimblest communicating complex messages with the fluency of speech.

Also posted in Art, Travel, Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments