It's not a bad logo.
In my opinion it was the nu-rave colours that were added to it when it was launched that made it so challenging.
I actually really like it!
The free 2012 Handover Party in The Mall was announced yesterday and this logo unveiled:
We vox-popped this logo last week and even taxi drivers positive about it!
Given that that we are almost a decade into the 21st century, why on earth are London Underground so proud that they are: "...Moving Into The 21st Century."
Shouldn't they be there already?
Camila has been a bit of a personal heroine of mine for a while now. We live close to the estates in and around Peckham where Camila and Kids Company (which she founded in 1996) do most of their youth out-reach work.
Kids Company has gone into some of the most deprived areas of London and made a genuine movement of social change. Working with what she calls "lone children", children with effectively no functioning parent, Camila has inspired and empowered a generation. It was really eye-opening talking to her about the kids that she works with. She talked about Maslows hierarchy of needs and the fact that the majority of families that she works with are functioning at the most basic Survival level - worrying about paying the rent, if the bailiffs are on their way and whether their kids will be stabbed when they play outside.
I am interested in VCCP becoming a partner to Kids Company - offering financial support, but also providing work opportunities. One of the things that Camila was talking about was the fact that these kids need to have the opportunities to engage with a wider social and working world outside of their estates. We talked about offering kids the chance to come and do work experience in VCCP. I think its a brilliant idea. When we pitched the School Food Trust we had two teenagers from a Comprehensive in Deptford working with us on the pitch, it helped to keep us creatively and strategically honest and they provided a constant stream of brilliant ideas. They were also the people that we used to do research with other kids as we felt that teenagers open up much more honestly with other teenagers. They helped us win the pitch no doubt about it.
I'd be interested to know if any other agencies do something like this either with Kids Company or other organizations like Kids Company.
I've been doing a bit of writing for The Spectator which I am really enjoying.
There is a new article of mine which is in today's edition about "The New York-ification of London" - it's all about overanxious, overachievers, fancy dress dogs and Alpha Dads.
I've uploaded a PDF, but if you live in the UK buy the magazine so that I can prove to Matt D'ancona that I can help generate revenue (or you can read it on the site...)
The Evening Standard have phoned as they wanted to do a follow up feature, but none of the Alpha Dads wanted to talk to a journalist...have a read of the article, it'll all make sense
I'm a bit of a Trusted Places newbie but I think that it is brilliant. It's a simple concept, in fact one that I've chatted about setting up with friends in the past (I think that we called the site Tip Top Top Tips) Based out of the insight that we are always looking for top tips for people who we trust, Trusted Places does exactly what it says on the tin.
Why do I like it? Well the suggestions are smart and not always expected, I think that the visual based registration is very cool and it's easy, both to upload and to search.
Then I find out that I am not alone in my admiration, the Guardian featured Trusted Friends founders Walid and Sokratis in their top 1o UK digital start-ups.
Walid and I connected through my post on the Covent Garden Night Market and he invited me to their beta testing of their new site - you can read all about it on Trusted Places Blog. Odd after being in so many usability labs suddenly having to do it myself, but enjoyable.
Interesting mix of people including Ian Forrester from Backstage at the BBC, who blogs at Cubic Garden, and a girl who sat opposite me who is a food taster for Waitrose and whose life seems to consist of eating her way along Marylebone High Street.
Well worth signing up and having an explore of TrustedPlaces.
In my opinion Covent Garden is usually a fairly hellish tourist trap.
Being a born and bred Londoner, I have tried to avoid the area for as long as I can remember. It tends to be full of annoying fire-eaters, bad mime artists, novelty gifts and hoards of Euro-tweens with bright ruck-sacks.
But...it is a beautiful area and filled with incredible history. It began as a Convent Garden in the early 13th century under the reign of King John and after the dissolution of the monasteries, became a market. In the time of Samuel Pepys not only was it known as "the larder of London," it was the most important market in the whole country.
In an attempt to move Covent Garden back to its gastronomic heritage, a foodie Night Market is running every Thursday through August. It's great. I went last week with my dad and Francois - between us we managed to eat a vast quantity of wonderful food (Cornish oysters, Ghanaian chicken stew, green chili beef, Burnt Sugar fudge and Vietnamese coffee) and purchased lots more to take home with us, including more french cheese than we could carry.
If only Covent Garden could shift full-time into a foodie heaven like this, I think that it would connect again to the needs of real Londoners not just the needs of Euro-tweens.
Those smart folks over at The Pirate Geek are behind the PR which has been fantastic, everyone I know is talking about it and the press coverage was been amazing.
I wonder if the Christian Shop is annoyed that they are next to a sexy undies shop?
And since when does an lingerie shop sell African CDs & DVDs?
When you're in Peckham I suppose.
A range odd mix of shops to say the least...
I've posted before about how much I love the South Bank (Messing About On The River). It manages to combine real Londoners with tourists in a way that few other places in the city seems to be able to.
Showing Serena, in from New York, around last Friday - cocktails in the Oxo Tower and then wandering over to dinner in Skylon, we came across these sand-builders. Happily building a sofa, complete with sand fruitbowl with real fruit, candles and beer as well as an octopus and a mermaid. In typical London fashion people were just walked past on the beach as though this was perfectly normal and happened all the time.
Are these sand builder guys regulars on the beach? Has anyone else seen them?
And then this: An incredible water sculpture - jets of water moving up and down and schoolkids obviously finishing up a day trip having a fantastic time jumping in and out of the water.
Pure happiness.
Made me feel very proud to be a Londoner
All over SE22, on every single street I walk down!!
Someone has trod in one turd too many...
Like the Fairtrade sign that I blogged about, this sign mystified me.
Our local high street in East Dulwich is fantastic - full of useful local shops, a proper cheesemonger, a fishmonger, a great organic butcher, old fashioned DIY stores, fruit and veg shops. Then along comes White Stuff, a store that no-one wants, and sets up shop. There have been huge protests against them, it's totally out of keeping with the area and no-one wants them.
The sign that they put up on the outside of their new store says "There Goes The Neighbourhood."
I agree. So obviously do the graffiti artists. So do all the people in the East Dulwich forum.
So why would they write this up outside their store?
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