‘Dinner ladies’ doesn’t have the most glamorous connotations in England – depending on your experience at school, it likely conjures up memories of scoops of greying, tepid mash-adjacent slop unceremoniously plopped onto a plate; something to do with turkey dinosaurs; a troop of formidable but visibly jaded people responsible for making every school smell like on-the-turn cottage pie from around...
LES Tigre – not to be confused with seminal electroclash/riot grrrl combo Le Tigre – is a cocktail lounge in Manhattan’s Lower East Side area, which opened at the end of last year and apparently combines ‘sophistication and refinement in drink, sound and ambiance’ with an entrance that boasts ‘an original graffiti-worn door’. So far, so hip, amirite? It all...
There has always been something borderline magical about the fields of beauty, makeup and skincare – a hint of esoteric or mystical knowledge. When it comes to visual storytelling, this association offers plenty of rich inspiration, along with established style signifiers that are easy to follow. Nods to old-school apothecaries abound in the likes of Typology Paris and Le Labo,...
It’s a moot point now that the last few years have seen an explosion in all things vegan and ‘plant-based’ (a term arguably used lightly, when you consider the ingredients in many no-meat, no-dairy, no-animal product alternatives). There’s vegan cheese that actually tastes nice, there’s mushroom and hemp ‘magic mince’, even vegan tuna. I’m writing this while eating a vegan...
From à la mode Lick paint to gramable Aokka coffee, everything comes in a tin these days. The rise of metal packaging solutions in food and beverages, healthcare, household and consumer is expected to accelerate by 3.1% year-on-year from 2021 to 2030, driven by the demand for sustainable alternatives to plastic and lightweight substitutes for glass. Aesthetically speaking, the tin...
In case you’ve missed it, low and no-alcohol drinks are a thing. With over 20% of adults in the UK claiming to be teetotal, abstinence is cool: Brewdog is now Punk AF (that’s ‘alcohol free’), Thomson & Scott’s Noughty is (fairly) nice, and Seedlip is sexy. This sobriety revolution is driven, in part, by the mindfully sceptical Gen Z, turned...
With the rise in the popularity of tattoos and the lack of credible long-term care products, Leeds-based design studio Robot Food formulated, branded and packaged Electric Ink, a tattoo care range for the mainstream market. The range includes a serum that enhances colour, an oil that delivers a freshly-inked look, and a daily moisturiser. Each feature distinctive packaging design that draws on...
Sardine is a restaurant, located on London’s Micawber Street, with a simple menu of rustic, Southern French and Mediterranean-inspired dishes cooked over a wood fire. It features an interior design of bent wood chairs, open kitchen, steel and light wood table tops and a brand identity created by Here Design. This adds a touch of a mediterranean colour to interior through menus and tile detail, while also linking other assets such...
Little Italy is a restaurant, gelateria and pizzeria located in the Jordanian capital of Amman. The restaurant features a distinctive, period and European-inspired interior of stained wood, glossy white tiles, concrete floor, vintage glass light shades, wood panelling and exposed I beams, brought together with a modern balance and lovely sense of form and contrast. This continues through to the restaurant’s brand identity, developed by London based Here Design, in...
Sauvage is a Brooklyn-based cafe and cocktail bar from Joshua Boissy and Krystof Zizka, the duo behind Maison Premiere. It is described as being reflective of the staple establishments of New York and Paris, and has a menu of French-accented American dishes. This is also reflected throughout its interior design, a mix of mosaic flooring, brass rimmed circular tables, bent wood furniture,...
Gretas is a café set within the Haymarket, a hotel located at the heart of Stockholm, Sweden. The building was formerly home to a famous department store that dates back to the early 20th century and was the place where actress Greta Garbo was discovered while working at one of the concessions. 25AH, the Scandinavian graphic design studio behind Haymarket’s own brand identity, as well as Paul’s, a restaurant also situated...
Mercht is a UK based custom merchandise business, created by the team at Awesome Merchandise, that offers its customers a risk-free way to design, sell and ship customised t-shirts and wearable accessories, through an online showcase and print on demand service. It is a platform where, if designs sell well, both parties profit, with neither loosing if they do not. Leeds based graphic design...