7・21・15 (GRC)

On Tuesday, the class explored the Victoria & Albert Hall before we attended the special Alexander McQueen exhibition, which was entirely incredible. I read every single word in the entire exhibit; I didn't want to leave. But back on topic, one of the exhibits was What is Luxury? in which you found many unparalleled pieces, that could only be described as fitting of the height of luxury. Nonetheless, as elegant and put together as the exhibit was, I didn't love the sign when associated with luxury. It was much too distracting. I looked at it and thought of anything but luxury. Yes, it makes you think since you have to skip all around to read the question and the exhibit was asking you to think about what luxury is, but regardless, I was not a fan.

 

Most unfortunately, I regretfully have to announce that I could not peruse the Shoe exhibition, because I'm a poor college student living in Kensington even though I was dying to. Nonetheless, I fell in love with the name of the exhibit and the sign they chose to present it in. The neon is so stark and eye-catching, especially when in red, pink, and then white. I love how "shoes" and "pain" are in art deco in contrast with the beautiful script of "pleasure." Additionally the fading of red into white is really attractive. It's even more effective because pink ("pleasure") is closer to red ("shoes") and then "pain" is in white, making it stand out further, despite being the same typeface as "shoes." Really wish I could have seen how they translated this throughout the rest of the exhibition...

7・18・15 (GRC)

 Last weekend, our group of seven made the trek from London to beautiful Amsterdam. It only took us 11 hours on an overnight bus there and back, but we made it and I'm so glad we did. Amsterdam is entirely gorgeous. We, of course, visited the very iconic I amsterdam sign and I have to say, I pictured it being so much larger, even though that means no one would ever get a decent picture of it (which they do). I love the repetition of the type from the sign, to the bench, and the tiled sphere (seen left). I also really like the simplicity of the sans-serif font they chose. However, I'm not sure, but wouldn't a san-serif capital "i" look like a larger lowercase "l" and not have the apparent serifs? I found that bizarre, yet at the same time, I don't think it would look good without the serifs. Maybe that's just my untrained eye, but I prefer it this way.








Before we boarded our exhaustingly long bus ride back, we, naturally, had to get lattes when we stumbled across this very adorable all black and white coffee shop. Admittedly somewhat overpriced, the lattes were delicious and were adorned with the simplest, hand-stamped, sans-serif, all lowercase label. This transferred over to their free stickers as well. I love the juxtaposition of such a clean design being hand-stamped leaving variety and imperfections like those seen in the cup on the right. 

7・11・15 (GRC)

Merry Pedaller Ale Tasting Bike Tour

This past Saturday a group of seven Cal Poly kids and two FIE kids from Arizona participated in an ale tasting bike tour. It was more biking (a whopping ten bumpy miles) than beer, but I got to learn so much about different kinds of beers and the history of ale in London. We learned and tasted Fuller's full selection of beers at one of their pubs and saw their Brewery Shop. Fuller's being that it owns many different pubs and six different beers has to be especially certain that they have a strong consistency throughout. Every beer, pub, and shop that is a part of Fuller's has their emblem on it. It consists of "Fuller's" in Oldstyle (it's been around for a long while), below that "Chiswick" where it started, and above that "Griffin Brewery" (both in sans serif) and a griffin. Although their beers have different colors and typefaces on them, they are all adorned with this sign at the top middle of the main sticker on the bottle. I love their repetition and how recognizable they've become because of it.

Signage (GRC)

While walking to find dinner after our trip to the Design Museum, Nicole and I stumbled across this cute, little bar facing the River Thames. It had lawn chairs and chaise lounges to emulate being on beach or by the pool. We couldn't resist but to take pictures, of course. The neon colors of the sign led so nicely to the theme of being somewhere tropical. I especially love the fact that the wall is entirely covered in different succulents, again making you feel less like you're in the middle of the city. It's just so natural and inviting against all the brick and cement of the surrounding buildings. Their consistency in making you forget where you are is a brilliant design.

Before our Brick Lane tour with John Makey, our group wondered around Soho looking for somewhere to eat when I saw this little cafe. I desperately wanted to eat there, just because of how beautifully designed their store front and signage are. The contrast of the three type faces is so appealing to the eye, as is the combination of the yellow and aqua paint they chose. I love how in MOJO, it looks like drops of water are pushed together to make the letters. Since it's a juice bar, I find it especially clever. I also really lie how the main sign has the full name, etc, but the window simply has the M and Soho. We unfortunately didn't get to eat there, but I'm quite tempted to go back now...