street art of London

Walking around London I've seen a lot of street art. I have yet to see any in Kensington, because I'm sure if anyone dared to touch a Kensington wall it would be covered up by the next morning. I have seen more street art in Shoreditch and other areas closer towards East London.

I saw this stencil street art on our Dalston Type Safari. My first thought was "OMG ITS BANKSY" but someone quickly assured me it was not. How they knew immediately, I'm not sure, but it looks very much like his style. I love the simplicity of it with just the black on white.

I found this spray painting of two religious figures in Shoreditch after walking through the Colombia Flower Market. In contrast to the stencil art above, this street art is very detailed, using a few colors, shading, and intricate detail. I thought it was really cool and wondered how hard it is to create a piece of work like that. Would they trace the image on the wall first? How long did it take? Also, was the bottom left unfinished intentionally or did the artist realize it was taking too long and give up?

This last wall of street art was nearby Brick Lane in Shoreditch also. It looks like a number of different artists might have contributed something different. Most of the art is realistic, and really well done! Its cool to see street art well done since it there is often a negative connotation associated with "graffiti," but a lot of it can be so artistic and pretty.

Pizza Express Menu

I made my first visit to Pizza Express last week. Pizza Express is a chain restaurant I've seen a lot around London, but never ate at until recently. When I sat down and got the menu, I was surprised because the menu did not look like that of a chain pizza restaurant. Maybe things are different in London, or maybe it was just this restaurant, but instead of looking more commercial, the menu used cute handwritten and sans serif fonts, hilighting some parts of the menu with watercolor-esque boxes. The menu was generally well designed with different sections made clear by larger, bolder titles, and the whole menu split into clear columns. Small icons made it easy to identify gluten-free or vegetarian foods. The only issue I found wrong with this menu was that there were too many food options. This, of course, is not the designers fault, but the restaurants. It took our group an extremely long time to decide what to eat because everything sounded so good! I got a yummy pizza ring shindig that came with a salad on top, I would recommend eating here if you need an easy option!

The Tate Modern // Way-finding

On Wednesday we visited the Tate Modern for our English Class. The museum was really cool and had a lot of famous modern artwork. Unfortunately, we were sent on a scavenger hunt for class that resulted in me staring at the plaques on the wall for most of our visit rather than the artwork itself. I wish I had spent more time looking at each work of art, because there are a lot of famous pieces of modern artwork, and a lot of confusing surrealist paintings that had a lot going on in them. I really liked this Kandinsky, it had a lot of pretty colors and kept your eye moving. It was cool to see artwork I've seen in class or in books before actually in front of me, like Picasso's "The Three Dancers" and some of Salvador Dali's surrealist work. We mainly only focused on two exhibits in the museum before everyone was tired and needed food before our next class, but I wish I could've stayed there for longer.




I thought the way-finding in the Tate Modern was very well done. On each floor next to the stairs and escalator, there was a list of all the exhibits on each floor, as well as the location of the gift shop, ticketing office, bathrooms and food. When you got to the entrance of an exhibit on a particular floor, the signage was large and clear, and listed more details about what artwork was in the exhibit. A well-designed map for the whole museum could also be purchased for one pound, but considering that most of the information you needed was on the wall, this was unnecessary. Overall, the way-finding in the Tate Modern was clear and well done, and I was never confused as to where to go.

Dalston Type Safari

Some pretty hand drawings on a store front

On Tuesday we went on a Type Safari tour for our GrC class. We had a graphic designer tour guide who has set up a studio dedicated to research and experimentation related to the personality of typefaces. We started the tour in Dalston, and walked through the streets with a type safari handout, in which we searched for signage with various typefaces throughout the area. 

We saw some cool signs, and our guide asked us to consider the way that different type affects our subconscious or premeditated ideas about restaurants and stores. As a GrC major it was no new news to think that different typefaces need to be used in different settings, but I hadn't thought quite as much about really how much type can influence your thoughts. 

One of the type tasting experiments!

Goodie bag!

At the end of our type safari we visited the Type Tasting studio where we participated in social typography experiments. The studio itself was so cute with good design and typography everywhere. There were different tests that we could participate in that were related to her research. They included a test in which we were asked to describe a candy based on the font that labels it, one which attributed human characteristics to different fonts, and another, my favorite, the type speed dating game. During the type speed dating game, we were asked to choose which one of three typefaces we would choose to date. It was cool to see how strongly everyone felt about the different typefaces and how easily we could describe the type of person that each typeface would belong to. The work that our guide is doing is really cool, and after seeing how much research she has done, I'm surprised that there hasn't already been more research done about human reactions to typography, especially since typography is so important in advertising. 

Copa De Cava signage

When walking around I spotted this cute signage for a cava bar called "Copa De Cava." Cava is a spanish sparkling wine, and as the sign tells us, this location is the first dedicated Cava bar in the UK. This sign caught my attention because of the strong contrast of the light gray and gold on black. The gold shone in the light, drawing attention. I like decorative font used for the title, and the way the bubbles in the image of the glass are gold to match the gold of the word "Cava." Although it is written a bit small for a passerby to read while walking, I also like the sans serif font of the line of text along the top of the sign. The gold border helps this sign stand out from others on the street.

Design and Shoes at the Design Museum

 On Tuesday evening we took a trip to the Design Museum. We went for the Design of the Year exhibit, but also got to walk through an exhibit called "Life on Foot," which was a collection of shoes and art showing the history and future of shoe design and technology. There were some cool pieces of work displayed, and even just shoes laid out in patterns or by color.

One of my favorite parts of this exhibit was the rows of swatches arranged by color. They were all so perfectly aligned, and it was cool to be able to touch and feel the fabric swatches used in the shoes, rather than just looking at them. The whole exhibit used so much color that caught my eye. I wanted to look at everything that was on display, but never got stuck for too long at one thing because they all were so bright and attention grabbing.

New Designers

On Thursday we took a class trip to London's New Designers 2015. This event is essentially a showcase of young designers from Britain's leading design schools. A limited number of designers from each school are selected to present their ideas, artwork and products, either for purchase or for exposure and recruiting. New Designers features graphic design, illustration, product design, industrial design and so much more. There was so much to see once you stepped inside the building. I spent two hours walking around the building and checking everything out.

New Designers at London's Business Design Center

While there were a lot of cool new products to check out, my favorite section was the visual communication area. The walls were covered with beautiful illustrations and designs. Illustrations like these on the right caught my eye the most. This collection worked together well because they were all designed in the same vintage style,  and repeat the same colors throughout. The artist put such a level of detail into her work and it turned out beautifully. Each piece unique, but together they work cohesively, repeating the same or similar textures and patterns.

                                                    

I also thought this product design was cool. The designer created a toy that works with a mobile application, and allows working parents to interact with their children while at work. The clean and cohesive display is what caught my eye to begin with. I noticed that as I walked around the building, displays like this one are what caught my eye more than the products themselves. 

some furniture and lamps designed by students

visiting Oxford

Yesterday we took a class trip to Oxford! The town was really cute, and the buildings that make up Oxford University (aka Hogwarts) blew my mind. They were all so picturesque and had a lot of ornate architecture. Going to school there would be a fairtytale. This was our first view of the university. No pictures do it justice as compared to how it actually looked. Our British professor / tour guide told us that the hall on the right in this photo is the building used as the Great Hall in Harry Potter. I was dying to go inside but it is currently going through rennovations :(

shout out to lorraine for taking this beaut

so pretty!

After exploring for a while we stopped at the oldest pub in Oxford. It was called The Turf Tavern. It was really small inside, but they had a ton of outdoor seating and umbrellas which was really nice to sit at since it was hot outside. I got a turkey club sandwich with bacon and it was heaven. I also got talked into buying a pitcher of Pimm's rather than just a glass for just 9 more pounds. When in England, right? As most of American has never even heard of Pimm's, let me explain. Pimm's is a tea-based gin with some fruit flavoring, and when combined with sparkling lemonade and chopped up fruit, makes the most delicious and refreshing cocktail you could possibly imagine. I'll shed a tear every time I can't order that at a bar in the US, but apparently Pimm's is sold at BevMo so I am going to be making a lot of that on my own when I get home. All in all it was a lovely day in Oxford. 

Chalk Sandwich Board Signs

Something that keeps catching my eye as I walk through London is all of the propped up chalk board signs along the sidewalk. Often they belong to pubs and restaurants bragging about their happy hour prices or meal deals, but some cutest ones I have seen aren't even about food and drinks. The signs are handwritten, but the typography on them is gorgeous. Most of them use a larger, bolder font for the main text, and a smaller, thinner font for secondary information. My favorite signs had drawings on them to add more decoration. I really love the sign below that is bordered by flowers and leaves. I also really like the hand-written "Vagabond" sign and the simple icons below. 

an evening in the park

Hyde Park just put on this awesome concert/festival series for a week called British Summer Time, featuring some big name artists including The Strokes, Ellie Goulding, The Who and Beck, ending with Taylor Swift on Saturday. Because just about everyone in the program has already spent more money than they should've, and because the cost of a ticket could support our newly founded pub habits for the rest of the trip, we did not attend the concert. We did however sit outside of the venue walls and have a wine and cheese picnic while listening to the muffled sound of a screaming crowd and T Swizzle's most popular music. The weather was beautiful, and there were people all over the park drinking and picnicking (spelling?) and enjoying their Saturday evening. Taylor Swift or not, I definitely plan on doing that again sometime soon.

Adventures in Hyde Park

I LOVE HYDE PARK. We live right across the street from one of the biggest parks in London, and I love it. It's so pretty, and at any given time there are a ton of people walking, running, or biking around it. There are paths going every which way through the park and statues around every corner. Here are some photos I took while out on a run (I went 3 miles straight woop woop).

a rather large pond in the middle of the park

Kensington Palace and Queen Victoria - annoyed at the little girl who got in my photo

I don't even know. This is the backside though because I was too lazy to go around to the front

Honest Burgers' Adorable Menu

nomsquad

Yesterday we went exploring in Camden and stopped for dinner at a restaurant called Honest Burgers. There are multiple throughout London, and for good reason. The food there was delicious! I loved their menu too. They used two different sans-serif typefaces, both in all caps. One was a bold, semi-condensed font used for the restaurant name and main menu items, and the other was a light weight font that listed ingredients. The food menu was divided into a grid-like format with three columns, and boxes that aligned evenly into rows. It had a cute, clean design, using icons of a chicken, a cow, and vegetables to help the viewer easily distinguish where they could find each type of food on the menu. A slightly larger gap visually separated sauces and cooking information from the menu choices above. I also loved the way the paper was held down to a wooden board with rubber bands, so creative!

Imperial War Museum // War Posters

On Wednesday we went to the Imperial War Museum for our literature class. We are studying World War 1 literature, so the main purpose of that field trip was to explore the World War 1 exhibit. In front of the museum were two HUGE cannons. Once you walk inside you look up to see several real war planes suspended from the ceiling. The World War 1 exhibit was really neat and interactive. It had this really awesome life size trench model that you could walk through and hear gunfire and bombs as if you were in the midst of a battle.

the front of the Imperial War Museum

recruiting posters in Great Britain

I loved looking at the old war recruiting and propaganda posters. They used a lot of illustrations, and often included animals that represented a group of people or another country. In the posters to the left, a kangaroo is used to represent Australia, and a lion used to represent Great Britain. Block letter fonts were used often in the British posters, while most of the German propaganda posters used Blackletter fonts. In either case, posters were filled with color and high contrast to grab your attention. 

German propaganda posters

Week one in London

my home away from home

It has officially been one week since I arrived in London. The 10 hour plane ride was a little rough, as was arriving at 7 am on two hours of sleep and having to stay awake the rest of the day. But hey, I'm in London so I can't complain. I've settled into my flat and am getting used to the Kensington area, both of which are nice af). The underground is getting easier and easier to use, and those iconic red buses are becoming my new best friend. Our flat is right across the street from Hyde Park, which is awesome for running through. We had so much fun biking around it earlier this week on rental bikes. Side note: Never ride bikes through the streets of London. The traffic is insane, there are no bike lanes, and people actually die getting hit by cars. Apparently its become quite an issue here.

I was busy exploring all weekend, killing my feet while walking 8 plus miles a day, then was stuck in class for almost 7 HOURS on Monday. I don't know who came up with that schedule, but I don't think they realized students study abroad to explore a new country/city, not to sit in uncomfortable chairs for more than half the day. Thankfully two thirds of our lectures are being replaced with field trips and museum visits so we can get out and see more of the city rather than being cooped up in a classroom with temperamental temperature controls.

So far everything has been fabulous, I'm excited to see what the next five weeks have in store. Until next time, cheerio!