Nick Asbury is a freelance writer and one half of creative partnership Asbury & Asbury. His work has won two yellow pencils in Writing for Design and appeared In Book several times. You can follow him @asburyandasbury. The brief: design a press ad for the last ever episode of ‘Friends’, airing on Friday. Any ideas? …more
Ahead of tonight’s 26 book launch with Room 121 authors, John and Jamie, we asked them about their writing life. What is the starting point for everything you write? Jamie: Hearing the voice in which I’m going to write it, usually a phrase that resonates in a particular way. John: I start with a single …more
The 26/D&AD Archive Dive is a series of articles by 26 members celebrating the best work from the D&AD awards archives. Today, C is for Cog by Sue Evans What to choose? Should I stir things up, court controversy? A lot of interesting work, agencies and clients begin with the letter C in the D&AD …more
To have swallowed a Crocodile Would make anybody smile But to swallow a Caramel Wafer Is safer. 25 years ago, then Poet Laureate Ted Hughes was tucking into a Tunnocks bar when he decided to open the wrapper and write a poem on it. The poem, now on display in the University of St Andrews, …more
The 26/D&AD Archive Dive is a series of articles by 26 members celebrating the best work from the D&AD awards archives. A is for Apple, by Dan Germain A thought crossed my mind recently. Did Lego ever win a D&AD Award? For the actual Lego bricks? I imagine that it’s too old to have won …more
The 26/D&AD Archive Dive is a series of articles by 26 members celebrating the best work from the D&AD awards archives. B is for Burma, by John Simmons But. It’s a word you say to oppose someone else’s point of view. There should be a D&AD writers’ award for it, a Yellow Button perhaps. But …more
Before you play two notes, learn how to play one note – and don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it. Mark Hollis The recent Guardian Q&A on ‘breaking into copywriting’ featured 11 copywriter hosts, including me, plus guests. In just three hours we generated a record 385 comments or around 30,000 …more
By Sara Sheridan World Book Night 2011 was hailed as a success by the corporate arm of the industry but independent bookshops and individual authors questioned its project design from the start. Why give away free books rather than encourage book sales? Why highlight a very limited amount of books instead of tailoring the material …more
The Guardian’s website has published an article that will warm the hearts of anyone connected with 26. It’s written by historical novelist and 26 member Sara Sheridan, and it’s in the context of a discussion about literary elitism – a widespread malaise to which, Sara feels, 26 acts as a welcome antidote. Here’s a flavour …more
Of course they do. They’re children. By Rob Self-Pierson Last week, I spent five mornings in Hazelbury Junior School in Edmonton, giving some creative writing workshops to fourteen ten-year-olds. It was good. No, that’s not right: look for a better adjective, or, better still, flip the sentence into a verb sentence, give it action, decorate it …more
By Tim Rich, 66000milesperhour.com Shaun Usher is the mind behind a wonderful blog called Letters of Note, a sort of cultural Mount Pleasant Sorting Office for ‘fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos.’ The site has been going for a while, which means you now encounter a rich and varied selection of personal correspondence, from …more
By John Simmons Last week I went to Falmouth in Cornwall. I’d been asked to give a lecture to student designers and writers at the University. Designers and writers from the local business community came along too. The title of my lecture was ‘The writer and the world’ and its theme was the power of …more
Saturday 5 February is Save Our Libraries Days, a day of action organised by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals to bring greater attention to the cuts and closures facing many public libraries. Andy Hayes shares his personal thoughts on what makes them worth saving…
A reminder that the deadline for D&AD submissions is fast approaching. Make sure you enter the Writing for Design category by 31 January if you want give these people that ‘wish I’d done that’ feeling.
There has reportedly been an outbreak of poetry in the usually prosaic world of corporate communications. Marks & Spencer customer Christine Baxter (pictured) was disappointed to hear her local Grantham branch was closing and wrote to M&S to say so. She decided to write her complaint in verse, which is a great thing in itself. …more
A personal perspective on 26 from Rob Self-Pierson, who played a leading role in this year’s 26 Treasures project. You’ll find the number 26 is everywhere. Add up any two numbers and you’ll get 26 (trust me). Open a book at random and you’ll open it on page 26 (again, you don’t need to try). …more
Here’s a project to warm the hearts of all 26 members. Hoxton Street Monster Supplies is the new residence of the Ministry of Stories, the first UK extension of Dave Eggers’ acclaimed 826 National literacy programme in the US. 826 National is a network of non-profit writing centres promoting literacy and story-telling for young people. …more
We’re delighted to announce that D&AD has offered 26 members an exclusive 20% off entry fees into the Writing for Design category, making it just £80 per (single) entry. The offer runs until 26 December 2010, so make a note in your diaries and/or advent calendars. How to access the discount: To use the discount, …more
In the slippery world of tone of voice – like so many other places – context is all. Set the word ‘hello’ in 72pt Helvetica Extra Bold followed by an exclamation mark, and you’ll create a completely different takeout from the very same greeting peeping out in 9pt Baskerville. Design frames the words, creates the …more
