Coca Cola Exhibition

I went to see a mini exhibition celebrating 123 years of Coca Cola held at Design Museum, London. I love those old Coke brand guidelines books! More photos here.

Typographic Trees

I've visited Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2010 at Design Museum recently. The exhibition is excellent, but there was one piece that drew my attention particularly- Typographic Trees by Gordan Young and Why Not Associates.

Here is the explanation of the project:

"When artist Gordon Young was asked by architects Penoyre and Prasard to design a site-specific work of art for their new library in Crawley, West Sussex, he suggested a ‘forest’ of typographic oak columns installed floor to ceiling like supporting pillars.

Fellow artist Anna Sandberg held workshops with library users, to gather information on people’s favourite books, places and memories. Young then worked with typographers Why Not Associates to design columns from this user-generated content. Each of the 14 solid oak ‘trees’ reflects a different subject – from the opening line of the first Harry Potter novel to the gothic text of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

The final designs were sandblasted into green unseasoned oak by long time collaborator Russell Coleman. This material – with all its cracks and shakes – was deliberately chosen to contrast with the perfection of the new building’s interior. Finally, the finished columns were installed in relevant specific locations throughout the library." (http://www.designsoftheyear.com/2010/02/14/gordan-young-and-why-not-associates-typographic-trees-crawley-library-uk/#more-2602)

I really like this concept and I think typographic trees look amazing! Here are some photos I took: