I absolutely love the new swiss inspired clock app that Apple have created for ipads running IOS 6 and am pleased to hear that they have agreed terms with the Swiss Federal Railway Service (SBB) to license it.
In 1944, Hans Hilfiker (15 September 1901 – 2 March 1993) working for the Swiss Federal Railways, designed the Swiss railway clock, which went on to became a national icon. Hans was both and engineer and a designer and was an exponent of products that were both functional and well designed. As an SBB employee he was given the task to design a visible clock that would form part of the corporate identity and help unify train departure times across Swiss railways. A true classic Swiss design with its simple white face, contrasting black lines and without a number in sight! Against the white and black is the red second hand or the 'rote kelle' (red signal), as it became known, for its close resemblance to the station managers hand held signal that signified a trains departure.
Going slightly away from the Swiss inspired themes that normally adorn these pages is this fantastic project by designer David Sedgwick. I am always inspired by projects which have a certain level of craftsmanship and this beautifully printed piece which started as a conversation between David and GF Smith's Jane Crowther certainly is that. The 'limited edition' of 250 became a promotional piece that not only showcased a variety of different paper stocks, but also became an opportunity to highlight the work and techniques carried out at The Craft and Design Centre in Manchester. Add to this the stunning photography by duo Shaw & Shaw and you have a piece of print that hits all the senses. For more fine work David's website is well worth a visit.
I love these policy posters created by Singapore based designer Gene Wang. He has taken the simple geometric forms from the Swire Group logo to create a layout that adds some visual interest to the dry subject matter of company policies. In Gene's words "The two triangles form an optical projection that represents the vision of each policy." For more of Gene's work visit his behance site.
