Rainforest Cafe London

Yesterday evening I went the Rainforest Cafe, the concept of the restaurant works really well and they have realised it's potential well; it's just an awesome night out! Great for kids too! haha

Don't think much of the table cloths though!

Egg Sensor

I was thinking ... what if the egg holder section in the fridge had a scanner and light sensor to determine when your eggs were going off so you know when to use them before it's too late.

It could scan the egg for signs of decay and change the colour of the light to indicate it's freshness. The light would automatically activate when fridge was open.

Green - Fresh, Orange - Use Quickly, Red - Bad Egg!

Voysey House

My summer placement at Turner Duckworth, was in an unusual building:

Voysey House.

At the moment I am doing some research on factories and came across this image which I instantly recognised and discovered the building was originally built as a wallpaper factory.

Every building has a history.

Birthday!

So, on Tuesday I turned 22 and being a lucky person I got some awesome presents from friends and family! :)

Here's a few ...

ZIP ZIP Memory Brick from my older sister, Candice.

Super cosy slippers from my Mum and Dad!

One of my housemates gave me this little dish and took the time to make me these tiny little illustrations of suggested uses.

And my twin sister, Georgie adopted me this beautiful gorilla, named Kishka. I went the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in Jersey over the summer and saw her and her friends there. I have always been interested in these beautiful animals, so it was a lovely present!

My First Summer Placement

This summer I've been busy doing a couple of placements with design companies.

My first placement was back in June, at Turner Duckworth, an amazing brand identity and packaging design company. Their clients include Coca Cola, Waitrose, Liz Earle and heavy metal band Metalica! (it was particularly funny when we went to buy lunch in Waitrose and they could point out various different packaging designs they had worked on!)

I was commuting to their office in Turnham Green for four weeks to gain experience in the whole design process including client briefings, creating mood boards, joining in design development discussions and putting together final presentations for clients. I found it interesting to observe the dynamics of the company and how everyone works together.

While I was there, I got a chance to go to the D&AD New Blood exhibition with a couple of the designers. It was most beneficial to see their reactions and what they were looking for in the new graduates.

I also did a bit of socialising after hours. We went up to Angel one evening to see one of the designers, Jamie's band, Rowse play in a battle of the bands competition. They were really good, check them out! http://www.rowsemusic.co.uk/

Turner Duckworth - I especially liked your the casual, friendly atmosphere, on top of your hard work and determination. And the ice lollies on the really hot days!

They especially liked my comical phone call to a paper sampling company who gave me numbers that sent me round in circles!

They also have an office in San Fancisco, unfortunately I didn't make it over there, but they do encourage regular communication between the two offices. They even offer their staff the chance to swap lives for a couple of months, which obviously has huge benefits to both the company and the designers.