Good signal?

SOMA Magazine features a section on 'hand signals', identifying signals and signs in the palms of featured artists and celebrities. Each reading is taken by a palm reader who has no idea who the palm belongs too, and surprisingly many are very accurate! Take a look at the site here and match your palm to Richard Branson, Erik Spiekermann or fashion designer Erin Fetherston.

Typo London Contest

TYPO London have launched a contest challenging people to post pictures of odd, funny or confusing signs from all over the world. All submissions are entered into a draw for a ticket to TYPO London from July 25th. The site shows a gallery of all of the submissions so far which you can view either by grid or on a live map. Entries so far are a great mix of signs in different languages and in different locations.

Visit the site here to see the latest submissions or to enter you own!

Glug

Glug is an afterwork creative drinks and Notworking event for designers, clients and friends set up by Ian Hambleton and Nick Clement. It began a couple of years ago as a handful of mates talking shop in an East London pub. Two years later and it's a nationwide event with over 3,500 members. Glug have set up talks, film previews, live art, installations and exhibitions from the likes of Airside, Anthony Burrill, I Love Dust and Why Not Associates. 


They are always on the look out for new agencies and creatives to host future Glug events in London, so take a look and join them for a night of inspiration. 

Tweet for team GB!

The 2012 Olympic Stadium made news as the aquatic centre became host to celebrations on the 1 year countdown to the events. The centre is the latest of the venues to be completed, Tom Daley took the first dive and synchronised swimmers spelt out the number 1 in the water.

Meanwhile, online, the website for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games got a bit 'rowdy'. The site now features a contest between countries world wide to find out which country has the biggest fan base via Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. Fans have already submitted over 20,000 tweets with GB in the lead, followed by Brazil, the US, Canada and the Netherlands. #1YearToGo is the hash tag, plus the three letter code for your country, get tweeting and keep us at the top!

It all starts with an Absolut Blank

A new Absolut campaign has launched in the UK under the title 'It all starts with an Absolut Blank.' The campaign merges print, interactive, digital and installation art to highlight the various mediums of artistic expression. Artists were given blank canvas bottles to create their own murals and collages which are on public display.

A video of the project here shows how some of the artists approached the project.

The power of post-its

An amazing stop motion animation has been created using 350,000 post-it notes by Brazil's  Gallery Melissa. Twenty-five animators and a seemingly endless stream of public well-wishers combined their talents to create the "Melissa Power of love" project.

The Hansen Family

I came across this family run company a couple of months ago and can honestly say that I would do anything to fill my house with their finely crafted furniture.

The Hansen Family is a Scandinavian family of carpenters, designers and architects. Founded by designer, Gesa Hansen, after graduating at the Bauhaus-University and working in a few design studios such as Jean Nouvel and H5, she decided to create her own label, combining new design and family savoir-faire in the family atelier. 

They use natural resources of oaks that are harvested in local forests located at the heart of the Sauerland region in Germany, which means that each piece of furniture is handcrafted and unique. 

Take a look at their collection, and see if you can resist their wonderfully crafted designs.

Movable type project

For those of you who have dreamed of getting down to the knitty gritty of letterpress, then you are in luck (if you live in America that is). Designer Kyle Durrie realised that due to heavy equipment and finding the right facilities, setting up a letterpress studio is very difficult to do. So, she decided to drive a letterpress to the masses instead.

Kyle has installed a tiny printing press studio in the back of a 1982 Chevy step van, called 'Movable Type' and is driving across the US with it, offering classes wherever she stops. She has managed to fit two antique printing machines into the back of the van, along working materials such as ink and paper. 

The Movable Type truck also does request stops! Find out more about the cross country adventures in printing here. Maybe she'll even do a world trip? 

Watch Me Move: The Animation Show

The Barbican Art Gallery presents Watch Me Move: The Animation Show. It brings together the films of contemporary artists alongside popular favourites in an exhibition that will keep you entertained for hours.

The exhibition traces the history of animation over the past 150 years, putting on show the films of Walt Disney, Pixar, Studio Ghilbli and Hanna-Barbera. Visitors will also be able to get behind the scenes of much loved films such as Pinnochio, Jurassic Park and the very first Mickey Mouse cartoon.

Watch Me Move runs from 15 June - 11 September.

London Design Festival

The London Design Festival (LDF) is a city wide celebration of design which is made up of a programme of over 200 events taking place over 9 days. The V&A is the hub of the festival, providing a starting point for visitors and a place where that atmosphere is more concentrated and buzzing. 

The LDF was first staged in 2003 and is one of the world's most important annual design events. Most festival events are free to enter and are easy to navigate or plan via the festival website here. Audiences are expected to be significant, an estimated 350,000 direct visitors attended events in 2010. You can also find out more on the event blog site here.