There’s no doubt, London has some of the sharpest creative minds around, and I thank my lucky stars, frankly, that I’m now a Londoner.

Work by Millo, Shoreditch, London.

An installation bearing the face of architect Zaha Hadid created by artist Greg Shapter for Domus Tiles, Great Sutton St, London. Hard to see here, but this is actually a 3D installation of tiles that appears comprehensible only when standing in a certain spot across the road.

Work by Phlegm – always slightly unnerving! Normally found under various railway bridges and dark alleys, here at the Howard Griffin Gallery in Shoreditch, London, were a large number of fantastical creatures in ‘The Bestiary’. This immersive and large scale installation in wood, clay and plaster gave me the proper heebie-jeebies…

Used and dirty…?

Mature.

Wow. Just wow.

Me too my friend, Me too… Fair comment on the encroaching retail wrecking of Mare St, Hackney.

Still, a cosy night’s sleep for a homeless tailor…? Boom boom…

So, lots of these faces by street artist Gregos have been appearing in London, Paris – his home turf, and now all over the world apparently. Cast from his own face, showing different moods and humour, they are guaranteed to raise a smile.

Sometimes, great street art appears for just a few hours or a day or so, and as quickly as it appears it fades from view. Like this wonderful piece by Borondo in Hackney Wick. Turned up last Saturday afternoon, but by morning some tool had covered over all of it and replaced it with a rubbish tag.  Arggghhh!! (why?)

Fabulous wood cut prints by Italian artist Umberto Giovannini, on display at Stour Space, Hackney Wick.

Stumbled across this delightful mural on the Whitecross Estate, east London.

These beautiful cityscape illustrations by Laura Jordan are a real pleasure to view. Full of captivating references on the issues facing society today, they combine architectural drawing with illustration in pen, ink and mixed media. She has just opened her own studio/gallery at 273 Hackney Rd – an easy side step on the route between Hackney City Farm and Columbia Rd.

I’m not sure why I like these so much. They are just ordinary scenes of ordinary life in London. But they are beautifully captured in paint. American artist Brett Amory had his first solo show at the Lazarides Gallery, London. Called ‘Twenty Four’, he photographs 24 scenes in the city for one hour at a time, distilling down and capturing the essence of that experience into one representative image.

Brett Amory. Super-intriguing messed up faces…

Striking 3D image on the wall of the uber-trendy Village Underground venue, Shoreditch, London.

This blog post is one of a series of design blog posts by design writer Jackie Hawkins.

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Stunning Ghost Stories album artwork

The new Coldplay album artwork for Ghost Stories showcases a stunning collection of etchings by artist Mila Fürstová. Now available to view as a full-length animation, along with the opportunity to listen to the album for free ahead of its release on 19 May!

It’s wonderful when nice people get the opportunity to do great things. And so it is with my friend Mila. A talented UK-based Czech artist known for her beautiful etchings, Mila has been secretly beavering away for the last year on this artwork for Ghost Stories - Coldplay’s sixth studio album. What a fabulous commission! How on earth did she manage to keep it a secret?!

Artwork for ‘Magic’, Coldplay

Included here you can see both the cover art for the Coldplay single Magic released on 3 March 2014, and the Coldplay album cover itself. The Coldplay album is due for release on 19 May 2014 (you can pre-order on iTunes).

The single art for Magic features a symbolic white dove imposed onto a blue canvas. Contained within the perimeter of the dove is a scenario featuring imagery related to stage magic, including a levitating couple, a flying deck of cards and a theatre stage. The level of detail is just gorgeous…

Angel wings, medieval art-driven artwork

For the Coldplay album artwork cover, the medieval art-driven artwork features a pair of angel wings imposed onto a painting of an ocean under a sky at night. The angel wings themselves feature cryptic imagery of medieval-style drawings including a couple in love, a man facing a mirror, a flight of white doves, a circular maze, a girl by candelight, a window looking out onto an incoming tornado and a garden plant with a ladder. You can zoom in to a larger version of the artwork on Coldplay’s official website, using a screen magnifier – definitely worth doing!

If you fancy one to hang on your wall, or even as a tattoo (the current reproduction of choice on the Coldplay Facebook page right now!), you can buy the artwork through Album Artists, from 19 May.

Images courtesy of Mila Fürstová.

Watch the Coldplay album artwork for Ghost Stories in the Magic video

This blog post is one of a series of design blog posts by design writer Jackie Hawkins.

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Grafton Architects

Grafton Architects

Everyone seems to have an opinion on ‘Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined’ on at the Royal Academy right now. It appears to be so popular, I wonder whether it will do for the public appreciation of architecture what Anish Kapoor’s hugely visited 2010 exhibition did for sculpture.  It left me however, a little cold.

Kengo Kuma

Li Xiaodong

Stepping into the abyss…

Diebedo Francis Kere

Utter bewilderment…

Diebedo Francis Kere

Pezo von Ellrichshausen

With the exception of Grafton Architects and their voluminous mass of structure that seemingly pins you down to the floor, the others were just too esoteric for a public audience. Its the same old problem – architecture exhibitions are notoriously hard to do well.  The standard fare of models, photographs and drawings tend to distance us from the reality of actually experiencing a piece of architecture. Brownie-points to Kate Goodwin then, the curator, for trying something new. For me, I simply felt that it was a shame that the quality of the content was not up to scratch.

Architecture and design students will no doubt love it. As did most of the critics from the broadsheet and trade press. Joe Public – from the looks and comments from baffled fellow visitors- I’m not so sure.

It runs until 6 April 2014: Seven architectural practices from six countries and four continents. 23,000 square feet. 72 days. One monumental exhibition.

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