Mirrors, Sandwiches, and Phone-Holes
Don’t forget the chisels, too.
Hello again! 👋
Happy April. Here are some of the cool things I’ve found and made over the past month. There will be no AI-generated Studio Ghibli images 👇
Sandwich Feels 🥪
The YouTube series SuprOrdinary follows designer Devin Mathews through the journey of rebranding their local sandwich shop, with beautifully crafted cinematography and storytelling. It’s a reminder that creativity is deeply human; a process rooted in emotion and personal connection.
Camera-holes of Calm 📱
Another project that turned many Design heads this last month was Aperture by Special Projects. The concept is simple — turn your phone into a friendlier and less addictive device by flipping your case around and using the camera cutout. A wonderfully simple idea, and surprisingly original, too.
It’s just a concept for now, as that’s what Special Projects seem to do best, but their execution is excellent and I’d try this immediately if it were real. It certainly beats spending $600 on a dedicated ‘dumb phone’ device.
The New(ish) Swiss Passport 🇨🇭
It’s been around since 2022, but everyone started talking about RETINAA’s redesign of the Swiss passport last month.
The standout feature is, of course, how it looks under UV light (amplified by sharp, atmospheric photography in the press kit). Neon contour lines ripple across the pages — a necessary part of the design that makes a passport secure, but also deeply tied to Switzerland’s landscape and identity.
Mirrors and Robots 🪩
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost twenty years since I started watching OK Go’s viral music videos, but their latest offering remains as creative and visually interesting as those that preceded it. Especially because it has robots and expensive camera gear.
Apple Man Says Things 🎙️
Sir Jony Ive, the industrial design legend and disembodied voice from old iPhone videos, featured in BBC Radio 4’s long-running series Desert Island Discs. To those that are unfamiliar with the format, it’s a gentle and uplifting reflection of people’s lives, set to their favourite music.
Classy Graffiti 🧐
I visited Prior Park in the city of Bath last month, and etched into the Palladian Bridge was a large amount of graffiti, some stretching back to the 1700s.
I especially enjoyed that the lettering was in serif — an aesthetic shaped by the chisels used to carve it, and one that stands apart from the forms we see in spray paint today.
Thanks for reading ☺️
That’s it for this month, and I’ll see you in May. I’m sure that you’re just as hyped for World Tuna Day as I am.
Finally, I’m interested in learning how many people like to listen to my narration for this newsletter — are you one of those people? It’s quite involved to yoink out my big microphone, so getting an idea of numbers would be great.
Best wishes,
Tom 🐢
