The Depaul Box company in the UK are all about helping people move, both onwards and upwards.
“The Depaul Box Company was started by a youth homeless charity called Depaul UK. Instead of just relying on donations, we wanted to broaden our horizons and act like a business to raise money, rather than a charity.
So we thought out of the box. Everyone associates the homeless with sleeping on boxes, so why not sell boxes to help the homeless?”
What a beautifully simple idea. You buy your boxes from Depaul and they use some of the proceeds to help move young people on the street.
Their website has stories of those helped: “When Anthony was 16 his mum kicked him out of the house. Staying with his girlfriend’s family didn’t work out, so he found himself sleeping rough in parks and doorways. When Depaul UK found Anthony, he was depressed and drinking heavily. They helped him find a hostel and the support he needed. Recently Anthony sent a message to Depaul UK saying he’d found a job, patched things up with his girlfriend, and had just got his own flat. The only thing he needs a cardboard box for now is moving in.”
This made me smile. Thank you Depaul company. I will be recommending you to the whole of the UK. Go and visit them here. (via notcot)
Love these very London badges celebrating the art of Cockney Rhyming Slang. The first set pictured Rosy Lee, Ruby Murray, and Vera Lynn – mean (for us Londoners) Tea, Curry & Gin. The second set Adam & Eve, Duck & Dive, Rabbit & Pork mean believe, hide and talk. There is also another set, that I haven’t featured, with words I wouldn’t use on this blog (it’s safe for work). I may have to get a set of these, but I would only wear them on days when I have time to explain the whole Cockney Rhyming Slang thing… (wikipedia) From Theo Theo
What a clever (and very British) ad for a feature on Thatcher’s life in the Guardian. (to explain to those who don’t quite get it: Marmite (a very British spread used on bread or toast) is sold with the campaign “Love it or Hate it” – as most people have strong views about the taste. In England most people have strong views about Margaret Thatcher too) This made me smile. Thank you BBH London and The Guardian (via bestadsontv)
London Transport have produced some pretty cool posters to celebrate 150 years of the Tube – I think my favorite is the people on the escalator, such an everyday experience in London that you forget how many different generations and types of people have shared that ride. Happy 150 years to The Underground.
This has me fascinated. If you moved the world’s population (6.9 billion people) into one place and moved them to the same city, how big would that city be? It depends on density, as is shown by the six cities above. Sometimes simple graphics show so much. From Flowing Data
Growing up in England these were all normal phrases that I heard every day and didn’t think much about. Now they make me smile. Thank you to Roderick Field for bringing back the memories. I think I will use some of these today. There are more on his site.
Artist Dean Stockton noticed discarded Christmas trees around London and very simple (and very creatively) gave them eyes (from baubles) and a frown (from tinsel). I love how simple, and how effective this is. Dean, thank you – from all of us. (via The Daily Mail)
This made me smile this morning – The unknitting machine. A simple way to recycle wool from old clothes so it can be reused. London based designer Imogen Hedges used an old bicycle frame - the user sits on a chair to pedal the machine, which causes the wool to pass through steam coming out of a kettle before it gets collected on a spindle. I’m not sure how far anyone in England would get without first using the kettle to make a nice cup of tea, but then I’d be happy to sit down and get some gentle exercise while unknitting. (via design taxi) Watch the video below…
Growing up in England this was always one of my favorite meals and I would have LOVED this set. Boiled egg and soldiers is simply a soft boiled egg and toast cut into strips the perfect size for dipping in the egg – much loved by children and adults (especially if you put marmite on the soldiers.. mmmmmm) Available in the UK from Omlet (fitting name)
I came across this website at the weekend and I loved the concept. The Amazings is based on a simple premise : “Society has always learned from its elders. But somewhere along the way we have lost that connection between generations – which means losing rich, valuable, and rare skills. We’re on a mission to fix this”.
They have a collection of people over 50 with amazing life experiences who offer classes to help others. At the moment all the classes are in London, but I’m going to watch and see if they decide to offer an online model. I think this is going to be hugely successful, among other things you can learn to play bottle neck guitar from the guitarist in The Stranglers (yes I’m showing my age here, google them) – watch the intro below.
I hope this idea spreads in a variety of ways – How can you help people learn something from someone who really knows? How can you teach someone something that you have real experience in.
Now this makes me miss London. A Christmas video from my favorite (great) healthy fast food (yes there is such a thing) restaurant… and there is a free spotify playlist that should help everyone get in the Christmas spirit. The list was compiled by music journalist supremo Pete Paphides and you can donate to help them raise money for Water Aid & The Leon Foundation by donating at http://www.justgiving.com/LeonNoel – Everyone is a winner. I would give just about anything to be ordering from their menu right now… Check out the yummy stuff they do. – The taste of home.
Beautifully simple gift tag designed like a London street sign. From WBC (warning- I had to leave their website immediately or I know I would have spent hours and hours browsing and (most likely) spending)
I have been quite good this year and I miss London a lot. Please can I have this amazing home in my favorite city. Just to give you some background, because I know you are interested in these things – It was originally built in 1877 by Fowler and Hill, as part of Lambeth Workhouse and Infirmary (then Lambeth Hospital), the Venetian-Gothic construction has been a landmark for centuries. It was bought by Leigh Osbourne and Graham Voce and turned into the stunning property that you see today. I know it won’t fit in my stocking, so if you could just leave the key and the paperwork that would be fine.
I promise to leave mince pies and port for you every year forever.
I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed my little Etsy store over there in the right sidebar. It’s something I have a lot of fun with… well this year Etsy introduced discount codes for the first time, and so I thought I’d test one out – so you guys get 15% of anything until the end of the month (November 2012) – use coupon code CREATINGCLEVER – I have some new stuff coming in, and some new books that will be out in the next few days so keep checking back. The personalized World Domination notebooks are always our biggest seller at this time of year so get your orders in early. Visit the store.
Here’s something I never thought I would be writing. The UK Government have published their design principles and they pretty much rock. Apparently they came about as an add on to their digital principles (who knew?)
Start with needs
Do less
Design with data
Do the hard work to make it simple
Iterate. Then iterate again.
Build for inclusion
Understand context
Build digital services, not websites
Be consistent, not uniform
Make things open: it makes things better
The image of things they have banned made me smile (I won’t take offense at the light bulb)… Can we let the designers run the world now?
This fish packaging concept is constructed from a double layered polyethylene, and is airtight, resealable and can be filled with ice for transport to keep your fish fresh until it hits the pan! It is also beautiful.
Come on people – if fish packaging can be this clever, then all packaging can be. (see my other favorite fish packaging here)
Designed by the creative genius of the people at Postler Fergusen (yes, they are in London. No, I don’t know them. Yes, they sound pretty cool)
The headquarters of Sony Music in London celebrates 125 years of musical history by covering almost 150 square meters of wall space with the names of nearly 1000 of Sony Music’s signed artists from 1887 to the present day. The work of (typography genius) Alex Fowkes, this beautiful installation is created purely from vinyl (I know it’s a different kind of vinyl but that made me smile). More photos and a video below. (via notcot)
Unknown pranksters with a wonderful English sense of humor have been adding their own stickers to the Central Line of the London Underground. I love the Shepherd’s Pie one (replacing Shepherd’s Bush which really is a place). These would make my journey more entertaining. The anonymous group have a website and a facebook group where you can post suggestions. Yes I know they are going to get in trouble when they are caught, but they are using their clever – and I love that.
And yes, I deliberately left a ‘u’ in humour. I’m writing about London, it seemed apt to do so.
When you see a clever idea, ask yourself "how does this apply to what I'm doing?" You will be amazed what you can learn from seemingly unrelated ideas.
Aileen is a graphic designer turned cynical motivational speaker who is obsessed with clever ideas and the creative process. She is a published author, columnist, award-winning speaker and English. She helps businesses create, develop and launch ideas to help marketing, culture, customer service and profits.
The Depaul Box company in the UK are all about helping people move, both onwards and upwards.
Artist Dean Stockton noticed discarded Christmas trees around London and very simple (and very creatively) gave them eyes (from baubles) and a frown (from tinsel). I love how simple, and how effective this is. Dean, thank you – from all of us. (via 
This made me smile this morning – The unknitting machine. A simple way to recycle wool from old clothes so it can be reused. London based designer Imogen Hedges used an old bicycle frame - the user sits on a chair to pedal the machine, which causes the wool to pass through steam coming out of a kettle before it gets collected on a spindle. I’m not sure how far anyone in England would get without first using the kettle to make a nice cup of tea, but then I’d be happy to sit down and get some gentle exercise while unknitting. (via 
Growing up in England this was always one of my favorite meals and I would have LOVED this set. Boiled egg and soldiers is simply a soft boiled egg and toast cut into strips the perfect size for dipping in the egg – much loved by children and adults (especially if you put marmite on the soldiers.. mmmmmm) Available in the UK from 
Dear Santa..
The headquarters of Sony Music in London celebrates 125 years of musical history by covering almost 150 square meters of wall space with the names of nearly 1000 of Sony Music’s signed artists from 1887 to the present day. The work of (typography genius)
Unknown pranksters with a wonderful English sense of humor have been adding their own stickers to the Central Line of the London Underground. I love the Shepherd’s Pie one (replacing Shepherd’s Bush which really is a place). These would make my journey more entertaining. The anonymous group have a 
