WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU CROSS Walden Pond with King Arthur’s castle? A custom home nestled deep in the woods of the central Midwest, where one can just imagine the king holding court in the central hail while old Henry revels in peaceful views of a forest-framed pond.

The owner — no stranger to these characters as a history and literature buff –had acquired hundreds of wooded acres in this Midwest farm country. When deciding to build, he produced a typical owner’s wish list: a tight-budgeted cottage with architecturally interesting spaces that maximize views. He contracted with Oakstone Homes, a custom builder in Columbia, Mo., to build the home.

Realizing that a small home in the forest spelled d-a-r-k, Mark Simon, a partner in the architectural firm Centerbrook and chief designer for the project, went to work on the challenge. "It struck me that we needed to have some central space that would bring light down through the whole house," says Simon. That led the design team of Simon, Charles Mueller, and Todd Delfosse to create a central mini-atrium. "If you can’t afford a whole courtyard," notes Simon, "this is the next best thing." A windowed rotunda crowns the central meeting hall of this 2,450-square-foot home. The hall itself then opens into all rooms via doors and interior windows, eliminating the darkness found in most old compact farmhouses.

The design team felt that because of the wooded site it was important to capture the spirit of early Americana. "It seemed it would be regionally contextual to use the spirit, if not the precise methods, of the early American Prairie house," explains Simon. Indeed, the view driving toward the house, along a logging road and up a steep embankment, isn’t that different from what you might have seen a century ago. One chimney and three faux chimneys add architectural "authenticity."

Cedar shake siding and a generous eave around the perimeter reflect both the essence and the sheltering function of an early settler’s abode. Windows can remain open to capture breezes even during summer rains. The overhang also keeps out the hot summer sun but lets the lower angles of the warm winter rays in.

As a visitor strolls closer, it becomes clear that this early American complex is really a contemporary home with extraordinary appeal. A front dormer is actually an attic artist loft. Forty feet from the home, a two-story red structure with a gambrel roof poses as a barn but functions as a sculptor’s studio.

The project team indulged the owner’s interest in medieval culture by using bracketing around the home’s exterior and inside the central hall, a subtle nod to the castles of the Middle Ages. Another of the owner’s passions–books–is addressed with an upstairs study. There, oak floors, bookcases, and cozy window seats provide ample opportunity to escape with Celtic mythology.

Capitalizing on the bucolic setting, a rear-screened porch provides a respite from summer insects. The deck above is shared by the master and guest bedrooms and affords sunbathing opportunities during the "shoulder" season. Bracketing is repeated on the porch and deck, reinforcing the medieval theme.

To save money, Simon designed the home as a simple box and used creative cost cutters, like white-painted millwork in the central hallway and reddish painted bookcases in the study. But the overall feel of the home is far from basic. The design team used monumental proportioning to give the effect of graciousness and volume.

The home’s symmetrical elevation gives it a formal outside appearance and adds to an air of grandeur. But just inside the front door that symmetry shifts. The stairs and rotunda are set off center to accommodate the side-entry, two-bay garage, well hidden from visitors arriving in the front.

Interiors are simple and informal. "Making interesting spaces with standard materials was the key," says Simon. "We didn’t go overboard in plumbing or lighting fixtures." Main rooms feature red oak floors. Bathrooms have ceramic tiles on floors and halfway up the walls. The living room, an inviting, warm space, has as its centerpiece a wood-burning stove set in a dramatic alcove. The alcove is lined with tiles that look like brick but without the mass and weight.

The kitchen is a simple space with rich but practical details like a granite-topped island and ample built-in storage. The island houses cabinets and counter space to give more play to the windows, which in turn pay homage to the woods and bring in light. Windows play another important role in the home: They eliminate the need for air conditioning. An upstairs window band provides natural ventilation to counter the central Midwestern summer.

Wayne Guariglia, president of Oakstone Homes, says it took a good deal of site work to put in a road and to carve a space about 200 feet around the footprint of the remotely located home. The tight space dictated unusual care in delivery and handling of materials. Another challenge was the degree of architectural specifications. "We had never encountered the volume of detail in the specs that we did on this job," says Guariglia. "Centerbrook was very focused and excited about the project and was closely involved in it. What was remarkable is that there was such good cooperation between the architect, the owner, and us."

The result is a home that is all at once cozy and magnificent. As Simon notes, "I like the idea of making something simple and still have it be this interesting. You get closer and realize that it’s just an interesting place to be."

Jan Mitchell is a freelance writer for the housing industry living in the San Francisco Bay area.

THINK FOR A MOMENT ABOUT America’s luxury home communities. The merely successful evoke comfort and history. But the truly legendary communities do more than that: They simultaneously cast our memory backward while shooting our imaginations forward.

And so it is at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club, a community that has staked its claim along what many consider the border between urban and rural Arizona. Superstition offers custom lots as well as ready-to-move-in luxury housing. "Each of our communities offers owners a consistent theme in a unique setting," says Tom Popa, vice president of sales and marketing for the Anderson Cos.’ Superstition Mountain Properties. "Anderson strives for imaginative design, impeccable detail, and outstanding quality in its homes and clubhouses," Popa says. Anderson Homes and Design of Scottsdale, Ariz., is building the luxury production housing at the development.

Superstition Mountain aspires to legend by building on the region’s history.

Wanderers carved history into the Superstition Mountains for 9,000 years before the Hohokam and others built the first native settlements. The Spanish "discovered" the area in 1539 and deeded the Peralta clan a land grant spanning much of the Southwest, long before these dry and desolate mountains became a stronghold for Geronimo’s Apache warriors. The Jesuits studded the area with missions, setting the tone for architecture to come. Joseph Waltz claimed a fortune in Superstition. Mountain gold but died without revealing his famous Lost Dutchman mine.

Superstition Mountain draws its architectural theme from the brief and bygone days of the Arizona Territory. Arizona had just parted ways with Mexico to join the United States. "In the 1870s," Popa says, "the railroad finally found its way through the Arizona Territory. Italianate was all the rage in the eastern United States at that time. The trains brought building materials, such as timber, dimensional lumber, and tiles previously not easily available in the Southwest."

Eager to escape the rough-and-tumble reputation of the Wild West, the new Americans seized the opportunity to build new structures in the popular Italian style and remodel old ones with the newly available materials. Unimpeded by academia or zoning, the merged these with historic Spanish styles.

Superstition Mountain embraces the traditional look of the expansive ranch house and pays homage to the hill towns of historic Tuscany. The Villas at Golden Eagle Village are new treasures in the shadows of the past. Floor plans for the luxury homes cluster village-style, literally inhaling the gentle mountain air as thermal breezes of the Superstition Mountains sweep across the landscape at dusk and dawn.

The 3,000-square-foot Cetona plan 2, winner of a Grand Awards at this year’s Gold Nuggets, epitomizes the livable delight of these plans. The Cetona exploits the velvety desert air: Every room has windows or French doors waiting to be flung wide, blurring what is indoors from out. Models boast Tuscan village names to reinforce the theme. The homes feature inviting private courtyards and loggias. Privacy is paramount throughout the plans.

The villa homes nestle neighborly near each other, lending the illusion that you have arrived at an ancient Italian village nestled in the mountains. Thorny Saguaro cactus prick that illusion, grounding the villas to the Sonoran desert well east of metro Phoenix.

The award-winning design is the result of collaboration between BBG Architects of Santa Ana Heights, Calif., and Oz Architects of Scottsdale, Ariz. At build-out there will be 65 homes sized from 2,342 to 3,460 square feet. Prices range from $445,000 tO $605,000. Add lot premiums, and prices range from $450,000 tO $920,000. The typical lot is 65 by 100 feet. Half sit on the Jack Nicklaus–designed golf course, and 12 face the putting park.

The architecture of the community is seamless. Classic details include two-piece mortared clay roof tiles, exposed rafter tails, wood lintels, hewn columns, stone walls, and patinated stucco. Streets are cobblestone.

Superstition Mountain has firm architectural guidelines and a rigorous design review process governing all homes and public buildings in the community. Architecture must be four-sided, not just a pretty elevation, ensuring every view is up to snuff. All structures must be low profile and use at least three materials in the design — for example, stone and stucco walls with exposed hand-hewn wood or stone window headers.

Oz Architects designed the club and carriage houses, Superstition Mountain’s signature buildings. "We do a lot of boutique and hospitality work," says Oz president Don Ziebell, whose carefully crafted clubhouse is an allegory of the remodeled ranch house. This is a brand-new building that looks like a historic home.

"Often when buildings go up, the best day in their lives is the day they receive their certificate of occupancy. Then it’s all downhill from there," Ziebell says referring to the fact that wear and tear and changing tastes in architectural fashion rapidly date many new buildings.

Ziebell’s specialty is finding and combining materials and finishes that stand the test of time. At Superstition Mountain these include an exterior insulation and stucco system finished in a three-coat, Italian lime-wash. The illusion of age mates two color coats with a sealer and gives the building a rich patina from day one. Ziebell also uses stone-surfaced stem walls to anchor the building to the ground and banish what he calls levitating building syndrome.

Other details combine style and conspicuous practicality: Deep overhangs with projecting rafter tails not only evoke another era, they protect walls and glazing from sun and rain. (It doesn’t rain often in Arizona, but when it does it can be fast and furious.) To protect the impression of Arizona’s historic thick adobe walls, Ziebell never exposes wall ends or turns that would reveal 2X4 roots. He also specifies double-studs to give windows the effect of being installed in thick walls.

Ziebell seeks and collects old authentic details, too. One of the doors used in one of the public buildings is a 400-year-old Spanish antique, completely in keeping with the historic-inspiration age of the entire community.

Process integration and a change from electromechanical to hydraulic actuators let safety glass processing machinery supplier Tamglass Tempering System Inc. cut production times to speed up shipping schedules. The change greatly simplified the design of a new glass bending system, eliminating 700 parts, reducing labor costs, and cutting assembly time. Motion controllers from Delta Computer Systems (Vancouver, WA) and hydraulic actuators from Parker (Cleveland, OH) were key components in the design.

For suppliers of curved glass panels for automotive, appliance, and architectural uses, the QSB (Quick Set Bend) Bending and Tempering System reportedly makes it easier to form glass with complex J- and 5shapes. Engineers increasingly use such curved glass panels in high-volume products such as automotive rear and side windows to balance both function and form. On the function side, for example, automotive engineers may boost fuel economy using cylindrical glass in place of flat glass to reduce the drag coefficient. While on the form side, vehicle designers can use glass with different radii to create distinctive styling cues.

The panels are typically produced in a three-stage process. First the glass is heated in an oven to make it pliable. It is then transferred to a molding station where pressure forces the glass to bend. Finally, rapid cooling with forced air tempers the glass.

“In our previous curved glass manufacturing systems,” explains Jack Sandlin, Tamglass chief engineer, “the glass was forced to bend on rollers that were positioned mechanically using servomotors. We used clutches to apply power to ball screws, and brakes to hold the rollers in place.”

The previous system wasn’t as integrated as the new QSB system, which chains the oven, bending, and tempering stations closely into a continuous, integrated, computer-controlled process. Because the glass had further to travel, and more time to cool off in the old system, it had to be heated to higher temperatures to make sure it was still sufficiently pliable to be pressed into shape by the time it reached the bending station.

Consequently, the older system used more energy. “Locating the bending station immediately adjacent to the oven not only saves energy lost from cooling,” Sandlin says, “but the new system uses gravity, rather than pressure, to bend the glass, which also saves energy and improves the optical quality of the glass.”

More than 100 axes. The simplicity of the new QSB system reduces the redesign and build time for a unit from ten to six months, according to Sandlin. And given that there are more than 100 axes on the machine, the labor savings of mounting a single cylinder instead of a half-dozen components on each really adds up. It also eliminates the hassle of aligning bearing assemblies, mounting motors, ballscrews, clutches, and brakes. The approach eliminates many small components, such as keys, set screws, and couplings.

In the QSB system, the hot glass passes out of the oven, moving on rollers across a curved roller bed, bending as it travels to conform to the shape of the bed. The rollers are mounted on a set of parallel rails (90 rollers on each of seventeen 12-ft rails), with the rolling axis of each roller perpendicular to the length of the rail.

To shape the roller beds to match the precise contour of the desired bend, two hydraulic actuators, one for each end of each rail, individually, position each of the 51 roller rails in the system. This requires a total of 102 hydraulic actuators, each with at least a [+ or -]0.003-inch positioning accuracy.

As the glass bends to conform to the shape of the roller bed, it passes into the quench station, where it is sandwiched between two sets of rollers on two more sets of rails (17 roller rails above and 17 below). Air blown through channels mounted next to each roller cools the glass rapidly, tempering it.

“To control the motion of such a large number of axes to such tight tolerances, we needed specialized motion controllers,” says Tamglass control engineer John Cecehine. In fact, engineers evaluated four different controller types over a period of six months before ultimately selecting Delta Computer Systems’ RMC100 motion controllers. In addition to precise control, Cecchine says, “the controllers had the direct interface with position transducers and variable hydraulic valves that we were looking for, and was the only one that supported failsafe operation should any sensors lose power.

The controllers are mounted in intermediate control cabinets on the machine close to the actuators. “Using position feedback from each of the two actuators on each rail, the controller monitors the difference between the two cylinders while it is traveling, and keeps the position in line with each other,” says Cecchine.

Graphical software development.

Each controller can manage up to eight motion axes simultaneously, positioning to [+ or -]0.001-inch accuracy. To program, debug, and tune the controllers, Tamglass engineers used RMCWin, a graphical software development package from Delta Computer Systems that converts high-level motion commands into sequences of operations to be performed by the controllers. An industrial PC downloads the motion commands in bursts over Profibus into function tables that are contained in the motion controllers.

The PC performs overall system control and human machine interface (HMI) functions, and stores computer “recipes” that describe how each type of glass product is processed. The PC also controls the heat of the 60-ft-long oven and the speed of the glass traveling through it. “Each piece of glass takes three to five minutes to travel through the oven,” Sandlin explains. “The computer tracks from 10 to 50 pieces of glass that may be in the system at any time.”

According to Ceechine, computer control makes the glass manufacturing system very flexible. “The types of bends and sizes of glass material can be changed quickly and easily, reducing non-productive time and maximizing throughput.”

The controllers support direct Profibus interfaces without requiring any special interface modules. The use of Profibus, a multi-master bus, solves the problem of connecting the industrial computer to multiple motion controllers simultaneously.

Profibus is daisy-chained between the PC and the array of motion controllers. Each motion controller has a unique address on the bus, which the computer references when it writes instruction sequences or interrogates status from that particular controller. “Using Profibus greatly simplifies system wiring compared to I/Ointensive point-to-point wired systems,” explains Cecchine.

One of the first installations of the new Tamglass machine is at a glass manufacturer in Sweden. The new QSB system’s flexibility allows the company to produce a wide range of glass panel sizes, up to a maximum size of 48 inches by 60 ft. “Fieldbus technology contributed to lower system manufacturing costs and easier system assembly and maintenance,” says Sandlin. “It greatly simplifies all of the wiring, so we were able to install and get it up and running faster than any other system we have done.”

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, new home of the world-renowned Philadelphia Orchestra, recently opened to rave reviews from critics, and, most importantly, from the artists, dancers, musicians and audiences of Philadelphia.

Far more than a mere concert and recital hall, the Kimmel Center represents a rich tapestry of architecture, acoustic brilliance, and versatility, woven from the cultural fibers of the city itself, due in no small measure to the work of Theatre Projects Consultants. When the Kimmel Center was in the planning stages, TPC organized an extensive programming exercise, including many meetings with every constituent who would potentially use the facilities.

“We tried to represent everyone in Philadelphia and to achieve an environment in which their imaginations could soar — where they could expand their operations and realize their vision in a space that they felt would work for them,” says David Taylor, TPC project manager for the Kimmel Center.

“We worked with a world-class team in an organized manner, with a foot-high pile of questionnaires to learn about where they were currently and what aspirations each organization had for the future.”

The Kimmel Center houses two performing venues: the 2,500-seat concert hall, Verizon Hall, new home for the Philadelphia Orchestra; and the multiform Perelman Theatre, a 620-seat recital hall and theatre. Verizon Hall, with acoustics by Russell Johnson of Artec Consultants, is destined to be one of the great concert halls of North America. Its sophisticated acoustics and performance equipment, designed by TPC, includes a massive overhead acoustic canopy in three pans and computer-controlled doors that surround the entire hall to open the volume to the reverberation chambers beyond. In addition, TPC equipped the flexible stage with coordinated suspension points and a full stage lighting system with fibre-optic data backbone and audio-visual equipment.

The highest priority throughout the design was for the symphonic acoustics. This is a hall for one of the world’s great orchestras, noted for its lush, velvety sound. But Verizon Hall also proved its versatility in its first month of operation with performances by superstar Elton John (who used an extensive “rock-and-roll” moving light rig, live and recorded video, and a high sound pressure level reinforcement rig) and an ice show. Verizon Hall is also the first to have extensive built-in projection facilities that may be used as an adjunct to symphonic performances. The opening performance events were simulcast on public television nationally and on the web internationally.

The smaller Perelman Theatre is a unique space with two basic “modes” of operation. In “recital mode” Perelman becomes a miniature concert hall, perfect for chamber music and soloists, with the platform stage end of the room surrounded by three levels of audience galleries that provide an orchestra shell. In “theatre mode” the entire stage end of the room revolves, the shell moves into a garage behind the stage and exposes an 80 by 40 foot stage with fly tower above, on which a full set of scenery could be preset. The stage has a sprung floor to support its major constituent, the modern dance company Philadanco. The orchestra floor’s raked seating is located on a wagon that is in turn placed on an elevator. When lowered to the basement, all the seating may be removed to provide a flat floor throughout the hall. This creates a totally flexible space for arena, thrust or multiple stages, or a promenade space for experimental theatre, dance or music, or even social events such as parties, balls and cabarets. “Verizon Hall is off to a promising start,” wrote Peter Dobrin of the Philadelphia Inquirer in December. “The Philadelphia Orchestra played its first full concert in its new home Saturday night, and it is already apparent that Verizon’s general sound concept is a success…. the basic bones of a great hall are all there. The orchestra has resonance at home for the first time. The individual sections of the orchestra project with a one-musician-one-note evenness. When the orchestra reaches peak volume — as it did Saturday night at the end of the second suite from Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloe — the sound does not buckle. Musicians say they can hear one another.”

Herbert Muschamp of The New York Times wrote, “The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is precise, luminous architecture for lovers of rich cultivated sound. The building puts Philadelphia on a new cultural footing for the 21st century. Mr. Vinoly [the architect] has designed an urban ensemble, composed primarily of city views. Classical music is the architecture here, the building an instrument in which to perform and hear it.”

Anyone living in a city has come across stencil graffiti, but sometimes it is so subtle that only the trained eye will appreciate it. Stencilling can be unobtrusive, much of the time consisting of simple line art images or crude lettering. Many writers also choose decaying masonry as their canvas, so their work can literally blend into the background as time goes on. This certainly integrates their work into the urban environment, but it could conceivably make it hard to spot in the first place.

Tristan Manco, director of Bristol design consultancy Tijuana Design, has compiled an exhaustive book of stencil graffiti from around the world. From abrasive social commentary to tongue-in-cheek slogans, this is certainly a comprehensive selection. First impressions are good: Manco is a graphic designer by trade and the entire book, from the stencil-style typography to the clean, uncluttered layout that allows the graffiti to dominate, are a joy to behold.

It’s a shame Manco’s writing doesn’t come up to scratch. His prose is dry, academic and an effort to read. It is filled with the hackneyed jargon of the least imaginative designers, the kind of copy that makes you immediately glaze over.

However, to give Manco his due, he has taken the time to dig up a wide range of writers, and he gives them plenty of room to talk about their work.

A cursory flick through the book will not fail to draw a smile — Figure with Tiger, by Jerome Mesnager (above left) is a work of subtle genius, the way the tiger is camouflaged by the decaying plaster, stalking Mesnager’s trademark white figure. Then there is Banksy, who paints subversive alien chimps wearing sandwich boards, warning humankind to clean up its act, or they’re going to take over (above right). Banksy’s work stands out even when it is covered by the visual noise of inferior writers: one particular work in London’s West. End portrayed a silhouette of the Mona Lisa with a rocket launcher on her shoulder. The image was so striking, twisted and incongruously funny that just catching sight ‘of it would lift your mood. Banksy is well aware of the potency of his work: ‘As soon as I cut my first stencil, I could feel the power there, The ruthlessness and efficiency of it is perfect.’

There are other writers, such as Mitch and Swifty, that are taking the graffiti aesthetic and applying it to graphic design and typography. Mitch’s custom typography, which Manco aptly describes with the oxymoron ‘retro-future’, is peculiarly satisfying: the simplicity of the letters; the way different words are juxtaposed to make a vibrant complete image; the way he uses spray paints to, in his words, ‘provide some bad-ass colour fades/splats/cracks’, should be an inspiration to any designer.

Similarly, Swifty’s installation for an Amsterdam coffee shop, which consists entirely of slang words for marijuana, in a stunning array of day-glo colours, is a riot of style. However, graffiti starts to lose its power if you take it off the streets. Banksy knows what he prefers: ‘I’ve done gallery shows’ and, if you’ve been hitting all sorts of places, they’re a real step backwards.’

So take a look around you, because you could be missing out on what could be described as underground pop art for the 21st century.

TRADITIONALLY, there is no love lost between creatives and researchers. Such different personalities, such different methods of problem-solving. Some put it down to the left brain against the right. But that is old news.

This was the case long before Professor Sir Christopher Frayling’s Design in Business Week speech last October, in which he took the step of condemning research as one of the heresies of the design industry. Though not quite Axis of Evil’ material, these were strong words. So why is research so often seen as the destroyer of the creative process?

Wendy Gordon, who heads the research team at creative strategist The Fourth Room, thinks she might have part of the answer. And the research industry, she acknowledges is partly to blame.

Gordon traces the problem back more than 20 years to the way research has actually come to be used in the creative industries.

‘When I first started working with ad agencies in 1979 there was a whole new breed of qualitative research coming into being. The whole thing then was–how can we connect the creatives and the creative process better with real human beings?’ she says.

Back then, research was a much more extensive function, that tied in closely with the creative, recalls Gordon. It would be brought into the creative process at three key stages: first, before a strategy was developed to inform creative ideas; second, to test a couple of strategic alternatives developed on the back of the first stage; third, the creative idea. The results, she say, were good.

‘It was pretty successful. It did help ad agencies and clients feel they were creating more effective campaigns based on what people thought and felt,’ says Gordon. But then the marketing services sector was hit by a blow that changed the use of research forever. The result was effectively a wholesale downgrade of the discipline.

‘As we hit recession, these three stages quickly condensed into one,’ says Gordon. ‘Agencies wouldn’t pay for the three-stage process and neither would clients. What you tried to do in the space of one group discussion was work out what was going on, what the potential strategies could be, and evaluate some ideas that had already been conceived,’ she adds. It was clearly all too ambitious.

As a result, throughout the 1990s qualitative (non data-led) research, became synonymous with the focus group discussion, says Gordon. This condensed approach to research saw too many agendas on the table at once. The research function never fully recovered as a creative force.

Nowadays, Frayling’s view probably sums up the attitude of many creatives towards research. The problem is that Frayling and others only seem to experience ‘research’ when it is killing their ideas. Gordon is sympathetic.

‘Using research to evaluate design is the problem. However, it should be used as part of the journey to understand,’ she says. ‘As soon as a consultancy is involved, a project has already moved into the implementation phase. Implementation is about evaluation, not exploration,’ she says. The point is key to her thesis.

She feels that by using research to inform client and consultancy-side creatives at the start of a brief, and by uniting design and research thinking at the investigation phase, she can begin to change a few perceptions about research.

But proving the creative case for research means adopting a radical stance about how and when research is to be used. Gordon describes her approach as ‘designing and interpreting research that enables companies to connect and re-connect with their customers’.

Focusing on fundamentally understanding customers and their needs, she suggests, is key to developing business strategy and company growth. Her goal is to elevate the status of research to a discipline that ‘brings companies and brands face to face with real people, in real contexts, in the real and changing world’. Key to this, she says, is the thirst for knowledge–curiosity. But there is still a long way to go for this thinking to be more widely accepted.

It will take a huge process of education to alter battered perceptions from the creative side of the fence, as well as redefine what research means and how it should be used by clients. But Gordon has a few ideas about how qualitative research, when used well, can fuse with traditional creative disciplines.

‘If you could get creatives to think of researchers as being intuitive–tapping into the experience that they have with people–they would find the whole thing makes sense,’ she says. She has experienced this first-hand, having worked closely with Michael Wolff.

‘It’s not laborious and left brain. Good researchers use a very creative process–it’s just a different type of creative process to designing. Good researchers and good creatives have an immediate rapport, but bad creatives and bad researchers have a terrible rapport,’ she concludes.

At last year’s Design in Business Week, Frayling also voiced concern that design is too often used for the quick-fix, rather than as a strategic tool. So it seems to be with research. Could it be that Gordon’s story is not so different from Frayling’s?

THE MILLENNIUM PRODUCTS roadshow rolled into Johannesburg in November 1999. Since then, attempts to promote British design in South Africa have been few and far between.

Designers, however, are beginning to show more interest in fostering links between the two countries, whose bilateral trade was worth pounds6bn in 2000 (Trade Partners UK).

A fortnight ago, Tomato Interactive’s Tom Roope and Farrow Design’s Mark Farrow attended the 5th International Design Indaba in Cape Town - described by its founder Ravi Naidoo as ‘a high-end event to inspire and benchmark South African design against the world’s best’. Separately, RFA director Richard Fowler is returning to South Africa this week to negotiate the basis for contract relationships’ on a tourism and community project in the Khayelitsha township.

That the country is home to both new media shindigs and shanty towns gives a fair indication of its diversity and character as an emerging economy. RFA’s commission followed a visit in January last year by a group of British exhibition designers, which also included Event Communications and Land Design Studio.

Trade Partners UK Cape Town representative Janet Usher organised the trip. She says, ‘Design is something we haven’t done an awful lot on. It’s a mature industry here in terms of graphic design, for example. But we would like to encourage more British companies to come out and take a look. The main opportunities will be in partnership and we do run a match-making service.’

Fowler agrees that British designers have ‘no chance’ without first finding local partners. ‘You can’t just expect to fly in and fly out,’ he says. RFA is working with Cape Town architect Magqwaka Associates. Fowler expresses confidence in ’sophisticated local design and contracting facilities’.

What British exhibition designers bring to the table, says Land Design Studio creative director Peter Higgins, is high-level technical expertise in terms of audio visual and interactive effects, as well as experience in creating museum narratives. ‘UK interpretation skills are top of the pile,’ he says.

In Fowler’s view, there is plenty of good work on offer. Higgins points to strong curatorial expertise and ‘fantastic stories’ like ‘the Cradle of Humankind’. He adds, ‘Investment in the heritage and culture would bring in tourists and extend South Africa’s appeal as a holiday destination.’

But Higgins is ‘not holding his breath’ about such ideas getting off the ground. The problem is funding. The South African government needs to spend money on education and fighting Aids and potential commercial sponsors are strapped for cash, he says.

While the cultural sector is simply under-resourced, currency volatility is a wider issue. ‘The brand has devalued 40 per cent in the past year,’ says Naidoo. ‘The exchange rate is around 16 brand to the pound.’ Although fees for the township work are minimal, Fowler hopes to fix his payments in pounds sterling.

With 50 per cent of the population under 18 years old, demographics suggest South Africa is destined to become a significant market. The country has more mobile phones than landlines and a youth-oriented consumer culture is starting to develop, says Naidoo, who is managing director of the consultancy Interactive Africa in addition to running Design Indaba.

Usher says she intends to carry out an ‘in-depth’ internal review of the South African design industry. She adds, ‘We need to become more knowledgeable about the market to break it down and see where the opportunities are and what technology and skills are needed.’ But financial and cultural factors seem likely to constrain direct British involvement in the medium term.

The corporate market for identity, strategy, packaging and literature jobs is dominated by a ‘big four’ of Brown KSDP (owned by WPP Group), Interbrand-Sampson, Switch Design and Trademark Design, according to InterbrandSampson managing director Jeremy Sampson. ‘The major design consultancies are in each other’s faces all the time,’ he says.

UK consultancies haven’t discovered the South African cost structure, which is 75 per cent of the going rate in London, says Sampson. With ‘global best practice’ and electronic communications, this allows InterbrandSampson to present itself as a low-cost producer within the Interbrand group, he says.

For British designers, moving into this market is not half as easy as they might think, says Sampson, who first came to Johannesburg in 1968. He adds, ‘There’s a limited number of big clients and the most successful design businesses have grown in South Africa. It’s not just a case of sticking a flag in the ground.’

Naidoo thinks vibrant smaller consultancies, like Red Shift, Wireframe and Type 01, are already capable of ‘challenging the status quo’ domestically.

But he is also quick to spot ‘arbitrage opportunities’. He says, ‘South Africa is positioning itself as a hub for creative services - world class production values at brand prices.’

While Sampson suggests retail and interiors work is hotting up and Naidoo says specialist design input will increasingly be required ‘further up the value chain’, Naidoo implies South Africa has more to offer the UK than vice versa at this stage.

The technology infrastructure in Cape Town is the same as in downtown San Francisco or London, says Naidoo. His, vision is that Cape Town will become for the design industry what Bangalore is for software providers.

South African consultancies will become ‘more assertive’ in seeking ’strategic alliances with design and production houses in the UK c outsource front-end design or print,’ he says. Naidoo adds, We’re so darned competitive, it becomes a no-brainer.’

YOU know where you are with a good old design cliche. There’s no fear of mistaking what type of product or company it belongs to or what image it’s trying to present, because there are a host of competitors doing exactly the same thing with variations of the same design cues.

And while you’re not going to win any prizes for creativity or make any startling leaps in market share, you know that by playing safe, you should avoid risky and costly mistakes while doing enough to, at best, make a modest gain and, at worst, keep pace with your rivals.

Dull, but true. And while design cliches are nothing new, in today’s economic climate of caution coupled with pressure of faster speeds to market and the need to cater for international audiences, many designers feel increasingly frustrated with what they see as a pervading sprit of conservatism and a reliance on those handy, but hackneyed design devices.

‘People can’t be bothered to come up with their own ideas. It’s a visual shorthand that means absolutely nothing,’ says Williams Murray Hamm director Richard Williams, who despairs of the lack of innovative design and urges designers to take the lead.

‘We designers are meant to be experts in what we do. We’re not forelock-tugging suppliers, but are providing clients with a creative solution that sets out what needs to be done. Rather than follow the market, why not leapfrog it and steal a march on your competitors?’

More exciting opportunities exist abroad, adds Design Bridge creative director Tim Perkins. ‘UK packaging used to be seen as being cutting-edge, but we’re doing braver stuff in other countries now. Maybe we’ve got too many rules here,’ he says. ‘There’s a lot of pressure to get things out there rather than getting something out there that will really get noticed.’

Johnson Banks creative director Michael Johnson adds that his most innovative clients are also outside the UK. ‘It’s quite a tough time to get weird stuff through. There’s a degree of conservatism around and fear on the part of designers and clients. A lot of people are just trying to stay alive,’ he says. ‘There’s just a lack of enterprising spirit generally. We’re very risk averse.’

The difficult nature of the current economic climate should really be no excuse for relying on cliches.

‘It costs very little to play safe. But, a recession is the best time to invest when you can buy cheaper in terms of manufacturing and, if you’re going to push the brand forward, to do something more innovative,’ says Tutssels Enterprise IG executive creative director Glenn Tutssel.

And while great graphics shouldn’t take any longer than uninspired graphics, a swift graphic make-over will inevitably appeal more to a client than a costly and potentially riskier structural packaging overhaul. There’s a pressure to fend off the competition by reacting very quickly. But maybe it’s a false economy because many just hold off the competition when really the better option would’ve been looking at the bigger picture and taking longer,’ Tutssel adds.

Readily available imagery is also a contributor to clichedom. Many blame computer software. ‘Everyone has access to the same tools and second rate designers would rather fall back on these cliches,’ says Wolff Olins senior designer Ned Campbell.

Increased reliance on photolibraries rather than commissioning photography is another factor, says FutureBrand creative consultant Peter Stimpson. ‘We’re starting to see a paucity of ideas in photography. It does become very easy trap — nice picture, manipulate it a bit, with neat typography and you’re in business.’

But there are undeniable advantages to the creative use of design devices familiar to the audience, rather than risk confusing or irritating them by too much change.

‘The one thing that makes a brand successful is that a consumer can understand the brand category it’s in,’ says Tutssel. ‘You can use cliches to your advantage by finding a fresh way of interpretation, for example taking a crest and doing it in a fresh and contemporary way and making it ownable by the brand.’

The skill is in knowing when those familiar design cues have become cliched to the point of meaningless, and when it would be better to update them or even go for something innovative that may become a trend, and who knows, in time even a cliche in its own right.

Business-to-business design language

‘Business-to-business is absolutely riddled with cliches. Businessmen shaking hands, cityscapes, business meetings, computer screens, hands on keyboards. The colour palette always appears to be blue and burgundy, maybe silver — what people assume to be professional and having gravitas,’ says Coley Porter Bell creative director Stephen Bell. Design consultancies haven’t really helped by perpetuating the cliches.’

Global signifiers

Use of spheres/globes/arrows/arms to signify the international character of a company. Newer examples include Consignia, cited by many designers as a prime example of a cliched identity. The prevalence of such symbols makes them ‘utterly meaningless’, says Wolff Olins senior designer Ned Campbell.

The crescent shape in corporate identities

Combined with a logo type and used singley or in a series to resemble what one designer called ‘fingernail clippings’.

The iMac-inspired translucent blue, moulded case

Often hand-in-hand with the organic styling that’s replaced more geometric shapes in product design over the past decade, as popularised by the iconic status of the iMac. ‘We’ve seen it used in everything from copycat computers to calculators. You can recognise it as a cliche created as a moment of fashion,’ says Factory Design co-director Adam White.

The food-on-a-fork packaging shot

Wins extra cliche value when used with rising steam. ‘Frozen foods all have something stuck on the end of a fork. Do we really need to be shown how to eat?’ says Design Bridge creative director Tim Perkins.

Devices for premiumness

‘Script type to indicate premiumness; fake crests to say “I’m regal”; rosettes/ribbons! medals/bows as signs of provenance - even sausages have rosettes on them. It’s an instant graphic to add on,’ says Tutssels Enterprise IG executive creative director Glenn Tutssel. Also no type or minimal type on matt black to signify super-premiumness.

Use of brand-leader’s colour scheme

‘Rip-off Cadbury purple, Heinz turquoise, Coca-Cola red and so on, to gain familiarity with the consumer. It’s a very cheap trick. It works on some own-label brands, but it really is a cop-out,’ says Tutssel.

‘Swirly-wirly’ graphics on soap-powder packs

This really gets on designers’ nerves. ‘Does vulgar mean shelf impact? It’s a market crying out for change,’ says Tutssel. ‘There’s a lot of looking over at what other people are doing, rather than thinking how you can create the difference,’ says Perkins.

Exclamation marks in the banner

‘Please, you don’t need to tell me. If it’s exciting enough — I can work it out for myself,’ says Williams Murray Hamm director Richard Williams.

Pet food packaging

‘Catfood always has a cat looking up appealingly for food. They all look as if they’ve been stuffed,’ says Williams, adding that it’s a packaging sector badly in need of change.

Anything ‘designer’

Nonsensical use of the word ‘designer’ as a description of a product. ‘We’re always irritated by seeing a “designer” telephone or a “designer” desk-set, for example. It’s so daft when you look at it — like buying a particular brand of “doctorly” aspirins,’ says White.

And a few other favourite cringe-worthy cliches:

* Sports-drink style sipping tops on any beverage

* Cliche brand names like Be Good to Yourself

* Male toiletries with embossed stripes in the packaging

* Shock brand attitude tactics like FCUK

* Dotcom language such as @ in corporate graphics

* The landscape pack shot — good for anything from cereal to bacon

* Medicinal packaging diagrams with painful chest/head/throat indicated by redness and concentric radiating circles

* Pizza packaging with ubiquitous shot of a pizza slice with stringy cheese in the foreground

JAGUAR’s director of design Ian Callum is living his childhood dream.

Since he was five years’ old, he used to play with models of Jaguar cars or draw sketches to reinvent the British classic sports car. You could argue that because he has reached his goal, there is very little left for him to try to achieve, yet Callum rejoices at the challenges that a job connected to such a heritage brand brings. A life spent in the automotive industry hasn’t dampened his spirit either.

Trained in vehicle design at the Royal College of Art, he was at Ford for ten years, working his way up the company and taking posts at the several design studios abroad. He spent another ten years at TWR Design, as chief designer and general manager, and since 1999 he has been located at Jaguar’s Coventry headquarters.

He was, he recalls, originally employed as ‘director of styling’, but his pragmatism and in-depth knowledge of the car industry meant that he was soon asked to become head of design, with the styling department recognised as a design department. ‘Although we don’t do the engineering, we have to know everything about it; then there is ergonomics involved, the packaging and the very architecture of the car,’ explains Callum

Jaguar’s design department is part of the overall product development area, comprising about 2500 people. And Callum runs a tight ship with a team of about 120 people, equally split into designers, digital and clay modellers with surface and feasibility engineers.

Yet Callum’s role isn’t confined to just vehicle design. Under a directive of J Mays, vice-president of design at Ford Worldwide, it has been made an overall Ford policy that design departments have a say, and in some cases a sign-off, to most aspects of the visual outward facing elements of the design process, from corporate identity through to the car itself. ‘Our function however, is not to necessarily produce all the elements, but to approve them,’ says Callum.

So far, Jaguar’s main external collaborations have been with Imagination for its motor show exhibitions, The Partners for branding and Young & Rubicam for advertising. No major shake up as regards appointments is planned, although small, developing criteria such as touch-screen technology within the interiors might require appointment of new design consultancies.

‘The reason I’m looking outside is because I’ve learnt that a designer has to respect one thing, that is to do what he is best at and do it well, and leave other functions for other people who are best at theirs,’ Callum says. Learning ‘to call the experts in’ can be a stimulating exchange; an area in which he has done exactly that is in product design with some car designers, which he won’t name. Historically though, he admits that Jaguar has been quite self-contained, farming very little work out to independent designers.

However, there is a sense things could change, although maybe not in the high-profile way Ford did with Marc Newson. Recently, Jaguar commissioned a research project with Seymour Powell focusing on how various functions of a car work better. ‘They produced some super ideas,’ says Callum. ‘The only problem is that once you analyse them there are some cost implications.’

Callum is a firm believer in the power of the Jaguar brand and in the futuristic design ethos that made it such a desirable item in the past. For him, the archetypal values of Jaguar can be found in the late 1950s and 1960s, with icons such as the E-Type and the Mk II ‘a sports saloon car designed while companies like BMW were producing boring boxes.’ However, he acknowledges that the bold, design verve stopped around 1967, when the car industry went ‘into international meltdown’ and production became so tied by laws and legislation that it was impossible to continue producing such daring, sensuous shapes.

His mission is to return to that pioneering spirit and to recreate a set of Jaguar values that comprise ‘performance, character, spirit and British design tradition’. Differing brand perceptions across the globe is also a consideration. Jaguar’s main market is undoubtedly the US, where the brand is perceived as ‘very English, slightly off-centre, quaint, with 40 percent of customers being women.

In Europe, the main competitors are BMW and Mercedes and Jaguar’s current aim is to delve further into the European market. Callum is confident in Britain’s design heritage, which, as Burberry and Paul Smith have shown, ‘can be turned on its head with some humour’.

Callum is a man in the right position and the right time. He joined the company at a moment of uncertainty, but has now been given free reign to push the boat out further. Last September, in Frankfurt, Jaguar launched the R Coupe four-seater prototype, which captured all the elements (iconic design, luxury and heritage, married with contemporary style) that Callum is trying to bring back to the fore. He calls it ‘my statement of intent’ and stresses how important it was that his manifesto of design philosophy was made public, as a way of gaining confidence within Jaguar’s management and allowing design to move forward.

EVERY design consultancy has its own way of doing things. Some adhere more rigorously to their approaches than others. But, for the most part, these tried and trusted models — sometimes seen as brands in their own right — become integral to how the business is run.

To what extent, though, do clients buy into such thinking? Moreover, in recessionary times, when competition for all kinds of design work is intense, can consultancies make any marketing capital out of promoting a particular skill, service or specialist resource? In short, are branded offers anything to shout about?

When Nucleus completed a brand strategy programme for Cable & Wireless (DW 14 February), it was keen to highlight the role of its BrandDueDiligence service in the project. Nucleus managing director Peter Matthews believes that ‘robust methodologies’ enhance a consultancy’s credibility.

‘Design consultancies need to be able to talk to the [client's] board about hard business issues, not just the look and feel of a brand,’ says Matthews. ‘More often than not, branding decisions are subjective and taken on the fly. [We] use a diagnostic tool [to be] as objective as possible in terms of evaluating a brand’s relative strengths and weaknesses.’

BrandDueDiligence is tailored to brand valuation issues arising from mergers, acquisitions and divestment activity. But it is not the only branded service Nucleus offers. Matthews’ general view is that such a suite of services makes the consultancy more ‘business-like’.

In terms of attracting new business, branded solutions are ‘points of discussion’, Matthews says. He adds, ‘It’s important to have a platform to deliver insights and relevant stories to talk to clients about.’ Once a project is underway, these tools can be used to ‘define what success looks like, and you can measure the benefits of that.’

So how is this regarded on the client side? Cable & Wireless vice-president, marketing services Mark Davis says, ‘I would encourage the use of branded tools. They offer a clear, pragmatic roadmap that is easy to understand and can articulate specific deliverables. It makes it easier to manage the process of informing and influencing stakeholders within the [client's] organisation. Senior people feel more comfortable with solutions in a box.’

While Davis doesn’t want to lose the ‘flexibility’ that designers bring to the table, he thinks ‘good project management’ is what clients find reassuring about branded processes. ‘It’s what we expect from the ‘big five’ groups and that’s no different when buying from a brand consultancy,’ he adds.

Some degree of client hand-holding is evident in Elmwood’s Step Change product too. Elmwood chairman Jonathan Sands says it began as an in-house ‘creative thinking tool’, but is now offered as a strategic service to clients.

Downsizing has stretched many clients’ resources, Sands suggests. As a result, briefs have become ‘less rigorous’ as the client is effectively ’subcontracting strategy’. Through Step Change, the consultancy can get involved ‘further up stream’, helping clients to generate ideas ‘before the product is a gleam in the marketer’s eye’, he says.

Sands believes a branded offer has enabled Elmwood to adopt fresh positioning as ‘an ideas company’. He says, ‘The concept has made a major contribution to growth over the past two years. Without it, our London office would not have been a success.

Glen Gribbon, marketing manager at drinks company Kyndal, endorses the approach. He says, ‘Our relationship started because of Step Change and Elmwood won design work on the back of it. As a model, it does encourage inclusive working and I would look for similar processes in future. It shows a consultancy is thinking about brand dynamics.’

However, it takes time to develop a standalone product. Step Change came through several iterations and was tested for two years with ‘friendly clients’ before being rolled out. But having ‘genuinely differentiated product’ is worth it, says Sands, because ‘clients’ greater buying power [means] price premiums cannot be justified without offering something extra’.

BamberForsyth Fitch’s name generation service, Namebrains, operates more like a sub-brand. BamberForsyth Fitch director Clare Fuller says the benefits are that clients can see ‘quickly and easily’ that the consultancy has a ’specific focus, a rigorous programme and a track record’ in naming. In some sense it’s also a way of avoiding the hard sell. ‘Not everyone wants to buy design work as well,’ she adds.

However, Fuller says any subbrand ‘needs to complement the core business’ and doubts whether further segmentation would be of any value. ‘We have a limited marketing spend and wouldn’t be getting most bangs for our buck if we spread marketing over several sub-brands,’ she says.

The prevalence of branded offers seems to be a response to increased competition and the fact that design is becoming more like other forms of consultancy. Sands suggests that developing a specialist service cannot be done in piecemeal fashion. ‘It’s not a one-off investment,’ he says. ‘Lots of branded jargon is met with cynicism and scepticism. Clients are bright people. They’ll find out which [offers] are selling them short’.

What is uppermost in clients’ minds is effective delivery and good project management. Whether branding a tool or service makes any difference is a moot point. Davis is full of praise for the approach taken by Nucleus with Cable & Wireless, but says tellingly, ‘I don’t know what it’s called. It’s the process that’s important.’