Tiny urban forests are having a hugely positive impact
With one in three people in England lacking access to nature-rich spaces, this micro-foresting method is being deployed to change that. Have you heard of the Miyawaki foresting method? It’s a Japanese-style tree-planting technique that involves placing a strategically diverse group of native woodland trees within a small area of...
Current in Design
What’s the meaning behind Banksy’s latest stunt?
The anonymous street artist has claimed credit for three consecutive animal-themed artworks in three days. One theory is circulating on social media that the ‘London Zoo’ collection (as its been dubbed) reflects the parlous state of the UK amid ongoing far-right riots nationwide. This week, a number of animal-themed artworks...
Does Banksy’s latest mural have an environmental message?
The anonymous street artist has confirmed he is behind a new artwork that appeared in north London on Sunday. Many are speculating that it depicts nature’s struggle in an increasingly urbanised world. Yesterday, social media hit pause on obsessing over Kate Middleton’s whereabouts to admire a new mural that...
Why did LA’s graffiti artists target these downtown luxury apartments?
In the heart of Los Angeles stands three skyscrapers once destined to house luxury condominiums, a five-star hotel, a shopping mall, and more. Now, it’s completely abandoned and covered in graffiti. What happened? Since the year 2019, a trio of massive skyscrapers in downtown Los Angeles have been left completely...
Lyle’s Golden Syrup changes logo for first time since 1883
In an effort to appeal to a younger market, Lyle’s Golden Syrup has changed its logo for the first time in nearly 150 years. It’s a pivot toward flat design, a trend that continues to dominate labelling, packaging, and marketing across many industries. If you’ve ever bought Lyle’s Golden...
Are these drive-in parks the ‘petrol stations’ of the future?
A new kind of refueling station has popped up in the Danish town of Sønderborg. Rather than filling up on petrol, the facility has been designed to allow drivers to ‘recharge their minds’ alongside their electric vehicles. Most petrol stations only look good when captured on a retro film camera...
Samsung reimagines the London Underground map in new campaign
For the first time in 90 years, London’s public transport map has been redesigned. The circular layout was put forward by Samsung in promotion of a new feature on its Galaxy S24 smartphone. Although the vast majority of Londoners will have at least partially memorised the city’s public transport map, visitors and newcomers to the UK’s capital city might find its spiderweb design a little overwhelming. Regardless, it’s remained unchanged for...
Google’s Lumiere generates realistic AI videos from text prompts
AI video is fast turning from uncanny valley to genuinely realistic, and Google’s Lumiere is the most sophisticated text-to-video generator we’ve seen to date. Evoking a sense of awe – and a hefty dose of unease – Google recently exhibited how sophisticated AI video has become in just a few years of development. In the same way that text-to-image generators like Bing Image Creator, DALL-E, and Midjourney can create original images...
Can wooden wind towers make renewable energy even cleaner?
Eradicating carbon-intensive materials from the production of wind turbines, like steel, Swedish start-up Modvion is creating easy-to-assemble alternatives from wood. Is this the way forward? Solar maybe the current undisputed king of the renewable energy farmyard, but wind is a close runner-up. There’s a global consensus that any chance of achieving the terms of the Paris Agreement will rely on drastically increasing renewable forms of energy. Specifically, wind and solar reportedly...
14-year-old develops new bar of soap to treat melanoma
Heman Bekele may have found a strikingly simple answer to skin cancer treatment: a bar of soap. Despite extortionate amounts of fundraising and tireless research, a cancer cure still often feels like a pipedream. But as far as cancer research goes, it's long been suspected that the answer to one of humanity’s biggest killers could lie anywhere, or be discovered by anyone. This week, a 14-year-old from Virginia is the latest...
