Land Securities, Land Securities, Land Securities

It's been a bit like this recently. But don't get me wrong - I'm not about to complain about being landed with stacks of work from such a creatively enlightened company.

As you may have spotted in some of the design press, Land Securities launched their new corporate identity (below), designed by Hat-trick, this month.

Hat-trick asked me to get involved, and as well as creating some standard paragraphs that are now appearing on all the group's literature, I also wrote and edited the two sets of guidelines - one internal, one external.

I've also been busy with Hat-trick developing the new ad campaign for Capital Commitment (Land Securities' London portfolio), now appearing all over London.

Then there was a little book to do about the company's vision, also with Hat-trick. And a rather bigger book (this time with 300million) about all the group's London developments. Which I also helped turn into the Capital Commitment website with Bounce Digital. With whom I'm also developing a huge online archive of all Land Securities' London marketing.

So if you're one of the people I've had to turn away in the last six months, you now know part of the reason why.

The year in pictures

Along with designer friends David Hughes and Sue Rogers, I'm compiling a photo-diary of 2007, which you can see at www.photodiary2007.blogspot.com

There are already some great shots up, so have a look. And if you're really keen, you can join in. Drop me a line and I'll get you set up on the blog.

The next JK Rowling...

The leadership of writers' group 26 have come up with another fantastic project, in which I'm lucky enough to be involved.

You may remember that last year we were creating posters for every station on the Circle Line. This time we've been teamed with student illustrators from the London College of Communication (LCC) to create concepts for children's books.

With Faber & Faber also involved, there are enticing possibilities of publication in the air, and we hope at least to create another terrific exhibition at the London Design Festival next year.

I've been lucky in the random pairings, too, finding myself alongside a talented student, Alec Strang, whose work is admirably peculiar and evidently crafted with great care and skill.

As a collaborative tool, I've created a blog that Alec and I can use to trade ideas. If anyone's interested, it's also a way to follow the book's development. Enjoy...

Christmas card of the year

According to Noisy Decent Graphics, an entertaining blog by Ben Terrett of The Design Conspiracy, my Christmas card for 2006 was the best of the year.

What a very nice thing to say, Ben, thank you.

He's even included pictures and everything. Have a look.

(If you think you should have had a card and didn't get one, let me know. They've got my new address on, so they're very important.)