All posts by Colin Davies

Fist things first: Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez is a white-knuckle read. Written with gusto, providing a blizzard of data which whip across the page. You are almost snow-blind (with rage) at the end of Part 1: Daily Life. The book is divided into 6 parts. Each explores an area where data and design…

There is an increasing environmental awareness to how we live our lives – zero carbon output might initially be seen as idealistic – but a more sustainable life is achievable. Looking at where life can be improved and consumption reduced is a design imperative. It is at the forefront of discussions (as both villain and…

Craft and design are important to us today. They provide tangible and stable objects in our modern, often stressful, lives. It is possible for objects to have meaning beyond use value. I want to focus here on how we interpret designed or crafted objects. Design is everywhere is a truism we all understand. We need…

Recently in Tribeca, New York, an innovative café opened. It encourages customers to pick up their beverage and leave the shop without paying. No queuing! The consumer pays at their own convenience via text. I emphasise the café example as it focuses on networks and their relationship with trust. The Tribeca drugstore is reconnecting long…

As consumers we engage with a hybrid of art, design and craft, and its artefacts to form social bonds, and a sense of identity: I am a Nordstrom person, a Harrods; Bloomingdale’s or John Lewis… It is an engagement which helps comprehend and navigate our daily lives. Ceramics or textiles, for instance, can give us…