PROMOTION: A new design-led trade show called HOME is taking place in London, with over 160 homewares and interior accessories brands exhibiting under one roof at Earls Court Exhibition Centre this January.

HOME 2012, 15th-17th January 2012 (trade only)

EARLS COURT EXHIBITION CENTRE

West Brompton, London SW5 9TA

Offering a wide range of classic, contemporary and ‘Homegrown’ British designed furniture, lighting and interior accessories, the event is divided into three distinctive sections representing the cream of each of these sectors.

In the Modern Home section, visitors can discover the very latest in contemporary interior products. Modern Home houses both the well-established design companies alongside younger boutique brands.

The exhibition features everything from small and occasional furniture and lighting to accessories for the home, office, bar, hotel or restaurant, including clocks, bins, rugs, soft furnishings, tableware, glassware and outdoor accessories.

Exhibiting companies include Stelton, Alessi, LSA, Royal VKB, Eva Solo, SCP, iittala, Authentics, Jonathan Adler, Skandium, Content by Conran and many more.

As a feature, leading design website Dezeen is presenting a selection of 10 of the best new design products from around the world.

Furthermore, the publisher of LONDON DESIGN GUIDE – Spotlight Press – is exhibiting on Stand F1 and is presenting its two latest titles: LONDON DESIGN GUIDE 2012-2013 edition and DEZEEN BOOK OF IDEAS.

Pre-register for tickets at www.home-london.net

The exhibition is open 9:30-18:00 on 15th & 16th and 9:30-17:00 on 17th January.

Leading names from the worlds of contemporary art, design, fashion and film have donated postcard size artworks to the 18th RCA SECRET selling event at the infamous postgraduate college, the Royal College of Art.

RCA SECRET 2011

Exhibition open: 18th-25th November 2011

Sale day: 26th November 2011, 8am-6pm

ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART

Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU

Mini masterpieces by new and established talents are up for sale at just £45 each. The money raised from sales goes to the RCA Fine Art Student Award Fund, helping hundreds of emerging artists at a formative stage in their careers.

Artists who have contributed artworks include Tracey Emin, Anish Kapoor, Grayson Perry, Yoko Ono and Olafur Eliasson; designers Sir James Dyson and Kenneth Grange; fashion designers Sir Paul Smith, Erdem and Dries can Noten; and film makers Nick Park and Mike Leigh.

RCA SECRET is an annual exhibition and sale of around 2000 postcard-sized original artworks. The postcards are sold to the public in a huge sale that draws a queue of hundreds keen to buy an original artwork for a bargain price.

What’s the secret? Each postcard is signed on the back, so collectors don’t know the identity of the artist until they have made their purchase. A lot of it is down to pure luck and many collectors don’t realise whose work they have chosen until they hand over their cash on the sale day.

Artists may choose to paint, draw, sketch or even imitate the work of other artists as long as it’s postcard-sized.

Potential collectors are able to view all the postcards in person at the RCA in London or online at www.rca.ac.uk/secret from 18th November. All postcards go up for sale for one day only on Saturday 26th November at the RCA.

Postcards can only be bought on a first come, first served basis, with no sealed bids or reservations in advance.

There will be a raffle for collectors to win a position in the first fifty places in the queue.

RCA SECRET is only made possible with the sponsorship of Stewarts Law LLP.

LDG editor Max Fraser has a real issue with bad service, so much so that he felt compelled to write about it in LONDON DESIGN GUIDE 2012-2013 edition. Read about his ‘Just Say Hello’ campaign below and contribute your thoughts via Twitter, using the hashtag #JustSayHello.

LONDON DESIGN GUIDE extract: Just Say Hello campaign by Max Fraser, page 10

“At the tender age of 17 I worked in the designer menswear departments at Harrods every Saturday. On training day we watched the induction video featuring owner Mohamed Al Fayed, who announced something that has always stuck with me: “You are the ambassadors to my business.”

That remark has repeatedly echoed in my mind while putting together this publication. I’ve been subjected to various degrees of unacceptable service – even at the city’s most influential boutiques. After I started noticing it, I was amazed how many places failed at the basic courtesies. Surely good service is one of the crucial components of successful retail. Incensed, I’d often return to the office and recount my stories, exclaiming: ‘How difficult is it to JUST SAY HELLO?!’ And so this public plea to join my Just Say Hello campaign was born.

It’s pretty straightforward: all I’m looking for when I enter a retail establishment is a handful of basics: a hello, eye contact and, ideally, a smile. Yes, it’s as simple as that. It’s probably going too far to ask me how I am. Yes, I know you’ll be there if I need your help. And, no, I don’t want to be referred to as your ‘mate’.

You’d be amazed at how many assistants I found affixed to their computer screens, too engrossed to look up. Others chatted amongst themselves, oblivious to the fact that they were recounting their weekend escapades to the entire store. A classic is for staff to look you up and down and make an immediate judgment. Big mistake. At Harrods I learned quickly that the people you wouldn’t expect to spend often spend the most.

Retailers must wake up to their lacklustre staff and realise it’s not enough to carry a product that sells; you need to keep customers coming back. So many places seem to sell the same stuff anyway that great service is likely to be the deal-breaker. And if shoppers feel they’ve been treated better than they expected, there’s a higher chance they’ll return.

This is particularly crucial today as the retail environment struggles under a weak economy and competition becomes ever more rife. The ingredients that make up customer loyalty are fickle and transferable; they need to be nurtured and massaged wherever possible. In fact, succeeding at customer service takes more than simply saying, ‘Hello.’ But that’s certainly a good start.”

Join our campaign to stamp out bad and encourage good service. Whichever you encounter, share it on Twitter using the hashtag #JustSayHello

You can follow LONDON DESIGN GUIDE on Twitter: @L_D_G

To purchase a copy of LONDON DESIGN GUIDE 2012-2013 edition, click here.

It’s official! The new edition of LONDON DESIGN GUIDE 2012-2013 is now available, featuring totally new content and plenty of great features. Order your copy now for only £12 and we will dispatch it to you wherever you are in the world.

LONDON DESIGN GUIDE 2012-2013 gives a fresh insight into the city’s contemporary and vintage retailers, as well as design galleries, museums and bookshops. All 140 new and established hotspots are compiled and reviewed by design commentator Max Fraser.

Shops are categorised by neighbourhood and accompanied by detailed maps – plus walking tours written by local tastemakers including Sheridan Coakley, Tom Dixon and Kit Kemp – to help navigate the best that the city has to offer.

You’ll find restaurant, bar and cafe recommendations, selected as much for their design credentials as for the quality of food and service.

And we’ve commissioned 10 short essays by local experts including Naomi Cleaver, Hugh Pearman, Benjamin Hubert and Libby Sellers, each discussing an aspect of the industry, be it designing, producing, selling, communicating, collecting, even discarding design.

The 2012-2013 edition also introduces 4×4, a new 16-page supplement featuring the top furniture, lighting and accessories designs available in London design stores. The survey does your homework for you, evaluating the designs based on quality and longevity.

The 208-page LONDON DESIGN GUIDE is a snapshot of the design scene today, a celebration of creativity and a practical tool for Londoners and tourists alike. There’s no better incentive for exploring the wealth of design in the capital.

It’s “a must-read” according to the New York Times.

Publisher: Spotlight Press

Editor: Max Fraser

Book designer: Richard Ardagh Studio

Cover designer: Peter Crawley 

LONDON DESIGN GUIDE have teamed up with Japanese brand Tokyobike for a second year, offering exciting localised design tours to some of the best exhibitions and events during this year’s London Design Festival. Each morning from 22nd-25th September a small group of design enthusiasts will be taken on a cycle ride through the city hosted by their chosen design personality; Aidan Walker, Duncan Riches, Johanna Agerman Ross or Max Fraser. There are only 12 places available per day, so book now!

Each host will offer a different take on the festival, stopping off at the design events and exhibitions they consider to be the most interesting. Tour-goers will not be informed of the itinerary in advance, adding an element of surprise to the route.

Day 1 – 10am, Thursday 22nd September: Hosted by Aidan Walker – writer, editor, critic and conference producer (SOLD OUT)

Day 2 – 10am, Friday 23rd September: Hosted by Duncan Riches – writer and brand consultant (SOLD OUT)

Day 3 – 10am, Saturday 24th September: Hosted by Johanna Agerman Ross – founder and editor in chief at Disegno, design writer and contributing editor of Icon magazine (SOLD OUT)

Day 4 – 10am, Sunday 25th September: Hosted by LDG’s editor Max Fraser (SOLD OUT)

Groups will meet at Design Junction at 9:30am and everyone will be supplied with a bike and helmet. Tours will depart at 10am and will last for three hours, finishing with a casual lunch at Design Junction.

Ticket price: £30 pp (this includes lunch)

We look forward to welcoming you on a tour!

ALL TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT. Keep an eye on this website for future bike tours!

The Museum of Everything is one of Europe’s most successful new independent museums and the only British museum dedicated to un-international, untrained and undiscovered artists. The Museum of Everything returns to London with Exhibition #4 – its most ambitious show yet.

‘THE MUSEUM OF EVERYTHING: Exhibition #4′

2nd September – 25th October 2011

SELFRIDGES & Co

400 Oxford Street, W1A 1AB

Exhibition #4 is Britain’s first international survey of contemporary studios for artists with development disabilities. These invisible artists remain overlooked by almost every gallery and museum in the world – The Museum of Everything invites the public to discover the work of these un-international artists for themselves.

Exhibition #4 reveals the private worlds of fifty new discoveries ranging from intimate works on paper to giant three-dimensional creations – plus a Frieze week retrospective of American sculptor, Judith Scott.

Selfridges is hosting the exhibition for eight weeks. The Museum of Everything is curating all of the windows along both Oxford and Orchard Street, as well as the entire exhibition hall space. Merchandise to benefit the museum and artists in the show is available to purchase in the Shop of Everything (located on the ground floor), which includes an exclusive clothing and shoe range co-designed with Clements Ribeiro and Tracey Neuls.

The museum is also launching the Workshops of Everything, an initiative to create studios for artists with disabilities across Britain. Other events include talks, screenings and an Intelligence Squared debate with leading museum directors, cultural thinkers and artists.

The Maggie’s London Night Hike, in partnership with Open House, is a 10 or 20 mile adventure through late-night London to raise money for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres. With exclusive access to iconic buildings, you’ll enjoy a side of London never seen before.

Leadenhall Market will be the start venue for all hikers. The Royal Institute of British Architects, City Hall, Horse Guards, Royal Geographical Society, South Bank Centre and of course Maggie’s London Centre at Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith will all open their doors to this years night hikers.

This year the 10 and 20 mile hikes follow the same route as previous years, with the 10 mile hike finishing at Maggie’s London Centre, the 20 mile half way point. Food and entertainment awaits at each of the featured buildings on the route.

Be sure to sign up to take part in this incredible annual event. Maggie’s is the official charity of LONDON DESIGN GUIDE and, through our Joy of Living event earlier this year, we are proud to have raised over £25,000 for the charity.

To find out more about Maggie’s, visit www.maggiescentres.org

The Barbican Art Gallery is presenting ‘Watch Me Move: The Animation Show‘, an extensive exhibition of animated imagery produced over the last 150 years, bringing together industry pioneers, independent film-makers and contemporary artists.

‘WATCH ME MOVE‘, 15th June – 11th September 2011

BARBICAN ART GALLERY

Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS (020 7638 4141)

The show features over 170 works, from iconic animated clips to lesser-known film masterpieces. Big names include Étienne-Jules Marey, Harry Smith, Jan Švankmajer, William Kentridge and Nathalie Djurberg alongside the creative output of commercial studios such as Walt Disney, Aardman, Studio Ghibli and Pixar.

Taking the viewer behind the dream-world of the finished film, the exhibition consists of puppets, stage sets, storyboard drawings, wire-frame visualisations, cel and background images.

For gallery opening times or more information please visit  www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery

LDG editor Max Fraser is hosting bike tours around Clerkenwell during Clerkenwell Design Week. The leisurely tours take in the best design events of the festival and are conducted on elegant Pashley bikes supplied by Tally Ho! Cycle Tours.

Each day we will be stopping off at the most interesting design shops and exhibitions taking place as part of Clerkenwell Design Week. Tour-goers will be not be informed of the itinerary in advance, adding an element of surprise to the route.

Tours start at 1:30pm and run until 3pm, finishing with tea and cakes at The Farmiloe Building – the CDW hub for the week.

BOOK YOUR PLACE ON A TOUR! Places are strictly limited so don’t delay.

Tickets cost £12.50 each. You are provided with a bike and helmet.

We look forward to welcoming you on a tour!

In the celebration of architecture, the monumentality of the whole is often highlighted over the subtlety of a building’s material composition. The Material Table exhibition at The Aram Gallery lays bare an alchemy of materials across a range of Adjaye Associates‘ projects.

MATERIAL TABLE, 13th May – 9th July 2011

THE ARAM GALLERY

110 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5SG (020 7557 7526)

Adjaye’s extensive library of materials are transported as one directly from his office and are divided and ordered according to their types, quality and property; texture, porous, hard and so on. Correlating to a periodic table, the exhibition presents the concept and approach of Adjaye Associates as they relate materials to projects and the natural environment they are surrounded by.

“Material Table is an attempt to let audiences experience at first hand one of the critical moments in the process and, in particular, to enjoy the open richness and respect in which Adjaye Associates uses materials in its architecture,” says Daniel Charny, guest curator of Material Table.