YEAR OF THE DRAGON
Wishing all our friends both here and in China best wishes for a Happy Year of the Dragon. Priestmangoode’s office is now open in Qingdao.
COOL STUFF
Moving Platforms featured on ITV’s hit children’s TV show ‘The Cool Stuff Collective’ on Christmas Eve. The show, which airs every Saturday morning, features the latest news in design and innovation and aims to educate and inspire the next generation. Headlining the ‘cool news’ section of the programme, Moving Platforms was designated as a ‘super cool’ future idea.
Click here to watch the show http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video
FLYING THE FLAG
Lord Marland, Chair of the UK Business Ambassador’s Network recently commented on our contract with Thai Airways International saying “This groundbreaking deal not only demonstrates the sheer brilliance of Priestmangoode, but it also reinforces why the UK’s creative industries sector is one of the largest and most dynamic in the world.”
Our work for Thai Airways International is now well underway. Shown here is our livery design for the carrier’s new budget sub-brand Thai Smile.
ON THE MOVE
Host Ayesha Durgahee said of our concept: ‘Moving Platforms is a radical idea… but its proponents believe it could be the right step towards the future of rail and change the way we commute for ever’.
THE FUTURE OF RAIL TRAVEL
Son Tran, our Head of Rail, spoke earlier this week at the leading industry fair Railway Interiors Expo in Cologne. While much of the event focused on technological developments in railcar interiors, Son gave a keynote address on blue-sky thinking and possibilities in rail travel.
Drawing on our work in the aviation, hospitality and product design sectors and our experience designing high speed trains around the world, he delivered an inspiring vision for the future of rail travel.
BEIJING DESIGN WEEK
Last September saw the first ever Beijing Design Week, which we visited as part of a UK creative businesses delegation. The focus of the week was on working in global markets and Paul took part in a number of panels and conferences, including a talk organised by leading design website Core 77 titled ‘Innovation Across Borders’. Also on the panel were Chris Hosmer, Managing Director of Continuum and LinYee Yuan, editor of Core 77. Photograph © Beijing Design Week
FLYING HIGH
Turkish Airlines was recently awarded three prestigious Skytrax Awards, including Best Premium Economy Seat for our new design for Turkey’s national carrier. The airline also won Best Airline Europe and Best Airline Southern Europe.
Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax said: ‘Turkish Airlines continues to invest in quality product and service concepts and this has been key in their success at this years awards. [These awards are] evidence that Turkish Airlines is providing passengers with a world class onboard experience.’
JOIN OUR TEAM
We are looking for a talented 3D artist with +4 years experience to join our team of design visionaries in our London headquarters.
You will work in a dynamic environment for one of the UK’s leading design consultancies, and will be responsible for producing inspiring visualisation imagery and animation on a range of high profile projects, from product to transport, aviation and environment design.
Download the full job spec here:
BBC CLICK
BBC Click - the BBC’s leading technology programme – recently featured our Moving Platforms concept.
The show, which features new developments in science and technology from around the world, included our concept as part of a feature on future mobility and shared our vision for the future of travel: a technologically advanced infrastructure network that mimics the way the internet works and enables a seamless passenger journey from home to destination. Please click here to watch
MADE BY BRITAIN
We have just been nominated as ‘Maker of New Ideas’ for the Made by Britain initiative.
Mark Field, MP for the Cities of London and Westminster nominated us saying ‘Priestmangoode is at the forefront of cutting edge design, innovation and future thinking [...] and is flying the flag for British design and industry around the world.’
Made by Britain is a project of the Associate Parliamentary Manufacturing Group designed to promote and support British manufacture and industry.
THAI AIRWAYS SIGN PRIESTMANGOODE
Last month Luke Hawes was in Bangkok to sign a four year contract with Thai Airways. We are designing new cabin interiors and service items for the airline’s entire wide-body intercontinental fleet. We’re also designing a brand new budget airline for its narrow body aircraft – a project that will see us name and brand the airline, design its logo and livery, as well as its cabin interiors, uniforms and graphic identity.
LATEST NEWS FROM AIRCRAFT INTERIORS
The new issue of Aircraft Interiors is out this week and features our latest idea for improving transit services between airports and city centres. LoungeLink is designed to make the journey more comfortable, practical and useful, especially for business travellers who use this time to work and catch up with their offices before boarding long flights. We have also contributed to an article on the development of PRM services and accessibility design in airline interiors, including the AirChair, a product developed by the charity MERU. Please click on the following links to view each article.
LOOKING FOR THE WORLDS BEST DESIGNERS
Priestmangoode is growing and we are looking to hire the world’s best designers to join our team. Download the job descriptions for the following positions:
Product Designers:
Graduate – 3 years experience
Colour, Material and Finish Designer
Graduate – 3 years experience
We look forward to hearing from you.
180 LUFTHANSA CABINS IN A YEAR
PEA PUREE AND BASIL SORBET
Earlier this week, Paul had lunch at No10 Downing Street with David Cameron and the Chinese Premier Wen. An intimate lunch with a small group of business people had been organised to develop and strengthen trade between our two countries. We talked about growth, particularly in the mass transit sector where we do a lot of our work, and about our first overseas office, which opens in China at the end of the summer.
THE FUTURE OF RAIL TRAVEL
Moving Platforms is a concept for the future of rail travel.
We have been designing high speed trains around the world for a few years now. Our experience of various systems has led us to conclude that it is hugely inefficient to run a new 21st century high tech, high speed train service on a 19th century infrastructure that was invented for steam trains.
As a result, Paul has come up with an ingenious solution that can potentially revolutionize the rail industry the way the internet revolutionized the way we communicate.
Moving Platforms is a totally inter-connected rail infrastructure where local trams connect to a network of non-stop high speed trains enabling passengers to travel from their local stop to a local address at their destination (even in another country) without getting off a train.
‘I’m under no illusion this is a big idea’ says Paul, ‘but we have to think big. The world is going to a be a very different place in 10 to 20 years time and we have to think of alternative ways of travel’.
PAUL PRIESTMAN ON HOTEL DESIGN
Paul was recently interviewed by Dezeen in his role as judge on the panel at the Inside Festival and Awards. He talks about new trends in hotel design and how Priestmangoode’s transport work has enabled it to bring innovative design solutions to other industry sectors, like healthcare.
FUTURE MOBILITY
The future of mobility and transportation is at the forefront of the design and creative industries and improving passenger experience across various modes of transport a key issue. Drawing on his extensive background in designing luxury transportation environments and maximising small spaces, Paul spoke last week at the European Automotive Components Expo on how these principles can be applied to car interiors.
THE NATIONAL ART & DESIGN SATURDAY CLUB
The Sorrell Foundation’s National Art & Design Saturday Club helps young people develop their talent and explore their creative potential attending free Saturday morning classes throughout the year at their local college of art and design.Twenty six young people aged between 14 -16 spent the morning at Priestmangoode tackling the brief, ‘to improve eating and drinking on planes, trains and buses’. Working in four teams, the group brain-stormed, sketched and made models, resulting in four great presentations of their concepts. Work by the young people and 13 other groups of Saturday Clubbers will be presented at an exhibition at Somerset House from 22 June 2011.
OUR MERCURY TRAIN IN ST PANCRAS
Last night, we attended the Condenast Traveller Design & Innovation Awards at George Gilbert Scott’s magnificent St Pancras building where we picked up an award for our Mercury high speed train. The train beat a host of luxury designs to win the Transport category. ‘It’s great that a bit of public transport has won an award tonight’ Paul commented as he accepted the award. Celebrating the best in innovation and design over the last year, the awards also saw us nominated in two other categories. Our designs for the new Lufthansa A380 were nominated in the Aviation category and our stateroom cabins for Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Epic ship were nominated in the Leisure category. Here’s to a very successful year.
A BETTER-QUALITY EXPERIENCE IN ECONOMY CLASS
At the recent Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, emphasis was placed on the future of economy class cabins. With seat count a driving factor for profit, we are instead looking at ways in which materials and connectivity can be used to improve the passenger experience. Quoted in the Sunday Times recently, Luke Hawes noted: “Fundamentally, there is no more space, so what we have to do is enhance the space available by using lighter, brighter materials and creating a better-quality experience”.
AIRCRAFT INTERIORS EXPO: 5-7 APRIL 2011
Fifteen years of designing aircraft interiors have given us great insight in an industry where design has the ability to transform a business. Here at Priestmangoode, we think the future of air travel is about transforming the passenger journey into a seamless experience from home to destination and creating environments that are more flexible and open allowing for social interaction. This week, Nigel and Luke are off to Hamburg for the annual Aircraft Interiors Expo – the most important event of the year for design in aviation to see the latest developments in the industry and talk about the future of airline design.
TEXTURED LANE MOTORWAY
Paul has come up with an ingenious solution to slow motorists’ speed and ease congestion on motorways: laying a textured surface on each motorway lane varying in roughness from smooth on the inside slower lane to rough on the outside overtaking lanes. Driving for long periods in the overtaking lanes would present motorists with a less comfortable ride, subconsciously prompting them to move across to the slower lanes for the smoothest ride, reducing congestion, reducing speeds overall and improving both road safety and fuel efficiency.
ENTREPRENEUR INSIGHTS
On March 15th, Paul spoke at Entrepreneur Insights at Waterstone’s Piccadilly in London. Addressing a group of design professionals and graduates, Paul spoke about the importance of lateral thinking and transferability of skills in design practice today and the challenges and rewards of working in a global marketplace. Entrepreneur Insights was the first of a series of events organised by Andrew Senior Associates for the Guild of Creative Entrepreneurs.
SPRING STARTS IN MIAMI
Paul is visiting Miami this week to pick up another prestigious Travel + Leisure Award. The Jury 2011 has awarded Norwegian Cruise Line: Best Transportation for the Norwegian Epic Studios, designed by Priestmangoode. The jury including Nadja Swarovski, and Norma Kamali commented that “Single cabins are an opportunity for this industry to blossom.”
PRIESTMANGOODE’S SEAT DESIGN WINS ANOTHER AWARD
Swiss International Air Lines captured the Best Seat Design Award for SWISS First as announced by U.S. travel magazine ‘Global Traveler’.
The Global Traveler survey is an open-ended survey of its readers, conducted to determine the best in 62 travel-related categories. The new SWISS First seat designed by Priestmangoode offers an exclusive design, superb comfort, and extensive privacy.
SKYTRAX SUCCESS
Priestmangoode’s design for the Kingfisher business class seat has topped the poll in the 2010 Skytrax ‘World’s Ten Best Business Class Airline Seats’ and the economy seat has come in second place for the ‘World’s Ten Best Economy Class Airline Seats’. Our work for Kingfisher Airlines is a great example of extending a brand through all 3-dimensional detail, bringing the Kingfisher lifestyle and experience on-board and we’re delighted that this has been recognised by the well respected industry benchmarking organisation, Skytrax, who advise the world’s airlines on product, quality and consumer issues.
TOKYO SHOW
Priestmangoode was invited to participate in the ‘HOSPEX’ healthcare tradeshow in Tokyo. Our Recovery Lounge concept was exhibited alongside a selection of innovative healthcare products, as part of Axis magazines story into ‘Medicine and Design’.
EQUIP HOTEL 2010
Chris Parker our design director was invited to talk at the Equip Hotel exhibition in Paris. Drawing upon examples from Priestmangoode’s work with Accor’s ETAP and Motel 6, Chris discussed how effective product design thinking can be applied to hotel design, creating environments at low build cost whilst adding increased customer value. To read the full article from Cleverdis, please click on the following link http://www.cleverdis.com
WUXI EXHIBITION
David Hamilton our associate director was invited to speak at the Industrial Design conference in Wuxi, China, as part of the bi-annual design exhibition.
In collaboration with the British European Design Group, Priestmangoode showcased a selection of projects including the Mercury Train, Waterpebble and the making of the Turkish Airlines film.
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER’S DELEGATION TO CHINA
Paul was chosen to be a delegate on the first official visit to China by UK Prime Minister David Cameron. The delegation comprised of other senior UK Government representatives, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable, plus industry delegates from leading UK manufacturing companies including Rolls Royce, GKN and Shell.
Please click on the link to read about Paul’s experience of the delegation on Design Weeks blog site. http://www.designweek.co.uk
PRIESTMANGOODE RE-BRAND TURKISH AIRLINES CABIN INTERIORS
Priestmangoode’s complete re-brand of Turkish Airlines is unveiled this week as a key part of the airline’s strategy to position itself as a major European carrier. Priestmangoode delivered a complete re-design, starting with new interiors across the entire Turkish fleet. The designs will be installed in all 105 new aircraft that Turkish Airlines has on order and will be retro-fitted across their existing Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The project also included consulting on logo and livery design and translating the new cabin designs to ground services to create a consistent design language from check-in to destination.
Click on the following links to see the new Turkish Airlines and Manchester Utd advert.
PRIESTMANGOODE ON TV
PRIESTMANGOODE ON THE BBC
Priestmangoode’s Mercury High Speed Train concept was featured on last weeks BBC London News at 6 and BBC News at 10.
PRIESTMANGOODE UNVEILS PLANS FOR BRITAIN’S NEW HIGH SPEED TRAIN.
This week we are unveiling our concept for the UK’s new high speed train in a pre-emptive move to persuade the government of the urgent need to move forward as soon as possible with the project.
Paul Priestman believes that the new high speed train is vital for the future of Britain, both as the low-carbon, sustainable transport of the future and as a crucial opportunity to champion British design and engineering in an increasingly competitive global economy.
Paul believes his concept, Mercury, could be the new Great British design icon, following in the footsteps of Concorde, the Spitfire, Rolls Royce and the Routemaster bus and reawakening Britain’s authority as a global leader in design and technology.
For further information about Mercury please download the PDF below
EPIC 4TH JULY
Norwegian Cruise Line’s new 153,000 ton ship the ‘Norwegian Epic’ had its inaugural cruise and the official launch for the 4th July.
Paul was on board as it sailed for the first time from New York. The innovative Priestmangoode designed Studio Cabins and Living Room were looking good and have been very well received.
We wish all the best to the ‘Epic’.
NIGEL TALKS AT INNOVATIVE AIRCRAFT SEATING CONFERENCE
Nigel was recently in Germany talking at the Innovative Aircraft Seating Conference. He discussed the future trends and design direction of aircraft seating and the power of brand and culture through cabin interior design. His talk also outlined how effective and innovative design can save time and money while meeting the challenges of weight reduction and maintenance often faced by airlines.
FX MAGAZINE
This months issue of FX magazine features a profile report on Paul and Nigel, from phones to airline cabins and high speed trains; they discuss how their product design backgrounds add a uniqueness to their large scale design approach. To read the full article please visit www.fxmagazine.co.uk
LUFTHANSA A380 FLIES
Priestmangoode has designed the new flagship A380 for Lufthansa, that has just been unveiled at a global media launch in Frankfurt. Priestmangoode designed the cabin interiors across all three classes: with the First Class seat and cabin concept bringing the comfort and quality of the first class airport lounge on-board. The new designs will be retro-fitted across Lufthansa’s fleet of A330/340 and will be on-board the new B748 aircraft. For a virtual tour of Lufthansa’s A380 please click on the following link. www.A380.lufthansa.com
WISH MAGAZINE
Australia’s Wish Magazine, has a fantastic article about Priestmangoode’s design for Accor’s Motel 6 room, “Chirpy chirpy cheap cheap”. Have a read of the full article by clicking on the PDF below.
THE HEALTH MANIFESTO
Our Health Manifesto – the first in a series of manifestos in which we examine the way clever design thinking could be employed to improve products and services – is published today.
Using our experience of working in the commercial sector, we’ve identified a number of practical ways in which design could be used to improve the health service including one great example of how, by applying the same design principles we use to create first class airline cabins and hotel rooms, we could create an intelligently designed and beautifully crafted recovery room to take the strain off the queues for hospital beds and improve quality of wellbeing during recovery.
Click here to see The Priestmangoode Recovery Lounge and to read our Health Manifesto.
PRIESTMANGOODE PICKS UP TWO AT THE TRAVEL + LEISURE DESIGN AWARDS
Priestmangoode has won two awards at the 2010 Travel and Leisure Design Awards.
Motel 6, the 1960s American icon of budget motels has picked up the award for Best Large Hotel thanks to our radical new re-design of up to 120 of its hotels, whilst our sleek new First Class Airline suite for Swiss won the award for Best Transportation.
Chosen by a panel of judges including Sir Terence Conran, Isaac Mizrahi and Michael Smith, the awards recognise the most outstanding new examples of design and architecture in the world of travel.
Both designs highlight Priestmangoode’s skill at designing quality and comfort in small spaces.
Have a look at through all the winners from the awards.
DAILY EXPRESS BUSINESS
Priestmangoode has been featured in the business section of the UK’s Daily Express newspaper.
The article outlines Priestmangoode’s ideas for the future and their significant contracts of 2009.
For the full article please click on the link.
WATERPEBBLE’S ON SALE!!
Waterpebble has gone live! It now has its own website http://www.waterpebble.com/. Here you can buy your Waterpebble, leave us some comments and check out its very own movie!
If you’re interested in saving water please have a look!
HOW TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Have a read of this great website ‘How to Make a Difference’ by Fran Monks.
Paul has been featured and discusses his ideas behind creating a forest in Northumberland. The website also contains some fantastic stories from some truly inspirational people.
TAM AIRLINES HIRES PRIESTMANGOODE FOR COMPLETE DESIGN OVERHAUL
TAM Airlines, Brazil’s national flag-carrying airline, has hired London-based design group Priestmangoode to undertake a complete fleet re-design following an international competitive pitch process.
The 3-year contract will see Priestmangoode re-design and detail cabin interiors across TAM’s fleet (starting with Airbus A330 /Boeing 777 and Airbus A350). A complete retro refit across the entire fleet will happen in parallel. The design process will include a re-design of all seats in all classes, galleys, stowages, and lavatories, and cabin architecture where possible.
BEIJING CREATIVE EXPO
Paul was recently in China, talking at the MOFCOM Trade Services Conference, this was part of the Beijing Creative Expo organised by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. He was there talking about Priestmangoode’s work and recently signed long-term co-operation with Sifang, China’s largest rolling stock manufacturer, Paul recognised how much opportunity there is for UK creative businesses in China if we see them as potential partners, not future competition.
A FIRST FOR SWISS!
Monocle’s Travel Top Fifty 2009/10 picks Priestmangoode’s design for Swiss Airlines as Best New First Class Cabin.
PRIESTMANGOODE SIGNS LONG-TERM CONTRACT WITH SIFANG LOCOMOTIVE
In an historic long-term agreement Priestmangoode has been selected to work with China’s largest rolling stock company Sifang to design the flagship trains that will run on the country’s new high speed rail network. The contract also outlines an 8-year design co-operation between the two companies that will see Priestmangoode work with Sifang’s in-house design team to help them develop their design understanding of the global marketplace as the company expands its ambitions outside of China.
PAUL GIVES A TALK ABOUT DESIGN….IN A GREENHOUSE!!
On Tuesday 22nd September, as part of the London Design Festival, Paul gave a talk about UK Design in a Global Marketplace. It took place in the world’s only bookshop in a greenhouse at the Wapping Project in East London. Paul’s presentation was part of their speakers programme which has also included Jeanette Winterson, Edna O’Brien, Ally Cappellino and Tracy Neuls.
ETAP TOPS
Read here about Priestmangoode’s new design work for Accor’s Etap brand in Sleeper magazine.
TURKISH AIRLINES FLY
Read about our new redesign work for TURKISH airlines in UK’s Design Week.
FLOAT OUT!
Underneath the new 153,000 ton, 19 deck Norwegian Epic. This shot was taken by Paul just a few hours before the dry dock was flooded and the ship sailed for the first time. She is scheduled to sail year-round from the Caribbean to Miami from summer 2010 with Priestmangoode’s revolutionary Studio cabins and Living Room space. See what the Miami Herald has to say …
WATER PEBBLE IN THE TELEGRAPH
Read here about how the Future Friendly Award helped in the development of our latest water-saving product.
SORENTO LIGHT LAUNCHED
A new street light fitting called Sorento designed by Priestmangoode and Speirs and Major Associates is the culmination of creative thinking and technical expertise. Sorento provides contemporary post top lanterns and column solutions, which are equally at home in a historic or contemporary environment. The design conceived by Priestmangoode and Speirs and Major Associates originally grew out of proposals for Cambridge City Centre, this has since been further refined to suit a wider range of public spaces.
AWARD WINNERS
Priestmangoode were delighted to receive an award at the European Hotel Design Awards last week.The European Hotel Design Awards, now in their 11th year, is Europe’s premier event of its kind and, this year, was extended to cover 17 categories. The results reflected the truly pan-European achievement of hotels and their architects and designers as well as the exciting diversity that characterises today’s hotel industry. Priestman Goode received the award for best interior design for standard branded guest room for their work on the Etap brand.