2024 News Roundup

North Face celebrates 50 years of its parka

The North Face parka was first introduced in 1973 as technical clothing for harsh environments, but it has since evolved into a timeless item of winter apparel.

Read the article in Creative Review.

Barbara Kruger’s ‘anti retrospective’

The artist’s latest exhibition at London’s Serpentine Gallery combines new video installations with recreated versions of earlier pieces to disorienting effect.

Anticipating her first solo institutional display in the UK in more than 20 years, Barbara Kruger’s remarks at the Serpentine opening were violently cut short. The offender? Better yet, Kruger’s body of work. Voice samples and clattering sound effects from her installations echoed around the room, competing with everything and everyone else for attention.

Read the article in Creative Review.

AI and generative art

Refik Anadol wants to go beyond generative art’s “shiny pixels” and demystify artificial intelligence.

One of the most well-known AI artists today is Refik Anadol, a technologist and artist. Rather than merely following the trend, he has made significant contributions to its advancement.

Find out more from It’s Nice That.

Catfluencers square off in Sheba’s latest promo

Eight of the most well-known cats on the internet are competing to be the fastest gravy licker in a competition called The Gravy Race. Even if one in four pet owners have set up a social media profile for their animal companions, regrettably, not all of them will be able to rise to the esteemed position of “petfluencer.”

Read the article in Creative Review.

Heinz’s goal is to produce an advertisement in five days by moving “at the speed of culture.”

Since introducing its global platform “It has to be Heinz,” the food company has been able to quickly adapt to local trends and produce its most recent advertisement.

Read the article in Marketing Week.

KFC wants us to believe again

Right now, a lot of things—like software businesses, political parties, and sports teams—are vying for our belief. All KFC wants is for you to have faith in chicken.

“Believe in Chicken” parodies the universal reality that it’s difficult to know what to genuinely believe in these days given the crazy environment we live in. According to Martin Rose, ECD at Mother, the agency behind the company’s latest campaign, KFC is aware that chicken is still the one food item on which we can all consistently rely.

Read the full article in Creative Review.

The direction of the creative industry and strategies for surviving the next fifteen years

Creative Boom is commemorating its 15th anniversary this month. This is an excellent chance to consider how much has changed for creatives since our inception in 2007. To be honest, though, that pales in comparison to the significant upheaval the sector is expected to undergo in the next fifteen years.

Read the article in Creative Boom.

The poetic illustrations by Samar Maakaroun for an Arabic phrase book

“Haraka baraka,” which means “movement is a blessing” in English and is used throughout the Levant and much of the Arabic-speaking world, refers to the advantages of play and activity. The phrase appears in the title of a new book of Arabic proverbs authored by Pentagram partner Samar Maakaroun, who oversaw the book’s design, and SkatePal, an organisation founded in 2013 to promote skateboarding among young people in Palestine.

Find out more in Creative Review.

Presenting Tom Strom and his hilarious yet lethal illustrations

Tom Strom is a rising American illustrator with a background in tattoo art whose images will captivate you and maybe give you a little fright. But would life be the same without an occasional dose of danger?

Find out more in Creative Boom.

50 typefaces that designers will like in 2025

It’s funny how typography keeps changing every year despite being primarily founded on timeless, fundamental concepts. Most significantly, some of the top font foundries are always creating new types and bringing well-loved oldies back to life.

Find out more in Creative Boom.

Pentagram reveals the Guggenheim’s single worldwide identity

Created by Pentagram partner Harry Pearce, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, a bulwark of modern and contemporary art since 1937, has unveiled a unified visual identity. The Guggenheim’s four locations—New York, Venice, Bilbao, and the soon-to-open Abu Dhabi—are all united under the new brand system.

Find out more in Creative Boom.

Presenting Pantone’s 2025 Colour of the Year, Mocha Mousse

One of the most closely kept secrets in the creative world is Pantone’s Colour of the Year, which was just formally revealed. We present Mocha Mousse, a “mellow brown infused with a sensorial and comforting warmth” for 2025. This shade will establish the tone for the upcoming year in interior design, fashion, and other fields.

This yearly tradition of choosing a colour that embodies the world’s zeitgeist has been one of the most talked-about occasions in the design calendar for almost 25 years.

Find out more in Creative Boom.