13 November 2012 | Conference held by The Alternative

Brands and corporate social responsibility

Firms like CSR because it gets them off the hook of developing serious innovations

2 April 2012 | Blueprint, late 1986

FHK Henrion: graphics as propaganda in World War II

In the 1940s FHK Henrion did some of the world's most passionate posters; in the 1960s, he helped create the face of post-war Britain. Just four years before his death, I talked to him at his house in Hampstead

28 April 2011 | Akzo book on colour, forthcoming

Cities and colour

How colour will likely change the urban landscape in future 135kB

13 March 2011 | How To Run A Successful Design Business (Gower, 2011)

The future of design

In new products and services, an orientation to realism and to engineering in its broadest sense will ensure that design's answers are substantive, not superficial 111kB

24 November 2010 | Design Week, 16 August 1991

Old Master

Even in his late seventies, the late American graphics giant Paul Rand did working days at the most energetic pace. For creatives everywhere, he remains an example

28 May 2010 | the spiked review of books

An engaging tale, packed with myths

Christian Salmon’s book rightly notes the increasing use of narrative in modern life, but his ‘anti-capitalist’ instincts get in the way of understanding why

December 2009 | special to Woudhuysen.com

Getting the brand in the customer's hand

A summary of proceedings of the Orange CIO Forum, held on 30 October 2009 136kB

7 July 2008 | SAB Miller Globalisation Debates

Are global consumer brands a force for good?

Panel speeches and discussion at the Royal Society of Arts, with SAB Miller, Interbrand, Coca-Cola and brand guru Stan Slap

23 November 2006 | IT Week

How to tackle blogger critics

Companies are being advised to use in-house bloggers to appease their online detractors

24 July 2006 | Three Layer Cake

Interview on "Meaningful Consumption"

Meaning is to be found in what you do, not what you buy, own or use

25 August 2004 | spiked

Brands: don't buy the hype

Both corporations and their critics are so obsessed with brands that they ignore the real worlds of work and politics.

21 July 2004 | IT Week

IT suffers brand identity crisis

As long as the brand is king, no high-profile firm can afford to be truly adventurous.

20 July 2004 | UK Trade & Investment

The globalisation of UK manufacturing and services, 2004-24: toward the agile economy

For both inward and outbound investment, as well as exports, the UK economy requires a new, agile approach 226kB

9 July 2004 | Philosophy of management

Brands and the Self

Despite recent reversals for the brand, managers still view it as an indispensable and benign kind of alchemy. Meanwhile, critics hold it a swindle. However, the real problem with the brand is that it promises therapeutic solutions to issues that are in fact so big, they can only be resolved by broader social means. Brands can neither overcome the isolation and alienation of the self, nor replace it with a sense of belonging

14 August 2002 | spiked

If in doubt, brand

The craze for branding only advertises corporate insecurity.