Welcome to the Liv Design blog, an eclectic mix of great design and quirky finds

The new Liv Design website is now officially launched today. As we're now in our third year we thought it was time for a bit of a brand overhaul, a spring clean. The site forms part of a new brand identity, advertising and direct mail marketing campaign. We listened to our clients and all the feedback and designed a whole new website from scratch. Liv Design is a full service creative design agency based in Nottingham specialising in graphic design and brand identity. Let us know what you think. Email your comments to scott@liv-design.co.uk

Packaging is back in the news again this week as a new report by the Local Government Association (LGA) suggests that not enough is being done by supermarkets to make packaging recyclable. The ‘War on Waste' report said that supermarkets should pay more towards the cost of recycling to avoid council tax rises to pay for landfill. In the LGA survey of 29 common grocery items, it found Waitrose had the most wrapping while Tesco had the least. Lidl had the least recyclable packaging on their products, Sainsbury's contained the most. Since the LGA's first report in October 2007, the amount of food packaging created has decreased, but the amount recycled packaging has stayed almost exactly the same. All the big supermarkets have responded with facts and figures to defend how much they've done in recent years, but is it enough? Waitrose said it had cut product packaging weight by over a third since 2001 whilst M&S have taken 2,600 tonnes of packaging out of their food pro

Metallica (or rather the agency Turner Duckworth) has won a Grammy for 'Best Recording Package' for it's work on the latest Metallica album, Death Magnetic, at the 51st Grammy ceremony in Los Angeles. "We are absolutely delighted because it’s such an unusual win for us. We hadn’t entered ourselves, it was the record company; and it was a real pet project that we had designers in both studios [London and San Francisco] working on," says a spokeswoman for Turner Duckworth. The team reworked the iconic Metallica logo, as well as creating promotional materials including a coffin-shaped special edition and a vinyl boxed set. The agency created a die-cut layered design that was instantly recognisable on a mobile phone screen. Partner David Turner explained: "It's not just about sleeve art anymore, it's about creating icons that work across media." The band's lead singer James Hetfield said: "This time we wanted to work with professionals who u

For those of you with a passion for motorbikes (like us), the news of yet another electric motorcycle doesn't fill us with too much hope. We know we shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but just look at it. The unwanted love child of a Cylon and a garden fence trellis... What were they thinking! Designed by San Francisco based Mission Motor Co, their 'Mission' (pun intended?) is to 'Redefine the world of performance motorcycles. Build a zero emissions vehicle with a definitive new style and enough performance to beat gasoline. Prove to the world that the future of performance is electric'. Well, it's certainly a 'definitive new style', and we're all for zero emissions, but an electric future?... With a 150 mile range you're not likely to tour Europe, or Wales for that matter, and you're not likely to be able to pull in at Watford Gap services and plug it in and wait for an indicated '2 hours' to charge it again. The spec

Chris Bangle, BMW's controversial head of design has resigned this week. Bangle, 52, was BMW's design chief since 1992 and one of the most controversial and well-known automotive designers in the last 20 years. His designs were renowned for their 'love it or hate it' styling and were famous for their 'Bangle Butt' rear designs. He also managed to have a website dedicated to him by the hardcore BMW 'traditionalists' to have him removed! Bangle achieved much success at BMW, having designed the current 3 series, 5 series, the previous 7-Series, as well as the 1 series, Z3, X3 and X5. He also oversaw the design of the BMW-owned Mini range and Rolls-Royce models. He is now off to pursue other design challenges... Dutchman Adrian van Hooydonk will take over as BMW Group design chief.

Cadbury's are doing dome great stuff at the minute, and we don't just mean with the chocolate! Following on from the highly successful classic 'Drumming gorilla' ad campaign and the quirky 'Airport race' ads comes another hugely funny ad. The ad, airing on TV now and on their website, features two cute kids having a portrait photograph done. Wait until they're left on their own!... Guaranteed to make you laugh! Very random... www.aglassandahalffullproductions.co.uk