Lee Washington Design blog

The design side of my blog has now been moved and will continue at design blog

The marketing side will continue here for the foreseeable future

New series of Top Gear

Sony NEX5 launches Facebook comp

Sweet camera that combines the best of both worlds of SLR and compact. Now there's a chance to win one in a very simple competition that taps into that part of Facebook that we all like to make sure really reflects who we are - the profile picture.

The SONY NEX5 Profile Hero competition has five categories (I definitely have friends that fit into these):

Family Funster - If you love your family more than life itself then you've found your category. We want to see your proudest moments captured here.

Night Owl - Night Owls come alive after sunset. They know how to have a good time and are the life of the party. If this sounds familiar then this is the category for you.

Portrait Poser - Portrait Posers don't shy away from the camera and they look great close-up. If this sounds like you then this is your category.

Sports Star - Fancy yourself as a bit of a Becks or R-Fed? If so then we want to see your most dynamic action shots.

Worldly wanderer - If you like to go wherever the wind takes you then this is the category for you. We want to see your most breathtaking panoramic travel shots.


The competition runs for four weeks with a chance to enter new profile pics into each of the categories each week. Enter yours here

Pizza Express Living Lab

Pizza Express has created the Living Lab concept restaurant at their Richmond location in London where they are experimenting with just about everything, from design and acoustics to service and food with a concept restaurant put together by a creative team including architect Ab Rogers, fashion designer Matthew Miller, artist Enzo Apicella and graphic designers GTF

The striking parabolic booths have been installed that act as mini recording studios, reflecting background noise whilst bouncing back the sounds of the conversation at the table to create an intimate acoustic chamber. In addition, the booths feature an ipod doc to allow the diners to choose the soundtrack to their meal.

Top Gear Stig Farm

Twenty5 Ethiopia

Twenty years after the great famine in Ethiopia, two young filmmakers, Nic Yeeles and Ehsan Bhatti, were given the opportunity to explore how Ethiopia has changed as a result of our generous donations 25 years ago.

The task was to create something unique, that goes against everything we're used to seeing in a charity video. They wanted an honest insight to what they saw and I believe that they have achieved that in this inspiration and uplifting short film:




Get involved and show your support at www.twenty5ethiopia.org

Tiger Beer Know the not Known

‘Know The Not Known’ has just been launched by Tiger Beer and features up and coming contemporary talents from the four fields of art, music, design and film and will provide access to the best parties in London.

Through their Facebook page your curiosity is rewarded by access to underground, invite only, Vice magazine and Tiger supported events.

The first of the NotKnown events will be kicking the series off with a real bang. Held in East London’s The London Fields, the event will be part Secret Cinema, part Halloween party this weekend.

Russell Hobbs starts global hunt for K1 kettle

In 1955 the K1 kettle was released by Russell Hobbs, it was revolutionary, being the first kettle in the world to automatically turn itself off once boiled - up until this point the kettle needed to be watched so that it did not boil dry, the K1 solved this problem with a valve switch that turned off the kettle with the steam from the boiling water. It was genius.

Now, over 50 years later there doesn't appear to be a working K1 in known existence. So they have started a search, using the power of social media and the web to find a K1 kettle that may be hidden away in someone's garage or attic.

There are prizes up for grabs for those that still have a working K1. Here's a photo of it:



Spread the word and let's get this kettle found! You can send photos in via their Facebook page, tweet it to @RussellHobbsUK or add it to their Flickr page.

Doc Martens goes apocalyptic

For the latest in Dr Martens 50th anniversary celebrations at Dr. Martens 50 - Michael Davis of MC5 & D.O.A. cover Cold War Kids' Something Is Not Right With Me.

The video, directed by Klaus Thymann features some jet ski jousted. Pretty damn cool

Interesting way to promote a book

For the release of the book Deception their is a viral campaign where they have brought the lead character to life as he investigates the murder of Elise Freeman at www.alexdelaware.co.uk

The website features an evidence area and an online test to determine your criminal empathy - although apparently I am a 'victim' and am 'taken advantage of'!

The creepiest part is that they have recreated the video plea that the victim has recorded in the book - bringing it to life online and engaging the audience to find out more. You can then further interact with Alex Delaware via his twitter feed, having your own go at cracking the case! Very cool.