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“Remember, if it doesn’t say Micro Machines, it’s not the real thing!” Some will no doubt recognise this slogan from the Micro Machines ads that aired in the late 80s and 90s. The line was uttered at lightening speed by John Moschitta Jr, otherwise known as the Micro Machines Man, who at the time earned himself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s fastest talker. Such zany adverts likely had a hand in putting these detailed miniature toy cars on the map, and they were soon cemented as a serious contender in the toy cars market – a territory previously dominated by Hot Wheels and Matchbox. In the 1988 issue of Toy & Hobby Magazine, Micro Machines were ranked the “third most popular toy on the market,” according to author Tim Smith in the introduction to his new book, Micro but Many. “Only Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games and Barbie Doll ranked higher.” “In the 80s, when I was just a small boy, I collected Micro Machines. Tiny little scale cars and

Creativity has long been used as a tool for good during turbulent times, as we’ve seen with the array of inventive projects and initiatives that have come out of the coronavirus pandemic over the last few weeks. In its new open brief to creatives across the globe, the United Nations is recognising the value of creativity in the ongoing effort to overcome the pandemic. “We need to meet people where they are, with a stream of fresh, innovative content which drives home the personal behaviours and societal support needed today,” says Robert Skinner, executive director of the UN Office for Partnerships. “We look to the creative community, using factual, accurate and science-based knowledge and messages, to help reach everyone, everywhere in this fight against the coronavirus.” Image by Shenja Tatschke ( @shen.ja ) The brief, which is being managed by Talenthouse , calls on agencies, creative communities and individuals to come up with “iconic and visualling arresting” content spanning

The world is in lockdown at the moment. Summer holidays seem all but cancelled as airline fleets ground to a halt, while headline events have vanished from the horizon. The Tokyo Olympics, supposed to take place in July and August have been postponed until next year, while Glastonbury’s 50th festival will take place in 2021 instead. When things do become more open again, it’s hard to know the effects that coronavirus will have had on places it’s affected (which is at least 177 countries). Italy, the country with the greatest number of deaths ( now almost 12,000 ) from COVID-19, is also the fifth most visited country for international tourists . Another European country that relies on tourism is Spain – the sector makes up around 10% of its GDP – which now has a death toll that exceeds 8,000 . How China, the country that first suffered from the coronavirus outbreak, might appear to tourists after the pandemic is uncertain. But Hong Kong, one of the country’s most visited cities, had a

Hey, I’m Cathy Sison, a graphic designer and full time teacher at Shillington New York. Most recently, I had the opportunity to interview Tom Lucey , a Melbourne based typographer and graphic designer who creates identities and websites for brands and is also a host of the Devign.Tech podcast. When I left design school many years ago, I heard the word ‘networking’ quite a lot and it was so daunting for me because I was quite a shy-introvert creative. Fast track to 2020, social media is the strongest tool to connect with creatives and industry professionals. I first met Tom at a Design Kids workshop event in Melbourne in 2018. We were both inspired by Frankie Ratford’ s work and from there we became fast Instagram friends. It’s amazing having this access and as a freelancer I found it very useful to just reach out and learn from other designers. I caught up with Tom about how he started out as a designer and how networking and social media have played a part in his career. He s

The world is in lockdown at the moment. Summer holidays seem all but cancelled as airline fleets ground to a halt, while headline events have vanished from the horizon. The Tokyo Olympics, supposed to take place in July and August have been postponed until next year, while Glastonbury’s 50th festival will take place in 2021 instead. When things do become more open again, it’s hard to know the effects that coronavirus will have had on places it’s affected (which is at least 177 countries). Italy, the country with the greatest number of deaths ( now almost 12,000 ) from COVID-19, is also the fifth most visited country for international tourists . Another European country that relies on tourism is Spain – the sector makes up around 10% of its GDP – which now has a death toll that exceeds 8,000 . How China, the country that first suffered from the coronavirus outbreak, might appear to tourists after the pandemic is uncertain. But Hong Kong, one of the country’s most visited cities, had a

“Tangible and tactile objects are really important to our work and process at The Liminal Space, so we’re trying to find ways to bring this into our new remote work spaces and adapted practice. One thing we’re doing is kicking off all our online group meetings with a Show & Tell session. Everyone chooses an object in their home that’s sparking joy for them right now and shares a story about their chosen thing. Featured objects so far have ranged from the precious to the profane, including a paper puppet, an ugly vase collection, a rare sculpture and a bird’s nest. As we explored in the living lost property office that we created in our project Unclaimed, the objects we own contain curious tales of the places we’ve been, our relationships and our histories. And whether you call yourself ‘a creative’ or not, we’ve all designed and curated the spaces we inhabit to some extent. So rather than pretending it’s normal be to popping up in client’s homes, we’re leaning into the weird and

“Tangible and tactile objects are really important to our work and process at The Liminal Space, so we’re trying to find ways to bring this into our new remote work spaces and adapted practice. One thing we’re doing is kicking off all our online group meetings with a Show & Tell session. Everyone chooses an object in their home that’s sparking joy for them right now and shares a story about their chosen thing. Featured objects so far have ranged from the precious to the profane, including a paper puppet, an ugly vase collection, a rare sculpture and a bird’s nest. As we explored in the living lost property office that we created in our project Unclaimed, the objects we own contain curious tales of the places we’ve been, our relationships and our histories. And whether you call yourself ‘a creative’ or not, we’ve all designed and curated the spaces we inhabit to some extent. So rather than pretending it’s normal be to popping up in client’s homes, we’re leaning into the weird and

On 26 March the UK was given its fourth Budget statement of the month. Reacting to mounting calls for support, chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the government would begin paying the country’s five million self-employed workers 80% of their average wage up to £2,500, in a bid to further mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the UK’s businesses. Sunak accompanied the message with an assurance: that the UK’s self-employed and freelance workers would not be “left behind” as the country continues to lockdown in its fight against COVID-19. The promise of parity between employees and the self-employed was welcome news for many. But as others are now learning, the measures are not as wide-reaching as necessary and thousands now face the reality of no government support as business dwindles. Job Retention Scheme vs. SEISS There are some notable holes in Sunak’s support package, the biggest and perhaps most glaring being its omission of personal service companies. For self-em