As regular readers to this blog might remember, I do like the patterns on public transport seats, specifically those on the tube. I even tried to do some design with them once and had my fascination outed by Design Week.

Anyway, Transport for London have this quirky tube campaign running at the moment, which invites you to guess whether the statements lovingly recreated from vintage patterns are true or false:

If you can’t bear not knowing the answers, check out the TfL site, where a little story sheds light on each one.

Also, feel free to join my neglected Flickr group to collect new patterns. And if you’ve taken a picture of a seat pattern, it probably qualifies for this group too…

The shortlisted entries for the Metro Wrap design competition have been put up on the D&AD blog.

The brief was to take over the front outside and inside cover of commuter paper Metro for one day in April to give Londoners an inspiring and motivational message to start their day. It’s a great that the space usually reserved for desperately flogging a new mobile phone or deodorant is given over to something needlessly creative for a change.

The entry above which I really liked is by Clare McKenzie/Clare Theophane, Miranda Bolter, Freya Defoe & Steve Hickory of The Partners and requires readers of the paper to fill in their own news and doodle their own cartoons. Lovely.

I’m afraid most of the rest of the entries were a bit disappointing, many opting to print a rhetorical visual pun on the front cover instead of actually getting to grips with the brief itself and thinking about how to communicate with Londoners, let alone what to say to them. One of The Partners’ other entries (they dubiously have 5 out of 10 shortlisted) is a newspaper printed like an umbrella, to hold over your head in case it’s raining that April morning. Yawn.

One entry has the paper covered in knitting. Presumably because the designer, erm, likes knitting. Each to their own.

Another entrant has printed transport upholstery patterns on the cover, which I heartily approve of, but I’m not sure how thinking my false teeth have fallen out, or that I’ve dropped a quid is going to set me up motivationally for the day ahead. If you were stupid or partially sighted enough to fall for it, it seems to me that it would just make you anxious.

Anyway, all of this is most likely sour grapes, because you see, despite my previous emotionally scarring experience of a Metro design competition, I entered this one too and my entry didn’t make the grade. I’ll dig it out and share it with you once I find my false teeth. Now where did I put them…?

I feel bad about being negative in the previous post. Here are some ads I saw on the tube this week which I really liked. The whole idea of MI6 advertising for recruitment is a bit weird, but the ads are great; involving, clear and fun.

I failed in both my missions so I won’t be applying, although it looks like I’m already on their books…

Napoleon’s quote “A throne is only a bench covered in velvet” is currently getting all the attention as part of the latest Art on the Underground poster campaign in London. While I’m struggling to see the relevance of thrones and their upholstery to my life, I absolutely get this one which crops up less often.

I live in Southfields, South West London, which is where anyone who’s anyone will tell you is really where the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament is. It’s not actually in Wimbledon you see, it’s down the road from our house which makes Wimbledon fortnight a little bit like Dawn of the Dead, but instead of fighting off hoards of flesh eating zombies, I’m barricading myself in my house to keep out the American bumbag (fanny pack) wearing tourists.

Anyway, I digress. Every year they dress up the local tube station to within an inch of its life, and this year is no exception. Perhaps tourists think this is what every English tube station is like all the time.

This year HSBC has put up the usual tennis regalia, but the reason it’s featuring on this blog is that someone has gone and done some typography…

It’s not going to win a D&AD, but it is appropriate, unnecessary and fun. I like it. And from a bank too…

Now that Andy Murray has been served, please can everyone clear off and let me get to work on time…?

This sums up the last couple of days for me.

From Animals on the Underground.