Kids (of all ages) created structures of all kinds from the 1,500 octagon provided, some of the highlights including towers, bridges and even a Stegasaurus. For more images look here.

Many thanks to Tara for your help.

To find out more about the products visit the Royal College of Art exhibition (23 September – 7 October) or go to design products collection.

Innovation Greenhouse is a project curated by Kingston University in partnership with the Design Museum and staged as part of the London Design Festival at the V&A (The London Design Festival runs from the 18–26th of September).

To find out more about ‘a garden party to make a difference’ (8 –19 Sept at Clarence House) and the Start initiative go to www.startuk.org/events

Working with the V&A team and Mark Garside (Crystallise), thomas.matthews has produced the identity concept and graphic design for the Summer Camp. The concept came from 'un-picking' the design process and empowering the public to realise they knew more than they thought they did. 

Our concept will interject the graphic design of the event programme – through annotation and design mark-ups, it will reveal the story that has lead to the making of the piece. i.e. from initial idea through to production. 

The back of the programme opens up to reveal a poster framework. Using the information they have learnt from the programme and with various cues, tips and a clear grid, visitors are encouraged to make their own poster, reflecting on the event.

The event runs from Friday 30 July, 18:30–22:00 to Saturday 31 July, 13:00–17:00. So come along and be prepared to roll your sleeves up. Who knows – you might discover you know more than you think you do.

For more information please visit the V&A website:
www.vam.ac.uk/activ_events/events/friday_evenings/friday_late/events/july-2010/index.html

Here at TM we have built up quite an impressive library full of interesting materials that are innovative, useful and generally relevant to our work. Some are just beautiful materials that we hope one day to get the opportunity to use and most of them come with serious and authentic sustainable creds (for instance look under D for 'sustainably and ethically sourced diamond dust' or under S for 'stone paper').

However going through it recently we realised that it was getting rather out of date and was seriously lacking in a lot of the new innovations that we know are out there.

So here is our call out to all manufacturers and suppliers of interesting, sustainable things… if you make or supply a material that you think we may be interested in - if you have a new paper about to come on line that is made from potato peelings or a new MDF made from algae juice then please get in touch, tell us about it and send us some samples.

Our materials library is used extensively by our design team, our clients and selected design friends with a valid library card so it is a worthwhile opportunity to get your product specified.

We had fun with the crowd at the V&A Village Fete Jubilee making and showcasing London's most talented sock puppets. Young and old got to grips with their inner Sock Stars.

Check out the contestants at: www.flickr.com/photos/thomasmatthewsltd/sets/72157621760977467/