Pictograms 30 July - 9 November Japan House High Street Kensington admission free 2018 as a venue to share and celebrate Japanese culture and design. And what could be more Japanese than the pictogram - a suite of graphic symbols that convey meaning through symbolic representation? The latest exhibition celebrates their use but also aims to educate and foster a deeper understanding of graphic design, and is described as a masterclass in the simplicity of communicating without words. It's been set up in the basement so be aware the lift's currently not working, and it's a shame they wrote the 'Lift not in use' sign in words rather than displaying the message as a pictogram. giant black pictograms. It manages to be both the perfect selfie-backdrop and also fulsomely educational throughout, and I hope you won't mind if I focus on the latter. minimalist silhouette designs conjured up by Katsumi Masaru and Yoshiro Yamashita to guide visiting spectators to the correct sporting venue certainly made a lasting impact. Also it's a shame they went to all the effort of redesigning them again for the 2020 Games and thanks to the pandemic hardly any foreigners turned up. 176 emoji, each restricted to 12×12 pixels, and included twelve zodiac signs, five red hearts, two feline faces, a cutlery set and a rocking horse. What precisely would best depict an apple, for example, to ensure understanding across all boundaries and cultures? Should icons be depicted from the front, the side or looking down from on top, and all because the essence of a 3D object has to be condensed into a recognisable 2D representation? And if it's movement you're depicting, which part should be the snapshot you use? Looking at a silhouette walking, for example, it soon becomes clear that only one properly captures the intended motion. The exhibition ends with a do-it-yourself section. A bunch of London schoolchildren were asked to design their own pictograms on a square grid, and the professionally-tweaked results clearly resemble Tower Bridge, a wrap of fish and chips, a cargo bike and the intimate emotion 'I love my dog'. There's also a lightbox where you can shuffle shapes to make your own pictogram designs. I quickly knocked up the silhouette below to represent 'diamond geezer', although I confess to relying heavily on a shape the gallery assistants had laid out in advance and I am by no means that rotund in real life. exhibition's on until November, but ➨ 🇯🇵🏠︎ 🕙︎-🕗︎ 🔍︎ 👍︎☺

East Midlands quiz Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Derbyshire A) Bigsofa B) Rugbolt C) Nicercub D) Localmatch E) Glancearea F) Typeamaze G) Ringereach H) Yearntasted I) Gossipvalue J) Glazesurgery K) Cookproperly L) Dollarsweight M) Babywrapjacket        Nottinghamshire N) Tiepigs O) Jobbribe P) Freshboat Q) Heavyhive R) Saganbulk S) Hispasture T) Openercost U) Simplymick V) Kanyespanwade W) Aboutmodelcar X) Directionhealthy Y) Schwarzenegger Z) Dividetimbertrees (answer in the comments box, and please no more than one guess each)

Hyperlocal Signage News Delays are expected to continue until October. It's probably related to the aforementioned sewer repairs. But it has a misplaced apostrophe. I wish someone would take it away.

On 5th August 2024 London woke to the news that Banksy had painted a goat on a wall in Kew. Over the next eight days an entire menagerie emerged across the capital, and it filled the August silly season gap brilliantly. [original bloggage] Two of the animals vanished almost immediately, but I wondered how many of the remaining seven were still visible one year later. Monday 5th: Goat (Kew Green) And straight away it's a no. The goat had been painted on a wall facing the south end of Kew Bridge, part of the former Caxton Name Plate Manufacturing Company building. It was promptly covered by protective plastic but more recently the entire building's been covered with scaffolding so you can see nothing. And this is because it turns out Banksy painted his goat on a building with planning permission for a roof extension, and four new sash windows were proposed on this formerly blank wall. More pertinently the owners removed the goat in its entirety on 7th February, indeed there are fairly startling photos of workmen on a raised platform hacking out a huge chunk of the wall, so all the scaffolding's really shielding is a hole. Don't expect to see the goat again, it's proved a nice little earner. Tuesday 6th: Elephants (Chelsea) In good news this one's in better shape that last time I saw it. These two elephants appeared on an end terrace along Edith Grove in Chelsea, painted on two blanked out windows. Alas within a couple of days someone came along with a ladder and stuck lacy stripes over one of them, presumably thinking they were improving it, but thankfully that's since been carefully removed. The elephants are also the only surviving artwork not to have been screened over, thus now the least toyed-with. Wednesday 7th: Monkeys (Spitalfields) Imagine three monkeys dangling from the Overground viaduct crossing Brick Lane. You'll have to imagine because on 5th December contractors working for TfL arrived with a boom lift and jetwashed the lot of them. When pushed TfL said "unauthorised art can attract more graffiti, which encourages trespassing and anti-social activity that poses a danger to the operational railway and customers. This piece therefore had to be removed to prevent possible disruption", which on a street defined by colourful graffiti is plainly bolx. But if you look carefully the three monkeys are still there in vague outline, so they didn't do a very good job. Thursday 8th: Wolf (Peckham) Friday 9th: Pelicans (Walthamstow) I first saw this when it was fresh, two pelicans necking fish from Bonners chippy just north of Walthamstow High Street. It took a while to be shielded by plastic because the family were on their six week summer break when Banksy came and painted it. They're abroad again at present, returning Thursday 4th September, but the artwork's still safely in place and possibly the greatest of the bunch. If you come for a gander in the autumn be aware that a small bag of chips now costs £4.20 because art doesn't come cheap. Saturday 10th: Cat (Cricklewood) Sunday 11th: Piranhas (Ludgate Hill) This was my favourite, not least because I arrived so early that the social media rush hadn't yet arrived. I thus had the sentry box on Ludgate Hill entirely to myself, nipping in and out to admire the painted piranhas from both sides. The crowds came soon after, then a ring of protective barriers so nobody could get up close, than the City of London took steps to protect their property by removing the entire box and placing it off limits outside the Guildhall. It's still there but now shifted inside to an entrance corridor where presumably you can brush past it midweek, but I turned up on Sunday when the City sleeps so could only peer through the window. In good news this aquarium will be heading to the new London Museum when that opens next year. Monday 12th: Rhino (Charlton) This one's in a horrible location on an industrial estate near the Thames Barrier, accessed by dodging tipper trucks on a mucky street whose pavements are blocked by parked cars and vans. The first time I saw it an employee of RMS Skips was halfway through covering it with plastic sheeting and I'm pleasantly surprised to see that's still here, as is the artwork behind it. It's also still drawing Banksy fans because just before I arrived a driver wound down his window for an admiring glance, and just after I left another couple blocked the street in their Mondeo to take a shot too. Best drive rather than walk. Tuesday 13th: Gorilla (London Zoo) Banksy's final artwork was daubed on a shutter at the entrance to London Zoo. They soon decided it couldn't remain in situ because queues need to flow freely at the height of the summer holidays, so a replacement shutter was sourced and the original whisked inside the zoo. The first replacement included a replica of Gorilla & Friends, plus a sign alongside confirming it wasn't the original, so visitors still got to experience the magic. But I see they've now suspended the pretence because I turned up before 10am yesterday when the shutters were down and can confirm all three are now blank white. A clickable menagerie Goat (Kew): chunk of wall removed Elephants (Chelsea): in situ, undefiled Monkeys (Brick Lane): jetblasted to hell Wolf (Peckham): stolen within hours Pelicans (Walthamstow): in situ, behind perspex Cat (Cricklewood): removed within hours Piranhas (Ludgate): shifted inside Guildhall Rhino (Charlton): in situ, behind perspex Gorilla (London Zoo): shifted inside the zoo