LAST CHANCE: Competition: New Seating Fabric for Transport for London

Deadline: September 14th ’09, 5:00pm

If you are looking for a little design project to keep yourself occupied over the summer, Transport for London has launched a competition to design a brand new seating fabric for their underground system.

From graphics to roundels, Tube stations to textiles, London Underground is steeped in a history of innovative design. As part of the refurbishment and upgrade of London’s underground Tube system, the competition invites professional and non-professional desingers to take their position in the prestigious hierarchy of artists and designers who have all created designs for hte Tube, including Man Ray, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Marion Dom.

The design brief, which remains very much the same as it did in 1930, emphasises that the design’s colours should respond well to both natural and artificial light, with a pattern which takes account of wear and tear. The designs should also consider certain utilitarian elements such as being commercially viable, having a repeat pattern, and not being too small to cause ‘dazzle’ or ‘strobe’ visual effects.

Entrants are however fully encouraged to challenge conventional ideas of traditional seating fabric designs where possible.

To download the brief and and to enter the competition visit: www.shop.tfl.gov.uk