Experience design consultancy Matter Of Form has appointed Marcus Dunford as design director, with responsibility for building the agency’s behavioral design practice and identifying opportunities for innovation with its clients.
Dunford joins Matter Of Form from The BIO Agency, where he led its creative department and digital innovation, working with noted brands. These include an award-winning service innovation app for British Airways, an internal database platform for Savills, end-to-end service design for the iconic Greyhound buses in the U.S., and an AI Chatbot to help educate on antibiotic resistance for GSK UAE. Dunford has also worked with the likes of BT, Nissan and Co-operative Bank.
In his new role, Dunford will be working across all the agency’s accounts, joining a team of 12 designers and user experience specialists to deliver brand-led digital experiences across every touchpoint. He is also passionate about nurturing industry talent and developing the next generation of digital creatives, working with the Flipside Program to help young inner city adults from London build design skills and industry experience.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More