Elderflower Fields Festival 2012

Elderflower Fields is a new festival being organised in Sussex by some friends. I was asked to design the poster which was a fun project. If you fancy a weekend of music, sport, Sussex countryside, camping and dancing, sign up to their earlybird ticket line at www.elderflowerfields.co.uk. See you there!

Cards and colours for friends

Five of my friends celebrated their birthdays in January and another two in December. It seemed the perfect opportunity to rustle up a simple card design. I enjoyed thinking of a different colour theme for each friend. As I thought of each person a colour palette came to mind. Here they are.

Happy Christmas 2011

Have a warm and cosy Christmas readers!

Tree illustration

About eight years ago I planted a beautiful silver birch tree in the garden. When I look out of the kitchen window it is 'reverse silhouetted' against the dark green yew hedge beyond. It inspired this illustration.

Dreaming of Springtime

Often, when I am dozing off to sleep, my mind skips through the day and all its visual feasts and, all on its own, comes up with a fresh new image. I keep a sketch book and pencil by my bed, quietly switch on the light and jot down the brand new image, delivered to my subconscious visual 'inbox' by an unknown and most welcome sender.

Minnows

We had a week at the end of August in Teesdale, Co. Durham. The children spent hours paddling and swimming (yes, really, despite the glacial temperature) in the river Tees and catching minnows. Here was one day's catch.

Fresh, summery newsletter design

Here is a recent job for Wakefields the Jewellers in Horsham. A summer newsletter, a printed version and an online page turning pdf version for their facebook page.
Take a look here.

Felt love

It has been a while...



I have been researching online for a design project. I love felt as a material. Not the colourful handspun, homemade variety but the solid thick, warm, insulating, industrial, crisp cut type of felt.

This image is courtesy of architectural practice i29

White Christmas

Happy Christmas. (Yes, sorry it is a little late).
In the run up to Christmas this year everything seemed as if blasted by a cold, fresh, polar wind visiting early straight from the Arctic. On some days opening the back door felt like opening a door to a coldstore, the air often colder than that in my freezer. This year my christmas card has a polar theme, inspired both by the cool of winter and an image that has stuck in my mind of a polar bear drifting on the melting ice floe. Like a polar bear, none of us know what is ahead in the coming year. I hope that whatever leads you, be it a star, the wind or the daily tide of life, I hope that you will find a happy and warm place. A very happy new year to you all!

Stitched type

This proper old fashioned 'Champion Cokoernut Throwing Saloon' took my eye while visiting the Beamish Open Air Museum in County Durham last week. I love the hand stitched decorative type, the graphic border, the bunting and the faded colour as well as the words themselves. I asked the stall holder if it was an original as everything at Beamish is authentic (or nearabouts) to 1913. He said it was old and probably American due to the spelling of 'Cokernut'. He had a proper twinkle in his eye and rather kindly gave a little boy every chance to knock down a coconut by giving him many more than 3 shots for £1, and, a step closer each time he missed. Eventually, of course, the boy won his coconut. The sun shone (yes, really, even oop north) and the boy went off with a grin from ear to ear.