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.

Corporate Identity Design for Beverley Ogden Solicitors

I was commissioned by a local Solicitor to revamp the image of the company and create a new logo to coincide with a move to new premises. The company is based in Lewes, East Sussex which is an old, and architecturally speaking, rather traditional county town. The company has been established for 25 years and is well known in the town I therefore opted for a clean and classic logo design which was applied to all new stationery and signage. The new office is just off the main High Street on a twitten (small pedestrian lane to you and me) and therefore it needed a prominent exterior sign. I also designed the interior signage and advised on the interior office layout and colour scheme.

Artists Open House

Hurrah! At last I have finished drawing the series of animal character illustrations that I started when my children wanted me to draw them something (see earlier posts). I enjoyed doing these so much I am showing them as part of the Brighton Artists Open House exhibitions, http://www.aoh.org.uk/2008/ which have now opened all over Brighton. There are hundreds of artists displaying a massive variety of work throughout May alongside the Brighton Festival. Artists open their houses as galleries with work for sale. It is a great way to showcase work to a broad audience and attracts a large following.

This year, I am exhibiting signed, limited edition giclée prints of some cute animal characters. They are available professionally framed in a contemporary limed wood frame with a circular mount or unframed. As well as the framed prints, I have had some button badges made by a great little company who delivered a fantastic service and product and were lovely people to work with. Find them at http://www.makeabadge.co.uk/ The badges are really sweet and would be a cute little gift for a child. The final illustrations are all above but if you are in the Brighton area why not pop in to check out the whole show? Map available here. I am very pleased to have made some sales already so come before it is too late!

Alongside the prints, I have been working on some decorative textile pieces with a theme of fabric as paper. This is work in progress so have just a few pieces on show. I aim to post these on this blog throught the next few months.

The house belongs to an old friend, Julia Trigg. Her beautiful and intriguing digital collages use type and printed ephemera. They are proving to be very popular already. Have a look at her site http://www.juliatrigg.co.uk/ where you can see some samples of her work and the other artists on show.

Woodland Typography

Today there are letters everywhere!