Neal's Yard Herbal Remedies Pop up

Pimp My Robo

Sorting out my apartment has really consumed my life. But today I gave myself some time and sat down to do some design work. Yes that's right I am working on new things! They may not be ready to present just yet but I have dug up this illustration to show you all while you wait. Well I say 'all', but in reality its probably one or two .

This Hand drawn Illustration is for a Kickstarter project that was successfully funded last year. This Kickstarter project was set up by a group of artist/illustrators and designer who get together weekly to draw comics. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Kickstarter, you set up a monetary goal to fund a project and ask people to pledge money. Once the goal is achieved, money is transferred to the group of people/ individual and the project begins. After days and weeks of drawing we successful completed and published our project. For those individuals who pledged there are certain awards/gifts. This particular drawing is a gift for a pledger who requested a robot looking dapper.

 

The details of our Kickstarter can be found here;

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/324352192/uzomuzo-alternative-comics-from-japan

The Uzomuzo group website can be found here;

http://uzomuzo.net/comic/

 

And Axiom Magazine which prints monthly and features Uzo Muzo can be found here;

http://www.axiommagazine.jp

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy new year everyone. As I’m sure you know; it is the year of the snake. Snakes are often perceived as bad omens, evil, sly or just scary, but in many cultures they resemble many virtues. Snakes are also associated with rebirth, eternity, patience, fertility, balance, communication, intuition, awareness, healing and protection.

 

I like to think therefore that this year of the snake will bring us all some kind of rebirth that will continue through out our lives.

 

Leaving the Hippy stuff aside, this year I wanted my new year card to be a lot more colourful. I used this project to practice using my tablet for colouring. I found it difficult to draw the snakes in a gentle way considering the stereo types that come with snakes. I tried to overcome this by using botanical art, symmetry and colour. The snakes eating themselves (Ouroboros) are an ancient Greek symbol that represents eternal renewal and cycle. The snake at the bottom is forming the symbol for infinity.

 

Thames Moon Olympics

In light of the Olympics I’ve dug deep into my hard drive to find this project. The Thames Moon is an object that sits in the Thames. As the Thames’ tide falls gravity works within the object to filter water. Compared to the overall filth of the Thames such a processes will hardly make a difference to the cleanliness of the river however the object’s purpose is more than a filtration system. It aims to bring attention to the Thames and the space that is created everyday between the tides, it encourages the citizens to be more thoughtful about the river and celebrates the fact that the river is slowly improving and now supports aquatic life. It reminds us that the city of London was built around the Thames, without it, it is unlikely London would exist. Thames Moon generates electricity using both the tide and solar energy for its lighting. Careful thought has been put into its position and shape so as to minimise the effect it has on water flow and to increase its visibility to passersby.

More cards! it's about time I made a name card. And here it is.

It is obvious that font, lettering and information communication has been playing on my mind recently. Of course thinking up name cards is way to exciting so I'm sure I will think up a new one within the year. The card comprises of a paper clip and two pieces of paper. One side has my blog address and the other has my name and number hidden within the letters. The receiver must play with the card that has holes to reveal the details.

To go with the card is a new background design. I hope all the letters aren't giving you too much a migraine!

What do you do in the train?

On a chockablock train one is likely to see people reading books, playing games, using phones, talking loudly and more often then not, making passes. Rarely however do I see people drawing. Until recently the odd glances I got when drawing made my notepad shy away, yet I have learnt that by focusing on the drawing I am able to shut out the world and speed up the passage of time. Give it a try!

Armed with my empty Muji diary and a long train journey; I started to think about fonts and different ways to represent text. I've found a really cool magazine in Japan called +81 that focuses on graphic design, layout and text, and it has inspired my to experiment.

Some fonts have the ability to slow down the reader making them dwell on key words whilst others, can have the effect of leading the viewer. Layout and font may be limitless however the fine line between tacky and cool is Hazardous. At university I remember everyone being scared to use anything other than Times or Arial. I'm unsure on the effect my diary fonts have, if any. But I'd love some feedback!

Happy 2012

Happy year of the Dragon! Finally after sketch upon sketch the dragon nengajo is complete. I hope that I was able to send you one, if not I still wish you the best of luck in 2012 and if you send me your address you will definitely receive a 2013 nengajo in the post. I’ve been using the second image as my laptop background, so go ahead and use it too; it might bring you some good fortune.

I’ll leave you to contemplate these Chinese proverbs…

The dragon teaches you that if you want to climb high you have to do it against the wind.

To attract good fortune, spend a new coin on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend, and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon.

And last but not least

He who wants to be a dragon must eat many little snakes.

Happy snake eating!

From old to new

Finally a new background, I hope the new one is just as appealing and easier on the eyes. The old background was designed with 2011 fashion trend in mind, bold prints and retro patterns. However I aimed to make the background more asymmetrical and opted to not use the neon colours that are also being pushed on the catwalk. The new background came about when I was looking in an old sketch book. I found a small piece of tracing paper with a print design I was working on at university. At that time I was researching textiles of the 1950s which drew inspiration from the current atom age. Many textiles had prints and weaves that symbolised cells, atoms... things looked at under a telescope.  The colouring however is inspired from Paul Klee's

 'Flowering' (1934)

Alice in Wonderland

One summer, the salmon pink tiles of my front garden really started to annoy me. So after a very short thought and a trip to Homebase, I spent half a day painting the ground and planting turf in reclaimed concrete pots. I'd like to think that somewhere in the back of my mind I had Alice in Wonderland as a concept. At the end of the day it was a quick and cheap job, it may not be wonderful, but thank good those salmon pink tiles have gone.