Monday 22 March 2010

Clifford and Rosemary Ellis





While at the Buxton Book Fair, I came across the work of husband and wife team Clifford and Rosemary Ellis. They worked collaboratively and between 1945 and 1982 they designed nearly 100 book jackets for the New Naturalist Series, published by Collins. These are the covers that I saw and they are absolutely beautiful. What a wonderful project, it made me think how you can communicate simple themes with limited pictorial information and colour.

Buxton Book Fairs 2010

I went to Buxton on Sunday to do a Sports Relief 3 mile run (17 mins and 17 seconds, for anyone who knows what that means! ) and lo and behold there was a 2nd hand book fair on at the Pavilion Gardens - I think I ran faster to get to the books! It was jam packed and for all of you who wonder where I get my unusual book reference from; it's places like this. The good news is that there are more on over the year and I would highly recommend that you get yourself along for some rare and interesting finds. Prices are varied but it's the sort of stuff you won't find in Waterstones so worth every penny. The dates are listed above.

Monday 15 March 2010

Picture Box Issue 2

The latest edition of the pathway newsletter is out in print. The cover has been design by Natalie Wood from Year 3. Look out for it on the notice boards.

Pick Me Up


Another reason to head down south on a little trip. This sounds interesting an event at Somerset House. It will host the first contemporary graphic art fair in the UK. The fair will bring together the most exciting graphic artists working today, giving you the opportunity to buy limited edition, affordable graphic art, illustration and design.

The fair will be presented alongside a lively programme of events and activities including a chance to see legendary paper artist Rob Ryan in the flesh and a print workshop from Print Club London. It's on 23rd April - 3rd May.

Adrian Johnson Live Drawing



We went to Catch, 22 Kingsland Road in Shoreditch – where one of our hero's Adrian Johnson together with Al Murphy, Hannah Waldron and Charlie Duck, were drawing live to music. The bands were Three Beards and The Marmosets. A brilliant and unexpected night. Just watching them immersed in drawing (in front of a leering crowd of students - us!) was such a treat. How lucky are we? Photo's to follow...

Donna Wilson

I saw this work on sale in a shop in London - how can you not giggle inside? It's by Donna Wilson. She sells gorgeous products for the home. She did an MA in Mixed Media at the Royal College of Art and produces knitted toys, cushions & rugs. Here designs are quirky, a bit mad and use bold graphic patterns.

YCN Shop





Another theme that keeps emerging is illustrators taking a much broader view of how they can make work. We visited the YCN shop, where I bought the best light switch stickers ever by Henritta Swift - I smile every time I turn them on and off! Keep thinking about how you can be diverse and have also a product / merchandising. How can you the sell yourself as a package? The shop also has a cute library system, which is an idea to promote exchange and sharing.

Kemistry Gallery




Since our visit to Warsaw, our obsession with Polish Posters never seems to fade, we visited Kemistry Gallery where a collection of Modern Polish Posters was on show. We have seen many posters of this kind from the past but this tradition continues. Since 2003, Warsaw based studio Homework, has created posters for cultural events. The work was stunning, with reference to the traditions of concise communication and simple visual puns. Although this work clearly referenced the work of the great Polish Poster artists, it felt like a distinctive and modern feel to these posters had been achieved. The exhibition continues till the 17th April. If you are in London over Easter, it's worth a visit.

Year 3 Professional Practice Trip

Returned from or travel to London which was non-stop, hectic and thoroughly energizing trip. The staff (me and Ian) had individual appointments set up. The students had also set up individual appointments of their own to see editorial art directors / agents. They got lots of positive feedback. Here is the low-down on some of the stuff that we did: Ian & I were lucky enough to be shown around and talk with staff from Central St Martin's. Exciting!

We then visited Daniel Moorey at DDB Advertising Agency. He is real supportive of using illustration and explained the process of how they source and select illustrators to complete jobs. Many of the contacts he makes with illustrators are online, so he gave us good examples of websites that are easy to navigate such as: Christian Montenegro and Adria Fruitos. He also looks regularly at The Creative Review Blog, Its Nice That, Illustrated Ape, Elephant Magazine, Marmalade, Varoom, Magma books. A new agency called Breed are in demand at the moment & This Is Real Art - a bridge between design and advertising. He re-iterated the importance of being a nice person and some one who is easy to work with as being key to making a career as an illustrator. He was very generous with the time spent with us.