Blog

On National Illustration Day

Thanks to clients who saw uses for my loose, gestural drawing before I did, what started by accident through a studio booklet about drawing as part of my design practice, has become a thing in its own right. Here, clockwise from top left: A staff portrait wall at Bowen Craggs … Read More

Making for sketching

Doing prep for sketching at events, I like to consider context. So for a party at Trampery Fish Island Village, a campus for fashion, innovation and sustainability, I made swing tags from waste, spare supplies and offcuts. This is where my multi-stranded creative practice comes in. But it also uses … Read More

The international hedgehog of cheese

Here at the studio there’s work for and with clients, there are personal projects and there are the things that are part lab, part playground. Studio Snack, a food podcast about design, started when fellow designer Narcis Sauleda and I kept having conversations over coffee that we wished we’d recorded. … Read More

Getting my eye in

A recce. On foot. With a sketchbook. Surely not, when the brief is to produce a simple sketch map and we have search engines? Well, it’s not as overdone as it seems… There’s good practice – I can’t use an image for illustration reference that may be in copyright. And there’s … Read More

What does a layout sound like?

Accessibility. Reverse engineering it into existing materials is a challenge. But in a project modifying PDF publications designed for long-term client Bowen Craggs, it’s also changed how I think about layout. As someone who loves words and visual communication equally, I’ve found it fascinating to have to consider for the … Read More

Insights on design from a four-legged studio mate

Studio Snack is a monthly food podcast about design, made with creative collaborator Narcis Sauleda. In our latest episode, we ask a four-legged studio mate how dogs choose snacks, we find dog treat history in our creative neighbourhood and we consider who packaging is actually for. Listen to Studio Snacks … Read More

Digital, analogue, digital

It’s called a linen tester… They were made for the textile industry and repurposed by designers and printers for checking proofs and print. I have a newer one but I reach for this, my late Dad’s, because it’s good, and true, and it has the heft of a proper piece of engineering. What … Read More

A snack with a twist

Pretzels… In this month’s Studio Snack podcast, creative collaborator Narcis Sauleda and I bring you some fast facts about a slowly-made snack. But for all their twisty history, what this was really about was comparing the knotty processes of pretzel-making and design. Attempting to bake pretzels, I found out what … Read More

Grow your own snack

The alpine strawberries and cherry tomatoes I grow in my urban garden rarely make it indoors. I eat them like sweets. So Grow your own snack is the latest Studio Snack podcast episode with creative collaborator Narcis Sauleda. Harvest a snack, pour a cold drink and listen to historical trends … Read More

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