I bring my design head to my live sketching gigs. So booked for live sketching a members’ breakfast at the Gantry, one of innovative social enterprise The Trampery’s workspaces, at Here East in London’s Olympic Park, I did two things: I asked for some waste materials to turn into sketchbooks … Read More
A drawing board. As gym equipment goes, it’s a bit unorthodox. But in this, the season of squeaky-clean trainers and good intentions, I’m reminded why I draw when I’m not working on projects: skills need exercise too. I go to life drawing as a dancer does class. It’s difficult. I … Read More
January has been a month of resolutions – so in this month’s Studio Snack podcast episode, we look at less. In snacks, and in design, where minimalism has made careers. Our creative experiment has been to simplify an image of a Winter snack. I talk about sketching some fruit and … Read More
Four days, two cities, a wintry beach and nerding out on Delft blue and the House of Orange… it’s been the latest leg of my project visiting places with colour stories. Delving into blue at the Royal Delft factory has turned up a story of resilience, adaptation and innovation. On … Read More
Binding sketchbooks. It’s very Zen. It’s useful (I get through sketchbooks at a rate that’s been described as voracious). And I love a blank sheet of paper. But is it a new leaf? Well, yes and no. I make my sketchbooks from offcuts, dummies and surplus swatches and materials. And … Read More
We make Studio Snack for fun – so in each recording there are bits where we get the giggles, say the right words in the wrong order and where we are, frankly, winging it. In our 2024 finale Studio Snack’s seasonal leftovers we bring you our favourites. There are visual … Read More
It’s not the most conventional of festive repeat patterns. But bear with me… I love a pencil shaving. I make a lot of them, on live sketching assignments and on my own work. In a circle, they can be baubles or snowflakes. They’re general enough to be relevant to the … Read More
I’m an accidental illustrator… This loose, linear strand of my work was once the workings-out of my design practice. Before that, it came from a love of bande dessinée illustration. I studied at a time of specialisation, when you could be a designer or an illustrator but not both; before … Read More
What is an Advent calendar and where did they come from? In our latest episode of Studio Snack, a food podcast about design, we explore the austere, the odd and the newsworthy, we consult AI and we rethink what an Advent calendar could be. I love going down rabbit holes … Read More
It’s happened to me before: I’m working on an image, lift what’s supposed to be the thing from its background… and what’s left is more interesting. I’ve been reminded of this as I work on a new collection of illustrated garments and totes. I often wear my own designs for … Read More