It’s an illustration of a tassel. Simple, you might think. Some would use a machine to do it. But 4160 Tuesdays is an artisan perfumery. This collection’s box and postcards have illustrations I started by doing research sketches at shows. So I’ve drawn from an actual tassel. I’ve looked at … Read More
I have several strands of work. And sometimes they overlap, bringing things from one area of work to a project or activity in another. Here are just a few examples from 2025: I’ve brought my experience in breaking down information to a plant labelling workshop at art, heritage and ecology … Read More
For a creative collaboration (about which, more to come), I had signed up for a workshop at Hausprint with master lithographer Simon Burder, having picked the brains of two printmakers I know. There is so much value in learning in person from people who know their stuff; in experiencing the … Read More
I get in touch with clients from time to time to see where we are on their projects. It’s part of the choreography in getting processes to work, individually and around each other. Which would suggest that every project is dancing the same steps, to the same tempo, in the … Read More
We learn something from each episode of Studio Snack, a collaborative food podcast about design. And this month, exploring seeds and sowing has given us much to discuss about the how and when of a design project. I’ve used type to illustrate stories from my inexpert gardening that make good … Read More
Time travel. It wasn’t what I expected from my free-range Friday. But as I sketch walked my way from an exhibition recce at Springfield Park Café in Hackney, looking for a vantage point I found an information board about the geology of the view. On it was the logo I’d … 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
A by-product of writing a bio or summary information is the chance to wrangle the question I’ve often asked branding clients: “In one sentence, what do you do?”. On the face of it, my work has got more complicated as I’ve gone along. As I’ve gathered knowledge, graphic design has … Read More
A lemon top ice cream in Redcar. That hadn’t been the plan. Whitby had been my next colour trip, for jet black and the Old Norse for white, more of which later. But getting there turned out to be fiddly so I had designed a scenic route North, wiggling down … Read More