Standing to attention

Networking is so much easier when part of your portfolio is standing spotlit in the corner of the room. More often than not I encounter confused looks when I say I'm a graphic designer and I design for print. Not today though. I was able to point to the banner in the corner and say I did that! That's the sort of thing I'm talking about.

I don't very often get in front of the camera but here I am beside the banner stand with my client, Helen Warburton(left).

The bright splash of green across the middle means the banner will stand out in any room and be a very clear voice for Creation Social Media wherever they go.

Pinterest

It's the social media site that everyone's talking about and the place to be if you're creative. For those of you not in the know, it's a site where you can gather images/ideas together from all over the web onto virtual mood boards.

Visit at your own risk as you may lose many hours scrolling through all the pretty things. A veritable endless magazine to be flicked through. For me it's a great tool for staying creative.

My only hesitation in using it for client work is that all my boards are public and design for a client seems like a more private process. There are a few alternatives out there but I've not found any with the wealth of great images/ideas that there are on pinterest.

So you can check out all the stuff I'm interested in over at pinterest and you'll not see anything you shouldn't at juxtapost.

ebook cover design

My favourite clients over at Airthrey Ltd have just published their first ebook. It was a first for me too as I was asked to design the cover image.

It's different from a paper book cover as it takes a lot less information and has to be readable at a very small size. I used the thumbnail size on Amazon as a guide when designing so that the title could be read the smallest.

Anyway hope you like the cover...and the book!

Old style type

My recent presentation on type for business has re-ignited my passion for all things type. As an exercise I asked everyone to spend a bit of time looking for examples of great type or even just give type a bit more thought.

These are a couple of examples I found while out and about in Newcastle (I'm discovering the joys of constantly having a camera available on my new smart phone!)

Happy 100 posts

When writing my last post I noticed that I was about to reach 100 posts. In recognition of the point of this blog (yes there is a point even although it has maybe wandered off recently) - it started out as a showcase of my creative experiments - I created this illustration using some old elements along with some new. Happy 100 to me - here's to many more of my random experiments!

Mark Wallinger at the Baltic

On a recent trip to Newcastle I visited the Baltic gallery. One of the main exhibitions was by Mark Wallinger a former Turner prize winner. His work included a numbered wall and 65,536 stones laid out on chess boards.

I particularly liked his explanation of the giant "I" on the front of the building. A self-portrait in Times New Roman which is as simple as it is large. Wonder which typeface others would consider to represent themself?

Read but not seen

This week I've been sharing some of my design knowledge with the ladies over at E-LLE. It was fun sharing a few basics about typography to a group of  women who will hopefully find it useful for their businesses.

So here's my presentation slides if anyone has anything to add or to ask about the subject of typography I'd love to hear from you in the comments box below. And if it's whetted your appetite for type head over to my type pinterest board to see some fine examples!