The greatest challenge a designer faces is to present information to the user in a useable, yet visually pleasing manner. It’s also rather rewarding! We were recently asked to create a map of St. Peters church and the web of roads that entangle it. It needed to be simple, and in keeping with brand guidelines.

Every designer/artist/human being loves variety, even when that means more restrictions. So it was nice to get down to the basics; creating something pleasing out of something quite mundane.

We decided to fashion our roads out of negative space, this meant that we could stop the map where the roads end, rather than being left with a giant, ugly square. It also helps to give the map a more natural feel. The church, located right in the centre, helps to offset the monochrome colour scheme and really draws your eye to the destination.

A very good friend of ours got the call to play Glastonbury this year and we were stoked for him! Luke Sital-Singh is the brains and voice behind Brighton based, Fellow Stranger. Touting influences like Bon Iver, Ryan Adams and Bright Eyes, his poetic and emotive music will definitely make you think. Or cry. Or both? Anyway, he needed to get some new press shots and we were very happy to oblige, so we set out on a sunny friday afternoon and managed to snap some real winners!The above photo was selected from the final shortlist and is now on display as his artist profile photo on the BBC website, as you can see below…

If you’re going to Glasto this year then make sure you check out Luke and his band Fellow Stranger on the BBC introducing stage on Saturday, i promise you won’t be disappointed! Also i suggest you keep an eye on his website for lots of lovely updates and what not! Here’s a bunch of shots that didn’t quite make the cut:

…Not everything is designed well.

I’ve been thinking of getting a tattoo for a while now. So far I have failed to settle on any imagery or sentiment that will stand the test of time. This was a quote I flirted with for a while during, what I affectionately call, my ampersand phase. While I would still love to brand myself with it, I decided that for now it was far too cliché.

So I turned it into a print instead.

It’s a custom variant of American Typewriter Medium, one of the most famous of all fonts. consider this my homage.

I remember listening to Simon & Garfunkels greatest hits as a child. That and an unhealthy amount of Al Stewart… And well, I’m thankful for the first, but not so much the latter (sorry mum). After spending my teenage years listening exclusively to pop, pop-rock & pop-punk, I finally come back around to appreciate their song-crafting genius!

For the last 4 months or so I have had this idea to create a portrait inspired by The Boxer. I wanted to go super vintage on it, right back to the Victorian age. It’s hard to represent a Victorian as a rebel, so much of what was taboo back then is common place today! I think that’s what makes this piece a lot more subtle. I had to do a fair bit of research and ended up on the topic of tattoos. Apparently getting inked back then was total social suicide, you ran the risk of complete family banishment. I picked a classic Sailor Jerry tattoo to place on his chest. Sailor Jerry tattoos started out as a real sign of masculinity and testosterone. They spoke of battle, honour, victory which seemed fitting for anyone in the boxing profession.

I framed him with some classic oval heraldry, inscribed with what i think are the most poignant lyrics in the song. Up top I inscribed a tally representing his battles and fights, “And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him”.

Might get some prints made eventually. For now it remains as a momento of my recent dip into a world of music I ignored for too long.

This is Double Island Point in QLD, Australia. Quite possibly the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been too. Ever. The only way to get to there is to drive 40 km down the sandiest highway I’ve ever been on–the beach. It’s a fully fledged, registered road, meaning the cops can pull you over for speeding… crazy.

I took a whole bunch of pics using a standard ‘happy snap’ tourist camera, nothing fancy, and stitched them all together in photoshop. It really sums up my trip and my feelings towards the nation, happy memories. Click on the image above and share in my happiness.

Time Slips Away is my homage to the heavyweight of the typographic world–Helvetica. A font that seems to of held its prominence for years! Despite many brands doing their best to generate associations with it…

Much Like the gothic fonts of old, Helvetica is heading for the same outdated status, right? Well, it’s currently one of the most widely used sans-serif typefaces, 53 years after it’s creation and It plays a large role in representing one of the most famous graphic design movements. The arguments for and against are vast, so if you haven’t already, I strongly recommend that you watch the documentary of the same name… You’ll never look at it the same way again!

The illustration was originally a continuation of my recent dip into monochromatic design, but colour was later added for the sake of realism. I think it captures the boldness and striking vibe associated with the typeface, while demonstrating the fragile, semi-permanent nature of anything created by human hands. The guys over at 5quidink liked the design so much they asked us if we wanted to make it available on their site for 48 hours (instead of the usual 24)! So if you agree with our concept or just dig the illustration, head on over and purchase yourself a ‘Time Slips Away’ tee while it’s still around! It wont be there forever, ironically…

“…this teeshirt is smart, simple and honest. Also it’s the kind of thing your Mom cannot help but approve of, which annoys the hell out of her because deep down she thinks wearing funny T-shirts is somehow bad for you, like not brushing your teeth.” – Tee Junkie

We created 2 designs for them,the first of these was ‘Synthesize me baby’.

We really wanted to make a tee for the fans. Something that fitted the bands overall vibe, while displaying a sentiment any fan would agree with. And so ‘Synthesize me baby’ was born. Everybody loves an original verb and we liked how its interpretation is left entirely to the individual. It generates a greater sense of ownership.

It took a while to really nail the colours for this piece, but we finally landed on what we dubbed our ’90s swatch (see above). I think it helps create the playful aurora the band were after. We don’t think its too soon to love the 90’s, but unfortunately not everybody shares our tastes, so when it comes to clients we tend to send through a few options for them to process.

The second design we sent them was ‘Take it to the floor’.

This is a much simpler design comprised of lyrics from one their songs–our ’safe’ option, if you will. Now please don’t assume that this means it was any less thought out, far from it! it’s a great hybrid, modern day club scene meets classic, throwback disco art. Perfect for a band of this genre.

we looked for a modern feeling colour scheme with a large amount of contrast and to be honest, you can’t go wrong with black, white and hot pink. It’s the perfect colour metaphor for the disco scene. The dark of the club broken up by the almost fluorescent ‘flashes’ of colour emulating the lights and lasers. It’s bold, eye catching and remarkably colourful considering pink is only the accent colour! Limiting yourself to fewer colours is a fun design challenge, but it also works out cheaper for the band to print and generates a bigger mark up on sales! It’s so important to consider the clients situation and needs.

Both designs followed the same basic process…the text was hand dawn, scanned in and then vectored. We didn’t use a single font or typeface for either piece, not even for reference! Which is an incredibly satisfying thing to say.

Anyway, after a few days in the pipeline, we sent the artwork off and got a great response, seriously, the guy’s are great to work for! Unfortunately, they came into some unfortunate funding scrapes and ended up getting their designs from a close friend who helped them out on the cheap. We were gutted of course, but remain stoked with the designs we created…

And hey, if you like them and are interested in purchasing either design then please, get in touch with us!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VGbAOOEego

Maybe it’s a man thing? Skateboards, danger and slow motion explosions… The concept alone leaves me speechless. I find myself watching it over and over, each time anticipating every blast. I think, however, that the beauty of the composition lies is in the juxtaposition. The video opens with a graceful display of accuracy and timing, moving straight into a brick-breaking act of strength and power. The second shot moves straight to a chain of concrete eruptions, followed by a glimpse into the frailty of the athlete… The overall execution is just brilliant, it captures the nature of the sport perfectly!

What I find most amazing about this video is not that somebody had the idea, but that someone said “Yes, we’re actually gonna do this”. Amazing!

Im really pleased with how this design came out, even more than usual! Partly because it’s finally finished. Sometimes I have these ideas or concepts that seem to swim around in my head for months and months, so its great when I finally get around to actually creating them.

Recently I have been really into the work of French artist Mcbess, especially his typography and intricate line-work. The guy is super talented and pretty darn creative, using an odd mix of the darker, macabre content portrayed in an almost comical display! He knows how to balance a copious amount of fine detail with thick, rounded flowing lines. What can I say, I just like his style, so I decided to pay homage to him and it seemed fitting to do a piece on luck. Luck is an interesting concept. It’s either good or bad, the associations behind it are also split in two; on the one hand you see casinos portrayed as classy institutions for gentlemen and their monogamous partners, in the other you find the seedy, sleazy dropout culture of the gambling addict. I wanted to create a grey area between the two, ironically choosing to use only black and white… Monochromatic designs often come across a little more debonaire, conjuring imagery such as the classic suit, its clean and crisp. To counter this I decided to fill the entire design with some crazy weaving line-work.

The arbitrary looking line-work helps to generate a more ‘out of control’ feeling, juxtaposing the classy, clean elements previously mentioned. And if you look at it from a distance, it looks grey. mission accomplished.

I used to hate super detailed designs, mainly because I never had the patience to see it through… I am a total convert now, well all except for my right hand who is sick of getting cramp.

we had some great reviews back when we previewed it so we subbed it over on threadless, you can help us out by heading over and voting! 5$ :)

If you didn’t already know, turquoise is Pantone’s color of the year 2010 (the spelling is really killing me). And let’s face it, when it comes to colours, Pantone have the monopoly–so why fight it? Fortunately for us, St. Peters Brighton recently had a branding face lift and turquoise is now at the heart of their new colour scheme! It definitely sealed the deal.

The flyer was printed at A6 so we had to think very carefully about the best way to display all the information they wanted. We really loved the typographic layouts of those vintage boxing posters so we thought we would try and incorporate their space saving techniques.

St. Peters (@followbrighton) wanted something bold, fun and summery. Personally, I think we nailed all three.