Cornucopia

So after a fantastic weekend at the almighty All Tomorrow's Parties Festival, I'm now trying to tie up my loose ends before Christmas arrives in all its glory. Above I've posted two shots of a new piece I recently finished for Jake Blanchard's upcoming C Zine. It's made from a mixture of oil paint, acrylic and papercut, and is based on the greek myth of the Cornucopia. Click on the images to view the whole piece which I've just put up on Tweed, and make sure to keep an eye on Jake's site for updates on this one.

Leaves leaves leaves

I spent yesterday around Hattie, Chris and Alex's house photographing a new illustration for Minale Design Strategy's 2010 calendar (above). It's an interpretation of their logo for the month of November, made up of over 300 papercut leaves. An enjoyable project, but quite a workout on the old scalpel blades.

Designersblock: Interiors 2010

Over the past week I have been busy working with 3D designer and artist Thomas Forsyth on our piece for this year's Interiors 2010 exhibition. Tom was selected by Designersblock to take part in the exhibition, and due to the success of our past collaborations thought it only fitting that we teamed together. For the project we'll be working with Emmaus in Brighton; a fantastic organisation that offers work and community for people who have become socially excluded or homeless.

Interiors 2010 will run from 24th - 27th January at the Birmingham NEC. Keep your eyes peeled for further updates as the project develops.

Wrap Up the Year

I've just heard that the tile I designed for Frinton Press (above) has been chosen as one of 15 designs to be included in the upcoming 'Square Up the Year' exhibition at No:ID, London. These 10cm x 10cm tiles will be used to create a range of printed wrapping paper, which'll be sold both at the exhibition and at a range of shops and boutiques.

The exhibition will run from the 10th - 20th December, and features work from all of the artists who have exhibited at the No:ID gallery in 2009. A big thanks to Pat and Cissy for getting me involved in this project.

Creative Review Blog

My Gocco cards have been featured on today's Creative Review blog. Thanks to Gavin Lucas for posting this one up.

Gocco Mailout

This weekend I've dusted off my Gocco printer and created a set of new postcards. The design is based on my recent piece for Fast Company Magazine, and are printed in three colours in an edition of 40 copies.

Busy Busy

So it's been a busy old month here, added to by a recent change of address. I've been working on a number of new projects, most of which will be surfacing from the start of December. The first of these to see daylight will be the bookcovers I have recently finished for New York writer Maya Contreras (below). The books are already available as e-books which you can see here, and will be soon going to print through Vic & Olivier Publishing. More info can be found at: www.maya-contreras.com

In other news, my band Old Mayor have a review in this month's Decibel Magazine. We have much respect for this publication so are very happy to be included in its pages. You can see the review on the Decibel site here.

EP Review in Terrorizer Magazine

This month's Terrorizer Magazine features a review of our debut EP. For those of you who can't get yourself a copy here it is:

TERRORIZER October 2009
Old Mayor - Old Mayor 7/10

"If bleak and monochrome is how you like it, Brighton duo Old Mayor deliver the goods in excelsis. Comprising six tracks of skeletal grimness and harrowing quietude, this litany of torment is possessed of a stripped-down aesthetic that only intensifies its status as a portent of horror and unease. Like a snail's pace High On Fire as the last three humans on earth, or Burning Witch torturing the spectre of '90s post-rock, this is less a chief magistrate than a ghastly overseer."

Fantastic

Illustrative 09 Berlin

I've just arrived home after a brilliant week at Illustrative 09 in Berlin with Nobrow. Although the weather was very cold indeed, it was made up for by the array of brilliant illustration work on display. Hello to all the great people we met, and thank you to those who bought items from our stall, we hope you enjoy them! We will be selling books and prints in the main foyer until Wednesday 21st, so if you're planning on visiting the event, come over to our stall and say hello.

Post from Portland

Today I received a copy of the engraved leather Moleskine cover that I designed for the Portland-based company Engrave Your Book. It's really great to be part of such an interesting project, and I'd like to say a big thank you to Joe Mansfield for getting me involved in this one! Make sure to check out the site for a whole range of beautiful Moleskine covers.

Type Director's Club Award

I've just received some exciting news from New York. The piece that I created for the September issue of Fast Company Magazine last year has been chosen as one of the winners of the 55th annual Type Director's Club Awards. A big thank you to Jana Meier for entering my piece for the awards.

You can see my illustration on the Evening Tweed website here, and the full list of this year's TDC winners here.

Nick White Launch Party

On Thursday we will holding launch party for Nick White's new Nobrow book People I've Never Met & Conversations I've Never Had at Concrete Hermit gallery in London. This is the first in a new series of Nobrow hardback monographs cheekily titled Monobrow.

Nick has done a great job setting up for the exhibition, with a brilliant range of works on show. Nick has also designed a print especially for the show, which will be available to buy with the book for a special discount price. So come along for the private view, have a beer, and buy a book!

Thursday 17th September
Concrete Hermit, 5a Club Row, London, E1 6JX

Seas of Infinity

I was asked a few months ago to be part of an Artist Series for Engrave Your Book, a company specialising in engraved leather Moleskine covers. My design is inspired by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, using a quote taken from his story The Call of Cthulhu. After many sleepless nights trying to get my head around creating this geometric pattern, I'm very pleased to announce that the cover is now available from the Engrave Your Book shop!

Vendoin is Here!

Yes it's true, Joseph Crocker's first Nobrow Small Press book is now available to Pre-Order from the Nobrow site. Vendoin is a tale of a missing stiletto, and its journey into the deepest recesses of a Dantean inferno of lost garments and psychedellic cross-dressing ghouls. Featuring Joseph's wonderful pen and ink drawings, this book is a real triumph. The book is hand-printed in an edition of only 50 copies, all numbered and signed by the artist, and will be released on the 21st September. It's already been selling very well so grab yourself a copy now while you still can!

www.nobrow.net

Good Times

Thank you to everyone who made it to the Decked Project private view on Thursday. It was an amazing turnout, with many brilliant works on display. A big thank you to Vicky and EJ for sorting out this exhibition, they did a great job indeed.

The Decked Project Private View

This Thursday (27th August) sees the private view for The Decked Project at the Stolen Space Gallery off Brick Lane, London. The exhibition is due to house over 50 artists who were all asked to hand customise a skate deck. My good friend Thomas Forsyth and I decided to team up for the exhibition (details of which you can see in the earlier post).

The private view night will be super fun, so make sure to come along for some free drink and live painting by Dan Kitchener & Snub. Thursday 27th August, 7pm onwards.

The Decked Exhibition will be running at the Stolen Space Gallery from 25th - 30th August, so if you can't make the private view be sure to pop along during the week.

The Decked Project

Here's a shot of the two boards that Thomas Forsyth and I have just completed for The Decked Project exhibition later this month. I began the collaboration by creating a super complex geometric design, which Tom then went onto hand-engrave into the decks. I saw the final results for the first time today, and I can say without any doubt that Tom's totally nailed it! Very beautiful indeed.

52 artists will be exhibiting their boards at the exhibition, which runs from the 25th - 30th August at the Stolen Space Gallery, London.

The Guardian

Here's a sneak peak of a small section of an illustration I've recently completed for the Guardian. The piece will be printed everyday from the 14th - 18th August, so if you stumble across a copy check it out. A big thanks to Anna for being such a legend with this one.

Motive Sounds Recordings

After a brilliant few weeks around Europe, including a fantastic 5 days at Dour Festival in Belgium (thoroughly recommended to everyone) I'm now back in London and catching up with a backlog of work. First off here's an illustration that I've recently made for Motive Sounds Recordings to be used as an opener for the website. With a fabulous roster, and some beautifully designed album artwork, this Carlisle-based label is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Other projects that I'm currently working on include two bookcovers for the super talented New York writer Maya Contreras, an illustration for the Guardian, and a collaboration with Thomas Forsyth for The Decked Project. August is going to be a busy month...

Fruit Salad Boutique

I've just arrived home after a superbly inspirational trip to Europe. Pictured above is a shot of the Fruit Salad Boutique at Galerie PremArts in Berlin, one of my personal highlights of the trip. As part of this exhibition over the next 3 weeks the gallery will be the home to a range of fantastic workshops, talks, film nights, and live music events. If you're in the city during this time make sure to pop along.

The Fruit Salad Boutique will be running from 3rd - 19th July
To find out more visit the Galerie PremArts website - www.premarts.de

Bento Bestiary

After many grueling weeks, with much blood spilt and tears lost, I am very happy to announce that The Bento Bestiary is finally ready, making it the very first of our Nobrow Small Press books!

This 3 colour screenprinted books features the wonderful work of Bristol-based illustrator Ben Newman, alongside the writing of Scott James Donaldson, and recounts the habits and whims of a ghastly group of ghosts and ghouls from ancient Japanese legend. To find out more, and purchase a copy for yourself visit the Nobrow Small Press section.

New Nobrow Website

After much work Nobrow's new website is now live! The address is:

www.nobrow.net

The site features a range of new projects including Nobrow 1, the first in a series of self-titled bi-annual publications. To coincide with the launch of Nobrow 1 we have also released a run of limited edition screenprints, featuring artwork taken from the magazine, these can be found in the Small Press section.

Also, if you are unable to make it down to our exhibition at Jaguar Shoes before the 28th June, we have just posted some photos on our Flickr. Check them out here.

Story Motel Exhibition

As well as Thursday being the launch of Nobrow 1, it was also the private view for the Owl & Lion's Story Motel zine exhibition. My book New York Niceties is being featured as part of this exhibition, along with the work of over 50 artists. The exhibition will be running at the Owl & Lion gallery in Edinburgh until the 10th June, and all of the zines are available to purchase from their online shop.

Nobrow Launch Party

Last night's launch party for Nobrow 1 was a huge success. A big thank you to everyone who turned up to support. Lots of free beer was drunk, and many magazines were purchased, so all round it was a great night. If you were not able to make the party the exhibition will be running at Jaguar Shoes until the 28th June. There are also a bunch of photos from last night on the Jaguar Shoes blog.

Bjorn Rune Lie Prints

Today I've been busy in the screenprinting studio doing some 4-colour prints of Bjorn's illustration for Issue 1 of Nobrow Magazine. These are very limited edition, and will be available to purchase from the Nobrow website during its launch later this week.

Papier Mache Mayhem

It's been a super busy couple of weeks with lots of preparation to be done for the Nobrow Launch Party next Thursday. Sam, Alex and I have been frantically trying to get everything together for what I'm sure is going to be an excellent show. I've also been busy making two large Pinatas which will be on display for the duration of the show, and then smashed up in ceremonial fashion on the closing night. The launch party is being sponsored by Estrella so expect lots of free beer, as well as special low price copies of Nobrow 1. What more could you want.

New York Niceties

I mentioned a couple of months ago on the Evening Tweed blog about a book I was working on with a range of creatives I met during my time in New York. I've been sorting out the final touches this past week and it has finally gone to print. The book is entitled New York Niceties and features the work of a range of writers and illustrators, who all created pieces for the book based on their experiences in New York.

New York Niceties is due to be exhibited at the Story Motel exhibition in Edinburgh later this month, and will also be available to purchase from the Evening Tweed website.

Nobrow Issue 1 Has Arrived!

Today at Nobrow we have received the first copies of Nobrow Issue 1, a new bi-annual publication which will feature some of the best illustration talent around. The magazine looks absolutely amazing, so well done to everyone involved.

The theme of this first issue is 'Gods & Monsters,' and features the likes of Ben Newman, my good friend and fellow Evening Tweeder Sarah King, multi-award winning illustrators BlexBolex and Paul Blow, as well as Stuart Kolakovic, who also designed the cover (pictured).

The Magazine and all of its content will be exhibited at the bar and exhibition space DreamBagsJaguarShoes on Kingsland Road, London from the 15th May.

Drawing Tops

Yesterday I met up with Mr Thomas Forsyth to talk about a couple of projects we've got lined up for the coming months. Tom has been a regular feature of the Evening Tweed pages, and I'm sure many of you will know his work which has been pasted all over the international blog scene over the last few months. One project in particular which has been getting a lot of attention is his Drawing Tops. He very kindly gave me one of these tops as a birthday present, and it's an absolute beauty. To grab yourself one of these gorgeous hand-crafted tops visit his website - www.thomasforsyth.com

Quotation Magazine

This morning I received a nice little parcel from Japan. Enclosed was a copy of the second issue of Quotation Magazine, in which I was interviewed as part of a feature on London's design scene. Others featured in the issue include Zak Kyes, Studio8, Colin Henderson and fellow Evening Tweeder Sarah King. For those of you who can read Japanese here is my interview:

Gods & Monsters

Today at the Nobrow studio we have been working on the press release for Nobrow Issue 1. As part of this we have just completed a small run of these cheeky little 2-colour screenprints, featuring artwork by Alex Spiro.

Old Mayor EP Release

I am very excited to announce that Old Mayor's debut EP is now available from Paradigms Recordings. The CD, which features guest vocals from Swine and artwork designed by yours truly, is limited to only 500 copies, so make sure to grab yours whilst you still can. Both Tom and Evan have done a great job recording and mixing this one, so many thanks to them both. For more details visit the Paradigms Recordings website - www.paradigms-recordings.com

Welcome

So, welcome to my new blog. This will be the home to my many thoughts and adventures over the coming months. As I have mentioned in my bio I am a freelance designer/illustrator from London, UK, currently also working part-time at East London-based publishing studio NoBrow. Over the next couple of months it looks like things are going to be very busy, what with the upcoming release of NoBrow Magazine Issue 1, and various freelance projects. For now, here's a quick glimpse of a piece I have recently made for NoBrow's upcoming website, which I am currently in the process of designing. More about this here.