Read all about it!

Hooray! Aesop, the brand story agency (who I'm fortunate enough to work for) is launching! We tell brand stories, wherever and whenever they need to be told. 

Keep up to date with what we're up to via http://twitter.com/#!/AesopAgency (don't worry, there are proper tweeters involved in this, not yours truly!). Come and watch our story unfold...

Bugging about rugs

So I've bought a latchpull rug canvas, and REALLY want to make something beautiful. BUT WHAT? I'd really like to play with the medium, doing something referencing the traditional aesthetics, but putting a contemporary an personal twist on them. And importantly, make it pretty. Some ideas I've been considering are:


a curb with some double yellow lines and a drain

brick path (maybe Wizard of Oz style?)

something more graphic using the pixel quality of the canvas


But I'm not there yet. Some inspiration has recently come from design-crisis

"Where's the library for men?"

First post of 2011! Yet again I've got out of the habit, and I could say it's because I've been busy, which I have, but that's not a good enough excuse. Slap on wrist for me!


Last night I went to The Women's Library with a friend, having read that their latest exhibition is about domestic crafts. Very relevant to my MA final project. I'd never been to the library before, and it was a treat. A lovely space, and the main exhibition was beautifully curated. In the foyer there was also an exciting display of artwork by ceramist and all round crafty Nicola Malkin, with very witty large versions of everyday items, like a massive teabag in amongst the books. The Hand Made Tales exhibition is on until April, and Nicola's Crafted Footnotes is on until March. Go see! (Click on blog post title to whiz to The Women's Library website)

LittlePoddingtons

I've been working with the lovely Janet at LittlePod for a while now, but now I'm based up in London it's a bit harder to get involved as much as I'd wish. So to combine my love of cooking and my need to lose a few lbs, I've started the LittlePod diet blog! Check it out: http://littlepoddiet.blogspot.com/

This is how to write a blog

I keep a blog so I have somewhere to archive my favourite things. This is mostly for me, so I don't forget about them. I don't read many blogs that aren't to do with design, but one I check up on regularly is little miss Tavi, the Style Rookie. I love fashion, but I just don't know how she finds the time to do all this! Especially seeing as she's still at school. She's recently written for Pop magazine. This girl makes a mean mood board too.

Update: Still freelancing in London , but pretty much full-time now. It's amazing! Working with a great team and get to work on some exciting projects for big and small clients. I love my life right now.

Meanwhile...

It's really been a bit hectic, so no posts for a while. Needless to say, Vintage was AMAZING, and since then I've been littlePodding, The Other Thingsing and freelancing in London, all very exciting. So because I've got another deadline looming, here's a visual diary of some highlights of the last few weeks...

"The New Festival of Britain"

Wow I can't believe how fast this has come along, but it's nearly time for me to pack my little tent and skip across the country to Sussex for what promises to be an amazing festival. Yes, that's right, I'm off to Vintage at Goodwood! A combination of art, music, fashion, film and design curated into five areas focussing on all decades 40s - 80s. As well as looking back, they'll be questioning what will be the vintage of the future - what (if anything) are we to take from the 90s for example?! We're going to set up camp on the thursday so we can fit some horse racing in as well! I'll report back next week (with a significantly lighter purse I fear, uhoh)!

littlePod

This company is heading for the stars, and I'm ecstatic that I've been asked to get involved in the design side. Living in Devon has it's perks! (click on the title of this post to fly to their website)

To Kill A Mockingbird

I watched this film for the first time yesterday, I read the book years ago and loved it and the film was no disappointment, far from it. But the title sequence of this 1962 production stole the Oscar award winning show for me. So here are some links:

http://www.adcglobal.org/archive/hof/1983/?id=251
(Stephen Frankfurt's biog on the Art Directors Club website)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP5MutuPVxk
(the title sequence itself)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg5f0SKrekA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnfxxWbXKtw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZaYaRmT_SE&feature=related
(a 1965 BBC documentary into Frankfurt's advertising career)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMgK-r8uxm8&feature=related
(Frankfurt talking about the title sequence)

Vintage Labels

Found these while rootling round my room, don't know how they got there but they're pretty delicious (especially the pink one)...

Exeter Festival

See the BMW ad featuring Theo Jansen on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcR7U2tuNoY

I was lucky enough to see the fabulous Theo Jansen kinetic sculptures strolling round Exeter on Saturday, far removed from their normal beach locations, but absolutely amazing to see in the flesh. Instead of their normal fuel of wind, they were aided by plastic bottles of air and small children. The Spacex gallery in town has been holding the first UK exhibition of the Dutch artist's work, and although that's over now, the gallery is still worth a trip.

Toy Story

T.O.T. and bald chickens

Craft vs Design

Well I do love my weekly (Design Week) and bi-monthly (Crafts) visual updates, and look! Same cover! Highly recommend picking both of these up, they're full of talent and interesting articles, my favourite is probably Crafts Glenn Adamson's feature on the replica.

Eetsy crush on Etsy

I love getting my Etsy Finds newsletters in my inbox, and just wanted to share a few of my favourite items out there in the ultimate everlasting craft fair...





From top:
Bambi by Hopeimages (http://www.etsy.com/shop/hopeimages)
William the tea cosy by MessyFishDotCom (http://www.etsy.com/shop/MessyFishDotCom)
hazel and ingrid, a double brown bear by EveryEskimo (http://www.etsy.com/shop/everyeskimo)

Errr

Oops no posts for a month - bad Harriet. Bit distracted atm, so here's some new redesigns of weekly papers to review. Nice? I think so. Life changing? Fraid not. But I just want my fix of the design world (sorry I don't read NME anymore! Not enough time/pocket money) to be easy to navigate, easy to read and full of interesting stuff. And yes the new design does that better than the old I think. Both use colours well, adding interest on the magazine rack and variety in each issue. But I still don't really like the DW www. Better than NME's though!

Now the sun beckons. I'm able to listen to it now, so will take advantage before I go back to being up to the eyeballs.

Ffffalmouth

Well I had an awesome weekend in Falmouth last week, thanks to some lovely people. So here's some Hedluv - who were FANTASTIC at the Haiti fundraiser at the Pavilion, some 90's girls on the beach, Christmas pressies I made for Sarah and Jo, and my magbear (or bearpie). He's had a clean and a new coat of glossy paint, and is looking quite lovely. We may make a series for The Other Things.

Busy week in London (freelancing) followed. Design Bridge tomorrow!