Lettering for Kate Bush's Live Album - Before the Dawn

I was thrilled to be asked to work on the new album lettering for long-time musical hero, Kate Bush.

Before The Dawn was recorded during the extraordinary run of 22 shows performed by Kate at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, 2014 and released November 2016.

Earlier in the year, I was asked by renowned music industry designers, Stuart Crouch Creative, to develop a range of hand lettering to work with the CD cover photography and inner booklet pages. I immediately immersed myself in Kate Bush’s music, from the early albums that influenced my teenage years to the latest magical performances from the 2014 shows.

I decided to develop some loose brush work, not too formal but still legible with a striated, textural ebb and flow that complemented the richly-coloured photography taken from the show. Read on ...

Limited Editions Prints

I've added a small selection of limited edition prints to my site.

Seen here is Cathy Print - an evocative quote taken from Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Cathy's heartfelt words as she yearns for the days of her youth spent with Heathcliff on the moors. 

One of the perks of my job is being able to play music in the studio, so you can easily imagine what was playing while I was working on this piece ...

Lettering for Simple Minds Acoustic Album

It was great to be asked to continue my work for Simple Minds with some lettering on their latest album, Acoustic.

Taking the acoustic guitar as inspiration for the album design, Stuart Crouch Creative asked me to create the track list in a combination of scratched and marker lettering styles, harking back to the punk era. Read on ...

I was delighted to see the mesmerising videos created by Able Media using my lettering. There are five videos, focusing on different tracks on the album. Here's the lead single, featuring a collaboration with KT Tunstall. 

There’s just something magical about watching the lettering create itself ...

Happy Halloween!

It's that time of year again, I couldn’t resist the opportunity for a bit more hairy lettering to celebrate Halloween - hope you all have a scarily great time!

If this makes you smile, you can see more of my ballpoint pen sketches on Instagram.

Hand Lettering for Simple Minds New Gold Dream Deluxe Boxset & Country Living Video

It was exciting to be asked to work on the hand drawn lettering for the New Gold Dream Deluxe Boxset. I remember its original release in 1982, Simple Minds’ fifth studio album, taking them from revered cult status to a chart band with hit singles and a full year in the UK album chart.

With the original New Gold Dream design as a starting point, I developed a sympathetic style of pen-drawn Roman Capital lettering for four of the disc covers within this collectible boxset. The challenge was to create new custom drawn titles for the fresh designs that also worked with the original 1982 cover.

It’s always a pleasure to open up a well designed boxset and this one didn’t disappoint with its inventive packaging, wrap, ribbon and booklets - it delivered in spades. When you work on a project like this, I imagine it’s much like being an actor in a film, you understand the concept and all the parts you worked on in detail but it’s only when you see the completed piece that you appreciate the whole.  

An inspired collection of remastered album, mixes, radio sessions, videos and tv footage, the stylish design lives up to its content. If you’re a Simple Minds fan - you’ll want it in your collection.

To see the rest of the individual wallets in more detail or more of my lettering for album titles and band logos check out the music folder on my portfolio site.

Online Update: Brush Lettering for Country Living Magazine

I've enjoyed working for Country Living since their design refresh at the beginning of the year, providing hand lettered logos, titles and pull quotes for the magazine each month. Last week I was asked into their London office to be videoed in action with my brush pens. Unnerving but certainly fun!

I also have a modest set up in the studio for videoing, handling a pen and camera at the same time takes a certain amount of practice but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. You can see some of my self promotional work below for the July issue of Country Living.

To read more about the job, head over to my website editorial folder or see more of my lettering videos on my Facebook Page.

  
   

Album Lettering for Paul Carrack's Soul Shadows

It’s been a busy few months and one of the projects I’ve really enjoyed working on is the hand lettering for Paul Carrack’s new album release, Soul Shadows.

The album has come in the wake of Paul Carrack’s time as featured vocalist and keyboard player in Eric Clapton’s band for his UK and international tour, the result of their longtime friendship and mutual respect.

I was commissioned to work on the album title and track list by Ian Ross, an old friend and much respected designer I first worked for over 20 years ago at Bill Smith Design. It was Ian who introduced me to Paul Carrack’s music some years ago, an artist well known in the industry as a ‘musician’s musician’, so I was delighted to have the chance to contribute something to the album design.

With a loose but legible letterform in mind, I decided to work with brush to create a fluid but slightly raw and not ‘too perfect’ line for the lettering. You can see the hand lettered Paul Carrack logo in use on his official website, while the album and track titles are positioned throughout the packaging design in vibrant turquoise to contrast with the soulful greys and blue-blacks of Paul Cox’s moody photography.

You can see more on this project and my hand lettering for the record industry in my music folder.

Simple Minds v The Stranglers Limited Edition Single Lettering

Thrilled to work on the lettering for a new single brought out by these two era-defining bands, Simple Minds and The Stranglers. 

To celebrate their forthcoming tour together, when The Stranglers will be special guests of Simple Minds, the bands got together to record a version of The Stranglers' 1977 punk classic, '(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)'. Influenced by The Stranglers and the Punk ethos in general, read Jim Kerr's thoughts on first seeing the band live when they performed in Glasgow.

Created with a pen I made specifically to capture the raw energy and anarchism of Punk, I hand lettered the single title and added it to distressed versions of the bands' iconic logos. I had some fun working on a range of options (some of which you can see on my website) before this version was settled on.  It was then printed as a limited edition onto collectible 7" white vinyl in black and vibrant green.

You can see more of my work for Simple Minds and the music industry here.

Cliff Richard Album Lettering, 75 at 75

It was great to be asked to work on Cliff Richard’s latest release, a triple-disc collection of his greatest hits celebrating his 75th birthday, called appropriately, 75 at 75.

It includes a new song, Golden, a tribute to his famously loyal fans and with that in mind, the cover was designed as a visual reminder of his first album cover, Cliff, released in 1959. Devoted fans who have the record in their collection will see that the the original title lettering has been reused in celebration of his 75 years in the industry.

It was good fun getting out my brushes, listening to some of Cliff’s early hits for inspiration and working on the Living Doll and Move It track titles to develop a sympathetic lettering style to the original 50’s lettering.

Happy Birthday Cliff!

Lettering for Bill Wyman - Back to Basics Album

Having worked on his website logo, I was delighted to be asked to work on the latest Bill Wyman album - Back to Basics.

His first solo album here in the UK since 1982, Back to Basics is stripped back, clean and accomplished. To reflect this approach, I kept it simple - working with pencil, I produced sheet after sheet of name and title script until the forms were fluid and relaxed, yet still legible. I’ve been working quite a bit with pencil recently and have enjoyed exploring its versatility as a lettering tool.

The theme was continued on the album inlay with song titles drawn and fitted to the shape of Bill’s guitar, with matching script on the disc labelling and the single, What & How & If & When & Why.

You can see more of my work for Bill Wyman and the music industry on my portfolio site.

Lettering for Van Morrison Duets: Re-working the Catalogue

I was thrilled to be asked to work on musical icon, Van Morrison’s latest album release, Duets: Re-working the Catalogue on RCA Records.

Having steered away from some of his more well-known classics, Van Morrison enlisted the help of some of the artists he most respects to perform and re-craft the songs with him.

This theme of re-working is reflected in the sketchbook feel of the design with pencil lettering, notes and doodles used throughout the CD cover, booklet and disc. Sensitively designed by Michela Comisso, I was asked to reference Van Morrison’s own notebooks and handwriting for style, complimenting the soft hues and textured papers of Michela’s beautifully conceived packaging.

If you’d like to see more of my album cover work check out the music folder on my portfolio website or follow my day-to-day posts from the studio on my new Facebook Page.

Hand Lettering for Simple Minds Big Music Tour Guide

It was great to be working for Simple Minds again - producing the hand rendered lettering for the beautifully designed 2015 Big Music Tour Guide.

In keeping with the ongoing trend for vernacular lettering, this tonal brush lettering is laid over the atmospheric tour shots, capturing and intensifying the immediacy of the moment. The bright, raw lettering compliments the vibrant photography and adds a pop of colour to moody grayscale shots.

If you’d like to see more of my Simple Minds work, check out the music folder on my website.