Meadowhall & Gloucester Quays Christmas lettering but most importantly, naughty or nice?

I was delighted when Ledgard Jepson asked me to develop some lettering for British Land’s extensive indoor shopping centre in Sheffield, UK.

With 25 years experience of working with market-leading brands, Jepson Ledgard has designed an eye-catching series of campaigns to showcase the centre’s many attractions. With an eye for detail as well as the big picture, the creative team suggested bespoke lettering with a loose and contemporary feel, to complement the fresh photography and stylish designs across the site.

It’s always encouraging when a client understands a designer’s creative vision and the result has been a series of stylish campaigns, marking Meadowhall out as a premium shopping centre.

You can see the heart-warming Christmas campaign Read on ...

Christmas Lettering for Gloucester Quays

It was great to be asked by FKC London to work on their Christmas campaign lettering, Experience More Magic, for Gloucester Quays this year.

The brief was to create lettering that was stylish and contemporary with a festive feel. I focused on crisp Didone letterforms combined with celebratory stars and flourishes to add some magical Read on ...

And Last but Not Least ...

Today is my last day in the studio before Christmas, I'm back at the drawing board in the New Year on the 3rd January. 

A big thank you to all people I've worked with this year, I've had some fabulous jobs and I look forward to teaming up with you again next year. If we haven't worked together yet but you'd like to - please feel free to email me with you thoughts on potential projects.

So, the big question - have you been naughty or nice? However your year has been, I hope you're at the top of Santa's list ...

Merry Christmas!

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.

Hold Fast to Dreams Lettering for Scholastic Scope Magazine & Pinterest Update

It was great to work on this project about American poet and social activist, Langston Hughes for Scholastic's Scope, The Language Arts Magazine. Hughes is best known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance in New York City and this short play is an introduction to his life and poetry for students to read aloud in class.

The title for the piece, Hold Fast to Dreams, a quote from one of his poems, is drawn in a loose, fresh, brush style Read On ...

Online Update: Pinterest

I’ve just set up a folder of lettering sketches on Pinterest. It’s an eclectic mix of pages from my sketchbooks, featuring ongoing obsessions and late night scribblings. Head over there to take a look if you'd like to see some of what’s going on behind the scenes in the studio ...

Sarah Billing Logo & My Map of You Hand Lettered Book Title

It was a pleasure to work on the lettering and illustration for Sarah Billing's logo commissioned by Work Design Creative Partners.

A qualified ‘Colour Me Beautiful’ consultant, Sarah approached Work Design to develop a logo that would reflect the bespoke nature of her new personal style and colour advice service.

Sarah’s expertise means ... Read on 

Sneak Peak: My Map of You Book Title Lettering

I was delighted to work on the titling for the debut novel of author, Isabelle Broom published by Penguin Michael Joseph. Hats off to the design team for coming up with such an entrancing cover, I loved working on this loose brush lettering. There are more titles to come, so once I can, I'll post the set in the publishing folder on my website. Meanwhile, for a quick hand lettered book title fix, head over there now ...

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.

  
   

Special Issue Lettering for Elle Decor Cover

I had great fun getting my brushes out and bringing a little dynamic brushwork to the cover of Elle Decor.

As the project was short on time, the Art Director asked me to provide a variety of options to cover all bases. The chosen lettering reflects the freshness of the beautiful cover photography and adds a shot of hand rendered energy to the cover.

If you'd like to see more of my hand drawn lettering for magazines, head over to the editorial folder on my portfolio website.

Lettering for La Passione Book, Album and Film by Chris Rea

I was delighted to be asked to create lettering for ‘La Passione’, an artist’s edition of the classic album and short film concept by British music legend, Chris Rea.

Originally released in 1996, Chris was always unhappy with the version released due to different creative visions between him and the label. In his own words, "making 'La Passione' how it was originally intended, although difficult, has been nothing but fun. We have been able to work with all of Wolfgang Von Trips personal film archive, which has never been seen before, and shows us how motor racing life used to be. This is illustrated in the documentary DVD contained within the book. New music and visuals have been recorded to accompany the originals.” 

I was asked to create a handwriting style to complement Wolfgang Von Trips’ signature to capture something of his personality within the pages of this collectible book, which houses four discs within its cover. Hand lettered excerpts from the film script were counterpoised throughout with archive photographs and paintings from Chris Rea. With lettering featuring on many of its 70 pages, it was a challenging but rewarding job.

Not surprisingly, it’s been well received by fans and I know when I received my copy it was a pleasure to open it up. So if you’re a fan of Chris Rea, Ferrari, Wolfgang Von Trips or motor racing in general, take a moment to check it out.

If you’d like to see more of my lettering for the music industry click through to the folder on my website.

Click to see larger

Lettering for Country Living Magazine

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Country Living since the beginning of this year, when the design of this iconic magazine was refreshed.

I was asked by the art director to create a hand lettering style to reflect this fresh take on the magazine. After some experimentation we went for this soft but legible brush lettering with tonal highlights to complement the rich photography and stylish Didone typography that run throughout its pages. 

It seems appropriate that this lettering is bespoke, working closely with the art director, each individual piece is hand crafted to work within the beautifully balanced page layouts. 

I’m looking forward to continuing the work, the lettering will gradually span all areas of the magazine from monthly article logos, to headlines and pull quotes. 

To see more of my magazine work - head over to the editorial folder on my portfolio website.

Brenda Starr Mysteries Branding

You couldn’t get a much more exciting client than feisty red-headed reporter, Brenda Starr!

Click for larger images

Brenda Starr’s origins in the 1940s had a big influence on the style of the logo. A dynamic combination of loose script and structured retro-inspired lettering kept the style fresh and contemporary with a nod to her comic roots. A simple star monogram offered a neat alternative to the full mark.

For continuity, this high impact, lipstick-red lettering has been taken across the Brenda Starr Mysteries website and book covers. It was specifically designed to complement James Boyle’s striking illustrative style, with its lively line work and dynamic colours. One of my favourite pages is a glimpse into the Starr World, a witty combination of lettering, illustration and pull quotes, introducing key characters in the series and bringing Brenda Starr firmly into modern world. 

It’s always a pleasure to be commissioned by someone of Jon Salem’s creative vision, his strong visual concept for the brand and depth of knowledge of the genre was an inspiration.

Take a moment to check out the website and enter the exciting world of Brenda Starr. The first novel, Black Orchid Murders is set for publication later this year.

Love is all ... Logo

It seems appropriate to post some news about my latest logo design in time for Valentine’s Day.

Commissioned by internationally acclaimed British designer, Rebecca Street, I was asked to develop a script logo for her new designer bridal wear venture, ‘Love is all …’ by Rebecca Street.

Aiming to give the logo a light and airy touch, I decided that a fine brush would give the freedom and elegance I needed. As with all jobs, I put together a set of initial roughs for Rebecca to view and we struck up a dialogue to develop the lettering and pin down the final artwork. Used online as well across printed packaging and stitched labels, the logo needed to be strong enough to work across a variety of media and at a range of sizes. Rebecca Street already has an established brand, so my lettering was designed to work neatly with her existing logo but can also stand alone if necessary.

It was a pleasure to collaborate with another designer, albeit in the medium of fabric rather than ink and paper - if you have a moment, take a look at her beautiful designs.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Rewriting History - Teaching Tolerance Magazine Lettering

I was delighted to be asked by Southern Poverty Law Center to contribute to their magazine, Teaching Tolerance.

The article, Rewriting History - for the Better, highlights how the US social studies curricula fails to tell the tragic and complicated story of the nations original inhabitants.

After working through some initial ideas, this fluid, mono linear pen style was chosen to complement Julie Flett’s atmospheric illustration on the article’s opening double page spread.

See more titles and pull quotes like these in the editorial folder on my site, as well as mastheads, maps and letter-heavy illustration.