North Island Typographical Tour - Manawatu and Wellington

This Summer I went on a North Island road trip with my partner. We had a wedding to attend in Greytown and I had a big open water swim in Taupo so we decided to spend some time on a friend’s Taranaki dairy farm in between. Inspired by some nice typography on some signage in Greytown a little holiday photography project was born. I started to look out for different type (at first, Art Deco) on the buildings as we travelled through the Manawatu (found some beauts in Whanganui) and on to Taranaki. It eventually turned into a bit of an obsession which probably made for irritating slow progress as far as my partner was concerned, as I requested we pull over so I could take a picture of yet “another building”.

I’m not sure where the resulting images sit. Somewhere between a collection of type, Victorian and Art Deco facades, shop signage or a few snaps of small town New Zealand? Perhaps it doesn’t even matter. It’s certainly testament to how much fun a little project can be and the different things you can see if you look up, instead of straight ahead as you walk down the street.

Sydney - Potts Point Deco

I love Sydney. There’s a ton of cool swim spots, great places to eat out and some lovely architecture if you like Art Deco, which I do. According to Wikipedia Potts Point is the site of some of Australia's earliest apartment buildings so as a result has the highest concentration of Art Deco buildings in Australia. I took these pictures as I wandered through the suburb using type as a loose basis for a project but then segueing into taking a few snaps of the gorgeous geometric doorways and foyers of these buildings.

I love that many of the buildings have names and not just adjective-driven ones. Perhaps giving buildings nice names is something we should do more in Christchurch as the rebuild ramps up.

On the Dutch Craft Beer Trail

One thing I’ve definitely developed during my five and half years in NZ is an appreciation for good beer. Where ever I go if I feel like a beer, it's fun to seek out the good, local stuff. One night whilst visiting Utrecht, my brother and I headed out on our bikes and after zipping around taking in the sights of Medieval Utrecht at twilight, we pulled up at great little bar, parked our bikes and headed in to sample a brew or two. I intended to take a quick snap of the pumps so I’d have a record of what we were drinking – I was never going to remember after two glasses 8% beer! However I forgot, so the names of those flavoursome brews will remain a mystery; though I can definitely recommend the Cafe Derat on Lange Smeestraat.

Two days later I was on the hunt for some more Dutch beer so ventured into the awesome Burt's Beirhuis on Twinjestraat. The beers in the images, from Maximus Brouwerij, caught my attention with their beautifully illustrated labels and not only that, they were brewed in Utrecht! Perfect! I got to appreciate the fantastic design of the beer labels as well as some local craft beer.