Village Underground

These re-purposed tube carriages have been photographed loads but I was particularly excited to see them as I bumbled through Shoreditch en route to Hackney Central one Saturday afternoon. The Village Underground project was featured on George Clark’s Amazing Spaces which was a Thursday evening favourite of mine and my flatmate’s in Christchurch, New Zealand. So as I rounded a corner in London I got that jolt of eek-I’ve-seen-them-on-the-telly excitement!

I’ve always found the space on public transport interesting. These tube carriages re-purposed as artists studio reminded me of the bus journeys of my youth on the Cardiff Clipper P7 service from Cardiff to Barry via Penarth, where I’d day dream about how I’d design the interior of the bus were it my mobile house!

As well as being a cultural space and an artists’ community the Village Underground is an ecology project. In a society that is so wasteful it’s always heart-warming to see things recycled and given another lease of life.

Nice to see Nathan Barley is still knocking around. 

Getting Regional

I recently had the rather lovely opportunity to reprise my old role as a designer on ITV regional news. Rather fittingly, what with it being region news an' all, this gave me the chance to visit a different region of the UK; I packed my bags and headed to Birmingham for the week. 

Although it's the UK's second city I know very little about Brum so it was nice to get a little better acquainted. The following snaps are from a lunchtime stroll through the streets of the city centre. Birmingham has some cool and varied architecture from the impressive Victorian Art Gallery and Council House through to the striking Library of Birmingham.

Library of Birmingham

Birmingham Council House

Bullring Shopping Centre

I Like Your Form

An image of one of my favourite sculptures in Christchurch. Christchurch city centre is such an interesting back drop for art. The city is constantly shifting as space is opened and closed as buildings come down and new ones go up. This sculpture is on display at The Arcades which is on the site of a demolished hotel.

"I Like your Form is by Lonnie Hutchinson and is a 50-metre-long eel trap, or hinaki.

The giant hinaki is a reminder of traditions that might not be immediately apparent in the midst of Christchurch’s hectic rebuild. Hutchinson says the Avon River plays a unique role in the traditional economy and culture of local Māori.

“The intervention of the kupenga (net) tensioned between the two sets of arcades is a reclaiming of ‘site’ that is of significance to Ngāi Tahu.”

The sculpture was specially lit during FESTA.

On the Tourist Trail 2

Whilst visiting Utrecht I also climbed the famous Dom Tower. The Dom Tower’s bells ring out across Utrecht every hour, each time playing a different sequence so that the residents can tell what time of day it is. On the weekend the official bell ringer is in residence and treats the town to a campanological concert; I Love to Hate You by the Pet Shop Boys being amongst the choice chimes on the Saturday I was there.

Instead of a ticket for Dom Tower you get a little passport and some badges to take away. I’m unsure why you’d need a passport, as such, to climb a tower however as examples of collateral I think the Dom Tower’s artwork is nicely considered and much more fun than plain, old admission tickets.

The view from the top: Utrecht from above with Dom Tower's shadow

On the Tourist Trail

Walk into any tourist information centre and there’s a myriad of leaflets for activitites, all competing for your attention.  These flyers, for Utrecht Centraal Museum’s different attractions, caught my eye in particular.  As well as the Rietveld Schröder House, the dick bruna huis is another one of the Centraal Museum’s attractions. dick bruna is graphic designer, famous for being the creator of Miffy. 

I love the strong layout of information on these pamphlets as they highlight how white space is effective on designs. In addition they fold out into a poster showcasing the respective attractions. In a sea of tourist pamphlets these leaflets, with their graphic layout, are attention grabbing. 

Garage Project Beer Cans

Garage Project, what great beer and what great artwork. I think there is hardly a beer in the Garage Project line where I don't adore the artwork. Their approach seems to have been to just take inspiration from the beer name; as opposed to a fixed look for the entire range that gets adjusted accordingly for each product. 

The result is a plethora of brilliant and often humourous designs with influences that include vintage advertising, Jamie Reid, Film Noir, vintage computer games, Arts and Crafts, and Godzilla.

As well as being seduced by the beautiful artwork I chose these two cans due to their contents; particularly La Calavera Catrina which is brewed with maize, habanero chilli, watermelon and rose water!

That's whole lot of creativity in a can.

North Island Typographical Tour Part 2: Taranaki

I had to finish with one of Cardiff. Dim unman yn debyg i gartref ♥