New work

Here's some work I did recently for Canon Europe. Users of their flagship EOS brand of digital SLRs have an amazing array of lenses and accessories to choose from, for everyone from the professional sports, fashion and wildlife photographer to the 'entry level' you or me.

This 100+ page brochure with a neat thumb-cut navigation index means that finding the right lens for you got a bit easier. We also created a bespoke set of icons for the lenses' unique 'ideal for' properties. See more at my website.

Lightning strike

While I was in Tesco this afternoon with the rain pelting down on the roof, Brighton photographer Finn Hopson was taking amazing pictures of the thunderstorm passing through here today. See his beautiful photostream on flickr here.

Timelines

Loving these interactive infographics detailing the history of popular music by genre at guardian.co.uk this week. Today: indie. Scroll through to the seminal events of each year.

Radio FIP

One of the good things about being resident in Brighton is the fm access to radio FIP, a parisian station that plays the most eclectic beautiful wonderful music ever. Somewhere between radios 2 and 3 I can just about tune in on the old school fm airwaves to hear the dulcet tones of the french DJs in amongst Scott Walker, bhangra, hiphop, Indian classical and African tunes, as well as the latest french pop.

Minty the second...

Introducing Minty the second. I have to confess, Minty the first has been a sorry sight recently. Not so trusty but very rusty. Apparently too much sea air is bad for bikes left out in the rain, snow and sun... (such is life for many of Brighton's bikes). So I've gone out and bought Minty the second off gumtree and I'm back on the saddle. Did the first client meeting on it this morning and pleased to report all in order.

Hepworth Wakefield

It's the largest purpose-built gallery the UK has seen since 1968 – the David Chipperfield-designed Hepworth Wakefield is finally open to the public, making dozens of little-seen sculptures by local artist Barbara Hepworth and Wakefield Gallery's collection of British art of the 20th century free to all. The gallery is dramatically sited on the banks of the River Calder, where Chipperfield's pigmented-concrete structure was cast on site. The design is essentially a series of linked building blocks and the galleries are beautifully lit using daylight through slits in the roof. An understated visual identity by A Practice For Everyday Life uses bespoke typography that allows the materials and artwork to do the talking. I've always been a fan of Hepworth's work, since visiting her Cornish garden gallery when I was at art school. Looks like a trip to Yorkshire might be in the offing.

Bob

Happy birthday Mr Bob Dylan – 70 today.

Artists' Open Houses

Spent the last couple of weekends roaming the streets of Brighton and Hove in search of art — and found loads thanks to the fantastic idea of the Artists' Open Houses, a real celebration of creative talent in the city. This year a whopping 254 houses are opening their doors to the public each weekend in May. As well as a chance to visit areas of town you might never get to, you never quite know what kind of art, and what kind of gallery, you will find behind each door.

Yesterday we got the bus to Hanover and I loved in particular Janet Brooke's printmaking – especially her Brighton Allsorts series (first two images) – and beautiful garden studio, and very much enjoyed a cream tea and the art of Antigraphic aka Patrick Edgeley (bottom two images) at Quebec Art House.

See Paper Heart and many more at the Art Car Boot Fair

My lovely friend Nicole at Paper Heart is participating in the Art Car Boot Fair in Brick Lane on Sunday 19th June. "If you’re serious about art and love a bargain there’s only one place to be on Sunday June 19th! Exclusive works from Damien Hirst, the Chapmans, Marcus Harvey, Angela de la Cruz, Peter Blake, Gavin Turk, Tracey Emin and many more."

Fabrica

On a jaunt round town today popped into Fabrica, an art gallery in Brighton housed in an old flint church. Forty speakers around the space at torso-height began playing the polyphonic Spem in Alium by Thomas Tallis – an amazing sound as you're surrounded by all these voices singing the various parts. It's an installation entitled the Forty Part Motet by the artist Janet Cardiff, who is fascinated by using sound as a spatial form, enabling us to 'climb inside the music'. On until 30th May.

Homemaker

Enid Sneeney, the ceramic designer of the infamous Homemaker range (plate shown above) has died at 79. She was one of the first women to be trained at the Spode Copeland design studio before joining Ridgeway, where she designed the Homemaker range. Its launch saw it deemed as too avant garde for the market (typical Britain!) and it did not go into production. She left Stoke-on-Trent to be married soon after and it was only when she saw the range in her local Woolworths in Plymouth that she realised it had finally been a success. It remained in production until 1970. Alas, it remains the highlight of her career, as, after she married she sought work in menial jobs in her new south west home. A sad tale. The range is still as popular as ever with it being highly sought after in the collectables and vintage markets – so let's hope her name will live on. Read the full Guardian obit here.

It's been a while

It's been ages since I blogged. Loads of stuff happening in my busy life, including another trip to Berlin and Dresden, a dip in the English Channel, a 15-mile walk to have a picnic above the beautiful Lewes, working on a branding project for a UK retailer that's consumed me for a few weeks, picking up eBay purchases in the nw of England (and climbing a few hills while there), pretending not to watch the Royal Wedding, and attempting to get a replacement shower for my lovely rented flat (arrived after six weeks of armwrestling letting agents - does life have to be this difficult?).

So that's why I haven't blogged of late. But another fantastic title sequence for the new show Rubicon caught my eye - with stunning AfterEffects sequence in grainy black and white. It's by Los Angeles and NYC-based Imaginary Forces, who have a load of work showcased on their website.

Essential reading

My latest project is a rebrand for a UK-based retailer which I'm very excited about. It's always good to get out those tried and tested books and I'd forgotten just how good 'Don't mess with the logo' by John Edge and Any Milligan is. Easy to read, easy to digest, it's a bit of a bible that brings to life all the stages in the branding process with good humour and good case studies too. Highly recommended.

Trip North

Had a few days out of the south east a couple of weeks back (been catching up with projects ever since!) where we took the megabus heading north. Stayed with my good friend Amy and had some fantastic days out, exploring the latest additions to the Manchester skyline (been ten years since I lived there), a sunny day in Liverpool and a snowy day in Buxton in the hills. Highlights were an obligatory visit to This'n'That cafe, Soap St – the essential rice and three veg cafe; visiting the Victorian toilets in the John Rylands Library; checking out the pompous and awe inspiring municipal architecture (past and present) of Liverpool and a visit to Stockport's Plaza cinema, where no visit would be complete without a lady organist playing 50s medleys, a Laurel and Hardy b-movie and a near fisticuffs in the audience. A great trip!!

Best of Brochure design

Great to see my work in the latest of the best of Brochure series by Rockport. It's the SABIC annual report I designed and produced while at Bisqit.

Day out

Had a great (long) day in London yesterday, seeing friends, going to meetings and eating and drinking. But never off duty, I spent a good hour in the V&A. It was a quiet Tuesday morning so a great opportunity to check out some of the less visited rooms. Up on the third floor is the architecture galleries where there's a mini exhibition of London underground architecture created by the fantastic and visionary partnership of client Frank Pick and architect Charles Holden. Amid architect's drawings was this gorgeous little poster, demonstrating how the architecture itself had become the destination.

Oh

I guess I don't qualify as part of the 'i' generation, as the Independent's new newspaper for people who don't have time to read a newspaper, The I (or whatever you call it) doesn't really do it for me.

Allegedly it's 'Britain's concise quality paper', but it feels a bit like the Metro (same size, same page count), with its patronising journalism, celeb and PR-driven stories. A nice touch, however, is the arts agenda section, where you can see all your cultural highlights across a spread, complete with 'last chance to see', talks, and 'everybody's talking about'. But I won't be giving up the guardian just yet.

Simple pleasures

I like nothing more than a good cup of tea, and a nice swim in the sea beats a day at the spa hands down. Simple pleasures is my thing. Just call me a cheap date. So it was with much happiness that I stumbled across my new favourite shop today, 'Utility'.

Based in Brighton's amazing North Laine area, an independent shopping person's paradise, Utility stocks a range of products that fit the brief 'Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful'. I'm talking pickling jars, proper tea pots made in Scotland (complete with woolen cosies), enamel pots and much coveted original Beryl plates (think church hall coffee morning). Their motto? Always something brewing.

Day out

A belated happy new year to you all! Been making the most of the good weather recently blowing the cobwebs away. Spent a day in beautiful Tunbridge Wells yesterday, doing a bit of shopping and nosing round the streets. I love the mix of old spa town relics like the covered colonnades of the Pantiles, and 30s architecture of the Percy Thomas-designed Assembly Hall and civic complex. And the hot chocolate at Ismail's takes some beating too!

On the way back we popped into the hq of scientology in the UK, eighteenth century Saint Hill Manor outside East Grinstead. Rather unexpectedly in the old cinema room the walls are completely covered in eccentric murals depicting monkeys up to all kinds of japes, painted by none other than Winston Churchill's nephew, John Spencer Churchill, pic shown above. And Mr Hubbard has a collection of early synths too which we had a full demo of! Tours are available all year round so if you're in the area don't miss it.