The Art of Typography - online course

The Art of Typography on Skillshare

I'm very excited to say I'll be running an online course called The Art of Typography in partnership with Skillshare. The course will be perfect for designers, illustrators, artists and people who regularly make presentations. I'll show you how to use typography most effectively for communication. We will look at how different typefaces can give off different messages. I'll show you how world famous brands use typography within their visual identity to enhance their brand message. And we will have lots of fun creating your own typefaces - digitally, hand drawn and maybe even with food! 

Your new skills and knowledge will then be put to practise in your project to illustrate a favourite quote or lyric. There will be lots of opportunity for feedback and encouragement from myself and fellow students. 

I've had a passion for typography since my design degree and then working with a great typographer in my first job. I'm really looking forward to sharing my knowledge and love for the subject. Sound like your type of course?! the course kicks off on the 14th June 2013... if you use the discount code ALPHA that will get you 15% off the $20 enrolment fee. 

If you have any questions about the course please don't hesitate to get in touch... 

Smart Creative Women - intro video

Click here to view intro

I got chatting to Monica Lee of Smart Creative Women through the comments on one of her videos... a few weeks later Monica has a brand new intro to her videos! Using her fabulous paintings we made Dunkin the dog come alive and join in for a coffee, chat and a little dance. 

As an avid listener to the Smart Creative Women videos I was really pleased to work on the intro. Monica was a dream to work with. You can check out the animation in Monica's inspiring interview with Kathy Davis here.

I really enjoy working with fellow creatives, especially if we have different skills and talents. If you work on your own a lot I would highly recommend putting yourself out there a bit. I used to work in a busy creative studio surrounded by talented people and I have to say I miss it... as much as I love working from home! There are pros and cons, I'm going to write a post about that soon so stayed tuned.

But for now, please do check out the video and interview.

Branding - Scarlet Knight Hairdressing

In my third and final branding spotlight of the day I'd like to share with you the branding my husband and I worked on for Scarlet Knight Hairdressing. 

John and Charlotte from Scarlet Knight had done a lot of research and they were very clear in their preferred colour palette and typeface - Le Havre. It's a great typeface so I was really pleased we had a good started point. So the question was whether to go down the route of just using the typeface for a logotype or whether to incorporate a logo mark. I began sketching away, getting some of the more obvious ideas out the way (a shield for Knight was one of them!). I always think this is a good approach... even if you know you probably won't use it, it's good to get it on paper so you can clear you head for others thoughts - like writing to do lists! 

As I was sketching away drawing hair brushes and scissors I realised there was something clever we could do with the S and the K. I also liked the idea of using the circle to create the negative space and cut out feel to the visual identity. It pulls it together and keeps it neat. 

My husband, Simon Brown, then went on to design the website and developed the visual branding across the pages. 

Hope you've enjoyed my little branding spotlight today! Three very different projects for very different clients... but all really enjoyable to work on and with (hopefully) successful results!

Branding - Coffee & TV

Carrying on with the branding posts, here's the logo I designed for visual effects and post production company Coffee & TV. Having worked in Soho for over 10 years I fell in love with this name as soon as Chris Chard (Producer at Coffee & TV) told me. There's a huge coffee culture around Soho mixed with all the TV production houses the name was perfect. 

So when I was asked to look at their branding I jumped at the chance! I usually begin a branding project by sketching out a few ideas and see what comes naturally. I started playing around with the on symbol for electrical appliances and suddenly had that lightbulb moment. 

I love logos that don't have to work too hard and just say what they need to say in the simplest way. Hopefully this is one of them!

Branding - Mums on the Run

I want to share with you a branding project I've been working on lately for Mums on the Run UK. When Leanne got in touch via twitter I was so pleased. As mum to a young toddler I know how hard it is to keep fit with a little one... whether it's finding the time to exercise or resisting eating chocolate every time they cry!! Mums on the Run is a community of females who all offer advice and encouragement - check out that Facebook page here.

Leanne had a clear idea that she wanted to incorporate the Union Flag within the branding. It was important the logo looked sporty without being overly feminine. The middle circle acts almost like a running medal that can be used individually if needs be. 

What's been going on?!

I've neglected my blog in the last few weeks with no excuse other than I've been busy. I know, that's a rubbish excuse right?! So I just thought I'd let you know what's been happening in the last few weeks...

I've signed a licensing deal - my first one! which is exciting, more details will follow soon.

I've been busy on twitter gaining interest in my cards. And pleased to say my cards are now for sale on the wonderful Grace and May website. I'm also working on a branding project for a lovely lady I met via twitter. The power of social networking is really beginning to hit home!

Thanks to a fellow ABSPD designer I found out about Skillshare and signed up to 3 courses - The Art of Visual Storytelling, Digital Illustration and a photography class. To be honest I haven't had time to really embrace them yet but once you have signed up for a course you can access the lectures and class material even after the class has finished. It's a great site and the courses I've taken range from free - $20 so absolutely affordable! What's even more exciting is I've applied to teach my own course on typography and I've been accepted... so I'll now be designing the class and can't wait to teach, it's something I've always wanted to do and this seems like the perfect approach.

Finally I'd like to recommend an iPad / iPhone app. I downloaded Trello for free in the hope that is might keep my desk tidy (I'm a list writer, and have far too many to do lists lying around my desk!) It's brilliant, really helps me keep on track of where I am at on projects and keep notes as I go. I'm going to add 'keep my blog updated' to the list right now!

Talent Tuesday - Onneke

Welcome to the second Talent Tuesday featuring the super cool work of Onneke! I've been familiar with Onneke's work for some time now but after chatting with her it's so evident how much her children have influenced her work. From a personal point of view I can already see how my little boy's interests and likes are starting to show up in my designs and he's only 19 months. I'd be interested to hear who or what inspires you, whether in design work or something completely different... 

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into design and illustration?
My background is in newspaper and magazine design. I studied editorial design and rolled straight into my dream job at a national newspaper in Holland. I loved working on all the supplements and being part of a team of very talented and intelligent people. But I was still very young and had worked at another newspaper whilst getting my degree and so at 26 I resigned and went travelling. I met my other half in New Zealand and that's how I ended up in the UK eventually. First I worked for a year on a new women's magazine, which was great fun and taught me so much. After moving I started to do freelance work but always had a feeling that I should do something a bit different. It wasn't until I had my kids that I started to be more creative. It was a very natural process. My son loved drawing from an early age and so I would sit at the table with him and draw as well. I also started to make things like toys out of cardboard and came up with the idea to give them a handmade present each christmas. The first one I made was an alphabet book with collaged illustrations (pictured below). I loved making it so much that I decided I wanted to be an illustrator, even though I knew I had a long way to go.

It's great how your kids have ended up inspiring your career move into more illustration work. How would you describe your style and do you think your background in editorial design has influenced your illustration work in anyway? 

People always say my work is cute, and I guess it is but I would describe it as bright and clean. It's about celebrating the sweetness of everyday life. I always go through the same process of making something, then adding a lot of elements and colours to it, and then stripping it down again. I think my editorial work influenced me in some ways, if I look back at my old portfolio I can see a lot of the same colours, clean lines and elements that I still use a lot now. I had to battle some demons as I moved into this direction because I used to work with a lot of very talented illustrators and I had to realise that my work fits in a completely different corner. 

One of your corners is a successful shop on Not on the High Street. Can you tell us about some of your best sellers?

I have a few things that sell well in my Not On The High Street shop. All my family trees are quite popular with The Tiny Happy Family Tree being the bestseller. There was a Christmas Fayre on my son's school a couple of years ago and I thought it would be nice to have a little stall with prints and other little things. I thought of the personalised family tree the night before and figured that it would make a nice Christmas present, so I stayed up late to design what was later going to be the Tiny Happy Tree. It sold really well and has done ever since. 

I also sell little birth prints that are personalised with a name and date of birth and that make a lovely present for a newborn. The whole idea behind my print collection is that you can personalise them. When my first child was born, I used to love (and still do) seeing his name written down, or all our names together. I made a Tiny Happy Family Tree with our names on years ago, and it still makes me smile. 

I also sell a little collection of cross stitch kits, with a very popular iPhone 4 cover that you can cross stitch with my designs. The cross stitch kits, started of as illustrations with digital cross stitches. Then I figured that it would be nice to sell them as prints but add little kits so you can make them yourself in a real cross stitch. 

In the same way I have been working on knitted surface patterns and I love the idea that you could have a duvet cover with a fake knit (hopefully I can make this dream come true one day soon...)

Gorgeous work! One last question... What are your hopes and plans for the near future? 

I would love for 'Onneke' to grow into more of a brand. I am planning on adding some more products to the shop in the next months (like teatowels, tote bags and cards) And I would love to spend more time working on surface pattern collections and licensing them out. But I am feeling pretty blessed with the way things are going now. I am doing what I really love doing, it's bringing in some money but I am also still in the school playground every day at 3 to pick up my babies and spend the afternoon with them. 

Links

Web http://onneke.com

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/onneke.uk

Twitter https://twitter.com/Onnekevw

Thanks Onneke for a great insight into your amazing designs... 

Don't forget to share your influences and what inspires your work below!