OCS repeat business

Hot on the heels of the last Howabout blog comes the good news that we (and by we, I mean myself, Tim Moat and Richard Spencer) have been asked to work on this coming year's OCS annual report. Last year's report was sufficiently well received for us to be invited to design the 2012 issue without the necessity of going through the pitch process. Great news indeed and a wonderful start to 2012!

By way of a reminder, here are some pages and spreads from the 2011 issue - do feel free to click on the images to get a bigger version of these thumbnails by the way.

Anyway, it's just a reminder of the quality of graphic design work available to the good folk of Harrogate, Yorkshire and beyond, should you choose to use us.

Please click on the link below to see further examples of my work.

Visit www.howabout.co.uk

Or call me on 07811 467336.

Gruff Rhys

Attached is a poster I did (not for commission or anything, just because I wanted to) as a kind of homage to Gruff Rhys (he of Super Furry Animals) and in particular to the great gig he did back in July 2011 at the Harrogate Theatre.

The image of Gruff himself began as an illustration taken from one of his 'Hotel Shampoo' press pictures, although I wanted to change the hairdryer that he originally holds for something that is unequivocally Harrogate. Hence the Betty's teacup. Because of the rather unpredictable and off-the-wall nature of his gig, I wanted a font that was also a bit different and I quite liked the odd, handmade nature of the these ones.

It was a really enjoyable bit of design to work on, and I do love gig posters - I mean proper, artistically driven ones for individual gigs, rather than mass produced, available-anywhere ones. You rarely see them in the UK, certainly not to the extent that some venues in the US do (Fillmore in San Fransisco for instance). There is a Bristol based company called Jacknife that does some great ones http://www.jacknifeposters.co.uk/, in fact I own a limited edition print they did of Blur's Glastonbury gig from 2009. If anyone knows of other UK based artists that create them, I'd be interested to hear more.

Please click on the link below to see further examples of my work.

Visit www.howabout.co.uk

Happy New Year

Hello and happy new year to one and all. I hope everyone had a great break - I know I did, although it was interspersed with work (no bad thing). I really would have preferred last years snow and freezing temperatures to this years mild, wet and windy conditions mind. Ah well...

Shown here is a logo I designed for Acceleris in Harrogate for the Leeds Community Stars Awards 2012 campaign.

Residents across Leeds are being encouraged to nominate individuals and successful community projects for the Leeds Community Stars Awards 2012. The awards run by Aire Valley, West North West and East North East Homes along with Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation, will acknowledge achievements in categories including Resident of the Year, Best Community Initiative and Most Innovative Project.

I'm really pleased with the end result - it's fairly simple, yet punchy but has a tone that is friendly yet striking. I deliberately reduced the intensity of the black typography to a strong grey, as it makes the font less dense and dead looking. A little bit of bevelling on the star lifts it from the background too and adds an extra dimension to the overall logo.

Here's to a prosperous 2012, with plenty of cheer (and graphic design work) ahead. All the best to everyone.

(Oh, as far as music goes, I'm loving The Leisure Society's 'Into the Murky Water' album. Lovely stuff, I'd recommend it...)

Please click on the link below to see further examples of my work.

Visit www.howabout.co.uk