Logo - Pre-Honours Literature

Here is a logo and type identity which I designed for the University of Edinburgh's literature faculty.

Circular simplicity again:

Book shelf, book ends and type:

Logo - Brookestreet Farmhouse

This is a logo I designed for a smallholding in Kent which has begun to produce and sell pork. I endeavoured to fuse on-trend simplicity with the vintage visual identity of the British butcher (read: ribbons and rosettes). I feel that the result avoids looking too corporate and suits the local/family scale of the client's business.

Yum! Free range Kent pork sausage:

Posters - Alan Warner

Following the work I did for the Literature Society I was contacted by the University's writer in residence, Alan Warner. Here's a selection of work I have done for the series of conversations he has with visiting authors and poets. In addition, there is one more design for his creative writing programme. Thanks to Alan for allowing me to get on with design briefs which left a lot of room for experimentation.

Andrew O'Hagan's books and pens meet a microphone:

A talking typewriter for Kirsty Gunn:

A similar theme for Sean O'Brien:

And writing a book starts with a bright idea:

Poster - Edinburgh College of Art

Here's a poster I did for an exhibition of fourth year fine arts student's work and a talk at the ECA. For this gig I'm indebted to my talented friends, Luke Healey and Anaïs Castro, who made great efforts in organising this interesting wee event last spring.

Yet more blue:

Posters - Edinburgh University Literature Society

Here's a selection of posters I've done for the University of Edinburgh's 'Lit Soc'. I'm a graduate of the U of E (in Scottish History if you're interested) and I have a few close friends who have been instrumental in making this university society one of the most dynamic at Edinburgh. They now have a varied rotation of interesting debates in addition to regular talks from well known authors and poets. I am very grateful to have been asked to produce the posters for a number of their events over the past year and grateful also for the free rein I was given during the design process.

Literature and politics featuring Alan Bissett, Owen Jones and the Houses of Parliament in a 'pop-up' book:

A Good Friday sermon with Will Self. Designed around the image of a hymn board:

Student Writing Prize Awards - jointly run by the society and the faculty:

And this, which isn't blue:

Vitamin CD

Taking your medicine can feel like a bit of a chore and it usually tastes bad. This hybrid supplement provides a welcome alternative which can be modified to suit the user's own tastes. Just pop one in your ear before bedtime...

And we're off (to the islands)

Hello.

As I've been working away on wee graphics projects since I graduated from university in 2011 I think it's high time I published a portfolio online.

Naturally this will require a bit of backdating and my first few posts will feature a few things that I've done over that last year or so. Some of it I've done for myself and some of it I've done for other people. All of it is stuff I like.

As I'm based in Scotland I thought it would be a good idea to kick things off with this wee design. It's the country's 100 largest islands in order of size; from the 'big four' of Lewis/Harris, Skye, Shetland Mainland and Mull to Gairsay in the Orkney archipelago. I was slightly surprised by quite how small the islands become after the first 30 or so - especially as there are many hundreds of even smaller islands, islets and skerries scattered throughout the Hebrides, Shetlands and Orkneys. Small or not, Scotland's islands - inhabited and uninhabited - play an important role, alongside the mainland Highlands, in the identity of the country at home and abroad. To my mind, these Islands (particularly the Western Isles) represent the very best of British landscapes and this graphic is really just a celebration of the many inlets, peninsulas and beaches whose shapes on the map can so easily be imagined in three dimensions.

Islands are so much a part of the geography of Scotland that a silhouette of the country without them can look really bizarre; take away the islands and the west coast looks sort of naked. This thought inspired this sister project. Aside from the two big islands of Great Britain and Ireland, the Scottish groups, Anglesey, the Isle of Man and the Isle of White, there are a great many other lesser known islands which make up the British Isles. The general shape of Ireland can be identified through the proliferation of smaller islands which hug its fragmented coastline. Concurrently, small islands off the southwest of Wales, those in the the Thames Estuary and the Scilly Isles help pick out the general shape and extent of Great Britain. The result is a 'map' which looks surprisingly identifiable. Indeed, if it wasn't for the relative paucity of islands off the east coasts of England and Scotland, it might look almost as natural as a map of the archipelago which excluded all but the two big islands.

These are the 'other islands' of the archipelago.