Get Glasgow Moving

At the tail end of last year I was contacted by Get Glasgow Moving, a nascent passenger-led cross-party transport campaign group, to develop promotional and informational materials for web and print media as well as a recognizable visual identity as they continue to spread the good word and draw attention to the Glasgow region's embarrassing underperformance where public transportation is concerned. Finding myself on precisely the same page, I couldn't help but throw my support behind Ellie Harrison and the rest of the gang at GGM:

Logos and wordmark:

Icons for three of the major problems identified by GGM: an overpriced, non-integrated bus system; chaotic management; missed opportunities:

Building the transport jigsaw, piece by piece (based loosely on the Glasgow Cross/High Street section of my 2015 Glasgow map):

Glasgow's famous statue of a (usually) cone-headed Duke of Wellington sees sense, gets off his horse, and makes use of a fully-integrated city-wide transport system:

A couple of pieces not used in the final selection of materials. Again, Wellington is used to show a city's transportation system waking up after a decades-long slumber. The Finnieston Crane also makes an appearance, helping to get Glasgow back on track:

Get Glasgow moving can be followed on Twitter and Facebook.

Sardine Pattern

I've never been to Portugal but I know that they really love tiles and sardines* and are mad good at producing both. I thought I'd have a go at assembling some pixels into an Azulejo-style pattern and then see what I can do with it. I started off with the traditional blue-on-white but then had a bit of fun. I will endeavour to put these wee salty chaps to further use at some point in the near future.

*Disclaimer: Portuguese national interests may not be limited to tiles and sardines.

Line Drawn:

Colour Blocks:

Now we Know our ABCs

Here's a wee project I've been working on. This set of icons is your typical 'A is for apple' type of thing to help kids learn the alphabet but the letters themselves are intentionally left out. The idea is that these glyphs can be arranged into 'hidden messages' (names, short sentences etc.); you hardly need the Rosetta stone, I know, but I hope a four year old might quite enjoy cracking the 'code'...

Alphabet(agamma):

A selection of favourites. These would make a pretty high-scoring Scrabble word:

Preview: Integrated Manchester Transport Map

It's been over two years now since I published my Glasgow commuter rail / subway map so I felt it was high time I revisited the genre and got my schematic mapping pixels out of the cupboard.

Manchester was the obvious choice because, firstly, I grew up in the shadow of the city and, secondly, the ongoing scheme to connect its two main rail termini via the Ordsall Chord (alongside other improvements) has the power to genuinely revolutionise rail travel in the region. I've endeavoured to match the ambition of the project with a comprehensive update of the existing TfGM rail/tram map which is, in my opinion, both overly cramped and completely uninspiring.

The newly connected central sections are emphasized by smoothly spinning cross-city and inter-regional routes into a sort 'vortex', putting Manchester and Salford's city centres at the centre of a transport 'galaxy'. While outer areas follow the standard 90' and 45' 'rules' of modern transport mapping design, this curvilinear interpretation seemed the most practical and visually pleasing solution for the design of the conurbation's core. It certainly compares favourably with the bitty, jarring treatment of inner city sections on the official map.

There's still a long way to go with this. As much as anything else, I'll need wait to see what the exact distribution of service patterns will be:

Wedding Invite - Odds and Ends

Just some bits and pieces from an invite I designed for a country wedding this summer.

Icons for the dress code. Do wear your best lacy dungarees:

And here are some accompanying maps to help keep the guests from going adrift on Kent's meandering country lanes: