Ace Jet 170

Pushing the Pull

Delighted to get Mike Perry's Pulled through the post the other day. I've had my beady eye on it for some time. It's an uncharacteristic aquisition really, it's not often I'd be so interested in a "showcase" book. But Pulled is a fabulous celebration of the screen print. Contributions are diverse, from the retro-cartoon luxury of Jim Datz to the messed up surrealism of Montreal's Seripop. It's a joyous collection of inks on papers.

Incidentally, there's an interview with Perry over on Grain Edit.

  

  

Press Coverage

I've said it before, apologies for repeating myself, but the Princeton Architectural Press publish ace books. Season after season, their catalogue arrives listing so many titles I'd like I'm just glad I'm not on anyone else's mailing list. PA Press titles are just so damned interesting. Putting aside their many actual architectural publications, the ones that really interest me are conceptually rich. OK, sometimes, there's also the showcases (like Pulled which I'll be showing more of later) that are visual treats but then there's the more challenging artist's books and theorisms.

For Testing Purposes Only

It's just a snippet of good old fashioned foundness. Unearthed in Birmingham during our trip to the mainland at Easter.

Lettres Françaises

Herb's fairly rattling through the mappages now. This time he airmailed Lord Dunsby to Paris to sketch the locals and draft that fabulous lettering. Wherever next I wonder? My money's on Prestatyn.

The Art Varoom

I used to be a member of the Association of Illustrators. It was probably my last year at college, I was studying Illustration and that's what I thought I wanted to do. Illustration was, perhaps, on the wane at the time, not that I had my finger on its pulse but one thing lead to another and my career took a different fork.

Of course, fast forward a bag full of years and it feels like the art of the illustration has exploded in a barrage of creativity and styles. For the art directors that commission illustration nowadays their minds must be boggled by the options. A couple of week's ago Evgenia from the AOL sent me the latest edition of their journal Varoom!. I didn't know it existed and while a bundle of years ago I might not have taken much notice, right now, a magazine that represents the organisation makes too much sense.

Yes, OK, there's probable a pile of magazines, fanzines and journals packed full of drawings; I'm not saying this stands alone in any way. It's just that, for me personally, Varoom! is a welcome blast from the past, partly because it's the AOL and partly because it feels like an industry journal "like they used to make". I'm obviously getting old.

The Square Route

Edwina at Trestle dropped me a line recently to tell me about their new wallpaper squares, you might have seen them. It's a bit of an odd one really, I mean: squares? But then it occurred to me that it's basically paper tilling and is kind of reminiscent of the repetitive pattern traditions found in a variety of applications: ceramics, textiles, typography. So Trestle, potentially, turns your walls into decorative end papers; like the Judd Street papers. Currently, Trestle offers one beautifully printed pattern/motif in a small number of colours. The underlying idea is really interesting I think.

The name's great too. Definitely one to watch.

Festival

Wednesday 1st June sees the opening of this year's Ulster Festival of Art and Design. Most locals reading this will know what's what. If you don't fall into that camp, you can see what's on here. The programme design this year has been put together by Leonard Reid and Peter Strain, who I don't actually know but actually think they've done a great job.

I imagine it must have been a slog; almost every detail, text and all, appears to have been rendered by hand with only sponsors logos reproduced from digital artwork. Some of the stuff inside is a bit bonkers (in a good way) and it's quite a sensory maelstrom but if it's a vibrant and diverse calendar they meant to depict, well I think they've done it with flare.

Show Birds

 

The few that follow my Instagrams will know that we were at The Balmoral Show on Friday. For over 140 years Northern Ireland's farmers have been shipping their livestock into the city for what I'd imagine is the Province's biggest agricultural event. I've not been before but it's great. Probably a bit more commercialised than it used to be; all the major supermarkets have stands to show how much they're supporting local producers. They're pretty slick; cookery demos and lots of stuff to taste. Then there's a load of smaller, genuinely local producers with stalls, many of which are fab. Quite a number of them were clients in my last position at hamillBosket.

The Show sees the country in the town and I guess it's a good chance for the agricultured to check out the latest kit. But the best bit for us was the bit with all the legs; the livestock. And yes, for me (predictably) it was the birds that caught my eye. And my lens.

 

Special Branch

Better get this posted before we're too far into the Spring/Summer for it to be even slightly relevent; once all the leaves are out, that'll be it.

This is something I've been meaning to do for ages. Have come close a couple of times then bailed out thinking it's just too mundane even for Ace Jet. This is one of those things I imagine we all do. I mean, we all love tree tops don't we? Especially when they're leafless and the sky's a bit gloomy. Perhaps you've got a few snaps of them yourself? I keep taking them, then I figure, no one wants to see my tree top photos. Not when they've got their own to look at. So these are really just here for my reference. Feel free to move along swiftly. Sorry for wasting your time.

North did a thing for Dalton Maag once that used leafless tree tops. A type specimen book. That's what made me think, like the clouds, we all like them. For me it's their monochromatic/silhouetteness. Like they're etched and flat. Not all 3D and manychromatic, like what they really are. And then there's the thought that if you could dig them up and turn them upside down they'd look the same. Not just my thought. That's obviously not an original idea; lots of people have thought that. But still, it's interesting isn't it?…Isn't it?

Nut Screws Washers and Bolts

Spent a bit of time in my Dad's shed when we were in England at Easter. I've mentioned before that my Dad was a carpenter by trade (as they say). Not really a craftsman, more a jobbing carpenter who made things that would survive a bomb attack. He'd have done a roaring trade over here "Back in The Day" (as they also say). When he wasn't actually employed as a carpenter he was in architectural ironmongery. Knobs and knockers to you and I. He loved that. And who can blame him. Surrounded by bits and bobs all day long. Manning the trade counter. Awesome (which is something else they say).

A perk of the job was the legitimate take-homers. Nothing dodgy, my Dad's a good Christian chap, wouldn't tolerate inappropriate nastiness or pilferings. No way. We're talking end-of-the-line, surplus stock. If it was any good, if there was even the slightest chance it would "come in handy", back it came. To be filed away in a clearly labelled draw. 

Now he's not as sprightly as he once was, not so good on his feet and not so handy nowadays. So my Mom suggested he passed on some of his treasures, what with me getting handier by the day (I can move radiators you know). 

Off I trotted for a snoop about. And after a significant consultation period, certain tools were passed into my care. While peeking through the many compartments in Dad's shed I unearthed many vintage screw boxes. I feel like these boxes have always been in my life. I can remember loving them when I was as young as my kids are now. Especially the green and cream diamond design.

It's obviously a bit sad really, a clear sign of my Dad's decline, but his hands shake too much now for him to handle fiddly screws. So I think he was happy, actually very happy, to see them coming my way. He's got some great stuff in that shed. And while I hope and pray it's many years before I have to clear it out there's a part of me that is warmed by the idea of inheriting my Dad's ancient tools.

Rolling Stock and Equipment

It's the classic, 60s, old favourite: The Colour Overlay, again. My single, all-time-favourite graphic technique. And if it was good enough for BR, time and time again, it's good enough for the job I'm working on right now.

Mint Classics

You might have seen these by now. Tomas, from the Lithuanian agency Love, emailed me about them before we headed to England and I just didn't have time to do anything about it. If you missed them you can read a little more about them here.

Found Type Friday #94

Still on the boat. And some worryingly painted over information. Looks important.

Public Information

Sooner or later you'll realise that I'm just disguising my holiday snaps in a thin veil of graphic interest. It's basically like "the old days", when your friends would invite you over "for drinks" only to unravel their projection screen and subject you to a piss-poor attempt to evocatively capture their holiday experience. The bad news is, today, there's no duty-free Sangria to smooth your way through. If it's too much for you to bare please accept my apologies. On my reckoning, I've two or three more posts to get through before we can return to the usual land-based ephemeral mix.

When not peering overboard at the wash, I passed time recording important information which we all hoped would not be needed.

Swell

Actually, I don't think "swell" is the right word. And it's not "wake" either is it? What's the right word for the wavey, breaky stuff that occurs immediately around the boat?

Easter, since we moved to NI, has always meant a dutiful trip back to my folks in Birmingham. Not that it's a chore. It's an eight to nine hour slog the way we do it (ferry crossing then long drive), but it's always worth it; the journey is a great part of the holiday. This year we set out on the early crossing at 7am. Belfast to Stranraer for those that don't know.

I like an early start but there is a trade-off. The first crossing of the day is on the slow boat: small and, if you're unlucky like we were, crowded. Celtic fans and Irish dancers heading over the water to their respective competitions. But it was a fine day and one thing the tug does have over the faster boat is the opportunities to get out on deck: It's got four, fairly big exterior bits compared to the two arse-end, smoker's platforms on the speedy HSS.

Being on the sides, you get great views of both the far away and the close up. And with the latter comes the ever-changing, ghostly mishmash of the water breaking against the hull of the vessel, or is it "keel"?