Glasgow’s times past

Looking for “doon the watter” links for my “Coping with Sandy” post, I discovered an amazing blog for anyone living in, from or interested in Glasgow. It’s called “Glasgow History” and describes the “Achievements and Archive Photographs of this Great Scottish City”. Glasgow’s politicians and planners have done unforgivable damage to the city and in …

Floundering in fonts

How do graphic designers do it? I’m working on a new logo, for personal rather than business use. Or rather, Zoë Shuttleworth of Rude Goose is working on it, and I’m no doubt driving her round the bend with my contradictory input. This probably sounds like a vanity project but there’s a motivational reason behind …

Getting kids hooked on books… as art

My last post was about the unexpected pleasures that reading to children can bring – sometimes years afterwards. Another, more immediate added pleasure comes from children’s book illustrations. Here are two examples: The first two are from The Frog Who Wanted to See the Sea, by Guy Billout. And the third, sadly only published as a …

Book covers (2): an archive of book cover designs and designers…

…for the purpose of appreciation and categorisation. Or, if you like book covers, a website to get lost in: The Book Cover Archive.  The beautifully designed Archive is run by Ben Pieratt of General Projects and Eric Jacobsen of Whisky Van Gogh Go. You can search the archive by designer, title, author, art director, photographer, illustrator, genre, …

Art, seaside style

I wrote recently about the Coastal Treasures project highlighting the architectural gems of Bexhill-on-Sea, St. Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings. And now there’s another reason to consider the South Coast of England for the summer hols: the new Towner Gallery (web site pending) in Eastbourne, by Rick Mather Architects. The artists on show (on a rotating basis) …

EU funding to delightful effect. Yes, really.

I came across a delightful site yesterday on my web meanderings. If you like architecture and/or the seaside, check it out. It’s called Coastal Treasures, and treasures are indeed what it contains. Coastal Treasures “was set up to enable residents and visitors alike to discover the rich architectural heritage in the Anglo-French cross-border region […] …