The NQ Street Party

To celebrate the Royal Wedding and a nice day off work, the Man Candy and i took to the Northern Quarter streets of Manchester and joined in the general larking about.

It seemed to go down really well. Everyone was in a really good mood, and there was plenty of food, drink & music to last all afternoon. 

A good Friday out.

A Right Royal Knees Up

Whether you're excited or not, you will be very aware i'm sure (wherever you are in the world) that the Royal Wedding of William and Kate is tomorrow. Will you be celebrating in any way? Or ignoring it whole heartedly? I'll be at the Northern Quarter street party getting over excited about bunting hopefully.

Pretty Potholes

Peter Dungey makes the potholes on British roads far nicer by planting mini gardens, while Juliana Santacruz Herrera patches up the potholes on the streets in Paris. What a nice idea.

See more here.

Trip Down South

(photo taken down a little hidden footpath in Orford)

I have spent the last few days down south in Suffolk with my Nana. As usual it took me a day or so to adjust to the pace of life down there. It is a world apart from the hustle and bustle of city living, and i nearly went mad at first, but i eventually grew to quite enjoy it. We went to some lovely walks by rivers and on the coast, and ate some pretty wonderful food too. As we walked along the river on Thursday my Nana told me about when she had been 4, playing in that same river with her brothers and Dad (my Great Grandfather), and the air raid sirens had gone off. Can you imagine?? She said they had to cross the river and find a cove to hide out in. It was amazing how much detail she remembered from that day. It made looking at the peaceful river seem completely different. Will put up a few more snaps from the trip throughout the week, for now it's back to work. 

Neglect Part 2

It's been a while since i've felt so absent and distracted from this bit of space. I've been knuckling down to some serious work over the past seven days, and haven't felt inspired by much else really, not enough to share on here anyway. I'm working on re-designing Flux magazine, my last project of 2nd year. I really want to go all out for it which explains my absence from the blogging world. One of my tutors is the art director for the magazine, and he's offered work experience on the design of the real magazine as reward to the best few who do well in this project. As fantastic as that would be, it's not what's driving me to put so much effort in. I think what is, is the fact that after the 12th May i will be without constant projects until the end of September, and i already know i'll get bored, so i'm making the most of this one while i have it.

For your info, the articles in the issue i'm redesigning are on;

Pina Bausch
Federico Fellini
Antoni Tapies
Ann Demeulemeester
Philip Glass
So i'm currently spending most of my time researching them, writing articles and working on possible design routes and themes to tie the magazine together. Fun times.

Exam Weather

Luckily, the degree i have chosen to do does not end each academic year with headache inducing exams. This is brilliant news. Firstly, because i am horrible at exams. I have no talent for storing useless information, equations, quotations and so on, only to regurgitate them, then inevitably forget them. Secondly, if i had exams to revise for, i wouldn't have been able to enjoy the stunning weather we've had over the weekend. Every year without fail, for as long as i can remember, there has been a few days of glorious sunshine and warmth, that arrive just as you should be locking yourself away to bury your head in a textbook. Exam weather has become infamous.

Having said that, i can't quite throw caution to the wind and dig out the string vest just yet. The term has just ended but this Easter holiday is going to be spent mostly whipping my portfolio into shape for the end of year hand in on the 12th of May, and getting on with the last brief of the year (more on that to follow soon). I just hope there might be a few sunny afternoons that coincide with portfolio work breaks.

The Flavour Thesaurus

Saw this book in Waterstones just after Christmas and thought it was a brilliant idea (and very pretty), but didn't get it due to insufficient disposable income. It's half price on Amazon now, think i might treat myself. Cover designed by Peter Dawson of Grade Design.

Macarons, Take Three

It took most of the morning, but i finally managed to make decent Raspberry Mascarpone Macarons. I've been wanting to make them for ages, after being originally inspired by the blog Tartelette. She makes all sorts of amazing and peculiar flavoured macarons (as well as lots of other scrumptious looking dishes). Have a look through her recipe index at all the different sorts she makes. I'd love to try the Saffron + Pumpkin ones she's made, and the Coffee + Chicory ones. Now that i've got the basic method down, i'm feeling a bit overexcited at all the possibilities. 

Daffodil Days

I have possibly gone daffodil mad. This year i think there must be more than usual, i keep noticing them everywhere, and keep meaning to write about them. I picked this bunch yesterday evening at home, they smell so lovely and fresh. When i stepped outside, the air was such a lovely temperature, and the hazy light smelt all bright and full. 

I've decided that this weekend i'm going to take on the macaron challenge. I'm going to learn how to make them. I haven't challenged myself to bake something difficult or new in a long time, and i think it's long overdue. There will no doubt be photographic evidence of how i get on...unless it goes really badly. 

Watch this bit of space.

Futureshock

Photos of 3 of the 4 book covers i produced for the 'Futureshock' series. The cover to 'A Clockwork Orange' was still printing when i took these photos (i was in a bit of a rush). I was looking into the way we have been conditioned to read books, and i wanted them to have a slightly clinical feel to echo the conditioning that goes on in the novels. 

Loved this project a bit much, sad to see it go.