Phirefly Fashion Graphics & Illustration

2011-10-24T03:46:00.001-07:00

I've Tumblred - Phireflyer now lives here

Nice things said about me in 5 Magazine by my dog pound gang at Lost My Dog Records

2011-09-07T04:22:00.000-07:00

Taken from the article on www.5chicago.com :

What happened to that poor cartoon bird who lost his dog on your "middle period" artwork? I'd feel terrible if he was still wandering out there.

Thanks for your concern! I'm delighted to confirm that the bird is still very much alive and well! He still crops up on some of the banners we do from time to time and he's a permanent fixture on our Lost My Dog stickers which can be found wherever we've left our trail - towns, cities, nightclubs, record boxes, laptops, unsuspecting people... We owe a monumental amount of thanks to our fantastic designer Philippa Waite (of Phirefly) for the artwork - she remains one of our closest friends from back when we launched LMD in Loughborough and came up with a little series of LMD characters of which the bird was one. It's been quite incredible some of the response we've had to her artwork - at our early parties we would post up large A1 posters to decorate venues and by the end of the night they'd all have been stolen by people to take home!

New Boys Pyjamas in store at Tesco

2011-09-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

I primarily design kids nightwear for F&F Central Europe, but we're increasingly starting to design in common with the UK. This is one of my first joint-bought designs that is available in the UK, here

apple sauce brownies

2011-08-29T04:04:00.001-07:00

Lots of apples on the tree + big wedding in 5 weeks = weight watchers apple sauce brownies.
www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/297923/Weight-Watchers-bette....
The walnuts can do one though. Instead, this was a good way to use up the salted macadamias which were such a nice idea in theory but pretty grim in actuality. I think brownies are the workhorse of the treat world, equally suited to being passed around friends with coffee as heated up and teamed with vanilla ice cream for pudding.

Flickr 365

2011-08-27T10:24:00.001-07:00

I've started a 365 self portrait project on Flickr. I'm not confident I'll keep it up but I'm going to give it a shot. Its good to have a challenge.

Spotify Big Chill Sessions Photography Mission

2011-08-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to be asked to take some photographs for Spotify for their backstage sessions at the Big Chill Festival 2011. It was a tiny, hot room full to burst with people but I managed to get a couple of shots I was happy with

The Only Way Is Essex cant get enough of our Delicious Couture

2011-08-15T15:30:00.001-07:00

Maria Fowler Rocking my Til Death Us Do Part design. Surreal.

First Photo In Print

2011-08-11T02:50:00.001-07:00

My Photo in Julys' Cooler magazine...

A Very Rene Christmas

2010-12-13T12:11:00.000-08:00

I've decided to design my own cards this year at long last (don't we ALL look at the ones in the shops and think 'I could do better' then never actually do.) This year I was motivated to do so by the great working relationships I've developed and I wanted to do something special for all my loyal clients.

The design features my omnipresent hound Rene and, this being a non-commerical endeavor, is unashamedly inspired by Sanna Annukka and Eleanor Grosch, two illustrators I admire hugely.

1st Design in Store at Tesco

2010-12-10T02:28:00.000-08:00

I started working with Tesco in May, and wasn't expecing to see any of my designs hit the stores until spring 2011 as thats what we were working on then. This one must have been pulled forward though. Its been a long time coming but its a real buzz to see my work at Britains' largest retailer.

New Designs at Delicious Couture

2010-11-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

I was asked by the lovely Nicola T of Wags Boutique and Celebrity Big Brother to collaborate on a new range for her fab label Delicious Couture. Not only is Nicola a pleasure to work with, it was really refreshing to work on a fashion-forward edgy product. I can't wait to see how it is widely receieved.

New pyjama designs in store

2010-08-20T08:45:00.001-07:00

"Ace Cartoon Artwork"...

2010-07-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

... According to Mixmag

High Summer Ts in store at Tu Clothing, Sainsbury's

2010-07-05T04:14:00.000-07:00

One of my designs used in marketing material, above...

Lost My Dog "5 Years and Still Looking" CD...

2010-06-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

...Featuring my artwork is released in July, but here's a sneak peak courtesy of Pete Dafeet...

My Work Featured on legendary blog 'Print & Pattern' via Pink Light Design

2010-04-30T09:59:00.001-07:00

Its so exciting to see my own work featured on a blog I use myself as an inspirational bible, above is a design I created for Mary Beth Freet's Pink Light Design studio. Full article here

I've got a new toy...

2010-04-28T09:09:00.001-07:00

...A 50mm f/1.8 lens that is a cheap way to start playing with wide aperture. Perfect for capturing the kind of shots I love to take, naturalistic, low light still life and portraits. I had the perfect excuse to try it out this weekend at the Featherdown Farm in Herefordshire where we celebrated Phil's 30th birthday.

Branding badges and repeat prints feature on Next Girlswear garment

2010-04-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

This girlswear garment currently available at Next features graphics and repeat prints I created. heres the original artwork below:

New Watercolour Butterfly Designs for Next Girlswear

2010-03-30T03:56:00.000-07:00

Here are two handpainted watercolour designs I have done for Next Girlswear available here. Its tricky to produce artworks which have a true watercolour quality that can be commerically outputted with standard screen inks. I've developed a way of creating this kind of design which gives it a true painterly quality while only requiring standard output process with a limited number of screens.

Next Boys Embroidered Triceratops T-shirt now in store

2010-03-22T07:40:00.001-07:00

Above, the original design created in Photoshop

I'm happy with the way this one has turned out almost exactly how I designed it. Available at Next

Designing Winter Pyjamas

2010-03-16T06:24:00.001-07:00

A childrens pyjama set I designed today for winter 2010-11. I'm pleased with how this particular plaid turned out.

Revamping My Kitchen

2010-03-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

We've been planning and saving to fit a new kitchen for almost a year and when the time came, we had a massive rethink and decided to have a revamp on the cheap instead. Integral to the plan was ripping down an unsightly, cramped wall unit and putting these Ikea shelves up instead. I already had most of the storage items now on display, bit I treated myself to the cornish stripe pasta jar and the red lantern.

With the other simple changes we've made it feels like a new kitchen, and the best bit is the money is stil in the bank :) more pics on flickr

Some more #savebbc6music nonsense...

2010-03-05T09:37:00.001-08:00

Causing a stir and here

New Designs in Adams

2010-03-03T02:14:00.000-08:00

A couple of my designs now available at Adams kidswear...

Sad Day #savebbc6music

2010-03-02T02:06:00.000-08:00

Exciting project for Portmeirion

2010-02-26T01:21:00.000-08:00

While I've been recovering form my operation, I've been spending time researching inspiration for surface pattern design for gift and homeware. I'm particularly interested in traditional Welsh craft and design after falling in love with the folk style of design on recent holidays in Wales. During the course of my research I've been interested in Portmeirion's 50th Anniversary collections which are celebrating traditional designs from their archive. My particular favourite archive collection is Susan Williams-Ellis' Totem. I love how it represents the Scandinavian quality of Welsh design simplicity.

Image courtesy of Flickr member The_Moog

By Pure coincidence, I was thrilled this week to be asked to work on a range of surface pattern designs using botanical prints from Portmeirion's archive. These are to be considered for a range of soft homewares for the brand. Its a real challenge trying to apply such classic designs in a contemporary way, but I can't think of a more enjoyable project to kick start me back into work after my convalesecence!

Below is one of the original designs I have been asked to work from.

Convalescence & Flickr

2010-02-22T07:57:00.000-08:00

Recovering from my recent op, I'm confined to a chair most of the day but have thankfully unearthed a decrepit old laptop. Its super-slow so not a hope in hell of running any design software but it means I can connect to the internet and I've been spending a lot time on flickr.

I mentioned before I've been doing a photography evening course and learning how to get the best from my digital SLR. I am finding that Flickr is really effective as a platform to display my photos and gain inspiration from others, and its nice to open into dialogue and be connected to a community other than facebook while I'm feeling so separated from the world.

While I chuck all my event, friends & family snaps on Facebook to share with my pals, I'm using flickr more as a gallery for my more considered photography. Alongside photo sets of my travels and college projects, I've just decided to create a set of images I captured in the days before DSLR, or even digital, and above is the first...

Look After Your Insides

2010-02-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

I'm having a laparoscopic cholecystectomy today. Or in laymens terms, gallbladder surgery. I'm less concerned about the operation itself, rather the recovery and how long I'm going to be missing work. I'm hoping somone will buy me this Howies tee to help me feel better...

Portraiture Project

2010-02-01T03:53:00.000-08:00

Every week on my photography course we are set specific projects. This week it was posing people for portraiture. We were set this assignment last term too and I found it one of the most difficult as its much harder than it looks to capture people in a relaxed, natural pose when they feel anything other than that. Here are my efforts on a weekend mountain bike ride with a very long suffering Mr. Phirefly...

Character Pyjamas at Dunnes

2010-01-24T09:54:00.001-08:00

These are the first intake of a range of character nightwear for new client, Dunnes. I design these via an intermediate supplier. Being a new account of theirs, this was tricky as the buyer was cautious about working with a new supplier, but is apparently they're very pleased with the results and will be looking to book again. I like working on these value ranges as there are no pretensions, there's no question the product is anything other than a fun, well priced item.

The supremely important business of selecting kitchen wallpaper

2010-01-19T08:22:00.000-08:00

We're updating our kitchen and while I really ought to be pricing up appliances and sourcing suppliers for the worktop, I'm more interested in choosing the wallpaper and have settled on this beauty, 'Tick Tock' from Mini Moderns:

New Graphic T in store at New Look

2010-01-15T01:53:00.001-08:00

Here's one of my designs currently on sale at New Look. I'm really pleased with how its turned out as it has managed to stay true to the original design throughout the production process in spite of the delicate nature of the design.

Lost My Dog 5th Anniversary Album Sneak Preview

2010-01-14T08:08:00.001-08:00

Here's the artwork draft I have done for the forthcoming release on Lost My Dog Records

Sex and the City Merchandise on sale

2009-11-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

Its interesting to see my designs applied to a product other than clothing. This Sex and the City giftware range features graphics I designed earlier this year

Dinosaur Print Tee at Next

2009-11-20T00:42:00.000-08:00

Drawing dinosaurs from scratch is never a walk in the (Jurassic) park, particularly when the client is Next, who are scrupilous about copyright law and insist that all images generated are completely original and bear no discernable resemblance to any source material.

I was pleased how this one turned out though considering dinosaur drawing is not exactly comfort zone work and I managed to acheive the painterly effect that the brief required. And, unusually for Next, my first draft, completely un-amended design went straight to production. Although that was probably more of a timescale thing than a design-perfection thing!

See it online here.

I've seen the Pink Light

2009-11-19T01:33:00.000-08:00

I was lucky enough to have been recently selected to be represented in the US by design studio, Pink Light. Mary Beth, Pink Light's founder and creative driving force is developing her company's remit by bringing together artists from all around the world to take the US surface pattern market by storm and it's very exciting to be a part of that.

Today is particularly thrilling as not only has my bio gone live on the Pink Light site, I've also had my work featured for the first time on design blog-stroke-bible Print and Pattern, what an unexpected honour!

I've been trying to undertake a more self-directed route this year which has been quite a struggle when I've been really busy with my existing clients. Now it feels like I'm finally managing to find a balance between the heavily brief-led commercial fashion work which I love and the freedom of more personal, unrestricted surface pattern design. Below is a 'holiday' theme design from one of my first Pink Light collections.

New placement graphic T at Warehouse

2009-11-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

Its a while since I designed this gothic graphic for Warehouse while I was still working in-house for a clothing manufacturer, but its now available to buy. It appears that since I last saw it the buyers have had their usual input and had some wings added and amended the central crest but theres no mistaking the print. It was always tricky to design for this client as the imagery they were prepared to use in the graphics was extremely limited, they wanted to acheive a gothic, etherial, All-Saints style without using skulls, crucifixes or other similar emotive imagery. I think this design strikes the balance though.

Some more pyjamas in production

2009-11-05T07:43:00.000-08:00

I'm particularly pleased with the way the check turned out on this set as the idea was to emulate a cosy, aerie/Jack Wills style plaid and I think we've acheived this. It makes a nice change to incorporate some sketchy florals into nightwear

Two new lines I designed for Camille. Commercial, but still quite fun and very strictly to brief.

Nuts

2009-11-04T09:38:00.000-08:00

I have been working on lots of lovely hand-rendered girlswear designs for Adams recently. Its nice to have an opportunity to incorporate some original illustrations. This is one of my sketches I have been working with:

Photography Class

2009-10-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

I've enrolled in a photography class at my local AE College. I'm not sure if its for me, as I primarily wanted to learn step-by-step how to use my digital SLR, and this course has more of a creative, compositional leaning to the teaching. I'm trying to extract from it what I think will be useful though, and its good in that it gives me the discipline to take the camera off of its automatic setting and try and take better photos every week.

This is one of my favourite images I've made on manual settings on the course so far...

Animal Print Pyjamas at Peacocks

2009-10-23T04:31:00.000-07:00

One of most challenging things I get asked to design is original animal all-over repeat prints. Its extremely difficult to come up with something fresh and unique, which is why I'm really pleased with the way this nightwear mix and match set has turned out. I think the print looks really contemporary and on-trend while still commerical.

New Strictly Come Dancing Girls' Clothing Range At Mothercae

2009-10-16T03:39:00.000-07:00

I do all my licensed placement graphics via a third party, so I'm never sure where they could end up as the style guides containing my designs may be sold to anyone. Designs from the Strictly Come Dancing range I worked on last year have found their way to Mothercare which is a great retail platform for the collection.

I've found the perfect kitchen wallpaper...

2009-10-02T04:40:00.000-07:00

We're having our kitchen refitted in the spring and I'm already getting excited about fixtures and finishes. All of my kitchen accessories follow a red and duck-egg blue theme and I've been on the lookout for a quirky wallpaper to tie the scheme together. I was thrilled to find this "Brigton" paper from Harlequin and even more thrilled to find it at a knock-down price form S&A supplies where I got my bedroom wallpaper, also by harlequin in picture 3 below......

New designs at next.co.uk

2009-09-26T01:44:00.000-07:00

I've not blogged for a while as I've been completely swamped with work, and much of it consists of things that can't be released in the public domain yet, so I've not had much to share.

The new season collection is now online at next.co.uk, and here are some of my graphics that feature:

Seaside Photo Fest

2009-09-15T11:33:00.001-07:00

I'm back from my holidays and full of inspiration. Last night I enrolled on a photography course at college and I got chatting to the tutor about what it is that I like to photograph. Generally I like to take photos which document my life, and the people and places in it. More specifically though, I love taking photos at the seaside. Probably because I just love the seaside full stop.

On my course, I will be doing a photography project every week so I decided to get organised on Flickr so I would have a place to keep all my projects. I thought I'd start by going through all my old photos and collecting together the seaside shots. It was only then that I realised just how many seaside photos I've taken over the years!

What I Wore Today 07/09

2009-09-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

Dancing all day

2009-09-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'm literally going to dance all day for charity. I'm doing dance classes back-to-back including ballet (eek) in aid of the Variety Club Children's Charity. I'm not particularly fit but I do love a good dance class so it'll be a fun challenge.

Tea time

2009-09-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

I went to see my Grandma today to watch the video featuring my Granddad tea tasting. It's great! I found out a lot about his career with the Co-op and how he progressed from a mail-room boy aged 14 to head tea taster and being involved in the commercial development of the teabag.

I was also lucky enough to have been given the Wedgwood commemorative plate my grandparents were presented with to celebrate 100 years of Co-operative tea manufacture. They really were pioneers of Fair Trade.

The original Co-Operative head office in Leman St, LondonThe purpose built tea factory at CreweA tea clipperTea pickers

What I Wore Today...

2009-09-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

I've joined the ranks of some of my illustration heroes, the likes of Gemma Correll, Amy Blackwell and Kate Wilson on Gemma's 'What I Wore Today' Flickr Photo stream. What a Wheeze.

Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbour's Shoes

2009-09-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

I'm working on Miffy licensed girlswear this week which unusually for licensed is quite a lovely brief.

I spent the weekend visiting friends in London. While mooching about the usual haunts (Urban Outfitters/Shoreditch/Angel) I came across the work of James Hamilton Butler which I find very inspirational. I'd like to think its the style of illustration I'd be producing if all my time weren't spent on commercial projects. And I was interested to find out he also studied at Manchester.

While in london I also did some digging and found out that the Ash Viper trainers I so covet are sold out worldwide but will be available again in January. Counting the months...

I feel honoured to have been mentioned in a blog of a designer I admire, Jen of Frilldesign. I've been a fan of social networking online for almost 10 years now and I love that you can connect with likeminded folk so effortlessly

New Lost My Dog Designs

2009-08-27T11:38:00.001-07:00

We've added a couple of new designs to the range of merchandise I've created for my chums at record label Lost My Dog. Its really nice to work on something completely self-directed but still within a commercial famework. This tote features the new abstract design, which I'm really pleased with as I think its the most 'me' thing I've done in a long time.

More S/S 2010 Girlswear graphics...

2009-08-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

I'm almost finished with this tribal brief, perhaps another half day.

First I had to create some summertime situations for the characters I designed yesterday. Its a while since I did this kind of work so I really enjoyed it. I had them shopping in Miami, taking surf lessons and going to the beach...

I had to come up with a friend for the tribal zebra I did earlier in the week, and I'm quite pleased with how the feather-hair girl turned out as the brief actually said "this could be a tough one"...

I'm in-house at Next tomorrow on older boys jersey for the first time in ages. I've got used to working at my own pace (which usually means late into the night) so it will make a change to be working directly with the client and finish at 5pm!

And one day I might actually figure out how to size my jpegs so the resolution is better on here...

Tribal Rhythm S/S 2010 Toddler Girlswear Brief

2009-08-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

I've had fun with this brief today. The palette and imagery are much more adventurous than usual for commercial toddler girlswear.

Its a complete contrast to the way I was working yesterday where I was given some images of samples the customer liked and asked to produce something along those lines. With today's project, I was given a very detailed brief with a numbered list of descriptions of designs required and lots of inspirational material for each.

I prefer working in the latter way as then the client gets precisely what they want. Working in the former way is great if you have plenty of time to get into the brief and develop an aesthetic direction, but thats extremely challenging in a short timeframe.

More directional ladies fashion placement prints

2009-08-24T15:38:00.001-07:00

Well I finally got all 4 complete, here's the other 3. I would love to be able to really indulge in briefs like this, and lavish time and care on each design but they really have to be thrown together to an extent as I'm expected to produce 4 in one day at least.

This week is really hectic as I have projects for 3 different clients all with back to back deadlines so there's no room for overlapping. It's starting to feel like the super-busy days when I started freelancing full time back in Jan 2008 and I was doing 70-80 hours some weeks. Its not quite at that level just yet though!

Back to the tribal brief tomorrow, but for baby this time...

Directional ladies fashion prints

2009-08-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

I'm working on ladies fashion today which makes a nice change from kids and nightwear. The brief (and I use that term loosely - when I do ladieswear, I rarely get a nice clear, specific brief) calls for etherial, ambiguous imagery with hand sketch and paint techniques. I always struggle when I'm faced with this kind of project as in essence its got to look like nothing, but its still got to be something and that's a real challenge.

I'm enjoying splashing the paints around and doing some hand rendering though, and the eagle design above it the fruits of this mornings labours. I've got to produce at least another 3 in that vein though so I'd better get on...

Paisley Park

2009-08-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

A paisley design for the tribal brief...

Make us a brew

2009-08-22T03:38:00.000-07:00

While enjoying catching up with some old friends and revisiting familiar haunts in Manchester, I've stumbled across what could be a fun little project. Over a slice of cake and a cup of Mr. Scruff's finest assam in... erm... Cup... I got chatting to a chap working there about the brew. I told him about my late granddad who was head Tea Taster at the Co-Op tea factory in Cheshire and how I still had his silver tea-tasting spoon and that he'd featured in a promotional video about the factory.

It turns out the Co-Op are involved in the Manchester Food & Drink Festival as are Cup, and they would be very interested to see the video and hear more about my Granddad and his work. And would I like to be involved in the festival myself and perhaps present the video? Is the bear Catholic?! What a wheeze.

And what a great inspiration for a little range of tea-inspired illustrations, just the focus I need to get my self-directed work off the ground.

Tribal girlswear butterfly print

2009-08-20T08:21:00.001-07:00

I've been continuing with the tribal brief, completing the artwork above which will be a oversize front placement. I've been developing ways to create etherial painterly and photographic effects which are still solid colour and therefore viable for standard screen output and this butterfly is an example of this technique.

I'm off to Manchester now to visit some old friends and soak up some big-city culture (and no doubt get my Urban Outfitters fix)

Have a good weekend!

Working from home on a sunny day - tribal girlswear brief

2009-08-19T13:16:00.001-07:00

I've been working on a great brief today for older girlswear 2010, incorporating some lovely tribal elements. There's been lots of hand-rendering involved at this stage so I've been lucky enough to sit outside and work in the garden and enjoy the gorgeous weather we've had today. The jolly pair above who started life in the sunshine will hopefully end up on a girls tee on the high street.

This has been my studio for the day:

My colleague is a bit lazy...

But the locals are friendly.

Floral repeat prints and checks or maybe plaids?

2009-08-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

I've been working on these allover repeat prints today, and some checks (or plaids for the American English). I find designing checks really theraputic but harder than they look.

I've been inundated with work requests the last couple of days from my regular clients and I'm now booked solid for the next couple of weeks which is great. looks like my self-directed illustration is going to put on the back burner for quite some time.

Self employment and sickness...

2009-08-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

...Don't go together all that well. This weekend I've had chronic stomach pains and as a result have had next to no sleep. Terrible timing as I was supposed to be working in-house at Next today. Its extremely rare that illness affects my capacity to work, but today there was no way I was up to going in. Its a gentle reminder that you have to take extra care of yourself when you're self-employed as no one else is going to do the work for you or hand out sick pay.

I'm feeling better this afternoon though and should be fine to get back to it tomorrow and my client at Next was extremely understanding and I'm going in next week instead now.

Apart from the bouts of sickness this weekend, we had lots up fun dressing up the hounds and eachother at my friend Charlotte's house which always seems to evoke eccentric behaviour...

Nightwear seems to be staying strong in the downturn

2009-08-14T03:08:00.000-07:00

Even after 7 years, I still get a buzz whenever I see my designs out there in the world, like the shortie set above. I found the Camille website the other day which is where some of my nightwear ends up. The first row and a half on this page are my designs, I love the poses they've got the model doing, its like they've asked her to really feel the message on the pyjamas.

I seem to be writing a lot about sleepwear at the moment, I guess thats because I've been working on it all week and been discussing some new opportunities to work with other companies on nightwear so its at the forefront of my mind. I've also added to the the nightwear gallery on my website. It seems its one sector thats staying strong in the downturn. I've always been one to follow where the work is so for now that's fine by me. Below are a couple of designs I completed today.

Designing fashion graphics step-by-step guide

2009-08-13T03:52:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd show how I go about putting together my fashion graphics. This is just one process of a variety I use. I usually do most of my nightwear this way.

1. I compile a basic placement layout in Illustrator. I then put this into a very light greyscale and print it out.

2. I then sketch the characters onto the basic layout print.

3. I trace over the sketch in ink (I sometimes repeat this process a few times till I'm happy they're just right).

4. The ink sketch is then scanned in as a 300dpi bitmap and converted to greyscale in Photoshop. I usually play around with the lines in photoshop until I'm happy with them. I use a wacom pen tablet for all of my digital drawing. I then turn it back into a bitmap which I think gives the best results when live tracing.

5. I copy the bitmap and paste into the Illustrator layout document. I then live trace the design and neaten up the lines again.

6. I then compile the design in Illustrator and label any applique or embellishment elements.

7. I then use the print elements to create a complimentary all-over repeat design. I like to present the designs mocked up onto garments so I create a pattern tile of the repeat and apply that to the pyjama bottoms. I could scale down the placement print and use that on a t-shirt blank, but this would make the file larger. instead, I export the illustrator placement artwork into photoshop on a transparent background, save as a .png and then place that back in illustrator.

Working in this way means I get a nice un-uniform line quality that is still controlled and smooth. I neaten up my lines at every opportunity. One of my bugbears is rogue vectors and nasty jerky lines. I work in very different ways when creating watercolour style prints or photo-realistic textural designs. I might write a step-by-step guide on those one day!

Bread & Butter work - commercial nightwear

2009-08-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

I've been working on high-volume commercial nightwear today. Above is one of the pyjama sets I designed. While this might not be the most cutting-edge, it is enjoyable and straightforward. And essentially, I'm still getting paid to sit and draw pictures all day.

The other day I blogged about feeling saddened by the poor standard of illustration and technical skill in commercial nightwear, pictured left are two of the sets I was shown as examples of bestsellers (these are not my designs). Well I guess we just have to give the public what they want!

Britain's Got Talent brief nears completion & more work for Adams

2009-08-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'll enjoy a brief so much more than others and find it really easy to complete, and theres no obvious reason why. the Britain's Got Talent project has been one of these. Perhaps its a combination of a good client, who in turn has a good client, both really decisive and constructive. Above is a watercolour sketch design for boyswear based on the one I already did for girlswear which they loved

Hopefully this latest round of amendments and recolours is the last and the project will be signed off.

I had a lovely email from the designer at Adams with some great feedback on the recent watercolour designs I completed for her and a request for lots more work from me. Adams is another good client, with concise design briefs and clear design direction, and not too unnecessarily picky so I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks working with them.

Pick of the new prints at Urban Outfitters, Lost in London & Susie Ghahremani

2009-08-06T10:34:00.001-07:00

My London trip was very worthwhile, dispite getting lost in the Elephant & Castle subway system and getting to the LCC too late to get in to see the Images33 exhibition. Luckily, the show is touring so I will catch it later in the year at Birmingham or Nuneaton.

I did manage to do all of the other things I'd planned though. I met with my customer who I design nightwear for. I had mixed feelings after the meeting. While I'm really upbeat about the fact they've managed to secure some new business and have plenty of work for me, I couldn't help feeling downhearted about the quality of graphics they're using as design direction.

Perhaps its a result of working at Next and enjoying real investment in beautiful design, but the placements and appliques the nightwear customers are settling for is truly dire. This level of the market is always going to be more commercial, I always accepted that this easily accessible mass-appeal design isn't going to push any design boundaries.

It struck home more than ever yesterday that the designs I'm being asked to create versions of and the ones being manufacted by my customer which have been created by my peers are saddeningly poor. I'm trying not to dwell on it too much though and the only thing I can do is try and keep my designs to a standard I'm proud of regardless of customer.

I also made it to the Dover Book Shop which exceeded all expectations. Kid in a sweet shop doesn't even come close. I'll save the details for another day...

Urban Outfitters is probably my favourite retailer. The store is like a treasure trove especially when you don't have one nearby and only get to visit on the odd occasion. It quenches my relentless thirst for constant newness and while many of their lines don't appeal to me directly as a customer, I find it all pure gold from a design-inspiration perspective. I got the images at the top of this entry of my favourite prints currently in store and had there been any Ps left in the filigree 3-d alphabet, I wouldn't have been able to restrain myself. Instead I had to settle for a hen-adorned hook rack from Top Shop to satisfy my newfound compulsion to procure obscure objet.

I also bought this set of notecards by Susie Ghahremani, my latest inspirational illustrator. Her work is so lovely. I'm dying to put pen to paper but I'm now booked up till late next week which is great from a paying-the-bills point of view but not so good for developing a self-directed body of work...

Baby and toddler graphics on phirefly.co.uk

2009-08-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

I'm really pleased to have added content to the baby and toddler gallery of my online portfolio. This is an area I'd really love to do more of, so I'm hoping now I have this showcase of some of my best work I can feel confident to approach potential clients.

I've been speaking to an agent in the US about representation over there, I really need to develop a strong body of self-directed art before I can seriously start thinking about that, so I'm now more motivated than ever to get cracking on some personal illustrative work.

I'm just struggling to find the time at the moment, I've been working on the website all day and tomorrow I'm meeting in London with the company I design nightwear for to discuss some new projects with them. While I'm in the smoke, I'm planning to visit the Dover Book Shop for some inspirational material and also Images 33, an exhibition of British contemporary illustration at the London College of Communication which I'm hoping will be equally inspiring. If I get time I'd love to visit my favourite gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, but I'll see how I get on!

Ikea fabrics

2009-08-03T05:13:00.000-07:00

My crafty friend Anna has found the most fabulous fabric in a most unexpected place, Ikea. It has further fuelled my desire to get working on some repeat prints for a small run of fabric from spoonflower. If only I could ever get this Britain's Got Talent brief finished....

Britain's Got Talent - The Boys

2009-07-31T08:41:00.000-07:00

I'm back on Britains Got Talent today, this time working up some placement graphics for the boys' range. Some days it flows better than others and this has been one of those days. Its a tricky brief with limited imagery and a dodgy logo, but luckily this is via one of my favourite clients who always gives me lots of graphic inspiration and direction and we bounce off eachother well.

Emma Cook for Topshop - Feeling inspired

2009-07-30T01:28:00.000-07:00

The diffusion Emma Cook range in Topshop has really got me fired up. Its a quirky but simple range and hits all my 'I could do that' buttons. She has used her own photos taken in her local deer park to create these cute but strangely sinister prints. This week has been really busy on the commercial work front but I'm hoping to FINALLY get into some self-directed next week... Time to take the SLR to Bradgate Park...

Watercolour designs for Adams

2009-07-29T14:21:00.001-07:00

I'm back to the days of burning the midnight oil again. Which is no bad thing considering. This week I've been working on a real mixed bag, fistly some branding and World cup Ts for Tu Clothing, and today I've been splashing the paints around to create the watercolour print above for Adams girlswear. The rest of the week I'm back to Britain's Got Talent, the boys range this time. And there was I thinking that with the downturn I'd finally get chance to enjoy working on some self directed projects. Maybe next week...

I could do with more space

2009-07-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if its the best space for getting creative. It was always a squeeze but the lightbox has tipped the space-to-sanity ratio over the edge. Perhaps when I get my bike shed and finally give Fiona's MTB the home it deserves it might not feel quite so crammed in here.

You can see in the picture the development of a placement graphic for Britain's Got Talent. I've taken stills from the show and created a collage with some star graphics and roses, which you can see by the printer on the right. I've then traced the image in pencil, which is on the lightbox. I've also added some watercolour splashes and scanned all these in. On the screen is the coming-together of all of these elements.

Next Childrenswear designs in store now

2009-07-23T01:53:00.000-07:00

Childrenswear designs I started working on for Next almost a year ago are starting to filter through into the shops. Heres a couple on the Next.co.uk website...

Its rewarding to see them finally on sale...

Latest design at Warehouse & Britain's Got Talent

2009-07-21T04:19:00.000-07:00

Its nice to see my back catalogue still bearing fruit. This is one of my designs created when I worked in-house for a supplier.

Today I've started work on a new project for one of the Licensed Clothing companies I design for. We're putting together a style guide for Britain's Got Talent and I'm currently working on graphics for a range of girls' apparel. Variety is the spice of life and all that!

New Lost My Dog Premium Range...

2009-07-16T09:28:00.001-07:00

I've teamed up again with UK House Music label Lost My Dog to create a premium range of clothes and accrssories. The emphasis is on unique, hand rendered pieces of illustration to represent the brand. We're launching with 4 exciting new designs and plan to regularly update the range with new one-off designs.

Check out the shop here...

Branding for ITV's Rainbow Magic, Charlotte Allen & I ♥ Julia Pott

2009-03-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

After a steady start to the year (compared to the regular 60+ hour weeks of last year that is) things seem to be gathering momentum, particularly on the nightwear and licensed side of things. I'm working on some exciting new projects for ITV in particular, rainbow magic garment branding images above.

I've also been inspired to try and find time to do some more personal work prompted by the amazing illustrations and animations of Julia Pott. I also have been inspired this week after visiting my friend Charlotte Allen who is currently working on a fabulous range of digital prints for her Fashion MA which incorporate her beautiful drawings inspred by nature and eclectic vintage pieces.

I count myself lucky every day that I get to draw pictures for a living, but all of my work is extremely commercial, great because it pays the bills, but by its nature quite limiting. I'm hoping to find time to work on some more self-directed projects over the coming months.

Lovely lightboxes

2009-02-16T08:53:00.000-08:00

Well today was the first time in over a year of self-employment that the benefits of being an employee resonated. Oysters officially disagree with me, but theres no sick pay for me and the briefs aren't going to complete themselves.

I have managed to add quite a bit more to the gallery today too, and thanks to Tom at Double D Creative my lightboxes are fully functional, not just on my own browser! Menswear, surf and teen are starting to bulk out but its time consuming work going through an archive of thousands of artworks in an attempt to pick just a few representatives. Completion seems a distant dream. And I keep thinking of more sub-categories for the site; all over repeats... nightwear... embellishments.........

Brand New Phirefly

2009-02-06T08:50:00.001-08:00

My new phirefly.co.uk site goes live after months (years) of talking about it. As much as I'll miss the jolly yellow phirefly and polaroid snaps about the place, it was time to present my work in a more professional context. There's no point paying all that money for hosting if I'm too embarassed to pass my site details to anyone...

I'll be working on adding some content over the coming weeks and will try my best to keep this blog updated!