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Amelia’s Magazine | Sally Potter – All the RAGE?

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ragejudo

A murder in a New York fashion house. A star cast including Judi Dench, order Jude Law and Eddie Izzard. You might expect a standard film, sick but Sally Potter’s Rage is far from tame. The film is a patchwork of confessional monologues, delivered in front of coloured backdrops.

jude-law-rage

The location shots common to feature films are completely absent. Simplicity is the key in this production. The characters ranging from designer, critic and photographer to pizza boy, financier and his bodyguard, are all seen from the perspective of child blogger Michelangelo. His character remains unseen but we discover that he films the exposés on his mobile phone. We can only assume that the characters thrive on the boys’ innocent gaze, as they share their intimate thoughts and reveal the sometimes-twisted nature of their personas.

rage

I admire Potter for a creative take on a subject matter that has been in vogue for years. We’ve all seen The Devil Wears Prada or the more recent The September Issue. The film includes some great lines, which open up some important questions about the nature of the fashion industry. Fashion critic Mona Carvell (Judi Dench) suggests, “Fashion is not an art form, if anything its pornography to which millions are addicted.” Similarly, Tiny Diamonds (Eddie Izzard) the media mogul states, “In the end, everything and everyone is for sale.”

rage - balaban

The film breaks not only the conceptual ‘norms’ of film, but is also groundbreaking in terms of its circulation. Rage premiered not only in cinemas but also on mobile phones and the Internet. I was at the interactive premier at the British Film Institute where the intention was to connect various cinemas in the UK through live satellite. From the base at the BFI, Skype linked these cinema audience members to the actors in New York and elsewhere around the globe, allowing for a unique Q+A session.

sallypotter

The technical hiccups were relentless but made this a hugely entertaining premier. Eddie Izzard managed to make comic genius out of the playback echo, even resorting to offering his answer written out on a notebook. Jude Law provided a thoughtful analysis of his cross-dressing character Minx, citing Leigh Bowry as reference for his performance.

rageizzard

Lily Cole, fresh from a fashion shoot, perhaps best embodies the contradictions of the fashion industry appearing shy and reflective.

ragelilycole

The disappointing truth is that I found this technically clumsy Q+A more captivating than the film itself. Potter’s decision to focus entirely on the monologue performances of the actors was brave but not entirely successful. While the concept is attractive on paper, in reality the plot becomes weak. Although the actors are talented, their characters could not develop fully in the given time. Subsequently the characters float without cause.

ragesteve

Potter has achieved an interesting film on a tiny budget, stating herself that Rage is a celebration of ‘poor cinema’ that concentrates on text and performance and the basic art of storytelling. The simplicity and intimacy of the filming process, which included only director, actor and soundman is seductive. Equally the film is a timely antithesis to the celebrated London Fashion Week, a hint from Potter’s that we might consider the hidden agendas and invisible faces behind the glamorous face of the catwalk shows.

RAGE-4-A

The inventive means of film distribution, which takes full advantage of the newest technology, could be seen as a counter to the speed at which the fashion industry has adopted the Internet.

My impression is that it is the star cast which holds the film together, allowing for the unusual concept. Yet, I left without really knowing the point of the film. There is a critique of the economy of fashion in the characters narrative, as well as a snub against conspicuous consumption and the power of branding. Potter has previously expressed her resentment at ‘an economic system that turns people into things’. But if her point was to express her own ‘Rage’ through the film, she failed to deliver.

Written by Francesca Weber-Newth on Tuesday October 6th, 2009 5:30 pm

Categories ,Blogging, ,British Film Institute, ,Eddie Izzard, ,Jude Law, ,Judi Dench, ,Lily Cole, ,London Fashion Week, ,RAGE, ,Sally Potter

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Amelia’s Magazine | Sketchbook Pop-Up Shop: Susie (Style) Bubble Talk

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Illustration courtesy of Zoë Barker

From outside, remedy the Koko in Camden looks a bit like one of those Swiss clocks – the ones where a girl in lederhosen comes out on a rail every hour to strike the chime. The bare white front façade is broken only by the large ‘KOKO’ illumination and the two doors at either edge of the building which allow the audience access to the smoking balcony, click and there’s a fair few of them pacing backwards and forwards. Imagining them as clockwork Bavarians is the kind of thing I find amusing. It passes the time, waiting in the coffee place across the road for the rain to ease and the doors to open.

Los Campesinos! are a band that I’ve had to convince myself that I actually loved, because for a while I was in denial. As far as my last.fm statistics go they’ve been my favourite band of the last 18 months, and I even found myself buying a ticket for their latest tour as soon as physically able and not really being sure why. It always felt like some kind of weirdly innocuous indulgence that support groups put out literature for – y’know, you swear it’s not a big deal, you could walk away at any second, it doesn’t control your life, etc. etc., only to wake up one morning and realise that you’re deeply addicted and in trouble. It’s frightening to realise you’ve had a new favourite band for so long and not even realised.

Illustration courtesy of Zoë Barker

Once inside the venue, I buy a drink and text my erstwhile companion, struck down with food poisoning. “I’m probably the oldest person here – where are the adults?“ I ask (and I’m only 22) – there’s a distinct whiff of Lynx in the air (at a guess: Africa). LC! are a bit of a joke to some people thanks to lead singer Gareth’s scribbled-journal lyrics, and frankly they’re right – they can be acutely embarrassing. I try to justify my love (my addiction, you could say) to my friends by being clever – they’re tongue-in-cheek, I say! The literal meaning is totally ironic, but the intent is still sincere! It never works. My first instinct, looking around the venue, is that these skinny, shy kids find Gareth endearing and sincere without any ironic pretension, which would be sweet and naïve if so. Or it could be seen as pathetic – sample lyric: “As if I walked into the room/to see my ex-girlfriend/who by the way I’m still in love with/sucking the face of some pretty boy/with my favourite band’s mostpopular song in the background/is it wrong that I can’t decide which bothers me most?” – but then ‘pathetic’ sounds so much like ‘pathos’ and I’m sure that their must be some kind of link or derivation at play there, because then there’s my excuse. The band excels at drawing out an emotional response in its audience.

As I’m trying to figure this out (I’m on my own, remember, so those kinds of thoughts are all I have to amuse myself – another excuse) the first bunch of musicians stroll on stage – it’s barely past eight, which leaves me thinking that I’ll probably be home and in slippers before eleven. But as for the band: the lead singer reminds me of Sinbad, and he starts wooping.

“Woop! … Woop! … Woop!” etc. – he’s jumped over the crowd barriers at this point, and is walking through the still-thin crowd, clearly sizing people up. Every now and again somebody will recoil, which I assume is because they assume that he’ll either a) want them to join in (poor, timid children), or b) eat their ears, because he’s mental. I think it’s hilarious. The rhythmic wooping is augmented by the rest of the band joining in with their instruments, using Sinbad as a metronome. They’re a four-piece – Sinbad, fringe girl, moustache guy, and Sweater (his sensible sky-blue knitwear is his most defining feature, I suppose) – and they blew me away. Rotating between instruments, chanting and howling, they managed to bridge the divide between danceable electro-wash that I so admire in Holy Fuck or Gang Gang Dance and the careful racket of no-wave. One tune sounded like Arcade Fire’s ‘Wake Up’ shoved backwards through a plane turbine, i.e. sort of inverted by chopping it up into small pieces and reassembled with the bass brought forward and the optimistic chants turned into these awful, angry shouts… I was a total convert. Only by cornering Sinbad in the lobby afterwards did I manage to get their name – Islet. The internet tells me they’re from Cardiff, and they don’t like the internet, they have no recordings available for streaming or purchase (except this BBC live session), they have no website, they are entirely offline. The only way to experience Islet is as a live band, so go. See them live. They kick ass.

The break between the supports is short, and next on are somewhat-hyped London duo Swanton Bombs. To be fair to them, everything I’ve heard about their album has been positive (including a review on this very site), so I’m going to chalk their disappointing live presence up as unexpected. Every song reminded me of that nasty period in the early 00s when blues-rock groups were two-a-penny, where every song could be plotted on a chart with one axis labelled “Killing Floor“, and “Hey Joe” on the other. In short – it was dull, every song sounded the same, and Blood Red Shoes do this kind of thing with much more aplomb. I drifted out towards the back of the room and then upstairs, where I could fully appreciate how atrocious the Koko’s sound quality is for anyone not on the ground near the front – it’s an embarrassment for London, really, considering how much slack the place has had to take up now that the scuffed and glorious Astoria’s gone.

The audience of kids, mostly bored by what’s happened so far (Islet’s tribal antics went down like a civil servant in Downing Street), persists in ignoring whatever’s happening on stage. They’re very clearly only here for LC!, and it’s something of a relief that they come to life when the main act eventually makes an appearance – making me reassess my earlier assumption, that they were here out of a pathetic sincerity, as completely wrong. Namely: I was being pretentious and snobbish, and these kids just like how enjoyable a band LC! are – the lyrics are just plain funny, the music just plain fun, and whilst people like me with too much time on their hands (I blame my friend standing me up and leaving me to my own interior monologue) might debate the extent to which the band take this influence, or that level of twee irony, or said indebtedness to blah blah, this is bullshit. So I forgot about all that, and started jumping about with the rest of the mosh pit.

Illustration courtesy of Zoë Barker

Gareth’s certainly a livelier presence than I expected (seeing as he can come across as a bit wet sometimes). Tonight he bounds around like an over-stimulated puppy, and keeps thanking everybody – his friends, their manager, the audience (I count seven separate breaks between songs where he thanks the fans), the venue, the tour promoter. It’s sweet. The set opens with the steamrolling “I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed, Just So You Know,” which is a bastard of a song, frankly. Their latest album is filled with these, how to say, crunchy numbers, loud and a bit ridiculous, and each one sounds like an anthem tonight – the crowd on ground alongside me is just a heaving sweaty coagulation of fists and smiles, right through the more recent tracks (“There Are Listed Building”, “A Heat Rash in the Shape of The Show Me State; Or, Letters from Me to Charlotte” (it is assumed that if you cannot abide this kind of ludicrous titling of songs then LC! are not a band for you)) to the classics of a couple of years ago (“My Year in Lists,” “This Is How You Spell ‘HAHAHA, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics’”).

One of the best things about seeing these guys live, though, was that their first album suddenly made a lot more sense. Their sound in the flesh isn’t hugely similar to their last two releases (‘We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed’ and this year’s ‘Romance Is Boring’), which were relatively crisp and clean to the ear – live, they sound like the horrible mistake that was the David Newfeld-produced debut ‘Hold On Now, Youngster’, where the levels were all over the place and the whole thing was a sorry soppy mess of a release that would stick to a wall if it was thrown at one and would congeal into just a bloody mass of nothing at the bottom. It was poorly produced, is what I’m saying. But hearing them tonight I suddenly realise that Newfeld had captured them as they actually sound, essentially that exact kind of mop bucket softness, without edges, without any definition to grab onto. They aren’t half as exciting on there as they are here because, well, that’s the nature of live music, but I have greater respect for the Broken Social Scene producer now I can understand his Sisyphean intentions.

The highlight for most people comes towards the end, when the band crack out the song that they will presumably still be ending their sets with in middle-age – “You! Me! Dancing!” – which I detest. It’s a horrible song. I don’t know why it grates when I enjoy everything else that they do so much, but there it is. However, in the interest of balance I’ll say that this once it was awesome because, well, it was. I’d never danced to it alongside a few hundred other people before and the sensation was not, shall we say, unpleasant. When the band left the stage it was the end of their largest headline show to date – despite their quirks, their oddities, their introspection and their glee, I fully expect them to be playing even larger venues within a very short time indeed. They are the biggest and best niche group around. To hell with thought – it’s my gut that wants to see them again as soon as possible.

Illustration by Naomi Law

For the last day of  the Sketchbook Pop-Up Shop, viagra dosage Susie Bubble of Style Bubble fame gave a lecture, viagra approved bookending an event that celebrated the creative arts in a social and relaxed atmosphere complete with illustrations all over the walls. As one of the more prolific bloggers out there, healing Susie Bubble is someone I have ‘followed’ for a long time owing to her quality of photos and copy as well as her evidently well-researched posts. The Style Bubble blog started in 2006 as an outlet for Susie’s opinions, naturally developing a huge following with mentions in i-D magazine, The Financial Times and numerous awards within the blogging world in a relatively short space of time (that’s the online world for you!).
 
Susie has already written an excellent post on the ‘pop up social space’, and as the last speaker at the event ties things up quite nicely – she even featured on the cover of their very first issue. Teaching herself web coding at the age of 13, Susie was always destined to make a foray into the online world. Her blog has grown quickly over the last four years and rather than a ‘what to wear now’ site endorsing celebrity-led trends, Style Bubble is full of Susie’s musings and ideas of what she really thinks. ‘I would only stop blogging if ideas run out’, she said. Not much chance of that in London…
 
Following a few questions from the audience on branding, sponsorship and advertising it was very refreshing to hear Susie’s responses reflecting the idea that a blog should be a personal passion rather than a way to increase traffic and generate sales, as an all encompassing business or brand. ‘I don’t see what a Style Bubble app would bring to the iPad’ she reveals, and equally she doesn’t see a future or market for paid blogs. If they are controlled by the brand themselves she can see the merits, though – ‘if a brand have a blog, especially some of the more secretive design houses, it is a good idea as long as the content is interesting’.   


Illustration by Naomi Law
 
Content is key, and she advises that in order to make a mark in the blogosphere, a blog must bring something new to the table. If you are in need of some more inspiration, Susie uses The Guardian fashion pages, The Coveted, and Jak&Jil for fashion news.

She understands that fashion, especially luxury fashion, is not always ethically sound, and where ‘it is impossible to investigate every choice’ we make on clothing we must be aware of the sources of our purchases. Broad generalisations can confuse consumers; for example, not everything made in China needs to be avoided. When choosing items, Susie goes for what feels right. ‘Buying luxury clothes is selfish. I ask myself if it feels nice or looks good on me’. On her own style, she made it very clear that it’s a personal choice, but in terms of A/W10 predicitons, its ‘texture, texture, texture’! Mix it up and make it your own – for S/S go for pastels and embroidery.
 
One of the nicest elements to Susie’s character is the honesty and modesty in with which she answered the questions. The London-based blogger loves the constantly developing creativity in our city, and how there are opportunities to turn your hand to whatever you want, describing herself as a ‘fraud’ with no formal training! At the moment Susie is unsure how to progress with the blog. Now in a ‘pondering phase’, she doesn’t see herself working with a ‘team’ as it is such a personal project – just her and her handy boyfriend for the photos!
 
3 facts you might like to know:
 
1. She voted Lib Dem
2. She wears her hair up when its windy
3. She was incredibly flattered when Daphne Guinness wrote about her in the FT (who wouldn’t be?!)
 
As well as some consulting work, she has some mysterious up and coming projects, so keep an eye out…

Written by Florence Massey on Monday May 17th, 2010 4:39 pm

Categories ,Bloggers, ,Blogging, ,China, ,Daphne Guinness, ,Financial Times, ,Florence Massey, ,I.D Magazine, ,Jak&Jil, ,Liberal Democrats, ,Naomi Law, ,Newburgh Street, ,Pop-up Shop, ,Sketchbook Magazine, ,Style Bubble, ,Susie Bubble, ,Texture, ,The Coveted

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Amelia’s Magazine | Emma Ware: the sustainable designer who makes jewellery from tyres

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Lisa Stannard, diagnosis cheapest Emesha S/S 2010
Emesha is created by Emese Nagy, look who was named after the lead lady in a myth about the creation of the Hungarian kingdom. She grew up between Hungary and the United States before moving to London, for sale all of which has made her very open-minded and observant. My travels have been a great inspiration to me as a designer. She particularly likes the quirky style of places such as Shoreditch in east London.

Being a socially sensitive type who wants to help others it was natural that she took an ethical stance for her brand especially as she began to understand more about the origins and manufacturing of clothing. As a strict vegetarian she doesn’t use fur or leather in her designs, case and only natural materials. An internship at Vivienne Westwood taught her about precision in complicated patterns, and at Jasper Conran she was given the confidence to create a collection from start to finish. I was involved in all the stages of production which gave me a good insight into how the final garment comes together…

Read the rest of this interview with Emesha in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.
Emesha is created by Emese Nagy, erectile who was named after the lead lady in a myth about the creation of the Hungarian kingdom. She grew up between Hungary and the United States before moving to London, troche all of which has made her very open-minded and observant. My travels have been a great inspiration to me as a designer. She particularly likes the quirky style of places such as Shoreditch in east London.

Being a socially sensitive type who wants to help others it was natural that she took an ethical stance for her brand especially as she began to understand more about the origins and manufacturing of clothing. As a strict vegetarian she doesn’t use fur or leather in her designs, seek and only natural materials. An internship at Vivienne Westwood taught her about precision in complicated patterns, and at Jasper Conran she was given the confidence to create a collection from start to finish. I was involved in all the stages of production which gave me a good insight into how the final garment comes together…

Read the rest of this interview with Emesha in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.
Lisa Stannard, <a target=adiposity Emesha S/S 2010″ title=”Lisa Stannard, online Emesha S/S 2010″ width=”480″ height=”576″ class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-32247″ />
Emesha S/S 2010 by Lisa Stannard.

Emesha is created by Emese Nagy, approved who was named after the lead lady in a myth about the creation of the Hungarian kingdom. She grew up between Hungary and the United States before moving to London, all of which has made her very open-minded and observant. My travels have been a great inspiration to me as a designer. She particularly likes the quirky style of places such as Shoreditch in east London.

Being a socially sensitive type who wants to help others it was natural that she took an ethical stance for her brand especially as she began to understand more about the origins and manufacturing of clothing. As a strict vegetarian she doesn’t use fur or leather in her designs, and only natural materials. An internship at Vivienne Westwood taught her about precision in complicated patterns, and at Jasper Conran she was given the confidence to create a collection from start to finish. I was involved in all the stages of production which gave me a good insight into how the final garment comes together…

Read the rest of this interview with Emesha in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.
Lisa Stannard, <a target=rx Emesha S/S 2010″ title=”Lisa Stannard, buy Emesha S/S 2010″ width=”480″ height=”576″ class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-32247″ />
Emesha S/S 2010 by Lisa Stannard.

Emesha is created by Emese Nagy, pill who was named after the lead lady in a myth about the creation of the Hungarian kingdom. She grew up between Hungary and the United States before moving to London, all of which has made her very open-minded and observant. My travels have been a great inspiration to me as a designer. She particularly likes the quirky style of places such as Shoreditch in east London.

Being a socially sensitive type who wants to help others it was natural that she took an ethical stance for her brand especially as she began to understand more about the origins and manufacturing of clothing. As a strict vegetarian she doesn’t use fur or leather in her designs, and only natural materials. An internship at Vivienne Westwood taught her about precision in complicated patterns, and at Jasper Conran she was given the confidence to create a collection from start to finish. I was involved in all the stages of production which gave me a good insight into how the final garment comes together…

Read the rest of this interview with Emesha in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.
Joana Faria_Emma Ware_S-S 2011
Emma Ware by Joana Faria.

Jewellery from tyres.
I have always been attracted to colourful, sildenafil shiny, fun pieces of old broken jewellery, toys and bottle tops; stuff that others would consider rubbish or of no use. It doesn’t make ecological or economic sense to manufacture new materials when there is so much out there already. Reusing materials changes the way you design because it forces you to work within the limits of the material you have and I am constantly on the lookout for new waste materials to use. One day my friend had a puncture, and seeing potential in the rubber ring of the inner tube I had a go at chopping it up and immediately knew I was onto something.

Elegance in rubber.
I create designs based on what the rubber wants me to do, playing with the natural shapes when it is cut up in different ways. Making repetitive cuts in graduated sizes of inner tubes rings seems to result in designs that imitate naturally occurring organic patterns; similar to those found in wings, feathers, leaves, shells or even waves. My signature pieces are based on cutting the tube in a specific way, from which I figure out how I can make something to complement the human form…

Read the rest of this interview with Emma Ware in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Wednesday January 19th, 2011 5:22 pm

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Eco fashion, ,Emma Ware, ,Ethical Fashion, ,Feathers, ,Joana Faria, ,leaves, ,organic, ,recycling, ,Rubber, ,shells, ,wings

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Amelia’s Magazine | 8 Tips for Making a Successful Impression at Alternative Fashion Week

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Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Alternative Fashion Week is a wonderful thing, visit this site truly, no rx but as I have written about it over the past week the one thing that has struck me time and time again is the lack of information surrounding the event and its participants. As I tried to research the designers it has, at times, felt a bit like I have adopted the mantle of a detective. I am truly flabbergasted at the lack of facts available to any interested parties wanting to chase up a fashion designer.

Quite often within the arts there seems to be huge support to launch a creative endeavour, and then zero ongoing relationship, including making it as easy as possible for someone to contact a designer or artist. The sheet that I received listing the designers showing at Alternative Fashion Week was almost impossible to read. Not only did it bear no relevance to who showed on what day (understandable – I am sure things changed around at the last minute) but the designers weren’t even listed in alphabetical order. I mean c’mon folks, I know money must be tight, but this was an unforgivable error. I tried to be as accurate as possible in my reviews but it took so long to cross check the names that a lazier journalist would simply have given up, thus denying the designers promotion.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani da silva
This is not fashion by the way, this is glamour modelling.

I imagine sponsorship money was quickly prioritised for other things: a (naff) band, a proper stage, marquees etc. But in my opinion the part that was neglected is one of the most important, and that is providing the selected designers with the knowledge and networks to ensure that their catwalk show wasn’t a one-off shot at recognition. This should come in the form of advice not only of how to maximise impressions on the day, but also before the show, and well beyond. Alternative Fashion Week doesn’t even have it’s own website, but a grotty html page on the Alternative Arts website. It’s pretty pathetic, truth be told. Alternative Fashion Week should at least have it’s own blog: hardly a costly thing to set up. It should be on twitter, and it should have a website presence of its own with profiles of every designer involved, with links to their own websites.

And this is where I get really irked: almost none of the designers involved had a website, or any kind of web presence. Believe me, I spent enough time googling all of them to know what is out there. There’s really no excuse for this – the first thing anyone does if they want to find out about something – anything – these days, is to google it. It takes moments to set up a blog, twitter feed, LinkedIn profile or Facebook fan page, and it’s such an easy way to let people know what you do and how they can find you. Neither did many of the designers have a business card on them ready to hand out. And there’s more…

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5

In the absence of any visible web support from the people behind Alternative Fashion Week, here then is my DIY guide to fashion designers who want to make an impression, based on my observations backstage at the 2010 shows in Spitalfields Market. I don’t by any means offer this as a conclusive list, but something that will hopefully be helpful for anyone taking part in a similar event in the future. And this applies to any catwalk show anywhere in the world, or at a push, to almost any creative event (apart from the model bit obviously):

8 Tips for Making a Successful Impression at Alternative Fashion Week:

Beforehand:
1. I know you’re busy, we all are. But if you are going to do a massive promotional event, make sure that you take a tiny bit of time to set up some kind of web presence beforehand. It takes MOMENTS to set up your profile on a social network. You should really have a professional presence on your own website or blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, but if you’re too busy to get your head around all of them I would absolutely implore you to set up a twitter feed with a good url that reflects your professional name. It literally takes no time at all. Start twittering about everything that is happening in the run up to your catwalk show – all the hard work, who you are speaking to, where you source your materials from, all of that kind of thing – a few weeks before hand. And set up a blog to post photos of your work. This is also really simple, and you can link it to your twitter every time you post something.

Alternative Fashion Week day 3 2010 Am Statik
Models for Am Statik.

2. Send out a promotional email to anyone you think might be interested. Amy Day of Am Statik sent me an email a week or so before Alternative Fashion Week which I skim read. I’d never heard of her before but she included some nice photos, which not only reminded me to attend all of the shows, but meant that I remembered her name when she presented her clothes on the catwalk. She was also there handing out business cards and being photographed with her models at the end. And she has a website, a Facebook page and a twitter feed. Take note: this is how it should be done.

On the Day:
3. Make sure you have got business cards in your hands at all times (or in a pocket, or in a bag over your shoulders) These should have a contact email and any web presence printed on them. Plus an image of your collection wouldn’t hurt either so that people will remember which one it is. Business cards are extremely easy and cheap to print these days. Try Moo.com. If someone looks interested, for god’s sake don’t wait for them to ask, just give them a business card. Even an interested person will find it really hard to remember your name when they’re watching so many shows. And ask them for their business card, or their name (and remember it). If your hands are full find a willing friend to help you out – maybe they can go around handing out promotional postcards to the audience whilst you are running around backstage liking a whirling dervish?

4. Models: I would highly recommend that you find your own models. Quite a lot of people at Alternative Fashion Week were sharing models which meant they didn’t have time to stop and pose after the catwalk. Yes, it can seem daunting to find your own, but it is possible, and they don’t have to be perfect. Either cajole friends into doing it, or go chat up some cute people on the street (otherwise known as street-casting, a great way to talk to attractive people!) If you have to hand your models over to another designer straight away then they won’t be able to hang around backstage and in the audience, showing off your designs and generally being available for lots of lovely photographs.

5. Make sure your models know that the camera is their friend on the big day – your friend/mum/sister may normally hate posing for photographs but it is their job to make your clothes look fabulous – so tell them to pose like their life depends on it, or artfully continue what they’re doing (photographers like natural documentary style reportage too) whenever they see a camera pointing in their direction, even when they have left the catwalk. Being shy is no good, so if at all possible pick your most exhibitionist cohorts to model. You want as many fabulous photos of your designs to be taken as is humanly possible because you never know where those pictures are going to end up. They could just make the front page. Which is not to be sniffed at, even if it is just the front page of East End Life.

Alternative Fashion Week Elif Muzaffer
Elif Muzaffer makes sure she is in the photo with her models. I would not always recommend this – make sure the photographers are also able to get shots of the models alone.

Afterwards:
6. If anyone showed interest in your collection then you should follow them up in the first few days after the show. Do not rest on your laurels! This is your chance, so grab it. If they gave you their card send them a friendly email to say it was nice to meet them, and if they didn’t go and google them – if they are professional they will have a website presence (as you should do) – and then get in touch. Elif Muzaffer was very proactive in contacting me after I gave her my business card; not only did she email me that very night, but she promptly set up a blog when I asked how I could link to her. She did it there and then, complete with pictures from the catwalk, so that I could link to it from my online review. It’s never too late to get on top of your web presence.

7. Update your social media as soon as possible – get on twitter and start raving about how great your catwalk show was. Post pictures of your collection on your blog. Get into the habit of googling your name and that of your professional fashion brand to see who is talking about you. It’s what every professional does! Use Google Alerts for this – a very handy service that tracks who is talking about you so you don’t even need to. Then twitter about all this lovely press you are getting, so people can see how well you are doing. It’s all about creating that elusive “buzz” if you want to have a stella career in fashion.

8. Don’t ever just expect to sit back and relax. The work never stops in this industry – you’ve got to be constantly promoting yourself, and if you’re serious about becoming a fashion designer this aspect of your chosen career will never let up. Your exposure on the catwalk at Alternative Fashion Week is merely the start. As with every creative industry, it doesn’t matter how talented you are, if you don’t promote yourself then you will never be as successful as you could be. Unless you were born with famous parents of course. Peaches Geldof, Lily Allen, ahem.

Good Luck! and if you’ve got any other tips, I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday April 30th, 2010 5:41 pm

Categories ,Alternative Fashion Week, ,Am Statik, ,Amy Day, ,Blogging, ,Buzz, ,East End Life, ,Elif Muzaffer, ,Facebook, ,Google Alerts, ,lily allen, ,LinkedIn, ,Modelling, ,Peaches Geldof, ,photography, ,spitalfields, ,Tips, ,twitter

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Amelia’s Magazine | 8 Tips for Making a Successful Impression at Alternative Fashion Week

by

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Alternative Fashion Week is a wonderful thing, visit this site truly, no rx but as I have written about it over the past week the one thing that has struck me time and time again is the lack of information surrounding the event and its participants. As I tried to research the designers it has, at times, felt a bit like I have adopted the mantle of a detective. I am truly flabbergasted at the lack of facts available to any interested parties wanting to chase up a fashion designer.

Quite often within the arts there seems to be huge support to launch a creative endeavour, and then zero ongoing relationship, including making it as easy as possible for someone to contact a designer or artist. The sheet that I received listing the designers showing at Alternative Fashion Week was almost impossible to read. Not only did it bear no relevance to who showed on what day (understandable – I am sure things changed around at the last minute) but the designers weren’t even listed in alphabetical order. I mean c’mon folks, I know money must be tight, but this was an unforgivable error. I tried to be as accurate as possible in my reviews but it took so long to cross check the names that a lazier journalist would simply have given up, thus denying the designers promotion.

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5 2010 Immani da silva
This is not fashion by the way, this is glamour modelling.

I imagine sponsorship money was quickly prioritised for other things: a (naff) band, a proper stage, marquees etc. But in my opinion the part that was neglected is one of the most important, and that is providing the selected designers with the knowledge and networks to ensure that their catwalk show wasn’t a one-off shot at recognition. This should come in the form of advice not only of how to maximise impressions on the day, but also before the show, and well beyond. Alternative Fashion Week doesn’t even have it’s own website, but a grotty html page on the Alternative Arts website. It’s pretty pathetic, truth be told. Alternative Fashion Week should at least have it’s own blog: hardly a costly thing to set up. It should be on twitter, and it should have a website presence of its own with profiles of every designer involved, with links to their own websites.

And this is where I get really irked: almost none of the designers involved had a website, or any kind of web presence. Believe me, I spent enough time googling all of them to know what is out there. There’s really no excuse for this – the first thing anyone does if they want to find out about something – anything – these days, is to google it. It takes moments to set up a blog, twitter feed, LinkedIn profile or Facebook fan page, and it’s such an easy way to let people know what you do and how they can find you. Neither did many of the designers have a business card on them ready to hand out. And there’s more…

Alternative Fashion Week Day 5

In the absence of any visible web support from the people behind Alternative Fashion Week, here then is my DIY guide to fashion designers who want to make an impression, based on my observations backstage at the 2010 shows in Spitalfields Market. I don’t by any means offer this as a conclusive list, but something that will hopefully be helpful for anyone taking part in a similar event in the future. And this applies to any catwalk show anywhere in the world, or at a push, to almost any creative event (apart from the model bit obviously):

8 Tips for Making a Successful Impression at Alternative Fashion Week:

Beforehand:
1. I know you’re busy, we all are. But if you are going to do a massive promotional event, make sure that you take a tiny bit of time to set up some kind of web presence beforehand. It takes MOMENTS to set up your profile on a social network. You should really have a professional presence on your own website or blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, but if you’re too busy to get your head around all of them I would absolutely implore you to set up a twitter feed with a good url that reflects your professional name. It literally takes no time at all. Start twittering about everything that is happening in the run up to your catwalk show – all the hard work, who you are speaking to, where you source your materials from, all of that kind of thing – a few weeks before hand. And set up a blog to post photos of your work. This is also really simple, and you can link it to your twitter every time you post something.

Alternative Fashion Week day 3 2010 Am Statik
Models for Am Statik.

2. Send out a promotional email to anyone you think might be interested. Amy Day of Am Statik sent me an email a week or so before Alternative Fashion Week which I skim read. I’d never heard of her before but she included some nice photos, which not only reminded me to attend all of the shows, but meant that I remembered her name when she presented her clothes on the catwalk. She was also there handing out business cards and being photographed with her models at the end. And she has a website, a Facebook page and a twitter feed. Take note: this is how it should be done.

On the Day:
3. Make sure you have got business cards in your hands at all times (or in a pocket, or in a bag over your shoulders) These should have a contact email and any web presence printed on them. Plus an image of your collection wouldn’t hurt either so that people will remember which one it is. Business cards are extremely easy and cheap to print these days. Try Moo.com. If someone looks interested, for god’s sake don’t wait for them to ask, just give them a business card. Even an interested person will find it really hard to remember your name when they’re watching so many shows. And ask them for their business card, or their name (and remember it). If your hands are full find a willing friend to help you out – maybe they can go around handing out promotional postcards to the audience whilst you are running around backstage liking a whirling dervish?

4. Models: I would highly recommend that you find your own models. Quite a lot of people at Alternative Fashion Week were sharing models which meant they didn’t have time to stop and pose after the catwalk. Yes, it can seem daunting to find your own, but it is possible, and they don’t have to be perfect. Either cajole friends into doing it, or go chat up some cute people on the street (otherwise known as street-casting, a great way to talk to attractive people!) If you have to hand your models over to another designer straight away then they won’t be able to hang around backstage and in the audience, showing off your designs and generally being available for lots of lovely photographs.

5. Make sure your models know that the camera is their friend on the big day – your friend/mum/sister may normally hate posing for photographs but it is their job to make your clothes look fabulous – so tell them to pose like their life depends on it, or artfully continue what they’re doing (photographers like natural documentary style reportage too) whenever they see a camera pointing in their direction, even when they have left the catwalk. Being shy is no good, so if at all possible pick your most exhibitionist cohorts to model. You want as many fabulous photos of your designs to be taken as is humanly possible because you never know where those pictures are going to end up. They could just make the front page. Which is not to be sniffed at, even if it is just the front page of East End Life.

Alternative Fashion Week Elif Muzaffer
Elif Muzaffer makes sure she is in the photo with her models. I would not always recommend this – make sure the photographers are also able to get shots of the models alone.

Afterwards:
6. If anyone showed interest in your collection then you should follow them up in the first few days after the show. Do not rest on your laurels! This is your chance, so grab it. If they gave you their card send them a friendly email to say it was nice to meet them, and if they didn’t go and google them – if they are professional they will have a website presence (as you should do) – and then get in touch. Elif Muzaffer was very proactive in contacting me after I gave her my business card; not only did she email me that very night, but she promptly set up a blog when I asked how I could link to her. She did it there and then, complete with pictures from the catwalk, so that I could link to it from my online review. It’s never too late to get on top of your web presence.

7. Update your social media as soon as possible – get on twitter and start raving about how great your catwalk show was. Post pictures of your collection on your blog. Get into the habit of googling your name and that of your professional fashion brand to see who is talking about you. It’s what every professional does! Use Google Alerts for this – a very handy service that tracks who is talking about you so you don’t even need to. Then twitter about all this lovely press you are getting, so people can see how well you are doing. It’s all about creating that elusive “buzz” if you want to have a stella career in fashion.

8. Don’t ever just expect to sit back and relax. The work never stops in this industry – you’ve got to be constantly promoting yourself, and if you’re serious about becoming a fashion designer this aspect of your chosen career will never let up. Your exposure on the catwalk at Alternative Fashion Week is merely the start. As with every creative industry, it doesn’t matter how talented you are, if you don’t promote yourself then you will never be as successful as you could be. Unless you were born with famous parents of course. Peaches Geldof, Lily Allen, ahem.

Good Luck! and if you’ve got any other tips, I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Friday April 30th, 2010 5:41 pm

Categories ,Alternative Fashion Week, ,Am Statik, ,Amy Day, ,Blogging, ,Buzz, ,East End Life, ,Elif Muzaffer, ,Facebook, ,Google Alerts, ,lily allen, ,LinkedIn, ,Modelling, ,Peaches Geldof, ,photography, ,spitalfields, ,Tips, ,twitter

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with Ross Paul Keenan, menswear designer

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Illustration by Gareth A Hopkins

Graduate menswear designer and Savile Row trained Ross Paul Keenan has proven to be a huge success. His first collection was shown at Graduate Fashion Week and his second chosen to be shown at London Fashion Week. Beginning at The University of East London, thumb studying fashion, this his craftsmanship and attention to unique detailing was spotted at GFW and, as he explains, will be a career-defining highlight.

Firstly, and most importantly, when you heard the news that you would be showing your GFW collection at London Fashion Week, what was your initial feeling? I hear you were in California at the time…
Yeah, that’s right. It was a great feeling to know that I would be showing as part of London Fashion Week. It’s most designers dream to show in London and to be given that opportunity was amazing.

You have mentioned before that your ‘Up To the Nines’ collection was ‘rebelling against traditional tailoring’. Where did you get the inspiration from?
From being on Savile Row, I learned how to use all the cutting and construction methods used in ‘traditional’ menswear and galvanized this with my designs. My design research came from rebelling against tradition and looking into riots. It was a kind of Savile Row tailor goes to a West Ham v. Millwall game. (Laughs) That was where the inspiration began.


Illustration by Darren Fletcher
 
I loved the black floor-length coat and cropped shirts. What is behind these particular pieces?
It’s still looking into rebelling and questioning the idea of traditions. All of the collection came from my own curiosity… asking why it had to be done that way and what if I did it this way. The white cross over shirt with the braces came from looking into police riot uniforms; protecting the chest and hiding weapons.

I hear there are some famous fans of your creations. How does that make you feel?
It’s nice to get a positive response for what you do; seeing people like your stuff and want to wear it makes it all worthwhile.

Were there any pieces in particular people said they liked?
I got really good positive feedback from all of the collection really. The trench coat with bucket pockets and bias cut waist coat seemed to be a favourite at Graduate Fashion Week and when I showed at the Design Museum, people seemed to like the riot shirt and asymmetric waistcoat- I guess different people like different things. But the overall reaction was really encouraging.

What is your favourite piece from the ‘UTTN’ collection?
It would probably have to be the suit. For me this captured the theme of the collection and what I was trying to achieve, with the inconsistent pinstripes and velvet waistcoat that wrapped over the jacket and flashes of floral pocketing which could be shown outside the trousers as well. The outfit was all made bespoke so the hand craftsmanship could be seen.

What are you planning to do next?
I’m just going to keep going, keeping designing and who knows. I’m not one of these people who make plans. Plans always get changed; if you make a plan you find yourself fighting so hard to stick to it that you are blind to other opportunities that could arise. 


Illustration by Cat Palairet

Describe your style in your own words.
I would say stylishly simple, with clean lines and a neutral colour palette works most of the time. My style is quite similar to the kind of person I design for. For me, style is about timeless designs that could be locked in your wardrobe then one day you could decide to bring it out to wear it again. I was always collecting things as a kid and guess I’d like my clothes to become the same.
 
Who would you say you design for?
Modern gentlemen who want to prevail with confidence. Most men like getting dolled up as much as women, and appreciate a well made garment. After all, what gives you more confidence than walking down the street dressed to the nines?


 
Are there particular people who you admire in the industry or otherwise?
Lots, it would be too difficult to just pin point one. Everyone… don’t we all? Everyone you meet effects your life and inspires you. We all take inspiration from something but just might not know it. I look to different people for inspiration- my family and friends inspire me, artists, writers and people who can connect and communicate with other people through their work. Everything someone does has a story behind it and everyone that comes across this creates their own interpretation of it. And… oh yeah, I tend to day dream a lot. (Laughs) That’s where the best ideas come from- I drift off into my own little world quite often when I’m out and about.
 
What piece(s) would you wear from the ‘UTTN’ collection?
I’d wear everything; I’d like to think there is something for everyone in the collection. It’s great to see people using your designs with their own style. I sold two of the bias cut waistcoats a few weeks back; one guy, he wore it over the top of a t-shirt with jeans and I sold one to another guy who wore it with a pair of cords and a tweed jacket. It’s great to see people with different takes on my clothing.

So what’s next for Ross Paul Keenan?
I’m always working on new bits, but at the moment I have been working on a S/S 2011 collection. But it’s all about funding and it’s hard for young designers. The plan is to just keep going with the flow, even if a few bits get produced from the collection that’s all a step in the right direction and then next time a few more… Rome wasn’t built in a day!

Written by Jessica Lester on Wednesday November 10th, 2010 3:16 pm

Categories ,california, ,Cat Palairet, ,Darren Fletcher, ,Design Museum, ,Gareth A Hopkins, ,Gentlemen, ,Graduate Fashion Week, ,london, ,London Fashion Week, ,Millwall, ,Riots, ,Ross Paul Keenan, ,Savile Row, ,tailoring, ,University of East London, ,Up To The Nines, ,West Ham

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Amelia’s Magazine | Oxfam’s Robin Hood Tax game takes to the streets this Sunday 2nd May

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JohannaBasfordProfilePic

Johanna Basford specialises in finely detailed monochrome pen and ink illustrations, viagra sale and last year came to the media’s attention after she conceived #TwitterPicture, troche a crowd-sourcing exercise in which she asked tweeters to suggest images that she then compiled over a 48 hour period into one giant montage, letting those involved follow her progress using the picture-sharing site Twitpic. Here she talks to recent collaborator Neil Ayres about working with the Edinburgh Fringe, the ongoing success and continuing permutations of #TwitterPicture, agency representation and making sure, when it comes to her work, that she’s always a little bit scared.

Johanna Basford_BotanicalRhapsody
Johanna Basford_BotanicalRhapsody

For those that don’t know, and at the risk of making you cringe, you’re the ‘#TwitterPicture girl’. The first #TwitterPicture was a big success, but it was evident to anyone who was following your progress that it was pretty exhausting. You decided to follow it up with an even more gruelling version. Was this really sensible?
I’m a firm believer that if something isn’t challenging, it’s not worth doing. I work in a huge industry saturated with talent. My thoughts are that you have to put yourself on the edge a little bit to make yourself stand out. There’s nothing captivating about mainstream. 
 
Johanna Basford_DialogueOfTheDogs
Johanna Basford_DialogueOfTheDogs

You recently used the #TwitterPicture premise to create artwork for the Edinburgh Fringe. You’re also illustrating all of the literature for the coming festival. What other work has this involved?
I’m working with Edinburgh-based design agency Whitespace to create a series of illustrations for the programme, as well as having produced the final artwork which was the result of the #FringeCover #TwitterPicture. As the Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival, it’s obviously been a privilege to work on the project. I’ve tried to capture the bubbly sense of excitement and eccentricity which is at the heart of the Edinburgh Fringe. I managed to smuggle a few little quirks and surprises into the final artwork which I hope will delight and intrigue the audience.

Johanna Basford_Fashion_Vogue
Johanna Basford_Fashion_Vogue

And any more #TwitterPictures on the horizon? I’m sure it’s nice to be the go-to person for something, but are you in danger of becoming typecast?
Every time I finish a #TwitterPicture, I get a little over emotional and swear, ‘never again’. Yet I find myself being drawn back to the format of live drawing and crowd sourcing just a few months later. I would never run the same project twice, but I do believe evolving an idea to fit different formats and meet new challenges is both positive and interesting. Whether it’s adding the webcam, the non-stop 24 hour drawing or teaming up with a commercial client, each evolution of the #TwitterPicture has explored something new in the idea and pushed the concept to more extreme levels. As for the danger of becoming typecast, one look at my desk would reveal the dozen or so projects I am working on at any one time. Be it textile designs, custom packaging, illustrations, limited edition prints, website graphics or tattoos – my practise is diverse and always developing, the only constant thread is my love of monochrome.

Johanna Basford_Heartbreak
Johanna Basford_Heartbreak

Tell us a bit about how you came to do what you do. Have you drawn pretty much since you were knee-high to a pencil?
More like a Crayola crayon. I’ve always drawn, much to the peril of my parents who had to put up with a toddler who drew on walls. It’s a cliché, but I’ve always known I was going to end up drawing, I just wasn’t quite sure of the exact format. I went through phases of wanting to be an architect and a fashion designer, but at the core of everything was this passion for drawing. 
After school I went to art school and studied printed textiles, specialising in silk screen printing. I graduated and spent a couple of years making hand-printed wallpapers and fabrics, feeling a bit confused and very unhappy about the direction I seemed to be heading in. Then, thank God, the credit crunch hit. The recession was the best thing that has happened to me. It forced me to seriously rethink what I was doing, to be completely brutal with myself. I re-evaluated my business and the work I was producing and made some big decisions. I stopped messing about making and selling products. I set myself up as an illustrator, focused on the one thing in life which never fails to inspire and delight me. I’ve not looked back since. Life is good.
 
Johanna Basford_MoonlitWalks_chapillo
Johanna Basford_MoonlitWalks_chapillo

And how have you managed to carve a career in what’s a notoriously difficult industry to break into. Did you start out with any form of game-plan?
I’m very conscious that my industry is jam-packed with talent and ambition and that each year a new wave of eager graduates swarm into the pool of illustrators competing with each other. I’ve always thought it was better to do something different, something a little unusual, which would help me stand outside the crowd and be different. So I concentrated on creating the most detailed, intricate, hand-crafted designs, done almost exclusively in monochrome. I can’t compete with everyone on every level, so I focus on creating the best work I can for a specific niche. That’s not to say I’m not flexible in my work, and I would never limit myself on a brief, but for the main part, I want to be known as the girl who does ‘the-super-detailed-hand-drawn-black-and-white-drawings’.

Johanna Basford_PunkPeacock
Johanna Basford_PunkPeacock

We’ve worked together on a project recently, to republish a novelette, The Dialogue of the Dogs, by Miguel Cervantes [author of Don Quixote] as part of an iPhone app. Illustrating an old, respected text must have proved a different challenge to the type you’re used to. How did you go about it? There are hundreds of different elements in the finished illustration—is there much preparation involved?
Reading is not my strong point, so I did have to plough my way through the story a few times to really get to grips with it. I then made lists of important events, main characters and iconic images from the text and started time lining them together into a sequence which mirrored the narrative of the story. Using my trusty lo-fi methods, I stuck together lots of sheets of paper to make one long canvas and started drawing in the top left hand corner. The drawing process was unplanned. I just followed the flow of the story, sketching in the characters and scenery as I came to them, working from left to right. As the paper filled up, I stuck another sheet on. The creative process was organic and rambling, which I felt fitted the narrative thread of the story. As the drawing grew, I moved off my desk and worked on the floor, finally, several metres of paper later, the artwork was complete.
 
Johanna Basford_SweetNothings_chapillo
Johanna Basford_SweetNothings_chapillo

You’ve worked with some interesting clients, particularly high-profile in the creative industry (aside from the Fringe there’s Heal’s, the V&A, BBC, among others). Do you have any particular ambitions in regards to your illustration?
I love the challenge of working with new clients in mediums and contexts which are unfamiliar to me. I’ve just finished working with Oxford University Press on my first book cover which was brilliant. My primary aim is to keep things scary. The anxiety of working on a project in which I may be a little out of my depth always inspires my best work. Looking forward, I’d like to work with some more big name clients; I’d like to see my drawings come to life through animation; I’d be keen to work on some more multimedia projects. And as specific examples, I’d love to get my hands on a Selfridges’ shop window and a Boutique Hotel. I’d also love to tackle more installation projects and supersize my artwork. I have a lot of plans. I just need more hours in the day.

You’re represented by NB Illustration, and this is a relatively recent arrangement, right? How’s that working out?
I signed with NB at the start of the year as a way of opening up my work to a new audience. NB has been crucial in introducing my work to a segment of the industry I just wasn’t able to tap into alone. They handle all the horrible or slightly boring stuff and leave me to the joyful task of drawing. They warned me when I signed with them that it might take a few months for the first piece of work to come in, but we had just a week to let the ink on the contract dry before they lined me up with my first job. For an illustrator, they’re a great agency. Not so large that my work is lost in the chatter, but big enough to have a firm standing in the industry. If the first four months is anything to go by, it’s going to be a fruitful partnership.

Do you still feel the urge to push your work as well as relying on the agency?
Most definitely. I think you have to work in tandem with your agent to ensure you are reaching as wide an audience as possible, not just sit back and wait for them to come to you with work. I’m always working on numerous other projects direct with clients alongside the work I’m producing for NB, and usually have a few self-initiated and collaborative projects on the go too. I like it busy. I believe keeping the mix of work, clients and collaborators constantly evolving forces me to learn new skills, develop my craft and push my work to new levels.

Johanna has a website and blog at HYPERLINK “http://johannabasford.com” http://johannabasford.com; or find her on Twitter: @johannabasford; The New Goodbye, the app that includes her illustrated narrative of The Dialogue of the Dogs is released on the App Store at the end of May and the Edinburgh Fringe takes place 6-30 August.

JohannaBasfordProfilePic

Johanna Basford specialises in finely detailed monochrome pen and ink illustrations, about it and last year came to the media’s attention after she conceived #TwitterPicture, sildenafil a crowd-sourcing exercise in which she asked tweeters to suggest images that she then compiled over a 48 hour period into one giant montage, malady letting those involved follow her progress using the picture-sharing site Twitpic. Here she talks to recent collaborator Neil Ayres about working with the Edinburgh Fringe, the ongoing success and continuing permutations of #TwitterPicture, agency representation and making sure, when it comes to her work, that she’s always a little bit scared.

Johanna Basford_BotanicalRhapsody
Johanna Basford_BotanicalRhapsody

For those that don’t know, and at the risk of making you cringe, you’re the ‘#TwitterPicture girl’. The first #TwitterPicture was a big success, but it was evident to anyone who was following your progress that it was pretty exhausting. You decided to follow it up with an even more gruelling version. Was this really sensible?
I’m a firm believer that if something isn’t challenging, it’s not worth doing. I work in a huge industry saturated with talent. My thoughts are that you have to put yourself on the edge a little bit to make yourself stand out. There’s nothing captivating about mainstream. 
 
Johanna Basford_DialogueOfTheDogs
Johanna Basford_DialogueOfTheDogs

You recently used the #TwitterPicture premise to create artwork for the Edinburgh Fringe. You’re also illustrating all of the literature for the coming festival. What other work has this involved?
I’m working with Edinburgh-based design agency Whitespace to create a series of illustrations for the programme, as well as having produced the final artwork which was the result of the #FringeCover #TwitterPicture. As the Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival, it’s obviously been a privilege to work on the project. I’ve tried to capture the bubbly sense of excitement and eccentricity which is at the heart of the Edinburgh Fringe. I managed to smuggle a few little quirks and surprises into the final artwork which I hope will delight and intrigue the audience.

Johanna Basford_Fashion_Vogue
Johanna Basford_Fashion_Vogue

And any more #TwitterPictures on the horizon? I’m sure it’s nice to be the go-to person for something, but are you in danger of becoming typecast?
Every time I finish a #TwitterPicture, I get a little over emotional and swear, ‘never again’. Yet I find myself being drawn back to the format of live drawing and crowd sourcing just a few months later. I would never run the same project twice, but I do believe evolving an idea to fit different formats and meet new challenges is both positive and interesting. Whether it’s adding the webcam, the non-stop 24 hour drawing or teaming up with a commercial client, each evolution of the #TwitterPicture has explored something new in the idea and pushed the concept to more extreme levels. As for the danger of becoming typecast, one look at my desk would reveal the dozen or so projects I am working on at any one time. Be it textile designs, custom packaging, illustrations, limited edition prints, website graphics or tattoos – my practise is diverse and always developing, the only constant thread is my love of monochrome.

Johanna Basford_Heartbreak
Johanna Basford_Heartbreak

Tell us a bit about how you came to do what you do. Have you drawn pretty much since you were knee-high to a pencil?
More like a Crayola crayon. I’ve always drawn, much to the peril of my parents who had to put up with a toddler who drew on walls. It’s a cliché, but I’ve always known I was going to end up drawing, I just wasn’t quite sure of the exact format. I went through phases of wanting to be an architect and a fashion designer, but at the core of everything was this passion for drawing. 
After school I went to art school and studied printed textiles, specialising in silk screen printing. I graduated and spent a couple of years making hand-printed wallpapers and fabrics, feeling a bit confused and very unhappy about the direction I seemed to be heading in. Then, thank God, the credit crunch hit. The recession was the best thing that has happened to me. It forced me to seriously rethink what I was doing, to be completely brutal with myself. I re-evaluated my business and the work I was producing and made some big decisions. I stopped messing about making and selling products. I set myself up as an illustrator, focused on the one thing in life which never fails to inspire and delight me. I’ve not looked back since. Life is good.
 
Johanna Basford_MoonlitWalks_chapillo
Johanna Basford_MoonlitWalks_chapillo

And how have you managed to carve a career in what’s a notoriously difficult industry to break into. Did you start out with any form of game-plan?
I’m very conscious that my industry is jam-packed with talent and ambition and that each year a new wave of eager graduates swarm into the pool of illustrators competing with each other. I’ve always thought it was better to do something different, something a little unusual, which would help me stand outside the crowd and be different. So I concentrated on creating the most detailed, intricate, hand-crafted designs, done almost exclusively in monochrome. I can’t compete with everyone on every level, so I focus on creating the best work I can for a specific niche. That’s not to say I’m not flexible in my work, and I would never limit myself on a brief, but for the main part, I want to be known as the girl who does ‘the-super-detailed-hand-drawn-black-and-white-drawings’.

Johanna Basford_PunkPeacock
Johanna Basford_PunkPeacock

We’ve worked together on a project recently, to republish a novelette, The Dialogue of the Dogs, by Miguel Cervantes [author of Don Quixote] as part of an iPhone app. Illustrating an old, respected text must have proved a different challenge to the type you’re used to. How did you go about it? There are hundreds of different elements in the finished illustration—is there much preparation involved?
Reading is not my strong point, so I did have to plough my way through the story a few times to really get to grips with it. I then made lists of important events, main characters and iconic images from the text and started time lining them together into a sequence which mirrored the narrative of the story. Using my trusty lo-fi methods, I stuck together lots of sheets of paper to make one long canvas and started drawing in the top left hand corner. The drawing process was unplanned. I just followed the flow of the story, sketching in the characters and scenery as I came to them, working from left to right. As the paper filled up, I stuck another sheet on. The creative process was organic and rambling, which I felt fitted the narrative thread of the story. As the drawing grew, I moved off my desk and worked on the floor, finally, several metres of paper later, the artwork was complete.
 
Johanna Basford_SweetNothings_chapillo
Johanna Basford_SweetNothings_chapillo

You’ve worked with some interesting clients, particularly high-profile in the creative industry (aside from the Fringe there’s Heal’s, the V&A, BBC, among others). Do you have any particular ambitions in regards to your illustration?
I love the challenge of working with new clients in mediums and contexts which are unfamiliar to me. I’ve just finished working with Oxford University Press on my first book cover which was brilliant. My primary aim is to keep things scary. The anxiety of working on a project in which I may be a little out of my depth always inspires my best work. Looking forward, I’d like to work with some more big name clients; I’d like to see my drawings come to life through animation; I’d be keen to work on some more multimedia projects. And as specific examples, I’d love to get my hands on a Selfridges’ shop window and a Boutique Hotel. I’d also love to tackle more installation projects and supersize my artwork. I have a lot of plans. I just need more hours in the day.

You’re represented by NB Illustration, and this is a relatively recent arrangement, right? How’s that working out?
I signed with NB at the start of the year as a way of opening up my work to a new audience. NB has been crucial in introducing my work to a segment of the industry I just wasn’t able to tap into alone. They handle all the horrible or slightly boring stuff and leave me to the joyful task of drawing. They warned me when I signed with them that it might take a few months for the first piece of work to come in, but we had just a week to let the ink on the contract dry before they lined me up with my first job. For an illustrator, they’re a great agency. Not so large that my work is lost in the chatter, but big enough to have a firm standing in the industry. If the first four months is anything to go by, it’s going to be a fruitful partnership.

Do you still feel the urge to push your work as well as relying on the agency?
Most definitely. I think you have to work in tandem with your agent to ensure you are reaching as wide an audience as possible, not just sit back and wait for them to come to you with work. I’m always working on numerous other projects direct with clients alongside the work I’m producing for NB, and usually have a few self-initiated and collaborative projects on the go too. I like it busy. I believe keeping the mix of work, clients and collaborators constantly evolving forces me to learn new skills, develop my craft and push my work to new levels.

Johanna has a website and blog at HYPERLINK “http://johannabasford.com” http://johannabasford.com; or find her on Twitter: @johannabasford; The New Goodbye, the app that includes her illustrated narrative of The Dialogue of the Dogs is released on the App Store at the end of May and the Edinburgh Fringe takes place 6-30 August.

JohannaBasfordProfilePic

Johanna Basford specialises in finely detailed monochrome pen and ink illustrations, buy and last year came to the media’s attention after she conceived #TwitterPicture, approved a crowd-sourcing exercise in which she asked tweeters to suggest images that she then compiled over a 48 hour period into one giant montage, letting those involved follow her progress using the picture-sharing site Twitpic. Here she talks to recent collaborator Neil Ayres about working with the Edinburgh Fringe, the ongoing success and continuing permutations of #TwitterPicture, agency representation and making sure, when it comes to her work, that she’s always a little bit scared.

Johanna Basford_BotanicalRhapsody
Botanical Rhapsody, commissioned by Queensberry Hunt Ceramicists to create hand drawn surface patter designs for tableware collection, 2008.

For those that don’t know, and at the risk of making you cringe, you’re the ‘#TwitterPicture girl’. The first #TwitterPicture was a big success, but it was evident to anyone who was following your progress that it was pretty exhausting. You decided to follow it up with an even more gruelling version. Was this really sensible?
I’m a firm believer that if something isn’t challenging, it’s not worth doing. I work in a huge industry saturated with talent. My thoughts are that you have to put yourself on the edge a little bit to make yourself stand out. There’s nothing captivating about mainstream. 
 
Johanna Basford_DialogueOfTheDogs
Detail from an illustrated interpretation of Cervantes’ The Dialogue Of The Dogs, for The New Goodbye iPhone app, 2010.

You recently used the #TwitterPicture premise to create artwork for the Edinburgh Fringe. You’re also illustrating all of the literature for the coming festival. What other work has this involved?
I’m working with Edinburgh-based design agency Whitespace to create a series of illustrations for the programme, as well as having produced the final artwork which was the result of the #FringeCover #TwitterPicture. As the Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival, it’s obviously been a privilege to work on the project. I’ve tried to capture the bubbly sense of excitement and eccentricity which is at the heart of the Edinburgh Fringe. I managed to smuggle a few little quirks and surprises into the final artwork which I hope will delight and intrigue the audience.

Johanna Basford_Fashion_Vogue
Hand drawn images layered over fashion photography for Vogue, 2009.

And any more #TwitterPictures on the horizon? I’m sure it’s nice to be the go-to person for something, but are you in danger of becoming typecast?
Every time I finish a #TwitterPicture, I get a little over emotional and swear, ‘never again’. Yet I find myself being drawn back to the format of live drawing and crowd sourcing just a few months later. I would never run the same project twice, but I do believe evolving an idea to fit different formats and meet new challenges is both positive and interesting. Whether it’s adding the webcam, the non-stop 24 hour drawing or teaming up with a commercial client, each evolution of the #TwitterPicture has explored something new in the idea and pushed the concept to more extreme levels. As for the danger of becoming typecast, one look at my desk would reveal the dozen or so projects I am working on at any one time. Be it textile designs, custom packaging, illustrations, limited edition prints, website graphics or tattoos – my practise is diverse and always developing, the only constant thread is my love of monochrome.

Johanna Basford_Heartbreak
Heartbreak Pen and ink illustration, later screen printed as part of a limited edition print series created with Heartbreak Publishing, 2009.

Tell us a bit about how you came to do what you do. Have you drawn pretty much since you were knee-high to a pencil?
More like a Crayola crayon. I’ve always drawn, much to the peril of my parents who had to put up with a toddler who drew on walls. It’s a cliché, but I’ve always known I was going to end up drawing, I just wasn’t quite sure of the exact format. I went through phases of wanting to be an architect and a fashion designer, but at the core of everything was this passion for drawing. 
After school I went to art school and studied printed textiles, specialising in silk screen printing. I graduated and spent a couple of years making hand-printed wallpapers and fabrics, feeling a bit confused and very unhappy about the direction I seemed to be heading in. Then, thank God, the credit crunch hit. The recession was the best thing that has happened to me. It forced me to seriously rethink what I was doing, to be completely brutal with myself. I re-evaluated my business and the work I was producing and made some big decisions. I stopped messing about making and selling products. I set myself up as an illustrator, focused on the one thing in life which never fails to inspire and delight me. I’ve not looked back since. Life is good.
 
Johanna Basford_MoonlitWalks_chapillo
MoonlitWalks, Chapillo illustration for iPhone app The New Goodbye, 2010

And how have you managed to carve a career in what’s a notoriously difficult industry to break into. Did you start out with any form of game-plan?
I’m very conscious that my industry is jam-packed with talent and ambition and that each year a new wave of eager graduates swarm into the pool of illustrators competing with each other. I’ve always thought it was better to do something different, something a little unusual, which would help me stand outside the crowd and be different. So I concentrated on creating the most detailed, intricate, hand-crafted designs, done almost exclusively in monochrome. I can’t compete with everyone on every level, so I focus on creating the best work I can for a specific niche. That’s not to say I’m not flexible in my work, and I would never limit myself on a brief, but for the main part, I want to be known as the girl who does ‘the-super-detailed-hand-drawn-black-and-white-drawings’.

Johanna Basford_PunkPeacock
PunkPeacock first shown at 100% Design, 2008.

We’ve worked together on a project recently, to republish a novelette, The Dialogue of the Dogs, by Miguel Cervantes [author of Don Quixote] as part of an iPhone app. Illustrating an old, respected text must have proved a different challenge to the type you’re used to. How did you go about it? There are hundreds of different elements in the finished illustration—is there much preparation involved?
Reading is not my strong point, so I did have to plough my way through the story a few times to really get to grips with it. I then made lists of important events, main characters and iconic images from the text and started time lining them together into a sequence which mirrored the narrative of the story. Using my trusty lo-fi methods, I stuck together lots of sheets of paper to make one long canvas and started drawing in the top left hand corner. The drawing process was unplanned. I just followed the flow of the story, sketching in the characters and scenery as I came to them, working from left to right. As the paper filled up, I stuck another sheet on. The creative process was organic and rambling, which I felt fitted the narrative thread of the story. As the drawing grew, I moved off my desk and worked on the floor, finally, several metres of paper later, the artwork was complete.
 
Johanna Basford_SweetNothings_chapillo
SweetNothings Chapillo Chapter illustration for iPhone app The New Goodbye, 2010,

You’ve worked with some interesting clients, particularly high-profile in the creative industry (aside from the Fringe there’s Heal’s, the V&A, BBC, among others). Do you have any particular ambitions in regards to your illustration?
I love the challenge of working with new clients in mediums and contexts which are unfamiliar to me. I’ve just finished working with Oxford University Press on my first book cover which was brilliant. My primary aim is to keep things scary. The anxiety of working on a project in which I may be a little out of my depth always inspires my best work. Looking forward, I’d like to work with some more big name clients; I’d like to see my drawings come to life through animation; I’d be keen to work on some more multimedia projects. And as specific examples, I’d love to get my hands on a Selfridges’ shop window and a Boutique Hotel. I’d also love to tackle more installation projects and supersize my artwork. I have a lot of plans. I just need more hours in the day.

You’re represented by NB Illustration, and this is a relatively recent arrangement, right? How’s that working out?
I signed with NB at the start of the year as a way of opening up my work to a new audience. NB has been crucial in introducing my work to a segment of the industry I just wasn’t able to tap into alone. They handle all the horrible or slightly boring stuff and leave me to the joyful task of drawing. They warned me when I signed with them that it might take a few months for the first piece of work to come in, but we had just a week to let the ink on the contract dry before they lined me up with my first job. For an illustrator, they’re a great agency. Not so large that my work is lost in the chatter, but big enough to have a firm standing in the industry. If the first four months is anything to go by, it’s going to be a fruitful partnership.

Do you still feel the urge to push your work as well as relying on the agency?
Most definitely. I think you have to work in tandem with your agent to ensure you are reaching as wide an audience as possible, not just sit back and wait for them to come to you with work. I’m always working on numerous other projects direct with clients alongside the work I’m producing for NB, and usually have a few self-initiated and collaborative projects on the go too. I like it busy. I believe keeping the mix of work, clients and collaborators constantly evolving forces me to learn new skills, develop my craft and push my work to new levels.

Johanna has a website and blog at HYPERLINK “http://johannabasford.com” http://johannabasford.com; or find her on Twitter: @johannabasford; The New Goodbye, the app that includes her illustrated narrative of The Dialogue of the Dogs is released on the App Store at the end of May and the Edinburgh Fringe takes place 6-30 August.

JohannaBasfordProfilePic

Johanna Basford specialises in finely detailed monochrome pen and ink illustrations, seek and last year came to the media’s attention after she conceived #TwitterPicture, more about a crowd-sourcing exercise in which she asked tweeters to suggest images that she then compiled over a 48 hour period into one giant montage, letting those involved follow her progress using the picture-sharing site Twitpic. Here she talks to recent collaborator Neil Ayres about working with the Edinburgh Fringe, the ongoing success and continuing permutations of #TwitterPicture, agency representation and making sure, when it comes to her work, that she’s always a little bit scared.

Johanna Basford_BotanicalRhapsody
Botanical Rhapsody, commissioned by Queensberry Hunt Ceramicists to create hand drawn surface patter designs for tableware collection, 2008.

For those that don’t know, and at the risk of making you cringe, you’re the ‘#TwitterPicture girl’. The first #TwitterPicture was a big success, but it was evident to anyone who was following your progress that it was pretty exhausting. You decided to follow it up with an even more gruelling version. Was this really sensible?
I’m a firm believer that if something isn’t challenging, it’s not worth doing. I work in a huge industry saturated with talent. My thoughts are that you have to put yourself on the edge a little bit to make yourself stand out. There’s nothing captivating about mainstream. 
 
Johanna Basford_DialogueOfTheDogs
Detail from an illustrated interpretation of Cervantes’ The Dialogue Of The Dogs, for The New Goodbye iPhone app, 2010.

You recently used the #TwitterPicture premise to create artwork for the Edinburgh Fringe. You’re also illustrating all of the literature for the coming festival. What other work has this involved?
I’m working with Edinburgh-based design agency Whitespace to create a series of illustrations for the programme, as well as having produced the final artwork which was the result of the #FringeCover #TwitterPicture. As the Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival, it’s obviously been a privilege to work on the project. I’ve tried to capture the bubbly sense of excitement and eccentricity which is at the heart of the Edinburgh Fringe. I managed to smuggle a few little quirks and surprises into the final artwork which I hope will delight and intrigue the audience.

Johanna Basford_Fashion_Vogue
Hand drawn images layered over fashion photography for Vogue, 2009.

And any more #TwitterPictures on the horizon? I’m sure it’s nice to be the go-to person for something, but are you in danger of becoming typecast?
Every time I finish a #TwitterPicture, I get a little over emotional and swear, ‘never again’. Yet I find myself being drawn back to the format of live drawing and crowd sourcing just a few months later. I would never run the same project twice, but I do believe evolving an idea to fit different formats and meet new challenges is both positive and interesting. Whether it’s adding the webcam, the non-stop 24 hour drawing or teaming up with a commercial client, each evolution of the #TwitterPicture has explored something new in the idea and pushed the concept to more extreme levels. As for the danger of becoming typecast, one look at my desk would reveal the dozen or so projects I am working on at any one time. Be it textile designs, custom packaging, illustrations, limited edition prints, website graphics or tattoos – my practise is diverse and always developing, the only constant thread is my love of monochrome.

Johanna Basford_Heartbreak
Heartbreak Pen and ink illustration, later screen printed as part of a limited edition print series created with Heartbreak Publishing, 2009.

Tell us a bit about how you came to do what you do. Have you drawn pretty much since you were knee-high to a pencil?
More like a Crayola crayon. I’ve always drawn, much to the peril of my parents who had to put up with a toddler who drew on walls. It’s a cliché, but I’ve always known I was going to end up drawing, I just wasn’t quite sure of the exact format. I went through phases of wanting to be an architect and a fashion designer, but at the core of everything was this passion for drawing. 
After school I went to art school and studied printed textiles, specialising in silk screen printing. I graduated and spent a couple of years making hand-printed wallpapers and fabrics, feeling a bit confused and very unhappy about the direction I seemed to be heading in. Then, thank God, the credit crunch hit. The recession was the best thing that has happened to me. It forced me to seriously rethink what I was doing, to be completely brutal with myself. I re-evaluated my business and the work I was producing and made some big decisions. I stopped messing about making and selling products. I set myself up as an illustrator, focused on the one thing in life which never fails to inspire and delight me. I’ve not looked back since. Life is good.
 
Johanna Basford_MoonlitWalks_chapillo
MoonlitWalks, Chapillo illustration for iPhone app The New Goodbye, 2010

And how have you managed to carve a career in what’s a notoriously difficult industry to break into. Did you start out with any form of game-plan?
I’m very conscious that my industry is jam-packed with talent and ambition and that each year a new wave of eager graduates swarm into the pool of illustrators competing with each other. I’ve always thought it was better to do something different, something a little unusual, which would help me stand outside the crowd and be different. So I concentrated on creating the most detailed, intricate, hand-crafted designs, done almost exclusively in monochrome. I can’t compete with everyone on every level, so I focus on creating the best work I can for a specific niche. That’s not to say I’m not flexible in my work, and I would never limit myself on a brief, but for the main part, I want to be known as the girl who does ‘the-super-detailed-hand-drawn-black-and-white-drawings’.

Johanna Basford_PunkPeacock
PunkPeacock first shown at 100% Design, 2008.

We’ve worked together on a project recently, to republish a novelette, The Dialogue of the Dogs, by Miguel Cervantes [author of Don Quixote] as part of an iPhone app. Illustrating an old, respected text must have proved a different challenge to the type you’re used to. How did you go about it? There are hundreds of different elements in the finished illustration—is there much preparation involved?
Reading is not my strong point, so I did have to plough my way through the story a few times to really get to grips with it. I then made lists of important events, main characters and iconic images from the text and started time lining them together into a sequence which mirrored the narrative of the story. Using my trusty lo-fi methods, I stuck together lots of sheets of paper to make one long canvas and started drawing in the top left hand corner. The drawing process was unplanned. I just followed the flow of the story, sketching in the characters and scenery as I came to them, working from left to right. As the paper filled up, I stuck another sheet on. The creative process was organic and rambling, which I felt fitted the narrative thread of the story. As the drawing grew, I moved off my desk and worked on the floor, finally, several metres of paper later, the artwork was complete.
 
Johanna Basford_SweetNothings_chapillo
SweetNothings Chapillo Chapter illustration for iPhone app The New Goodbye, 2010,

You’ve worked with some interesting clients, particularly high-profile in the creative industry (aside from the Fringe there’s Heal’s, the V&A, BBC, among others). Do you have any particular ambitions in regards to your illustration?
I love the challenge of working with new clients in mediums and contexts which are unfamiliar to me. I’ve just finished working with Oxford University Press on my first book cover which was brilliant. My primary aim is to keep things scary. The anxiety of working on a project in which I may be a little out of my depth always inspires my best work. Looking forward, I’d like to work with some more big name clients; I’d like to see my drawings come to life through animation; I’d be keen to work on some more multimedia projects. And as specific examples, I’d love to get my hands on a Selfridges’ shop window and a Boutique Hotel. I’d also love to tackle more installation projects and supersize my artwork. I have a lot of plans. I just need more hours in the day.

You’re represented by NB Illustration, and this is a relatively recent arrangement, right? How’s that working out?
I signed with NB at the start of the year as a way of opening up my work to a new audience. NB has been crucial in introducing my work to a segment of the industry I just wasn’t able to tap into alone. They handle all the horrible or slightly boring stuff and leave me to the joyful task of drawing. They warned me when I signed with them that it might take a few months for the first piece of work to come in, but we had just a week to let the ink on the contract dry before they lined me up with my first job. For an illustrator, they’re a great agency. Not so large that my work is lost in the chatter, but big enough to have a firm standing in the industry. If the first four months is anything to go by, it’s going to be a fruitful partnership.

Do you still feel the urge to push your work as well as relying on the agency?
Most definitely. I think you have to work in tandem with your agent to ensure you are reaching as wide an audience as possible, not just sit back and wait for them to come to you with work. I’m always working on numerous other projects direct with clients alongside the work I’m producing for NB, and usually have a few self-initiated and collaborative projects on the go too. I like it busy. I believe keeping the mix of work, clients and collaborators constantly evolving forces me to learn new skills, develop my craft and push my work to new levels.

Johanna has a website and blog at HYPERLINK “http://johannabasford.com” http://johannabasford.com; or find her on Twitter: @johannabasford; The New Goodbye, the app that includes her illustrated narrative of The Dialogue of the Dogs is released on the App Store at the end of May and the Edinburgh Fringe takes place 6-30 August.

robin hood tax - abi daker
Illustration by Abigail Daker.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Robin Hood. When I was younger I had a great cassette tape of all his stories and escapades. These generally seemed to involve taking from the rich and giving to the poor whilst seemingly having absolutely as much fun as possible of course.

I’d all but forgotten about him however, viagra approved until recently when I heard about the Robin Hood Tax campaign. It aims to put a tiny tax on banks to raise loads of money – billions in fact – to tackle poverty and green issues locally and abroad. What’s great about this idea is that it’s really simple – a small tax of around 0.05% per transaction between banks – but that the difference it could make is enormous. It can help stop cuts in crucial public services in the UK, AND aid the fight against global poverty and climate change. Keeping the Robin Hood spirit alive in this day and age.

Robin Hood Tax

There’s a momentum that’s been building for quite a while now… there are lots of people that agree with my view and think this tax is a great idea – including Sienna Miller, Jaime Winstone and Ben Kingsley – he appeared in a great ad being pounced on by “Robin Hood hoodies” – Check it out! But I know that in order for this campaign to be a success we need to spread the word as much as we can, get all our friends and family on board and campaigning together to make this a reality. Robin Hood never got anywhere without his band of merry men supporting him all the way.

One way I’m getting involved is by taking part in an activity Oxfam are organizing this Sunday 2nd May to raise awareness – the Robin Hood Tax treasure Hunt. Treasure hunts are always a huge amount of fun – I remember around Easter as a kid my older cousins used to set up egg hunts for my sister and me. I loved following the clues, the adventure and the excitement of the unknown. Who says I can’t enjoy a treasure hunt now I’m a little older though – especially when it’s made all the more enjoyable knowing that I’m spreading the word about such as great cause AND an excuse to dress up as the great Robin Hood himself.

robin hood tax - abi daker
Illustration by Abigail Daker.

I’m going to join a group of bandits and merry makers tweeting, blogging, videoing and taking pictures around east London spreading the word and with the opportunity to win tickets to top summer festivals including the fabulous Winterwell Festival, a secret boutique festival in the beautiful rolling hills of Gloucestershire with great music and fancy dress. Oxfam held a similar event in Brighton last week with teams of merry men and women scampering around the city braving challenges such as busking with tambourines and dressing up as a bankers in the Oxfam shop.

If you’re interested in the campaign, a big Robin Hood fan and up for a fun day out, join me and other wannabe Robin Hood’s to take part in the treasure hunt on Sunday. You need to snap up a £2 ticket from Robin Hood game website. All money raised goes directly as a donation to Oxfam and the campaign effort. Just check out the details below of when where and what and I look forward to seeing you there.

The East London treasure hunt is on Sunday 2nd May, from 1-6pm
Start & finish at Richmix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA

Written by Mary Frampton on Friday April 30th, 2010 8:32 am

Categories ,Abigail Daker, ,Banks, ,Ben Kingsley, ,Bethnal Green, ,Blogging, ,Jaime Winstone, ,oxfam, ,poverty, ,RBS, ,Robin Hood Tax, ,Sienna Miller, ,twitter, ,Winterwell Festival

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Amelia’s Magazine | A Trip to Venice with Swatch

by

Venice by Sally Jane Thompson
Venice by Sally Jane Thompson.

It’s quite something to be utterly spoilt on a press trip. It doesn’t happen to me often and in fact it’s only in the last year that people have started to invite me places… a mere eight years since I started Amelia’s Magazine: these perks of the job have not exactly fallen in my lap. But it says something about the rise of blogging (which my website is undeniably in the form of, recipe even if I still like to think of it as a magazine) that bloggers of all persuasions are now being offered similar opportunities to mainstream journalists.

Venice by Madalina Andronic
Venice by Madalina Andronic.

Venice-Biennale-by-Alia-Gargum
Venice by Alia Gargum.

And so it was that I found myself on my way to Venice last week for a two day jolly courtesy of Swatch. Swatch, look as I am sure anyone who was around in the 1980s will recall, capsule are big lovers of art. They don’t make fancy schmancy watches that cost the earth (literally, since they are often made of rapidly depleting precious metals), instead they make easily attainable fun watches, often in collaboration with artists. Back in the 80s they were really the done thing to wear, and I still treasure my much loved Swatch, even if it is a bit yellowed and deteriorated around the edges.

Swatch 80s pop
For quite a few years the brand was off my radar, but now they are firmly planted back in the centre of the art world thanks to the guidance of current president, the formidable and charismatic Madame Emch, a former fashion PR with a pure passion for art… and Venice.

Venice-by-Jessica-Knight
Venice by Jessica Knight.

Venice by Madalina Andronic
Venice by Madalina Andronic.

Venice-by-Jessica-Knight
Venice by Jessica Knight.

We were in Venice because Swatch is the principal partner of the famous Venice Biennale, but also because Madame M (as her name is wont to sound and I rather like because it sounds like something out of a Bond movie) has been visiting since she was five years old and loves Venice more than any other city in the world. Finally, a triple whammy: Swatch‘s newest collaborator makes much of his artwork with the help of the Murano glass makers of Venice. Jean-Michel Othoniel creates huge glowing jewelled necklaces that he hangs from trees and drapes from buildings, and for his Swatch collaboration he has again worked with murano glass makers to create something really quite special… but more on that here.

venice_by_ada_jusic
Venice by Ada Jusic.

Venice by Madalina Andronic
Venice by Madalina Andronic.

venice-by-Jessica-Knight
Venice by Jessica Knight.

Venice Treasure by Laura Frame
Venice Treasure by Laura Frame.

During our visit we were thoroughly spoilt, staying in an infamous hotel called the Excelsior that features in the film Death in Venice, and being ferried everywhere on private speedboats or gondolas – the later being a lot better for the environment, but also more sedate (ie, less fun). We had a private guided tour of the Peggy Guggenheim museum before dining in style on the rooftop, were served lunch on the roof of the head office of the Biennale with fabulous views over the centre of Venice, ate at the Cipriani (frequented by George Clooney and ilk) and had another guided tour of the Biennale itself (read my reviews). I have only visited Venice once before when I was inter-railing, aged 17. I remember feeling overwhelmed by the crowds (which this time we avoided due to the time of year and our posh transport options) as well as the high cost of everything. By contrast this trip truly was a beautiful experience which made me dream of returning to Venice one day, although sadly I think the state of my own finances would mean anything else than what I experienced this time around would likely be far less fabulous. Still, one can dream…

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review Excelsior
Arriving at the Excelsior by speedboat.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Veronica of Red Ant
The beautiful Veronica of Red Ant, who invited me to Venice.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review Excelsior
The art deco influenced interior of the Excelsior.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review
The view from my room.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-travelling by gondola
Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-travelling by gondola
Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-travelling by gondola
Travelling by gondola.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Exterior of the Excelsior from the beach
Exterior of the Excelsior from the beach.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-madame Emch
Madame Emch charms everyone.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Amazing Italian style
Amazing Italian style.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Meeting the director of the Guggenheim
Meeting the director of the Guggenheim.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-speedboat
Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review
Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-speedboat
More travelling by speedboat: that’s me with some Russian journalists.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Cinzia and Romain Colin
Italian blogger Cinzia and French blogger Romain Colin of Fubiz in the backwaters of Venice.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review
Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-cinzia, dadanoias, vero
Myself with Italian blogger Cinzia of Frizzi Frizzi, Spanish blogger Marta of Dadanoias and Veronica of Red Ant on the rooftop of the Biennale offices.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday October 6th, 2011 12:42 pm

Categories ,80s, ,Ada Jusic, ,Alia Gargum, ,Bloggers, ,Blogging, ,Bond, ,Cinzia, ,Dadanoias, ,Death in Venice, ,film, ,Frizzi Frizzi, ,Fubiz, ,George Clooney, ,Glass, ,Gondola, ,Guggenheim, ,Hotel Cipriani, ,Hotel Excelsior, ,Jean-Michel Othoniel, ,Jessica Knight, ,Laura Frame, ,Madalina Andronic, ,Madame Emch, ,Madame M, ,Marta, ,Murano, ,Peggy Guggenheim, ,Red Ant, ,Romain Colin, ,Sally Jane Thompson, ,Speedboat, ,Venice, ,Venice Biennale, ,Veronica Sambonet, ,Watch

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Amelia’s Magazine | A Trip to Venice with Swatch

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Venice by Sally Jane Thompson
Venice by Sally Jane Thompson.

It’s quite something to be utterly spoilt on a press trip. It doesn’t happen to me often and in fact it’s only in the last year that people have started to invite me places… a mere eight years since I started Amelia’s Magazine: these perks of the job have not exactly fallen in my lap. But it says something about the rise of blogging (which my website is undeniably in the form of, recipe even if I still like to think of it as a magazine) that bloggers of all persuasions are now being offered similar opportunities to mainstream journalists.

Venice by Madalina Andronic
Venice by Madalina Andronic.

Venice-Biennale-by-Alia-Gargum
Venice by Alia Gargum.

And so it was that I found myself on my way to Venice last week for a two day jolly courtesy of Swatch. Swatch, look as I am sure anyone who was around in the 1980s will recall, capsule are big lovers of art. They don’t make fancy schmancy watches that cost the earth (literally, since they are often made of rapidly depleting precious metals), instead they make easily attainable fun watches, often in collaboration with artists. Back in the 80s they were really the done thing to wear, and I still treasure my much loved Swatch, even if it is a bit yellowed and deteriorated around the edges.

Swatch 80s pop
For quite a few years the brand was off my radar, but now they are firmly planted back in the centre of the art world thanks to the guidance of current president, the formidable and charismatic Madame Emch, a former fashion PR with a pure passion for art… and Venice.

Venice-by-Jessica-Knight
Venice by Jessica Knight.

Venice by Madalina Andronic
Venice by Madalina Andronic.

Venice-by-Jessica-Knight
Venice by Jessica Knight.

We were in Venice because Swatch is the principal partner of the famous Venice Biennale, but also because Madame M (as her name is wont to sound and I rather like because it sounds like something out of a Bond movie) has been visiting since she was five years old and loves Venice more than any other city in the world. Finally, a triple whammy: Swatch‘s newest collaborator makes much of his artwork with the help of the Murano glass makers of Venice. Jean-Michel Othoniel creates huge glowing jewelled necklaces that he hangs from trees and drapes from buildings, and for his Swatch collaboration he has again worked with murano glass makers to create something really quite special… but more on that here.

venice_by_ada_jusic
Venice by Ada Jusic.

Venice by Madalina Andronic
Venice by Madalina Andronic.

venice-by-Jessica-Knight
Venice by Jessica Knight.

Venice Treasure by Laura Frame
Venice Treasure by Laura Frame.

During our visit we were thoroughly spoilt, staying in an infamous hotel called the Excelsior that features in the film Death in Venice, and being ferried everywhere on private speedboats or gondolas – the later being a lot better for the environment, but also more sedate (ie, less fun). We had a private guided tour of the Peggy Guggenheim museum before dining in style on the rooftop, were served lunch on the roof of the head office of the Biennale with fabulous views over the centre of Venice, ate at the Cipriani (frequented by George Clooney and ilk) and had another guided tour of the Biennale itself (read my reviews). I have only visited Venice once before when I was inter-railing, aged 17. I remember feeling overwhelmed by the crowds (which this time we avoided due to the time of year and our posh transport options) as well as the high cost of everything. By contrast this trip truly was a beautiful experience which made me dream of returning to Venice one day, although sadly I think the state of my own finances would mean anything else than what I experienced this time around would likely be far less fabulous. Still, one can dream…

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review Excelsior
Arriving at the Excelsior by speedboat.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Veronica of Red Ant
The beautiful Veronica of Red Ant, who invited me to Venice.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review Excelsior
The art deco influenced interior of the Excelsior.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review
The view from my room.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-travelling by gondola
Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-travelling by gondola
Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-travelling by gondola
Travelling by gondola.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Exterior of the Excelsior from the beach
Exterior of the Excelsior from the beach.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-madame Emch
Madame Emch charms everyone.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Amazing Italian style
Amazing Italian style.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Meeting the director of the Guggenheim
Meeting the director of the Guggenheim.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-speedboat
Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review
Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-speedboat
More travelling by speedboat: that’s me with some Russian journalists.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-Cinzia and Romain Colin
Italian blogger Cinzia and French blogger Romain Colin of Fubiz in the backwaters of Venice.

Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review
Venice Biennale 2011 Swatch review-cinzia, dadanoias, vero
Myself with Italian blogger Cinzia of Frizzi Frizzi, Spanish blogger Marta of Dadanoias and Veronica of Red Ant on the rooftop of the Biennale offices.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Thursday October 6th, 2011 12:42 pm

Categories ,80s, ,Ada Jusic, ,Alia Gargum, ,Bloggers, ,Blogging, ,Bond, ,Cinzia, ,Dadanoias, ,Death in Venice, ,film, ,Frizzi Frizzi, ,Fubiz, ,George Clooney, ,Glass, ,Gondola, ,Guggenheim, ,Hotel Cipriani, ,Hotel Excelsior, ,Jean-Michel Othoniel, ,Jessica Knight, ,Laura Frame, ,Madalina Andronic, ,Madame Emch, ,Madame M, ,Marta, ,Murano, ,Peggy Guggenheim, ,Red Ant, ,Romain Colin, ,Sally Jane Thompson, ,Speedboat, ,Venice, ,Venice Biennale, ,Veronica Sambonet, ,Watch

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Amelia’s Magazine | Little Dragon – ‘Test’

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A friend of mine recently asked me, stomach story “What is it with Swedish bands and ‘heartbeat’? Both Annie and Robyn have tracks called ‘Heartbeat’, stuff while The Knife wanted to be different and called a track ‘Heartbeats’.” Now, obviously the track I’m about to review is not called ‘Heartbeat’ or even ‘Heartbeats’, but the fact that my British friend could not only name three contemporary Swedish groups but also three of their songs without feeling as if he was exposing a guilty pleasure indicates how much our opinion Swedish music has changed (Ace of Base, anyone?).

Little Dragon are more Dance-orientated and a good deal less retro than the ‘Heartbeat-ers’, but still know how to craft a Pop song you can be proud to love. ‘Test’ opens with a clanging not dissimilar to the 1950s musique concrete of Stockhausen, as if to remind the listener of electronica’s avant-garde origins, before immediately introducing today’s most irreverent application of such Classical techniques: the 4/4 Dance beat. Punctuated by the most minimal Ska-styled guitar/keyboard I’ve ever encountered (is that just one note?), driven by a Dub-bassline that becomes beautifully indistiguishable from the kick drum and featuring a Jazz interlude, like all great Pop songs ‘Test’ shamelessly steals from the best.

However, the undeniable highlight of the track is singer Yukimi. Recalling Matthew Herbert’s work with Dani Siciliano, her multitracked laidback delivery effortlessly transports the listener to the centre of a dancefloor at an indeterminate post-midnight hour. Soulful without forced vocal gymnastics and Bluesy without being cliched, much like the music itself, her voice is able to take in all that 20th century music had to offer and exhale something cohesive, contemporary and copious.

A chic dancefloor-filler.

Written by Joseph Scott on Thursday May 8th, 2008 3:05 pm

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