Teach First rebrand

The charity has ditched its “corporate” identity in favour of an all-encompassing rebrand that reflects its mission to create fair education for all.

The update was almost two years in the making, and required Teach First to “take a hard look at their brand”, says Johnson Banks. The charity wanted to move away from its previous style and embrace something bolder that would reflect its focus on tackling inequality and helping children reach their potential, while also conveying a “grittier, more direct tone of voice”.

The studio says the refreshed identity also needed communicate with a “bewildering array” of people, from graduates, teachers and headmasters to people considering changing career as well as government departments and corporate sponsors.

Logo Design

Here a recent job I completed for a local Belfast business.

The logo rebrand is simple with clean lines to highlight the business. I also completed a simple business card design.

For more examples of my work follow me on Facebook.

 

Jake Newbury

Jake Newbury’s interests are broad, though it’s clear he’s naturally inclined towards underground scenes. Having recently graduated from the Design for Publishing course at Norwich University of the Arts – where he specialised in editorial design and illustration – the designer has created eye-catching spreads based on streetwear brands like Carhartt WIP and Stone Island, as well as experimental producer Aphex Twin.

Newbury’s penchant for distressed visuals comes through in these projects, but his wider portfolio demonstrates an eye for sleeker styles.

Mental health photography

In the latest in a series of articles on visual trends, Stocksy’s Tara Campbell explores the rise of artists offering a more nuanced depiction of mental health issue.The campaign drew attention to the prevalence of what they termed “the ‘headclutcher’ photo. You know the one: you’re reading an article about depression, and at the top of the page, there’s a picture of a person holding their head in their hands. Although this can be an outward expression of despair, when poorly executed, it can come across as a mocking and reductive depiction of depression.

Athru new identity by JKR’s

After a difficult few decades, it seems Irish whiskey is having a moment. The number of distilleries in the country has grown from four to 24 in the past six years and sales are booming: Over 10.5 million cases were sold in 2018 (the highest figure since the pre-Prohibition era) and over 900,000 people visited distilleries for tours and tasting sessions.

One of the latest arrivals on the scene is Athru: a premium brand founded by Irish entrepreneur David Raethorne, who has spent the past five years turning a former video tape factory in Sligo into the Lough Gill Distillery.

JKR worked closely with Raethorne and his team to create the Athru brand. As the project is a long-term endeavour, JKR took inspiration from the idea of “an unfinished picture”, cutting the corners off letters and splicing together images of the local landscape.

It’s a striking approach – and one that stands out among a sea of brands using scripted typefaces and vintage logos. Sean Thomas, Creative Director at JKR, says the agency wanted to create something unique and looked to art galleries, museums and disruptor brands such as Aesop instead of Athru’s rivals for inspiration.

Never Forget

Photographer Tom Cockram shines a spotlight on the survivors and the bereaved in new exhibition with Grenfell United

Over two years have passed since the Grenfell Tower tragedy took place, but the fight for justice continues. Many are still displaced, liable bodies are still evading consequences, and health and safety standards are still being carelessly flouted across the country. A recent government report shows that there remain 338 buildings wrapped in the same kind of cladding as that found at Grenfell Tower.

Cockram has been working on the project over the past year, photographing intimate, monochrome portraits of those most closely affected by the tragedy and the subsequent fallout. Alongside the exhibition, there will also be a handful of talks and events, including photography workshops for the Grenfell community and a screening of revelatory film Failed By The State, which features members of the local area detailing their experience of gentrification and the role the authorities play.

The exhibition, Never Forget Grenfell, is a collaborative effort between Cockram and Grenfell United, a group of survivors and bereaved families from the Grenfell Tower. The group’s Vice-Chair, Karim Mussilhy, said: “Grenfell was filled with amazing people, a true community with people from all walks of life who looked out for each other. Since the fire that community has grown stronger as bereaved, survivors and neighbours near and far have come together to support each other. We hope this exhibition will show Londoners that our community is strong, dignified and united.”

Art or garbage?

Can a plastic bag ever be art and not garbage?

Sho Shibuya, the founder of Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary brand design studio PLACEHOLDER, thinks so. One of his most cherished pieces of art is a framed plastic bag, and while there are probably stranger things you could hang on a wall, for Shibuya, it kickstarted a project that’s been long in the works for him titled PLASTIC PAPER.

This project focuses primarily on a 144-page book stacked with gorgeous photography of plastic bags with the hope of raising awareness about the waste created by single-use plastics as well as the importance of reusing and valuing these items.

Mothercare campaign

A mother holding a newborn baby is one of the oldest and most enduring subjects in art, a staple of religious iconography and a classic dramatic trope.

But – from the Renaissance through to the glossy magazines of now – the physical effects of childbirth on a woman’s body have always been an aspect of motherhood hidden from public view. 

Even in our more open times, frank discussions about the sometimes brutal impact of birth are rare, and instead are still largely dealt with in private, with the media actively celebrating those women who bounce back quickly to their pre-birth figures.

Now, a new advertising campaign from Mothercare that is being trialled across 30 tube stations on the London Underground is bringing a more honest depiction of new motherhood into the spotlight.

Mothercare said in a statement: “Body Proud Mums boldly seeks to normalise mothers’ experiences, spark a positive conversation and help mums feel confident and proud of their bodies. At the heart of the campaign is the belief that all mums are beautiful. After all, their bodies have just performed a miracle.”

Shot by British photographer Sophie Mayanne, the campaign comprises of ten celebratory portraits of women who have very recently become mothers. They’re shown holding their babies close and smiling as the kids laugh, gawp at the camera in bemusement, or, in some cases, scream their heads off.

The photographs have apparently been published without digital retouching, and the effects of birth are evident, yet the scars and stretch marks are not the focus of the portraits. But, equally, they’re not hidden. Each portrait is accompanied with the simple phrase: ‘Beautiful, isn’t she.’

Big jigsaw puzzle of the city

A new book, CTY, by artist Antony Cairns brings together dozens of enigmatic images of the ‘megalopolis’, taken late at night in eerily empty parts of New York, Tokyo, London and LA.

Cairns says that because cities are filled with crowds, our experience of the architecture around us can be dulled as a result. Part of his aim with CTY was to explore how architecture feels when people are absent, which means many of his images were shot at unsociable hours. He was particularly drawn to the ‘light structures’ that are common in major cities, particularly in shopping malls where bulbs blaze late into the night despite no-one being around.

“They’re places where they want people to be, but they want you to consume and leave,” he says. “They don’t want you there for hours on end, loitering around. If you’ve been there a while, it starts feeling uncomfortable because it’s so bright. I often shoot late at night as well to get nobody there, and it enhances the feeling of the architecture slightly bearing down on you. I don’t shoot it that way to make it feel negative or positive though, I just record it as a document.”

CTY is printed on slightly pearlescent paper – a reference to Cairn’s practice of printing directly on aluminium when working in the darkroom, which allows the light to bounce off the images. “We wanted to give the same feeling of transparency – a kind of luminescence when you look at it, and it shines back at you a bit.”

CTY is published by Morel Books, priced £45; morelbooks.com; antony-cairns.co.uk

Hand drawn images

The wonderful world of photoshop

before

after
Final outcome