Peacock Visual Arts - Christmas Exhibition Flyer

Recent work for Peacock Visual Arts in Aberdeen. Their christmas exhibition will run from the 5th to the 23rd of December and everyone is welcome for "Mince pies, mulled wine and merriment" A range of work will be available for purchase with special discounts.

Ho Ho Ho!

Friedensreich Hundertwasser's Five Skins

The First Skin - Epidermis/Inner Truth
The Second Skin - Clothes
The Third Skin - Houses
The Fourth Skin - Social and National Identity
The Fifth Skin - Global Environment, Ecology and Mankind

My Dissertation, "The Five Skins Redefined", examined the existential theory of the artist and activist (and huge influence of mine) Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

Hundertwasser began his career as a painter in the late 1940s. As the century wore on and the scope of his vision grew, he turned his hand to printmaking, graphic design, stamp design and even architecture. His work was notable for its complete lack of straight lines and bold, vivid colours.

In many ways, he was years ahead of his time. He was an ecological activist, believing that the preservation of the earths environment is mankind's primary responsibility... long before most people had any idea of climate change and global warming.

Amongst other things, he designed humous toilets, water filtration devices and living systems that involved trees being planted within buildings as 'Tree Tenants', so that they might reclaim their place in the spaces of the city.

In the early years, he had a habit of reading his public speeches in the buff.

Throughout his career he developed an existential theory that he called the 'Five Skins'. He believed that every human being has five skins that make up their personality and relationship with social and global environments. These were 'Epidermis' - the biological skin, 'Clothes' - the manmade skin, 'Houses' - the protective skin, 'Identity' - the social skin and 'Environment' - the global skin. Hundertwasser decreed that man could not achieve wholeness until he understood each of these skins and engaged with them. The ultimate aim of this engagement was for mankind to establish a closer relationship with his inner self and the ecology of his planet.

The illustrations above feature in an edited picture book version of my dissertation and were created through a double layer mono-printing process.

Music Students Of Aberdeen...

Double sided A5 flyer design for an Aberdeen College gig. Photography, stenciling and a small amount of wooden type used. Produced circa December '08

National Debtline Brand Awareness Campaign

These images are part of a campaign I have created to promote National Debtline, a government funded telephone service that offers free advice for those with debt or other financial issues.

Each image began life as a series of relief prints made using wooden type. The prints were photographed, adapted and layered in Photoshop, then completed with additional elements such as strap lines and contact details.

Wooden type was used for this campaign as it communicates the idea of pressure through the method in which it is printed. It also evokes the idea of reliability, a reassuring quality in these tough financial times and one which National Debtline would be keen to ascribe to themselves.

To develop the campaign for cross media placement, each of the three images have been adapted into animated web banners, which I shall be uploading very soon, along with additional print based supporting materials.

Over the next while shall be uploading more samples of project work from my portfolio and honours year study. Comments and criticism are always welcome and thank you for looking!

Robert Gordon University Socialisation Project

I was recently asked to design some window graphics as part of the socialization of the Business School building at the RGU campus, Aberdeen.

As can be seen above, on a sunny day the images project themselves into the social space of the building, acting as a stained glass window would.

Of the three window panel designs, the right and left feature my work while the centre panel features a print by fellow graduate Martin Buchan. 

In reaching my final design I considered how to not only communicate the essence of what goes on inside the building but to deliver a bold visual statement. Since numbers lie at the heart of all business and economic practice it made perfect sense to utilize them. 

The images were made by creating a series of prints using wooden letterpress blocks. These prints were then layered in photoshop and adapted to allow maximum light transmission when placed in their intended location.

Special thanks to Peacock Visual Arts for lending me the number blocks. I promise i'll bring them back soon........

300 DPI

This is a letterpress piece I made recently. I have tried to represent my belief that effective visual communication must actively balance the craftsmanship of traditional image making techniques with the convenience and possibilities of modern digital approaches. The image was made by composing three hundred blocks of metal and wooden type and arranging them to spell '300 DPI', a phrase which denotes the standard image resolution level for web/print based visual output.

Either that or its a bunch of letters on a piece of paper. You can see it in the Aberdeen Artist's Society Exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery from the 2nd to the 30th of May. No laughing at the back now.

Welcome

Johnnyfox Design is my cluttered potting shed at the bottom of the internet's garden. After sifting through the piles of wooden type, the heavily stained mugs and an increasingly less white Macbook i'll be posting the fruits of my somewhat fevered labour for all to see. Visitors are always welcome and feel free to get in touch!