SERVICES

We provide a full spectrum of business services including strategy, consultancy, mentoring, automation, brand development and design.

We have produced solutions for fashion houses, film, galleries, tech and sports giants through to tv channels and national museums.

Experience

Over the last 25 years, the founders of Institute, have worked on thousands of projects that includes work for the following brands:

Adidas, Barclays, BBC, Bench, The Body Shop, Boots, The British Museum, The Carphone Warehouse, Cartoon Network, Cath Kidston, Clarins, Conde Naste, Daks, The Design Museum, Diesel, Disney Stores, EMI, Esquire Sport Magazine, Exposure, Fate Face, Fred Perry, Givenchy, Gieves & Hawkes, Godiva, Habitat, Halifax, Haribo, Harrods, House of Fraser, Hedkayse, HMV, The Independent, Kookai, Levis, Marks & Spencer, MGA, National Gallery, Procter and Gamble, Royal Court Theatre, Selfridges, Schuh, Sony, Superdry, TATE Enterprises, Ted Baker, Three Mobile, Tower Records, TKMaxx, UNIQLO, United International Pictures, Virgin, Vodaphone and Zoological Society of London.

We bring this experience of the design and delivery of a diversity of projects to Institute.

Business Development

We provide mentoring in business practice and development. We cover the progression of practice, the nuts and bolts of running a business through to brand strategy and development. We provide consultancy and think-tank style services for creative businesses, organisations and initiatives. We cover strategy, identity frameworks and business development. We are used to thinking outside the box and asking the right questions that result in the right frameworks for success.

Consultancy

We tend to focus on SMEs, as they are the collective powerhouse of the UK Economy and often do not receive the support they require. An external support structure characterised by objective analysis and targeted support is often a key mechanism for the success for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Our business consultancy is run by Steve Barradell. Steve is an approved business mentor for Enterprise Nation on the Help to Grow initiative.

Enterprise Nation exists to shortcut the route to trusted business support. Founded by Emma Jones CBE in 2005, Enterprise Nation has grown to a community of over 120,000 people. They support people to start and grow their own successful businesses and represent their views to the government and media: www.enterprisenation.com.

Steve is also a member of The Association of Business Mentors: www.associationofbusinessmentors.org and a Creative Business Mentor on the EMC2 Create Growth Programme: www.eastmidlandscreategrowth.co.uk

Our recent work includes the running of an incubator Course for Phoenix Arts (the REAL Initiative). We supported 25 Digital Artists and Documentary Film Makers in getting them business ready, providing them with strategic advice, support and mentoring and to create a platform for growth. We are about to start a short series of courses for East Midlands Creative Consortium: Conversations with a Machine

We have extensive experience in Branding , Business Planning , E-commerce, Communication, Freelancing, B2B Marketing, Data & Analysis, Problem solving, Strategy - both business and creative, Sales.

The Benefits of Mentoring

Gaining new perspectives

Since mentors, by definition, have more experience than their mentees, they look at the world with a different perspective. As each decision is considered, the mentor will bring an informed opinion to bear as it is likely that they have seen the pros and cons of this situation before.

Improved leadership abilities

A mentor often performs many leadership duties, such as inspiring their mentees, providing guidance, and even solving taxing problems. They may also give constructive feedback to their mentees. Developing these skills will help you become a better leader in the future.

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs tend to like ‘going alone’. Business owners will often state that If I had their time again, they would have worked with several mentors to learn valuable lessons from each. From not making certain business decisions to fostering certain partnerships, a mentor can help guide you through your entrepreneurial journey.

Networks and contacts

Your mentor has already acquired a variety of valuable contacts that could be out of reach to you. Your mentor can facilitate access and open doors, giving you the opportunity to develop your business and grow your network. Networking opportunities are often the key to business growth.

Confidence building

Confidence grows through the mentoring process. You will have a guide for the ups and downs of business and develop the ability to succeed.

The Benefits of Consultancy

You need an outside / objective opinion

Sometimes it’s difficult to solve your own problems because you’re just too involved. You might just be so close to the problem that you’re missing an obvious solution. When there are tough decisions to be made, sometimes it’s easier to leave it to an expert who isn’t personally involved or emotionally invested.

Business consultants are experts in their field. They’ve helped numerous other companies to work through similar issues and they know what’s worked in the past. This experience means that they can bring new and innovative ideas that you might not have thought of yourself.

When you hire a business consultant, you’ll get a new perspective on whatever problems you’re facing, from an outsider’s point of view.

You lack time or resources

No matter how important the problem is, sometimes you just don’t have the time to dedicate to solving it. You’ve still got your day-to-day business to focus on and finding the time to resolve your challenges just feels impossible.

You could hire a new employee to give you the time to focus on the issue at hand, but you know it’ll only be temporary and training a new employee can be time-consuming.

Hiring a business consultant is a great way to outsource your problems to a professional. They’re used to moving around different companies, which means they’ll get to know your business quickly with minimal training required. And most importantly – you can continue with your day-to-day operations so your business doesn’t suffer either.

You have a tactical project you are struggling to complete our to resource or expertise.

Design

We help creatives, brands and organisations to develop their ideas and to design solutions that communicate these ideas to their chosen audiences.

We believe in the maxim, Form follows function. The solutions that we produce should look, feel and essentially, be, the answer to your problem. Each problem requires a unique solution that emerges out of the design process. By going through the discovery stage to define the core problems to solve, we are then free to develop a solution that solves these unique problems and is fit for your purpose. This is a formula for success. It encourages clarity in the way we think about the project objectives. That aids communication with each other. This clarity allows us to get from A to B in an understandable way but allows us the freedom to produce dynamic solutions.

Projects Portfolio

Graffio Arts 9/18/23 Graffio Arts 9/18/23

Here There Be Monsters. An Identity System for Rendah Films

We were asked to create an identity system for the production company, Rendah Films.

Rendah Films wanted an identity system that would express their creativity and work as a street tag while projecting their technical expertise and professionalism. It all kicked off with the creation of ‘Monstah’, a mascot created from the letter R.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

We met Emily and Rob from Rendah Films when we were running the REAL incubation programme at Phoenix in Leicester. Rendah went on to produce a documentary focusing on creative practice at Institute. We were delighted to work with them again to develop an identity package.

APPROPRIATE BACKGROUND MUSIC

Rob produces original music for each Rendah project and we thought this this should play a role in the visual design. We developed typography grids from sheet music layouts and templates to produce square promotional materials that follow the visual tropes of music EPs or albums.

EMERGING FROM THE MIDLANDS

Rendah is colloquial version of render, a nod to local pronunciation and digital production techniques. When overlayed and rotated, the R from Rendah forms a shape like a camera aperture. We added an eye and a graphic mascot was born. When the mascot became the obvious way forward, Rob followed the same naming logic and called it ‘Monstah’.

MID CENTURY MONSTERS

As we were researching the history of film promotion including posters, titles, company logos and a wide spread of film marketing collateral it was a reminder that we were in a headspace that was producing work more in-line with Saul Bass in the 1950s/60s than something more contemporary. This work was simple, flat, iconic and unpolished and we were happy with that!

FILM QUOTES

We used a spread of film quotes throughout the identity to highlight certain ways of thinking about the construction of the identity. The way things end up looking is a by product of ideas and goals. We might use typography to convey X but we might use a colour to convey something else. This had to convey Rob and Emily’s lively personalities as well as their professionalism and integrity.

IT’S ALIVE!

We designed a very simple, clean wordmark logo. This would contrast with the motif and bold colours that felt quite tribal. When Rob said that he once had a skateboard with a motif that felt similar, we knew we were in the right place.

CREATIVITY AND DISCIPLINE

The identity system has to work in a variety of ways. It has to support video material at times but also stand on its own as a graphic language when text is the main form of communication. It has to be fun but it also has to do a variety of jobs.

A CATALOGUE OF MONSTERS

To future-proof the identity we created a colour system with a set visual contrast that could be reproduced in colours from around the spectrum. The fact that some colours are lighter and have to remain light to be identified as that colour (yellow for example) was factored in. The system would produce multiple Monstah motifs but the least successful could be discarded while the best would be retained.

MERCHANDISING

Its all about the swag…

PRODUCTION LOGO

We produced an animated sting for the production logo. This is a very short sequence, usually used at the beginning of a film to highlight the production company. We wanted it to be bold but it cannot take away from the film so needs to end quickly. We took a section of the drums from Monster Mash and changed the tempo and distorted them to create something new. The sequence includes the wordmark logo and the motif. Emily came up with the idea that the eye could flash to represent a camera going into record mode.

Now that Rendah have the identity system templates and assets they are coming up with fresh ways to use the graphics and creating their own animated sequences.

THE SEQUENCE

THE VIDEO

THE FUTURE

Working with Rendah Films was fun. We’ve had such a positive experience from the mentoring on the REAL initiative where we could see their business developing in between sessions to the filming of their documentary at institute. It was a pleasure to be able to work with them again to develop their identity.

Rob and Emily- we wish you the very best for the future and we’re around if you need any help. This is also true for other creative businesses that want to get ahead. If you need some advice, then get in touch, we’d be happy to help.

Graffio Arts 1/31/23 Graffio Arts 1/31/23

Bringing the Frost to Frost Fair

We developed augmented reality experiences for Bankside’s Frostfair. During the Little Ice Age of the 17th to 19th centuries the river Thames completely froze over and the Frost Fairs began…

Graffio Arts provided the app and augmented reality experiences for Bankside’s Frostfair. Working with Phil Dawson (This Must Be The Place) and working in Loughborough and London, we had to design new ways to make the Fairs art trail come to life.

A MULTI-MEDIA TRAIL OF STREET ART MURALS, DIGITAL ART INSTALLATIONS AND EVENTS

This winter, Bankside celebrated one of the most extraordinary events in London’s history – the Frost Fair. From circa 1605 to 1814, the surface of the River Thames froze over 24 times, bringing all trade on the water to a standstill. So the people of Bankside took to the ice, creating ‘Frost Fairs’, with a sensational cornucopia of markets, amusement, food, drink, games, pubs, shops, entertainment and general revelry!

Inspired by the area’s rich heritage and lively characters, Bankside has reinvented the Frost Fair for the 21st century. You could immerse yourself in innovative augmented reality installations, follow street art trails, feast on special Frost Fair themed food and drink and enjoy inspired workshops.

NAVIGATING THE ART TRAIL

Visitors to the Frost Fair could pick up printed maps with the locations of all the AR work on display. A download version was also available on the website with simple instructions to find and download the AR app. At each location the public had to understand what they could do and short explainers were provided on posters and floor stickers.

AUGMENTED REALITY

Our goal was to increase the interaction available to the public at each point along the trail. This was accomplished in a variety of ways. The augmented reality aspects of the project could be broadly broken down into video and 3D. Looking through the AR app and while the viewer pointed at the right spot would reveal video playing within the space or pop up a 3D model that could be placed wherever the viewer decided. There was a film screening on one wall, graffiti work emerging from other wall sand people placing a 10ft high elephant outside of Tate Modern!

ART, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

We designed the AR experiences but also supplied the technology for the project. The Graffio Arts AR app is available in iOS and Android versions and can be used as the basis for a brand’s own app. In this case, Bankside were happy to have Frost Fair as one of a variety of projects available on the app.

GATHERING THE ARTISTS

Lawless Studio brought a host of creatives to the project including film makers, graffiti artists and creative kids. You can find out about all of them here: Graffio Arts, Jason Slabber, Timba Smits, 3D Joe & Max & Frost Fair, Dreph, Everfresh, Peachzz, Mr Cenz, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Richard Kindersley, Nomad Clan, Alice Clarke and Charles Dickens Primary School

AR EXPERIENCES: JASON SLABER

Jason created an incredible video that pieced together frames of animation generated by ai. This piece played as augmented reality from a poster and was also used as a projection at the end of a shopping arcade.

AR EXPERIENCES: NOMAD CLAN

Nomad Clan’s paintings were carefully animated in a quirky style that enhanced their incredible work. The AR elements could be experienced by the viewer in front of each of their pieces.

AR EXPERIENCES: JULIA FULLERTON-BATTEN

Julia’s incredible film depicting an historic Frost Faire was projected at large scale onto a wall with AR.

AR EXPERIENCES: MR CENZ

Mr Cenz’s mural was above street level and animated in AR. The iOS version featured elements of the work emerging out of the mural onto the surrounding roof.

AR EXPERIENCES: PEACHZZ

Each piece of Peachzz’s work featured animated elements that brought each scene to life.

AR EXPERIENCES: GRAFFIO ARTS

We were invited to produce our own piece of work that was viewable beside the river Thames. You can out more here.

THE LAUNCH

The project had many components and really was a race against time. We like to extend a big thank-you to all those involved for working long hours, travelling to meet up to discuss the project and pulling results out of the bag. This project highlights the benefits of different agencies and creatives working together and shows what you can accomplish when you mix for the use of art, design and technology.

AR AND YOU

Are you interested in the ways that augmented reality could bring your event to life? Tell us about your ideas!

Graffio Arts 1/1/23 Graffio Arts 1/1/23

Marketing the Eisberg Brand

Art, design and technology for the years biggest cycling events.

Jess Roberts, GBR, Team Breeze, Tour series winner, GBR, receiving her Graffio Arts print.

Graffio Arts collaborated with 22 Create and Eisberg Wines to bring art, design and augmented reality to the years biggest cycling events.

A YEAR OF CYCLING

We were approached by 22 Create to help out on a year long campaign for their client Eisberg Wines. Eisberg Wine is the UK’s number 1 alcohol free wine, offering an alternative beverage to those who are the designated driver, counting calories, or abstaining for health reasons.

Eisberg’s involvement as a sponsor in British cycling that year would see them bring cycling, art and technology together in new, innovative ways, to engage their audience more than ever before.

DEVELOPING THE CAMPAIGN

The goal for Eisberg’s campaign was to take their ‘liquid on lips’ experience for consumers a step further, and actually deliver product into home via interactive advertising.

Together we investigated the different stages of consumer activation. We engaged with pub and bar consumers, with social media audiences through to those actually attending the cycling events.

Beer mats and flyers were designed with augmented reality layers that showed previews of races and brand messaging. Three styles of social media campaign were developed and launched.

ILLUSTRATION AND AUGMENTATION

We designed and produced a series of augmented, illustrated art prints. For each of the six cycling events that Eisberg were involved with that year, a unique piece of work would be available for the public to order, display in their homes and access exclusive content including special offers on product and cycling footage. By downloading an AR app, owners of the prints could simply scan their artwork and the content was delivered straight to their screens.

When the prints first become available they featured an introductory video. When the race was finished the video changed to celebrate the outcome.

These prints were made available free of charge and were an enormous success.

ART AND AUGMENTATION

We worked with the master of cycling art, Eliza Southward to produce a limited run of her The Chase fine art prints that are were presented to tour winners throughout the season. A second print was made available to purchase by consumers.

Graffio Arts 1/1/23 Graffio Arts 1/1/23

Documenting the War Widows Quilt

The War Widows’ Quilt is a beautiful and moving piece of collaborative art that relays the realities of war widowhood in Britain, past and present. We were asked to turn it into a book.

The book tells the moving stories that lie behind the squares of the War Widows’ Quilt, a collaborative piece of art made by more than 90 war widows.

Graffio Arts were honoured to be approached to design a book to document the War Widows’s quilt. The quilt, made in collaboration with arts company arthur+martha, is part of the War Widows’ Stories project, led by Dr Nadine Muller (Senior Lecturer in English Literature & Cultural History, Liverpool John Moores University) and the War Widows’ Association of Great Britain (WWA).

Part of the War Widows’ Stories project, led by LJMU’s Dr Nadine Muller (Reader in Women’s & Gender Studies) in collaboration with the War Widows’ Association of Great Britain, the War Widows’ Quilt is a beautiful and challenging piece of art that communicates the realities of war widowhood in the UK through quilting and poetry.

Released for Remembrance Sunday, allows people to discover the quilt and the stories that lie behind each of its squares, as well as the creative and research work that inspired this stunning piece of textile art.

Nadine said: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to make a digital version of the book available for free as we mark Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

“The War Widows’ Quilt has provided a creative, therapeutic and immensely impactful way for the women to tell their life stories, and to process and share their love, loss and grief, as well as the social and economic challenges they have faced.

“The restrictions of the COVID pandemic have meant that we’ve not been able to exhibit the quilt since its display at the Queen’s House, Greenwich, in 2019. I’m so pleased that people can now discover the quilt and the stories behind it through this beautiful new edition of the exhibition book.

“The experiences so many women have shared through the War Widows’ Stories project are an incredibly important part of the history of war and conflict that must not be forgotten, and we have a duty to continue to hear and learn from all those affected and left behind by conflicts around the world to understand the real cost of war.”

The War Widows’ Quilt is a beautiful and moving piece of collaborative art that relays the realities of war widowhood in Britain, past and present. Made from second-hand armed forces shirts by over a hundred war widows and their families, its squares tell stories of love, loss and grief that connect women across generations, from the Second World War to the Falklands, Iraq, and peacetime.

In this event, we explore the power of creativity at the centre of the War Widows’ Stories project, asking how the meditative process of stitching and sewing can offer an outlet for the memories of those we have loved.

CREDITS

The War Widows’ Quilt was edited by Lois Blackburn (Lead Artist), Philip Davenport (Lead Writer), Nadine Muller (Project Lead), and designed by Graffio Arts.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE WAR WIDOW’S QUILT

THE BRITISH ACADEMY

Stitching Remembrance: The War Widows’ Quilt

The British Academy Summer Showcase ‘21

Speakers:
Lois Blackburn, artist, arthur+martha
Dr Nadine Muller, ‎Senior Lecturer in English Literature & Cultural History, Liverpool John Moores University
Mary Moreland MBE, War Widow and former Chair of the War Widows' Association

LIVERPOOL JOHN MOORES UNIVERSITY

New book reveals lives, loves and losses behind War Widows’ Quilt

Article

WAR WIDOWS’ STORIES

War Widow's Stories

VIEWING THE BOOK

You can download a digital version of the book from the project’s website at www.warwidowsstories.org.uk or via this direct link.

Graffio Arts 12/1/22 Graffio Arts 12/1/22

Hear Me Thaw!

We worked with 3D designer Sean Matthews to create this augmented reality experiences for Bankside London’s Frost Fair.

Graffio Arts worked with 3D designer Sean Matthews to create this augmented reality experiences for Bankside London’s Frost Fair. As part of the rich history of the Frost Fair, it is believed that an Elephant was brought onto the ice to the amazement of Londoners that may have never seen an elephant before.

During production, Sean named the elephant Clive and we used this sequence as part of the augmented reality teasing while we developed work with the other artists.

Graffio Arts has been travelling back and forth between Loughborough and London, working with Phil @TMB_ThePlace to create augmented reality experiences for @bankside_london's Frost Fair.

This winter, Bankside is celebrating one of the most extraordinary events in London’s history – the Frost Fair. From circa 1605 to 1814, the surface of the River Thames froze over 24 times, bringing all trade on the water to a standstill. So the people of Bankside took to the ice, creating ‘Frost Fairs’, with a sensational cornucopia of markets, amusement, food, drink, games, pubs, shops, entertainment and general revelry!

Inspired by the area’s rich heritage and lively characters, Bankside has reinvented the Frost Fair for the 21st century. You can immerse yourself in our innovative augmented reality installations, follow street art trails, feast on special Frost Fair themed food and drink and enjoy various workshops and activities along a Bankside Trail.

CREDITS

3D design: Sean Matthews (@seandsgn), Art Direction: Graffio Arts. Agency collaborator: Phil Dawson/This Must Be The Place.

FROST FAIR

The can find out more about Bankside’s Frost Faire here.

INTERESTED IN THE BENEFITS OF AR FOR YOUR PROJECT?

Tell us what you’re thinking here.

Graffio Arts 3/26/22 Graffio Arts 3/26/22

Turning Cancel Culture into Cultural Debate

Pillars of Society was a community project investigating public art in the Welsh town of Carmarthen and asking who are our pillars of society?

Graffio Arts worked with Emily Laurens from Oriel Myrddin Gallery in Carmarthen, Wales, to create Pillars of Society. Pillars of Society (Hoelion Wyth Cymdeithas) is a community project investigating public art in Carmarthen and asking who are our pillars of society?

The project is a response to the national (and international) debate around statues, monuments and colonial history. It provides an opportunity to discuss race, equality, diversity, Welsh identity and language, and the experience of Wales as coloniser and colonised.

We created a set of souvenir postcards and a project within our augmented reality app showing alternative public art created by first year sculpture students from Carmarthen School of Art as well as a set of humorous animations depicting the students work.

Project information and postcards were available at Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Carmarthen Library, St Peters Hall Nott Square and other venues in Carmarthen.

PROJECT DESIGN

The premise of the project is that the alternative public art pieces created by the students should be viewable within the app as an overlay when pointed at the monuments- a discussion point rather than a physical replacement of the current monuments.

The project had to be accessible to anyone with a mobile device. To generate 3D models of the students work required iOS technology thats not currently available to Android users so we had to develop two ways to display the augmented reality. We created six short, animated films depicting the current monument and the proposed student replacement that would play through the screen when pointing at the monument for all devices. For those unable to travel to the monuments in Carmarthen, we set the front of the postcards to also display these animations.

The back of the cards presented a map and trail for the monuments throughout Carmarthen and also acted as triggers to release the 3D models for those with iOS devices.

For augmented reality to trigger it requires a visual marker. The app recognises the marker and plays an augmented layer over the top. In this situation the markers would be of monuments that would be lit differently throughout the day. This presented quite a challenge. We took multiple photos of the monuments at different times of the day and created additional versions with low-light, and no cloud cover and high contrast to increase the chances that the app would be able to recognise the monuments. In the end, it worked better than we could have imagined.

THE CONTEXT

The project was created in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement and the physical dismantling of statues in the UK and other parts of the world. The project emerged out of art gallery with an agenda to engage with art and culture in Carmarthen. The project had to be disruptive to a certain extent but tread the fine line that encourages debate rather than polarising opinion.

The animated sequences that we created had to be mindful of this and we called upon some old fashioned tricks for our baseline.

We used a visual language influenced by Terry Gillam’s work for Monty Python in the 1970s.

Monuments would be toppled or squashed by large hands, this would be accompanied by an audio clunk. The students work would replace the current monuments but all with the virtual world of AR. We made a big deal out of crediting the students and used a variety of music and sounds to convey the context of conflict in a light hearted way.

CONVERSATION vs CONFLICT

The project was well received and helped Emily and the gallery reach a broad audience when it was picked up by ITV news: Wales This Week: An Uncomfortable Truth. The project was a technical and cultural challenge but in the end, it managed to frame the student’s work without putting them in the firing line- the animated sequences were just too silly to cause offence, we had replaced community monuments without anyone breaking a sweat and Oriel Myrddin Gallery engaged positively in debate with it’s target audience and beyond.

THE CARDS

CREDITS

Design, augmented reality and animation: Graffio Arts. 3D objects: First year sculpture students at Carmarthen School of Art. Project Coordinator: Emily Laurens.

LINKS

Emily Laurens - Community Co-ordinator at Oriel Myrddin Gallery.

PoS Facebook Page

Art Wales

An Uncomfortable Truth

Graffio Arts 3/24/22 Graffio Arts 3/24/22

Using Emergent Media to Tell Street Stories

We helped Arch Creative to develop an augmented reality solution for Street Stories art trail. Coming to a city near you soon…

We have been working with local agency Arch Creative to bring AR to a new vacant units project. Street Stories is designed to improve the appearance of empty shops in the city centre and turn them into points of interest.

Media technology and project support: Graffio Arts. Project conception and design: Arch Creative

THE PROJECT

BID Leicester supported local agency Arch Creative to deliver a new vacant units project, designed to improve the appearance of empty shops in the city centre and turn them into points of interest.

Working with ten local artists spanning a range of styles and mediums, Street Stories celebrates the innovative achievements of pioneering people from Leicester, and also explores some powerful themes including human rights, the environment, consumerism and identity.

BRINGING THE STORY TO STREET STORIES

We worked with Arch to bring augmented reality technology to the project. We also provided a framework solution that enables Street Stories to go to other towns and cities, all within one, new app.

THE STREET STORIES TRAIL IS LIVE IN LEICESTER

You can follow the trail of artworks around the city and bring them to life with multi-sensory animations triggered by our free smartphone app. Download the Graffio AR App now and discover Leicester’s Street Stories. Please be careful and respect other users and pedestrians while using the app.

Would you like to bring Street Stories to your town or city? The project is now available in a variety of packages. Get in touch here.

LINKS

STREET STORIES ARCHCREATIVE BID LEICESTER

Graffio Arts 3/6/22 Graffio Arts 3/6/22

These Boot Were Made for Walking

A full creative business and brand development solution for shoe designers, Agnes & Elina.

We have been working with Agnes and Elina, two talented shoe designers to develop their brand and business strategy.

Design, Management and business coaching: Graffio Arts.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

We are working together on identity, art-direction, working with Hanna Bodsworth on product photography, messaging, e—commerce, production, suppliers and strategies. Things are moving along nicely and we are looking forward to helping them get their products to market.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Graffio Arts 3/3/22 Graffio Arts 3/3/22

A Creative Strategy for a Pioneering Tech Brand

Hedkayse asked us to help them get creative across a range of technically impressive products.

Design and coordination: Graffio Arts.

Hedkayse asked if we could help them develop the creative side of their technologically sophisticated products.

THE HEDKAYSE BRAND

Hedkayse products are the toughest and safest cycle helmets on the market today. They are entirely manufactured in the UK and fit any head size. Hedkayse is soft, fits in a bag and can handle the robust life that a cycle helmet has.

Conventional helmets are made from polystyrene (EPS). In a large impact, polystyrene deforms to provide what’s known as sacrificial protection. This is why you have to be careful not to drop a polystyrene helmet in everyday use, and it’s why manufacturers recommend that you replace your helmet after a knock.

Hedkayse | ONE is their first cycle helmet. It’s lined with high their performance Enkayse™ materialand able to withstand multiple impacts, retain its integrity and perform to European safety standards over and over again.

They are now Head Quartered at Loughborough University and manufacturing the safest cycling helmet the world has ever seen right here in the UK.

CREATIVE COLLABORATION: HEDKAYSE COLLABS

We helped develop strategy for the creative side of collaboration. We developed two approaches. The first was to be able to produce a custom designed range of helmet designs. These collections could be themed by colour, subject or season. The second approach was to be able to select a creative to produce custom helmets based on their creative practice.

The benefit of this is that we could select from a broader range of creatives including artists and the brand could benefit from insights into the artist and their practice.

CUSTOMISATION: HEDKAYSE UNIQUE

Hedkayse were keen to collaborate with different partners to explore different ways to add value and provide more consumer choice. In their words 'Pairing style with performance'.

Headkayse UNIQUE allows visitors to their website to use their own, custom design on their helmets. With years of experience in this area within the world of e-commerce we were able to offer advice on the system and customer communication.

If you are interested in artist associations with your brand then get in touch.

Graffio Arts 3/2/22 Graffio Arts 3/2/22

Delivering Culture in Uncertain Times

An Arts Council funded initiative to deliver art to your living room.

Concept, design and production: Graffio Arts. Artists: Miriam Bean, Alison Carpenter-Hughes, Thierry Miquel, Josh Semans. Producer: Ben Fredricks. Funding: Arts Council England.

ART IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

If you lived with in the town of Loughborough during the Covid -19 lockdown, you may have been one of 15,000 local residencies that received an augmented reality exhibition through your letterbox from The Culture Delivery Service. You’re welcome.

Building on a successful track record of using augmented reality (AR) art to engage new audiences, Graffio Arts have now developed the CDS. The Cultural Delivery Service saw the postal delivery of AR-enabled artist’s prints and artefacts to over 15,000 households in and around Loughborough in 2021.

The artworks were created by four outstanding Leicestershire based artists, who each took a unique approach to the use of AR to add an animated digital element to their work, allowing them to develop their practice and take their creativity to an audience in a new and inclusive way.

THE GOALS OF THE CDS

Through the Cultural Delivery Service, we are aiming to tackle some of the barriers that can prevent audiences and artists from engaging with contemporary art by giving artists commissions and training and having their work delivered directly to people's homes. This was a progressive, consumer-friendly model ensuring that audiences still received high-quality culture in innovative ways, regardless of the current global pandemic while being restricted to their homes.

The CDS continues to be available for creatives and arts organisations that would like to test new models of engagement and the meaningful productisation of work.

HOW IT WORKED

A print arrived through the door. The free prints included instructions to download a free smartphone app, which enabled them to view an AR experience of the chosen Artist’s work via their device when pointed at the print.

We then offered the chance to go the next step. We created a website with an online store where the public could purchase an AR-enabled product from each artist, providing a richer experience for the audience and supporting the artists with a new income stream at that critical time.

INCLUSIVITY AND NEW AUDIENCES

The CDS provided us with the opportunity to pilot a new way of engaging audiences and reach potential future creatives.

We posted free AR artist’s prints to 17,484 households in the LE11 1, 2 and 3 postcodes, which are located in and around Loughborough. This adds up to a total audience base of over 30,000 people. The aim of the project was to reach everyone living in those areas, irrespective of their social, cultural or economic context.

If we seek to be more inclusive we need to broaden the range of quality creatives available to produce work when we launch projects. To be at the quality level required they probably have to have been through art college. How viable is the choice to go to art college for a variety of people at that age? Who makes it through and why? We will likely continue to have a shallow pool of creatives available that do not fully represent society if we don’t take steps to engage with younger audiences. We must show those considering future creative paths (in many different forms) that they are valuable and that their voices are required.

If a handful of young people that would not usually visit a gallery, engaged with this project, then that’s a start.

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

It’s important for creatives to be aware of and be able to take advantage of new technology. These things continue to develop and could have potential implications for their practice, their audiences and broader cultural significance.

When embarking on these kinds of projects we talk through the technology with the associated creatives to ensure that they can make it work for them. By the end of the project, we hope that this new technology is now seen as a viable option for them in the future, should they wish to incorporate it into their practice. It is also provided free of charge.

CDS 001: THE FIRST PROJECT

The first cultural delivery was from four outstanding local creatives. We selected artists with a powerful but varied practice who produce work that is usually best displayed within a gallery context. How would their work translate into delivered products? The challenge was on.

CREATING PRODUCTS

We worked with each artist to produce a mail out print and to develop a product. We used augmented reality to bridge the gap between a gallery and home experience of their art. Each piece had a strict time limit and budget but we worked closely with them and they took each challenge in their stride

MIRIAM BEAN + JOSH SEMANS

This is not work that you might imagine would translate into an offering to be mass produced That's exactly why we chose Miriam to work with as we launch the CDS. Our ambition is to get art that would usually be seen in a controlled gallery context, essentially into a box to take the work to a wider audience. Miriam introduced us to and collaborated with, Josh Semans.

We have been impressed by Miriam's work for quite a while. We collaborated briefly on AREXTRA and were looking forward to the chance to work on something larger in scope.

Miriam is one of those artists that have found their focus quite young with a deep, structured practice that builds with clear, powerful projects. Miriam works with sound and tonal visual motifs.

There is complexity in the sound and process and causal relationships are constantly at play but the visual grounding is always so clear and striking that the work seems almost primal.

One of only a few worldwide, Josh Semans is an ondes Martenot player based in the north-west of England. Committed to bringing this enchanting musical instrument to people in new and different ways, Josh works on many fields with composers across the globe; writing and recording material for albums, soundtracks, installations, and a variety of other applications and mediums. His connection to his instrument runs deep, resulting in nuanced and sensitive performances.

As well as working frequently with others, Josh has recently established himself as a proficient solo artist. Amongst various collaborations and features, 2020 saw the exclusive premiere of his first single, Trust on BBC Radio 3, closely followed by the release of ...And the Birds Will Sing at Sunrise.

MIRIAM: FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM SOUNDCLOUD VIMEO

JOSH: SPOTIFY TWITTER FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM EMAIL

ALISON CARPENTER-HUGHES

We've know Alison for a while and featured her work in a Gallery Without Walls project. At the time we discussed potential collaboration and were impressed with how good Alison was at idea generation. Alisons work often involves sewing and moves from delicate, figurative work to incredibly detailed, painterly pieces.

The hand made nature of the work encourages you to touch it but this is often not desirable in a gallery context. There is a contradiction here that we felt could be ripe to explore. This project will allow people to touch and interact with a piece of Alison's art. Alison is working on a piece that deals with endangered British birds. She's currently drawing, sewing and thinking about augmented reality...

WEBSITE FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM LINKEDIN

THIERRY MIQUEL

Thierry is another artist that we've known for quite a while. Thierry works with paint, found objects, wood and anything he can get his hands on. Thierry's work often contains deliberately crude, humorous and sometime oblique references born out of his life experiences.

There is often a focus on object within Thierry's practice. Even when Thierry works with paint on canvas it is clear that the surface is not meant to convey an image but very much a tactile battleground for his creative explorations.

The conceptual and tactile nature of Thierry's work combined with the fact that he's also a furniture maker and knows how to put things together meant that Thierry was an ideal choice for a project seeking to mass produce an artefact.

These figures have come out of a response to the current times and the uncertainty we have all been living through. The Bone Idols aim to provide the owner with hope, they represent a talisman of our times whilst we live through a Pandemic.

Bone Idols are been produced in a flat pack, easy assembled design. The owner will be immediately able to engage with the different tactile materials of the object. This is utilitarian art which aims to bring together a community of ‘Bone Idols' through the letterbox.

FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM

If you are interested in taking advantage of the CDS as an organiser or as an artist then get in touch and let’s see what what culture we can deliver to people in their own homes!

Graffio Arts 1/23/22 Graffio Arts 1/23/22

We Built an Augmented Reality App

What do you do when the usual AR solutions are too expensive for creatives? Create your own app...

GET THE GRAFFIO AR APP

Download for iOS Download for Android

We started to investigate the options for using augmented reality apps a few years ago. We were shocked at the cost creatives would have to pay to produce a portfolio of work with the offerings available. We decided to build our own app and worked with Swipe and Tap to make this possible. The app is now freely available for iOS and Android.

WHAT IS AUGMENTED REALITY?

An augogram or marker is a computer generated image that is used to create AR. AR can be defined as a system that fulfils three basic features: a combination of real and virtual worlds, real-time interaction, and accurate 3D registration of virtual and real objects.

Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience where objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by artificial perceptual information, sometimes across multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory.

In the context of our app, your mobile device recognises a marker and either plays video on your screen that appears to overlay the marker in the real world or the app delivers a 3D object that interacts with the environment when looking through your screen.

WHY IS AR IMPORTANT?

The increasing ability to augment reality offers alternative avenues for individuals, organisations and brands to explore how they do what they do. It’s a powerful new tool to help us achieve our goals.

A core ambition at Graffio Arts is to lower barriers into the arts with emergent media technology.

The Graffio AR app has already seen use for one off creative work, exhibitions and major arts projects.

If you’d like to use AR to develop what you do, then there are various ways that we can help you. Below are two common solutions.

YOUR AR PROJECT

For creative individuals, brands or organisations. A curated selection of projects where we grant web portal access to creatives to develop their own projects in association with the Graffio Arts brand on the Graffio AR App. Proposals should evidence a degree of sophistication in creative or technical ambition.

YOUR AR APP

An AR app for your brand. For those that wish to their own AR app to work on their own projects that would be branded in-line with their identity.

We have options to allow users to produce their own projects on their own app in a much more affordable way than the first generation of AR.

This can be stand-alone or integrated into your existing app. This allow individuals, organisations or brands to leverage the benefits of augmented reality on their terms.

Ready to start creating augmented reality content? Get in touch.

Graffio Arts 12/24/21 Graffio Arts 12/24/21

Helping Crochyay Spread the Love

One of our key goals at Institute, is to empower local creatives. Olivia Fletcher talks about our work together with Crochyay and encouraging random acts of kindness…

One of our key goals at Institute, is to empower local creatives. Olivia Fletcher talks about our work together with Crochyay and encouraging random acts of kindness…

“In 2019, after struggling with my own mental health, I decided to start a crochet kindness project, where for 100 days, I left a flower with a label attached saying ‘if you found this flower and it brings a smile to your face, feel free to take it home’ in a random location for a stranger to find. I think my goal was to prove that even a tiny act of kindness could be enough to brighten someone else's day, and that it doesn’t always have to be a grand gesture.

After I’d been doing it for a couple of months I was contacted by the BBC and they said they wanted to make a short video about what I’d been doing. This ended up getting over 2 million views and I was then overwhelmed with people contacting me asking how they can get involved with a similar project.

I started off by making a facebook group called Random Acts of Crochet Kindness (RAOCK), where people could share their acts of kindness and seek support and inspiration.

From there I came up with the idea of The Flower Wall Project.

I loved the idea of there being this wall of crocheted/knitted flowers with blank labels attached, in a public space for anybody to take and pass on as an act of kindness. In that way, a person may leave their house with no intention of passing on an act of kindness, but if they see the wall, they may think ‘oh why not!’ and then an act of kindness is carried out that wouldn’t have been before.

Everyone is so busy in their own lives that they often don’t have the headspace to think about doing random acts of kindness, however when they see the flower wall it puts an idea in their head that wasn’t there before, and it often brings happiness to their day too.

So once this idea had firmly planted itself in my brain I had to figure out how I was going to make it work. I turned to my lovely friends for help and the RAOCK group (which by this point had 8000 members) and asked for donations of flowers, and was blown away to receive thousands of donations which I then attached blank labels to.

This is where Graffio Arts came in, they listened to me ramble on about my hopes and dreams with The Flower Wall Project and they helped me piece it together into a logical plan, even inspiring me with ideas I never would have thought of alone, and reassured me that it was all achievable.

Working with Graffio Arts has been so empowering, they didn’t just do everything for me, they taught me how to do it myself, from building the flower wall, to learning how to take it further.

When I was on my own, I felt like the Flower Wall was so far fetched, and probably never going to happen, but now with Graffio Arts’ support and the RAOCK group (which now has 18,000 members!) I’m allowing myself to dream even more about where it could go.

COVID 19 has hit everyone hard and I know there must be so many people feeling lonely and isolated, so the next goal is to take The Flower Wall Project online, where you can send a random flower to a friend or family member with a handwritten label and you just pay for postage.

In the future I would love to set up support groups where everyone comes together to talk about how they’re doing whilst crocheting flowers for the wall, and even lead workshops teaching crochet so I can hopefully inspire more people to get involved with the crochet kindness movement!”

LINKS

CROCHYAY ON FACEBOOK

CROCHYAY ON INSTAGRAM

BBC CROCHAY INTERVIEW

Graffio Arts 12/2/20 Graffio Arts 12/2/20

Illustrating Pop Culture

We produced a series of illustrations for the online print brand POP based on the HBO series, Game of Thrones.

We produced a series of illustrations for the online print brand POP based on the HBO series, Game of Thrones. We created an illustration each week on the weekend after the latest episode launched on HBO.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST

This is part of a series of projects that we produced a few years ago for the art print, e-commerce platform, POP. Each of the projects was time dependent - a print was marketed during one week and released the week after.

This meant that we were discussing the work before it was even produced. We really enjoyed the fast past nature of these projects and we thought we’d share them with you.

iPAD TO THE RESCUE

We used an iPad and an Apple Pencil and the Procreate app to produce the illustrations. The work had to be large enough to print so there was a challenge with the memory of the iPad. We had to juggle the amount of layers possible in relation to the size and resolution of the image.

The only reference we had was screen shots after the episode launched. We knew the style of drawing that we wanted but characters had to be continually redrawn to capture a likeness of the recognisable actors while being consistent with the visual language we were developing.

DEGRADED COLOURS

We wanted to capture some of the dread and foreboding of thE season of Game of Thrones. We made heavy use of degraded palettes and had to tread a fine line between toning things down and the images holding enough contrast to be represented well in print.

Procreates use of layers enabled us to use an off-black line to show detail and to use another layer under this to fill in blocks of colours that could be adjusted on the fly.

MARKETING POP CULTURE

Being able to produce commercial prints each week while the internet was buzzing with Game of Thrones speculation meant that targeted ads fell into the laps of a subject hungry audience.

The weekly nature of the project meant that POP could market their current print and quickly switch to speculation around the next week’s offering.

Graffio Arts 6/5/20 Graffio Arts 6/5/20

AR EXTRA [Street Version]

It may look like a guerrilla poster bombing campaign but this one had permission…

It may look like a guerrilla poster bombing campaign but this one had permission. AREXTRA launched under our ARCITY initiative as a vehicle to bring more exposure to more creatives across Loughborough.

THE PROJECT

ARCITY was created as an umbrella for our augmented reality projects around the city. A Window to Reality was the first project. AREXTRA launched soon after as a an additional vehicle for the augmented artworks. We received permission to take advantage of the windows of disused spaces across Loughborough in a ground-breaking AR land-grab.

An open call was sent out to creatives interested in engaging with AR and once the work started flooding in we selected and developed a range of work for the project. This meant that we could include a wider variety and representation of creatives than the initial project had scope for.

We designed and printed heavy-duty vinyl posters with artwork and information about the project. Those passing by the windows could point their phone at a QR code and quickly download the Graffio AR app. Once the app was installed they could point their phone at the artwork on the poster and see the designed-in layers of extra reality emerge.

We all know what posters are for- they are usually inexpensive to produce and meant to impart a message. It was interesting to subvert this medium into a thing that required more than a double-take-it turned the shop windows into a walk-by augmented reality gallery.

Graffio Arts 5/23/20 Graffio Arts 5/23/20

Gallery Without Walls 04

Selected creatives from Design Season become part of the GWW umbrella and have their work displayed across venues within the city.

Gallery Without Walls project 4 launched as part of Leicester’s Design Season at LCB Hub. To increase exposure to the event the launch coincided with LCB’s Last Friday Street Food Night to a huge audience.

Following on the excellent open-call graphic design and illustration exhibition LOOP we collaborated with the organisers to bring the benefits of GWW to Design Season.

We selected a hand-full of the best creatives from the group that exhibited in the LOOP open-call exhibition. We got more information and more work from them and then matched them with venues throughout the city. We then printed, framed and installed their work across participating venues. We included GWW and personal information cards for the general public to buy their work or contact them in person.

After all the installations we had some cocktails and great street food and the launch night went down a storm. Thank you for the cooperation of all those involved and we hope that the extra exposure for the creatives involved helps on the road to their future careers.

GALLERY WITHOUT WALLS

Gallery Without Walls is a platform for the distribution of artworks across multiple traditional or untraditional spaces around Leicester. We curate exhibitions, collaborate on events and experiment with new ways of displaying art within the city. Our aim is to increase exposure to the arts for the benefit of creatives, venues and the wider community.

ORGANISING CULTURAL EVENTS

If you have an idea for an event and you’re not sure how to move forward or you’d like to collaborate with Institute, then get in touch here.

Graffio Arts 2/23/20 Graffio Arts 2/23/20

Gallery Without Walls 03

A single digital artwork distributed across multiple locations…

27, Gallery Without Walls project three launched at the LCB Depot in Leicester. Featuring the work of Dr Sean Clark, 27 took the GWW brief one step further by distributing one artwork across multiple locations.

Project 03: "27" by award-winning Leicester digital artist, Dr Sean Clark, was premiered at the LCB Depot in Leicester.

The exhibition itself is the completion of a work cycle that started with two works that were part of the Resonance exhibition with Esther Rolinson in Leicester the previous December, then became part of the East Meets West exhibition in Guangzhou, China in April and is now a stand-alone exhibition in its own right.

27 is based around self-organising visual systems. The main building blocks of the piece are groups of three connected grids that grow together by exchanging colours and sorting them according to pre-defined rules. After the grids have been running for a while, Sean captured an image and then combined the images to form larger images. These larger images were then arranged according to additional rules.

The result is a system of patterns-within-patterns where the "parts" make "wholes" that then become parts in larger wholes and so on. In the case of this exhibition, nine locations around Leicester each had three images, which were each composed of three connected grids, which were each composed of 25 colours.

DYNAMIC PATTERNS

Sean’s work is concerned with dynamic patterns or systems of organisation and is inspired by natural processes such as flow and connectedness. His images are generated by computer programs and can run "live" on screens, or exhibited as prints. His first exhibition was in 2000 and since then he has shown work around the world - including in the USA, China, UK & Europe and Australia.

ONE ARTWORK / MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

27 is a single artwork distributed across multiple locations. There are three framed images at each location, each image is composed of a three by three grid of patterns and each pattern is generated by a computer program.

THE LAUNCH

The GWW hub is the LCB Depot, Leicester, and was a great place for the opening night of Project 3. The event was packed with people, amazing street food was served and in the words of Graffio’s new designer, the place was ‘…full of creative souls.’ Perfect.

VENUES

The artwork was distributed across six locations within the City: LCB Depot, The Adult Education Centre, Phoenix, Manhattan 34, Peter’s Pizzeria and The Exchange.

GALLERY WITHOUT WALLS

Graffio Arts 1/23/20 Graffio Arts 1/23/20

Gallery Without Walls 02

The second Gallery Without Walls project took a look behind the graffiti scene with guest curators, Graffwerk.

Gallery Without Walls Project Two launched at the LCB Depot in Leicester on 28th September. Bigger and better than before. The collaboration with Graffwerk was a documentary style look behind the graffiti scene at the relationship between graffiti and public transportation.

AN INTERVIEW WITH GRAFFWERK

Tell me about Graffwerk

Graffwerk is a team with the aim of supporting artists whilst developing the visual landscape of our home city of Leicester. We work on various projects. Working with clients and artists to create artworks is a big part of what we do.

GWW02 the exhibition was behind the scene with Graffwerk- a documentary spin on things- lots of photography- what's is like working with the guys?

It was a really cool project for us to work on. We felt the GWW team really cared about what they were doing. It was important to them that the artists had a sense of ownership on the project and that was key.

What were the main goals for the exhibition?

We wanted to involve genuine grassroots graffiti writers. We’ve found that there are a lot of projects that claim ‘graffiti’ that have no authenticity. By giving writers the ability to submit anonymously we could support a great project with some great images.

Will Graffwerk stay local to Leicester or do you have plans to branch out?

Graffwerk has worked on a number of projects outside of Leicester and we expect to continue this. It’s great to develop relationships both in and outside of the city. This way we can always push forward.

How do you feel about the way the the government treats writers -The fortunate are increasingly earning commissions to help gentrify towns and city's whilst the unfortunate are imprisoned for criminal damage?

We find the whole situation riddled with hypocrisy. Writers are celebrated and demonised in equal measure. It’s great when a city recognises the value of supporting artworks and offers up their walls. But it’s important to understand that graffiti comes in many forms. The term literature covers a vast array of genres, standards and styles. It’s the same with graffiti. To me there is a lot of value in a handstyle. There is a real skill there. And just because something isn’t your thing doesn’t mean it’s no good.

A graffiti writer will serve more time than a paedophile. A prime example was when Stuart Hall was convicted of the sexual assault of 13 girls. He was sentenced to just 15 months. On the same day the writer VAMP was sentenced to 3 years for vandalism. That is just disgusting.

Is there a question of legitimacy/recognition for some of the guys- some seemed really excited to be part of GWW - it was actually quite touching.

A lot of the guys really enjoyed being part of it as they hadn’t exhibited in a formal exhibition before that. Others had but found this to be a bit more unique. I think a lot of the artists liked that the artwork was to be exhibited throughout the city.

For people that are new to the graffiti scene & the festival, your mainstream agenda seems to be paying off? are you pleased with the way things are going?

We are definitely pleased with how things are moving forward. We are confident we can push forward whilst staying true to ourselves and what we are about. We won’t compromise our values for the sake of a project.

What's next for Graffwerk?

We’re working on a lot of projects. Bring The Paint 2019 is one of our priorities as is our new project: The Graffwerk Mill. We’ve recently signed the lease on a huge warehouse which we are converting into a multi-functioning arts centre. You can expect to see this open at the beginning of 2019. Besides that, more walls, more werks and more paint…

The Graffwerk x GWW02 Series explores the transport heritage around graffiti. We created a series of art prints and made them available in an online shop.

Graffio Arts 12/3/19 Graffio Arts 12/3/19

Alexander Jackson Collaboration

Alexander Jackson Interview talks to Graff.io Arts about his latest illustrated series, and what makes him tick.

Graffio Arts collaborated with Alexander to produce a series of art prints titled All Good Things, a selection of some of the most loved (or hated) characters from Game of Thrones. After the project launched, we sat him down for an interview.

GAME OF THRONES

All Good Things is a selection of some of the most loved (or hated) characters from Game of Thrones. Available exclusively on the Graffio Arts shop

You’re working in the Illustration field currently but originally studied art. I’d guess that there was a switch early on and the postgrad course helped you develop a way of working to respond to commercial briefs. Is that right or totally wrong? If that’s on the right track could you explain the change and how the courses helped you develop?

I started to become interested in illustration when I was still at school before going on to further education. I already knew that I wanted to pursue art and my background was more in fine art but I was looking for an outlet to use that in a more commercial context and illustration seemed like the most appealing way to go for me. However, back then I still didn’t feel like I’d really found my voice so I continued my further education in fine art, initially to broaden my skill set. I dabbled in sculpture, oil painting, textiles among other things before eventually going on to study illustration at Edinburgh College of Art.

Your characters couldn’t work unless you get a recognisable likeness but that’s only a fraction of the story of a piece - it’s about drawing- the line, the composition and all the things that make a good drawing. How does that work out? Do you often have to alter a good drawing to get a likeness?

There’s probably more work that goes on behind the scenes that thankfully doesn’t get seen. Occasionally it’s comes together straight away but every now and again I have to doodle someone’s face over and over again until I feel that I’m getting the likeness. I have a few subjects that are yet to be finished because I don’t feel like I’m quite there yet. If it’s a commission though there’s normally a deadline on that and you occasionally have to make amendments to meet the clients expectations, but they normally have something very specific in mind so in those cases I’m interpreting their vision as well.

How do you work? Is it all on a computer? Has that changed over time?

Most of the time my initial drawing work is done by hand and then scanned in. My colours are added digitally and a lot of the texture work (halftone effects, old paper, canvas etc) is created from a library hand-made textures that I’ve previously put together, which I digitally manipulate for the piece. I resisted digital stuff for a while because I like to get my hands dirty when I’m doing arty stuff and like keeping the human element in my work because I think that the way I draw is fairly expressive and is therefore the bread and butter of where most of the personality in my work comes from.That said I feel like way I’ve learnt to digitally process my images still allows me to keep that part of it still present.

Could you tell us about the set up with your work in venues? It sounds interesting- is it something you’d recommend?

I’ve exhibited work in various retail functions over the last few years. Some of them have been at public events that ran for a few days and others have a more permanent set up. I’ve just begun to display a range of prints at Dock Street Studios in Dundee. I’ve been displaying artwork to buy at the Scottish Design Exchange in Edinburgh for 3 years now and also in their Glasgow store since it opened last year. The Scottish Design Exchange is good because 100% of the sale goes to the artist (The artist just pays a monthly fee to exhibit there) so It’s quite helpful in supporting local up and coming creatives.There’s all kinds of handmade treasures in there too, jewellery, paintings, clothing, furniture, cosmetic/grooming products, photography and loads more.The good thing about it for me is the public engagement and seeing which of my designs are the most popular. It took me a few months to get a good grasp on what kinds of things people really want to buy and then to tailor my own products around that. But I’m still learning now.

We are always looking for better ways to help the creatives we work with- is there any advice you’d give to us?

For me personally, social media has played a substantial role in helping my work find an audience, even commissioned projects. Firstly, it’s a helpful way of receiving feedback and engaging with an audience but also it has proved helpful in motivating me to keep creating new work for the sake of maintaining people’s interests.As well as that, I follow mostly other artists on there and their work constantly inspires me to keep working. It can take time gain momentum though, not just on social media but generally, but it’s best just to keep working at it.

Who are you itching to draw next? Or any amazing commissions that you’d like to land?

I have a few portraits that I’m in the process of working on, although it’s still in the early stages and I usually like to surprise people with new work. I’d like to do more stuff that isn’t portrait work as well though, and I have a lot of fun doing music themed artwork, i.e., drawing people playing live music so working within the music industry could be fun.

Do you associate with social commentary illustrators like Skarf or even back to Hogarth? Have you ever had to make a tough decision in the way that you portrayed a person?

To an extent. That inspiration for me comes just as much from film, literature or comedy as it does from visual art. I occasionally create artwork that comes from a place of cynicism if I have something in particular to rant about but I wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s central to the work that I do, I just enjoy it.

Can you tell us about your music? Is there a link between the two?

There’s probably a loose link between the two. At the moment my main focus is a project which is relatively new but is more driven by synths, where as the previous bands I’ve played in were traditionally rock based. I’d describe it as punk rock songs played on analogue synthesizers, with occasional 80’s style shred guitar.As far as there being a connection between that and my visual art I’d say that there is an underlying nod to nostalgia and pop-culture running throughout and I think both appear to be avoiding to appear too polished and clean. I would also say that I’m a very visual thinker, so when it comes to writing music I have specific shapes and colours in mind and I envision people moving in a certain way. It’s sort of like how I would create an oil painting, by filling the canvas with rough shapes straight away and just gradually adding layers until the important details pop through. But the composition and the overall mood and tone seems to manifest itself first.

Were you influenced by album covers? Any key influences?

Album covers were an early influence. I remember going to local art exhibition themed on artwork in heavy metal when I was 12. I was a total metal head as a kid so it was definitely my thing. They had a lot of original paintings there that were used in classic metal album covers as well as stage props, famous guitars and costumes for arena shows. It was mostly just imagery of skulls, flames and motorbikes, which is pretty much the only thing you want to draw when you’re 12. As for influences in my current work, a few album covers spring to mind. I like the drawing on the cover for Beastie Boys’ To The 5 Boroughs, Baroness seem to always have lovely looking artwork on their album covers, Seals and Crofts – Summer Breeze, Melvins – Stag, Tool’s 10 000 days album has some really interesting accompanying artwork, Mastodon – Leviathan, the Dub Trio album Another Sound is Dying is a nice vibrant one.

“For me personally, social media has played a substantial role in helping my work find an audience, even commissioned projects. ”

— Alexander Jackson

Where do you want to get to on the future with your work?

I’d like to do more editorial illustration. I think mainly because it’s regular periodical work with the same client and you get to build up a relationship with them, plus it can be exciting anticipating what the next project with them will be. I’ve also written a couple of children’s books that I need to find the right publisher for although I originally put out a children’s book a few years ago and in my personal experience it’s a competitive market that’s tricky to break and can also be quite time consuming so lately it’s been a little bit less of a priority for me. I’ll hopefully get back to it soon enough though.

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We have produced solutions for fashion houses, film, galleries, tech and sports giants through to tv channels and national museums.

Experience

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Projects Portfolio

Rendah Films wanted an identity system that would express their creativity and work as a street tag while projecting their technical expertise and professionalism. It all kicked off with the creation of ‘Monstah’, a mascot created from the letter R.

APPROPRIATE BACKGROUND MUSIC

EMERGING FROM THE MIDLANDS

MID CENTURY MONSTERS

FILM QUOTES

IT’S ALIVE!

CREATIVITY AND DISCIPLINE

A CATALOGUE OF MONSTERS

MERCHANDISING

PRODUCTION LOGO

THE SEQUENCE

THE VIDEO

THE FUTURE

Graffio Arts provided the app and augmented reality experiences for Bankside’s Frostfair. Working with Phil Dawson (This Must Be The Place) and working in Loughborough and London, we had to design new ways to make the Fairs art trail come to life.

A MULTI-MEDIA TRAIL OF STREET ART MURALS, DIGITAL ART INSTALLATIONS AND EVENTS

NAVIGATING THE ART TRAIL

AUGMENTED REALITY

ART, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

GATHERING THE ARTISTS

AR EXPERIENCES: JASON SLABER

AR EXPERIENCES: NOMAD CLAN

AR EXPERIENCES: JULIA FULLERTON-BATTEN

AR EXPERIENCES: MR CENZ

AR EXPERIENCES: PEACHZZ

AR EXPERIENCES: GRAFFIO ARTS

THE LAUNCH

AR AND YOU

Graffio Arts collaborated with 22 Create and Eisberg Wines to bring art, design and augmented reality to the years biggest cycling events.

A YEAR OF CYCLING

DEVELOPING THE CAMPAIGN

ILLUSTRATION AND AUGMENTATION

ART AND AUGMENTATION

The book tells the moving stories that lie behind the squares of the War Widows’ Quilt, a collaborative piece of art made by more than 90 war widows.

CREDITS

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE WAR WIDOW’S QUILT

VIEWING THE BOOK

CREDITS

FROST FAIR

INTERESTED IN THE BENEFITS OF AR FOR YOUR PROJECT?

Graffio Arts worked with Emily Laurens from Oriel Myrddin Gallery in Carmarthen, Wales, to create Pillars of Society. Pillars of Society (Hoelion Wyth Cymdeithas) is a community project investigating public art in Carmarthen and asking who are our pillars of society?

PROJECT DESIGN

THE CONTEXT

CONVERSATION vs CONFLICT

THE CARDS

CREDITS

LINKS

We have been working with local agency Arch Creative to bring AR to a new vacant units project. Street Stories is designed to improve the appearance of empty shops in the city centre and turn them into points of interest.

THE PROJECT

BRINGING THE STORY TO STREET STORIES

THE STREET STORIES TRAIL IS LIVE IN LEICESTER

Would you like to bring Street Stories to your town or city? The project is now available in a variety of packages. Get in touch here.

LINKS

We have been working with Agnes and Elina, two talented shoe designers to develop their brand and business strategy.

Hedkayse asked if we could help them develop the creative side of their technologically sophisticated products.

THE HEDKAYSE BRAND

CREATIVE COLLABORATION: HEDKAYSE COLLABS

CUSTOMISATION: HEDKAYSE UNIQUE

If you are interested in artist associations with your brand then get in touch.

ART IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

If you lived with in the town of Loughborough during the Covid -19 lockdown, you may have been one of 15,000 local residencies that received an augmented reality exhibition through your letterbox from The Culture Delivery Service. You’re welcome.

THE GOALS OF THE CDS

HOW IT WORKED

INCLUSIVITY AND NEW AUDIENCES

TAKING ADVANTAGE OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

CDS 001: THE FIRST PROJECT

The first cultural delivery was from four outstanding local creatives. We selected artists with a powerful but varied practice who produce work that is usually best displayed within a gallery context. How would their work translate into delivered products? The challenge was on.

CREATING PRODUCTS

﻿MIRIAM BEAN + JOSH SEMANS

ALISON CARPENTER-HUGHES

THIERRY MIQUEL

MIRIAM BEAN + JOSH SEMANS

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