Made In Earnest

It’s a rock album. It is an art project. It is also a collaboration between Made in Earnest and Stephen Kenny of a two pipe problem using old wooden type to give an unpredictable edge to the printing process. I love the way the wood type takes on a life of its own, each surface mark and imperfection offers a unique print. And that is exactly what it is; a one-off. We only printed it once. There was one test pressing on a sheet of paper and that was it. Straight onto the blank white cover. The finished cover was then shipped back to Germany and Amos headquarters.

The record itself was released on 26 August 2010 on Sounds of Subterrania in Hamburg. On vinyl with a blank white cover. More than 450 visual artists from all over the world and across all genres are creating individual artworks. They live in Munich, Berlin, Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles, on the Phillipines, in Budapest, Rome or Barcelona. The price for the artwork including the record is set by the visual artist himself. We went for a pretty random 50 euros. All one-off pieces will be presented and for sale in an online-gallery on www.amos-showtime.com. There will be also be a five-week-tour through Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Holland with exhibitions in offline galleries and Showtime-release concerts.

Thanks to Stephen for helping me with the project and for Martin Kühnel for asking me to be involved in the first place.

As I have mentioned before I design The Victorian magazine for The Victorian Society and have been doing so since 2005. The magazine is published three times a year and is sent to all members of the Society free of charge. Each issue of the magazine concerns a specific relevant topic, this one pictured was concerned with redundant churches. As well as the corresponding features the magazine contains book reviews, Society news and events, casework reports and interviews.

For those that don’t know, SPILL Festival of Performance is the UK’s premiere artist-led biennale of experimental theatre and live art which began in 2007 and takes place in a variety of venues across London. The festival is produced by Pacitti Company, the Artistic Director is Robert Pacitti and Made In Earnest are responsible for the identity and all the corresponding corporate literature: posters, advertisements, calling cards, flyers and, shown here, the first festival brochure. It has been great to be involved with the whole project as it is a buzz of creativity and everything we have produced so far has been well-received and a real pleasure to design.

So far there has been two SPILLs (2007 and 2009) and the next one is scheduled for 2011. Of the 2009 festival Robert Pacitti said: ”This year the festival has been curated around ideas of ‘agency’. What I mean by this is the ability of each of us to make choices. Every work in the programme, in some way or other, may be viewed through this prism. Some raise questions around how we make choices (or indeed value judgements), others reflect thoughts on how our choices may be imposed on the world. With this in mind we may be provoked to consider issues around responsibility – either individually, or as part of a group – which brings into focus notions of free will, permission to act, and human rights. Of course it is not essential to engage with these ideas to enjoy SPILL. But for those who wish to, the festival will be highlighting some shared threads between aspects of the programme, for you turn over and mull at your leisure, as well as spaces for you to share your thoughts with others.”

Earlier this year we produced a 116 page book, entitled On Agency, to celebrate SPILL so far. It will, of course, be making its way onto this site in due course.

New flyer for The Fickle Formula, this one aimed at all the hip dancers out there. Hope you like it.

Just a couple of images of the Paul White Sounds From The Skylight LP that we designed and which came out last year on One-Handed Music. Technically they are calling it a mini-LP, but it’s got nineteen tracks on it and that, to me, is an LP.  For all you colour obsessives, that’s Pantone 109. It’s bright and eye-catching but not a pure yellow so has a certain extra depth to it and it works brilliantly with black on any two colour job you might have in mind. 

I really liked these cards I had made some time ago. We did them on a thick matt card and sandwiched a sheet of orange in between the front and back, which is actually quite difficult to show in photographs but which looks great when you have the card in your hand. It’s subtle, but the orange is definitely there. I like the way it makes the card look, obviously, and producing them this way makes them feel very very substantial. I’m no Patrick Bateman, but the feel and weight of a business card are important. I dislike those flimsy cards you sometimes get given. In fact, I’d prefer not to get given a card than get one on a stock which is too light.

The reserve of the card shows a white-on-black topographical map, implying that ‘Made In Earnest will help to put you on the map’, or something like that, anyway. Unfortunately (and this is probably pretty much the case with everyone’s business cards), I had too many printed and, having now moved studio, they are sadly defunct. Still, it gives me a good excuse to get some new ones done…

To help celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of The Victorian Society we designed this 48pp brochure to go alongside the Saving A Century exhibition which was held at RIBA headquarters in London. The exhibition panels (which we also designed) are now roaming the country and are at present to be seen at Portsmouth Central Library, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth until 13th August 2010 as part of the Portsmouth Festivities 2010 - The Victorians: Age of Wonder.

‘Saving a Century tells the extraordinary story of the battles that have shaped our towns and cities,’ said Dr Ian Dungavell, Director of the Victorian Society. ‘Without these campaigns, many of our most famous places would look very different today. The exhibition is a testament to the energy and vision of the early members of the Victorian Society as well as a sobering reminder of the way that public opinion and tastes change.’

The brochure itself is still available and can be bought direct from the society.

It started in 2002 with our first one (entitled Life) and up until 2009 we had managed to produce a promotional calendar every year. Unfortunately that sequence stopped this year, but I am hopeful that the calendar will re-appear for 2011. I want to find a suitable topic and collaborator for it, but there is still time. Obviously when (or should that be if?) it happens I will let people know. Regardless of what happens in the future, this is the 2009 calendar we produced with the fantastic artist/illustrator Keemo. 

I’m proud and honoured to be able to say I design for the independent record label One-Handed Music. Alex, the label boss, is a great client and a lovely guy to boot. I’ve done a few things for them already and am in the process of designing the forthcoming 12 from new signing Ahu. That will have to wait, however, as this is The Hidden Treasures EP!

In the words of One-Handed Music; Tranqill is a reclusive South London producer and MC who tells brutal tales of street life with rare wit and panache. It’s like the first time you heard the Wu-Tang: raw, spontaneous, urgent paranoia that’s instantly compelling.

The Hidden Treasures EP collects three jewels from his vast unreleased catalogue. Chips & Cheese serves as the ideal introduction as Tranqill lays all to waste over a perfect loop. If you haven’t already rearranged your top 5 UK list by now, Payroll and the monstrous one-verse Deadly Wintaz will leave you gasping. Throw in the best remix Paul White has ever done and it’s a wrap. And if you like your beats with room to breathe, Paul White’s Dirty Dub is a monster, an explicit version of the track that first appeared on a now rather expensive white label 7” and Mary Anne Hobbs’ Wild Angels compilation. One last thing: there is no ‘u’ in Tranqill.

Another post, another flyer. Until I get the chance to get some photos taken of my work this seems like a good way to gradually upload examples of work from the recent past. This particular one was for the Fun Your Ear (FYE) night which took place at Mook in Leeds. Since its inception in 2001, FYE has gathered a loyal following for its unique and exciting party. The night has been held in London, Leeds, Nottingham, Prague, Cardiff and Bournemouth and has now gone on to the even greater things with the recent launch of Volume One of We Made This.