the online magazine for creative thinking
May 2011 Issue 1 \\\
May 2011 Issue 1 \\\
It’s here, our first issue of Unorthodox! As it is our first issue, please feel free to let us know what you think, when working closely on an item it’s always good to take a step back and hear an outsiders view. In this issue we have 5 different creatives showcasing their work, including one of Europe’s youngest ma graduates and an illustrator with a soft spot for England’s real ale pubs. We hope you enjoy their work as much as we have. Dave & Lucy \\\ the online magazine for creative thinking
This issue \\ Christopher Attaway \\ Richard Liptrot \\ David Thompson \\ Lucy Dickson \\ Mariana Pires \\
Christopher Attaway \\\ Who \\\ I live in Watford where I was born and grew up. I spent some time in the North when I was studying, but returned to the South after I graduated. Background \\\ I studied Photography at school and got a good A Level in it. I always found it so interesting and different from any other subject. We did silver-based photography so there was a real ritual to it that I enjoyed. I remember thinking it was a really ‘cool’ subject. I studied Film Production at university and took an Elective in Photography at the same time just so that I could keep up with it. I didn’t want to just forget about it. It also helped with my filmmaking.
Likes \\\ Travel. I’d love to just keep traveling for the rest of my life.
Interest Origin \\\ I think it started at school. A few of my friends did photography at GCSE and I was always jealous Music and going to gigs. I that they got to take cameras try to get to as many gigs as I home and take pictures for their can afford. coursework, so I decided to Film. I seem to be at the study it at A Level. It was hard cinema every weekend. It’s not to have an interest in it-it nice to get out and watch a was so different and our teacher few independent films at the was so enthusiastic and knew smaller cinemas too. absolutely everything about photography. It really spurred Comics and graphic novels. I got totally into the Scott Pilgrim you on. books last year and I recently finished all six Akira books. It was epic. Ghost World is next on the list. Dislikes \\\ Clingfilm. Feet. Country Rock (country has no business being in rock music!) People who don’t like The Simpsons. Terry Wogan.
Inspiration \\\ Anything, really! Sometimes it’s dayto-day stuff. For example, I’ll walk into town and take my camera with me and I’ll end up taking 50 photographs because everything looks interesting that day, for some reason. Other times it can be music. I listen to a lot of Bob Dylan and I find that his lyrics conjure up all sorts of imagery, I can’t help but visualise how the song would look. I actually want to make a series of photographs to accompany ‘A Hard Rain’s a’ Gonna Fall’. I can picture every line in that song so vividly. Films too. I have always noticed the cinematography of a film. Roger Deakins’ photography for ‘The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford’ is interesting
because he imitated the look of photographs from the time, with the blurred edges. I like Christopher Doyle’s shots in Last Life In The Universe. Wes Anderson films always look great too. I think he always uses the same director of photography and there are always a lot of colourful, face-on shots against walls or backdrops. It works so well. Especially in that last scene of ‘The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou’ where Bill Murray has the kid on his shoulders and they walk, to the tune of David Bowie’s ‘Queen Bitch’, framed against the wall. It’s one of those magicical movie moments! Brilliant.
Inspiring people \\\ There are so many amazing photographers that it seems unfair to pick out just a few. But I am unfair so here goes: I really like André Kertész. He might be my favourite but that could change tomorrow. Henri CartierBresson’s street photographs are great. Don McCullin’s photographs are incredibly
powerful. Steve McCurry’s book, ‘South Southeast’, is really rich in texture and colour. I could look through it all day long. Sebastio Salgado’s photographs of Workers and The Children are unbelievable. Especially his ‘Workers’ series, they really are amazing.
Spare Time \\\ I try to take my camera with me everywhere I go. Apart from taking photographs, I like to film and make shorts. It’s nothing serious but I enjoy it. It’s usually spontaneous, little, ad-libbed comedy films. I’m currently on my third series of comedy shorts, called ‘The Allotment’.
Other creative projects \\\ I really enjoy making films, mainly comedy. A friend and I have started to write comedy sketches. We have so many ideas floating around and we’re finally getting around to writing them down. It would be nice if we could film a couple of those soon.
I also play ukulele. I bought ‘Hailey’ a couple of years ago and learned a few songs, but I’m really not that good, I don’t practice enough.
Ways of working \\\ I like to work my own time! I’m no good with deadlines. I prefer the spontaneity of filmmaking and photography. I’m much better at capturing moments than I am at setting them up. Mediums \\\ I got a digital SLR as a Graduation present after university. That’s what I take most of my pictures on. It’s a Canon EOS 450D. I love it. I recently started working in the Photography department at my old school where I was taught photography, so I get to use the film cameras and process my own prints in the darkroom after school. It’s brilliant, I’m very lucky! I like using the Nikon FM2 when I take analogue photographs. I still don’t have one of my own so, for now, I have to borrow from school. Certain style \\\ I don’t really have a certain style. I guess it would be documentary if you wanted to give it a name. I just take my camera around with me and, if something looks interesting, I try to capture it. I’m not clever, creative or motivated enough to have an agenda like a photojournalist or a surrealist. I’m a bit of a slacker. ‘Slacker Photography’, there you go!
Featured work \\\ There’s a mixture of film and digital in there. They’re taken from all over the place- Southeast Asia, Ireland, America. And some are from home. Instead of going for a theme, I decided on a mixture from across the board. The photograph of the girl selling bracelets reminds me of ‘Salgado’s Children series’. I think it’s my favourite of all the photographs I’ve taken. The photograph of the Old French Casino always makes me feel unsettled. It was used by the Khmer Rouge, in the 1970’s, as a torture house. The image has such an eerie quality for me. It’s probably the closest I’ve gotten to making anything evocative or thought provoking.\\\
Richard Liptrot \\\ Who \\\ I grew up in Runcorn, the grey area between Manchester and Liverpool. I now live in York. Background \\\ I graduated from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) in 2006 with a degree in illustration. Since then I moved to York and have been working as a freelance illustrator. It’s my dream job. Likes \\\ Chocolate Dislikes \\\ Olives
Interest Origin \\\ I have always been creative, I grew up making things with the rubbish I had. This then developed into a passion to draw. Inspiration \\\ My inspiration comes in many forms, including other artists, visiting museums and galleries, books, nature and architecture. I get most of my inspiration from sketching outdoors, I love to examine the buildings, depicting all the tiny detail. I am also greatly inspired by the quirks of England, Tea and Scones for example.
Inspiring people \\\ There are so many inspirations, most of which I don’t even realise, but one guy who is always in my mind is L.S Lowry. When I’m sketching outdoors I always remember a picture I saw of Lowry doing the same thing. His muggy city scenes inspire me greatly.
Olivier Kugler and David Foldvari are a couple of contemporary illustrators I also love, I’m always scanning and searching for illustrators. It’s good to get a taste of what other styles are out there and see who is commissioning and where.
Spare Time \\\I have a soft spot for England’s real ale pubs, I love to travel the country by train to find the most unique pubs with the best real ales available. I like walking and exploring new places. I enjoy all the usual cultural things as well like watching films, listening to Bob Dylan and going to the theatre.
Other creative projects \\\ Besides illustration, other creative activities I enjoy are taking photographs, making a travel journal, and making homemade Birthday and Christmas cards. Ways of working \\\ The best way to work is in my studio with some great music, a cup of coffee and a pack of chocolate biscuits.
Mediums \\\ I tend to use a mixture of acrylic paints, inks, dip pen, collage, watercolour, stencils, printmaking and then all put together digitally. My most treasured tool is my paint roller. I use it to create stencils, I get a great rush when I peel back the stencil to reveal an interesting print. I am always cutting up bits of materials to use for printmaking. My sketching pens and pencils are very dear to me, I carry a pen and notebook wherever I go.
Certain style \\\ I am always developing my style, but I think I have a distinguished look. Featured work \\\ The work featured is from a series of illustrated postcards celebrating England. It was part of a mail out which I sent to my clients. I wanted to pick out all the great things that makes England so quirky, from its pubs to Fish and Chips and Cricket. The cheeky seagull featured represents the English seaside. I created the seagull using newspaper collage as was the traditional way to wrap up fish ‘n’ chips. I think its best to do something you feel passionate about, these are all things I love.\\\
David Thompson \\\ Who \\\ I’m originally from a little village south of Lancaster called Forton, which has a grand population of around 150 with an average age of 50+, and more cows than you can shake a stick at. With a brief stop off at Preston (Uni) I now reside in the city of Manchester. Haven’t a clue what the population is but can say I haven’t seen one cow. Background \\\ I went to the Lancaster School of Art, which then led to me enrolling at the University of Central Lancashire in Graphic Design. After 4 years including a placement year I graduated with honours in 2006 and walked straight into a job at ‘The Chase’, which is where I’m still at today. I initially worked in the newly formed Preston office for 3 years before making the move to Manchester in 2009. Interest Origin \\\ Ever since I can remember I’ve loved to draw and create things. I was always a do’er not a thinker, any spare time I would spend doodling or playing with plasticine or Lego. Growing up on a market garden I was constantly surround by flowers, plants etc, which naturally introduced me to the world of colour and textures. Growing up, I finally realised that a brain was for thinking, and quickly worked out that combining the two gave me the knowledge for solving problems as well as creating and crafting. Inspiration \\\ This is always a tough question to answer. I can never pin it down to a couple of things as I’m influenced by so many subjects, from people to inanimate objects. It’s a cliché but my everyday environment and surroundings are my general inspiration. I always have my eyes open, generally not looking where I’m going (which can be hazardous), but the things you see that just pass most people by. My friends and colleagues always laugh at my little stories and observations, often telling me I overly exaggerate, but I find it a way of processing what I see, it’s how I become inspired. You can only look at so many books and read umpteen blogs before you’ve seen it all before, I walk the same walk every morning and not one is ever the same! The next time you’re going from A to B just look up, not ahead to where your going, but up have a look at what your missing and you might be surprised.
Inspiring people \\\ Being a great fan of architecture, Norman Foster & Partners has to be up there. He’s created some the most iconic buildings over the last 50 years and his team is responsible for creating one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, 30 St Mary Axe (Gherkin) in London. I love this building so much so the first time I was in London after completion I went down and gave it a hug. Inspiration within my profession would have to be ‘Stalwart Studios’, like ‘Pentagram’ and ‘The Partners’, their philosophy of ‘ideas over aesthetics’ is what I adhere too, which is also similar to my employers ‘The Chase’. Individuals who inspire me would have to be Alan Fletcher, Saul Bass, Michael C. Place, Paul Rand to name a few. Also Sam Hecht, Dieter Rams and Jonathan Ive, who are great believers of form and function over aesthetics, but still have the talent to produce beautiful and engaging solutions.
Spare Time \\\ Being a designer I don’t get much spare time but when I do I treasure it. I do all the usual stuff like visit galleries etc., but most of all I like to spend it with friends and family. There’s nothing better than sitting in a pub with your closest friends learning about their recent adventures. If I’m not doing that then I’m in the gym (a great place for thinking but even better for getting away) or something a bit different....designing. Although I design for a living it is a hobby and a passion and I enjoy nothing more than creating something for myself, something that has no guidelines or restrictions and the only person it has to satisfy is me. I also have a great passion for music but I wont go into that.
Ways of working \\\ I love to work in a team, as you might have guessed I love to talk and discuss. Having people to bounce ideas off is invaluable and having people around who you trust to give you an honest opinion is vital. You need to be able to take criticism as in the long run it will save you time and money. Working through a brief, you can never have too much research, I love to immerse myself in the topic. Once I’m happy with my research it’s always tempting to jump straight on to a Mac and get cracking, but just a pen and paper can be more profitable as it allows me to concentrate more on the structure of an idea rather than get sidetracked by the appearance. Once the idea is solid I’ll source illustrations, photography and copy if needed and take them onto the mac where it all comes together. I always carry a little moleskine around with me for making notes, invaluable! Mediums \\\ Day to day I use my mac and all the usual packages such as Adobe CS etc., but every now and then a brief will come along that will require a little more. I love to work with inks through Silk Screen printing and engraving, as well as paper engineering, which I think goes back to when I was little and my fascination in creating things with my hands was the closest thing to architecture I could do that involves function and structure building. Certain style \\\ I don’t think I have a certain style. To be a creative and a problem solver you have to be open to your briefs so to have a style would limit your possibilities and you would be doing yourself and client an injustice Featured work \\\ The piece of work featured is a personal piece that came about from a D&AD student brief for paper suppliers Arjo Wiggins. The brief was to showcase their papers for a large European exhibition. I decided to use their papers to create a bag to carry samples, as it would work on two levels, an example of their papers durability, and a promotional piece to carry their other samples and swatches . A lot of their competitors also produced bags but you would find that clients would often keep the most interesting bag and put other companies samples in it. So for the bag to be successful it had to be unique, visually appealing and the bag to be seen with. The inspiration from the bag was a simple swatch wheel. Each segment of the bag was made of a different stock and weight, which were then embossed with the appropriate details. They were produced in a range different paper stocks, combinations and sizes so they came almost collectible. The structure of the bag was designed to fall in on its self for ease of storage, which added to it’s character and unique and appealing shape. I think the bag was a success and answered the brief. Looking back on it now it could have be refined and maybe toned down a bit but at the time it felt right and I’m still very pleased with the outcome not just as a bag but also as piece of paper engineering which has inspired a set of new bags I’m working on for a current client. \\\
Lucy Dickson \\\
Who \\\ Originally from Sheffield, I studied Graphic Design in Preston for 4 years before going on to work as a designer in Manchester. Background \\\ After leaving school and unsure of which direction to go, I went on to study A Levels, one them being Graphic Design. I then went on to Art College for a year before deciding to pursue my interest in design further by taking on a Graphic Design degree at the University of Central Lancashire. The course was brilliant and really focused on creative thinking. I was also able to do a year in the industry before my final year. After University I was lucky enough to go straight into a job in the design industry and thus ended up in Manchester. Interest Origin \\\ I have always had creative interests, right back from when I was very young, even my parents said they used to sit me in my high chair and I would just sit and scribble for hours. During my school years I even started art classes on a weekend in the local art galleries. My Grandma was very creative, she loved painting, my Grandad still has oil paintings of hers on the walls around the house. I think this has probably played a big influence on my creative interests.
Spare Time \\\ I enjoy all sorts, there’s the usual stuff like spending time with friends, watching films, cycling etc, but I also like to be creative whether that be drawing or working with textiles. I have recently acquired and sewing machine and love to just make things from scratch. I am also a massive fan of baking, although I do have to be careful about how many cakes I make!
Inspiration \\\ I love design, which makes me think, there is so much clever, intelligent design out there, I love the feeling when a piece of work makes you have to look twice, or makes you think “Oh Yeah!� Something as simple as that can set off a spark and make you feel really inspired!
Inspiring people \\\ I like lots of designers and Artists, but one of my favourites is Gustav Klimt. I really like the way he uses different shapes and spirals and the lovely golden colours. Each image tells a story. His smaller sketched images are also fantastic and have a wonderful feel about them.
Other creative projects \\\ Besides life drawing and designing, I also enjoy screen printing and working with textiles. I like to give myself a problem and then solve it, which is why I usually have a few projects on at one time.
Featured \\\ Being a designer you often feel you are restricted to what you can produce, there are so many rules and regulations you have to follow that you can often feel with some projects that your creativity is limited. I decided to take up life drawing classes in the evening after work, as this is something I really enjoyed whilst at art college. I found it the perfect way to relax and would find myself forgetting about the outside world and the stress of every day life. I was able to create something without being restricted. I used different pencils, chalks, charcoal and inks. The two sketchier more expressionist pieces, I created by using charcoal attached to a stick and standing back from the easel. The classes were wonderful a real mix of people, some who were experienced and some who had never done it before. There was no judgement, just everyone doing it their own way. \\\
Mariana Pires \\\ Who \\\ I come originally from a city in Portugal 30 minutes South of Lisbon. I have seen and lived in several countries, which also made me grow independent from a very young age. My parents were jewellers and I spent my childhood playing in the streets of the old city centre, the beach is 15 minutes walking distance. I had a nice childhood.
Background \\\When I was 14 my Arts & Crafts teacher noticed that my drawings were deeply connected with fashion illustrations and recommended I followed studies in fashion at a school in Lisbon. I took the challenge, moved there and started a 3 year industrial fashion design course. During these years I was constantly involved in freelance projects, mostly bridal clothing related. My work became strongly influenced by Portuguese elements and aesthetics. When finished with the studies I was advised by a fashion designer friend to apply to HKU (Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht) in Holland. They believed in my talent and experience and at age 17 offered me a position on their Masters course, which I successfully graduated a year later making me one of the youngest MA graduate in Europe.
Inspiration \\\ Usually I am very influenced by my Portuguese heritage, not because of any nationalist implication, but mostly because these are the memories that lie in my dreams and my subconscious, from my childhood and certain parts of my life. I can affirm that my main source of inspiration are my dreams and I get my best ideas while sleeping, also my design process is deeply connected to memory, because when I feel like remembering a certain period of my life I make a collection inspired in it and the feelings I had while living it.
Inspiring people \\\ Oskar Metsavaht, from the Brazilian brand Osklen, creates his collections and all the communication for them as well, including shoots etc. He makes videos to show “The dream� of his inspiration. His designs are beautiful, minimalist and somehow have very complicated shapes, I find it quite hard to reach both, but he does it wonderfully.
My passions \\\ I enjoy travelling mostly, I have seen over 36 countries, but still I feel its so little. I feel we only have one life and I want to live it to the fullest, I don’t want to miss any beautiful places in this world. My passion is to live my life doing the things I know, I like mostly speaking foreign languages, dancing, designing, sewing and drawing. I also want to find a connection of real fashion with a social cause in the future, but finding a connection with real fashion and charity/ stainability is very difficult. I did my master thesis about it but I haven’t found my answer yet and I believe it will take me a long time because currently I want to develop my experience within the haute couture branch.
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If you’ve been inspired and would like to showcase some of your own work just let us know. We like anything done with passion and just for the love of it. Works we will feature can range from moving image, design, print, fine art, textiles, creative writing, photography, illustration and anything else you may feel is creative. Fill in the contact form on the website or send us an email info@unorthodox.co.uk
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