Holidays are coming!

For me and the fam Christmas is about the following, all of which never fail to deliver those tidings of comfort and joy year on year.

Frank Sinatra- and who else? That's right, big ol blue eyes and his smooth, crisp carols send my sister and I into a festive frenzy of bunny hopping around the kitchen table....we love those J I N G...LE BELLS!!!

Cliche shhhmiche because IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. George Bailey I'll love you until the day I die! All time fav Christmas film (along with National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation), that can only be watched with the five of us present.

Stockings and seek. Never too old for a stocking filled with pressies or satsumas and nuts for that matter (Dad!!) Nor the hiding of gifts mum disguises amidst orders to get tonic from the fridge...there's a present. Carving knife from drawer...a present. Turkey from oven...ROAST POTATOES! Ultimate present!

Unboxing the xmas decs- where we root through the mass of reindeer antlers and moth eaten Christmas hats, untangle fairy lights and deck the oversized tree we forced dad to buy. We hit the Quality Street whilst Mrs Clause deliberates the decor for hours and soon transforms the place into a winter wonderland.

What's not to like? Custard, good. Jam, good. Meat, gooooooood!! The damn Christmas spread is blatantly what it's all about...and the devouring of selection boxes first thing in PJs with a glass of champaz! Thank you Santa!

"Work It, Make It, Do It, Makes Us, Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"

A sports shoe, a kit, a culture, a performance, a GLOBAL sponsor and collaborator; Nike TICK boxes. Their aggressive advertising strategy teamed with product differentiation and contracts with winning athletes position them well in the race for world’s leading sports and fitness company. (Flex muscle!!) But heads up because competitors Adidas, Puma and Reebok are certainly not far behind.

Martin Lindstrom author of Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, argues that there is a significant correlation between brands and religion. For Lindstrom they both share three traits: rituals, mystery, and an enemy. Amen to that! Look at Nike closely; they have a mass following, competitors on their tail, grand temples and profound storytellers; all of whom are chanting and championing the same three words 'Just do it'.


Brands have become a lifestyle, a platform offering our professional, social, habitual lives choice. They are the music we listen to, the people we look up to, the way we dress, the food we eat and the games we play. Celebrities and sports players have become human sandwich boards fashioning the latest sports gear in an all assuming glory (see my previous post on Ellie Goulding!)

 What we must question is this matter of choice and design. Is it all an illusion? Are we actually being conditioned to run in that shoe, wearing those joggers teamed with that Nike+ Sportband (for those who don’t know this collaboration with Apple tracks distance, pace, time and calories burned ( YIKES!))  to make that team...and that destination?

 Intrusive, suggestive or just making a million bucks by giving the world some nifty sports gear, which ever way you look at it the result is a merchandising machine pumping out some genius results.Working in online video advertising gives me a great insight into the marketing minds of giant brands. What has been apparent with Nike from the start is that its universal language speaks to and reaches people: 

“If you have a body, you’re an athlete” 

Their latest Better World campaign is amazing, a film of recycled ads that voices the aspirations of a company, consumer and competitor:

Their prominence is indicative of the way they stay on top of the trends and changes of their consumers, growing with them and for them reaching a whole new level of high top!! As a business they are incredibly sustainable and this is down to three HUGE factors: the first is brand recognition and loyalty, second the science behind the research and development and third is quality which evolves with every new product. Check out the way they roll, its a virtuous circle...

Of course they have not got to the top without stamping out and on obstacles along the way. You don't have to look far to find a document revealing cases of misconduct or descriminative behaviour.

What I would say is that this they appear to acknowledge...although there's no hiding from it... But this video narrated by Nike chairman and co-founder Phil Knight, speaks of the philosophy behind the Better World campaign does gives me hope.

                                                                                       

Rob Ryan: A Man Full of Kindness

Rob Ryan’s stunning prints, patterns, and pages have embellished London and are now set to fill the skies of everyman. If you are not familiar with the name or face you will have sighed adoringly at the poetic simplicity of his work.


Handmade Portraits: Rob Ryan from Etsy on Vimeo.

Ryan’s studio, an Aladdin’s cave of paper projects, is located in Bethnal Green London where he works intricately and intimately with his team. Creations, that are predominantly paper-cuts and prints, occupy every inch of space and time. He also has Ryantown, a shop on Columbia Road where you can find his limited edition prints, paper cuts and some of his quirky keepsakes.

A Sky Full of Kindness, is the first children’s book that he has written and illustrated.  The pages tell a story of a world of birds, which he claims is really about love overcoming fear, and being human.  This follows Ryan’s 2009 This Is For You book of stunning poetry and paper cutting.

His own innocence and sensibility is very evident as he speaks of childhood and its natural translation into adulthood. For Ryan love is not the ‘obvious’ topic or inspiration for art, it is the everything...all consuming and all interconnected.

His work reflects the world as he sees it, capturing the beauty in the everyday and every man, woman, child...bird.

 ‘BEING ALIVE, BEING HUMAN AND BEING A PERSON...AND THEN OF COURSE THERE IS THIS OTHER THING, AND IT’S LOVE’ Rob Ryan.

Stamp that and send me happy...

Homemade cards have always been my thing. Initially it was about filling Birthday, Christmas, Congratulatory and Thank you cards with excited scribbling and detailed, illustrated, capitalised and (I like to think) witty correspondence. Of course this continues but I will now hand make any thing that I can stick a stamp to. 

Admittedly I do not embellish my letters to H M Revenue & Customs nor Lloyds TSB; perhaps I am yet to love them (nothing to do with the taxing matter of automated phone services and delayed repayments).  Ah I digress from my creative karma! 

Sourcing, cutting, cropping, sticking, stencilling and stamping cards are things I LOVE doing. I will cut out letters and words from newspapers and magazines to collage slogans and sayings for my adored (and lucky) recipients. These are often rooted in an ongoing family joke or episode, film quotation or of course something quite profound and emotive. To date, most have been for my Muma as it is she who epitomises many a person to me. Plus she must assume her maternal duty to love and encourage my creations and crap.

Inspiration is taken from my day to day life: articles, conversations, expression.  I am far more moved by the written or spoken word than pictorial art (ahem enter English lit degree) and whilst I appreciate photography and portrait art I am captivated by words.  

I love the Penguin Postcard collection and the classic titles and illustrations that fill both box sets. I also admire Rob Ryan's paper cuts and screen prints; and whilst his illustrations of a natural world (one at love as well as in love) are beautiful, it is the words that have holding power. Letters are the bunting of his wonderland, where love and joy are effervescent, and not in a slap you round the face with it kind of way. So simple and so eloquent, why wouldn't you want to "Believe in people" like he does. 

 

So my stuff, collection if you will, is similar in its outlook on and love of language. Minus the definite presence of romantic love! I am working on creating a range of genres without being overly generic. Ideally I would want to follow in Ryan's huge cut out footprints and sell and commission my work. Without selling out in any way that is, keeping total control and continuing to explore ideas and avenues...like going fabric! 

I think I could create a range that would stand out from the mundane, over priced and effortless ones that occupy shelves storing dust. Card fauxs and personal pet hates are: Clinton Cards, Card Factory, Cardfair and this is because they hold the vile, glossy, homogenised folds that are completely impersonal.

I also dislike the amateur attempts to be creative on the cheap: the lone paddle boat in some far off rural retreat, floral snapshots, female silhouettes...you know the ones. We're all guilty of that purchase, the six for a pound deal in The Works; but if you have the time to stick from scratch and make something creatively tailored for your recipient, guaranteed it will make their day, mantelpiece and even their box of keepsakes labelled 'sentimental shit'!

If time, patience or virtue are not on side but you desperately need a little something special to send to a loved one, then just drop me a line. My strategic business side would estimate that you can purchase my collection from selected stores by this time next year. Until then you know where I am, so let me know what your looking for and I will commission something especially. Don't be questioning my gluey antics, they'll be something to hold on to I promise...

Golden for Goulding

Teaming up with Nike is a sure game, set, match for Miss Goulding. Beautiful voice- Your Song actually gives me goosebumps- and a quality performer who is effortlessly chic with an edgy look that floors me every time. And she makes an undercut look HOT, along with champagne pink platinum locks...

High Five

Five reasons to go out pronto and bag yourself a new, old, retro or gold pair of high top trainers. Is it that obvious that last week's purchase of grey and white Nike high tops were my first? Well they were, and I just LOVE them.

Numero Uno: Oh so comfortable! Not only do they complete our jeans and tee combination, but they are like pulling on slippers carefree and so darn comfy.

Two: They come in every shape and size, so you can quite literally fashion a pair whatever your age or colour/ print preference. There are a pair of these babies to wear at any and every occasion, there are no limits so go all out.

Three is the magic number: They just look COOL! Now, either I look completely ridiculous in mine and the double takes that I have been receiving are down to lacing them up the wrong way or they are the approving acknowledgments of my new footwear. Hmmm is this dude opposite me on the train thinking my, clearly very new, high tops to be well chosen? Well suited? Well sported?

Are there rules to this look I wonder? Do you stick with high or mid tops? Puma or Nike? One colour, any colour, all colours? Is there a time frame, I mean is it strictly Saturdays and week days from 6pm or can we push boundaries and wear them all day every day?

I say MIX and MEASURE, mix it up and choose a pair that you instantly love, wear from the moment of purchase and cant bear to live a day without. When I say measure I mean wear the loud outrageous hot pink pair with a low key outfit to do them justice. My Muma always taught me that subtlety is KEY.

Four: You can get yourself a pair almost anywhere! If you can't quite bear JD Sports, no problem as you can source them online, off line, in Offspring, Topshop, Ebay, and many a high street store. Prices will vary but you can get yourself a pair easily without breaking the bank, mine were about sixty quid but you can buy from twenty upwards!

And my number five: You can work them out! Trawling the town or training up you feel top of your game. Mine make me want to sky punch and hollar Adriiiiiiienne.