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Cover of Merlin James: River

This is the cover of Merlin James: River a book I designed for the Glasgow-based artist, Merlin James. The book accompanies River, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Merlin James, at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. contemporary art gallery in New York, running from 21 November, 2020 to 23 January 2021. 

I have worked with Merlin before: firstly, in 2013, on the book that Merlin wrote about the work of the Franco-Russian painter Serge Charchoune, published to coincide with an exhibition of Charchoune’s work that was shown at Talbot Rice Gallery in Edinburgh and the Smart Art Museum Chicago; and, more recently on the monograph about the work of Merlin’s partner, the painter Carol Rhodes, that was published by Skira, Milan in 2018. 

This is a wonderful body of work of paintings and drawings, mainly of the view from Merlin’s home and studio on Carlton Place, overlooking the River Clyde in Glasgow. It has been a pleasure to work with these images that have become very familiar to me as the book has taken shape. The book is 165 x 240mm, 80 Pages with a soft cover, printed by Allander in Edinburgh on GalerieArt Matt 170gsm with a cover of GalerieArt Matt 300gsm, a coated matt paper with a tactile quality that has allowed the detail in the works to shine through. The book is typeset in a combination of Meta Serif Pro and Meta Pro with pared back typography and layout that prioritises the artist’s paintings and drawings. The photographs of Merlin’s work were taken by Jack McCombe and the book features an interview with the artist with Louis Block, courtesy of The Brooklyn Rail.



Posterspotting!

On a wet Sunday afternoon, I managed to spot and photograph most of the posters that I designed for Platform:2020 in locations around Edinburgh. Platform is the Edinburgh Art Festival’s annual showcase supporting artists in the early stages of their careers to make and present new work. For previous editions of Platform, an 8 page folded leaflet has been the main focus; this year, I was asked to expand the design to include a 16 page booklet; exhibition graphics, signage and labels; print advertisements; digital advertisements; and this series of posters displayed around the city. The posters are 1016mm x 1524mm and are printed by JackArts. Each poster follows the same template with an image from the four participating artists: Rabindranath A Bhose, Mark Bleakley, Rhona Jack and Susannah Stark.

 


Not Going Back to Normal Book Proofs

Here are the printed running sheets, folded and ready for binding by the printers, of Not Going Back to Normal, a book that I have recently designed, published by Collective Gallery, Edinburgh. I am very proud to have been involved in Not Going Back to Normal, a ‘provocation about how things are and an idea for how things could be. This gallery manifesto gathers disabled artists in their diversity, rage, and imagination to call out the institutional ableism in the Scottish arts and picture a future in which disabled artists are central.’ The book has been edited by Sasha Saben Callaghan and Harry Josephine Giles and has been produced by Siobhan Carroll of Collective. It is printed by Gomer in Wales. I am very excited to see the finished book: Collective have received the finished books but my file copies have gone missing on their way from Wales to Scotland – apparently, it looks great. I will post more photos when I get the books and write about the design elements that aim to make it more accessible to people with visual impairments and for people with dyslexia and other neurodiversities.

www.notgoingbacktonormal.com

www.collective-edinburgh.art


Trunc. by Rabindranath A Bhose

Trunc. by Rabindranath A Bhose is a publication that was created as part of the artist’s contribution to Platform: 2020, the Edinburgh Art Festival’s annual showcase supporting artists in the early stages of their careers to make and present new work. This year, postponed from August, Platform was held at the City Art Centre in November. For this publication, I worked with the artist to make his designs print-ready, artworking his drawings and tweaking his layouts with a light touch as I wanted to maintain the essence of Rabi’s original designs. I also sourced printers and paper stock, advising the artist was what possible within a tight budget. The booklet is 16 pages, 148 x 210mm, with a full colour cover and was printed by Events Armoury in Edinburgh on an uncoated paper. The cover was finished with a holographic sticker that references Rabi’s floor and wall vinyls produced for his installation at the City Art Centre with the books displayed alongside it, which were free for visitors to take away.

www.edinburghartfestival.com


 
Below, the publications installed as part of Rabindranath A Bhose’s installation at the City Art Centre. Installation photos by Tom Nolan, courtesy of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Platform: 2020 Booklet

This is a booklet that I designed to accompany Platform, Edinburgh Art Festival’s annual showcase supporting artists in the early stages of their careers to make and present new work. Usually presented in August, this year’s festival was cancelled because of the pandemic and Platform was postponed until the end of October – the exhibition runs until 29 November at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh. Selected from an open call by artist Ruth Ewan, and curator, Sophia Hao (Cooper Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design), four artists based in Scotland – Rabindranath A Bhose, Mark Bleakley, Rhona Jack and Susannah Stark – have been supported to create new work for this group show.

Last year, the Art Festival invited me to refresh the Platform identity (which I had originally developed in 2015) to create a new look that draws on elements of the previous designs while offering a fresh new take that highlights the artists’ images. For previous editions of Platform, an 8 page folded leaflet was the main design focus; this year, I was asked to expand the identity to include a 16 page booklet; exhibition graphics, signage and labels; print advertisements; digital advertisements; and a series of posters. 

The cover design includes two circles (taken from the colon that punctuates Platform: 2020) with imagery selected from one of the four artists – in this instance, the work of Mark Bleakley, a black and white video still that I overlaid with colour. I have used two typefaces, Freight Sans Pro and Adelle Sans, selected for their character and readability, and I used different weights of Adelle Sans to create a logo that is used throughout all the material that I have designed. The booklet is 210 x 165mm and was printed by Allander, Edinburgh, on UPM Fine Offset 170gsm. 

www.edinburghartfestival.com



Cover of Platform: 2020 Booklet

This is the cover of a booklet that I designed for Platform, Edinburgh Art Festival’s annual showcase supporting artists in the early stages of their careers to make and present new work. Platform is usually presented in August, but this year’s festival was cancelled because of the Covid pandemic and Platform was postponed until the end of October: it runs until 29 November at the City Art Centre, Edinburgh. Selected from an open call by artist Ruth Ewan, and curator, Sophia Hao (Cooper Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design), four artists based in Scotland – Rabindranath A Bhose, Mark Bleakley, Rhona Jack and Susannah Stark – have been supported to create new work for this group show.

Last year, the Art Festival invited me to refresh the Platform identity (which I had originally developed in 2015) to create a new look that draws on elements of the previous designs while offering a fresh new take that highlights the artists’ images. For previous editions of Platform, an 8 page folded leaflet has been the main design focus; this year, I was asked to expand the identity to include a 16 page booklet; exhibition graphics, signage and labels; print advertisements; digital advertisements; and a series of posters. 

The cover design includes the circles (taken from the colon that punctuates Platform: 2020) with imagery selected from one of the four artists – in this instance, the work of Mark Bleakley, a black and white video still that I overlaid with colour. I have used two typefaces, Freight Sans Pro and Adelle Sans, selected for their character and readability, and I used different weights of Adelle Sans to create a logo. The booklet is 210 x 165mm and was printed by Allander, Edinburgh, on UPM Fine Offset 170gsm. 




Platform: 2020 Posters

Platform is the Edinburgh Art Festival’s annual showcase supporting artists in the early stages of their careers to make and present new work. Last year, the Art Festival invited me to refresh the Platform identity (which I had originally developed in 2015) to create a new look that draws on elements of the previous designs while offering a fresh new take that highlights the artists’ images. For previous editions of Platform, an 8 page folded leaflet has been the main focus; this year, I was asked to expand the design to include a 16 page booklet; exhibition graphics, signage and labels; print advertisements; digital advertisements; and a series of posters that will be displayed around the city. 

The posters are 1016mm x 1524mm and are printed by JackArts. Each poster follows the same template with an image from the four participating artists: Rabindranath A Bhose, Mark Bleakley, Rhona Jack and Susannah Stark. I am really looking forward to spotting the posters around my hometown!

Image above: Mark Bleakley 

Image above: Rabindranath A Bhose

Image above: Rhona Jack

Image above: Susannah Stark

Platform is selected from an open call by artist Ruth Ewan and curator Sophia Hao, and features four artists based in Scotland – Rabindranath A Bhose, Mark Bleakley, Rhona Jack and Susannah Stark – who have created new work which will be presented in this group show, which runs at the City Art Centre from 31 October to 29 November. Find out more about Platform here: www.edinburghartfestival.com



Discover RSA Autumn 2020

Discover RSA | Issue 114 | Autumn 2020 

Designed by James Brook for the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 2020 

Booklet | 210 x 148 mm | 16 pages 
Printed by Events Armoury, Edinburgh 

After a short break, when the newsletter (which lists exhibitions, talks and events at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh) was suspended because of the Covid-19 lockdown, I was once again asked to design the RSA newsletter. This is the seventh edition that I have designed, following the design that I established in early 2018. The newsletter is sent to the Friends and to other RSA supporters schemes and this issue features a selection of work made by artists during lockdown. The cover image is by Henry Kondracki RSA, who was in the year above me when I was studying painting at the Slade School of Fine Art in the mid-eighties. The newsletter is printed on an uncoated paper by Events Armoury in Edinburgh.

 

Cover of Discover RSA Newsletter Autumn 2020



After a short break, when the newsletter (which lists exhibitions, talks and events at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh) was suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic, here is the cover of the latest Discover RSA. This is the seventh edition that I have designed in this format and style. The cover image is by academician Henry Kondracki, who was in the year above me when I was studying painting at the Slade School of Fine Art.




Bill Scott Book

Here is a sneak preview of a spread (complete with placeholder text) of a book that I have been designing about the work of the much-loved Scottish sculptor, Bill Scott. The book was intended to accompany the Edinburgh Festival exhibition of Bill’s work at the Royal Scottish Academy in August this year, but then Covid-19 came along and, like many other exhibitions, it was postponed. The book has been mothballed and we will send to print in 2021 when the exhibition has been re-scheduled to take place. I have been working on the book with Bill’s daughter, the arts consultant and Clore Fellow, Jeanie Scott. It has been a pleasure to work with Jeanie and fascinating to find out more about Bill’s practice. The bulk of the photographs in the book are new images, taken by the brilliant John McKenzie, that reveal Bill’s work in all its intricate detail. I am really looking forward to seeing the book in print and the exhibition at the RSA in 2021.


DIY Art – Peter Liversidge



Here is the latest activity pack that I have designed for the Community Engagement team at Edinburgh Art Festival, this time with Peter Liversidge, an artist who uses the artist’s proposal as a tool to describe artworks. DIY Art is a series of activity packs from EAF and selected artists, inviting people to get creative at home. The instructional creativity kits give insights into an artist’s practice, showing how to use their processes and techniques to create unique artworks. The other packs that I have designed were created by artist Alexa Hare, artist and illustrator Sofia Niazi, and artist and educator Naomi Garriock. All four packs can be downloaded here.



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