'Yeah! Let’s Do That' Getting into the Spirit of Play for Book Design

The Whippet Up team use art and creativity as a way of working with people to improve wellbeing. They were looking to publish a book, "Yeah! Let's Do That", to capture some of the fun and joyful mess that they created with a group of under 5s and their parents over the past two years. They needed a cover design that would capture the spirit of the book perfectly, encouraging parents to play, make and invent with their kids. They also needed help with the layout, as well as creating a total cohesive feel and typographic style for the interior.

What better way to encapsulate “Yeah! Let’s Do That” than to follow the children’s lead when designing the front cover design? We really got into the spirit of play, incorporating cardboard, string, fabric, paint, card, bubble wrap and the great outdoors... we even baked a letter ‘T’ out of pastry! Each of the letters was inspired by activities throughout the book. The result is a bold title graphic that couldn’t be more apt for this project, nor less corporate! Finally, the scratch-built rocket, which appeared in one of the photos from Whippet Up, seemed too perfect not to incorporate.

“Yeah! let’s do that” was shouted back at the Whippet Up team whenever they took up ideas from the children. "We were artists on a creative journey," said Jane, "looking at how the imagination and creativity of under 5s could shape the way we work."

The book is packed with activity ideas for kids and adults to enjoy together, and we needed to create order out of that joyful chaos with a consistent style. Jane Cuthbert's illustrations are beautifully complemented by the custom lettering, and one of the fonts was even designed by a five-year-old and converted into a font, which we used in the book!

The book was published through Tees Valley Arts with the support of The Ragdoll Foundation, (who produced the Teletubbies!). The photos are all used happily with the permission of parents.

Whippet Up recommend us for 'Professionalism, Quality, Responsiveness and Value' and had this to say about working with us:

“We would like to thank you for all your hard work in pulling the book together. It has been an absolute delight to work with you, your attitude, skills and creativity have shone through throughout the project. The book looks absolutely fantastic! I hope we get the chance to work together again soon and if anyone asks us for any recommendations for design and illustration work we will certainly point them in your direction.””

— Jane Cuthbert, Whippet Up

A Dog's Breakfast Book Cover

Michael McGeary, The Memoir Man, came to us with a request to design the cover of a book he was producing on behalf of a client who had enjoyed a very successful business career: Mike Dawson, OBE.

Abby was delighted to get chatting to Mike right away about producing the cover design for his autobiography "A Dog's Breakfast". Having led a successful and much-varied life, underpinned by adventure, hard work, and a love of black labradors, he had come up with a strikingly original idea for the cover of his autobiography...all he needed was for us to bring the idea to life for him.

The cover would feature a black labrador eating breakfast, his bowl of biscuits spilling all over the floor, with the biscuits depicting various items from Mike's life.

Mike was brilliant to work with, and we both understood how important it was to get the cover right on what was to become a gift to span the generations. We wanted the cover to look playful, busy and exuberant. Abby was always smiling and chuckling whenever they chatted about the project's progress...Mike is a true character, with a warm and self-deprecating humour, and we wanted to get some of that charm into the cover design.

“Abby+Owen created exactly what was required and played a major role in me being able to provide a stunning final product. I hope to work with them again and have no hesitation in recommending their services.”

— Michael McGeary, The Memoir Man

“Abby is a very talented graphic designer, she brings a fresh, clean and cheerful approach to designs of any nature. Importantly she can work within a tight brief or left to bring her own ‘take’ on a project, either way, she uses her own remarkable imagination. During my long business career, Abby is up there with the best. I am pleased to recommend her.”

— Mike Dawson

We are delighted to have played our part in making this beautifully presented, professionally written book a reality. A big thank you to Sarah from Kinship, a husband and Wife Studio who created the perfect layout for the book, and recommended us for the cover design!

Do you have a book that needs a cover design, too?

Postcards and Postcrossers

In our ever-digital age, let's consider the humble postcard for a moment- isn't there something selfless about them? Your grandmother had to live without the 'seen' notification we have grown so accustomed to, for better or for worse! What matters is letting someone know that you're thinking of them, and postcard is a perfect way to do just that. Besides, when was the last time you framed a Facebook message?

As our wonderful retailers Drake The Bookshop and Hartlepool Art Gallery are sadly unable to sell our postcards at this time, we have made our postcards available on our website in batches of 4, 6, 8 and 12! They are a great way of letting loved ones know you're thinking of them, and they're also ideal if you're looking for an affordable series of illustrations for your home, but you're running kind of short on wall space!

Postcards being delivered to Hartlepool Art Gallery

Postcards tell a story, and to illustrate this, we'd like to share one with you.

We were recently contacted by Markey, a resident of Seaton Carew. Enjoying a walk one morning, Markey spied a flash of coloured card skittering along the roadside, propelled by the wind. Curiosity got the better of him and, with a well-placed step, he was able to catch the curious item. It turned out to be an errant postcard; one of our Seaton Carew postcards to be precise- a little battered but no doubt quite relieved to have Markey come to its rescue.

But the plot thickens; Markey's hobby is Postcrossing, the act of sending a postcard off and receiving another back from a random person somewhere in the world. When he got in touch, we were happy to help him out with 20 more postcards- little pieces of Hartlepool to send out to Poland, Finland, Taiwan, the USA and Russia.

Whatever your plan for them might be, start your own postcard story today and check out our range.

Talking Creative Careers with BBC Bitesize

Recently I joined BBC Tees and Bitesize on the road to deliver three 1-hour careers sessions to secondary school audiences in Teesside.

I ended up speaking to an audience of 950 pupils at Our Lady at St Bede's school, to inspire the next generation to look at careers in the creative industries. This is a subject very close to my heart and so I positively jumped at the opportunity to be involved! It was an exciting day of Q&A and chatting with the kids.

The panel had a ‘Question Time’ style setup featuring a panel of three professionals, including myself. It was hosted brilliantly by Capital Radio presenter, Sarah Story. 

(L-R) Sarah Story, Rianne Thompson, myself and Nina White

The focus was on my career journey and the educational route that formed part of it, so I was asked to talk about my business and show examples of some of the wonderful work I've been lucky enough to be involved in.

I wanted to offer some insight into the world of creative work and hopefully shine a light on at least one route into the world of design and illustration, that many of the young faces in the audience might not have considered. Judging by the feedback I've had from the day, I did a pretty good job of that! All in all, I was truly struck by the maturity of the questions asked by the pupils. 

The empty hall before the students came in

Speaking from my University Experience, I know how inspirational it can be to hear from people who followed their passion and set a business up themselves, but it can be a continual struggle to have confidence in your talents at such a young age. I wanted to assure the pupils that being in Teesside can provide plenty of opportunities to carve a creative career path for yourself. 

Being interviewed was a great opportunity to reflect on my journey. Keep your eyes peeled next week as I'll be sharing a transcript of the Q&As! 

My Experience at Ladies, Wine & Design

Ladies Wine & Design is a concept which was set up by famous graphic designer, Jessica Walsh. She recognised there was an unbalance in the creative industry, as only a tiny percent of creative directors are women. The event started in New York and is now a worldwide concept and has spread to 130 countries and is still growing. These free events help offer mentorship and widen our networks. I personally heard about it on Instagram in May 2017, as the event was new to my nearest city, Newcastle, and had recently been set up by the amazing graphic designer, Juli Vignette. When I saw the Ladies, Wine & Design website I loved their ethos and sense of community, so I applied for a place at the Newcastle event right away. The meetings are monthly and are limited to a small group of six creative ladies.

I was open-minded at first, as I had been to networking events before, even a ladies-only one. In my experience, it tended to consist of groups that had been coming for years, so they would gravitate to the people they already knew, and it was normally such a random bunch of people, it was hard to understand the purpose of the event.

At the beginning of May last year, I had just left my in-house graphic designer role. I had recently finished the fantastic, large-scale project for Hartlepool Council with my partner, Owen. It consisted of 12 large vintage style travel posters on display at Hartlepool railway station. This was the springboard I needed into self-employment, as it gained a lot of media attention. I had current clients I was working with, but didn't have a proper website yet, as everything was happening so fast, although I had always freelanced, even while in education. I was feeling a little unsure at that point and was considering all options, including maybe working in a creative studio.

The first meet up was Chit Chat, which was just an open discussion for the group, this was a great introduction, and exactly what I needed. I got there a little too early, and Juli was so welcoming and I got a good vibe off her - she had even created handwritten name badges for everyone. The group was a mix of self-employed ladies, who either have a small team under their employ, work alone as a freelancer, or are themselves employed. A lot of them had worked in creative studios before, so it was really interesting to get their perspective and hear their input, especially when making the switch to self-employment. There was an air of honesty, and everyone seemed comfortable. With the casual chatting, wine and delicious cheese and crackers, it was a really enjoyable and informal experience. I got the train home feeling so positive.

The next meeting I went to was five months later, which was Portfolio Reviews with successful freelancer Mandy Barker, of Sail Creative and Fionn Andrews of Craft Agency (a creative and digital recruitment company). Also, yes, my full name is indeed Abigail.

I have always thought it is important to take criticism and be open to people's suggestions, and what better people to take suggestions from than a successful freelancer, someone I aspire to be like, and someone who recruits people like me all the time, and has seen many portfolios. I had my portfolio reviewed by Mandy and got to see other people's portfolios too. I got some great feedback on my work and realised how diverse the work in my portfolio was too, I received small but useful suggestions on the way I presented the work in my portfolio, which I took on board.

The last event I went to was Branding Yourself, I went with the intention of showing my website and getting the group's input on my brand. I had been torn whether to brand myself as my name or as a company name for a while. As you can see, I opted for my own name and decided to really embrace the fact that when you work with me, you are getting something that has been designed by a trained individual with a focused vision for your project, rather than something designed by a committee.  I decided to use the bold URL iamabbytaylor.com to drive this home. 

The special guest for this event was Sarah Tempest from Altogether Creative. It was fascinating seeing her presentation on how they came up with the brand name and image. it's often a side you don't see, all the unused logos and ideas they didn't run with, it was a unique experience.

Ladies, Wine & Design has been a really useful support network and has had a hand in my huge progress in my first year of self-employment, and have been there to give me a boost at more difficult times. Self-employment is a solitary endeavour and it's healthy and useful to find others in the same boat. Going it alone doesn't mean you have to go it alone! Through the friends and business relationships I have built through Ladies Wine & Design, I've been able to find a useful support network at an important developmental stage in my career. If you're interested in joining, check out their website and see where your nearest event is held and follow them on social media to stay up to date.

From these events, and speaking to other creative women over the last year, it really pulled away a facade for me. In my previous jobs, I have seen lots of amazing females in leadership positions, kicking arse at their jobs and being supportive of others. I thought there were minimal changes to be made for women in the workplace, apart from the obvious gender pay gap and some sexist job requirements/uniforms/remarks etc. in other companies.

It's important to remember, just because you haven't seen or experienced a particular type of inequality yourself, doesn't mean it's a myth. In the last year, I have spoken to women who had been asked if they plan to have children at interview, who had been denied going further up the career ladder because they recently got married and 'will be having kids soon'. I've also spoken to women who have never received remarks like that directly, but were prevented from being on the same wage as their male peers in the same job role.

Talking to other female creatives has really opened my eyes and made me realise how important events where women support each other are. You can always tell who the strong women are anyway, they're the type of women that would go to an event like this, and they choose to build each other up instead of tearing each other down. 

“We rise by lifting others.”

— Unknown