the thin king. edinburgh graphic design & illustration blog by dave king.

Moving home.

2011-02-13T12:28:00.000-08:00

This domain name will be expiring shortly, as will my time at university. All of this expiration turned into inspiration, and so I have built a new website. From here on in, it's all at www.iamdaveking.com

the world cup.

2010-06-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

So the group stages are over & we've had our fill of upsets, bad referees & fake injuries. Just before the real football gets under way (& England's new coach arrives to take them to the airport) here's a quick visual summary of the results so far. The bottom one is an animated overview of the half-time/full time scores. Click to see the full size versions & the animation.

Barbie at Cannes.

2010-03-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

A wee bit of (miniature) set design & photography to promote Mattel's new range of Barbie Basics. The new Barbies come with a stylish vintage little black dress & are to be promoted alongside this years Cannes Film Festival. Hence the vintage looking balcony shot. For the record I did quite enjoy playing with a Barbie & I'm ok with that. I'm engaged now so I'm allowed to flirt with my feminine side.

Letters from Paris.

2010-03-14T14:05:00.001-07:00

A couple more photos.

2010-03-13T04:20:00.000-08:00

Printemps de Bourges.

2010-03-13T04:08:00.000-08:00

Printemps de Bourges is a music festival held in the spring in Bourges (no prizes for working that one out). The festival's principal selling point is their devotion to new bands, new talent & new discoveries. It's not your average festival made up of the usual top 40 artists. I took this discovery as the starting point for my poster. All the information about the festival is written in type too small to read with the naked eye, however the attached magnifying glass should come in handy.

Les Moutons de Montparnasse.

2010-03-13T03:48:00.001-08:00

Tasked with creating something to share 'my Paris' with the people of this bonnie city, I have created 'The Montparnasse Sheep'. The project is focussed on the pre-determined, automatic way in which the inhabitants of my quartier are forced to walk, both by the less than careful motorists (I witnessed 3 car accidents in my first week) & by the ridiculous amount of barriers & bollards lining every street. Five posters were created with the people of the streets replaced by sheep before putting the posters back into the street that they portrayed & looking out for reactions. From the feedback given in the street I have fashioned a wee book, samples of which can be seen below. The older residents were particularly responsive, I think perhaps sadly recalling the days when they had much more liberty. Sad times indeed.

paris.

2010-02-03T15:26:00.001-08:00

By far & away the most inspiring part of this trip so far is the city's appearance & so I have been practically glued to a camera for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately blogger goes a bit mental & formats things like a madman when you try to upload a large amount of pictures in one post so here's just one shot que j'aime bien. If I could figure out my log in details for flickr then I'd start a gallery but it's not looking likely. Incase you weren't aware, rollerblades are all the rage over here.

beauty.

2010-02-03T15:18:00.001-08:00

Ah, Paris. It's a lovely place & we've settled in fairly well to our wee art school. The environment is very different to that of a large university. Many of the French stereotypes are valid. Everyone does carry a baguette & everyone does smoke however the stripey jumpers & strings of onions have hitherto been absent. We have a life drawing class once a week & we were asked to create a poster using one of our drawings. Unfortunately the wires were crossed slightly & we were actually to zoom in on sections of our drawings & create some quick compositions with typography. Before realising this I had played about with the above poster & didn't really just want to bin it so it has found a home here.

national museum of scotland.

2010-01-02T06:48:00.003-08:00

Fortunately the Scottish Parliament commission was a very well received Christmas present & it even resulted in another commission. This time it's the new development at the National Museum of Scotland.

feedback needed.

2009-12-13T07:03:00.000-08:00

I'd like to ask a wee favour of anyone bored enough to be reading this page. In order to write a couple of convincingly critical essays of this year's work, I could do with some feedback. Below are the three main projects I've been working on for the majority of this semester & any feedback or comments would be much appreciated. Positive, negative, insightful, mundane, short, long, informed, deformed... anything you like.

Project 1

Conceptual suite of bank notes for RBS.

Project 2

Packaging & branding for Belhaven Fruit Farm's Fruit Ices.

Option 1 - Really {N}ice

Option 2 - Fruit Ice

Option 3 - Cold Tub, Warm Heart

Project 3

Identity & Branding for the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust.

mouse eat mouse.

2009-12-09T09:54:00.001-08:00

I made this record sleeve a good few months ago and had refrained from posting it until the album was released. Mouse Eat Mouse are a terrific band from Glasgow with an abrasive sound, a political edge & some beautiful lyricism. I'd highly recommend their debut album 'Mair Licht' to anyone with a taste for a challenge which will reap great rewards (something like the challenge that your first listen to Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Ian Dury or Ivor Cutler poses). Anyhow, the band has undergone a wee personnel shake-up & sadly the album has been shelved so here's the cover.

tags: dave king, illustration, graphic design, record sleeve design, edinburgh, glasgow, mouse eat mouse, mair licht, on the edge.

Let's not forget life is meant to be fun...

2009-12-04T06:43:00.001-08:00

I haven't made a habit of posting other people's work on here but in a time of stress and worry (collectively known as the end-of-term blues), this video should provide some good old-fashioned irreverent fun. It's an advert for Drench water which was written by CHI & Partners and directed by Alex Turner of Infinity Productions. More to the point, it's fucking brilliant.

the scottish parliament.

2009-11-30T06:52:00.000-08:00

A wee Christmastime commission that I've been working on over the weekend. It's definitely the most complicated & confusing building I've taken a pen to yet. What baffles me most is that it actually exists in 3D form. Like it or loathe it, it's a bit of an architectural feat.

tags: dave king, the thin king, scottish parliament, edinburgh, drawing, illustration, indian ink, bristol board.

Off topic ramble.

2009-10-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

It wouldn't be a lie to say that British politics is in a sorry, sorry state. You needn't even look past the front page of the papers to see politicians and policies getting a real grilling. Most of the debate revolves around the same handbags that have been present for years but one development is justly causing concern. It is of course the BNP and their ever increasing support. With Nick Griffin's controversial Question Time appearance came little in the way of intelligent questioning and much in the way of media frenzy. However there was one interesting question. Could the BNPs rise in popularity be attributed to Labour's poor immigration policy? My direct answer to this question is a simple 'no'. Instead I offer another possible explanation and attitudes that I believe must change.

The Concept of Equality

We live in a time that is often described as 'politically correct'. This term is always bemoaned and never used positively. This fact is essentially the basis for my argument.

In the age of 'PC' we must ignore differences in gender, age, physical appearance, race, culture & religion. If we fail to do this we risk being branded a number of titles usually ending with 'ist'. Herein lies a huge problem. A taboo has been created and this only serves to breed contempt. The masses are constantly reminded not to be racist and simultaneously forced to be racist through media-brewed fear. I'm sure you are well aware of the anti-Islamic articles and coverage of which I speak.

So with the pull of 'PC' and the push of fear, people are left in a very odd limbo. Racism is essentially bubbling up under the surface and a well timed entrance from Mr Nick Griffin seems to be the much needed release. This is where the man is very clever. He has seen a disgruntled public and has some pretty nasty designs on how to fix it. He always speaks about 'us' and 'we', he talks as though part of the public rather than part of the establishment. He always mentions the censorship and 'PC' attitudes that 'we' are tired of and in all honesty he seems to be the only politician who has understood this. However, his specific branch of racism is true racism and not just 'non-PC'. But give the public a choice between 'PC' & 'non-PC' and there will likely only be one winner.

Does this mean I'm in agreement with the BNP? Most definitely and absolutely not. My point is that in his 'ashamed to be British, we're being alienated' doctrine he has unearthed something very important. The state of political correctness that we have attained is in no way successful to stamping out racism. If anything it has fuelled it.

What solutions does this leave us with? Well first we must examine our whole concept of equality. It is based on a lie. People are not the same and that is just a simple fact. We must realise that progress is in being able to see peoples differences and still treat them equally, not in being able to ignore peoples differences. Each and every culture, race, religion, gender and generation is graced with such a beautifully rich gift of knowledge, attitude and wisdom. These qualities make different people better at and more suited to different things. To ignore these differences is for me a far more serious crime than not knowing what words are today acceptable.

If we could ever get to the stage where we could celebrate the difference in people and learn from it rather than worrying and describing "the tall guy, blue jeans, short hair, red jumper" when we mean "the black guy" then we would be looking at a far more engaging society. If we could lose the stigma and realise that race is just another difference within the same species and perhaps inject a sense of humour into the issue in the way that Richard Pryor did so beautifully. If people felt comfortable and could laugh about these issues then perhaps they could lose their fear of the unknown and the contempt that comes with it.

If a mainstream politician could for once acknowledge these problems and address them rather than ignoring the BNP as if they were a stain under a rug then we might get somewhere. Apparently David Cameron would like to introduce all female shortlists and Gordon Brown's labour "would increase support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates at the next general election". Both of these decisions are horribly misguided efforts to gain kudos and keep the good ship 'PC' afloat. Politicians must cease to be part of an insular unit that believes it benefits the public. The public after all are real people. We are white, black, asian, gay, straight, lesbian, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, atheist, singing, dancing, sleeping, shitting lumps of flesh. Through all our differences we bring great diversity and all we want is to respect each other and have fun. We don't want people to worry about stepping on our toes and we don't want people to pretend we're the very same as them.

Rules must change, attitudes must change and perspectives must broaden. If things continue the way they are then the BNPs support can only increase and the day the BNP are in charge of this country is the day that I leave it.

anti-money.

2009-10-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

I'm certainly not sold on the tenner's illustration. It's too straightforward. It's too cartoon-esque. It's too jokey & it's too poorly drawn. Oddly there's much more of the intended emotion in the drawing without faces, I'd hazard a guess that it's because we can fill the faces in our imagination thus making them a lot more emotional than the top one. If I can just figure out a 'hapiness & joy' pose similar to the 'love & kindness' one then I might be on to something.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, scottish bank notes, anti-money.

more variations.

2009-10-09T14:02:00.001-07:00

more fruit ice packaging.

2009-10-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

really (n)ice alternate version.

2009-10-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

fruit ice packaging mock ups.

2009-10-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

the card players.

2009-09-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

A modern interpretation of Paul Cézanne's 'The Card Players' (1892). A collaborative project with James McNaught.

tags: dave king, edinburgh, graphic design, photography, conceptual, interpretation, paul cézanne, the card players.

cover illustration.

2009-09-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

The cover illustration from the aforementioned book.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, head in hands, disillusioned.

in print.

2009-09-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

I've just picked up my book from the printers & they've made a great job of it. It's extremely useful to know that these places will not only print flat sheets but trim & assemble the whole thing for a very reasonable price. To think this numpty has been printing, sticking, cutting & stapling on his kitchen table for the last two years.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, photography, typography, book, 20 x 20, print.

here's to perseverance.

2009-09-01T17:24:00.000-07:00

Above is a the half-size draft quality prototype of my book that I've just finished assembling. Tomorrow will see a trip to the printers to get a decent copy. I haven't the faintest idea why this has been so difficult but the relief I now feel is probably close to the sleep that follows childbirth & I shall remain philosophical about the whole ordeal.

The book consists of 9 photos & 9 short poems and I'm pleased to have produced something 'serious' for a change. I think I may have a small fear of being serious & have a tendency to shirk away from the sentimental or serious in favour of humour. It works for me & it has its place but I feel like sometimes you have to delve into uncomfortable places to avoid forming idle habits.

Besides, a dejected mindset & a lack of confidence every so often is certainly not a bad thing. With relentless self criticism comes a relentless effort to improve & with the effort, one would hope, comes some sort of progress. I'm sure this won't be the last project to give me toothache.

Anyhow, enough of this incoherent rambling. I need to go to sleep.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, photography, poetry, disillusioned, book, 20 x 20 project.

words.

2009-08-31T17:44:00.000-07:00

They're just words. Simple words. Not too few, not too many. This should be easy.

I've been trying an awful lot of different ways to present these pictures. I now have a cover illustration and 9 sets of words to go alongside them but my problems seem to be far from over. Firstly I spent many hours working on hand drawn type to no avail and now I can't quite seem to settle my mind on a typeface and a way of using it. Hand drawn type was never right for this project & I was foolish to entertain the idea.

Up steps Bodoni. She seemed a fitting choice & after much consideration I decided the top example of the two shown above was working well. I then started building the rest of the layouts using this as a starting point and I soon realised it might not be working as well as I had originally thought. Having then taken a step back & paired it down to an ever simpler outcome I think I might be reverting to my original opinion.

This project has pillaged my confidence.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, photography, disillusioned, 20 x 20, typography, nightmare.

disillusioned.

2009-08-30T16:47:00.000-07:00

I created this by accident. Disillusioned is the title of my 20 x 20 book which finally makes sense in my head. I was playing around with the title on top of an illustration, hoping that something interesting might happen and out popped this illusion. It's making me feel seasick but for some reason I can't stop staring at it. Easily amused I suppose.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, type, typography, bodoni, disillusioned, illusion.

the hellhounds.

2009-08-29T08:02:00.000-07:00

With the 20 x 20 project fast becoming the bane of my existence I felt the need for a change of scenery around here.

This was set to be the album cover for a double album by The Ballachulish Hellhounds/The Electric Hellhounds. They are essentially the same band, however under one moniker they play bluegrass roots music whilst under the other they play dirty, loud rock 'n' roll music. Unfortunately due to recording issues, the plan for a double album has been shelved and they will now be releasing them separately with unique covers but this little project was fun all the same.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, record sleeve, cd cover, album artwork, ballachulish, electric, hellhounds.

layout ideas.

2009-08-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

I read a good article in this month's Graffik magazine which showed some examples of images cropped outwith a standard 4 sided shape. It's inspired me to have a play with layouts and compositions using images from the last week's shooting. No concrete directions yet but some ideas.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, photography.

more shots.

2009-08-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Two new shots from a rainy back garden and two edits of previous shots. Lots of little ideas are popping up for this now but my main mission is to get 9 good square photos to play with. The opposite side will likely be mostly block colours with perhaps a little hint of a story/words flowing across it and maybe the odd sketchy illustration in white on the colour. Truth be told, I'm not sure where it's going yet, but the photography is coming along.

I'm quite happy with these and I'm enjoying getting to grips with my camera. It deserves more attention than I had previously been paying it. If I intended to leave it on auto I might as well have just bought a wee point and shoot camera. I'm far from a photographer but this project is starting to grab my attention.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, photography, dara, film noir.

restraining order pending.

2009-08-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

A couple more shots of Dara. The bottom one might be my favourite so far.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, photography, 20 x 20, dara.

harassment.

2009-08-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

More photos of Dara taken throughout yesterday at The River Almond, The Cramond Inn & the surrounding areas. There is a pretty decent chance that this may be forming my 20 x 20 project. Provided she doesn't get fed up of me constantly photographing her.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, dara, photography.

playing with a lens.

2009-08-24T15:27:00.000-07:00

I've decided I'm not happy with where my 20x20 book is going so it's been abandoned for now. In procrastination I've found myself trying to get a good picture with the camera set entirely on manual. It's good fun for a beginner. You get one usable photo for every 10 that find their way to the bin.

It also means pestering the good lady while she's trying to read and/or watch some crap on the telly. An indifferent model can make for an interesting capture, I do quite like the expression in the top photo.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, photography.

20 x 20 x 20.

2009-08-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

Above can be seen various pages from a small book I am currently working on. With the uni season veering closer I figured it was about time that I started the summer brief. I've had ideas and made notes and sketches for it all summer but to be honest I've found far more engaging pieces of art, design & music to do over the last few months.

The book can essentially be anything we want it to be provided it contains 20 pages, each measuring 20cm x 20m, and it contains elements of illustration, typography and photography. To that end I am using it as a project to try out some things, probably make a few mistakes, but hopefully pick up some new ideas along the way.

I am treating each page as a separate entity rather than the normal holistic approach to the design of a book or publication. However, there will be a message/theme that ties the whole thing together but to reveal that just now would be to ejaculate prematurely, pardon the crass analogy. I'm sure the savvy among you could work out the theme already but I'm hoping it will come together nicely once the 20 pages are complete.

Having said all that, I'm not really sold on the idea yet and have an incline that this will be abandoned. I can only hope a better idea comes along quick enough.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration.

tonight mathew I'm going to be...

2009-08-22T17:16:00.000-07:00

Ah, those were the days weren't they. The days when we weren't expected to take pub singers & fifteen year olds seriously, some time before they started making 'real' pop stars on the telly.

Anyhow, I have been tasked with producing a self portrait in homage to an icon whom I admire and whilst I lack the Stars In Their Eyes budget, I certainly have no qualms with pouring flour in my hair. To varying degrees of success I have tried to recreate shots of Jim Morrison, Tom Waits & Albert Einstein. I think Einstein has to be the winner.

I must say, a self portrait is extremely difficult.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, photography, self portrait, homage, einstein, tom waits, jim morrison.

the auctioneer's hammer.

2009-08-22T05:21:00.000-07:00

The above screen print of my doing is going to be a very minor part of a very interesting auction. On September 2nd at 6pm, Edinburgh Printmakers Studio is hosting a fundraising auction which includes a whole host of work from a whole host of people. All of the pieces can be viewed online by going here and following the links to the auction page or they can be viewed from 10am - 4pm on the day of the auction.

All proceeds go directly to Edinburgh Printmakers, a hugely valuable resource to many Scottish artists. But fear not, it is not merely little nobodies like your author who have donated work. The auction includes numerous pieces by John Bellany, Alan Davie, June Carey, Joyce Gunn Cairns & Catherine Rayner to name but a few.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, artwork, screen print, auction, art, edinburgh printmakers, fundraising.

things in a shop.

2009-08-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

I now have a few bits and bobs on display and for sale in Edinburgh Airport. There's a screen print of Edinburgh Castle & various ink drawings of the city's streets. They're on display in Momento which can be found on the first floor before security. If you're more fortunate than myself and can afford to catch a plane out of this place then feel free to pop in and have a butcher's.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, screen prints, edinburgh castle, edinburgh streets, art, drawings, ink.

dean bridge.

2009-08-15T12:14:00.000-07:00

Indian ink on Bristol board.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, drawing, art, indian ink, dip pen, bristol board, dean bridge, dean village.

an abstract mess.

2009-08-15T11:48:00.001-07:00

I bought some cheap imitation lino (it was cork) and decided to try a little bit of lino cutting. It wasn't particularly successful, in fact it was a resounding failure, so I got distracted by blobs of black acrylic and a roller. I really quite liked some of the unpredictable textures that sneak in & I'll be bearing this in mind next time I'm looking for an interesting texture for my digital work.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, textures, acrylic, roller, abstract.

gone fishing.

2009-08-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

I worked away on this puffin with the intention of screenprinting him but now I'm not so convinced and so the print has been shelved and this is probably as far as he'll go. Still, he is on the internet. Not every puffin can say that.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, puffin, gone, fishing.

peculiar beast.

2009-08-12T08:28:00.001-07:00

A peculiar wee beast that recently crawled onto my page. Plied with fatigue from an overly early shift at work, I've been sketching to keep myself awake and kill the minutes between now and the football. We're looking for 2-0 Scotland and/or Mcfadden to score the first goal. A good result will make me happy, that result will make me a few quid.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, drawing.

falling keys screenprint.

2009-08-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

I've been back in the studio doing some more screenprinting. The top image of the three is the standard 4-colour version, hand pulled in an edition of 6. The other two are unique alternate versions and were conceived as a result of curiosity and a bit of free time.

I was playing with gum strip, masking out areas of the original background and re-printing it in a translucent purple. I am curiously attracted to the fact that they can never be exactly reproduced as the stencil for them no longer exists. Well in truth it is still in existence but it merely consists of strips of torn & worn gum strip in the bucket.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, art, screen printing, screen prints, piano, keys, falling keys.

victoria street.

2009-08-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

Indian ink on Bristol board.

The originals of most of these drawings are still for sale so feel free to send me an email if you want one.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, drawing, art, indian ink, bristol board, dip pen, victoria street.

odosketch.

2009-08-09T02:31:00.000-07:00

I just came across this fun wee application called Odosketch that allows you to draw and sketch away to your hearts content and when you're finished it turns it into an animation of the drawing being created. I had a wee go and you can see the sketch happening here...

Odosketch

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, Odosketch, sketch, drawing, animation, crazy lady.

dara.

2009-08-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

A quick pencil sketch of my fair lady.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, sketch, caricature, dara, pencil, drawing.

the cowgate.

2009-08-07T03:12:00.001-07:00

Indian ink on Bristol board. I've become mildly addicted to the dip pen.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, art, drawing, indian ink, dip pen, bristol board, edinburgh, cowgate, george IV bridge.

dod & linda.

2009-08-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

Dara's folks in indian ink on bristol board and stupidly put in a frame before I'd taken a photo/scan of it. Silly me.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, caricature.

leith docks.

2009-08-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

Indian ink on Bristol board.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, art, drawing, indian ink, bristol board, leith, shore, docks, edinburgh, boats.

roger that.

2009-08-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

I'm going to do something more elaborate based on this idea very soon. It just popped into my head so I felt the need to vent it in haste.

EDIT: I'd like to point out before it is pointed out to me that I just did a google search to see if this idea has been done. It appears a rather famous song by the bloodhound gang beat me to it. However, my bigger ideas aren't based around swear word gags so it might still be a go-er. I can't find any pieces of design/art/illustration using the phonetic alphabet so we might still be on.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, phonetic alphabet, typography, hand drawn.

holyrood palace.

2009-08-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

Another indian ink & dip pen drawing.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, drawing, indian ink, dip pen, bristol board, holyrood palace, edinburgh.

the royal mile.

2009-08-01T12:13:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I bought a dip pen and some indian ink, I was inspired to give it a try by Alan Fletcher's sketchy drawings with the wrong end of a dip pen and I've picked it up every now and then for the last wee while. I then went to the Open Glass Doors exhibition and was thoroughly enamoured by Hamish McWilliam's ink drawings.

Anyhow, despite all this motivation and inspiration, I only ever seem to use the dip pen to go over existing pencil lines, it gives a nice line weight but I usually do it with the aid of a layout pad. For the first time I decided to grow a pair and give the dip pen a proper airing. I bought a new set of nibs, some bristol board and got down to work. Above is the result alongside my original pencil sketch for the drawing. It was a bit frightening at first, and to be honest it got more frightening as the hours passed. "I've been working on this drawing for hours and I like it, what if I make a mistake now!?", however this anxiety was fleeting and I fair enjoyed it so I shall post more ink drawings as and when I do them.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, drawing, royal mile, tron kirk, indian ink, dip pen, bristol board.

irony.

2009-08-01T07:05:00.001-07:00

Today was a terrible day. I went to the studio for 10am, underslept and with a hint of hayfever. I could only book 2 hours and my first layer was poorly mixed resulting in the ink drying up on the screen and nothing working properly. I left 45mins early in a feral mood having printed nothing.

Anyhow, fortunately I've been awoken from this mood by a small amount of irony, found in the strangest place. I lost my scissors so I had to buy a new pair. I can only presume that most people buying scissors do not have a working pair of scissors. Otherwise there would be no need to buy new scissors. Surely this makes sense, no? So why would the shop sell me a pair of scissors which are held to the packaging with one of those little white tags that can only be taken off with a working pair of scissors? If I had a working pair of scissors to remove the tag then I wouldn't be buying the new pair that the tag is on. What a crazy world.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, screen prints, scissors.

edinburgh castle screenprint.

2009-07-30T15:22:00.000-07:00

I wasn't quite happy with the pencil drawing of the castle so I got out the dip pen and ink and re-drew the whole thing. From here I got quite into the whole thing and ended up working on the rest of the layers and screen printing an edition of 10 of these.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, screenprinting, screen print, pirate, parrot, argh.

argh screenprint.

2009-07-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

A new screenprint. Because pirates are cool.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, screenprinting, screen print, pirate, parrot, argh.

our old flat.

2009-07-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

Our old flat on Cadzow Place, Abbeyhill. I still miss the place, even if it was the coldest abode in town. I am considering screenprinting this illustration but as yet I'm undecided.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, home, flat, cadzow place, edinburgh, london road.

edinburgh castle pencil drawing.

2009-07-23T15:05:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot how much fun it is to sit and draw with a humble pencil.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, edinburgh castle, pencil, drawing, sketch.

bits and pieces.

2009-07-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

Above are two illustrations that I was playing about with to possibly screenprint but I've decided that I really don't like them so they've been scrapped. Since they won't be going anywhere I figured I might as well post them on here. They were of course to be titled 'lying cow' and 'silly mare', very good.

My posting habits have become a lot less prolific in the last few weeks and this is for a number of reasons. Firstly I hate to become a creature of habit and so when I feel like something is becoming routine I like to shake it up a bit. Secondly I've been doing things in the real world and, as I've still not bought into the 'current status' culture, I can't quite bring myself to post every time I have an idea. Anyhow, my current projects include: -

- the previously mentioned recording and designing of our new EP.

- co-writing/planning a short film that I shall be making soon with good buddy and talented film maker Mike Chalmers (details of which I would like to keep close to my chest for now but we've both been working away on it and I'm excited to see what we can do with it).

- thinking about early ideas for a book design open brief we've been assigned from uni for the holidays. I'm playing with the idea of creating a small book of phrases that I've made up to describe certain people/situations. I know this hardly sounds riveting but I'm hoping it will actually be an interesting wee project. I'm not entirely sure on a visual direction for it yet but soon enough.

- preparing illustrations for screen printing. I've now finished a few different prints and I have two new ones ready to go next week which I'll post on here when they're finished. I've started mounting and packaging the prints into cello sleeves in the hope that I might sell a few somewhere, I'm yet to establish where but I'll find somewhere.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, screen printing, film making, music, whisky galore.

screw loose screenprints (better photos).

2009-07-17T09:58:00.001-07:00

posh bird screenprint.

2009-07-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

I've been back at Edinburgh Printmakers today and above are what I've come home with. The top image is the final screenprint, titled 'posh bird' and hand pulled in an edition of 7. Feel free to get in touch if you'd like to buy one for £20. The middle and bottom images are unique alternative versions, one printed without the outline and another printed onto cardboard.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, screenprinting, screen print, posh bird, crow.

aberdour castle and a hatful of rain.

2009-07-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

Armed with a couple of days off and all too aware that I bide opposite a train station, I decided to take a wee day trip to Aberdour. I lasted about an hour, got very wet and reasonably bored and headed back home. I did visit the castle ruins though and above are a few of my photos from the occasion.

I was trying to play about with the composition of a place that could easily become stamp fodder. By that I mean that you could take some lovely pictures from the front, slap them on a postcard and sell them to tourists by the tonne. But your soul would still be a dark place.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, aberdour castle, photography, ruins, scotland, rain.

hellhound ideas.

2009-07-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a sleeve for The Hellhounds double album extravaganza. On one hand they are a bluegrass band known as The Ballachulish Hellhounds, on the other they are a dirty, nasty rock n roll band known as The Electric Hellhounds. They are hoping to combine the two in a double album and I'm hoping to combine the two in one image. Above is a quick sketch of where I think I might go with this.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, hellhounds, ballachulish, electric, sleeve design, double album.

we've ruined it for everyone.

2009-07-13T08:59:00.000-07:00

The last week or so has been spent finishing our new EP, 'we've ruined it for everyone'. Above is the final sleeve and disc and the free sticker. We're expecting to see a lot of them completed with the word 'shite' but here's hoping some people have an imagination or at least a thesaurus.

You can hear 5 tracks from it on our myspace and if you like you can buy it in Elvis Shakespeare, Leith Walk or Avalanche, Cockburn St.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, whisky galore, new ep, sleeve design, we've ruined it for everyone.

a screw loose.

2009-07-03T14:33:00.001-07:00

Above are my latest series of screenprints entitled 'A screw loose'.

They come as a set of 4 and are approximately 14cm x 14cm each, 2 colour prints. They're a limited edition of 4 sets, I'm all about the fours on this one. The photos above aren't great as it's late and I had to use a flash so I might upload more at some point in the next couple of days. If you'd like to buy a set for £16 (£4 each) then feel free to email me at thethinking (AT) hotmail (DOT) co (DOT) uk.

The whole set was based roughly on perception, trying to leave the subject and meaning quite ambiguous. Each image could be pills or screws. The screws could be tightening or loosening depending on how you look at it. The pills could also be innocent painkillers or something more sinister. I was intrigued as to whether a change in the background colour and any wear and tear in the flat blocks of colour would affect the way it is perceived.

I was also thinking about the fact that once a screw has been rotated once, it looks like it's back in the same place even though it is tighter. It's quite a nice metaphor for human progress in general. Sometimes we achieve a lot and think we've done nothing, sometimes we do nothing (or nothing good) and think we've achieved a lot.

Stop me if this is steering too close to pretentiousness. Thinking is fun but sometimes there's a fine line.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, screen print, screw loose, painkillers, pills, progress.

the house i grew up in.

2009-06-25T13:19:00.001-07:00

Today I made a return visit to Edinburgh Printmakers, armed with some sketches of my folks' house and ideas about textures and colours I got stuck right into some messy screenprinting.

I printed 7, printing fairly loosely and hoping for some interesting mistakes to come up. My favourite parts of screenprinting are the anomalies in textures and the slight offsetting of layers. However it's not a particularly easy process and so these mistakes that can really make a piece can also go a bit overboard and ruin one. I was teetering on the edge and 3 of the prints are pretty criminal but I'm quite happy with the 4 above.

I'm going to work on a simpler conceptual piece next week which has to be a bit more regimented and reasonably clean cut so it'll give me a bit more practise at getting the technique down. I want to try as many different things with it as possible so that I've got a lot to play with for future pieces.

I also love the fact that there's no APPLE+Z function when you produce work this way. The whole nature of the process just breeds spontaneity and that's never a bad thing. Well I suppose in the real world it can be but who wants to live in the real world?

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, silk screen printing, house.

my old man.

2009-06-22T08:50:00.001-07:00

I spent the weekend at Edinburgh Printmakers learning to screenprint. The Sunday coincided with father's day hence the print above. It's a 5 colour screenprint with 4 layers drawn by hand and the crossword from the Guardian, scrumpled up, played about with and photocopied to make the 5h layer. I couldn't recommend the place enough, it was brilliant fun and the technique's capabilities are endless. I'm booked in to go back and start using the studio proper on Thursday and I can't wait.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, caricature, father's day, dad, screenprint, edinburgh printmakers.

cyberbullying poster concepts.

2009-06-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

I've been approached to produce some entries for a small charity's poster competition. They need a poster warning children of the dangers lurking behind the internet, in particular the threat of cyber bullying. I'm going to do a bit of thinking and working on this but I rustled up a couple of very quick mock-ups of possible concepts/messages it could put across.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, cyberbullying, poster concepts.

funhouse sleeve design.

2009-06-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

The fourth album sleeve from my re-design mission. This one is for The Stooges lovely noise 'Funhouse', released in 1970 and almost as good as it's predecessor. I've since decided that I do quite like the original sleeve for this one, I'd never noticed the third face that's been manipulated into the artwork before. For it's time it's fairly seamless and it does have a befitting edgy quality to it but I'm just not quite totally sold on it so I included it in this series.

The best bit about doing this series is sitting and re-listening to old favourites that I've neglected recently. This really is a good album, a bit druggy in places but you have to accept that with yon Iggy chap.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, the stooges, funhouse, fun house, record, sleeve, album, cover, cd, album, artwork.

swordfishtrombones sleeve design.

2009-06-17T10:27:00.001-07:00

Record sleeve design for Tom Waits' 1983 classic 'Swordfishtrombones'. One of so many fantastic albums by my favourite artist of all time. Three down thirteen to go in my re-design project.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, record sleeve, cd cover, album artwork, tom waits, swordfishtrombones.

love. in a venn diagram.

2009-06-15T09:51:00.001-07:00

As you may or may not be aware, Venn diagrams are apparently the new black. Or should I say the new 'keep calm and carry on' posters. By this I mean they are all over the design/illustration portion of the internet. Feeling like embracing a trend for a change instead of rubbishing them all, this idea popped into my head. I do think that getting into a pattern of avoiding all trends is a trend in itself and so I thought I'd mix it up a bit by scraping together the fare and jumping on the bandwagon. It would make a nice Valentine's card I think. Wrong time of year though.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, venn diagram, love, valentines day.

the band sleeve design.

2009-06-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

This is the second in my series of classic album re-design. This one is for The Band's eponymous second LP, released in 1969 and containing some fantastic storytelling. Everything about this album just makes me thinks of an old rickety barn, full of stories and memories.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, record sleeve design, cd cover, the band, self-titled.

type tart cards.

2009-06-11T13:28:00.000-07:00

The type tart card exhibition in aid of St. Brides Library has now gone live at Wallpaper*. On display are lots of great cards devoted to typefaces including a wee homage to Zapfino from me. Noma Bar's entry is a favourite of mine.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, type tart cards, exhibition, wallpaper.

astral weeks sleeve design.

2009-06-11T12:42:00.001-07:00

The first outcome from my wee personal project in which I aim to re-envisage the sleeve designs for some of my favourite records. Astral Weeks, released in 1968, is in my opinion the finest album that Van Morrison ever made and a definite contender for the finest album anyone has ever made. A beautifully subtle and hypnotising record, I felt that it needed an understated cover with subdued pastel colours and an illustration that can be read into but isn't immediately or obviously decipherable. Whether I succeeded or not is not for me to say, but I do prefer it to the original.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, record sleeve design, van morrison, astral weeks.

record sleeve design.

2009-06-11T05:50:00.000-07:00

I've always loved record sleeves. Good ones that is. I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for record sleeves, I wouldn't be studying graphic design. Funnily enough, even a crap record sleeve can be perceived positively if you're infatuated with the record it contains. However, I don't think this is a valid excuse for unimaginative, lazy and at times just plain shit design.

Above are 16 records that I would highly recommend listening to but I'm not overly keen on looking at. I'm aiming to redesign them all in the next few weeks, just as a wee project to keep me ticking over. They are...

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

The Band - The Band

Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones

The Stooges - Fun House

Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle

Mr Scruff - Mr Scruff

The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy & The Lash

Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam

The Kinks - Something Else

James Taylor - Sweet Baby James

Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks

John Prine - John Prine

The Cure - The Head On The Door

The Corries - The Silver Collection

David Bowie - Hunky Dory

Alabama 3 - La Peste

I have also set up a myspace for local bands to get in touch. I'm offering up my record sleeve design services FREE OF CHARGE. What a whore. But it's a good way to build up a portfolio. If anyone gets in touch. We'll see. Anyhow the page is here and feel free to send anyone my way if they need some sleevage.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, record sleeve design, cd cover design, free, myspace.

a near finished ep sleeve.

2009-06-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

Just a few little tweaks from the last version. I reckon this is (or is at least pretty close to) finished. As we haven't finished writing/recording yet I've got plenty time to look back, reflect and change the cover with the rare advantage of hindsight. However, at this fleeting moment in time, I'm happy with this version.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, whisky galore, ep sleeve.

and another ep cover variation.

2009-06-10T07:53:00.001-07:00

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, whisky galore, ep sleeve, bear.

and another.

2009-06-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, ep sleeve, whisky galore, bear.

another ep cover variation.

2009-06-10T06:21:00.000-07:00

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, whisky galore, ep sleeve, bear.

playing with the bear.

2009-06-09T14:50:00.001-07:00

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, bear.

new music.

2009-06-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

I've been busy making a racket the last few days.

We've decided to put together a new EP, recorded long distance and making the most of lo-fi home recording and email. So half the EP will be recorded by Andy in London and half by me in sunny Edinburgh. We're experimenting with drum machines, electronics, synths, non-musical objects and other such jiggery pokery whilst maintaining a loose grasp on our old folky sound.

It's a big experiment in many ways and we realised that it could go so badly that the government might ban the making of music hence 'we've ruined it for everyone'.

These are just early sketchy ideas for the sleeve, the illustration and photograph are both mine and I do realise that the bottom one is treading dangerously close to shit metal band territory.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, photography, record sleeve design, whisky galore, new ep.

illustration friday. (craving)

2009-06-09T05:16:00.000-07:00

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration friday, craving, pregnant woman.

popping my lens cap.

2009-06-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

I got my new camera last week and we were blessed with weather worthy of places far more exotic than Edinburgh. Feeling the need to take full advantage of the fleeting sunshine I took to the streets, hills and walkways and set about popping my camera's cherry. I ended up being up to the eyebrows in design work since then and so I've only just had a chance to play about with them. Above are the results.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, photography, waverly station, trees, hills, paths.

illustration friday. (adapt)

2009-06-01T03:00:00.001-07:00

This week's illustration friday theme was 'adapt'. Being such an active, purposeful word I thought it would be fun to try and reflect it's meaning in the type. I'd love to make a visual dictionary like this but to do the lot would probably require more hours than I have left. Apparently there are 171476 words with full listings in the Oxford Dictionary, one per day would require 171476 days, which is around 470 years. I may still be youthful but I'd be surprised if I last that long.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration friday, adapt, hand drawn typography.

exhibition day.

2009-05-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

The culmination of a year's hard labour was joyously celebrated today with a low key exhibition in our studio. We were even greeted by some glorious sunshine. Couple this with wine and cakes and you've got yourself a good day.

Above is a wee look at the work I was exhibiting. All in all it's been a productive year, I'm pretty eager to keep grafting hard and hopefully take my work somewhere exciting in the next two years.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, exhibition.

dress circle logo proposal.

2009-05-29T04:18:00.001-07:00

Dress Circle - a long running musical theatre shop - are looking for a new logo to coincide with the launch of their revamped website. Above is my submission; a simple, clean, contemporary mark. I figured that the viewer could deduce the theatre aspect from the name alone and so music was to be my main focus in the type. After a wee while sketching numerous ideas and drawing out type I spotted this and had to go with it. If something so simple can be done without forcing it then it usually means it should be done. We'll see.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, logo design, dress circle, musical theatre shop.

illustration friday. (cracked)

2009-05-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

I am fully aware that it is no longer Friday but I've only just had a chance to look up this week's topic. Having finally got everything ready and prepared for the exhibition on Friday I am free to play about with other things again. This week's theme was cracked and so I couldn't resist a little illustration/photography/digital collage piece of nonsense.

This is an old photo of my mucker Andy which was taken by the multi-talented Siobhan Mitchell. The egg was hand drawn, hand smashed and photographed by me, however I should point out that it's not some sort of twisted voodoo game. The photo of Andy just happened to be the most suitable one on my hard drive.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration friday, cracked, egg.

pipe smoking publications.

2009-05-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

Who would smoke a pipe?

A series of short publications aiming to dispel the myth that pipe smoking is only for old gents in flat caps. The four publications are housed together in a retro-style matchbox with the sweet smell of pipe tobacco impregnated into every part. Each publication tells a short story about an interesting public figure who savoured the hobby. Varying radically in style and colour, each publication visually represents the subject’s personality and story, illustrating the fact that anyone can smoke a pipe.

The series is characterised by subtle details that tell each story, the idea being that you spend a little time reading them, pondering them and taking in the aroma. This calm, thoughtful experience emulates the experience of smoking a pipe.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, pipe smoking, publications, box set, greta garbo, albert einstein, neil armstrong, john coltrane.

literacy campaign (direct mailer).

2009-05-21T03:51:00.000-07:00

The literacy campaign is now finished, with some images of the final leg (the direct mailer) shown above. I'm awfy pleased with the outcome and I'm fairly eager to see the results from the printers so I can see the whole campaign together at the exhibition.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, literacy, illiteracy, paper aeroplanes, passport, direct mailer.

literacy poster (final).

2009-05-20T09:16:00.001-07:00

A couple of minor changes and a few hours of suspiciously OCD-esque layout twiddling later and the poster is finished. A combination of today's productivity and King Creosote's new album playing loudly almost made me punch the air with glee there. Only almost though, I shall, for now, retain my nonchalant poker face.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, literacy campaign, poster design, books, plane.

ambient literacy campaign.

2009-05-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

I've been out taking photos like a loon today, including a sneaky quick shot using a table outside Starbucks. I certainly wasn't paying their scandalous prices for a trendy looking cup of bog water, but that's a gripe for another day.

I've finished off the ambient wing of my literacy campaign which involved creating jackets for books to make them look like oversized passports then leaving them around town, effectively giving away free books and also trying to back up the idea that a good book can take you on a journey. This would take place just after the poster and direct mailer have been launched and hopefully the whole campaign would be fun, playful, interesting and intriguing.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, literacy, illiteracy, passport, book, ambient media.

literacy poster (with type).

2009-05-19T16:12:00.001-07:00

This is where I am with the hand drawn type. I've spent too long looking at it and adjusting it now to pass any sort of fair judgement so I think I'll wait and see it with fresh eyes tomorrow before I decide if it's a keeper or not.

All the words are in different styles of type for 2 reasons.

1. To keep it loose and fun looking; the type should be varied and interesting as lines on a page as well as words to intrigue/interest any illiterate viewers. Not only is the light-hearted fun style of the poster de-stigmatising for them it is also trying to quench the preconceptions they may have that reading is either boring or difficult.

2. To represent different styles of writing (as in literature not typography).

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, literacy, illiteracy, poster, books, aeroplane, hand drawn typography.

literacy poster design.

2009-05-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at ways to make the 'book plane' poster a bit more interesting to look at and a bit more fun. Above is what I've come up with; a simple naive backdrop for the plane. I think it's a lot better than the simple flat colour background but I'm now having issues with typography and how to make it all work. I have a feeling that some hand-drawn type may be required for this so I shall most likely work on that tomorrow night.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, literacy, illiteracy, plane, books, poster design.

matchbox design.

2009-05-17T15:58:00.001-07:00

I am now working on the box which will contain my 4 pipe smoking publications and have taken vintage matchbox design, of which some fantastic examples can be found here, as my inspiration.

The title of the whole piece is 'Who would smoke a pipe?' hence the question mark of smoke fleeing from the pipe. This will be the front/top of the matchbox and there will perhaps be some type with the title of the project on one side and some sandpaper on the other.

The project is getting very close to finished, it's just a case of tying up all the loose ends, getting everything printed and building the prototypes. Unfortunately this part of the process tends to take way longer than it should and usually involves a lot of swearing, pulling out of hairs and general anger/stress issues. Particularly when a scalpel cut goes awry and a ragged edge is left on your 'masterpiece' or your aim with the spray mount is less than impressive and everything suddenly looks grubby. I'm also not looking forward to the bill at the printers but it'll be worth it in the end.

I also have to get everything finished a day early as there's not a chance I'm staying in to finish this on the night of the Champions League Final.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, matchbox, vintage, pipe smoking.

today.

2009-05-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, today, date, ink stamp, 17th may 2009.

literacy campaign overview.

2009-05-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick overview of the literacy campaign to make sure I understand what I'm doing and to get it 'on paper' before I forget it all.

The campaign's main aim is to encourage reading and will be aimed at both literate and illiterate folk. The main theme of the campaign is holidays/journeys, based on the idea that a good book can take your mind to a whole new place. Even if, like myself, you can't afford to go on a real holiday.

As shown in the image above, there will be 3 parts to the campaign:

A poster of an aeroplane made out of classic books. This will be used in magazines, billboards, newspapers etc.
An ambient campaign where classic books are wrapped in a 'passport sleeve' making them look like oversized passports to the aforementioned 'new place'.
A playful direct mailer containing paper aeroplanes made from pages of classic novels, a small passport with the literacy trust's contact details and a suitcase filled with letters of the alphabet.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, literacy, illiteracy, books, reading, holiday, campaign, journey.

postcard packs.

2009-05-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

I've packaged up the sets of stationery postcards I finished recently. The designs can be seen in detail here. I'm going to have sets of 12 postcards housed in a shiny new pencil case to sell for £5 each. There's only 6 sets, so I suppose you could call that 'limited edition'. How exciting.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, postcards, stationery, set, pencil case.

flying literature.

2009-05-17T10:47:00.001-07:00

This is my fleet of planes that are hoping to tackle illiteracy in the UK. They are handmade from selected pages of 1984, Trainspotting, Oliver Twist & Frankenstein. And they do fly. Now I'm going to have a play about with the contents and envelope for the direct mailer which will contain the planes.

I'm thinking each envelope will contain a paper plane (representing the journey that reading can take you on), a passport (containing the details of the literacy trust, as this will be needed to learn to read) and perhaps a small suitcase (containing letters of the alphabet, which will need to be packed in order to go on the journey). This is the black and white explanation of the mailer but in truth it will hopefully just be engaging and playful whether the recipient is literate or not whilst containing the details for the literacy trust. If it succeeds in this then it shall hopefully encourage people to go to the trust and learn to read. The last thing I want to do is patronise anybody.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, literacy, illiteracy, direct mailer design, paper planes, books, holiday, journey.

illustration friday. (contagious)

2009-05-16T15:15:00.001-07:00

This week's illustration friday theme was 'contagious' and, due to a colossal workload, it only got a quick sketch from me.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration friday, contagious, pigs, swine flu, mexico.

some music we made.

2009-05-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

The brilliant SL Records, home at one time or another to the ridiculously talented Ballboy, St Jude's Infirmary, Dawn Of The Replicants, Misty's Big Adventure, Degrassi and Withered Hand, are featuring a song by our tiny wee folk duo in their May Singles Club. This month's edition was curated by Dave Griffin, proprietor of the equally brilliant Elvis Shakespeare Music & Books Shop.

The track is called 'If Hope Is All You've Got' and it can be downloaded for free here.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, music, free downloads, singles club, whisky galore, sl records, elvis shakespeare.

paper aeroplanes.

2009-05-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

Paper aeroplanes. I think they might be the way ahead. For my literacy project that is. I wouldn't recommend them as a mode of transport, they're always late and overcrowded.

So to tie in with the poster where an image of a plane is made of books I aim to fathom some kind of appropriate, interactive direct mailer. I'm thinking a little box/envelope with pages torn from classic books and folded into wee paper aeroplanes. The recipient will hopefully spend a few seconds wondering what's going on, then a few minutes playing with them and then they will notice a small passport in the box which will guide them to the literacy trust website. The paper aeroplanes will be instantly recognisable to illiterate and literate folks alike and hopefully they will engage with them and get the message that a book can take you on holiday.

The idea being that the paper planes are made of book pages ie. books can take you on a journey. But to get on a plane you need your passport, and to learn to read you need to get in touch with the literacy trust, hence the passport with the info inside. This is only just starting to materialise and make sense in my napper so if you're following this then you deserve a Cracker Jack pencil. Ok, I'm not that old, a Blue Peter badge.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, literacy, books, planes, holiday.

einstein cover.

2009-05-13T13:37:00.001-07:00

Here is how the Einstein typography I posted earlier has translated into a cover for the publication. It should be interesting to see how these 4 little booklets come together. The styles, colours and content are going to vary a fair amount but hopefully the consistently obscure size of the little fellas should keep them looking holistic. We'll see.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, pipe smoking, albert einstein.

greta garbo revisited.

2009-05-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

I wasn't happy with the old illustrated cover so it has been scrapped and re-done. Above is the result. Much better.

tags: dave king, edinburgh graphic design, illustration, pipe smoking, greta garbo.