I want to share a small project I completed for a friend before Christmas. My friend is a budding poet and wrote a few verses about a hunt for a ‘marmalade bear.’ He was so pleased with it he asked me to illustrate it for him so he might give it to his grandchildren as a gift.
Below is the result.

This is a logo project I finished in the last few months. I thought it was interesting enough to share with everyone.

 
Ray-Box create bespoke lighting installations. They are pieces of art in their own right but are built to make a feature of any chosen picture. Abi B creates lightboxes that light up any photo, quote or image that the customer requests. They are made as interior decor features.

The logo needed to create a high quality, bespoke design impression whilst still giving the suggestion of the nature of the product.

 
I believe together the client and I worked together to create a logo that changed completely from the ideas we discussed in the initial consultations, but is successful in all the criteria we set out.
I like the clean simplicity and play on the idea of ‘hollywood’ spotlights to give the logo a playful edge whilst suggesting a high end product.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the results.

I’m pleased to share a project I completed recently for a new logistics company called Maze Logistic Solutions.

It’s always a treat to create an identity for an organisation with an instantly evocative name. It’s a particularly clever name for a logistics company, whose job it is to find solutions in complex situations.

The downside of such an instantly likeable name is that you have to be careful not to come up with anything too over the top or obvious.

 
I believe the design I’ve come up with treads a fine line between an being an obvious reaction and being too subtle. To me this balance is very pleasing.

I’d be interested to hear you thoughts.

 
A while back I was asked by Digital Artist magazine to approve the use of some of the free design resources that I put up on my site to download. They were to be included on some of their free CD’s that accompany the magazine.

I believe they have been included in an English and Malaysian edition. This week I got a sample sent through of a French version.


 

 
My french hasn’t been tested since I took my GCSE’s, but thanks to the wonder that is ‘Google translate’ the above passage reads as follows:
Vector shapes and vector style ink
kenreynoldsdesign.co.uk
One of the strengths of Illustrator is undoubtedly its clear lines, then of course we can not resist the temptation to try to make these lines look a bit grungy!
These forms and vectors in ink created by designer Ken Reynolds are perfect for adding a little attraction in ink. If this particular course section dedicated to drawing using ink inspired you, you might also spontaneously reproduce this into digital form in this case these are for you.

Maybe not the greatest accolade, but I thought it was worth sharing with you all. It’s not every day that I see my name in print, especially in French!

The resources are still available to download on this site too:
Free Illustrator Scribble Vectors
Illustrator Ink Vectors
Photoshop Ink Brushes
Illustrator Ink Brushes – Set 1
Illustrator Ink Brushes – Set 2

 
Royal Weddings and cheesy merchandise go together like Princes and Princesses! But why do the Royals get all of the fun?
To help us celebrate on our special day I designed a tea towel of our own to commemorate the occasion!

Let me know what you think!

I don’t and never have advertised myself as a web-developer. I have designed websites in the past, but have then passed over the coding to someone that knows what they are doing.

 
Having said this, it’s always good to give new things a try, and you never know what new skills you might want to learn once you’ve given something a try.

A few years ago I made a website for a photographer friend of mine that I went to college with, Martyn Willingham.
It looked nice enough. I was happy with how it worked, but I made the mistake of using Dreamweaver’s design interface to put it together. (I can hear the screams!)
Admittedly, I was young and inexperienced, but I did create a website that worked for a good few years.

The only sticking point was that making amendments to the site started to become a bit of a drag. Because my initial build was the reason for this problem I started pitching new site ideas to Martyn.
I suggested that we build a site using WordPress so he could then take control of the content and updates himself, and in the long run save himself the expense of having me putting the old site through the wringer.

My developer friend Andy Kleeman (TBWCF) suggested that we use a wordpress theme and then customise it to Martyn’s needs.

As I said, I’m by no means a web-developer, but I have been using the WordPress interface for the last few years to keep this blog and site going. Also, because this was a small side job for a friend I felt like I could try to do this for him with the proviso that I might indeed fail.

 
Andy suggested a great wordpress theme called ‘Photography’ form a small site called ‘The Theme Foundry’.

It took a little trial and error, and more than a couple of occasions where I made changes knowing I had no idea what I was doing, but I managed to get the job done. I fact I think I might have underestimated just how much knowledge I’ve picked up since I started blogging.

I’m a little proud of myself, which is laughable if you are proper web-developer, but I put myself out on a limb and tried something unfamiliar to my skill set.

I think the resultant website is very good, and perfectly services Martyn’s needs. You might like to keep an eye out for his blog once he gets into it, as he’s always had plenty to say for himself!

I’m also glad I tried something different and would definitely look into doing more work customising wordpress themes.

Let me know what you think of Martyn’s site. I’d also love to know the last time you did some work that was outside your comfort zone, and how it turned out.

A while back I created a typographical portrait of Shakespeare as a tutorial (which you can see here). Towards the end of 2010 I was contacted by a gentleman named Ken Clark who is the set designer for The Hawthorne Players, a community theatre in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

 
He asked me if they might be able to use my portrait as a backdrop for their performance of the improv and comedy show ‘The complete works of Shakespeare, Abridged.”

I was familiar with the show and love the spin it puts on Shakespeare. I was also made aware that the Hawthorne Players is a non-profit organisation that does a lot of good in the arts community, including a generous scholarship program.
For these reasons I agreed that they could use my artwork.

I created this portrait for my own ends to make a tutorial, it’s great to see it being bought to life on the stage.

Piston Apparel is a ‘Kustom Kulture’ clothing and accessories brand. They sell a range of clothes, mostly t-shirts, with original designs geared towards hot rods, pinstriping, rockabilly, physcobilly and tattoo culture.

 
I’ve been involved with the design of the range from it’s inception, and continued all the way through to the current range.
It’s always exciting to start a project and see it grow and develop over time.

I was also asked to help design the website and shop with the help of Andy Kleeman (TBWCF) who developed the site.
Piston are now into their second year, and second range of designs.

Below are a selection of the designs I’ve done for Piston. You can see the full range of products over at www.pistonapparel.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
If you like any of the designs and fancy buying a shirt, Piston are running a competition to celebrate the release of the new 2011 designs. If you buy a 2011 release in the month of March you will be entered into a draw to win £70 worth of Piston merchanside. You can read more about this competition here.

Let me know your thoughts on the designs and the site.

All in all I think this is the best project I’ve worked on, and I’m very pleased and proud whenever I visit the site.

I’m getting married later this year. Part of the blessing and curse of being a designer is that a lot of things you might want for your wedding day can be designed and made yourself.

It’s a lot of fun to customise your day and create parts of it for yourself, and it’s a big money saver, but it’s also worth considering that your partner suddenly becomes your client!

We sent our invitations out last week so I thought it would be nice to share the design with everyone.

I’m very pleased with how they came out considering there was always a danger of them having a bit of a split personality because myself and Claire (my fiancee) have quite different aesthetic tastes.
The outside of the invite is very ‘me’ it’s clean simple and elegant (at least that’s what I went for), inside things get a bit more decorative and flamboyant, which sums up Claire well.

I think I managed to balance the elements well, creating a design surprise as you open the invite.

The invitations were screen printed on thick bright white board by Ipscreen Design & Print to which I owe a huge thank you for their patience and attention to detail.

I then decided to hand cut and crease all of the invitations to shape with a scalpel (not the smartest decision in the world, but the cheapest and eventually most rewarding!).

At this point the ribbon was attached, the invitation written out then the finishing touch of sealing each one with silver wax, pressed with a bell motif stamp.

I’d love to hear what you think of the finished product and the process. This will probably be the first of many wedding related posts as the day draws nearer!

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about running my blog over the last year and a half is the comic strip I created to commentate on my life and in general some of the funny things that happen to designers. My blog has given me an excuse to start making the strips and motivated me to keep producing them. I think they’ve been one of the most successful aspects of my blogging so far.

With this in mind, when I was approached by Preston D. Lee who runs the fantastic Graphic Design Blender, to contribute some form of comic for his site, it was an easy decision to agree.

The comic is called “You know you’re a freelance designer when…” and each week the strip will attempt to complete that sentence in a way that will make freelancers and designers smile and nod their head knowingly.

The new comic is illustrated in the same style, and I decided to continue using the same characters from my own comic for a real spin-off feel. If you’ve enjoyed the series of ‘My Life as a Cartoon” so far I’m sure you’ll enjoy it’s sister strip over on GBD.

Please take the time to give the first comic a look, and continue checking it out every Saturday.