Getting out and about in recent weeks has bought a renewed attention on my part to the graphic commons, and in particular, road markings. I noticed a few ‘make do and mend’ type repairs to road markings over the last year on some of my constitutionals, but their prevalence has only really struck me recently.Continue reading “Graphic commons: make do and mend”
Category Archives: Graphic Interruptions
New old content
I am pleased to be able to add links to pdfs of two of my previously out-of-print publications to this website. My first foray into publishing took the form of a self-published photobook and essay titled McJunk in 2011. This documented an eight year obsession of photographing McDonald’s litter when ever I came across it.Continue reading “New old content”
Graphic commons: Government sanctioned dérives
Making the most of the ‘sanctioned’ time I am allowed out to exercise during the UK government’s coronavirus pandemic ‘lockdown’, I have been drifting through my neighbourhood on a daily basis for the last week. Despite the awkwardness of swapping sides of the road every time I see someone coming in my direction, this hasContinue reading “Graphic commons: Government sanctioned dérives”
Graphic commons: Oxford streets
For many, traipsing historic academic cobbles and staring at spires, let alone dreaming of them, would define any visit to Oxford. For me, on a family weekend there recently, it was an opportunity to study its graphic commons. Looking for its vernacular, I mostly steered clear of high-street parades, and came away finding the city’sContinue reading “Graphic commons: Oxford streets”
McJunk, accentuated
Although my McJunk project has been on hiatus for a while, I do occasionally post the odd example to Instagram. Believing that one person’s litter in the gutter is another person’s advert glaring from a billboard—because regardless of context, any representation of the McDonald’s logo reinforces brand recognition—I never thought that the company would sanction a marketingContinue reading “McJunk, accentuated”
Graphic commons: more banner frenzy and other temporalities
After my last walk in Chelmsford, I’ve been noticing more and more temporary banners tied to railings. So today I took a short walk around my local area to capture those I had seen whilst in the car. Unlike many that I saw in Essex, the ones I saw today were mostly ‘official’, in thatContinue reading “Graphic commons: more banner frenzy and other temporalities”
What goes around…
In the last few weeks I have seen several examples of a typographic strikethrough or other obscuring devices being used as metaphors within different projects. The first I noticed was in a Design Week article about Hope Not Hate’s rebrand, designed by Blue State Digital.
With apologies, (there’s nothing new)
“There’s nothing new in this world…” is a phrase attributed to Harry S Truman on the Brainyquote.com website. In this post-truth world, who knows whether this was actually said by him or not. I do, however, know the content of the phrase itself to be true, post-truth or not. In June last year I madeContinue reading “With apologies, (there’s nothing new)”
Graphic interruptions
Graphic Interruptions is a photographic project that investigates graphic design in shared environments that has been interrupted in some way. These interruptions can come in many forms and be the result of a variety of sources. What interests me in these observations is how meaning may be changed from that intended by the hand of the originator.Continue reading “Graphic interruptions”
Graphic obscura
Earlier last month few could have escaped the surprise announcement of a new David Bowie album, scheduled for a March release, titled The Next Day. The artwork dropped with almost as much of a shock, to some, as the album. The artwork places a white square over the original iconic cover of “Heroes”, Bowie’s 1977 collaborationContinue reading “Graphic obscura”
