Escape: 75 things to do this Summer

The new issue of Escape, the First Great Western passenger magazine, will soon be available on trains across the South West.
The cover illustration is by Matt Herring who did a great job of showing off all the exciting events showcased inside.
I design Escape on behalf of Think Publishing.

Working for free

I've always been quite envious of designers who have enough energy to be creative outside of work, designing the odd poster here, a fanzine there.

All my design work has had a pay packet at the end of any project. But things have changed recently and now I quite often design for fun!

Over the past 4 years I've designed posters and websites to promote my local cycling club and its activities. I've thoroughly enjoyed myself too. It's been a great opportunity to collaborate with local photographers and illustrators who have also donated their time for free and I've built up good relationships with small printers on my doorstep.

Here is a selection of what I've been up to:

Photography: Gordon Scott. Illustration Garry Marshall

Horse Box Spy Cam!

The August issue of Your Horse investigates how travelling affects horses.

During a journey horses get stressed, tired and even worse, injured.

Writer Larissa Chapman and editor Julie Brown, together with photographer Matthew Roberts and art editor Caroline Barley came up with the idea of rigging up a camcorder in the back of a horse box to find out exactly what happens as the truck twists, turns and bumps along a road.

The article is jam packed with advice to ensure horses are happy travellers and the Spycam shots are a unique and creative way to inform the readers.

I've been working with Julie and her team to improve the way the magazine communicates with its readers using well targeted cover lines, clearer layouts and better flatplanning.

New logo for Equipped

The latest issue of Equipped has a new logo. I drew a new typeface which is unique to the magazine, creating a more robust and less fussy logo that will work better across a variety of media.

I work with Equipped to train staff and develop the whole magazine package.

Your Horse Spring clean

I worked with Editor Julie Brown and designer Caroline Barley on Bauer's Your Horse to give the magazine a quick Spring clean.

The five main service sections were made more distinct from each other with better colour branding, and a reworked flatplan helped pace the magazine so that readers could navigate their way more easily.

A new layout system was introduced so complicated step-by-steps are easier to follow.

Although no new typefaces were introduced the style sheets were stripped of unnecessary fonts producing a bolder and clearer type hierarchy.

Fly fishing's Canadian bounty

The latest two issues of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying have performed well on newstand. I work with editor Mark Bowler on the covers, developing the magazine's unique voice with benefit driven cover lines. Super flies with great names like the Purple Prawn and Sewinmeister feature inside!

There's more to Scottish cinema than Braveheart

The stars of Scottish based films grace the cover of the latest National Library of Scotland magazine. Sean Connery, Ewan McGregor, Sir Harry Lauder, Mel Gibson And Gregory's Girl John Gordon Sinclair feature in a story about The Scots' love affair with the movies.

Summer escape

Plan your summer while your travel in the comfort of a First Great Western train. The latest issue of Escape showcases the best seaside towns, international restaurants and historic attractions in the South West.

Historic Scotland's new identity rolled out

Historic Scotland's (HS) member magazine, published by Think gets a few tweaks with the launch of HS's new corporate identity. The latest issue shows off Scotland's best historic attractions for all the family.

Equipped gets bigger and bigger

Equipped, edited by Jenny Hjul and published by David Riddell, gets bigger and bigger.

Ad sales are up and the magazine is being well received by readers.

A projected 60,000 people will leave the armed services over the next 5 years and Equipped is on hand with advice on retraining, resettlement and recruitment.

My role is to train staff and develop the look of the magazine.

Work Update: Classic Bike

Earlier this year I was asked by Bauer's Classic Bike editor Hugo Wilson to spend a few days in the office and coach designer Simon Russell. We developed new layout practices, swapped the fonts to Franklin Gothic and simplified the structure of the magazine.