Cherry

Look at these lovely theatre posters! This is the window of a great little shop in Charring cross full of theatrical ephemera and much more besides. Beware the scorn of an often grumpy shop keeper as you do sometimes get the impression that this victorian alley of hard-core collectors would rather not have shops at all!

Nevertheless we made off with some postcards and will be using them soon as inspiration for a nice shiny poster!

Its not that far actually – just up from Farringdon tube station.

Having always been impressed by the fantastic work of K2 Screen it was a pleasure to go and meet with them to discuss some potential projects for the future. A hive of activity and a wash with ink the studio is a nostalgic throw back to the ever missed college years when pints were a pound and design was just for fun! Having said this the work is by no means that of students, thoroughly impressed! A big thank-you to Erica for her time.

I braved the crowds on Sunday to cheer on a friend who ran, in a sickeningly impressive 3hrs 38mins no less! I was exhausted just watching this amazing show of human effort for a range fittingly good causes. I definitely said exhausted and not inspired as I imagine will be the claim from so many cramp enthusiasts freshly gripped by marathon hysteria over the coming days! A big Cherry cheer to all those that competed and completed – never mind Gordan there is always next year!

Lovely bit of kerning from the hand of man here. I quite like it. Every morning I ride past and think there may be a jam of carps swimming through an ark on their daily commute…

…it would be nice if there was!

On a recent trip back to my home town of Derby I stumbled across an artist’s retrospective in the rather newfangled and (of course) publicly opposed QUAD gallery. This center for the arts has been the source of much skepticism withinin local circles as the town folk trudge between market and guildhall on a rainy Thursday in search of a very sweet and milky brew from Uncle Tom’s Cabin – that’s what my nan does anyhow!

Nevertheless I was very happy to find the main exhibition hall dedicated to the life and work of Ian Breakwell. I can confess I regrettably had no idea who this was when popping my head through the door and in hindsight probably should have been more aware. Hailing from the fine suburb of Long Eaton, Breakwell is truly a local lad that went on to achieve notable recognition for his ability to see the extraordinary in the very ordinary. His multi-media approach saw him work across film, television, sound, illustration and collage to build a unique outlook on the fabric of life around him. His diary pieces and rigorous observation of those intricacies others simply do not see led to him having his idiosyncratic journal “Ian Breakwell’s Diary” published by Pluto Press in 1986. This went onto be adapted for Channel 4 and would pave the way for further television work in the following decades.

“The Diaries record the side events of daily life: by turns mundane, curious, bleak, erotic, tender, vicious, cunning, stupid, ambiguous, absurd, as observed by a personal witness.”- Ian Breakwell

In 2004 Breakwell was diagnosed with cancer and responded with renewed levels of creativity unblinkingly documenting his condition. This would turn out to be his final set of entries and in 2005 Breakwell lost his battle. All that remains to be said is that this internationally acclaimed artist and storyteller is truly a local boy done good!

To see a collection of pieces from his full diaries visit Ian Breakwell: The diary reinvented.

We’ve got a lot of time for designer and illustrator Aaron aka Moose and Yeti – one minute he’s turning Cherry’s meeting room into a beautiful work of urban art, the next he’s building a website to showcase his superb work.

Aaron is part of Cherry’s ongoing mentorship scheme with the London College of Communication, and as well as occasionally tackling our briefs, he’s prolific on the Secret Wars circuit and has worked on commissions for Knomo and Edding.

Check out the Moose and Yeti website here.