field notes brand | this northern boy

August blogfest – day 15

Halfway, almost. Blogging every day is actually tougher than I thought. Thinking up a new subject to blog about every day, tricky.

Today there’s a look at three quick little illustrations I’ve done in one of the lovely orange Field Notes notebooks I received recently. I rarely draw on coloured paper, so it’s a nice change, and also it’s cool to use a similar coloured marker to add a bit of subtle shading. A white Posca marker is great to add a few highlights or stars.

Is there anything you’d like me to blog about? Something about my work, processes, inspiration? Let me know in the comments. And thanks for sticking with me, 16 days to go.

One-man flyer

Little droid

Orange freighter

Field Notes special edition notebook

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August 4, 2016

August blogfest – day 4

The postman brought me some goodies today courtesy of the Draplin Design Company. If you haven’t heard of DDC, you might have heard of Field Notes. I’ve talked about them before and I’m a big fan. Aaron Draplin, founder of both DDC and Field Notes Brand recently published a fantastic book – Pretty Much Everything – a retrospective of his work, and in fact almost an autobiography. It’s a beautiful book, absolutely chock full of content, design, wisdom, inspiration. Draplin also produced an Enhancement Kit – a slip case, stickers, bookmarks, prints… – to go with the book. That kit arrived today and it’s lovely. The stars of the show are the gorgeous fabric slip case for Pretty Much Everything, and the two packs of special Field Notes Brand notebooks – with an amazing orange foil.

Have a look at Draplin’s site, buy the book, use the notebooks, get inspired. Lovely stuff.

Enhancement kit

Field notes

Quite a collection

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June 11, 2016

This week…

A little update. This week I’ve been working on tattoo commissions, fitting in a little freelance graphic design work on an island in the middle of the Thames, and drooling over the latest goodness from Aaron James Draplin and Field Notes Brand.

The tattoo design is for a guy in California who’d like a cutaway drawing of a lighthouse, featuring his young daughter looking out to sea from the top. Lots of fun drawing this.

Tattoo design sketch

If you don’t already know the work of Aaron James Draplin and the DDC go check out his website, and have a look on YouTube for some of Aaron’s videos. He’s a great designer who is absolutely bursting with enthusiasm and down-to-earth wisdom. His new book, Pretty Much Everything, is a joy to read, stuffed full of great content covering Aaron’s career to date. The cover is a beautiful textured, embossed design showcasing some of the many logos that have come out of the DDC over the years.

I’ve been a fan of Field Notes for a long time, but I’ve only just subscribed to their quarterly editions. It’s a great way to make sure you get hold of the lovely limited editions notebooks they produce. When you subscribe you get a great little bonus with your first delivery – a couple of packs of their classic notebooks, a pencil, pen… Lovely.

this northern boy

Tag: field notes brand

August 15, 2016