Skateboarding in the 1960s

Skateboarding is one of those things that I wish I'd learnt when I had the chance, when I was youngster. I'd love nothing more than to cruise around the streets on a set of wheels, but I've gone past the age of where it's socially acceptable for me to be practicing outside the front of my house. I just can't be doing that at 26, slipping around while the 16 year old nearly pros wizz past wouldn't be a great look. 

These skateboarding young'uns from 1960s New York make me very envious. In all serious though I think they're great, from what seems like such a carefree and exciting time. The innocence of being a kid and mucking about is something I'm sure we all miss. These really must have been an exciting time, when a new craze hits when you're a kid it's all you can think about, I'm looking at your Pogs, Rollerblades and Tamagotchi!

Which big crazes do you remember (and secretly what to take up again!) with found memories?

Images via here

Short Trip To Brighton

And boy was it short. Me and my mate James took the 5 hour drive down to Brighton a couple of weeks back, to help out Nic on his vintage stall at an antiques fair. It was a long weekend filled with catching up, trips to some really nice restaurants and pubs but also mixed with terrible weather, illness, slight disaster of a market.

We ate at Jamie's Italian and a wicked Indian but sadly one of the days was ruined by me feeling pretty ill. Monday was the day of the fair and the British weather lived up to its reputation. Big wind and torrential rain combined with a fair on top of a hill and a 5 a.m. start didn't bode well. The tent we pitched basically flew away and broke apart after a few hours so we had to throw in the towel by 2 p.m.. So not as many photos from Brighton this time around which was a shame, above is a few of my favs shots.

I would also like to thank everyone for their feedback and really nice comments on my last post. They really did make me feel better about my work and mean a lot, hopefully something will crop up soon.

Objects - A Place For Everything

As I'm currently trying to make myself look as employable as possible by sprucing up my CV and portfolio I thought I'd post some images from my final campaign at uni. I graduated last summer now and the job front has been slow but to stay positive I thought I'd rearrange my portfolio for any potential interviews. It's a big job so I best get cracking ay.

These images were apart of the Objects by Oi Polloi project (which was a brand extension of the menswear retailer Oi Polloi), where I create a concept homeware store, was aimed at the male market. If you've been following the blog for a while you may remember a couple of posts about the magazine I produced to go along with the campaign, which is where I used the images. My inspiration came from the likes of Jack Spade, Present & Correct, Things Organized Neatly and Carl Kleiner.

Nearly a year on I'm still really happy with the work that I produced, which is a pretty good sign. Have any of you been working on any interesting projects of late?

Concept, Design + Styling - Matthew Pike

Photography - Hollie Reid

Fun Times This Way

Hand Pressed print by Thursday Press c/o Not On The High Street

This post has been a long time coming, NOTHS sent over this hand made letterpress print about a month ago now and I've had a tricky time trying to find a frame to fit. Let's call it a senior moment, in our house we've never had many picture frames (if we did it's me dressed up as a shepard in the Christmas nativity) so I didn't know about what sizes fit with what. A few weeks searching for a 9x12 frame then it hit me, it's blumming a4. Doy!

Anyway NOTHS offered my a voucher to spend in their store so I picked the Dept. of Messing About print, which is now sitting on top of a pile of books in my bedroom. I picked up the frame in a charity shop for 50p. The print is 1 of 21 and has been made with the old wooden letterpress blocks, the kind you always see at flea markets.

Enjoy your weekend guys.

Inspiration - Andrew Miller's Brand Spirit

Brand Spirit is a really simple project, for 100 days Andrew Miller pledges to cover a branded object in white plain. By removing all branding and colour the object can be recognised (well mostly) by its original shape. All the objects Miller will be using can be bought for under $10. Usually with these sorts of projects it might be seen as mocking the brands but for me time it's the not the case, instead he's showing the objects in their simplest form. It's a good sign to the companies when you remove all colour and text that consumers can still recoginse these iconic products.

This project really did excite me and I've been itching to share this one with you guys for a few days now, he's only up to day 38 so there's plenty more decent stuff to come.

Check out Andrew Miller's Brand Spirt Tumblr for more image, get it bookmarked too!

(Image source via Swiss Miss)

Nosing Around the Backstreets

Ghost signs off Tib Street

Never been in this cafe, looks really sweet. We'll go next time

For quick exit after some kind of heist

My best effort at not looking awkward. Taken by Hollie

Wearing - Vintage Woolrich jacket, Aubin & Wills jumper, Levi's 511s, just your basic work boots, Herschel backpack

This restaurant/takeaway was tucked away quite far down a dark alley

New building build around an old building, with the old sad one poking out the top? 

Not strictly in the backstreets but I though this packaging was worth sharing. No branding other than the swing label, has anyone heard of this company? I can't seem to find them online

You can always count on me lurking around some backstreets when I have nothing better to do, I can't remember the last day I just stayed in and did nothing. A couple of weeks ago I was in Manchester city centre helping Hollie out with some research for a project, so I took us on a short detour down some allies and around some corners to see what we could find. 

It was only a short nose around but I try to do this as much as I can when I have spare time, cos you're bound to find something pretty ace. I was in Brighton last weekend and I reckon this would be an amazing place to do this. I don't think you'd ever have time to see everything there. Sadly I didn't take many photos in Brighton and the vintage market I mentioned was a bit of a disaster, the weather was a shocker. Market on the top of a hill + hurricane style winds isn't a good mix.

Can anyone recommend any good vintage/antique flea markets in the UK?

Advertising - Oreo's 100th Birthday

After a few days away in Brigthon I'm finding it a bit tricky to get back into the swing of things, but my spirits were lifted when I came across Oreo's latest ad campaign. I haven't done an Advertising post in a while and seeing that it's something I really do enjoy (and would love to be involved in, I'm very employable!), I thought it would be a good time reintroduce it. Oreo's celebrated their 100th birthday on 6th March and to commemorate the event they took a trip down memory lane. The series of ads looks at key events from the past 100 years and uses the sandwich cookies to display them. 

I always think the simple and clever approach to marketing works really well, it's easy to connect to and humor really does go along way. "Damn, what a cool idea" was my first reaction, the next was trying to decide which was my favourite. I think it 1969's Moon landing, genius. Which one do you like best?

Image from here