Off to Brighton

Recent sign finds in Manchester

I'm off to Brighton for a long weekend, Saturday morning till Tuesday evening. Even though I work in retail and we don't tend to get Bank Holiday's off I've swindled it so I can get Monday off. I'm pretty excited as I'm helping out on my friend's stall as a Vintage & Antiques fair. Proper Bargain Hunt style, hopefully I'll have some leftover lolly! I'm going to document the whole thing, so stay tuned.

I'll be back next week, Happy Easter everyone.

Tidy Up

Wooden Whale Tidy

Rearrangable Tidy

1970s orange fleck tidy

Shuffle tidy

Kangaroo Tidy

It took me a few messy years past my teens to really bother with stuff like this, I really couldn't have cared less when I was about 18. A few years on I'm pretty obsessed with stationery and how I can keep it all tidy. I even themed my final campaign at uni around the phrase "A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place", and I'm totally sticking to that. Over the past few months I've been pretty busy, I've not really been thinking about homeware and design as much as I'd like to so yesterday I picked up the latest copy of Wallpaper* magazine to try and get me back up to speed with it all. A few minutes in and I couldn't believe what I'd been missing, it really did inspire me to try and push myself to finish off those design projects that I have neglected.

So I'm getting right back in there on the homeware/accessories trip, I'm starting off with something that everyone could do with. Anything take your fancy then, it's the Kangaroo right?

Thinking About Colour

 I was somewhat inspired by Carl Kleiner's work this morning and decided to mess around with some colour combinations. Nothing ground breaking of course but I thought it was quite a nice idea, it makes it easier to see good (and bad) colour combos. I'm think about painting the outside of our house you see, not that I'm going to go crazy but I wouldn't mind trying two different colours.

The warm weather screws up my wardrobe, I'm more of a cool weather kind of guy. I usually end up wearing a plain coloured t-shirt or shirt and jeans/trousers but I guess that's what works for me. It does leave my feeling pretty frustrated though.

How do you guys still manage to feel good about summery outfits? I'm probably thinking too much about it.

Inspiration - Food Packaging

I had some time to kill on Friday so  I decided to go around various supermarkets and food markets for some design inspiration. As I've mentioned I've been working on a logo for a charity so I thought it would be cool to see what's going on on that front, but I did veer off and just snapped anything that caught my eye. I was mostly looking for logos & fonts, colour combinations, packaging shape/style, off-beat stuff and of course humor! All these beauties were found in Waitrose, Booths and a local food market called Barton Grange. I had to be careful as I was getting a lot of suspicious looks in the bigger supermarkets, I've heard stories of people being arrested for taking photos in one place.

You guys know I'm really into stuff like this and I know a few of you do too so I thought it might make a regular feature of it, you never know when this stuff might trigger an idea. Has anyone seen any interesting packaging of late?

It's Nice That / Hawaiian Shirts

Fancy a shirt that comes with its very own matching background? That's what we all want. The  design magazine It's Nice That have created a exclusive range of rad shirts for ASOS. Five artists were picked by It's Nice That to create their own graphic pattern for a shirt. It would be pretty cool to say at the pub that you design Hawaiian shirts I reckon. The first white one reminds me of bedcovers that I had in the early '90s, and come to think of it my pyjamas too. Very Saved By The Bell

My favouite of the five designs is the bottom one by Mike Perry. Not for everyone but it's a bit of fun isn't it, especially now the sun's out. See the designs here, images by ASOS.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Desert Trekkers

If memory serves me correctly these Clarks Desert Trek were my only significant sale purchase from the Christmas sales. I got them half price and they are worth every penny. I've been wearing Clarks in various form since I was a kid (we all remember the Clarks foot measuring contraption don't we?), they did fall out of favor as a teenager and were no doubt replaced by Adidas and Converse. But since I became a proper adult there hasn't been many month that I haven't worn their desert boots, however I fancied a change and went for the Desert Trek in this rich tan colour. 

Comparing them to my Clarks Desert boots I have to say the Trek are overall much comfier, which I'm sure has something to do with extra half inch of crepe sole. I would say their construction is slightly more considered too, with metal eyelets, triple and variable stitching in some places and a reinforced heal in contracting leather. The trekking chap just tops it all off nicely. The Desert Trek was designed in the early '70s and was inspired by styles which could be found in Holland at the time, I can see this too, they have a sort of clogg-like roundness to them. Desert boots are seen as a staple these days but I'd check out the Trek if you're after something a bit different.

Thanks for all the anniversary wishes guys.

Anniversary

It was mine and Hollie's 6th anniversary recently and apparently it's best represented by a Scotty dog in a rather fetching tartan jumper. I know this post is a bit off subject but I always want to share stuff with you about myself and things I like, 6 years together with Hollie gets the big thumbs up. It's a pretty cool card too.

Any plans this weekend guys? My week has been mad and there's no sign of it slowing down.

A Nose Around in Urban Outfitters Manchester

A couple of weeks ago I had a nose around at my local Urban Outfitters in Manchester. Lots of shops are a bit funny about taking photos within opening hours but if your ask ahead you're more likely not going to get kicked out when you do try. You may remember a couple of months back that I was invited to an Urban Outfitters press day, they said I could come and have a look round whenever I wanted so I thought it was time I popped by to see what's on offer for Spring.

The Manchester store is massive, it's over 3 floors each with mezzanines and all sorts of little crannies. They don't skimp on the menswear section and they seem to be introducing more brands each season. So here's a few things that caught my eye whilst I was there;

As you expect Urban Outfitters heavily leans towards streetwear, which is clear to see when you come across these chaps above. Wearing a mixture of Penfield, Carharrt, Shore Leave and some vintage bits.

Last time I was there Levi's was the brand that all the focus was on, this season it's Carharrt. Definitely one of my favourites at the moment, it's all easy to wear, great quality and lends itself to loads of different looks. Tones of ace stuff, especially the grey marl sweaters, camo and the canvas chore jacket.

Nifty looking iPad bag by Unit Portables, reminded me of something a swank Japanese businessman would carry

UO's in-house brand Shore Leave has been doing some cracking things for the past year or 2. It carries on this season with plenty of striped oxfords, heavy overshirts, patterned knitwear & cardigans and more chambray shirts that you can snake a stick at

Thumbs up for this Shore Leave shirt 

 Spotted a lot of penny collars whilst I was there, it's nice to see them experimenting rather than sticking with the norm

 Blue, black and burgundy were something of a thing. I could see myself in this sort of thing quite easily, minus the hoodies. On a side note here it's the first time I've noticed this metal/wooden fixture, shame they're not for sale

One of the newest brands to the store is Madras by A.P.C. The range is inspired by India and its culture. This bow patterned shirt caught my eye, along with short sleeve check shirts and washed denim, which was all more affordable than their mainline collection.

Fred Perry for the modsters

I was really taken by the Levi's pale blue slubby shirt, the variable pocket sizes and button under collar were nice touches

 The place is huge, I thought I'd include this shot so you can see how much space they're packing. On the mens mezzanine you'll find Suit, Farah, Herschel bags and music & books. Other things of interest, Cheap Monday was seeming more appealing than usually with a sweet looking bright orange jumper and I also hear they're getting a range of Dickies stuff in which is very exciting for all the American clothing fans, like myself.

Just as I mentioned about Aubin & Wills last week, the UO staff were great, really nice to chat to without being forced, helpful and knowledge about the brands. Thinking about it, customer service seems to be really good in Manchester at the moment, is there something in the water?