Created Local – Jonathan Ring

Jonathan Ring is a student who in his own words “adores design/posters/photography and being all creative!’ He went to Priory school and is now in his second year of Fareham College. He has always lived in lovely Southsea! Strong Island has featured some of his work before.

Jonathan is currently looking at courses to continue his creative education and has put together a great magazine showcasing his projects. The magazine preview can be seen via this link – http://issuu.com/jonathanring/docs/retrospectif

His website is at http://jonathanring.tumblr.com/

Christmas Craft printables

Local illustrator and designer Wendy Middleditch has designed these free printable paper angels. A lovely thing to sit together colour/make over the holidays. Im using some as place name settings on Christmas day, thanks Wendy!

Joly & Wright

Two talented designers have recently moved down south to Portsmouth and set up an interior design practice. Charles Joly and Dean Wright moved down from Scotland to start Joly & Wright specialising in interior design, dressing and sourcing individual items of furniture and art. They also offer a free consultation and proposal. Their clients range from both residential and commercial property. Dean’s background is in art direction and advertising whilst Charles comes from environmental consultancy.

“It’s been really nice spending the summer by the coast, there seems to be a vibrant art scene here, which is great. We have met a lot of really creative people already”. Dean Wright.

I popped around to visit them over the weekend and took some pics inside their house and studio. There are so many unusual pieces of furniture which they have either made or bought from auctions. A recent purchase was the optometry eye test light.

“When we looked into relocating, finding somewhere with a creative buzz was important.The Creative Portsmouth Book reassured us that Portsmouth had a lot to offer”. Charles Joly

Below is some examples of their furniture design the A-Shelve and Coffee Pal which you can see at Bonzo Studio on Albert Road, Southsea.

To see further images taken – http://www.flickr.com/photos/create_up/sets/72157627951289393/

Anglepoise Competition closes this Friday

The competition to win the Kenneth Grange book ‘Making Britain Modern’ donated by Portsmouth company Anglepoise closes this Friday 11th November. To win a copy just send us a picture of your Anglepoise lamp. Email : claire.sambrook@gmail.com

Further details on the previous post – http://www.strong-island.co.uk/2011/10/25/anglepoise-portsmouth/

This is mine below.

Anglepoise – Portsmouth – Plus Competition

I only recently discovered that Anglepoise have their office in Portsmouth and couldn’t wait to pay them a visit. I met with Simon Terry the innovation director whose family started the company back in 1855. Herbert Terry & Son Ltd started to sell their own products in the 1920′s, such as toast racks, bicycle saddles and spring clips. In the early 1930′s the Anglepoise lamp was developed by George Carwardine using Terry’s springs.

Anglepoise lamps are iconic and a design classic. They are also 100% British designed and manufactured which stands a true testament to the manufacturing industry in the UK. Simon informed me that one of the reasons they wanted to open their headquarters in Portsmouth was “because of the city’s enthusiasm for creating things, its industrial heritage and a sense of being involved in where you are”. There is also a strong connection to the location on the coast – water is in their blood with his family living in Cowes.

Watch this space for future collaborations with Strong Island – all very exciting especially since Anglepoise are very keen to establish links with the local creative community..

In the meantime we have a little competition to win the new Kenneth Grange book ‘Making Britain Modern’. Kenneth Grange designer of products like the iconic black cab, the first parking meter, Kodak cameras, Kenwood kitchen products, Wilkinson razors, Platinum pens and the Anglepoise lamp, he was also a founding member of the Pentagram collective. To enter just email us a photograph of your Anglepoise lamp and show us the environment in which you use it – studio/office. We will then choose a winner and post it up along with all the entries. The closing date for entries is Friday Nov 11th. The Design Museum,  London is showing Kenneth’s work until Oct 30th.

Below is a picture of the Giant Chandelier which has been designed for a next generation trade show called Qubique in Berlin. The prototype chandelier is an evolution of the Giant 1227 floor standing lamp. This was originally commissioned for the Roald Dahl Museum in the UK and is now shipped all over the world.

Images taken during the visit to their office base in Portsmouth. See more.

Image below from the Anglepoise archives.

Sit Chair Project by Karen Ryan

Portsmouth artist Karen Ryan has a new project that was showcased at this years London Design Week. Karen is contemporary British designer who graduated with an MA in Design Products at the Royal College of Art London in 2001.

“Necessity, fate, autobiography and subversion are the key influences upon my practice. I use materials that are provided as a product of continuous waste driven by mass consumption and fashion.”

The ‘Sit’ chair project is an alternative response for London Design Week 2011.

“I have taken two chairs one from my dining table and one from my bedroom, both of which had been previously discarded. I designed the ‘Sit’ brand for the use of these chairs, the brand identity is hand stamped upon a newly prepared surface area on each individual chair.”

See more of Karen’s work on her website – http://www.bykarenryan.co.uk/ and more about the ‘Sit’ chair project on Design Boom. Her photographs were taken on the streets of London and Portsmouth. Email info@bykarenryan.co.uk

Created Local – Sadie Tierney & Neal Layton

I had the pleasure of spending a few hours last week with husband and wife Sadie Tierney and Neal Layton. They are both established artists and have lived in Southsea for the past 8 years.

Sadie is an artist and film maker who trained as a printmaker at the Royal College and was encouraged during her studies to investigate as many different disciplines as possible. She was head of printmaking at Eton College taught Illustration at Glasgow School of Art and Fine Art at Brighton and Swindon. Sadie has had her work shown extensively locally, nationally and internationally in galleries including Flowers East, Rabley Drawing Centre, Aspex and Transition.

Neal is an award winning children’s book illustrator and author. He has illustrated and written 13 books and has worked on over 40 titles. His books have been translated into 18 different languages. Some of his titles he  illustrated include the Emily Brown series, The Mammoth Academy books and Poo, A Natural History of the Unmentionable.

He studied graphic design at Newcastle University and then went onto do an MA in Illustration at St Martin’s, London.

“We moved to Portsmouth because of the skatepark, Wedgewood Rooms and nudist beach. It’s become a lot cooler than it used to be and it’s so nice to live by the sea. The locals are very supportive and it’s a very welcoming city also like a mini Hollywood with the hill and everything within 5 miles – beach, docks, forts, forests, Hilsea Lines, bike rides”.

Sadie Tierney – http://www.sadietierney.co.uk/

Neal Layton – http://www.neallayton.co.uk/

Sadie and Neal also run Saft and Boneless a film production company specialising in downhill skateboard racing. ROAD BUZZ is a feature length film documenting the downhill skate scene featuring interviews and riding from all over Europe.

New Walls – Best representations of Southsea

The latest exhibition from New Walls is all about the’best representations of Southsea’. The exhibition opens tonight – Thursday 6th October 2011 from 6pm at the One Eyed Dog. If you made it down to the last opening night, you’ll know how packed out it was so get there early to see local art and design showcased.

The original artwork for their new flyer is an A3 hand-drawn image, completed with a classic bic (a whole one!) by local Illustrator Ashley John.

It will be available as a limited run print after the opening night of New Walls. If you are interested in purchasing “Biro’s Are Shit Hot, But Southsea’s Better” as a print check out his blog or drop him an email – ashjohn99@hotmail.com

www.ashleyjohnillustration.blogspot.com

Southsea Gallery at The Wine Vaults

Paul and Sarah Windsor from Southsea Gallery on Albert Road have recently taken over the walls in the Snug Room at The Wine Vaults. Work is featured from local artists and designers including Jodie Silsby, Tristan Savage, Kingsley Nebechi, Mark Persaud, I Love Dust, Alex Ings and Ken Leung. You can buy all the work featured at Southsea Gallery.

All About Tea – Gold Award

Local Portsmouth tea merchants All About Tea have won another award. This time it is the Gold at the Cannes Lion’s Awards for their branding by Moving Brands. Well done to Andrew and all the team at All About Tea and Ben and the team at Moving Brands.

“Since implementing the new identity we have not been able to keep up with the increased interest from new customers. It seems to have caught the imagination of a market tired of the same old design cliches in the tea sector. The rebrand was a total redefinition of what the company is and what we do. The branding feels so solid and correct. I am passionate about telling this story. It has been an incredible experience and it’s an extraordinary story of business transformation as well as of design and creativity.” Andrew Gadsden, CEO of All About Tea.

Expect to see more of All About Tea around the city in the next few weeks. The Strong Island Tea blend went down rather well at The Strong Island Exhibition at The Round Tower back in April. More details due soon about their new ventures.

PRIMARY – A Phoneography Exhibition by Strong Island – Call for entries

This coming new year we will be proud to announce our latest exhibition PRIMARY, a Phoneography exhibition by Strong Island and we are even happier to announce that it’s open to you, the readers.

With the continuing increase in impressive camera technology in mobile phones and the ability to alter, tweak, post process and upload the photos to social media networks and websites like Instagram, the popularity of Phoneography has never been greater.

The ‘of the moment’ ability to take a photo at almost any time and any place by most people has really driven the fact that the camera does not make the photographer. By which I mean, you don’t need an expensive camera to take outstanding photos.

Agreed, the quality of the physical image may not stand up to the big guns, but new learnings in composition, style and aesthetic by a new generation of camera users via online media has really driven this popularity, and encourage people to go beyond a ‘quick shot’.

PRIMARY invites you to get out and about around Portsea with your mobile phone camera and take photos of anything and everything based around the three primary colours red, yellow and blue. What you photograph is entirely up to you, but submissions will only be accepted if they stick to the theme.

The call for entires has now begun and the deadline is the 31st of January 2012 with the exhibition being held in March of 2012. Photos can be taken on any mobile phone model and we ask that a maximum of 3 photos per applicant are sent in to primary@strong-island.co.uk.

Please submit along with your photographs your name, photo title, phone model, location of photo on the island and any post process apps you used, if any, to achieve the final shot.

We look forward to seeing all the entries, and the final installation will be something special using every photo submitted in a slightly different fashion from your average photographic exhibition. CLICK HERE TO PRINT YOUR OWN POSTER

Poster by Tristan Savage & Photo by Paul Gonella

It’s going to be a Strong Movember – Closed at £725

Righto chaps, it’s time to clean shave your boat race and get that mighty moustache on the grow in support of Movember for The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research. For 30 days of November you can help support and raise awareness through selflessly parading your top lip for charity.

You can sign up yourself, as I’m sure many of you already have, or you can join the Strong Island team and seek out sponsorship as a team. Through the Strong Island Movember page you can ask people to join the group, make donations, upload photos and post updates via the MoSpace page, Facebook and Twitter.

Head over to www.mobro.co/StrongIsland if you would like to get involved and grow a Strong Moustache to help raise awareness, or simply head over to www.uk.movember.com and sign up to personally raise money.

The funds raised in the UK support the number one and two male specific cancers – prostate and testicular cancer. The funds raised are directed to programmes run directly by Movember and our men’s health partners, The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together, these channels work together to ensure that Movember funds are supporting a broad range of innovative, world-class programmes in line with our strategic goals in the areas of awareness and education, survivorship and research.

Poster: Tristan Savage