Behind the Curtain : 2012 in Pictures

Aaaaand we're back, feeling much rested and relaxed after a lovely Christmas break.

We don't really post many photos here on the AMS Design Blog, but to mark the beginning of 2013 I thought that I would share a little photographic round-up of the past year.

January:

The 'Occupy Wall Street' movement had made it's way to Europe and Occupy-that-square-in-front-of St. Pauls-because-we-were-kicked-out-of-the-stock-exchange was still hanging on.

February:

This is the month of the Spring Fair and Jewellery Show in Birmingham and, some would argue more importantly, the month of Jerome's birthday. This year I bought him a subscription to the Larder Box.

March:

Hot on the heels of The Jewellery Show is the much bigger, much more renowned Baselworld in Switzerland. If you like watches, jewellery or diamonds the size of your fist, this is the one for you.

April:

April was the month of the road-trip - Lacock, Bath, Stonehenge, Windsor, Cambridge and Brighton. And it was my Birthday.

May:

May was the start of the warmer weather, and with it the beginning of the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. We saw a great play with great company, who luckily had the forethought of brining along some blankets. 

June:

As lovely as the weather was in May, it was terrible in June. Nevertheless, we braved the rain and went to watch the flotilla for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Understandably, we spent the next day playing board games in our local pub.

July:

July was the month when every Brit suddenly realised that the Olympics were AWESOME! London totally came to life, and I have to say I was very sad when they finished.

August:

This was the month of our well-earned holiday in Sicily, where we gorged on Pizza and Ice cream and lazed around on the Sicilian beaches.

September:

In September, we headed over to Huntingdon to help my Dad fix-up a house he's renovating. The weather was beautiful so we rounded it off with a BBQ in the garden.

October:

This month saw a few launch parties, including that of KERB over at the new development in Kings Cross. Sticky ribs, burgers, pizzas and doughnuts were all on the menu that night.

November:

With the cold weather firmly settling in, November is definitely the month for fondues.

December:

Christmas in Switzerland and New Year in the Peak District, perfect.

Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas! See You Next Year!

That's right folks, we're taking a break for Christmas. It's time to overindulge on mince pies, turkey, chocolate and more and wash in all down with lashings of mulled wine. We hope you've had a great 2012 and wish you all the best for next year.

If you find yourself missing your fix of AMS Design Blog, then head over and say hi on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Happy holidays and see you in 2013!

Graphic Design: The Raspberries T-Shirt and Mug

As promised here is the gift that I made for my Secret Santa for Pakjes Avond.

This year I had to get something for my Mum. I knew that I wanted it to be something personal, possibly even handmade, and remembered her telling me once that when she was younger she played in a Punk-rock band called The Raspberries. Thinking that this would make a great theme for a gift I got working on a logo.

I used a punk typefont, a distressed effect and two tones of red to add a bit of depth. I then got this printed onto a t-shirt and a mug. There are a number of places that offer this service, I plumped for London Print Service who are over in Greenwich and I have to say I was very impressed, the whole order only took two days to go through and I was very pleased with how both the mug and tee turned out.

Branding : Les Greedy Cochons Food Blog

Here is a new logo and business cards I worked on for a Camden Town food blog called Les Greedy Cochons.

The idea behind Les Greedy Cochons is bigger than just a food blog. The aim is to create a community in Camden based around the love of good food and drink and to help people discover cool, hidden places to eat around Camden and London in general.

The name is a mix of French and English that translates to the Greedy Pigs, hence to logo being centred around a pig's head. The cards are minicards from the fabulous moo.com.

Take a look at the blog over here. 

Showcase : Inspiring Moments Quote Posters

Hey everyone! Today I am happy to share with you my new project, 'Inspiring Moments'. It is a series of Black and White photographs of beautiful spots accompanied by some of my favourite quotes.

I wanted to combine that feeling of hearing a great quote and thinking 'I must remember that', with that feeling of total happiness when you find yourself in a place that is utterly inspiring. The photographs were either taken by myself or by my almost-sister-in-law and great little Shutterbug Louise Robert.

If you fancy picking up the prints then you can head over to my Society6 store here. Let me know what you think in the comments, I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

Extra Post : Planet Flight Summer Sale!

Suffering from POD (Post-Olympics Depression)? Well never fear, because Planet Flight are here to help.

From now until the end of the Paralympics (9th September), we are offering a whopping 40% off all our products, which means they are £11.99 instead of £19.99! Now that's what I call a sale!

Head over to the shop now to make the most of this offer.

Greetings From a World of Stereotypes

This is a little project that I have been working on about preconceptions about various nationalities. Stereotypes are a funny and fascinating thing. Having lived as a Brit in Switzerland for just under 10 years, stereotyping was something that I faced on a daily basis. In the UK, it rains all the time, we all have bad teeth, we eat horrible food and everyone knows the Queen.

Needless to say, stereotypes are rarely very accurate by today's standards. Sure, they must all come from somewhere but I'm guessing it's the same place where people can get shot 20 times and still get up and fight and girls wake up in the morning with a fresh face of make-up.

So here are a few greetings from some stereotyped characters. I'm most interested in finding out which stereotypes are global and which are more local. For example, the 'typical' Frenchman wearing a beret and a stripy top was not identified by my Swiss friends.

Take a look and let me know what you think, try and guess who's who, the answers are at the bottom, good luck! :)

UPDATE : You can pick up any of the prints below over here.

1. American (south)

2. Australian

3. British

4. Canadian

5. French

6. Irish

7. Italian

8. Japanese

9. Russian

10. Spanish

11. Swedish

Planet Flight Prints

Hey everyone, just a quick post this morning to let you know that we have released some Planet Flight prints over on Society6.

You can take a look at Planet Flight here or skip straight to the prints here.