Merry Christmas from all of us

We had a bit of fun creating our Christmas card last week. Take a peek here and we'll see you in the New Year (we might have to work on our percussion over the winter break though).

Christmas capers

It's been a week and we've now recovered from the annual event that is the studio Christmas party. Monday was not the most obvious night to party but we soon got in the flow, helped by an ingenious quiz and pub crawl! Our hosts (Martin & John) tested our addled brains with events ranging from Deal or No Deal to the Generation Game. Highlights included Martin's Noel Edmonds impression, the Intros round (Never Mind the Buzzcocks) combined with Mulled Cider and Call my Bluff – but let's keep the Lions story to ourselves. All topped off with a Nepalese Curry at the Gurka and the prize giving ceremony. An excellent afternoon and evening, with some well-judged Secret Santa's... but who did give Kate the mask? Censored photos included.

Woven technicolour

Here's some stunning work from mix media artist Gabriel Dawe, taken from his latest site specific installation at the Dallas Contemporary. As you can see the large scale pieces shown are aesthetically beautiful featuring bold yet gentle colours with some interesting geometric patterns woven and twisted to stunning effect.

We only wish is that Gabriel could exhibits these pieces in the UK so that we may have the opportunity to experience the installation in person, but in the mean time you can keep informed of his works through his Website here.

Here's a little bit more background on the artist taken from his Biography:
Gabriel Dawe was born in Mexico City where he grew up surrounded by the intensity and color of Mexican culture. After working as a graphic designer, he moved to Montreal, Canada in 2000 following a desire to explore foreign land. In search for creative freedom he started experimenting and creating artwork, which eventually led him to explore textiles and embroidery - activities traditionally associated with women and which were forbidden for a boy growing up in Mexico. Because of this, his work is subversive of notions of masculinity and machismo that are so ingrained in his culture. By working with thread and textiles, Dawe's work has evolved into creating large-scale installations with thread, creating environments that deal with notions of social constructions and their relation to evolutionary theory and the self-organizing force of nature.

A sense of discovery...

Hot off the press are Visit Cornwall's 2011 guides. We have built on the success of last years design with fresh content that pushes the boundary of a destination 'brochure' whilst highlighting the best bits of our amazing county. The creative copy from Richard Barbary is entertaining with Dame Judy Dench sharing her love of lobsters and you can follow a Fifteen recipe from their head Chef. Once again we worked with some great photographers (thanks to Matt Jessop), commissioning fresh imagery which capture the personal experience of uncovering places that make memories from holidays. The design is deliberately simple and fuss free, hinting at the personality and charm that's on offer here. Over 120,000 guides have been produced and are available on request from Visit Cornwall and are distributed globally.

What's your type?

Japanese font makers Morisawa can spend up to four years and spend €800,000 on producing a typeface! They draw each character by hand with a basic Japanese font set containing more than 23,000 characters! Many designers today (across all disciplines) conduct their work on computers - making Morisawa a refreshing example of how traditional methods are still being used and just how effective they are!

To see some of the finished typefaces visit their website