New Look

Finally I've got some time to blog about Shark Alley's new look!

This has mostly revolved around a new shop that I've set up, which I'm so happy with.  It looks sleek and clean and helps me offer more to my customers, which is great.

 

So how did it all start?

Following a valuable business mentoring session with Craft Central at the beginning of June, I decided that Shark Alley needed a rebrand.  Since setting up in 2010, my work and style has evolved and clearer needs have been identified, so these had to be addressed with some changes.

But how to do it?  The trouble with the creative brain (well, mine anyway!) is that it just wants to make beautiful things and it can't step outside and be objective about the business of it all.  I started off gently by gathering images on Pinterest - not with any clear ideas in mind, just to sort out the things I was drawn to visually in terms of look, feel, presentation, colours, logo etc

Then one night my friend Lucy, a 3-D designer, revealed she'd had an idea for Shark Alley. We made plans for lunch and a massive brainstorming session . . .

This is NOT our brainstorming lunch, I hasten to add! 

Lucy's idea was that, given the name, Shark Alley might be an actual place, and all the animals might live there in different streets or locations off of it.  BRILLIANT!  So maybe construct a map then? I put this idea to friend and map illustrator extraordinaire Neil Gower and he suggested that maybe there should be more of a reason for it to be a map. so it shouldn't appear too contrived  As Lucy and I brainstormed, suddenly the idea popped into my mind - TREASURE ISLAND!  Treasure, 'cos I make jewellery, RIGHT?!  This really got things going as we discussed look, feel, colours, logos etc and did lots of drawing and scribbling of notes, then I went back to the studio and started working on putting these all together in some sort of coherent form.

Inventing the environments was the next challenge. Originally I was very into the idea of constructing these from cardboard, which could also feed into an interesting display at craft fairs.  A very frenzied Sunday afternoon was spent on the floor surrounding by a sea of cardboard trying to make it work.  Should they be flat or standing?  How would I photograph them with the products?  It just wasn't working and I was so upset and frustrated.  How could I do this all by myself?  Too much!  I threw the cardboard in the recycling and started aimlessly scribbling in my sketchbook.  As is often the way, when the brain is in neutral, the ideas will come.  I had started drawing simple graphic shapes . . . hmmm, maybe this could work?

 

These shapes helped make the final choice of the environments, as it was important to be able to suggest them just by using a simple and easily-recognisable image. So they became; Mountain, Garden (flowers), Lagoon (waterlillies), Forest (trees), Bay (shells) and Lake.

Eventually the map was roughed out in Illustrator, with everything laid out nicely.

After lots of fine-tuning, the map was finally created in Photoshop, using scans of torn paper collage, brown paper and cut-out product photos.  The shark fins are a nod to the old Shark Alley logo.

The new logo is based on a quick sketch I did after the brainstorming session.  Nothing was ever better than this first one, so I ended up using it. It also inspired the shape of the island.

(Anyone notice a vague similarity to my favourite place?)

The map was the main header on the website, but I also needed headers for each category.  These originally featured four images, but they were just too much for the eye to cope with with all the products on the page as well, so I put together a simpler version instead.

All the Shark Alley products needed to be re-photographed as well, and from different angles.  I settled on brown paper as a background, as it is a good neutral colour and helps define the white stars on some of the necklaces.  Making these work on white backgrounds was always a nightmare of Photoshop jiggery-pokery!

The brown looks different for each product on the page, but I like it.  I think it fits in well with the natural theme.

 So there you go!  The new little world of Shark Alley. What do you think?  It was unbelievably hard work under the time constraint I stupidly gave myself (I wanted it done before The Handmade Fair), working evenings and weekends and having to do everything myself.  So many times it felt impossible and there was a lot of self-doubt along the way (Should I do THIS? Is THIS any good? etc etc). I'm reminded of this little gem.

www.sharkalley.co.uk

They Draw Horses, Don't They?

Waaaay back last summer, a gauntlet was thrown down in The Annexe Studios by fellow member Steve Woodgate (the man who supervises my printing needs).

Based on the theory that horses are the hardest thing to draw, he challenged all of us (and other local artists including Tracy Beaker illustrator Nick Sharratt) to produce postcard-sized images of horses in what ever style or media we cared to use.  You can see them on Pinterest here if you care to. There was a little vote-based competition (your correspondent came second), and then the whole idea went on to become a shop - with a launch event.  Hurrah!

Steve Woodgate introduces Harry Venning

Held at The Latest Bar in Brighton, delights on offer included all work to purchase on prints, mugs and teatowels, 'live' screenprinting on paper recycled from - wait for it - manure and cartoonist Harry Venning's legendary presentation on how to draw cartoons.  Harry is the artist and writer behind Clare In The Community - a Guardian comic strip and award-winning Radio 4 comedy.  It was hilarious - almost brought the horse down.

Harry in full flow

Horsey screenprints - done on the spot.

Illustrator Paul Collicutt's horse - available for further artistic interpretation.

If you want to purchase any of the horsey goodness, visit the They Draw Horses, Don't They? shop HERE.  Mine's not there just yet - must remember to sign that release form . . .

Remembering The Handmade Fair 2014

So, two weeks ago I was running around like the proverbial fly with a blue bum in preparation for the first ever Handmade Fair presented by Kirstie Allsopp.  (For those of you not living in the UK, Kirstie presents a series of TV programmes with an emphasis on traditional crafts and upcycling.)

And now its all over and I'm just back from hols and feeling very odd!

I haven't had a chance until now to blog about the fair - or blog about anything at all lately to be honest - so here goes.

The Fair was held in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace - a magnificent pile once owned by King Henry VIII - and it is quite stunningly beautiful.  As I grew up nearby I used to go there as a child, but through adult eyes it seemed so different - more spectacular if anything.

Strung with heaps of colourful bunting, all the marquees looked lovely as we set up on 18th September - a day so hot and sunny it could have been July.  A few teething issues with unloading times made the whole thing slightly fraught - sitting in a hot field for over two hours was not the finest start when you want to feel all Zen to set up your lovely bijou little stall - but eventually (if rather sweatily) everything got done.

So - the Fair began on the Friday and ran for three days. Visitor numbers were good, with Saturday being the busiest.  I was so grateful that I'd invested in a dinky little Paypal card reader, as sales have been lost in the past when people ran out of cash.  I was also delighted to sell a necklace from the brand new Fables range!

Getting to grips with the card reader.  Photo by Skye Pennant

'The Watcher In The Woods' one-off resin and semi-precious bead necklace - SOLD to the lady with the excellent taste

Rushed off my feet - and loving it. Photo by Skye Pennant

I felt that there was a strong sense of mutual support amongst the exhibitors and I was lucky to have some familiar faces there - Tina Francis Tapestry and Victorious Bee - as well as making new friends Joanna Clark Design, Lorna Bateman Embroidery and Honey Bee Beautiful.  I was also incredibly touched that Mary Ann Nelson from Zarafa Designs, one of the Fair's Experts and the lady who taught me how to use resin, came and found me and said how proud she was that I had gone on to make resin jewellery and that she always encourages her students to look at my website.  This was such a lovely boost and very flattering.  I picked up lots of info and tips as well as having a good laugh with my fellow stallholders.  I also bought some gorgeous make-up bags from the very talented Punto Belle - who designs her own fabric before making them into a range of bags.  These are ostensibly PRESENTS, but I don't know. I'm not convinced they'll be received, if you get my drift.

Medium Make-Up Bags by Punto Belle.  Photos by Punto Belle.

IDIOT MOMENT - missing an opportunity to say hi to special guests and my ex-employers Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably when they popped into the West Tent on Saturday.  I umm-ed and aah-ed, thought they might walk past me later, but didn't, so I blew it.  I used to work on mosaic projects with Kaffe back in the late 1990s, culminating in Gold Medal winning garden at the 1999 Chelsea Flower Show, which is where these pictures were taken.

Late on that day, there was a bit of a party for the exhibitors to make up for some of the problems people had been experiencing.  I have to be honest here and say some people were very disgruntled, and later several people from the event's organisers went round asking for feedback on how things could be improved for everyone in the future.  Kirstie made an appearance and was mobbed, there was food and wine on offer and it was just nice to spend a bit more social time with my fellow exhibitors, as there was little time for that during the busy days.

I was most intrigued with Kirstie's amazing pompom embellished shoes.  This was a nod to 'World Pomination' - the fair's attempt to make the world's longest string of pompoms.  Members of the public were asked to submit three pompoms each, which would then be added to the string.  I think they did make it in the end!

Kirstie Allsopp's (very blurry) pompom shoes

The pompoms looked so pretty laid out on the grass in the sunshine and wound round the trees.

So all in all, it was an experience, sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating but I came away feeling that I learned a lot and that what I'm doing is worthwhile.  Will I do it all again?  I'm still deciding.

The new look Shark Alley stall. Photo by Skye Pennant

I guess that means it's over.