The Jessie Rose Trip - Bramhall, Stockport - 27th August 2010

Usually the British weather isn't very forgiving when it comes to outdoor gigs, but the weather held out yesterday evening as we watched one of the best Unsigned acts in the country; The Jessie Rose Trip. 


Made up of Jessie Rose on Lead Vocals, Guitar and Keys, James Wood on Drums and Backing Vocals and Mark Lewis on Bass and Backing Vocals, this three-piece band successfully mixes soulful vocals with Hendrix-esque guitar licks. 

Their music possessed so much variety and you can definitely hear a lot of vocal influences from 30s/40s soul and blues, mixed with 60s blues-rock guitar riffs and with a 2010 Indie spin it's extremely surprising that this band has not been signed yet.  

It's extremely hard nowadays to find a band with a front-woman who can sing live, and this band is by far one of the best. I'd say their energy and passion was prominent throughout their performances; each member complimented one another and they played an extremely good show. Seeing them play live was a great experience, I'd like to say seeing them live is far superior to their awesome studio music. 

This band is the one to watch.
Check out their music with the links below.
http://www.myspace.com/thejessierosetrip 
http://www.thejessierosetrip.com/
http://twitter.com/jessierosetrip
Music available from iTunes.

Article and Photographs copyright www.originalfusedesigns.eu/Francesca Hughes 2010.

Brand New Logo

As it's summer I thought i'd give the logo a new, contemporary and current look and style.          

Previous logo: 

Even though I loved the older logo, I felt it wasn't me. It felt like a great graphic/typographic image, however, i wanted something which felt more me in terms of design; contemporary, a mix of typographic styles, nice balance of type and a great use of space around the logo. 
Here, I present the new logo. Overall, I love it ... however I know I'll probably end up changing it soon enough, let's hope not ey?

The new logo:

Any thoughts on the new logo? Comments are always appreciated :-)

Thursday 10th June 2pm - Peter Saville

Today marked one of the most iconic days for me, as a designer, as the man himself, Peter Saville, responsible for the artwork of Factory Records album covers of New Order and Joy Division (amongst a lot of design work) came into our college to do a Q&A/talk session. 


Peter Saville began by establishing that he was a "bad example" of a graphic designer, he considered himself a "designer of communication". 
He discussed his influences and inspirations to which he responded "everything i look at is inspiration, before the internet was extremely accessible I used to go into newsagents reading everything in magazines; to understand more about design and what I liked". 
When taking his degree at Manchester Polytechnic University (now known as Manchester Metropolitan University) he would look at everything with a "designer's eye" understanding what worked in design and how a designer had constructed a piece of work. 
He also touched upon his work with Factory Records/New Order/Joy Division, he expressed how at the time he made covers which he wanted to create with his own ideas, rather than being asked to do an album cover in a certain style; thus creating the extremely unique visual style that we all know and love. 
Saville also explained the idea that once you're not enjoying what you're doing anymore, move on. He admitted that he's turned down many clients due to not enjoying projects; "...i was in a meeting, during the time I worked in the fashion industry, and I wasn't enjoying what I was doing anymore, I'd grown out of it. The meeting was actually with Stella McCartney, she said "Peter, do you want to do this?" to which I replied "... not really no". I haven't worked in fashion for over 10 years. Once you stop enjoying what you love doing, it's time to do something else ..." 

It was extremely interesting and thought provoking listening to him speak about his time in design, his extreme passion and love for the art form is prominent when he talks about the work which he has produced. It was also nice to hear from not only a genius in terms of design, but from someone who has "been there, done that". An extraordinary talented and inspirational man.

As a fan of all things design-esque is was essential to attend this special talk to coincide with the events taking place in Macclesfield to commemorate the life of Ian Curtis and Joy Division. Over the coming months, the Joy Division events, will be taking place at the Silk Museum, Heritage Museum and around Macclesfield, Cheshire. The main Unknown Pleasures exhibition will showcase the music and lyrics of Joy Division, as well as personal exhibits, art and designs inspired by the band's music. 

[Click to enlarge]

Unknown Pleasures Exhibitions, Macclesfield Silk Museum, July 29-August 7 2010.
For more information: http://www.joydivisionexhibition.com/

Shop Open for Business

The Shop is now open!

For Signed Prints please check out the shop in the Menu to the left.

Graphic Print T-Shirts Coming Soon!

Design Work #2: Quirky Bean

Commissioned work for Hazel Gentle, Online Blogger/YouTube Vlogger and Inspirational Guru for QuirkyBean. Branding: Logo.

[Click image to enlarge]

For more info:

http://www.youtube.com/quirkybean

http://www.facebook.com/pages/QuirkyBean/247504422211?ref=ts

http://www.twitter.com/originalfuse

Design Work #1: Broken Rose

Commissioned work for Artistic Director and Choreographer Gemma Connell for Broken Rose performing arts company. Branding: Logo, Business Card, Compliments Slip, Letterhead and Portfolio, as well as the video on the previous post.

[Click image to enlarge]


Check out the hype:


http://brokenroseperformingarts.blogspot.com/
www.youtube.com/brokenrosearts
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broken-Rose-Performing-Arts/120642791282372?ref=ts
http://www.myspace.com/534083619
http://twitter.com/brokenrosearts

Featured Video

Original Fuse Designs presents Gemma Connell of Broken Rose performing arts company.



I used the Kodak Zi8 to film the video above, if you go over to www.youtube.com/originalfusedesigns I also filmed the AFI Gig footage with the same camera.

Portfolio

New portfolio page, check it out, it's a bit more professional :-)

Welcome to originalfusedesigns ...

Welcome to originalfusedesigns, the home of creation.

Here at OFD we aim to progress within a vision of pure innovation, individuality and inspiration. originalfusedesigns started as one designer inventing imagery and artwork as expression for herself, now she works to provide companies and individuals with high quality visuals, graphics and moving image pieces.

So far the company has worked with Broken Rose Performing Arts and QuirkyBean, as well as artwork for herself and various small voluntary projects, submissions and competitions.

The company would love to progress more within the various creative fields including Photography, Motion Graphics, Graphic Design, Illustration, Web Design, Film and Animation.

"So, sit back and relax, because tomorrow will be a whirlwind" - originalfusedesigns

FOREVER create 

Urbis: My Last Ever Visit

Manchester is the home of one of the most unique, cultural, artistic, learning experiences in the UK; Urbis.  Unfortunately it closes it's doors to the public on 27th February 2010 and so today was my last ever visit there. To celebrate it's long (ish) run of excellence a new exhibition, Urbis Has Left the Buiding: Six Years of the Best Exhibitions in Pop Culture, was formed. This exhibition holds various promotional materials, objects, photos, films and interactions to showcase six years of Urbis existence. If you have never been to the Urbis then this is definiately the exhibition to go to. From Video Gaming to Music to Photography to Graphic Art to Graffiti, it's an absolute haven for budding creatives. 

Here are just some of photos of the exhibition: 

Currently on the first floor is the Home Grown: The Story of UK Hip Hop exhibition. Now, I'm not the biggest hip hop fan, I find the music quite irritating and it doesn't interest me what-so-ever, however, this was by far one of my favourite exhibitions EVER at the Urbis. The photography, the graffiti, the light-boxes, everything about this exhibition was brilliant and really gave me some great ideas and influences for how I could exhibit my own work for the End of Year Show for College. 

Here are a selection of the photos: 

Head over to the Urbis today; closure: 27th February 2010

http://www.urbis.org.uk/