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Category: Design & Print

Last Thursday, a few Bluesteppers headed into the heart of Birmingham to the oh so quirky Spotlight Bar on Lower Trinity Street for the part 2 in the series of Glug’s ‘Craft & Graft’.

When we arrived, we picked up one of these amazing free prints which were created by one of the guest speakers of the night, Supermundane and also managed to grab a few industry mags (thanks Glug).

What we found the most intriguing about the Glug enterprise was their vision for growth, the community strives by 2017 to have presences in 100 plus cities (we predict a TED Talks scenario, any one agree?). Not only that, they have some pretty big names involved with their venture, with the likes of D&AD, The Drum and Google too.

This night was all about championing creativity, centred around the life of hard working designers working in installations, displays and print for some of the biggest brands in the U.K, all of which was to be discussed over a whiskey or two.

The evening kicked off with the sassy duo, Isabelle & Helen. These two ladies specialise in set design and interactive installations. If you’re a dedicated ‘Christmas shop window display’ fan, you would have probably have seen their work in the past. Commissioned by THE Selfridges, the pair created a captivating installation themed around ‘the galaxy’. The pair went into detail about all the hard grafting that went into their crafting for their projects and the tools that were involved, including how they worked in some questionable locations until the early hours of the morning. And it was all for the love of the work.

Another of the girls projects centred around a debate that essentially went viral, ‘Pig or Wig’, a very real trivia that tested and tormented the audience. Take a look for yourself and play along why don’t you. Next up was the girl with an array of skilled strings to her bow, Emily Forgot. Throughout her time on the podium, she went through her work and how the creative was derived from all of her sources of inspiration. These taking the form of canvassed art pieces and architecture, through extensive research (the graft) she created the craft for the likes of Dulux, Computer Arts magazine and an extensive list of exhibitions. Check out her blog here for an insight into her drivers and inspo.

After a quick break where the team grabbed some printed goodies (and beer) from the court yard, we headed inside to listen to Supermundane / Rob Lowe. He captured our attention instantly, with his super bright video that showed his finished craftings, complimenting his super bright personality very nicely indeed. With his hand drawings, work in typography and graphic design, the colours he uses across all of his creative reminded us of 80’s pop / children’s illustration and we were all hooked. And when flicking through his website, we’re sure that you will appreciate our love for his work too.

To find out more about Glug as a brand, take a look at their line up for future events here.
(Images courtesy of inkygoodness)

Meet David, the newest addition the thriving Bluestep design team! David joins Bluestep armed with 25 years experience in the design industry and with many strings to his bow; we can’t wait to see how his expertise will take Bluestep to the next level.

Things are changing quite rapidly at Bluestep, and we strive to keep our services up to date so that we are always on hand to exceed our clients’ expectations. Our studio’s capacity was filling up fast, and there was an evident need for a senior figure to help manage workloads and offer creative direction when needed. We want to be in a position to offer our clients only the best, and we believe that with a solid team of talented and experienced individuals we’ll be able to do just that. With a Studio Manager, our studio can continue their fantastic work in the most efficient manner. That’s where David comes in, and with his solid background in design, animation and photography we can’t wait to utilise his talents to maximise the potential of our design department.

Anyone who knows Bluestep will know we’re far from a boring bunch, and personality is at the forefront of everything we do. We’re thinking David will gel quite nicely with the team as he hopes to carry Bluestep to the next level with a sense of humour and a smile on his face.

When he’s not manning the Bluestep studio, no doubt he’ll be busy playing guitar in his mod band; photographing bands, mod weekenders, northern soul all-nighters and hot rod shows (call it sub culture photography); chasing after his kids, or watching Newcastle United all that way up north!

Welcome to the team, David.

When the Northampton School of Arts cordially invited Bluestep for an evening of creative exhibition, we jumped straight on the band wagon. Each year the University hosts The Degree Show at the Avenue Campus, and each year we’re lucky enough to have the opportunity to scout out the raw and rising talent amongst the students within the design, illustration and graphics specialisms.

Attending the opening night on Friday 10th June, excitement and anticipation was thick in the air amongst those showcasing their projects to the public, but to be frank we thought that all of the work we saw was not only incredibly creative, but inspiring also. The evening took us through some intriguing exhibitions and art installations, with pieces from fashion and textiles to moving image and animation; giving us some ideas of new skills we can adopt and directions we can take ourselves in.
Amongst those from the agency who attended the evening, we had Tiffany, Ollie and Rebecca from our design department along with Ben, Bluestep’s MD. The exhibition setting brought back some familiar memories for our own designer Rebecca who was snapped up by Bluestep shortly before her own installation at Northampton Uni just a mere two years ago.

We are always hugely keen to hear from local students and to see their work, so if you’re looking to enhance your portfolio with internship opportunities, would love to hear from you!

If you are you interested in going along to the exhibition yourself for an afternoon of creative insight, you can book a space here. Tickets for the show are free and the installation runs up until Sunday 19th June.