Month: May 2022

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Candle Making

Last Winter 2021, Dom and I became obsessed with candles and how to make them. He surprised me and went all out on collecting the gear: kilo of wax chips, scents, colours, moulds, jars and wicks. He had also sacrificed a whole space in one of our cupboards to accommodate, so I knew this would mean business. On a snowy day it felt perfect to stay in and ruin the kitchen! So we did just that.

I use to love candle making, I’d made them previously to raise money for exhibitions and events, though I had never done them professionally. We watched a few tutorials and read up on the art of candle making, but the quality of results definitely comes down to experience. There were a couple of problems to start out, such as keeping the candle lit and releasing the scent, but after trial and error, we found it was mostly down to patience. We were too eager to light the candles, usually moving them while setting and lighting them within a few hours of making them, so avoiding these tempting pokes and paying attention to temperatures have really improved the results.

Since it was getting towards Christmas, we thought we could them into gifts, so we went mad collecting old jars to make as many as possible. They went down a treat and we are thinking we may do this as a tradition.

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Wellbeing Walks Brochure

One of my latest commissions is illustrating a wellbeing walks brochure; this will demonstrate a range of cycling /walking routes from Manchester Airport through to Northenden. The aim of this project is to enoucrage everyone to benefit mentally and physically from the wonderland of walks around the local area, while celebrating its variety of greenspaces, bio-diversity and local assets. This project is funded and commissioned by Thrive Manchester and partnered with Wythenshawe Waste Warriors, I am thrilled to be the affilated designer on such an uplifting, positive project.

Map Design

To begin map design, I began by drawing up the roads, Motorway, and River Mersey using satellite’s /google maps for reference. I was provided helpful material for placing in walking routes to begin laying a pre-liminary foundation. To keep my document in order, I have groups for all catogories of layers, e.g. zones, roads, symbols. The process is quite tricky and meticulous but I enjoy the challenge. I have great feedback and help on the progress from John-Paul Coe which keeps the work running smoothly.

Symbol Design

Once I had a base map and routes in place, I was provided with lists of landmarks for each walk, including parks, pubs, transport etc. To make symbols for these, I have been producing a range of illustrations and key features. There will be an estimated 50 symbols to illustrate so theres lots to consider in ensuring everything is legible.

Brochure pages

Before I thought about producing the map, I considered the reverse side, and how this would fold and be divided up. I mocked up a few basic outlines for printing and folding; this helped me trial and error sizes and provided an indication on how to scale content within the stages. Once I had a general idea of how to produce the brochure itself, I began mocking up the map and content for exploration. Myself and the funders are pleased with the progress so far and I am looking forward to furthering its development.