Brett-Lesage blog

print versus digital

2011-10-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

A lot of people ask me about the future of print in the digital age given, for example, the rapid decline in bookshop's fortunes.
My answer is that it's a bit like the death of radio that was foretold with the advent of television: there are still some things that radio does better. Likewise: print will always exist, but there will be less of it.
Brett-Lesage are moving more and more into digital communications, but often these are tied together with print comms. Just recently I read 2 interesting articles re 'the death of print being greatly exaggerated':
This one is about the use of printed newspapers in the Wall Street occupation happening now ('The Occupied Wall Street Journal')
-and this one is about printed versus digital Annual Reports

St Paul's Cathedral

2011-06-30T05:02:00.000-07:00

After many years of vigorous cleaning, the Cathedral is now free of scaffolding. On Tuesday 21st June The Dean and Chapter celebrated its 300th Anniversary with a Service of Thanksgiving in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. 2500 invited guests: The Duchess of Gloucester, The Lord Mayor of London preceded by The Sword of State and Mace, and other dignitaries. The rest of the congregation mainly comprising the staff and their families, Friends of St Paul's and a few others, and I was there! It was uplifting and glorious. Including wonderful music and imaginative readings from The Bible (obviously) but also the Diary of John Evelyn who witnessed the devastation of the Old St Paul's after the Fire of London in 1666. The Dean, The Right Reverend Graeme Knowles gave the sermon, offerings insights into the fabric and purpose of the Cathedral and reminding us that worship has been made continuously on this site for over 1000 years. It is a certainty that most of the people there had never sung the National Anthem in the presence of Our Gracious Queen before.

Blue Anchor Lane Artists SE16 3UL

2011-06-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

ZEBRA DIPTYCH 2011

Jodie Glen-Martin

Open day at Blue Anchor Lane Studios - tonight and all weekend. See some interesting and arresting pictures for sale. More by this artist and many others.

Nearest Tube: Jubilee Line Bermondsey

Buses: C10, 381,188 or 47

Being Untouchable

2011-06-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

Being Untouchable is not a concept with which we are comfortable in Western Culture, and indeed no one should feel comfortable with this, however the concept is based on a culture which is bedded in antiquity and we should beware of too easily condemning something we do not really understand.

I went to the first viewing of this exhibition at St Paul's Cathedral. This is not poverty chic or in any way voyeuristic - the photographs by Marcus Perkins radiate a spectacular power, not just of shock but also of wonder.

I urge others to go and to contribute generously to the fund set up to help combat the misery, poverty and deprivations of the Dalit and Leper communities in aid of which this Exhibition is mounted.

www.stpauls.co.uk/News-Press/Latest-News/Being-Untouchable-photography-exhibition

archive.marcusperkins.com/page1

Brett Lesage Away Day No 1: Stanley Spencer

2011-06-23T07:13:00.000-07:00

The more you put in the more you can put out:

Brett Lesage have a new drive to visit interesting places and things and our first visit took in the Stanley Spencer World War I paintings at Burghclere in the Sandham Memorial Chapel and the World War II paintings of the Glasgow Shipbuilders series now on show at the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham. I strongly recommend both - the drawings are on show at the Gallery as well and the astonishing power and skill is remarkable and awe inspiring. www.stanleyspencer.org.uk

Brett Lesage @ Wimbledon

2011-06-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

We are not actually at Wimbledon BUT Deutsche Bank have ticket wallets designed by us. We do hope that they are all enjoying themselves, in spite of the rain, and that the strawberries and cream are being 'responsibly' washed down with champagne.

Cheap Art Manifesto

2009-08-23T19:35:00.001-07:00

Here is the Cheap Art manifesto of Bread and Puppet:

Papier Mache inspiration

2009-08-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

About 25 minutes along the road from the house of my parents-in-law in Vermont, USA there lies a large but unassuming barn which is a perennial inspiration to me. A week ago I visited it again.

The Bread and Puppet museum is a storehouse of hundreds of 'puppets' (many are enormous) made and used by this radical theatre group since it was founded in New York City in 1962.
The place fizzes with imagination, ideas and passionate ideals. This is utterly accessible 'people's art' produced collectively and very cheaply using papier mache, scrap wood etc. while at the same time creating things that are often surprisingly beautiful, moving, disturbing, even awe-inspiring.

Of course the way to really see the puppets is in the local parades or else in the 'circuses' (with new writing and puppets each year) that take place on sunday afternoons in the grounds next to the museum:

Peter Saville lecture

2009-06-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

D&AD President’s Lecture: Peter Saville, 12 March 09

Peter Saville continues to be a huge influence on designers and his minimalistic iconic covers for Factory records in the ‘70s and ‘80’s are a particular favourite in the studio so it was with some anticipation that we all went to hear him speak at the D&AD lecture. Adrian Shaunghnessy was interviewing him and my heart sank a bit when he said that ‘Peter Saville’s greatest work is perhaps Peter Saville’ and that he was going to find out about ‘the man and the myth’ rather than to delve into the work.

As I feared, Saville rambled through somewhat random slides, thoughts and anecdotes rather than focussing on process but it was an entertaining evening. Choice nuggets include:

The first two Joy Division album covers were, apparently, largely a result of ‘luck’:

Unknown Pleasures: The band gave him the wave diagram and told him they wanted it in white on the cover; He left it the same size and photographed it in negative using a PMT camera. That was then the cover. He “didn’t know where to put the type or how to specify colour” so he didn’t do either.

Closer: The band asked him what he was interested in at the time and he showed them a book of Bernard Pierre Wolff photographs - one of which they thought would do fine for the album cover.

Richard Hamilton’s toaster seemed to symbolise what Saville was trying to do: a convergence of art, photography, design, typography and contemporary culture.

“30 year-olds should not design record covers” ... “it’s something I grew out of”… “obsessing over type etc is something teenage boys do – it’s hobbyist”. I wasn’t really convinced by this line of argument and wondered if he was just fed up of talking about his early work.

Damien Hirst’s recent sale at Sotheby's was ‘utter crap’ “as if Selfridges had bought the rights to the Hirst brand and got a load of reasonably competent designers to produce a pile of tat”. Saville emphasised that he was just talking about this collection – not Hirst’s earlier work – that he quite liked.