Behind the scenes at SMILE

Our website has been online for just over a year now and to...

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:12:24 +0000

Our website has been online for just over a year now and to commemorate this, we have put together an infographic on our 10,000 unique visitors. We love you all!

We didn’t know how many eyes would gaze over our site, but now we have an indication as to what we can achieve, we want you to spread the word and get even more people smiling.

Minimal Sites

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:54:53 +0000

Minimal Sites:

We recently got featured as an editors pick on minimalsites.com

We were interviewed by the BBC for our contributions to the...

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:41:41 +0000

We were interviewed by the BBC for our contributions to the Created in Birmingham shop!

Last friday, while Sue enjoyed her birthday at home, Nathan and...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:41:01 +0000

Last friday, while Sue enjoyed her birthday at home, Nathan and I took a trip to our old stomping ground at BIAD for our second presentation since graduating. This time we were invited to talk to students on the professional practice module.

We felt all prepared, and were actually looking forward to it, until we arrived and were told that the presentation would be made in what we think is the uni’s largest lecture theatre, as apposed to the average-sized classroom we had expected.

Nonetheless, with rather sweaty palms, we went ahead with our plan and it seemed to go down well. We spoke about the hurdles that we have overcome as a company since starting, and what to expect as a newby to the industry.

Nath had a course to run off to at lunch, which left me all alone for the afternoon’s question and answer session. I was handed a bunch of questions scribbled on scraps of paper, but I didn’t have nearly enough time to answer them all, so I have picked out a few of the unanswered questions bewlow:

Q: SMILE, why did you start your own company straight away after leaving university?

A: With the current financial climate, it was clear to us that competition for any jobs in our sector would be very high, so with nothing to loose we jumped head first into industry. We had worked together on university and commercial briefs while studying, and we knew we had a very special working relationship, so it seemed the natural progression was to continue with SMILE, and we’re glad we took that risk!!

Q: Are you all workaholics?

A: In a sense yes, we all love what we do, and that is the driving force behind SMILE, but at the same time we know how to have fun, and how to let our hair down. Hence the reason why we have recently acquired a studio pool table!!

Q: What is your greatest weakness?

A: I was dying to answer this question, but unfortunately we ran out of time. My biggest weakness, and fear is public speaking. 12 months ago I would have actively avoided any kind of public speaking, let alone presenting in front of a fairly full lecture theatre. But I am living proof that it can be done. I still get butterflies at the thought of public speaking, but with every experience it is getting better, so my advice to any students feeling the same way is have a go, you might be pleasantly surprised!!

CiB shop stock - new prints!

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:02:00 +0000

Nathan’s already mentioned this I think, but I thought I’d remind you that there are a few new additions to the SMILE wall at the CiB shop in the Bullring.

I’m selling some of the posters that were featured on the blog not too long ago. So, if you like the look, pop down for a nosey! £45 each (framed).

SMILE in the Created in Birmingham shop

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:00:00 +0000

We are proud to say that we are now displaying and selling some of our work in the UK’s busiest shopping centre: The Bullring. With an annual draw of around 40 million shoppers a year, we’re suitably excited.

Here’s a little bit of history for those of you that don’t know the whole story…

Created in Birmingham was started as a blog to link up Birmingham’s artistic and creative communities. Since then, it has won a 2008 weblog award and a Media Guardian Innovation Award for Best Independent Blog.

Then all of a sudden Created in Birmingham announced that it was to make the jump from a virtual space to a physical one. Chris Unitt (owner of Created in Birmingham) asked us to curate a section of wall in the new shop - we jumped at the chance.

We like to show you not just the final outcome, but some behind the scenes photos - so we’ve put together a little collection for your viewing pleasure.

So huge thanks are in order to Chris Unitt (above) who has made this happen for us.

Our prints have been well received and we’re starting to see some new people talking about us online.

Smile have curated part of the wall on the right hand side as you walk in, and I love it. It’s typographical loveliness - bold and Brummie.
Shona McQuillan

Just been to the CIB shop and bought ‘The forgotten City’ print. Nice work @SmileUpdate great typography!
RobertBloxham

Really impressed by wearesmile.com in the #cibshop, now just trying to work out which one to buy :)
Andy Higgs

Popped into the #cibshop earlier. Great stuff. I especially enjoyed the lovely type works courtesy of @smileupdate
Adam Williams

So come on down to the shop, it’s in the Birmingham Bullring on the Debenhams half, opposite the Apple store and H&M. Let us know what you think! We’ll post up details on the prints for sale in the coming days.

Created in Birmingham pt. 53!!

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:42:35 +0000

A sneak peak of one of the pieces going to be displayed at the Created in birmingham shop. It’s getting close to opening day now and we are totally ready *wipes sweat off brow.

It’s really exciting seeing it come together, we’ve got some great things to display so make sure you pop on down! (opens this friday)

The Coffee Table: Hand drawn scripts and stock inventory

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:11:09 +0000

Not much to show ON the table this week, but let me reassure you - there’s some cool stuff going on here. There’s some work that I cannot wait to get printed. It’s been fairly photo/typo-graphic here the last few weeks and everything is coming together.

I’ve been getting back to basics. Reading lots, learning new things and devising new theories. I’ve been looking at scripts and trying my hand at them.

We’re staring to get some very good work in for our selection at the Created in Birmingham shop. If you want in, then you need to move fast. Email us quick.

And on an entirely unrelated note, I visited my mum this week - who gave me the coolest memory stick ever. Its a surgeon who’s head you have to rip off to access your data.

In preparation for the launch of Created in Birmingham shop next...

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:54:14 +0000

In preparation for the launch of Created in Birmingham shop next week, I have been out taking a few photos which I might get printed as small prints or post cards. While out I took some random shots of different style windows. And I liked them so much I thought I would start a little series. So for the next couple of weeks at least Thursday joiner post will be slightly different while I expand my collection. I might start some other series of other random objects while I’m at it (lamp posts, doors, house numbers etc. If you’ve got any ideas let me know!).

If you’re into this kind of stuff, and have any work of your own, especially Birmingham based, drop into the studio and we’ll see about getting some into the shop.

Check out my gradient toast (aka gradioast, (courtesy of Sue!))....

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:00:30 +0000

Check out my gradient toast (aka gradioast, (courtesy of Sue!)). I know this is really rather geeky but thought it was worth a mention that even our toaster is getting into design!

Ok Guys, here it is at long last! Our guide for work to be...

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:16:00 +0000

Ok Guys, here it is at long last! Our guide for work to be submitted for the Created in Birmingham shop.

We wanted a topic to give the work some kind of consistency. After much deliberation, we chose ‘Love Brum’. We at SMILE love Brum (that’s why we chose to stay here), but we feel that it sometimes gets some bad press so now is your chance to give our city the credit that it deserves.

If you’ve got some work that you think would sell in our section of the shop, and it’s linked in some way to Birmingham then please send it across to us. Or, even better, pop in to the studio and show us what you’ve got.

Blog barmey-ness

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:47:41 +0000

Hi Folks…

As you may be aware, we are currently planning for the opening of the CiB shop in the Bullring. Therefore the blogs may be a bit erratic, hence the absence of Object of the week!

I’m currently working on another Birmingham black and white print, so literally haven’t had time to construct the usual blog.

On another cheery note, Nath informed us (with his endless supply of knowledge!!) that it is the official day to complete the last will and testament. Nice.

I’ll report back with more news….

The Coffee Table: Mags, toys and secrets

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:01:27 +0000

Some good magazines are out this week. We’ve been mostly enjoying Grafik and Computer Arts - lots to be learnt in both! Grafik even had a very nice poster with it.

And whats this? Ooooh, it’s a secret!

We’ll end todays post with some more LEGO. I got this for my birthday (the Monday just gone) and it’s a coin bank. The mechanism (made from LEGO) sends an octopus out to grab the money. Too cool.

Want to get your hands on SMILE stuff?

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:46:57 +0000

As you may be aware from Nath’s post yesterday, Created in Birmingham will be running a retail unit in the Bullring shopping centre. We will have a section of the shop to sell some work of ours, and some of our favourite pieces from other people.

Now„, we’re working on a brief for contributors to follow, as we will only have a limited space so need to be selective. But, we are not sure which pieces of our work we should include. So, is there any piece of our work that you would like to be available in the shop? Anything you might have seen on our website, or on our blog, or anywhere else for that matter!!

Today we had a meeting over at the Custard Factory. Although...

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:42:07 +0000

Today we had a meeting over at the Custard Factory. Although still rather cold, the sun was shining, and the sky blue after yesterday’s snow, so I jumped at the chance to shoot this week’s joiner.

Although it is only round the corner from our studio, we very rarely venture out to the Custard Factory, but it is worth a visit from time to time. I took a trip to the flea market on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised. There’s some very interesting people around, and a very friendly atmosphere. You might even pick up a bargain!

Created in Birmingham Shop + SMILE

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:55:14 +0000

We’ve teamed up with award winning blog Created in Birmingham to curate a section of their upcoming retail unit in Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre. We will be selecting (and doing some of our own) prints, artwork and other creative goods to be sold through the shop.

Do you want to sell your work through the “SMILE with friends” wall? Get in touch with us ASAP. Email us, call us (0121 773 4851), tweet us, come visit us - it’s up to you how you do it.

The shop is ideally positioned in one of the UK’s largest shopping complexes that has 40 million visitors per year. I’m sure that this is going to make a real impact and there will be a lot of cool stuff going on in the CiB store. We look forward to hearing from you!

Oh and by the way, please spread the word - the more the merrier!

Birmingham Bonanza.

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:57:27 +0000

Today’s object of the week features a poster that I created while I had a little spare time - The BT Tower, Birmingham.

I’ve gone for a bit of a different style to the other posters I created (anglepoise/spitfire), a bit of a monochromatic thang going on!

I wanted to create a poster or a couple in order to focus on Birmingham’s not so media heavy icons. We all know that selfrides/the rotunda are highly praised and are clearly visitor focul points, however, there are some pretty beautiful/amezzin’ buildings around here, including the BT Tower, the Birmingham Mint/St Paul’s Church/St. Martin’s Church. P.s on a completely random note: I simply love Birmingham’s abandoned warehouses - I want to buy one and make it my home!

Let me know what you think to this poster and style (if you like it I’ll do more. If not I won’t!).

The Coffee Table: Printing and Finishes

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:02:00 +0000

So you’ve seen the paper, now see the finishers and printers.

But before we go on about that, we can tell you that we’ve got a dead exciting project that revolves around genetics. We’re just trying to expand our knowledge on the subject and learning the essentials so we know what we’re on about. Info-graphics ahoy?

GF Smith sent us some wonderful new colourplan book. Shame it doesn’t show you the weights and embossings though. I’m thinking of using mine as a (very sexy) diary/journal.

We’re looking into another foil block job. It’s getting quite complex so we’re looking at some fantastic resources.

I’ve been learning about the process and some of the more advanced things that one could do by combining techniques. It’s all really interesting. Check out the micro-engraving on the third picture!

One of our good friends sent us a bag of goodies including a beautiful booklet for Jonathan Ive’s honorary doctorate. There’s also a nice piece of promo for Kingsbury Press.

Bonus Thursday joiner, err on Friday! Sorry for the mixup, but...

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:42:16 +0000

Bonus Thursday joiner, err on Friday!

Sorry for the mixup, but here is the bonus joiner for this week. Again shot from the very cold and windy grounds of Edinburgh Castle.

First of all, apologies for the technical problem with the post....

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:38:00 +0000

First of all, apologies for the technical problem with the post. I had uploaded two images of very different proportions, and Tumblr couldn’t deal with it.

Also, apologies for the lack of Thursday joiner last week, I was missing in action! I took a weekend away to Edinburgh, and what a beautiful place. So I thought I would share a snippet with you. Although I have to admit photographs can’t quite do it justice.

This was taken from the castle grounds, overlooking the city centre. It took quite a bit of post production to get it up to standard because of how hurriedly I took them. By the time I had finished, my hands were so cold I could barely push the shutter release! But it was worth the trip just for that view!