Part of the inspiration for this rather un-techie addition to our Wacom Tablet, iMac, iPad and other digital interfaces is the rise and rise (or fall and fall?) of Generative AI. But we’re also finding it very rewarding reconnecting with our past creative practice. We feel, more than ever, that these heritage skills are in danger of being lost. I’d forgotten a lot… but it’s coming flooding back to me.

Our aim is to use printmaking as a way of creating bold and energetic illustrative elements for clients where that’s appropriate – and don’t get me wrong, the woodcut look isn’t for every brand. But we want to feed this hand-crafted work back into our digital workflow.

What we love about it is the texture and those ‘happy accidents’ where mark-making is intuitive and a bit messy. Effects like these can be simulated and I dare say that AI can have a stab at it. But there is something special in the real thing. The physicality is hard to ignore.

Plus, at the end of the day you have a beautiful print to frame. We’re going to be selling the best of our prints on our sister company’s website furiousgoose.co.uk so have a look!

Interestingly a lot of icons have become so ubiquitous that they have almost become part of the language itself even if the thing they represent has become obsolete – think floppy disks for “save” and a landline telephone for a phone number.

Last year we launched a new pattern as part of a collection of accessories inspired by the Thames – which flows right outside our studio.

Rather than taking a more illustrative route, we wanted this collection to be built around what is, in effect, a brand pattern. Something more than a motif. A scalable design system.

It took time to develop and finesse, but that investment now allows the pattern to be applied with real versatility. The Thames repeat can live on packaging, prints, textiles or environments — moving between surfaces and techniques almost at the click of a button.

We’ve just received the final proofs of the pattern woven into jacquard silk, which will be used for upholstery as well as bow ties. It’s incredibly satisfying to create a fabric entirely from scratch — bespoke to our brand, and carrying so much personal meaning.

The same pattern has also been applied to packaging as a holographic foil block, and screen-printed onto cashmere in metallic ink. One pattern. Many expressions.