Owen Phillips

Well, this has been a big build – but the tweaks and amends are nearly all ironed out and it’s time to let on what I’ve been on with in the run up to Christmas….

Planet X Ireland got in touch with me as they weren’t really happy with their existing website. It was looking very dated, had limited functionality, and they were wanting something on which they could post news stories, manage stock, edit pages, and generally present themselves as a new force to be reckoned with for selling bikes and components in Ireland.

They wanted something to match Planet X’s website in the UK, but I reckoned I could make it look much better, and won the case with this layout.

I worked on the layout here in the sunny Pennines for a bit, before being shipped out to spend a few days with them in Athlone, Ireland to finish the build and guide them through how it all works. Morgan, David and the rest of the guys treated me like a rockstar with a swanky hotel and meals out, and their magnificent friendliness and hospitality shall not be forgotten!

If you’re after something similar, then I can build it for you too, simply get in touch. You don’t have to spoil me with loads of Guinness and massive steaks either… but I wouldn’t refuse if you offered!

Click here to visit the site…

Share this:

My new greetings cards and calendar are back from the printers and are available to buy online, or by contacting me…

2012 Calendar

Greetings Card Multipack: Set 1

Share this:

I’m in Holmfirth Market today with an array of new canvasses for sale. Interest has been good so far – lots of questions asked. I was hoping to have my new cards printed up and on sale today, but unfortunately they’re not ready until Monday…

Come and pop down if you’re around!

My Little Market Stall

Share this:

It was a beautiful day today. I had a few new spots lined up for taking photographs, so I had a bit of an expedition with the dog and the camera…

Lots of HDR shots to show off the autumnal colours, and a few vintagey black and whites. It was a bit difficult up at Winscar to avoid the throngs from getting in the way of shots – had to choose angles carefully, lest I end up with a beautiful scene incorporating a car park chock full of cars and vans. It seems there were plenty of other people out enjoying the break in the weather!

A really productive day though. Some of these will soon be making their way into print, adorning cards and canvasses – and perhaps making their way onto the new 2012 calendar I’m putting together. Keep an eye on the shop!

Share this:

This is my favourite job from On-One. Designing the livery for the new “Macinato” model – a super strong, urban fixie bike, with a classic, retro feel.

On-One Macinato Urban Fixie Bike - Side on

Read more »

Share this:

The Inbred is On-One’s classic steel hardtail cross-country frame. I updated the graphics for a more contemporary look, while keeping hold of icons such as the “inbred man” who has graced the frame since its inception.

On-One Inbred Blue Waffle - Frame side on

Read more »

Share this:

It was pretty exciting seeing the first shots of these come over from the factory in the east – then having them arrive and seeing them in the flesh.

The icing on the cake is seeing the people who’ve bought them, built them into their pride-and-joy bike, and have uploaded the shots of their bike back onto the company site to show them off to the world!

On-One 456 and 456 Summer Season

The On-One 456 is a classic steel MTB frame, designed for long travel forks. The Summer Season is it’s silly cousin – with slack frame angles for pointing even longer travel forks downhill…

The style was intended to evoke those now very retro-looking classic bikes of the 80s.

On-One 456 Summer Season Mint Sauce Green Frame Graphics - Frame side on

Read more »

Share this:

I’ve got hold of an old Polaroid 450 Land Camera – the kind with the peel-apart film – it’s really wonderful to see what it can do – especially since compatible film is still made by Fuji – at a not too extortionate price!

Interesting things happen if you keep hold of the throwaway part of the peel-apart film… It’s a bit sticky, and you have to transport it in a careful manner – but once you get it home you can tape it down onto a piece of glass and use ordinary household bleach to carefully remove all the black emulsion on the back of it… what results is basically a large format negative that can be scanned like any other.

The result of the bleaching and scrubbing leaves the edges dirty and mangled, and adds scratches, texture, and a generally rough effect that – to me anyway – looks rather wonderful.

I’m treating this like vintage digital camera! You get the small Polaroid print straight away and can use it as a preview to see how your shot will come out – then you take the negative home and work it up into something special.

Fun times! This selection were captured on holiday in Normandy this summer. More to come soon!

Share this:

Here’s a large collection of pictures from holidaying in France, and just bumbling  around locally. These are taken on an array of old cameras I’ve been collecting… The venerable SX-70, an old Lubitel 166b (cheapest of the cheap Russian made TLR), a Holga 120 TLR (even cheaper chinese toy-camera), and a nice old Yashica Mat 124.

Polaroid SX-70

Yashica Mat 124

Lubitel 166b

The Mighty Holga

Share this:

Some more images from my second pack of PX100 Silver Shade. A Mixed bag. Things are working much better indoors where the light is a lot more controllable, it seems. I’m going to continue posting all the results, good or bad. It’s a process of experimentation.

I’ve also just taken delivery of some PX600, which is faster (600 ASA as opposed to 100 ASA), and should provide some different results. The packs need customising to work with the SX-70, which is designed for the 100 speed film. Some scalpel-whittling to make them fit, and the addition of an ND filter to the top of the film pack to ensure correct exposure.

I’ve also got some of the Impossible Project’s TZ Artistic Paul Giambarba Edition colour film. Results of that to follow once I’ve finished this pack of PX100.

Share this:

The Sonic Happening poster

The brief for this one was “Something like the 1960s, San Francisco, Psychedelia scene”. That’s a bit of luck – it’s the kind of thing I like to do. So, this was the result. Actually designed and artworked while sitting in the local pub, and fueled by that great mind-altering substance – ale.

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
Click here to buy…

Share this:

I’ve just received possibly one of the most exciting birthday gifts ever. Adele has hit the jackpot and spoiled me rotten with a beautiful 1974 Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera, complete with leather case, original box and instruction book, and original-boxed accessories including tripod mount and close-up lens.

The way the camera opens up, and then closes neatly back into an oversized zippo-esque oblong of brown leather and brushed chrome, together with the satisfying clunk of the reflex mirror and the reasurring mechanical whir of the motors as it ejects the resultant print make it a joy to use and an object of fascination. They certainly don’t make things quite like this anymore.

Unfortunately, the supply of available film is a little limited. Since Polaroid went to the wall a few years ago, supplies of film became scarce. It was only when a group of artists and ex-Polaroid employees stepped in to save the world’s only Polaroid instant film manufacturing plant from the receivers’ hammers that a future of any kind was preserved for the medium. The Impossible Project, as it became known, aims to reproduce the old film and allow the format to continue on.

These shots are taken using The Impossible Project’s PX100 Silver Shade film. It’s an unpredictable old Hector, highly sensitive to light, even for a few minutes after exposure, and with evolving colours and saturation, depending on temperature and storage conditions of the print… It’s nice to experiment with, but unfortunately at £2.50 a shot it’s going to cost me…

Each pack holds 8 shots. Here’s the first. More results to follow.

Share this:

World cup at the Wardrobe

I hate the world cup. Or, more accurately, I hate the rubbish that goes with it, and what it brings out in people.

However, The Wardrobe in Leeds asked me to do them a poster for the England matches they’ll be showing. Being a nice sort of place, they wanted something a bit classier than the usual football-fayre. Cue the monochrome and Helvetica.

Share this:

Hexa - Open mic

This month’s open mic was looming and I’d simply been too busy to do a poster. Thought I’d be honest, and let everybody know!

It’s really good to have HEXA back, and I didn’t want them to be un-billed. I think they liked the poster as it turned out… They stole a few away with them anyway, which is always a good sign!

Share this:

The next 3 months...

We were in need of another poster to bill the next few months of bands, and so James and I had a collaborative session over a couple of ales to come up with this. It’s good to get someone else’s input and bounce a few ideas around. The ‘Communist Propaganda Poster’ theme was chosen, and then embellished upon with progressively more bizarre ideas… Welly boots, dead birds and bananas. All good fun.

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
Click here to buy…

Share this:

Open Mic Poster - Christmas Special

This one took a while. The guitar illustration mainly, which was inspired by the artwork at the Hand Drawn Creative. He’s done a series of guitars, and has a great vintage style. Thought I’d tribute my Fender Jag for Christmas…

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
Click here to buy…

Share this:

A few more shots taken recently, the landscape varying in the space of a few days between icy cold, grey and dreary, and beautiful crisp and clear sunshine.

Share this:

Having done a bit of reading up, and perusing through people’s flickr libraries, I’ve gone and got myself a grad ND filter, in an attempt to achieve the more realistic balance of exposure obtainable vie HDR, but for a single shot and without the intensive post-processing.

The weather here at the moment is spectacular – snow getting up to my armpits in places, and it’s hard going wandering around, but the landscapes are stunning. And I love breaking the pristine snow and being the first person to venture to a particular place.

Most of the following shots make use of the grad ND filter. It’s like putting sunglasses on the camera, and I love the shots where it creates massive contrast between the dark steely-blue sky, and the white of the hills.

Share this:

This year’s winter Lakes trip has been fruitful! The conditions were beautiful, and despite taking the compact camera for up in the hills, I decided it was a waste not to lug the SLR up there. I’m glad I did. The results, I think,  speak for themselves.

The weather was clear and cold while we were up there, but there was still a lot of snow on the tops. In some of the shots you can just see the top strand of a wire fence peeping above the snow, giving an indication as to the three feet or so of depth we were walking on top of.

Share this: