Photography trip to Borneo to cover WWll’s Sandakan Death March for new book on coastal fortifications, as well as a rainforest and wildlife spectacular
Design for our new book on the household Cavalry coming together - and its ready to pre order.
Great shoot yesterday, to get a cover shot for new book jacket, 'How can I advertise my virginity in order to lose it ' by Bill Furlong a powerful and thought provoking read.
Our book on the Household Cavalry is reaching final concept stage - Commercial sponsors are being asked for support - starting to look pretty good!
Large format display ad for local business, 1.2m x 1.8 m vinyl poster... Locally printed
Katy Sexton shot locally in Portsmouth by 131 Design - image used on CNN News click here to see article
Happy Birthday Charles Dickens, 200 years old today.
Featuring in the 200th anniversary celebrations around the city today, Ian Dickens, great-great-grandson of Portsmouth’s own famous son, spoke outside the Dickens’ Birthplace Museum this morning, along with Simon Callow, the Lord Mayor and Susan Healey, chair of Portsmouth Dickens Fellowship.
They were joined by the Pickwick Bicycle Club on their penny farthings, school children from the Charles Dickens Junior and Primary schools, Friends of the Museum and members of the community.
Ian Dickens, great great grandson of Charles, today in Portsmouth
Light play - Homs , Syria
Idyllic street scene taken from the tower restaurant central Homs in Syria - before the unrest, during a recent holiday... so sad to see what's happening there now
Katy Sexton, Former World 200m Backstroke Champion
Amazing photoshoot with Katy Sexton, training for the Olympics, had the opurtnity to photograph Katy in the studio and at work in the pool, thank you to HMS Temeraire Portsmouth.
Borneo 2011 photographic trip
Perhaps once in a lifetime, or if you are really lucky twice, does an opportunity to visit Borneo come up. And so it was for us – this last Christmas – a 3-week trip to the island. Prior to this, I wasn’t even sure where or what Borneo was. Now I do: it is an island, the third largest, in the South China Sea, north of Java, Indonesia that is about 73% Indonesian,1% Brunei, with the remainder taken up by Malaysian states, Sabah & Sarawak. It is home to, and largely covered by, one of the oldest rainforests in the world. It is also, in short, a slice of paradise.
Kuala Lumpar, exciting enough itself, was our hopping over point, and the short flight to Sarawak went over some of the greenest seas, lushest landscapes and deserted sandy beaches. The capital of Sarawak is a city called Kuching, meaning cat, not ‘hitting the jackpot’; albeit we felt we had. It is a relatively new city, formerly a British Colony that is spread along the Sarawak River. It’s people are a mix of Chinese, Malays, Ibans & other ethnic groups and it’s cuisine likewise.
Food, as well as wild-life was one of the great delights of the trip; trying everything from bar-b-que seafood extravagances, to colourful, stripy local cake to blue fruit! We ate mainly at the street food markets, which were colourful, fresh and really good value.
Some great new projects are underway for the New Year: 160 page brief history to Fratton Locomotive Depot is in production; 2 six-week creative workshops with young people from “Mix-Up” in Gosport are coming to a successful conclusion, culminating in their own New Year Calendars. Pitching for a short promo film for Hampshire County Council; 3 books are at the printers, 2 more on the way and at the last count, Waterstone’s held 7 of our books. We're staging an “Urban Theatre” event at Southsea’s skatepark for the city’s ‘Lost Hour’, maintaining a high profile creatively in Portsmouth, as well as looking forward to 5 more years of growth and productivity - and really big print bills!
Creative Workshops
Our latest community project is with over 60’s groups in Paulsgrove and Portsea, Portsmouth, and in conjunction with our Museum and Records service’s, Charles Dickens Community Archive project. Inspired by the Museum’s archive collection, the groups are investigating their own community’s heritage, and recording and sharing their own personal stories and memorabilia in weekly sessions.
The Portsea group are working with the theme of pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants, as in their own words, “there used to be a pub on every street corner”, and they have many a tale to tell!
After WWII, because of heaving bombing in the city, many families were re-housed in new, modern homes that were built in Paulsgrove, north of the city. Residents of some of those original homes recall their experiences and have been remembering what it was like to live through that time.
Both groups’ work will be developed into magazines and calendars as a legacy of these workshops, and will form part of an exhibition at the City Museum about the Charles Dickens Community Archive project, in 2012.
Mervyn Peake
Latest clip from our short film made for Stuart Olesker on the nonsense poetry of Mervyn Peake - Abiatha Swelter's song from Titus Groan
Stuart Olesker performing from his conference piece at Chichester Conference on Mervyn Peake
Dickens Community Archive Project
As part of the celebrations and events to mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’s birth here in Portsmouth, Portsmouth Museums and Records service is initiating a series of community workshops across the city to include a range of different community groups.
131 Design will be working with groups in the John Pounds Centre, Portsea and Hillside Community Centre in Paulsgrove. We will be using the museum’s archive collection, as well as generating original research, to develop a range of outcomes that will form part of a comprehensive exhibition about Charles Dickens in 2012.
Signed off nice job for Portsmouth City Museum today! Produced a film and learning resource pack, 'A Tale of One City', for Charles Dickens Junior School, as part of the museum's Dickens Community Archive Project.
Started Photographic Commission for developer, Karl Jenkinson.
Fox rocks for debut author.
Children’s books that captivate the interest of not only children but also their parents and grandparents are rare indeed. The feedback in the first month since the Clever Freddie the Mischievous Fox books were published is that they do just that.
Although fictional, the story in each book is based around true events and reflects an extraordinary relationship between a fox and allotment gardeners. The author, John Bannell, who was one of the gardeners, says, “Whenever I saw or heard about the adventures that actually happened, the basis for a story and its title came to mind.”
Behind each of the intriguing tales, there is a gripping story of cleverness, mischief and fun followed by both a gardening tip and a recipe using the fruit or vegetables that feature in the story.
The six beautifully written and illustrated books are “Freddie’s Adventures”, “The Story of the Car Keys”, “The Wicked Rats and the Horrid Thieves”, “The Bee Swarm”, “The Apple Harvest” and “Freddie takes up gardening!”. Published by Tricorn Books, they are available individually (priced at £5.99) or as a box set collection (priced at £25) and can be ordered online through Waterstones, Amazon, WH Smith, Blackwells or Foyles and other retailers.
For more information, please contact John Bannell T: 023 9237 5873, E:
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New article on the blog about flower photography - but you can see all the images here
Great shoot for the National Lottery yesterday covering their award to Chatham Docks for their HMS Invincible archive - would recommend the docks as a day out to anyone
Nice bit of packaging for the Clever Freddie books - Just seen them for sale on Amazon in Japan
Author John Bannell at the Top of Ben Nevis, glad he got back ok, he has a book signing at Waterstone's next weekend!
Thorness Bay and Rocket Testing Lab, The Needle Isle of Wight
Superb day out on the Isle Of Wight doing a photoshoot for our new book 'Coastal Fortification' - full coastal investigation over 13 hours most exciting location! Thorness Bay, looking for the remains of the PLUTO pipeline that served the British Army in Normandy.
Great new website for BJH windows and conservatories, full cms, galleries, blog and social network - delivered on time to a fully satisfied client
New DVD's for council arrived
Great Day in Portland capturing images for our new book, Coastal Fortification of the South Coast..
Short Trailer for Ill wind by Stuart Olesker and John Stanton
Just received first batch of Illustrations for our Clever Freddie series, currently in production, Raphelina Bonito is drawing day and night to finish all six books
HMS Invincible leaving Portsmouth for the last time on its way to a Turkish Breakers yard
A few Shots and a quick slide show from the rehearsals of Ill Wind, Performed on Saturday around Old Portsmouth,
and will be filmed by 131 Design on the night and edited into a movie to be shown at a later date, which will be announced shortly
Great day spent with Ben Cracknell, researching for our own book on forts and military bases, covered most of Gosport and uncovered some beautiful sites... and a large mushroom, at Brownland Training camp in Stokes bay, looking like a mini Dungeness a fantastic location for a photographic shoot, very dramatic huge vistas and big sky
A few more shots here
Early stages of a new film for 131 Design, recording Stuart Olesker and John Stanton's Latest production
Portsmouth Reads, World Book Day, Guildhall Square - Our latest piece of work for the council aired today for the first time , on a beautiful sunny day... very happy
Cover for 10,000 free sheets, promoting World Book Day for schools, libraries and passers by in Guildhall square. Look out for our film played throughout the year but premiered in its entirety on the 3rd March around 1.30pm.
First edit of our new film for the Big Screen in Portsmouth's Guildhall Square celebrating World Book Day and Night on 3rd and 5th march. It includes Mr Yona Yahav the Mayor of Haifa, one of Portsmouth's twin cities, Katy Sexton, former world 200m Backstroke Champion, and Georgina.
131's film & creative workshop with students from Brune Park Community College for a Young Roots project, looking at heritage and history through film. This workshop explored their research about Knowle Hospital in Fareham, to identify and extract a coherent story line, and went on to look at ways of developing this into an exciting and original film.
Saw this lovely submarine today... start of a very good day
New book back from printers, Hope's Truth by Stuart Olds. 2000 copies hit the streets today, available nationally and from Amazon and WHSmith.
Have a look at the Blog for the Heroes campaign we worked on during the end of last year - looks fantastic. See the current exhibition featuring this work at the Discovery Centre in Gosport.
Plus 10,000 free sheets including a World Book Day Calendar to be handed out on the day in the city. The free sheet will also include portraits of some of the people interviewed for the film
Next release by Tricon books, Designed by 131 Design just off to the printers
'Eco Sci-Fi' Novel By Stuart Olds
Hope's Truth
1,800 years b.c. Two months from Earth.
The four crew of the space-ship Hope are two months from what we know as Earth; the crew have not seen Earth or know it exists yet. Their own planet is the same size as earth; everything is the same, - they have religions, different languages, which more or less the same as on Earth, they are more technologically advanced but, all that does not mean they will succeed in the simple task of survival.
The Past The four crew of the space ship Hope are two months from what we know as Earth; the crew have not seen Earth or know it exists yet. Their own planet is the same size as earth; everything is the same - they have religions, different languages, they are more technologically advanced but, all that does not mean they will succeed in the simple task of survival.
The Present Within some of us lay a dormant gene; it was planted in our ancestors by a mirror species. The gene will be activated and the process of inoculation will begin.
The Future We are developing a technology so powerful we will be almost totally reliant on it. No matter how righteous the human race thinks it is, we are greedy. Literacy, a new belief and acceptance, will be our inoculation.
World Book Day 3rd March 2011
Our Latest project for Portsmouth Council is coming along nicely, recording Portsmouth's finest for World Book day, 30 seconds each to describe what their favourite read is... plus portrait for 10,000 free sheet flyer to be handed out before and during the event...image below Stuart Olesker, Author, Playwright, Actor living in Portsmouth.
Our fantastic roadsweeper 365 days a year... Tony Dennis Penny
Second hugely successful book launch this week, Deane Clark's Portsmouth... 60 copies in 2 hours!
Book launch at St Jude's Church, Southsea. Sue Pike's 'Thomas Ellis Owen; Father of Portsmouth... selling well, great reviews.
Just confirmed fantastic new commission from Portsmouth City Council - 7 minute short film for World Book Day...to be screened Guildhall Square 3rd of March and World Book Night 5th March
Good fun shoot for the National lottery today, at Priory School Portsmouth The National Lottery contacted us to do a shoot in their funded Tennis Facility at Priory School Portsmouth 4 courts, Astro turf pitches, amazing place, open to the community evening and weekends.
HMS Ark Royal, entering Portsmouth dockyard for the last time... not a dry eye in the house
Nice bit of press for Deane Clark's book launch... Thank you Dominic
New web site... launched for Christmas, visit the shop in Albert Rd and say hello to the owner Sammie Venn
CMS, flash, branded, online shopping...
Langstone Harbour
shot at the weekend, as part of our celebrate Portsmouth project
131 are set to announce a major new project in Portsmouth, photographing documenting and recording the great and the good of Portsmouth, celebrating its diversity and the people that make it such an enthralling city...
We have Olympians, World record holders, councilors, writers, artists, film makers, war veterans, postmen, as well as young people that we have worked with.....it's going be big!
Brand New Website for the launch of Tricorn Book's latest release: Thomas Ellis Owen: Shaper of Portsmouth, 'Father of Southsea', released this month, £25
New range of marketing material for Westbury Manor Museum
131 filmed the final nomination battle between Fareham and Gosport, to find their greatest Hero from a list of hundreds.
Look out for exhibition early 2011, at Westbury Manor Museum, Fareham High Street.
Blimey.... first post for a while, been fantastically busy producing 5 new books for the new year, and editing 2 exciting short movies for Westbury Manor.
Here is the cover for Cold Truth by Stuart Olds, hugely enjoyable and action packed Sci-Faction novel out after Christmas
New title published by Tricorn Books - designed by 131 Design. Full colour, hardback, 220 pages. £25, available end of November. Written by Sue Pike, photography Tim Martin. ISBN 978-0-9562498-6-9
If anyone out there is considering publishing their book, I can thoroughly recommend contacting Gail and Dan of Tricorn Books. After trying unsuccessfully for two years to find a publisher for Thomas Ellis Owen Shaper of Portsmouth, 'Father of Southsea' (one kept it for a year, another lost it!) I really needed their upbeat can-do approach. They were very patient as well and more than ready to guide and work with me and Tim (the photographer) to ensure it was a book we could all be proud of. Now I'm really looking forward to holding it in my hands and hoping otherpeople will enjoy it too. Sue Pike
Thomas Ellis Owen was not a national figure but his life and work entwined with others who were. George Stephenson, Charles Dickens, John Nash all featured at one time or another. He had permanent bases in London but, at the end of the day, his loyalty to Portsmouth, and especially Southsea, kept him close to home. Born more than 200 years ago, the son of an ambitious and charismatic canal engineer, Thomas grew up in a huge family of talented people. Even in his own family, however, he excelled.
Readers are invited to follow the highs of his early life: attracting an unusual array of architectural and engineering commissions in his 20s. Then the lows, when he was left to cope with the chasm left by his family’s move to Dublin. As founder of modern Southsea, many of his elegant terraces, villas and curvy lanes bedecked with foliage still exist today. However, his architectural contribution as a whole extended beyond Hampshire, to Dorset, Pembrokeshire, Shropshire, London and Belfast. He drew up designs for workhouses, schools, theatres, churches, model lodging houses, and cemeteries. Working as an engineer in Portsmouth, he also drew up improvements to the Camber Docks, furnished plans for the gasworks and designed the first stretch of Clarence Esplanade along Southsea seafront.
24/7 Camera A new series of photo-narrative books that focus on the everyday (detail and fabric) of different places and its people. Each book develops it’s own character and visual story, offering an insight into the different worlds allowing the reader to come to their own conclusions – or not.
These images are some of the thousands from Syria and together they demonstrate a remarkable homogeny of life that forms the basis of the first book. Photographers Dan Bernard and Gail Baird have been collating work from their travels in Asia and the Middle East.
review - review - review
Casemates review for Ordnance of Southsea Castle - by A.L.Boxell
PB,144pp. 135 photographs mostly colour, diagrams, prints and plans. ISBN 978.0.9562498.4.5. £12.99. Published by Tricorn Books, 2010. Designed by 131 Design
I came to this book in utter ignorance about cannon apart from some advice fro Charles Trollope. “Always look at the trunnions”, said he some years ago. And indeed the book bears out that sound advice, for man a mysterious and arcane mark is to be found on the trunnions at Southsea Castle. Mr Boxell had enabled me to understand what these marks can mean. Furthermore, I can now identify the parts of a cannon from button to muzzle. This all means that the book is more than a gazetteer of the guns of Soutsea. It is a handy guide for any visitor to the castle who, ignorant of cannon founding, is interested enough to learn more. Nor is it beneath the notice of the more learned in cannon lore generally. The book is divided into two parts, the first of which is a detailed gazetteer of every gun at Southsea Castle, interspersed with accounts of ‘Bushing the Vent”, the Royal ciphers of Queen Victoria and biographies of Sir Joseph Whitworth and Baron Armstrong. When I write ‘detailed’, I mean just that. Gun by gun, Mr Boxell gives every specific, the result of a long time spent in dedicated and scholarly research; nor, let me emphasize, is it at all dull. Part two is divided into the following components: Carronades; The Royal Brass Foundry; Gunmetals (Brass, Bronze and Iron); Ignition Systems for Gunpowder; Glossary of Terms and a List of Sources. This latter is most valuable and includes the much-missed Colonel Caruana whom many members will recall shattering windows and setting fire to a barge at the parade ground at Chatham. Of these, I found that on the gunpowder ignition systems, the most interesting. The important change in the system was that from smouldering linstocks to flintlocks and the later Friction Tube. A comprehensive glossary completes a book which I read with enjoyment (the author has an engaging sense of humour) and profit. Despite being centered on Southsea Castle and its ordnance, this attractive book can be read with advantage by anyone whose interest lies in cannon and their gunfounders. Gil Dowdall-Brown. Casemates No.89, September 2010, p.48
We have been working with Tom at Westbury Manor in Fareham, this last week compiling the films we’ve made for them of the different events and exhibitions onto one DVD. We will use these DVDs as promotional tools and PR material, sending them to other prospective commissioners.
The film below was created for Bob Ayllotts opening night of His exhibition "6 days that shocked the world"
first set of edited images for new release 2011 - the book is a journal of our recent trip to Syria and Turkey
The 'Vadne', photographed at Forton Lake Gosport
Nominate your Local Hero
Local Heroes is our chance to honour the unsung heroes of Gosport and Fareham.
Nominate someone, living or historical, that you think deserves the recognition of being a local hero. Heroes come from all walks of life and all backgrounds. They might already be famous, or they might live next door to you. Admirals, uncles, inventors, dinnerladies – tell us why your nominee is a hero. The only requirement is that they have a link to Gosport or Fareham (which includes Lee-on-the-Solent and Stubbington).
20 people will be chosen from your nominations by an independent community panel to appear in an exhibition called Local Heroes. It will open at Westbury Manor Museum, Fareham in January and move to Gosport Gallery in March. Come and visit us in 2011 at either site to vote for your favourite of our 20 finalists.
When can I nominate?
Nomination forms will be available in your local Gosport or Fareham library during July, or you can nominate online. Come back to this website during July to access our online nomination form. We’re sorry but we can’t accept nominations that arrive after July.
Gail Baird from 131 Design making final touches to the nomination boxes for Westbury Manor’s ‘Local Heroes’ campaign. ‘Local Heroes’ is a campaign to honour the unsung heroes of Gosport and Fareham. Members of the community can nominate someone, living or historical, that they think deserves the recognition of being a local hero. The nomination boxes will be in all the local libraries. This will be supported by a promotional campaign using original logo and graphics by 131 Design.
20 people will be chosen from the nominations by an independent community panel to appear in an exhibition called Local Heroes that will open at Westbury Manor Museum, Fareham in January and move to Gosport Gallery in March. 131 Design will continue to be involved in the project for the duration.
Heroes, campaign starts across Hampshire
Hilsea Lido 75 - Jane Smith
Anniversary souvenir booklet, just back from the printers. Available now at selected outlets.
"I got just what I wanted at Tricorn Books and 131 Design - a professional service that's friendly and supportive. Unlike some big firms, Gail and Dan are able to give each individual the personal attention needed to bring out the best in their project. Nothing was too much trouble and all at an easily accessible, central location in Old Portsmouth! Jane Smith, local historian and author of "Hilsea Lido 75"
In its time, Hilsea Lido has linked exotic architecture with sport, fashion, film, music and dance, body-building and physical culture, and most of all, lots of fun in sparkling blue water.
Designed by the City Engineer, Joseph Parkin and opened officially by the Lord Mayor of the City of Portsmouth, Councillor Frank J. Privett, J.P. on 24 July 1935, its Art Deco architecture brought the stylish sophistication of the 1930’s Lido lifestyle to Portsmouth for the first time. The main pool became the setting for the fashionable outfits and accessories of the day - the place to see and be seen. The pool was also designed to make the most of the Thirties’ enthusiasm for fresh air and organised physical culture. It formed the backdrop to swimming and diving competitions, water polo, aquatic galas, novelty events and re-enactments of Naval battles using model boats.
Hilsea Lido 75 gives us a chance to enjoy a pleasurable and nostalgic trip back over the last 75 years and, in the process, gives us a glimpse of the vitalityand excitement that was Lido life. This booklet also includes postcards and photographs evoking memories of the important role that Hilsea Lido played and still plays in the lives of generations of local people. Jane Smith.
131 co-curate Westbury Manor's latest exhibition - celebrating the seminal festival on the Isle of Wight.
Peter Daltrey, the lead singer with Fairfield Parlour and the first man on stage at the legendary 1970 Festival, will reveal how it felt to face 600,000 music fans while under threat of execution by the IRA.
In two Q&A sessions to be held at the opening of the new exhibition, Peter Daltrey will recall his personal experiences from the iconic event, in conversation with fleet Street photographer Bob Aylott, who photographed the 1970 Festival for the Daily Sketch.
Singer/songwriter and keyboard player Daltrey, from Frome, Wilts, also wrote and produced ‘Let The World Wash In’ - the official 1970 festival theme tune.
Museum Curator Tom de Wit said,
"This is an amazing story - when I saw the photo the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Peter Daltrey is standing there like Jesus - long hair, beard, and wearing a long white robe, with his arms outstretched, his back to the crowd - the largest crowd the world had ever seen! The IRA had said that they would shoot the first person on stage at the festival, in an attempt to stop it going ahead. So here's this guy, with his eyes closed, just waiting for the IRA to kill him. This powerful event marked opened the festival that would make history and would become an icon of an era". Tom Dewitt, Curator.
One hundred photos from the bestselling book, ‘Six Days That Rocked the World’ will to be shown at the first exhibition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the world’s largest rock festival. Book author and former Fleet Street photographer Bob Aylott said:
"When it was confirmed that 600,000 fans had been transported to the island a mixed reaction of shock and jubilation travelled through the crowd in the area, Desolation Row and up the hill. We were the size of a small city; we were a mass of people that no police force in world could control. If Neil Armstrong was still up there, we could be seen by astronauts in space!"
The festival starred giants of rock music including The Who, The Doors, Leonard Cohen, Miles Davis and Joan Baez. It was also the last major performance by Jimi Hendrix before his death soon afterwards.
Peter Daltrey of Fairfield Parlour and Photographer Bob Aylott with Curator Tom De Witt
Exhibition:- Six Days That Rocked The World - The Isle of Wight Festival 1970, Westbury Manor Museum, 84 West Street, Fareham PO16 OJJ. 5th June -28th August, Open Monday to Friday 10am-5pm. Saturday 10am-4pm. Admission Free. Tel. 01329-822063
Live Event:- The 1970 Festival Revisited - An audience with Peter Daltrey and Bob Aylott. Sat 5th June, 11am and 2pm
For more information or to arrange interviews and press images contact Curator Tom de Wit 01329 822063
Vote 4 Heroes
New marketing campaign underway to support Fareham and Gosports' competition to find the greatest local hero...
Look out for our new campaign across Fareham and Gosport, Nomination start in July
Ordnance of Southsea Castle - Anthony Boxell
Latest book published by Tricorn Books, designed by 131 Design.
Photographic Commission - Halyard
Halyard Marine Ltd has announced that it has been awarded The Queen’s Award for Enterprise. This is the second time that Halyard has been presented with the prestigious award in four years – in 2006 for Innovation, and today for Continuous Innovation. 131 Design were commissioned at short notice prior to the award, to come up with a press image... in the factory.
LIGHTBOX
An innovative exhibition showcasing creative photography by the young people from Hillside and Hilsea Youth Centres in Portsmouth. The exhibition is at Portsmouth's City Museum and runs until the end of April.
The work was produced in a series of creative workshops, Discovering D-Day, designed and delivered by Gail and Dan from 131 - who also curated the show. The project was commissioned by Portsmouth¹s Museum and Records Service (PMRS).
Contact Gail or Dan for more information. 023 92 736271
'Light Nights' at Westbury Manor, Fareham. Saturday 27th March.
131 created 8 new and original films to project onto the windows, from the inside of Westbury Manor. Each film was inspired by local involvement during WWII. This was to celebrate the clocks going forward and the coming of Spring, as part of the "Light Nights" events across Hampshire and in other parts of the UK.
Alex Hibbert and Alexis Parr - Mail on Sunday journalist, at book launch for the Long Haul at Cotswolds Outdoor Clothing store in Covent Garden, London
The Hon. Alex Foley at Stanfords, Covent Garden book launch
