Pointe Blank is a collection of original images inspired by the story of Coppélia. In a first-of-its-kind collaborative project for Birmingham Royal Ballet, 27 artists and designers have been invited to produce individual pieces of artwork based upon the tale of toymaker Doctor Coppélius, and his attempts to breathe life into his most prized creation.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working on a rather exciting personal project with Rob Lindsay from Birmingham Royal Ballet. Rob got in contact at the end of April to discuss a collaborative design project he’d been thinking about, so over a good cup of tea we sparked off some ideas. Often people decide a show isn't for them as soon as they read the third word of 'Birmingham Royal Ballet presents...' But sometimes people will take a chance if they already know the plot of the piece. They're not actually coming for the dancing, they're coming for the story. Rob wanted to reach the ballet out to a wider audience, collaborating with other creatives to design something around their recent production, Coppélia. Birmingham Royal Ballet were 100% supportive.

"The appeal of Coppélia for such a project was that it’s got a lively and colourful story, but one that’s not already been told in hundreds of different ways, like Cinderella or The Sleeping Beauty. Even as a ballet, it’s not quite crossed over into the public consciousness in the same way that The Nutcracker or Swan Lake has. So it meant – or at least I’d hope that it meant – that the artists could interpret the story with very few visual preconceptions." - Rob Lindsay, Birmingham Royal Ballet

After a few meetings we’d cracked a concept and entitled our project Pointe Blank. I put together a list of artists and designers I admired or had previously worked with and we wrote the brief. We explored options for a physical exhibition too, an opportunity to bring the creatives together, as opposed to an online presence only. The brief given to the contributors did not require them to present Coppélia as a ballet, only that ideally, they include some reference to Birmingham Royal Ballet. Production images were available, but not initially provided in an attempt to keep the brief as unprescriptive as possible.

We launched the collection at the Hippodrome on Monday 13th June to the artists and invited guests. It was a great evening with my friend Nat tickling the ivories and Lewis being our photographer. David Bintley, the director of Birmingham Royal Ballet did a speech too – it was great to hear his genuine support and excitement over our project. We also launched the collection online that evening and received over 2000 views on the Tuesday alone!

www.pointeblank.co.uk

Artwork shown above from Substrakt's Ryan and Claire :)

Last month I was invited to be part of B-Hive, sitting on the graphic design judging panel. B-Hive sees students and graduates from Birmingham’s universities and colleges pitch themselves and their work to the City's leading creative agencies, with the goal of securing themselves a four-week work placement. With myself, Lee and Jim all joining Substrakt straight from university a 3-4 years ago, we were really keen to get involved as we know how difficult the industry is, and how tough the competition can be! A four-week paid placement is an invaluable opportunity for gaining experience in a real studio environment.

The candidates came from the fields of digital, PR, graphic design, marketing and advertising, with a placement up for grabs in each discipline. All briefs followed the same campaign, each having their own objectives. Entries had be whittled down to 12 students who presented their ideas to our panel, including designers/directors from Orb Creative, Viva Aspire, Seal, Tomorrow People and Chosen. Think Dragons Den - with less dragon-like dragons.

The overarching campaign ‘Eat Birmingham’ was to position Birmingham as gourmet capital, communicating its diverse culinary offerings whilst improving perception scores of the city with great restaurants and bars. The graphic design brief was to unify it under one umbrella identity; a name and logo mark that can easily be displayed at participating restaurants to promote their contribution to Birmingham’s culinary diversity.

The level of work was really impressive from the students, five of which were given two two-week paid placements at two of the agencies involved. We went to the presentation evening in Zellig at the Custard Factory where the winners were announced. We are pleased to have Joseph Heeley (BCU) who will be joining us in June and Nathan Matthews (Met) in July who both impressed me with their unique approach and direction on the brief.

Photos courtesy of B_Hive, Taste Birmingham artwork by Joseph Heeley

On Monday I took part in Covers Wars at The Queen of Hoxton, London as part of Yarnfest. The challenge was to illustrate our interpretations of the book Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi. Having not previously read the book I spent the prior three days speed reading all 284 pages (go me!) and came up with a few ideas where I would have 20 minutes to illustrate at A2 scale on the night!

"YARN is a brand new festival celebrating story and storytelling – showcasing film, theatre, music and literature and providing a platform for mixing them all up! It’s all about fun and exploration, devoted to letting the imagination run wild."

Representing AMMO Magazine I took the stage against three talented illustrators: Jamie Littler from Soupa, Robyn Boyden from Paperfox Press and Hidden Dingbat Collective. For the first ten minutes, the author Hanif Kureishi read out excerpts from the book whilst the audience watched and listened. It was the fastest 20 minutes of my life... Thanks to Jim and my friends for support :) On the judging panel was the author, Jon Gray and Miriam Rosenbloom from Faber & Faber. It was a great night and lovely to meet such talented people, congratulations to Hidden Dingbat who won with their fascinating paper cutting techniques!

Last weekend I hopped on the train and went up north to Liverpool. I'd never properly explored the city and with it being named European Capital of Culture last year and hosting Liverpool Biennial, (a contemporary visual art event) my adventure begun...

First stop was the Walker Art Gallery which was grand Victorian building promoting itself as the 'National Gallery of the North'. Its collection proudly announced artworks dating right back to the 13th century, including art heros such as Rembrandt, Turner and David Hockney. I didn't visit all the rooms but I did enjoy The John Moores Painting Prize. The competition has ran for the past 50 years and is open to everybody so attracts over 3,000 entries so there's a eclectic mix of both established artists and new talent. Some weird and wonderful things to say the least!

Next door, as it seemed we were right in the centre of the 'cultural quarter' was another neo-classical building housing Liverpool World Museum. Just so you know, I went to the aquarium and checked out some pretty amazing fish ;) 

After previously visiting 3 of the 4 Tate galleries I was looking forward to ticking off Liverpool as I strolled towards Albert Dock. There were quite a few tourists around and a massive que at The Beatles Story as it attracted fans for what would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday (This was later confirmed as we walked down Mathew Street later on!) The main Tate exhibition was 'DLA Piper Series: This is Sculpture' which asked key figures from the cultural sector to co-curate and pick works from the collection to represent their interpretations. Each room was donned with a fluorescent hue dissenting from the traditional white wall gallery space which was pretty cool. As I approached one of the rooms presented with a wall of wireless headphones, I took the opportunity and the headphones, pulled back the black curtain and entered the room curated by Hemingway & Son. With the likes of Greg Wilson and Yousef playing in my ear I stepped right into a disco environment fully equipped with mirror balls, ambient lighting and an interactive light up dancefloor! The juxtaposition of the 80s disco vibes and modern contemporary sculpture was definitely a different way to look at the 25 life size sculptures focusing on the human body. They explain a little more thoroughly of their 'nightclub in a gallery' idea here. Other curators included poet Carol Ann Duffy and artist Michael Craig-Martin, definitely worth checking out if you're tup norf' anytime soon!

Taking part in the Biennial were venues A Foundation and Contemporary Urban Centre about a ten minute walk from the centre. Named the 'Baltic Triangle' and a bit of a hidden gem the area had qualities similar to those of Digbeth with its abandoned warehouses, numerous Grade II listed buildings and affordable creative spaces. With a no larger than A2 sized board sat in the middle of a unused road we were directed to the A Foundation. What looked like an oversized garage door appeared to be 2500sqm of exhibition space with cafe and bookshop. Currently showing was Bloomberg New Contemporaries which shows the best of up and coming emerging talent from across the UK. I was a bit overwhelmed by the space and the quality and range of work spanning all medias. If you don't get an opportunity to check it out then it's on at the ICA in London shortly. Last but not least was headed over the road to the Contemporary Urban Centre, (NB: the entrance is a little hard to find on the massive scale Grade II listed warehouse!!) The centre was a stunning space for creatives with art galleries, a unique cinema, studio spaces, cafes and a gig venue. Unfortunately we arrived on the one day they were closing early so we didn't get to see much of the City Spaces 2010 exhibition.

So we ended our day (I won't tell you about my evening!) in the Leaf Tea Shop & Bar, set on the ground floor on the opposite side of the building to the CUC. We arrived a bit late for it's high tea menu (we're quite partial to these thanks to the folks at Fazeley...mmm) but just in time for a cheeky beer and shortcake. Looking back I wish i'd tasted one of the show-stopping amounts of loose tea on offer served in their fancy teaware, but hey it was getting dark! Alongside its imaginative interiors, the laid back art cafe vibes, tasty cakes and the slick branding no wonder its became a worthy hang out to Liverpool creatives embracing the amazingness of tea, cake, and music! I'd say it's right up there with the likes of London, Berlin and New Yorks cultural hubs.

So yeh, Liverpool was pretty inspiring :)

Not my type is a typographical exploration by 35 different Birmingham based designers and illustrators. With each artist producing their unique character, it collectively forms the entire alphabet.

The exhibition will run from May 6th until June 1st in the Created in Birmingham store featuring artwork from Jon Burgerman, Sam Pierpoint, Daisy Whitehouse and me (Claire) representing the Substrakt team! All prints will be for sale, so go and check it out!