A Typographic Tour of Sheffield

I finally got round to sending off an SAE for a free copy of this. It’s a guide to the points of typographic interest around the city, starting from London Road and finishing on Devonshire Green. The tour takes in both iconic examples that you’ll recognise and some that need a bit more detective work to spot.

A Typographic Tour of Sheffield

A Typographic Tour of Sheffield

The guide is by the people behind the beautiful Our Favourite Places book. And for the price of a couple of stamps, it’s definitely worth getting your hands on: send Eleven an SAE and they’ll pop one in the post.

Oh, and if you’re into Sheffield typography then Sheftype is also worth following.

Forgotten Spaces competition: from ideas to reality?

Can you help make the ideas happen?

Could Guiding Lights by Chris Paterson become a reality?

Could Guiding Lights by Chris Paterson become a reality?

Last month the winner of the Forgotten Spaces competition was announced.

Guiding Lights, designed by Chris Paterson, brings to life Frog Walk, between Stalker Lees Road off Ecclesall Road and Sharrow, with animated avatars and an LED screen.

Although Forgotten Spaces was originally all about ideas, the organisers are wanting to explore the possibility of making some of the entries a reality:

We want to start a city-wide dialogue about how these ideas could be turned into real-life projects. If anyone has any suggestions about to move these projects on and get them to contact Gerry Togher on g.togher@shu.ac.uk. It would be great to think we can get a kind of forum going where people can come together to discuss some potentially really exciting projects.

So if you have any thoughts about how this could happen, or are simply inspired by the project and are keen to see how the ideas could become a reality, get in touch with Gerry.

Our favourite places Sheffield – second edition

Our favourite places: Sheffield, second edition

Our favourite places Sheffield, second edition

An expanded travel guide for curious folk

Last May the first edition of Our favourite places – Sheffield was released and it quickly became the guide of choice to Sheffield for not only visitors to the city but also the people who live here. It contained a hand-picked selection of fifty of our best-loved places, all lovingly packaged into a beautiful pocket guide with pull-out map.

Buoyed by its success, creators Eleven have set about expanding the guide to now include 75 entries in the new edition. Inside you’ll find recommendations for restaurants, cafes, pubs, shops, arts, parks, gardens and day trips, as well as a mini real ale trail and Sharrow vale road photo spread.

You can probably guess some of the more obvious favourites that appear in there, but it is likely that there will also be some locations you haven’t yet visited, as well as one or two off the beaten track. I gave a copy of the first edition to some relatives who had just moved back to Sheffield and they have loved exploring what the city has to offer.

At just £4 the original edition of Our favourite places was great value, and at the same price this expanded version is even more of a bargain. Get yourself a copy and discover the cherished bits of Sheffield that you’ve been missing out on.

Our favourite places – Sheffield

Our favourite places: Sheffield, second edition

Our favourite places Sheffield, second edition

Our favourite places: Sheffield, second edition

Our favourite places Sheffield, second edition

Sensoria 2011, Sheffield

Sensoria 2011 programme

Sensoria, the UK's festival of music, film and digital

The festival of film and music

Sheffield’s spring festival of film, music and digital returns for 2011, bringing together events, gigs, screenings and exhibitions across a packed ten-day programme.

The opening day on Friday is now of course a public holiday, so if you want to avoid a certain other event taking place that day then why not visit the Devonshire street party and market? And later on, a free festival of live music kicks off at the Washy, with sets from the Violet may and Pete David and the Payroll union over the course of the weekend.

On Saturday, a secret location plays host to a (Re)mixed in Sheffield warehouse party. It features plenty of great artists like Toddla T, Heaven 17, I monster, Lords of flatbush and Asbo a-go-go.

The Bibliotheque discotheque event (Tuesday 3 May) sees a disco of sorts located in the Central library. I recently heard a good documentary which gave an insight into the world of library music. It is amazing just how many of the TV themes that were originally library tracks we’ve sub-consciously absorbed into our national psyche. The library disco should give a glimpse into this world.

You may have seen a big screen in Tudor square for the snooker and Sensoria will also continuing this with its very own Screen on the square. Each day has a specified programme of films, including Sheffield on film from 6pm on Wednesday 4 May.

Excellent Sheffield-based photographer Shaun Bloodworth has his first solo exhibition as part of the festival. Underground, running 28 April-16 May at Bank street arts, documents the electronic music scene since 2005.

If you’re a musician or filmmaker then Sensoria pro (5-6 May) has now been expanded to two days. And at 6pm on Thursday 5 the Electric works hosts the launch of 2 weeks 2 make it, a music video competition.

Speaking of competitions, throughout the festival you can also see an exhibition of entries to the Thornbridge/Sensoria beer mat competition in the Winter garden. The winning mats (below) feature lyrics from Sheffield bands Pulp, ABC, the Human league and Artery, as well as some local photos. You may have already seen in pubs stocking Thornbridge beer.

These are just a few of the events taking place. Visit the Sensoria website for the full listings.

Sensoria beer mats

Look out for the Sensoria beer mats in Sheffield pubs

Hantu collective Japan t-shirt

Your next t-shirt

If you only buy one t-shirt this month, then why not make it this. Designed by Sheffield’s very own Hantu collective in partnership with the Japanese Red Cross Society, all proceeds from the sale of the Heal Japan tee will go to help victims of the earthquake and tsunami.

You can order one online or pick one up from the Hantu workshop in the Forum’s Arcade shop.

Order your Heal Japan tee from Hantu

Hantu collective Japan tshirt

Hantu collective Japan tshirt

Made in Sheffield shop

Another idea for empty retail spaces in town

Many people are rightly proud of what a creative city Sheffield is. It is certainly home to plenty of creative people: 7.2% of the workforce is employed in the creative and digital industries* and an uncited claim on Wikipedia says that outside of London, Sheffield has the largest population of amateur, working and professional visual artists in the UK.

Could we do more help promote our creative excellence? The bigger manufacturers pay to use the Made in Sheffield mark to help sell and authenticate their products, but this is less useful for smaller artists trying to sell their wares.

As the recession has hit, shops have gone bust and retail units in towns up and down the country have been left empty. Sheffield city centre hasn’t escaped this, with the delay of Sevenstone resulting in many of our retail spaces being caught in a black hole between compulsory purchase orders and postponed building work.

We’ve already seen some other ideas for ways to make use of these spaces in Sheffield and some bars and shops are even reopening in the empty units.

At least three other cities have now come up with another use for them which is helping local artists and creative people. In the last few months, ‘Made in…’ or ‘Created in…’ shops have opened in Newcastle and Birmingham. It looks like Nottingham is also home to a similar type of  shop.

The concept is simple, although it has varied from city to city. Broadly, they are pop-up shops occupying empty retail units that showcase and sell locally-made products. They can also incorporate meeting places, small workshop spaces and exhibition areas. A group of volunteers run the shops, sometimes with a committee or main organiser heading things up.

Could this work in Sheffield? We already have a pool of creative artists, plenty of empty units in town and and regular craft fairs run by the Sheffield craft mafia.

Running the shops is hard work, as the Created in Birmingham people discovered, so it isn’t something to take on lightly. And I think some thought would need to be given as to how such a project would work alongside existing rent-paying outlets like the Famous Sheffield Shop and Sheffield Scene, and also existing art-selling galleries.

On the whole, it sounds like these pop-up shops have been very well received. After a successful three-month trial, the Birmingham shop closed due to their prestigious unit in the Bullring shopping centre being let to paying tenants, but it is expected to return for Christmas.

Has this idea had been considered for Sheffield? If not, is anyone interested in seeing whether there is an appetite to get a Made in Sheffield shop up and running in time for the Christmas shopping season?

*I’ve no idea how an occupation is classed as creative or otherwise

New Made in Newcastle shop front by championmonkeyface

New Made in Newcastle shop front by championmonkeyface, used with permission

The top 30 brands in Sheffield?

Assessing the top Sheffield brands

Local company Web branding has produced a list of what they consider to be the top brands in Sheffield.

They used a process to assess and score each of the entries, and have whittled down a longlist of 100 down to a top 30.

It would be interesting to see the full list, as some of the biggest organisations are nowhere to be seen in the top 30, for example Meadowhall, the council, the universities, the Star, Hallam FM, old shops like Atkinsons and many of the big industrial names of the city.

I was also a bit surprised that Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United haven’t made the list, when you would have thought they would be some of the most known Sheffield brands in the world, and ones that people feel most passionate about. And should famous Sheffield bands and personalities such as Jessica Ennis be included in a list like this?

For me, this raises questions about what defines a brand in the first place, and whether one can properly assessed by its website, how recognisable it is and the quality of any design work. A brand is much more than just its visual identity.

See what you think of the list. Do you agree with it?

The top 30 brands in Sheffield, according to Web branding

Sheffield – our favourite places book

An independent guide to Sheffield’s best-kept secrets

It still has a long way to go, but Sheffield’s reputation as a tourist destination is slowly improving. And as you would expect, there are some traditional guides available to help visitors find out what the city has to offer, as well as advertising campaigns plugging our must-see attractions.

However, the best recommendations often come from people who live in the city and are able to take the time to suss out just where its most cherished treasures are located. Every now and then, a blog post or article pops to pick these out, but they can quite easily get lost in the depths of the internet and finding a definitive list can be difficult.

The good news is that a selection of recommendations have now been collated in a beautiful pocket guide that will appeal to not only visitors to the city, but people who have lived here all their life.

Sheffield – our favourite places book (just £4) has been lovingly put together by local design agency Eleven. Described as an informed travel guide for curious folk, it lists over 50 of the places in Sheffield that they love including restaurants, cafes, pubs, shops, galleries, theatres, walks, parks, gardens and day trips.

As well as the more obvious highlights, I’m sure that there are places listed that even long-time Sheffield residents won’t have yet visited. And what won’t surprise you is that many of their recommendations are for the places that make the city the quirky, creative, independent and imperfect place that so many feel affection for.

Aesthetically, the pocket-sized guide is really pleasing and a far cry from some of the other local publications you can pick up around town. It includes plenty of photos as well as a pull-out map.

The guide’s introductory text admits that Sheffield – our favourite places isn’t trying to be definitive or exhaustive. It is simply an unhyped list of the places in the city that the people at Eleven love.

Pick up a copy of the guide and catch these locations before they become everyone’s favourite places and no longer Sheffield’s best-kept secrets.

See inside and buy Sheffield – our favourite places

Our favourite places - Sheffield

Our favourite places - Sheffield

Designed in Sheffield

Design the logo

Sheffield businesses can already declare their Sheffield credentials with the Made in Sheffield marque and now Designed in Sheffield hopes to recognise and acknowledge the importance of design work in the city.

It is a non-profit venture, set up enhance the reputation of design in Sheffield to the rest of the world and help collaboration.

As part of the launch, Designed in Sheffield is inviting submissions for a logo and visual identity. There is no financial prize for the winner, although the winning design will be adopted by Designed in Sheffield and the marque is expected to be used by companies in the region to showcase their design credentials.

Designed in Sheffield logo competition

Sheffield on Twitter – March 2010 update

Twitter latest

Here are this month’s additions to the list of Sheffield people and organisations of interest on  Twitter. The full directory can be found on the Sheffield Twitter users page.

There is also a Twitter list of people and organisations in Sheffield in Twitter.

Seven hills – 21st century women’s institute
@sevenhillswi

Showroom cinema
@showroomcinema

Manor operatic
@manoroperatic

Sheffield volunteering strategy
@clairewalsh360

Pure ink creative – website copywriters
@PureInkCreative

Sort of… films – film production company
@sortoffilms

Peace in the park – annual free festival
@PeaceinthePark

The Harlequin – pub
@harlequinpub

MM design – design agency
@mmdesign_sheff

Resolve IT solutions
@resolveits

Jinja beard – fashion blog
@jinjabeardblog

R8 records – record label
http://twitter.com/R8Records

Gem directories – advertising
@gemdirectories

Jam jar beads – bead shop
@Jamjarbeads

No limits – student film festival
@shefnolimits

TransAction – translation services
@TransActionHQ

Beatson fans and motors
@IndustrialFans

Small ideas – university alternative music society
@shefaltmusicsoc

Aim higher
@AHSYdisability

Brinsworth training
@BrinsworthTC

Ian Britt – singer/songwriter
@ianbritt

Weekend at last – charity events
@weekendatlast

Copthorne gym
@GymPlusSufc

Sloucher – online magazine
@sloucherzine

Sam Needham – artist, designer and photographer
@SamNeedham

No vote no voice – campaign to influence students to use their vote
@NoVoteNoVoice

CRM business – Microsoft CRM specialist
@thecrmbusiness

Star professional solutions – recruitment
@StarPS

Bravura perform – sales and marketing
@BravuraPerform

James Whitworth – cartoonist and writer
@jameswhitworth

Lucid landscapes – landscape architecture and graphic design
@lucidlandscapes

Joe Whittaker – web design
@hellojoew

Diane Shipley – freelance journalist
@dianeshipley

Sheff boot camps – indoor circuit training
@Sheffbootcamps

If you want to be listed on it then follow @sheffieldblog, get in touch or comment below.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 105 other followers