A few years back I made a series of abstract bird images, to capture key colour elements of different species. The resulting screenprints, hand printed by me, have finally got an audience. My interest in birds is as long standing as my enjoyment of drawing and my work in design and branding. Is there a connection?
I recently came across an article in the Financial Times (7/8 September 2024) about a Swedish designer, Anders Kornestedt, who grew up birdwatching and trained in typography before dividing his work and hobby. ‘“Branding is a lot about identification and using your eye to understand differences” he says – categorisation that’s a lot like birding, just Pantones and fonts instead of wingspans and feather patterns.’
That makes sense to me and echoes my own experience.