Just a quickie to let you all know that the move to the new studio went really well last week and I am now settled in and up and running. It's such a great space and so far I am delighted with it. The hardest part has been sorting out 'the hole' left behind in my house. I reckon I have moved about a third of the things I own to the new studio, which has left me with more space than I actually need in my home. Downsize in my future? Maybe.

For now though, I just wanted to let everyone know the new contact information for Andrew Johnstone Design. It is:

Andrew Johnstone Design
Unit 25, Shelton Enterprise Centre
Bedford Street
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST1 4PZ
Tel: 01782 212 171
Mobile: 07974 343 683
Email: info@andrewjohnstonedesign.co.uk

In other news, lulu.com have another promotion on at the moment, so if you are interested in buying a copy of my book, The Prehistoric Peak, then enter the discount code BURIEDUK305 at the checkout to receive an additional 20% discount on the cost:
www.lulu.com/theprehistoricpeak

What a busy summer it has been! Thanks to all my clients both local and in Canada it's been a very active summer of creativity for me, which is always good news to report. I spent the month of August back in Alberta for the first time in almost 5 years. What an amazing trip that was! It was so great to finally meet with the people I have been doing work for over the recent past, as well as catching up with old friends. All in all a fabulous month of work, fun and seemingly endless sunshine. Thank you Canada!

In other news, my book, The Prehistoric Peak, has been reviewed by Julian Cope in his monthly web address 'Address Drudion', which is part of the Head Heritage web site. His kind words can be read at the following link (scroll down to find it):

Julian Cope's October Address Drudion

If you are interested in buying a copy of the book then lulu.com is currently offering a 15% discount on the price until October 7 when you enter the following code at the checkout. This discount is on top of the 25% discount I am also currently offering on the cover price, but every little helps, as they say!

Click the image to go to lulu:

Finally, by the next time I write I should hopefully be settling into my new studio/office space in the Shelton Enterprise Centre. I am really excited about the move and for the opportunity to create a unique space for my creative activities. More news and hopefully some pictures to follow...

A quick heads up to say that I've been invited by local student-run community radio station Cre8 Radio FM to come in for an interview about who am I and what I do on Monday, May 23, 2011 some time after 4:30 pm GMT

The station can be found at FM 87.7, but only has a broadcast range of about 10 miles radius from Staffordshire University in Stoke-on-Trent. I believe though, that there are options for listening online at their website:

www.cre8radio.com

Finally got around to posting up the review for The Prehistoric Peak that appeared in Current Archaeology Magazine, Issue 251, February 2011. My thanks go to CA for their endorsement! [As mentioned earlier, the price is now £28 + P&P if ordered through lulu.com]

"Every so often, an unexpected gem crosses our desks at CA. The Prehistoric Peak is the latest of these happy occurrences. This book is a step-by-step guide of the author's own journey to each of the 52 featured sites.

The author's casual curiosity developed into a passion for, British prehistory. Neither historian nor archaeologist, Johnstone produced this book for a graduate design course at Central St Martins. The end result is an absolutely gorgeous, easily digestible volume packed with practical tips, packing lists, basic introductions to time periods and monuments, colour photographs, and finally - the monument guides.

There are many people who struggle with map reading, and may be discouraged from visiting sites for this very reason. The maps and monument plans take the mystery and struggle out of this process. Colourful, highly accurate, detailed yet simple, easy to read and understand: truly a resource that puts the visitor in the picture. There is also explanatory text about walking conditions and what to expect, and standard information for each monument — including nearest town, OS map reference, as grid number, GPS data, altitude, and a difficulty rating."

—Review by LWW

A quick note to let you all know that I have been able to reduce the cost of my book, The Prehistoric Peak, from £35 to £28 + P&P when ordered through lulu.com

It looks like lulu have been able to reduce their production costs so I am delighted to pass this saving on. For complete information, previews and to order a copy, please visit:

www.lulu.com/theprehistoricpeak

Very happy 2011 to everyone reading this. Yes, I know it's somewhat late, but things have been incredibly busy for me recently. Mostly my time has been taken up producing material for the upcoming Winterplay Carnival in the Fort McMurray/Wood Buffalo region of Alberta. It's a winter celebration that is spread out throughout the region with a whole host of winter-themed events taking place.

It's the first time that the carnival is taking place and so it's been a process of finding out what's needed as time goes on. Needless to say that it's been quite an exciting time watching it grow and grow into what I hope will become an annual event for the region.

If you are in that area then it's definitely worth checking out as I'm confident there is something taking place for everyone to enjoy. You can find out more details at:

www.eventswoodbuffalo.com

In other news, my book, The Prehistoric Peak, is reviewed in this month's issue of Current Archaeology Magazine. I haven't seen the review yet as I am waiting for my copy to arrive. Hopefully it's positive!

Some useful websites that I have recently discovered during my work are the following:

• www.hdicon.com - useful website for free vector downloads.
• www.stumbleupon.com - magazine style portal, packed with useful info, including many good articles on design.
• www.ph9.co.uk - amazingly indepth page showing the CMYK and Hex values for all Pantone colours.
• www.jotform.com - fabulous source for creating and including forms on your website. Very easy to use and it's free!

Hopefully it won't be so long before I am able to post again!

If anyone is interested in buying either of my books (details in previous blog posts) then lulu.com is currently offering 25% discount on all orders when you enter the coupon code CYBERUK305 at checkout.

The maximum savings with this promotion is £250. Offer good towards print costs only - shipping and tax amounts are excluded. You can only use the code once per account, and you can't use this coupon in combination with other coupon codes. This great offer ends at midnight on 29 November, 2010, so don't delay if you are interested!

www.lulu.com/theprehistoricpeak

www.lulu.com/how-the-neolithics-influenced- rock-n- roll

I am very pleased to announce that my guide book to the neolithic and Bronze Age monuments of England's Peak District is now available at lulu.com (see link below).

THE PREHISTORIC PEAK is a practical guidebook to discovering and exploring the Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments of the Peak District. Originally researched, written and designed as part of my MA in Communication Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in 2009, the intention is not to explain their origins, but to encourage everyone to go and see them for themselves as they are today. After all, they are located in some of the most spectacular landscapes available to us in Britain today and make fascinating destinations for journeys that are about experiencing all the wonders of the world around us.

I visited each site several times in order to record each one through photographs, ground plans of what can be seen today, custom maps with step-by-step, clear, concise directions on how to find each one and all the necessary GPS and OS grid references.

It also includes practical advice on how to make your exploration of the Prehistoric Peak as pleasurable and safe as possible as well as a comprehiensive list of all other known sites in the Peak District along with their OS grid reference.

I have chosen to go the route of self-publishing the work through lulu.com. For complete information, previews and to order a copy, please visit:

www.lulu.com/theprehistoricpeak

Again, while I am very pleased with the overall quality lulu.com offers, my only concern is the price in that it is higher than I would really want to pay myself, but this unfortunately, is one of the drawbacks of a print-on-demand/self publishing route.

Click here for more details on 'The Prehistoric Peak'

Naturally, having talked below about the painting 'Big Red Sunlight Breakfast', a few days later I found myself revisiting it. This came about from wanting to make a birthday card for a friend. I decided to use the image, but to add, in Photoshop, the Kanji text that I had originally envisioned. At the same time I also decided to try altering the colour of the red stripes in the background. Accidentally I hit upon changing them to a gold colour and being happy with the result, I then went back to the original artwork and changed that too.

I am now very happy with the result. I'm still not sure whether I will add the Kanji text over the top of it. I'm going to hold off on making a decision about that. In the interim, I may try adding the text as a sort of Obi strip, which was also another thought I had. Here is the new version (left) and the Photoshop version I used for the card (right):