My 26 poster goes up

This month saw the posters in the 26/JC Decaux 48-sheet project finally appear at their various sites. Here's mine, on a suitably grotty corner of the Purley Way, shot on a suitably grey day. (If you know Purley Way, it's just by the big Pets At Home store.)

It was nice to see the project sparking some spiky opinions in Design Week from Quentin Newark (subscribers read it here) (followed by an admirable defence from Jim Davies). As I said in a recent letter to DW (on a separate issue), this sort of knockabout debate always seems conspicuously absent from its pages. I do hope it's a sign of things to come.

There's no doubt this was a difficult project. The brief called for posters inspired very specifically by their local area - and even local dialects or accents. (Hence my sort of chav portmanteau, 'Croydinnit?' What you can't really see in the picture is the follow-up line: 'You're talking the Purley Way.')

It also insisted we use only six words – no more, and no less. I'm afraid I have to break ranks at this point, and admit that I never understood the reason for this restriction. It felt like an escapee from a separate brief, and helped make what would always have been rather esoteric posters even more obscure to a general audience.

But still, we have to tip a hat to JC Decaux for giving us pretty much free rein on their poster sites. (Although I know of at least one concept shot down for infringing the rather impenetrable advertising code.) And to Margaret Oscar of 26, who made an enormous rod for her own back with this project, and still managed to make it all work.

The next JK Rowling...

The leadership of writers' group 26 have come up with another fantastic project, in which I'm lucky enough to be involved.

You may remember that last year we were creating posters for every station on the Circle Line. This time we've been teamed with student illustrators from the London College of Communication (LCC) to create concepts for children's books.

With Faber & Faber also involved, there are enticing possibilities of publication in the air, and we hope at least to create another terrific exhibition at the London Design Festival next year.

I've been lucky in the random pairings, too, finding myself alongside a talented student, Alec Strang, whose work is admirably peculiar and evidently crafted with great care and skill.

As a collaborative tool, I've created a blog that Alec and I can use to trade ideas. If anyone's interested, it's also a way to follow the book's development. Enjoy...