2021: Our Year in Review
Oh, what a year it has been! Do we even need to mention the C-word? You know the one! After all, the whole world has been affected (and infected). However, let's not dwell on troubles. Instead, we want to acknowledge achievements. So, here's a positive review of 2021.
January
The first month of the year had us under lockdown! However, we didn't let that stop us (no way). Instead, we were accepted to the London Design Biennale's Design in an Age of Crisis exhibition. All submissions responded to a call-out by Chatham House and aimed to tackle critical issues across health, environment, society and work. Later in the year, we had the honour of visiting the show at Somerset House to see our designs being enjoyed by the public.
February
February saw the launch of Posters for the People. This was a fantastic campaign by In Good Company which featured a range of artworks published across the country. We were honoured to be one of those selected artists.
The designs raised money for the charity, Frontline19 which supports frontline workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. It helped to spread joy and colour to our city centres! We hope you enjoyed this feel-good, do-good campaign.
March
Springtime arrived, and we received lovely correspondence from Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie. We gifted the family a bespoke illustration for the birth of baby August. Our warm wishes were reciprocated through a royal letter.
This month also saw us fundraising as part of the ArtWaves Festival (Bridlington). We painted a bespoke bird sculpture and then auctioned it to support Critical Fish.
April
After celebrating the success of our other My 1st Years books, we were excited to receive It's Good to be You in April. We created the story so it could be personalised for each child. You follow their story through the pages as they discover the unique qualities that make everyone special; it was such a lovely project.
May
We then performed scribing for a virtual workshop! Digital Devices for Under-Fives was hosted by the University of Leeds and Bradford Teaching Hospitals; we captured the discussions visually. It was exciting to see how the research informs early education. Now, we are designing the report for these findings, so watch this space!
June
As summer came, we received a newspaper from the National Saturday Club. For more than a decade, thousands of young people have participated in the programme (including Chloe and Abigail of Buttercrumble)!
We were kindly commissioned to create a comic based on our experience. We presented the club as a crucial stepping stone for us. We are keen to continue advocacy for arts education.
So much so, we also visited Scarborough Sixth Form College to deliver a two-day workshop around graphic design and the creative industries.
July
In July, we were commissioned by 2-3 Degrees to perform live illustration for the Mayfair Youth Forum. This is a passionate and enterprising group of young leaders (aged 14-18) enhancing youth voice in the area. The event took place at Grosvenor Square (London), as they have been advocating to make it a more inclusive and accessible district. It was an opportunity to celebrate their achievements and teamwork, and we were delighted to be involved!
August
The Take a Seat! project was so much fun! We partnered with The Old Fire Station (in Gipton, Leeds) to paint a community bench, with support from Leeds Civic Trust. It had to acknowledge the pandemic, but with a positive twist. We decided to focus on how neighbourhoods strengthened to support one another. It was proof of the resilience we all hold. After weeks of patience and painting, we unveiled this in August. It was a real team effort.
September
Our co-founder, Chloe, was featured in the second volume of Creativity, Culture & Capital. This was published by the innovation foundation, Nesta. Our essay shared how co-design can offer powerful protection, ensuring the heritage sector stays relevant. We're always building our knowledge and expertise!
October
In October, we were excited to greet the launch of Newsdle. It's a new learning platform for students of Spanish and French. To make this a reality, we partnered with the team behind Newsdle. We created an identity and visuals for their platform. Here, we focussed on building a community through branding and user interface design. It's friendly, iconic and now making its impact online!
November
Christmas came early for us in November! Whilst visiting London for other illustration projects, it was a delight to see our festive campaign illustrations live at Mamas & Papas in Westfield. This was one of our favourite projects of the year as we love the festive period. It's full of magic and wonder — that's what we're all about at Buttercrumble.
Furthermore, we attended the GBEA Awards as a finalist for Creative Industries Entrepreneur of the Year. Plus, we had the chance to check out the campaign design we produced with Stratford Original. It was an eventful month!
December
At the end of 2021, we partnered with East Leeds Project on the "Bags of Joy" project. Alongside Space2 and The Old Fire Station, they gifted 500 bags to the local community. We were kindly commissioned to design the Bags of Joy and festive paper-craft activity. The initiative spread warmth and kindness during the darkest time of the year.
So, that's a wrap! Congratulations on getting this far in the blog post! As we move into 2022, Buttercrumble turns five years old. So, we're excited to see what the future holds. We're so grateful for everyone who has joined us on our journey so far.
We don't want to leave you behind, so please join the Buttercrumble Grapevine below to keep up-to-date with more creative shenanigans.
