Review of 2016

An entire year has passed. Since the review of our first year at The City Works, a lot has happened. 2016 began when the brand was only 9 months old, now it finishes 2016 as almost two years old. Here’s our highlights.

Moving to Vienna

2016 began with a big move to our new home, Vienna, Austria. After setting up in London, we desired a change of scenery, a change of pace and most importantly a fresh perspective. It was a busy time of year. We were juggling Christmas orders, whilst also packing up our equipment, stock and household belongings. We found a bigger studio space, and formed a partnership under the name Starlingson OG. This will be the start of an exciting new brand, that we will provide more information about when the time is right.

Lost in London Colouring Book

Throughout January and February, we drew the inside pages for our first colouring book for adults: Lost in London. Published by Hardie Grant, it was a big project that involved more drawing than we had ever done before. The colour-in tour across England’s capital came out in October and went on to be sold at Amazon, Foyles, National Gallery and many other book shops around the world. It was the biggest project we had worked on but also our biggest achievement. The sequel, Lost in Paris, will be available later in 2017.

Pulse 2016 & Redesign

On a little bit of a whim, we decided to exhibit at Pulse 2016. It was our first time having a stand as big as this. Afterwards we were delighted to be stocked in Harrods and Selfridges, two of our favourite stores. We also worked on one of our favourite projects to date. We created a bespoke paper collection for the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford…

Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford

The Bodleian Libraries are the prestigious buildings that provide students of Oxford University with centuries of knowledge. Their gift shop commissioned The City Works to create a unique illustration that combined many of the key buildings, which went on to inform a stationery collection. The end result was a customised stationery range consisting of Greetings Cards, Debossed Notebooks and A5 Bodleian Journals.

Design Junction

We exhibited for the first time at Design Junction. At it’s new location in King’s Cross, the show had a lot more space to fill, and generally it was very accomplished. The retail section that we were situated in, beneath the Canopy that separates CSM and Waitrose, was very contemporary and appealing in it’s look and feel. We brushed shoulders with some lovely brands, and met many nice customers.

Freedom to Exist

As Christmas approached, we were approached by a beautiful watch brand. Based in England, Freedom to Exist make wonderfully minimal timepieces. We were commissioned by them to design a bespoke ‘Clocktower’ pattern swatch, that worked its way across gift wrap and a lens cloth. It was as a lovely compliment to a perfect Christmas gift. We were also proud to become one of their brand ambassadors.

We’d like to thank everyone who we met and worked with in 2016. Running this business full time has been a lot of work but wouldn’t be possible without you. Here’s to 2017.

Article by The City Works