27 - Patterns in 1980

27 - Patterns in 1980

My Dad, Iain Sinclair, is a product designer. Back in the 80s, he would sketch and work up all his presentation material by hand, using a variety of felt tip and rotary pens.

He owned a metal box of Stabilo felt tips (similar or perhaps the same as this nostalgic throwback I bought from eBay), and, on occasion, he entrusted me to use them.

I remembered there being 50 pens - so with 40 pens, maybe this isn't an exact match. But still, the tin is nearly half a metre wide! Smashing.

Along with the pens there were drawing instruments such as bendable rulers and a selection of transparent, green stencils punched with circles and ellipses.

I made these pattern designs and I still feel excited about them. There's something beautiful about the tiny slips of the pen. Compared with the machine perfection of digitally produced graphics.

Post 27 of 365

I've decided to commit to 365 days of social media continuity and publish 1 blog post per day for a year.

If you enjoy, learn from, share or benefit from any of the 365 please consider a donation to Macmillan Cancer Support. 

A penny per post, 10p per post or even a pound: every little helps! Thank you. 

Head over to my Just Giving Page for Macmillan Cancer Support

 

 

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Macmillan Cancer Support

This year I challenged myself to write one blog post per day, for 365 days. The project began on 3 March 2025.

I have linked this challenge to a charity fundraiser, because I want to look outside as well as inwards and contribute to society. It also holds me accountable and adds motivation to write everyday.

Macmillan is an organistation that offers powerful help to anyone (in the UK) who has been affected by cancer.

Head over to my Just Giving page, to donate to Macmillan Cancer Support using the button below.

Donate to Macmillan Cancer Support