Created in Birmingham

• Bread&Circus
  “Bread & Circus is a distraction of two Birmingham based designers. Posting travel, design, fashion, music and food.” Claire Hartley (who helped make CiB look like it does) and Gavin Auty got a blog
• Meet DANANANANAYKROYD | THE FLAPPER | BIRMINGHAM, UK
  I missed this back in July, but Vice recorded some live footage at The Flapper and some interviews at Star City
• Fish Fight Included in App Store Rewind 2011 – ‘The Best of the Year’ | Clusta
  Good stuff from Clusta

This’ll be the last post of 2011. See you in the new year for more fun and japes.

• What’s good in Brum? :: Loaf Online
  “Two days in a row this week I was asked for recommendations for food things happening in Birmingham […] Here’s my response”
• Details of new Birmingham food festival unveiled
  On the subject of food – “The 10-day celebration of food will take place from October 14-23 and replaces the former Taste of Birmingham festival, which was held in the summer”
• Muthers Studio – New Venue on Rea Street | Digbeth is Good
  “The opening of the Conservatory @ Muthers was celebrated last Friday with an inaugural gig headlined by Evil Alien, who did a stonking set to a pretty much full house”. Recording studio and now music venue
• I’m a Celebrity Get me to a Birmingham City Council Event
  An FOI request shows how much the council has spent on celebrity speakers since 2005. I’m pleased to say that the only one of these that I saw was also the most expensive. Getting value for my council tax, there.
• A very funny Englishman in New York
  John Oliver, that fella from The Daily Show, is from Birmingham. A star on Broad St surely beckons.
• Claire Hartley – Inkygoodness Character Totem Home-coming
  “On Thursday I excitedly popped down to the new Zellig building (nr Custard Factory) for the launch of Inkygoodness Character Totem home-coming”
• Video Cuts – Sky Arts At Birmingham Home Of Metal
  A long trailer/short feature about the exhibition

Pointe Blank is:

An exhibition of original images inspired by the story of Coppélia. In a first-of-its-kind project for Birmingham Royal Ballet, 27 artists and designers have been invited to produce individual pieces of artwork based upon toymaker Doctor Coppélius, and his attempts to breathe life into his most prized creation

The exhibition has been pulled together by Rob Lindsay at Birmingham Royal Ballet and Claire Hartley.

It features the work of (deep breath…) Ashley O’Brien, Ben Javens, Chris Henley, Christine Hughes, Claire Hartley, Crayonfire, Darren John, Dave Hughes, Gavin Auty, Harriet Grey, The Hidden Dingbat Collective, Ian, Caulkett, Jamie Littler, Jimmy Rogers, Jo Spencer, Katie Parry, Luke Tonge, Mezzetty, Middle Boop, Nathan Monk, Rachel Tighe, Ryan Dean-Corke, Sam Pierpoint, Sarah Ray, Simon Wild, Studio Family and Sweaty Eskimo.

It’s all online so go and have a look. There’s some lovely work there.

It launched tonight for one night only (I was there – that photo stands as slightly blurry proof), although there are plans to exhibit the prints elsewhere and maybe sell them online or something.

It always seems to me that the illustrators around Birmingham are a very talented but criminally underserved bunch. When they get together and do something it tends to be really very good – see also the Not My Type exhibition that we hosted at the CiB shop last year.

Still, a very well done to everyone involved in this.

Highstreet stores may be filling their shelves with mass produced Christmas cards at the moment, but some of our favourite Birmingham based designers have been busy bees making their own festive designs.

Claire Hartley‘s hand illustrated cards are priced at £6 for a pack of three different designs.

Abigail Borg‘s letterpress cards – ‘Daphne’s Pinecone’ – are priced at £2.99 each, or £7.99 for a pack of 3.

Stephie Says‘ polar bear and reindeer cards are priced at £4 a pack, or £2 each.

Ruth Green‘s hand printed cards come in packs of 5, and has four designs to choose from. Each pack is £5 each.

Night Owl‘s hand drawn cards include four different designs, and can be be bought separately or as a pack for £4.55.

Emma Hardicker‘s silkscreen printed cards come in a variety of designs and colours, priced at £14 for a pack of 5.

Jo Ruth‘s ‘Spirit of Birmingham’ charity cards are £5 and come in packs of 8.

• stitches and hos October 09
  The ‘little knitting hootenanny’ is back at the Hare & Hounds on Tues 27 October. Wool and needles provided, everyone’s welcome and they insist you don’t even have to be any good
• Snowman Colouring Competition winners
  Congratulations to the winners of The Rep’s competition
• 7 Inch Cinema » Living and listings
  The film folks’ latest round-up of good stuff happening around Birmingham/the West Mids in the next few weeks
• Birmingham Library tender reignites free pitching debate | News | Design Week
  “Birmingham City Council is the latest public-sector client to come under fire for asking for unpaid creative work in a tender”
• Fused Magazine – SXSW MUSIC MISSION DELEGATES WANTED
  “Fused Magazine along with UKTI are organising a mission to SXSW Music 2010. The visit is being organised by UK Trade & Investment and FUSED”
• Birmingham Post – News – 60th anniversary of Cluedo, a worldwide hit invented in Birmingham
  “Anthony Pratt, a clerk from Kings Heath, Birmingham, devised the game which was originally called Murder and designed for eight players”
• claire hartley
  “Hello. I’m Claire Hartley, a graphic designer and illustrator”. Claire has a new portfolio
• National Restaurant Awards 2009
  Birmingham did well in the NRA’s top 100 UK restaurants. Congrats to Simpsons (24), Purnell’s (34) and Turners (85)
• West Midlands Open 2010: Artists wanted
  “Artists can submit up to three original works, made since January 2007, in the form of 2D (any medium), 3D (sculpture or construction, but not furniture or crafts), or time-based and digital work. First Prize is £1,000, Second Prize £500 and Third Prize £250″
• Peter Watkins Photography – americana
  Peter Watkins has been taking photos around the West Midlands that evoke the idea of Americana (via http://brokenbottleboy.tumblr.com/)