Logo & illustration collection
Here's a collection of logos and illustrations from my freelance graphic design work 2020-2024, including a few of my favourite on spec works I used as advertising.
Logos
"The cooperation worked great and Craig immediately responded to our wishes. We really like the logo. Thanks again" Daniel - SUB Göttingen
Through early discussions with Daniel about the project, the theme of 'threes' stood out for me: 3 keywords in the name, 3-year project, and 3 partner organisations. Through rapid sketching I saw that I could tie this theme with a metadata icon of 3 linked squares and 3 points at the top of the M. The colours come from a mix of the main partners. More subtly, inside the negative space of the R and A is a speech bubble representing the call and response nature of searching repositories.
"Working with Craig has been fantastic. He really got to the bottom of what we’re trying to communicate and who our audiences are." Becky - Life Cycle UK
Get Somerset Cycling is the name of campaign funded by the Hinkley Point C project and organised by Life Cycle UK. The logo was part of a larger identity project so it needed to be flexible to fit within Life Cycle UK's existing identity, but also have its own thing going on. A sign painted style font and warm yellow nod towards Somerset vibes. The blue and word 'CYCLING' come from LCUK's primary colour and logo font. The circle progressing towards the bike hints at the idea of the campaign, to progressively get people cycling.
"Thanks again for the logo! Everyone is really happy with it." Megan - SWIM
South West Invasive Managers are a non profit tackling invasive plant species in South West Alberta. Megan wanted a logo that could include the full name and SWIM acronym. Long names work best as circular logos, so I started there and used my research into the invasive plants SWIM manage and typical landscapes they operate in to put together the mountain-to-lake landscape icon surrounded by an archway representing the hands that care for it.
Illustrations, print work & paintings
"As a writer and publisher, I’d never been happy with the covers for my Luke Kelly crime novel series. So, when it came to the fourth book, I had Craig re-do the whole lot to give them a clearer, simpler look. He was easy, fast, patient and professional to work with and understood my design brief at once. I’m very pleased with the new look. I love Craig’s work and I think he’s done a great job on refreshing and revitalising the whole series." Graham - Author
Autumn cycling illustration for Gö Gravel, Harzer Kraken poster and Aesops fables Zine collab with illustrator Ruth Reiche.
Göttingen in Letters
In 2021, I received funding from Niedersachsen state to run a cultural project reimagining Göttingen’s landmarks through typography. Each week, I invited residents to suggest, letter by letter, local landmarks that could spell out the city's name of Göttingen for an illustrated logo. In the end I illustrated two full city logos featuring eighteen custom vector illustrations representing Göttingen’s past and present. A 16-page booklet I created for the project is now housed in the Göttingen City Archive.
Scientific report design for On Merrit, cup print design for Kulero and social media adverts.
"Commissioned an arctic fox from Artist Craig Johnson. It's a beautiful painting with a serene background, exceeded my expectations and will forever be a treasured piece of original art." Karen
Painting is not so different from design when you think about it, especially when working with clients on commission pieces. The process is somewhat similar; I talk to the clients about their needs and wishes, feedback my interpretation of their brief through images and keywords, then get to work.
Guess the novel artwork for Göttingen Hospital Library and German/English false friends cards for a private German school.
