Wrexham in Bloom – Week… Seven?

I think it’s safe to say I buggered this project from the beginning. Ok, so there was reading week, which doesn’t count, and two weeks of “mitigating circumstances”, but to be honest the main reason I fell behind on this one was my BBC project, which is now complete. So ahead with the focus, shall we!

Next week sees the return of Claire from the council, coming to see how we’ve gotten on with our Wrexham in Bloom/Bee Battery ideas. I know for a fact I’m not the only one struggling, but I don’t want to be one of those people.

Ideas-wise, I’ve had a few mundane ones pop into my head; poster designs, crappy little comics for kids. I’ve completely dropped the character re-design idea, because too many people are doing it, and I don’t think the council are that bothered about re-designing all their leaflets.

So I’ve come to a couple of conclusions for myself:

1. Do an illustration/poster: I have the experience, and the time to do something straightforward and simple, and I loved graphics and typography in collage.

2. Try out different media: I am really into trying out all kinds of media at the moment, from Photoshop to printmaking, to acrylic paints and 3D models (then again, thinking about it, if I could design a character I could produce it as a 3D armature…)

So far I have only come up with two very unimaginative ideas. The first one is inspired by ’60’s-era poster design. I love the hippie generation, all about free love, music and flower power. To me it speaks of celebrations, festivals, colours… and let’s face it, hippies are all about the environment.




So my friend Mark suggested a couple of catchy slogans I could use:

“It’s a bloomin’ good idea to recycle batteries!” – I love that one, very cute.

“Don’t plant a battery, plant a flower!” – This one was in reference to showing a landfill with a bright flower growing from the rubbish.

I could quite easily come up with some funky-fresh poster ideas for that. I’ve also recently been influenced by the Gorillaz “Plastic Beach” album, which refers to an island made up from the debris of mankind’s wasteful nature. Maybe there’s something there?


The second idea I had was in conjunction with the Natur Cymru competition. As an enthusiastic nature-lover and health freak I go walking almost every weekend with my partner. We’ve discovered Loggerheads, Betws-y-coed, Ty Mawr and our very own Alyn Waters where we live. I found out about the competition from a leaflet. For a £500 prize and a printed article in the magazine I have to write a thousand-words about a wildlife venture or environmental issue. I was thinking of tying this in with the Wrexham in Bloom campaign. The only problem is there is no guarantee I would win.

However, the competition states that I can include illustrations, so I had the idea to include some imaginative watercolour paintings of the different areas where Wrexham in Bloom takes place to accompany my entry. If I won the competition, then my article would be a great way to advertise Wrexham in Bloom. If not, I could use the illustrations as posters for the project.

After speaking to Adam I feel somewhat calmer, as he has insisted we don’t panic, there are many in my situation, and the final deadline is in fact NOT next Tuesday, as I thought. But it would be awesome if I could get an A3 concept done, because I hate falling behind (don’t want a repeat of last year’s fiasco!)