A winter spent refurbishing the office, emptying old cupboards and finally visiting long-forgotten storage units has made us realise we've hoarded way, way too much stuff over the last two decades. Clearly every graphic designer lives in hope of that exhaustive career retrospective at a glamorous gallery - but in the meantime - we really don't need 100 copies of everything we've ever done.
Which is a long preamble to the news that we're having a Yard Sale, in a week's time, of a vast array of stuff, with the proceeds going to charity*.
The precise contents are still being finalised, but we'll be selling a series of old Johnson Banks lecture posters, various project posters, books we've designed, some stamps (including several award-winners), and definitely one guitar (maybe two). We'll have overs of our 'Send a letter' project (both in alphabet and single letter form), and our 'Airmail' project (see below). There'll be CD's too. Whether we'll be flogging off old awards is yet to be decided.
Everything will be VERY keenly priced, mostly £5 or much less, and some basically free - apart from maybe some rare posters or the projects that were very expensive to produce. Our aim is to clear the decks, so please come and help…
The main sale is on Saturday the 12th, 11.00 am to 5.00 pm, but we're opening for a couple of hours the evening before (Friday 11th 5.00pm to 7.30pm) for those who can't make the weekend. The location is upstairs at the Johnson Banks office, which is at Crescent Works, Crescent Lane, Clapham Common London SW4 9RW. Bring your wallets and cards - we're accepting cash and cards. Admission is of course free, no obligation to buy anything. Detailed directions here.
Below are some quick snaps of the kind of thing that will be on sale, with quick notes on sizes and how many we have left. This isn't a definitive list but gives you a snapshot of what will be available.
This 'tree' poster became slightly infamous after featuring in a Barbican exhibition a decade or so ago. It tracks the life of graphic designers - from before college to paying off their mortgage and all the things in between. Size: 40 inches by 60 inches. We have a few dozen of these left.
Stamps: sets designed for The Beatles, British Fashion and Fruit and Veg. We have just a handful of fruit and veg, and then about a dozen of the others.
Just a selection of some posters designed in the noughties for Parc de La Villette in Paris. Multiple subjects and styles, all huge. Size: 1 metre by 1.5 metres. There are 2 or 3 spare of each design, across a dozen or so designs.
A set of posters marking a special edition of Time Out dedicated to the theme of London as a republic. Size: A1, set of 4 designs. We have a couple of dozen of each.
A set of posters commemorating our Arkitypo typography project. Size: A1, set of eight. We have about 30 sets of these.
Send a letter: an alphabet of letter-shaped postcards. 26 in a set (duh), A5 or smaller, 700gsm ram-punched postcards. We have about 20 sets spare so you'll have to get a move on - these are very popular.
Single-letter versions of the alphabet, sold singly. We have lots of these.
Various lecture posters, varying from 40 x 60 inches to A1. Some we have 20 of, some we don't.
A few posters from our time working for the Science Museum. Size: 40 x 60 inches, just a few spare.
Design Council posters. A1 or 60 inches by 40 inches. Just a handful of these.
Pun post: a whole array of daft postcards. Lots of these and super-cheap.
V&A underground posters from the nineties. 40 x 60 inches. A handful of these.
This idea on creativity began life as a D&AD cover – then became an A1 poster all of its own. We have lots of these, A1.
This ‘R’ poster featured as part of an exhibition on 26 letters at the British Library. A1, ish. There are about 20 of these left.
Just a few of the Johnson Banks designed books that will be going in the bin if you don't claim them.
Ancient paper posters that date from the middle ages. A few of these.
A huge Imperial War Museum poster from 20 years ago. 40 inches x 60 inches. Just a few.
Airmail - a project designed for a V&A fete of flying paper 'stuff' that folds down to make letters. We have a few dozen sets of these.
We have a few of these posters from twenty years ago for the British Council. They're A1 and we have very few of these spare.
And a couple of 'protest' projects, worrying about George Bush, and global warming.
We'll post more stuff on social media over the next week, so keep an eye on our Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Incidentally, on social media we've already had a ton of people asking us to post them stuff. Apologies but it's just not possible. Maybe, one day, we'll start a shop, but in the immediate term this is an in-real-life, come-and-rummage (and see the studio) kind of experience. Also, a lot of the posters are vast - and prohibitively expensive to post. Sorry.
The Johnson Banks Yard Sale
Friday 11th May 5.00pm to 7.30pm
Saturday 12th May 11.00 am to 5.00 pm
Admission free
We'll be accepting cards and cash
Most items £5 or less
Proceeds to charity*
Location:
Johnson Banks
Crescent Works
Crescent Lane
Clapham Common
London SW4 9RW
We're a hundred yards off Clapham Common Southside as you walk away from the common.
Closest Tube: Northern Line, Clapham Common
Closest overground stations: Clapham High Street then a 10 minute walk
Or Clapham Junction and jump on a bus
*Our local and rather wonderful hospice, The Royal Trinity Hospice, located just over the common.
