Hello Birdie - Lorna Syson's new autumn range teaming up with RSPB

British textile designer Lorna Syson is known for her contemporary bird motifs as an integral part of her signature design style.  Her inspirational take on the British countryside and her ability to bring out the beauty of nature has made her prints for wallpaper and designs for home soft furnishing ever popular, and her new autumn range brings focus on two typical birds popular both in the UK and other parts of the world..


At the Top Drawer and Decorex International trade fairs held at London’s Olympia in Kensington in September and October respectively, Lorna Syson announced she is celebrating 10 years in business this autumn with a collaboration with the Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB) to create a new collection inspired by her favourite birds and their habitats.  

The two new fabric patterns feature two favourite British birds, the long tailed tits and hummingbirds, well chosen to celebrate the important work the RSPB do protecting birds here and abroad.  
The Blossom & Bird design shown above, in classic tones of navy, grey and soft pink, features pretty long-tailed Tits perching on English cherry blossoms.  
For the Hummingbird design below, Lorna has chosen vivid tones of teal and mint as a backdrop for her majestic hummingbirds hovering amongst honeysuckle.

The range includes curtains, furnishing fabrics, cushions and lampshades.  Made in cotton, all fabric is made and digitally printed in the UK.  The items will be available from RSPB stores and website, and from Lorna Syson's website, and 10% of sales will go to the charity.

Long-tailed Tits and Hummingbirds are popular species both here and abroad and Lorna's work with the RSPB help to raise awareness of the RSPB's work in the UK and around the world, where they run conservation projects across Africa and Asia.  

Cartoonist wins Weird Fish competition to design artist T-shirt for The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

Congratulations to professional cartoonist Tim Harries, whose work - Raiders of the Lost Lark (clever! - shown above) won him a design competition hosted by clothing brand Weird Fish.   Tim's work will adorn the next limited edition T-shirt for The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (rspb).

Tim who regularly supplies cartoons, comic strips and illustrations to the likes of Reader’s Digest and Private Eye, said: “ I look forward to seeing the limited edition T-shirt in the shops later in the year.”

The Weird Fish and rspb partnership began in January 2015 with the launch of The Lord of the Wings T-shirt, followed by the sale of pin badges and staff members running the Cheltenham half marathon raising money for the charity. At the end of 2015, Weird Fish launched its Darth Wader T-shirt, inspired by the rspb wading bird logo. The clothing company achieved record-breaking sales with this item, resulting in 60 per cent of stock being sold within the first week.

A number of successful campaigns with the rspb are now followed by the launch of Harrier Potter and the Deathly Sparrows artist T-shirt. Weird Fish will donate £9 from each Harrier Potter T-shirt sale to the rspb, the UK’s largest nature conservation charity. Weird Fish has raised a total of £44,000 for the charity since 2015.

John Stockton, managing director at Weird Fish, said: “The new Harrier Potter T-shirt is a great example of Weird Fish’s creativity and sense of humour. It’s bold and quirky and helps support the rspb at the same time.”

John added: “Weird Fish is proud to continue its work with the rspb. We have an eco-garden at Weird Fish HQ which makes an enjoyable outdoor space for our staff.

The rspb kindly helped us out with some bits for the garden to make it a more habitable for wildlife too.”

Weird Fish clothing is available to buy in the UK from Weird Fish retail stores and online. There are 13 branded stores and stockists include Debenhams, Cotswold Outdoor, Haskins and Blacks Leisure.

Fashion retailer ‘fishes’ for an artist to design its new charity T-shirt

Here's one for nature lovers and talented artists.

Clothing brand Weird Fish is in search of a new artist to design its next limited edition T-shirt for The Royal Society for theProtection of Birds (rspb).

Weird Fish’s first artist T-shirt was created in 1993 and its quirky and bold T-shirt designs are sought after by many.  Now the company is offering artists the chance to create a new design with instant impact for the rspb, the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, working to secure a healthy environment for all wildlife.

Entrants need to submit at least three of the six design ideas created in the last competition, which are: The Redshank Redemption, Wuthering Kites, Raiders of the Lost Lark, Purple Crane, Jurassic Lark and Cranespotting.  

Designs for the competition must be submitted by midnight on Wednesday May 25. Weird Fish will then select the winning design to be made into the new rspb charity T-shirt, with the opportunity for the winner to join the team of Weird Fish artists, and create designs for future seasons. 

Weird Fish continues to support the rspb as its chosen charity. 

Entries can be submitted in JPEG, PNG or PDF and can be uploaded to Weird Fish’s Facebook, tweeted to @WeirdFishTweets, tagged on Instagram @Weirdfishltd or emailed directly to retail@weirdfish.co.uk with the subject line ‘Find an Artist Competition.’

John Stockton, managing director at Weird Fish, added: "Weird Fish makes clothes for people who enjoy nature and getting outdoors. Through partnering up with the rspb, we're able to make a difference to the green spaces and surrounding communities across the UK, which is something our customers care about, too. We are keen to extend the opportunity for new artists to join our team and bring some fresh ideas to our legendary artist T-shirt range."

The winning T-shirt will be produced from November 2016 and the chosen designer will receive £250 to spend online www.weirdfish.co.uk and may have the opportunity to join the Weird Fish team in a freelance artist position.

For details and Terms and Conditions of Weird Fish's 'Find An Artist Competition', click HERE.