Which side of the Shandy Line are you on?
Asked to design a print that would explore the differences between northern and southern England, The Designers Republic has identified a subtle difference in drinking habits
Asked to design a print that would explore the differences between northern and southern England, The Designers Republic has identified a subtle difference in drinking habits
In the US they have the Mason-Dixon line – perhaps in England, we have the Shandy Line.
TDR was commisioned to create the print by Made North, the network for design and making in the north of England. Director Patrick Murphy says “We wanted to produce an archetypal work that graphically explores the idea of ‘northern-ness’ and what a difference between the north and south of England looks like.”
Here’s TDR’s response:
TDR’s Ian Anderson says: “The map is a blown up scan of small sketch I made in my notebook around 15 years ago to explain to a journalist in the simplest possible terms why TDRTM found it easy to resist any perceived temptation to relocate ‘Down South’. I was born in Croydon and subsequently lived on the outskirts of Bracknell New Town on the outskirts of London. As soon as I could I used going to University as an excuse to escape the claustrophobic one dimensionality of The South East and head for the adventure of real life in The North, in Sheffield. To a degree my political pilgrimage North was every bit as flawed as Northerners heading to London for streets paved with gold, but the sentiment in the map will hold true as long as there’s shandy-quaffing Southerners intoning ‘It’s grim up North’ having never had the bollocks to find out the truth for themslves.”
The 500 x 700mm print has been produced in a run of 150 on GF Smith Ebony Black Colourplan 350gsm paper and glow in the dark ink for the shandy line itself, priced £120 and available here
