Charlie Newhouse’s refined layouts and type experiments inform his print-based portfolio

Date
2 August 2017

London-based graphic designer Charlie Newhouse enjoys working on a variety of projects and his portfolio consists of posters, books, catalogues and exhibition design. “A lot of my work stems from printed matter, so I think the majority of my style is aided through that specific process,” Charlie explains. “I’m influenced by what’s around me and what is relevant to the project itself. I try to be visually engaging – the more unrestricted, the more intriguing the end result.”

Typography is becoming more of a dominant feature in Charlie’s work and he’s embracing the possibilities. “The role it has within my work is also relatively new in some ways as I only really got into it at university, so I am by no means a master at it!” Recent projects of Charlie’s include an artist’s book for Geoff Butcher, posters for various cities and towns including Whitstable and Copenhagen, and a book about constructing objects from “modest materials”.

Clean and minimally designed, Charlie’s approach to his work is matter of fact and functional, and it’s only in his poster work where we see a slightly looser way of working. His personal projects have also provided more opportunities to experiment: “Whether they get released into the world I never know but there is something exciting in that process,” says Charlie. “Some of my most recent work has been submission-based, self-initiated work that’s been published in Crack magazine and as part of Erik Brandt’s Fictions Typograpfika project.”

As a freelance designer some of the main challenges are staying motivated and restrictions on time, and also accepting when an idea doesn’t always go the way you planned, he says. “I am challenged through the mistakes I make in my work and I am looking to refine these quirks into dynamic ones. Using type and image to create distinctive imagery and using refined layouts to nurture my love for books,” explains Charlie. “The work I create has an element of play. Playing materialises a sense of original content, and also a sense of enjoyment to the creation of work. That notion of creating mistakes and experimenting to points where you are unsure of the direction, tends to end up being some of the best work I produce.”

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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Charlie Newhouse

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About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

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