The other night when driving home I had to slam on my brakes as a bird of prey pounced out from the hedge on my left, just missing my car as he climbed higher and higher. Apart from scaring the living daylights out of me, it was an epic sight to behold. I could see his full wingspan across my windscreen as he flew away.

It just reminded me how much I love these majestic birds, often circling so far overhead. Its stripey wings were simply stunning. Now, to me, this bird seemed massive, but compared to some I am sure it wasn’t. But it did put me in mind of the calendar we did in 2023, collective nouns for birds.

From ‘a confusion of guinea fowl’ to a ‘lamentation of swans’, it was so much fun discovering the terms used to describe the bird kingdom. Perhaps what I saw was a falcon? A grouping of these is known as a ‘cast’, as if gathering for some piece of theatre out on the moors. Peregrine falcons are famously fast, with one recorded diving at 242 mph!

One that we couldn’t quite fit in our poster calendar was the Golden Eagle. We picked 12 illustrations, one for each month, and this impressive bird sadly didn’t make the cut. Carl’s son Rufus just loves this particular bird, so I illustrated his very own version just for him. We included it in our end of year newsletter too. They are impressive to behold I am sure, powerful enough to prey on foxes and with a wingspan that can exceed 2 metres. A fact I loved about them though is their faithfulness: they usually mate for life.

A group of Golden Eagles is called a convocation; sounds important, doesn’t it? Their huge nests are known as eyries and, rather wonderfully, traditional nesting places can be used by successive generations.

We are busy working on our 2027 calendar, all to be revealed soon! I think we will probably revisit collective nouns again though as they are such fun, some you don’t even think about. A flight of stairs, an armoury of aardvarks, a shrewdness of apes and an embarrassment of pandas!

Why Art Nouveau?

Art Nouveau felt like an ideal subject for the calendar because its visual language appears across so many different forms of design. Flowing lines, natural forms, decorative detail and careful craftsmanship can be found in everything from architecture and furniture to jewellery, glass, posters and everyday objects.

That variety gave us plenty to explore. The calendar moves between well-known designers and more unexpected pieces, including Tiffany’s Dragonfly Lamp, René Lalique jewellery, Hector Guimard’s Paris Métro entrance, a Thonet bentwood chair and stained glass by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Twelve pieces, one visual movement

Although the objects are very different, they share an emphasis on shape, ornament and craftsmanship. That gave the calendar a strong visual thread while still allowing every month to feel distinct.

Each illustration is our interpretation of the original piece rather than a literal reproduction. We wanted to keep enough of its character and detail to make the design recognisable, while giving the twelve months a consistent illustrated style of their own.

Each year at Pickle, we produce a limited run of calendars and post them to our clients and a handful of local businesses. It is always a joy to create. Throughout the year, we share more of the story behind each featured piece in our newsletter, alongside a matching wallpaper download.

The same attention to shape, detail and presentation runs through our branding, print design and websites. Contact us to discuss a project of your own.

Our longstanding clients Lovat Parks send us some of the best briefs! We have produced everything from wooden trophies and milk bottles to illustrated maps, wall planners and park signs.

Last year we also helped create branding for some great Cornish businesses, including The Harbour Light cafe in Boscastle. We worked once again with Proper Vintage, who we have collaborated with on several projects now, and it was a delight.

2025 also saw the launch of new branding for Lemon Fresh Cleaning & Linen in Cornwall. For the client, we created a new logo and a simple website with bespoke illustrations.

We helped SPA-rty Cornwall expand their existing brand, taking the client’s logo and developing a distinctive new web presence around it. The website has a touch of sparkle!

A new local business was also taking shape on Wadebridge high street. We created a logo to help launch Camel Estuary Farmshop while the shop itself was still being built.

Tracy, the brilliant manager of Pencarrow House and Gardens, approached us to create a website for her own business. Emma hand-illustrated the lettering and drew the adorable teddy bears and mice, giving the site a warm, handmade feel that was perfect for the Bertrum Muffett Creations brand.

We often work with Pencarrow on its promotional materials. In 2025, we designed a new leaflet and helped advertise its programme of events.

Each year we work with Wadebridge Wines to promote its popular annual wine tasting event. In 2025, the Cornish company teamed up with Trewornan Manor, so we illustrated the house in blues and creams for the invitations and advertising.

It was a great year for Pickle, and we never quite know what will happen next! Have a look through our portfolio, or contact us to talk about a project of your own.

The mice made the most of it, escaping for an adventure around the house while it was far too cold outside. These beautiful and mischievous creatures come from Bertrum Muffett Creations, whose website we recently created. You can meet more of their characters online.

Snow outside. Time for hide and seek.

Hanging out with the ancestors above the piano.

They do love a bit of mischief on a snow day.

This time we approached them a little differently. Rather than creating detailed illustrations, we stripped each object back to the visual features that make it instantly recognisable.

What makes a design icon recognisable?

Some products become so familiar that we can identify them from surprisingly little information. A distinctive silhouette, an unusual proportion, a particular curve or one characteristic detail can sometimes be enough.

That was the idea behind the 2025 calendar. Each illustration asks how much can be taken away while the identity of the object remains. It is an exercise in simplification, but also in noticing what makes a piece of design distinctive in the first place.

The subjects cross fashion, furniture, transport and everyday product design. They include Chanel No.5, Converse All Stars, the Bialetti Moka Pot, the DeLorean, Coca-Cola bottle, Barcelona Chair, Anglepoise lamp, Philippe Starck’s Juicy Salif, Lambretta scooter, British telephone box, Ray-Ban sunglasses and the Olivetti Valentine typewriter.

Illustrating the essential details

Reducing an object sounds simple, but it makes every decision more important. Once texture, background and small details disappear, proportion and shape have to do much more of the work.

For us, that is part of the appeal of illustration. It does not always need to reproduce everything that is there. Sometimes choosing what to leave out communicates the idea more clearly.

It is also one reason these objects have endured as design classics. Their strongest visual characteristics remain distinctive even when they are reduced to just a few shapes and lines.

The 2025 Pickle Calendar

We produced a limited-edition A2 poster calendar bringing all twelve illustrations together. As with our other Pickle Calendars, we also created free monthly artwork for phones, tablets and computer screens.

Explore the individual 2025 calendar illustrations and wallpaper downloads below.

New brands and websites

One of the new identities we created during 2024 was for Duchy Gardens. The garden and maintenance company wanted its new brand to feel sophisticated and verdant, so we combined bright colours with botanical illustration and plenty of movement. We also began work on a new website to carry the identity through online.

We continued to develop the Cornwall Discovery Tours website too, adding a new blog section and a page highlighting accommodation in Cornwall.

Illustration, social media and packaging

For Trenewith Farm cottages we created seasonal social media graphics, using touches of illustration to bring their promotions to life. We also helped Copperpot Distilleries expand an existing identity. Starting with their Moonshine label, we developed designs for Navy Strength, Sloe Gin, Summer Fling and Vodka.

There is something particularly satisfying about extending an established brand: introducing new ideas while keeping the character that makes it recognisable.

Growing established brands

Another company we continued to work with was The Cornish Surfer. During 2024 we helped create a new leaf pattern for their product range, expanded the brand into more homewares and designed practical promotional pieces, including a roller banner for exhibitions.

A new identity for The Cornish Garden Company

2024 also saw the launch of The Cornish Garden Company. We created a new logo, stationery and website, using lilac as an accent colour with touches of illustration throughout. Sid the dog was a particular favourite.

Creative support for Lovat Parks

Lovat Parks is a long-standing client and always gives us interesting ways to put design to work. During 2024 we created certificates for Little Lovat Conservationists, stickers supporting their B Corp messaging and a range of in-house stationery, including postcards designed to reinforce team values.

One particularly fun project was a crisp-packet recycling station, created to sit alongside an earlier recycling box design for the holiday parks. We illustrated some familiar crisp flavours, with a twist, to make recycling a little more engaging for visitors young and old.

Design out in the real world

It is always satisfying to see branding working out in the real world. For Penrose Touring, we extended the existing identity onto flags outside the premises, highlighting the services they offer and helping the business catch the eye of passing traffic.

Our work for Pencarrow House and Gardens included advertising for different publications and audiences, event promotion for occasions such as their Teddy Bear Picnic, and posters helping visitors discover more about the history of the house.

Five decades of Wadebridge Wines

We were also delighted to work with another long-standing client, Wadebridge Wines, on their anniversary celebration, ‘5 Decades of Wine’. We created the visual identity for the event across posters, invitations and a wine menu celebrating the five decades the business had been trading. The client liked the design so much that we later adapted it for their November wine tasting.

Looking back on 2024

It was a wonderfully varied year, from new identities and websites to packaging, illustration, events and signage. Most of all, we were grateful for the clients who continued to trust us with new ideas, and for the new businesses that came to Pickle for the first time.

Being able to work across so many different kinds of design is one of the things we enjoy most about the studio, and 2024 certainly gave us plenty to get stuck into.

You can download each month’s design for your tech’s backgrounds, just head to the relevant month’s page in our blog.

Lovat Parks kept us busy with wonderful projects to enhance their gorgeous holiday parks across the country. From park maps to kids activity sheets, water bottles to buckets for the beach, plenty to keep our creative juices flowing.

There was lots of lovely print this year. We partnered with Kernow Springs to create leaflets for their Nordic wood-fired hot tubs and creating numerous posters, guides and adverts for the wonderful Pencarrow House and Gardens.

At the beginning of the year one of our bright and beautiful websites went live, Camel CSA.

We also worked on some fab projects with Port Isaac based Harbour Treats. Our first colouring book, as well as tea towel designs and beer glasses.

We helped local businesses like The Nuthatch Barbers expand their customer base with flyers and swing signs.

One of my favourite projects was working with our clients Proper Vintage to design a brand for a local beach, Bossiney Cove, famous for Elephant Rock.

This year has meant meeting some wonderful new clients, but also affirming long standing relationships with clients such as Wadebridge Wines who kindly come to us each year for their wine tasting promotion and to expand the brand.

Well, that’s just a taster of some of the projects we have been involved with this year. Can’t wait to see what 2024 has in store! Do get in touch if you would like to work with us on your next project.

There is nothing quite like holding a lovely piece of printing in your hand! The texture, the shape, the journeys of a fold. But enough of us waxing lyrical, let’s show you some of our design for print!

Loyalty cards are a fab way to grow your following, after all everyone loves a freebie and this little piece of pocket-sized card is a perfect way to have fun with your brand. We have created them for surf schools, pizza pop-ups and massage therapists.

Over the years we have also been asked to created brochures for our clients. There is real value in sending a physical thing, rather than just an email, when looking to promote your business. Recently we created these little A5 brochures for Ground Consultants Ltd. Complete with bespoke map illustration to provide a wrap around cover.

A5 is a popular format as its easy to post, pick up or doodle on. That’s just what Lovat Parks asked us to create for their environmental champions, little inspirational notebooks to fill with ideas on how to make their B Corp holiday parks even more of a force for good.

Some of our clients are partial to a fold – be that roll or concertina fold – they look great, and something we originally did for one of our calendars back in 2011. This format works wonderfully as a brochure, an art portfolio or as a product catalogue. Above is the brochure we created for Cornish artist Allan Caswell at Rock Road Gallery.

We have been asked to create some interesting guides over the years as well, like this map of Port Isaac for Harbour Treats, once the set of the chemist in TV’s Doc Martin. We have even created for these lovely clients a colouring book with perforations so the finished artworks can be torn out and framed, as well as colour your own postcards featuring our illustrations of Cornish scenes.

Although we are graphic designers primarily if there is a chance to draw I (Emma) am very pleased! We have partnered on some lovely projects for our clients Lovat Parks that have allowed us to incorporate illustration. Especially some really fun things for kids like activity sheets for nature trails.

Pencarrow House and Gardens are brilliant to work with, we help them with their leaflets, adverts and web design, often getting the chance to promote their fun events like posters for an Elvis tribute act.

Something we really enjoy is working with our clients over the years to adapt a brand for all sorts of occasions and formats. For Wadebridge Wines that has meant invitations, posters and banners promoting some fab festivals and wine tastings. Using textured card in various shapes and sizes, it’s a delight every time.

Finally, never over look the humble business card. Still one of the best ways to leave your brand presence behind, above are some of our favourites.

If you want to chat about print design say hello and we’ll see what we can do for you!

Some are beautifully descriptive, some seem rather unlikely, and others are simply lovely combinations of words. They also gave us plenty of inspiration for twelve months of illustration, with a few bits of bird-related trivia along the way.

A calendar of collective nouns

The idea grew into a collection of illustrated bird-themed designs, exploring some of the names we have given to groups of our feathered friends over the years.

As with our other Pickle Calendars, we produced a limited edition printed poster calendar, alongside a new piece of digital artwork each month for mobile, tablet and desktop.

The printed calendar may belong to 2023, but the illustrations have rather more staying power. You can explore all twelve designs below, along with the stories and snippets of information behind each month.

This is a project that kind of straddled last year and this, the vouchers being a 2022 edition to the brand. Lovely print to produce, building on an existing brand for Calma Treatments. Design for print is one of our favourites at Pickle Design, here we created loyalty cards with a bespoke stamp, DL vouchers and A5 price lists.

We had the privilege to work on a great campaign with Lovat Parks this year, launching their Big 5 initiative. This required plenty of design for us, a custom ‘snakes and ladders’ game complete with pop out dice. Postcards that children can tear off and take to spot wildlife and bespoke illustrations of animals for the campaign. The idea being to encourage kids to collect stamps of the endangered or rare animals they see, and raise awareness. We also illustrated a giant map so the locations could be recorded. A brilliant project to be a part of.

We have also been supporting Lovat Parks with their map leaflets as well as expanding awareness of their B Corp status, and what that means. This involved signage for the holiday parks as well as recycling boxes, posters, children’s activity sheets and a journal designed for the champions at each park. We loved the opportunity to get illustrating and think outside the box!

Penrose Touring is an ongoing project that we are excited to share. Creating a new brand for this well known caravan sales and accessory centre was a fun challenge. We then applied this to anything from hitch covers to keyrings and business cards. Next stop signage!

One of the things we love at Pickle is cultivating relationships with our clients, many of whom have been with us for years. Wadebridge Wines are a local company who we often work with to promote their festivals and events. This year was no different, creating an invitation to their much anticipated wine tasting event!

We have also been helping our clients at Pencarrow House and Gardens with their promotion this year, with events such as rock and roll nights, and retro discos – plus advertising and leaflets.

Trenouth Construction is a new brand we created this year, simple but hopefully striking.

And finally, a bit of web design. We worked with our lovely clients on the Isle of Scilly, The Wheelhouse Guest House to update their website and optimise it for mobiles and tablets. It was lovely revisiting a much loved website and breathing in new life.

Just a little taster of what we have been creating at Pickle Design. 2023 is shaping up to be full of web design, leaflets, maps and branding – we can’t wait to share it all with you!

This years theme is one of drinks from around the world, Emma illustrated the best mocktails and cocktails the world has on offer. Delicious. We hope to bring you recipes and surprising titbits of history in our newsletters so do sign up if you haven’t already.

We have been working on a new poster calendar as well, for 2022, we’ll give you a sneak peek at the end of this post!

Here are some of the projects we have worked on this year…

Calma Treatments (above) are new clients of ours, changing location was an opportunity to turn their logo into a brand. We started with these flyers using peaceful plant illustrations, then designed vouchers and loyalty cards.

For ALA Architects we designed a clean and minimal website showcasing their impressive portfolio, following on from the identity we created. The Breakaway in Crickhowell in Wales was a brand new business, lovely to be able to create a new logo for their accommodation.

Harbour Treats asked us to design them a guide to Port Isaac, highlighting all TV’s Doc Martin’s hotspots! Creating the map was fun (we love illustrated maps! See our work for Cornish Horizons). Helping design vehicle livery for Proper Vintage was a joy and a wine tasting invite for long-standing clients Wadebridge Wines was a lovely opportunity to play with colour.

One of the brands we were able to create from scratch was Wild and Free Cornish Campers. A new business offering the beautifully renovated Pip for holidays in Cornwall, we started with the logo then designed stationery, website and sign-writing for their adorable VW van.

So many lovely projects, and wonderful clients! For our selves we have been busy with blog posts, social media and our new calendar. Following the great Pickle tradition this is an A4 poster, but more on this next year…