Time for the team to fire up the charabanc for another trip out while Nick continues work on inlaying the soundboard and building the Carolan guitar.

This time we’ve been to London (a nearby town about 100 miles south of Nottingham) where we’ve been running Aestheticode craft sessions at the Tent venue during the London Design Festival. Our stand featured artisans Debbi Bryan doing card-cutting, Alice Angus working with Fabrics, and mural paining and screen printing workshops with Lilli Cowley-Wood and our own Liz Jeal who has designed our very own Carolan knotwork among other projects.

The Aestheticodes stand at Tent, London Design Week 2014

Crafting interactive fabric design

Visitors also learned how to draw their own patterns, adding them to our rapidly growing gallery – this picture is just those from the first morning. Take a look at Liz’s blogpost to see how our stand looked at by the end!

Our growing gallery of visitors’ designs

Finally, we also delivered the official branding for Tent. Stunning designs from Liz and the team and wonderful to see them on display throughout the official venue on signs, walls and posters; as part of their official Artcode trail; and even a full page spread in the official guide. And they work too – though it’s hard to believe it sometimes hen you look at the patterns as the codes are so well hidden.

Designs for Tent branding

Our spread in the official guide

All in all, it was the perfect opportunity to launch the name ‘Artcodes’ for the current product (it’s now officially Artcodes from Aestheticodes).

We also launched an upgraded version of the app in Google Play and iTunes. Improved scanning, more configuration and also a major new feature in the form of ‘experiences’. Essentially, the app now offers you a set of different experiences you can do, each taking you to its own particular content when you scan its codes. For example, Carolan Guitar is now an experience in its own right. We’re thinking that you will be able to save your own experiences in the next version and after that we’re thinking of publishing and sharing. Anyway, please do download the new version (just search for Aestheticodes) and have a play (it’s free).

So back into the charabanc and time to head back the workshop …