Mylène is a French art director, currently based in London. She’s currently art director for the books and gifts lists at Laurence King Publishing, part of Orion/Hachette UK.
It's such an iconic building and it's always a joy to be anywhere near it. It just dominates the landscape around it. Ever since I first saw the cover of Pink Floyd's Animals I've loved it and I still do. There are always reports in the news for plans for developers to spend billions on refurbishing it. I'd genuinely prefer it to remain as it is rather than see it being turned it into a massive shopping centre full of chain stores. The thought of it being turned into some kind of Westfield full of people on Facebook on their laptops in a Starbucks fills me with rage.
It's a members-only library but you might be granted access with a research request. The writer's room is great but there's a few special, hidden corners among the bookshelves to tuck yourself away in.
Being down on the underground can be quite stressful and draining, but if you have the chance to look up and into the details that has gone into the tiling of the platforms and stations you might start to see some beauty down there. A lot of stations has bespoke tiles and decorations, almost a century old.
Bethnal Green station is one of a handful in London to have been given a very specific additional decoration to the classic cream tiles and name strip. Easy to miss, but dotted around the station are a series of tiles with raised motifs on them, representing aspects of London and places that the Underground visited.
Or for typographers: check the type on Hampstead station or Holloway Road for some inspiration.
This uninspiring sounding place is a disused railway line that runs along the roofline from Finsbury Park to Highgate. A great place to excerise and escape.