At the end of the Victoria line at the Walthomstow station, and then a 15 minute walk through some suburban streets with some lefts and at other times rights is an industrial estate. Through the gate and buried at the very end of the units where you are convinced you are lost and doubting it's existence at all is God's Own Junkyard. It's a worthy pilgrimage and actually sort of where you expect God would put a junkyard.
The warehouse is a monument to neon and the life works of the late Mr Neon, Chris Bracey. It's littered to the rooftop with cables, plug sockets and choice words with neon epigrams, the whole collection is stacked, I suppose how a junkyard of the sort would be. Full of sex, religion, americana, sci-fi and nostalgia that all blend together surprisingly well, It's a visual feast that you can take in with a coffee and an open mouth. It is a gem of a place.
It is really great.
Alistair Hall is an award-winning graphic designer based in London. He set up his design studio, We Made This, in 2004, and specialises in thoughtful, simple, beautiful graphic design for print. He has made work with clients including Penguin Books, Historic Royal Palaces, Jeremy Tankard Typography, the National Trust and John Lewis.
Alistair is also a co-founder and art director of the children’s literacy charity Ministry of Stories, and its fantastical shop, Hoxton Street Monster Supplies.
Alistair has been writing about design and visual culture at wemadethis.co.uk/blog for over ten years. He also teaches at Central Saint Martins and The Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design; and has given talks about his practice across the UK and overseas. He’s currently researching a book about London’s street nameplates.
Since graduating in photography from Falmouth in 2009 Toby has lived in London working for clients such as Channel Four the Guardian and the Photographers Gallery. His work has been included in awards such as the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, The AOP and Magenta Awards. Toby was recently selected as one of the LPA Futures and is now Represented by Lisa Pritchard Agency.
Milène Larsson is an award-winning, seasoned international news, current affairs and documentary producer/director/reporter covering issues spanning from the environment, gender norms, women’s social status and civil rights, to culture, travel and migration, which she has reported on extensively in the British Media Awards winning documentary series Europe or Die. She’s currently co-Head of Video for VICE and based in London.
Martin is an art director, designer and photographer.
He is also an academic and teaches at Central Saint Martins, School of Fashion and at the University of Brighton. He resides in South London where he runs his creative studio Andersen M.
His film work has won many international awards and both his design and photography has been exhibited internationally.