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JUNE 2021
Contents
INTERVIEW WITH MADE FOR MONDAY
BY DEVON HARVEY
What was your biggest inspiration behind Made for Monday? From both a business and aesthetic perspective?
One of my biggest motivations behind Made For Monday was the desire to be my own boss. I went to school for Graphic Design, had some jobs in the field and most recently had a job where I was a slave to the train schedule, waking up by 530AM and returning home around 830PM on a regular workday. It was exhausting and completely drained me of my creativity and personal time, so in January of 2020 I quit to take a gamble on myself. I initially planned to work as a freelance illustrator and designer, (which I still do today, I'm just a lot better about managing my time and projects now!), but always knew I wanted to have my own small business in a creative field. Made For Monday was launched in August of that year and it's been an amazing experience so far!
Aesthetically, the work I do comes from a love of colour! One of my favourite steps in my creative process is choosing a colour palette and refining it until it feels right for the piece I'm beginning. When I was in my last job, I wore a lot of black and gravitated toward neutrals. Now, a year and a half after leaving that position, I realized that a lot of my colour decisions then came from being unhappy, stressed out and tired. The colour I put into my work is not only an expression of emotion, but I am hoping it will evoke that same kind of happiness for its future owner. I like the idea of my work bringing light and cheer into someone's space.
Why did you decide to go into Home Decor?
Home decor became the main focus for Made For Monday because I liked that tufting could be implemented into a lot of different elements for your home. I started with wall tapestries and moved into mirrors which is what I am creating most of the time now. I LOVE doing the mirrors, and I especially love when people request custom colour palettes. It is so much fun to work with each individual client to get their personal aesthetic just right and make them something unique for their walls. Every single mirror I make is 100% unique, I only use a stencil for the general shape and size of the mirror, everything else is created on the spot and changes every time.
Out of all of your products, do you have a favourite?
The Rainbow Wave Mirror is what brought a lot of attention to my Instagram in the first place, and I am so unbelievably thankful for that. What started off as an experiment turned out to be my most asked for product, which is great because they're so much fun to make and I love the rainbow colour palette! It is so bright and happy, and I love that people want a piece of that in their homes.
Finally, if there was one lesson that you have learnt from creating and running Made for Monday, that you could pass on to our readers, what would it be?
Don't stop pursuing your passion! Before landing on what I am doing today, I tried a lot of things, had a lot of creative hobbies, and was always trying to find something I loved doing that could also earn me a living. While I still work my freelance jobs in the mornings, I have slowly started prioritizing my business and myself, hoping to take a step back from outside work all together in the future. Something will eventually stick, and when you find your passion, don't give up on it because it will all pay off some day!
MELLIFERA PAPER
My name is Mel and I am an illustrator based in Somerset, UK where I live with husband, kids and pets. I love looking through children's books and am inspired by the English countryside. I have a habit of putting cute food on faces and enjoy drawing digitally in Procreate and traditionally with ink and watercolour. My website is www.melliferapaper.com and my instagram is mellifera_paper.
BOOK REVIEW
BY KATHY BALDOCK
PUNCHING THE AIR BY IBI ZOBOI AND YUSEF SALAAM
June 28, 2021
The story that I thought
was my life
didn’t start on the day
I was born
Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighbourhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.
The story that I think
will be my life
starts today
Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?
Punching the air is a novel that is written in verse, I am also not sure how I can put into words exactly how this book made me feel. I feel like this book has just up and kicked me in the stomach and left me winded. Amal is like any other ordinary boy except he is accused and wrongfully convicted by a system that believes being black is a crime. Amal uses his poetry and his Art to express himself and guides you on his journey as a reader. Amal helps us picture his world by putting us readers in his shoes and the injustice, cruelty and discrimination are way too much to bear.
‘Locking you up isn’t enough.
for them They will try
to crush your spirit until
you’re nothing but—
Dust
we both say together
And what does dust do, Amal?
What did Maya Angelou say about dust?
Umi asks
It rises, I whisper’
I do not want to go into this novel in too much detail because its quite a quick read and I want you all to come to your own conclusions. What I will say however is I would recommend this book highly as something I think everyone should read. This is also so relevant to the life we live day in and day out. This is not the first book I have read in verse, but I have to say that books in verse are fast becoming my favourite to read so don’t let it put you off.
EMELIE
Hi, I’m Emelie and I’m an Illustrator based in Gothenburg, Sweden. I create colourful drawings and patterns that are mostly inspired by nature. My style is whimsical and playful, and I’m always trying to have fun with my designs so that they put people in a good mood.
I’ve always been doodling things like flowers and leaves but never really made something out of my drawings until about two years ago, when I discovered surface design while studying at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Right now, I work full time in the fashion industry, but I’m hoping to be able to work at least part time in illustration and pattern design in the near future!
You can see more of my art on Instagram @byemeliep, and you can buy some of my art prints etc. at Society6 where I’m also byemeliep.
ENTERTAINMENT SNIPPET: 5 FILMS & SHOWS TO WATCH IN JULY
BY HARRY MEMBREY
The cinema’s been back in (almost) full swing for a while now. There are far fewer screenings, far fewer films, but plenty to keep you satisfied everywhere you look.
But just because the cinemas have opened their doors doesn’t stop streaming services from rising far above it. Blockbusters you’d typically look forward to seeing exclusively in the cinema have now become commonplace simultaneously on streaming services alongside their own array of exclusive content.
No distributor has streamlined this strategy better than Disney. Cruella, Raya and The Last Dragon and Nomadland have all been available on their online platform as well as cinemas around the world. Astonishingly, even Disney Pixar’s latest offering, Luca, was exclusively available online. Not even the visual splendor of (perhaps) Pixar’s most striking animation to date could convince Disney to distribute it cinematically. Add the exclusive content Disney+ has recently offered such as Loki (as predictably lacklustre as it is) and it’s clear that Disney are finding a winning formula.
But it’s definitely not just Disney+ that are offering all the goods these days. So, what’s there to look out for next month and where can you find it? Well, here are 5 must-sees for July, and there's a variety of places you can find them.
ANOTHER ROUND: 2ND JULY - CINEMAS
Funnily enough, we actually already recommended this one back in January. But, like a fair few things these days, it got delayed. But on 2nd July it’ll be available in an Odeon or Cineworld near you (probably a streaming service too).
It’s a weird one though, you can actually buy the DVD for this comedy-drama about four high school teachers who consume alcohol on a daily basis on Amazon at a price of £30. You can even watch it in a select few independent cinemas in the UK already. But if you want to just casually head over to your local Vue and check it out, 2nd July is your best bet.
Why watch it? Well, it looks funny, has a proven cast and the song in the trailer is catchy.
FEAR STREET TRILOGY: 2ND-16TH JULY - NETFLIX
Fear Street is Netflix’s attempt at a “Streaming Event” where, across the course of three weeks, a new film within a trilogy will be released to reveal more about the history of an ongoing small-town horror story.
The first is called Fear Street: 1994, the second is Fear Street: 1978 and it all culminates in the final instalment, Fear Street: 1666. As we can see the trilogy is told backwards in chronology, probably enlightening more information surrounding an historic horror as it goes.
Based on the book series of the same name by R. L. Stine, the trilogy seems stylistically akin to that of IT and Gremlins spliced together, where a group of teenagers find out that they might be next in line to terrifying events all connected to each other in their town of Shadyside, Ohio.
It could be genuinely frightening, it could not. Hopefully it’s got at least something intriguing on offer from an entire trilogy.
OLD: 23RD JULY - CINEMAS
In July, from the twisted mind of M. Niight Shyamalan comes Old, a new thriller about a family on a tropical holiday who discover that the secluded beach where they’re relaxing for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly, reducing their entire lives into a single day.
If that warped and mysterious logline isn’t enough to get you motivated to see the next movie from The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable director then I don’t know what is. The director, famed for films full of warped unusual narratives full of suspense and intrigue, has described it as being “like nothing else” so I’m sure you’re in for something particularly creepy and, of course thrilling, here.
BLACK WIDOW: 7TH JULY - CINEMAS
It seems that every month Disney or Marvel have something new to offer and none of it has really fit the bill up to now. Is this their last chance? Well, yes really, and Black Widow could just save them. Or could prove that Endgame really was the end.
Black widow is a prequel within the MCU starring Scarlett Johansson as the (now dead) Black Widow. Why watch it? Because it’s got a pretty impeccable cast. Rachel Weisz, Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Ray Winstone are all joining Johansson in this story about the mysterious Black Widow’s years as a Soviet assassin.
Of course, it’ll be available on Disney+ simultaneously at a price of around £20 so there’s no pressure leaving the comfort of home to explore this one. It would be good to see something genuinely original from this, but let’s not get our hopes up.
THE SUICIDE SQUAD: 30TH JULY - CINEMAS
And finally, from the “horribly beautiful mind” of Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn is THE Suicide Squad - not to be confused with 2016’s disaster Suicide Squad co-starring Jared Leto. It’s a reboot of that movie with a bigger vision, a bigger scale and a bigger director (probably a bigger budget too).
The villain is a giant starfish, there are some of the wackiest looking villains you can ever imagine here, there’s a big cast, there’s a big director attached and it looks as though it wants to do something new that we’ve never seen before. That’s something that you don’t see too much of from big blockbusters right now and for that it makes the list.
Yes, looks can be deceiving. Yes, some of the humour seems a bit questionable. But it looks genuinely fun and won’t take itself very seriously at all. So why not?
SONNY EVANS
FORGOTTEN
BY MOHAMMED OMER SHABBIR
I cannot recall the last time I cried.
The thoughts of forgotten cries.
The empty sound inside.
Nothing to be found.
No help outside.
Beaten and broken all alone.
Without any reason to care.
Tears falling on the ground.
Mourning in isolation, by oneself.
Empty sorrows fill the day.
Barren distress pasts the days.
No time to pause, and pine.
Regret and respect to be neglected.
A broken-heart can cause much pain.
Ending only one way.
The end is near, may as well pour a drink.
Then carry on with the day.
Still no motive to resist.
Life always goes away.
The journey is never-ending.
ORNA
Orna was started by Meghan in 2020. She has always been print obsessed, having worked in fashion for over 12 years, but recently left her long standing career as a Senior Buyer not really knowing what to do, but struggling to balance a career, a commute and kids.
Her dreams of starting her own company with flexibility and creativity, led her to starting her business in nail art, however after a fun successful six months in business, she was made to stop appointments due to lockdown restrictions.
Meghan turned to hand painting home items with designs that were popular with her clients. She loved the way the hand painted items would allow her customers to add a playful element to their homes, sharing their personality at an accessible price point, in the same way they could with their nails.
She works from home in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex and continues to paint nails alongside candles.