From the Ashes
Client:
Garvald Edinburgh
Brief:
Garvald Edinburgh commissioned us to create a printed companion to their ceramics exhibition, initially envisioned as a simple pamphlet documenting the work produced by members of their creative studios. As we began to understand the extraordinary process behind the ceramics – rooted in ancient pit-firing techniques, communal making and Garvald’s ethos of social therapy – the project quickly expanded into a more ambitious proposition.
The brief became the creation of a one-of-a-kind artbook that would honour not only the finished pieces, but the deeper themes that shaped them: transformation, patience, community and renewal. Our task was to develop a publication that treated print as an extension of the firing process itself. We explored how paper could echo clay’s capacity to record heat, marks and time; how a book could act as a tactile proxy for the labour, unpredictability and elemental rhythms of pit-firing. Alongside this, the publication sensitively weaves together photography, maker quotes, field notes and contextual writing into a cohesive narrative that foregrounds the voices and experiences of Garvald’s community of artists with learning disabilities and autism.
The final object functions as both archive and advocacy: a piece of fine art publishing that embodies Garvald’s belief in the value of creative work, collective process and meaningful inclusion. The brief called for a design approach that resisted polish in favour of truth: a layered, material-driven publication where every burn, blemish and texture served a purpose. In this way, the book would stand not only as documentation of three summers of communal making, but as a living artefact in its own right; a reminder that transformation is most powerful when shaped slowly, collaboratively and with deep respect for the people and processes at its core.
Services:
Graphic Design; Publication Design; Editing; Print Management
Specification:
Binder; 250 mm × 310 mm × 70 mm; Text, 210 mm × 297 mm; Catalogue, 420 mm × 297 mm
Typefaces:
Neue Montreal, PangramPangram; Azeret Mono Upright, Displaay
Stock:
Gmund Bier Weizen, 170gsm
From the Ashes began as an exhibition pamphlet which evolved into a 1/1 artbook born from the same spirit of experimentation that shaped the ceramics it celebrates. These were made pre-pandemic and proudly made pertinent the themes of transformation, time, patience and community which were so deeply embedded in the exhibition’s process and outcomes. Created in collaboration with Garvald Edinburgh – a pioneering care organisation that provides creative opportunities and community for adults with learning disabilities and autism – From the Ashes reimagines how design can mirror transformation itself. At its heart sits a profound meditation on community, patience and renewal: exploring how they each shape both people and clay.
The ceramics at the heart of the publication were formed by Garvald members using ancient pit-firing techniques at the Camphill Tiphereth community meadow. Various methods were utilised during the creation of the pieces, including coil pots, the hammer and anvil technique, slab built and wheel thrown pieces. The ancient process of terra sigulata [sealed earth] was used as an alternative to glaze. Organic materials including seaweed, banana skins, salt, metals and woods were wrapped around the pots before they were pit-fired – a technique in which each object is buried beneath layers of sawdust, salt and oxides before being set alight. As the flames rise and fall, smoke and heat mark the surface, creating unpredictable patterns unique to every vessel. The resulting objects, blackened, scarred and luminous, become living records of transformation.
We sought to honour this process in print, treating paper as if it were clay itself: burning, burying, distressing and reviving each sheet until it carried its own quiet story of transformation. The result was not merely a book, but an artefact; a tactile echo of the pots’ journey from raw clay to gleaming form.
Across its pages, photography, field notes and maker quotes unfold in quiet rhythm, charting the three summers spent experimenting with fire and form. The publication captures both the precision of ancient craft and the joy of communal creation: the shared lunches beside the kiln, the patience of waiting overnight as embers cooled, the thrill of unearthing still-warm ceramics come morning. This sensory world – of smoke, touch, colour and memory – is mirrored in the book’s layered materials and typographic restraint, creating an intimate dialogue between process and outcome. The publication’s layered compositions and grain-rich photography echo the textures of clay and ash, while its restrained typography gives space for the material itself to speak. The design mirrors the rhythm of the kiln: a slow build, a sudden flare, a quiet cool.
Underpinning it all is Garvald’s ethos of social therapy: a belief that work, creativity and community form the scaffolding of a meaningful life. In bringing this philosophy to print, From the Ashes transformed documentation into advocacy in a work that doesn’t simply describe inclusion, but embodies it. The publication’s imperfections are its strength: every blemish, burn and misalignment serves as a mark of care and proof that beauty thrives in the space between control and chance.
From the Ashes exists where craft meets concept, and social impact meets fine art publishing. It is both archive and artwork, documentary and design object – a living testament to what happens when design resists polish in favour of truth. Like the pots it preserves, the book reminds us that transformation is often strongest when slow, collective and quietly extraordinary.
