working largely in the public sector means that, particularly on local projects, you are likely to have some emotional attachment to the work. this might be as simple as knowing your designs will be gracing boards, buildings and banners in your home town and being aware of the resulting impact on public space. with other projects you may have a much more personal connection.

when based in bradford we lived in the area covered by the newlands single regeneration budget. artworks were one of the main partners in delivering regeneration projects in the area and we experienced their work in three ways - through designing promotional material and reports; through being involved in the delivery of projects such as helping a community group design a logo or produce a website; and because rebecca and i were involved in youthwork at one of the churches in the area, through knowing some of the young people whose lives were given excitement and hope by the events artworks ran.

at the end of the newlands funding we were commissioned to design the independent report and the summary document shown here that evaluated what artworks had achieved, and crucially, how much more they might have achieved had some of the circumstances been different. it was purely chance that some of the photos we were provided with for the reports were of brightly coloured costumes and painted faces against the backdrop of drab rainy days. and although artworks did and do much, much more than painting kids faces, this seemed an apt metaphor for artworks work in newlands - bringing sunshine to rainy days. so they were the pics we chose to use.

at electric angel we’re firm believers in the power of art and culture to transform communities. we look forward to working, celebrating and on occasion commiserating with artworks and other organisations with similar aims in the future.