From Britain with Love

We both come from art and design backgrounds and when we moved to the South Coast from London we opened a seaside tea room and gallery. We made little manifestos to give out as prizes for completed loyalty cards. They became so popular that customers asked to buy them, so we had them printed in various colourways and started selling them framed.

After a while we realised that there was a real opportunity to spread our message, so we began selling them online. After a visit from two students with a travelling letterpress we were inspired to have 2010 manifesto set in wood and metal type at a traditional printers and that’s when things really took off.

We started selling many more, the manifesto became a bit of a cult item and we were approached by various galleries and shops for wholesale orders. By May 2010 we had added another design to the range, and were being asked to do commission work for various organisations, so we made a momentous decision to sell the tea room business and devote ourselves to art, design and printmaking.

We recently moved our business from the spare room at home to two fabulous studios in Hastings Old Town.

Adams of Rye prints our letterpress designs – Derek and Ian (compositor and printer) are immensely skilled and have a massive collection of type, plus years of experience which they generously share with us. We make the linocut prints ourselves.

Our two best sellers are the Manifesto (aka Kill Your TV) and Boat of Life. Appealing to people who share our values of anti-consumerism, inclusiveness and particularity, they give a subtle message with gentle humour.

Our business allows us to work when we choose to, and spend lots of time out and about in East Sussex looking for inspiration. We also have the luxury of being able to pick and choose commissions, and only make work that interests us and reflects our own values.

It’s really important that we support local businesses to prevent the homogenisation of Britain, and also to promote crafts and skills such as letterpress printing which is in danger of being abandoned in favour of digital technology. We’re not Luddites, but we do champion the handmade whenever we can.

We were invited by the Victoria and Albert Museum to design a manifesto for their Cherry on the Cake range, alongside top contemporary designers and makers of work on paper.

We have our own online shop at www.aardvarkonsea.com plus shops at Etsy and Folksy. We are also stocked by the Victoria & Albert Museum Shop, Keep Calm Gallery and Nelly Duff plus various other retailers in the UK and US. Locally we sell prints at the Post Office Tea Rooms in St.Leonards on Sea, and at Butlers Emporium in Hastings.

Neil and Dan, the animation, illustration and art direction duo at Zeroh are our dear friends, and the Sussex Moths print was the result of a collaboration with them. Lydia Hardwick, a young ceramicist from Essex, makes wonderful witty, surreal pieces - she once filled the window of our gallery with golden-footed headless chickens. London Clay Birds by DHPainter are sustainable, beautiful and affordable small sculptures. Simple and very desirable.

We avoid supermarkets and try to buy all our food locally. The Lighthouse Bakery at Bodiam supplies the most delicious artisan breads, bagels and other bakery goods. We like to buy local produce such as the jams, pickles and chutneys made by the Post Office Tea Rooms in St Leonards - Philip and David can tell you the exact spot where the blackberries were picked, and grow most of the veg themselves. (Editor: We can heartily recommend The Lighthouse Bakery School's Traditional British Breadmaking course which you can read about in our Course Notes feature).

East Sussex. Even though we live here it’s a constant delight and always surprising. Hastings is a brilliant place, full of creativity and inspiration, with excellent pubs and eateries like The Dragon Bar on George Street. We never tire of the dramatic scenery of the Sussex Downs, the gorgeous hidden valleys around Rye and the beautiful coastline.

We like to be outside, with our lurchers, walking and visiting pubs, tearooms and farm shops.

Editor: If you haven't seen it yet, here's our very own From Britain With Love Manifesto, lovingly created by Aardvark...