Scrapbook Notebook 8

cover illustration by Andre Bergamin

Our latest issue of the Scrapbook Notebook series can be viewed and downloaded from Joomag.

We feature artist interviews with many of our great illustrators including award winning paper sculptor Gail Armstrong and fashion illustrator Judith Van Den Hoek, also Mike Hall, Zoe More O'Ferrall, Natalia Sanabria, Chris Gilleard and Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn.  And an article by Garrick Webster "Welcome back to Dreamland"...

 Why revitalising one of Britain’s best-loved seaside amusement parks is a hugely inspiring commission for Jack and Wayne Hemingway. By Garrick Webster

“Our slogan for Dreamland is ‘we cater for pleasure’,” explains Jack Hemingway, son of the famous designer Wayne. “We want people to come and to leave with a smile on their face. We want people to laugh! We want the Ghost Train to make people cry! We want people to think, ‘Wow, this is unusual and we want people to leave feeling inspired.” He’s talking about HemingwayDesign’s latest major project - the restoration of Dreamland in Margate, Kent. Built on the site of a Victorian pleasure garden, Dreamland first opened in 1920. It’s home to the Scenic Railway, one of the UK’s first wooden rollercoasters. However, along with other seaside towns, Margate has seen a slow decline. The park eventually closed in 2006 and two years later a section of its famous Grade II*-listed ride was burned down by vandals. Though Dreamland was at its lowest ebb, the people of Margate have long supported their beloved beachside attraction. Now, with money from The Heritage Lottery Fund, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Thanet District Council, it’s anticipated that Dreamland be welcoming new guests next summer. As the design consultancy on the restoration, it’s a dream project for the Hemingways. They’ll be working with architects, engineers and The Trust, advising on all aspects of the new Dreamland’s look and feel “There’s the idea of having a world first - the first ever amusement park of thrilling historic rides,” says Wayne Hemingway. “When you see something that’s a first, there’s a real chance for it to succeed because of all the publicity it will get.”

 
Photo: Jo Willis Dreamland Interior Relics of the 1920s rollercoaster

PINCH OF NOSTALGIA

Wayne Hemingway and his wife have always put a pinch of nostalgia into their work, from their Red or Dead fashion label through to urban regeneration projects like the awardwinning Staiths South Bank development with Wimpey Homes. HemingwayDesign curates the Land of Lost Content - a museum of British popular culture in Shropshire - and also runs Vintage Festival, hosting a variety of events marrying together old school music and fashion. The new park will boast some fantastic old rides like The Hurricane Jets, Junior Whip and Corbierre Wheel, on top of the Scenic Railway, now being repaired. And at the café you might even be able to enjoy an ice cream while sat in a freshly painted old teacup from a bygone Whirling Waltzer. However, it’s not just a love of old fairground imagery that has the Hemingways excited. Margate’s highly motivated community has inspired them. “There’s a creative uprising here,” says Jack. “Turner Contemporary opened in 2011, but there’s also a grassroots creative and art community.” He continues: “I’ve never seen such goodwill for a project in my life. It’s just unbelievable how the community has come together and wants to get involved in this, and want to offer their time and creativity to the project. It’s great and when a project’s got that it can only succeed, you hope.” “The other exciting part about it is we’re actually stopping something bad from happening on the site,” adds Wayne Hemingway. “It was going to be given over to pretty awful housing in a place where there shouldn’t be housing. We’re helping to keep some public land that’s about fun and enjoyment.” Young apprentices will be helping restore the rides, and local artists, artisans and fabricators are also getting involved. They’ll be painting the signage for that authentic seaside feel, and helping refurbish old amusement park relics. Parts of a log flume ride too damaged to rebuild may well crop up in the landscaping. With a budget for the entire first phase of the restoration just about equalling Alton Towers’ annual marketing spend, upcycling is central to the creative ethos. But this is an approach that’s leading to more creative thinking, and ultimately a bit more charm too. “At the moment we’ve been buying lots of old pedal cars - the kind that we all had when we were kids, proper old beaten-up pedal cars. And we’ve been buying old petrol pumps, and creating a kind of old road way that kids can pedal on and race on. It’s a bit homemade,” says Wayne Hemingway. Throughout the park, and in its branding, Jack Hemingway has been developing what he calls the Dreamland signature. Although modern branding is often all about consistency, amusement parks, travelling fairs and seaside attractions are visually ever changing. They feature attention-grabbing signs that have been painted over many times, with a wonky hand-made feel. Vintage playbills and fairground neon lighting, updated with a touch of classic modernism, will form the basis for Hemingway’s Dreamland branding.

GOING BACK TO CONEY

TOP LEFT Coney Island Astroland Cyclone TOP RIGHT Paul Georgoulakos Vendor at Coney Island ABOVE Coney Island Ice Cream Sign RIGHT Sarah Beetson Coney Island The illustrator is spending a three month artist residency at Coney Island in 2014.

This look is something that’s well understood by illustrator Sarah Beetson. While the Hemingways work on Dreamland this summer, she’ll be making a pilgrimage to Coney Island in New York. Co-incidentally, the amusements at Coney Island are what inspired Dreamland’s creator John Henry Iles to build his park in Margate. Coney’s signage harks back to the 20s, 30s and 40s even today. It’s something Sarah Beetson goes back to again and again for inspiration, both in her fine art and in her illustration work. “When I’m creating hand lettering the first thing I’ll do is get out my stash of photos of Coney Island signage, as well as other sites like the Neon Boneyard in Las Vegas,” she says. “I’ve got hundreds and hundreds of photos of typography but it’s the Coney stuff really that I always go back to.” Her mission is much more personal than the restoration of Dreamland, but like HemingwayDesign she will also be thriving on the visuals of a vintage amusement park as she draws and documents the area during a three month artist residency. “I’m just going to go there and paint. I’m literally only taking out a sketchbook and just sort of going for it - seeing what happens, and being there everyday and drawing,” she says. Beetson has made several trips to Coney Island, which is home to the famous Cyclone rollercoaster, the Wonder Wheel and the beachside eatery Paul’s Daughter (formerly Gregory and Paul’s). The latter has a statue of a giant, cartoon-esque man holding a burger aloft on its roof, and flamboyant signs advertising the menu. Though perennially repainted, these signs always have a bright, handmade and almost naïve quality to them. “Because everything’s so gaudy and bright and colourful, when it gets old it gets more beautiful,” explains Sarah Beetson. “It’s sort of like when a piece of clothing is loved for 20 years and it becomes vintage. It looks totally different from something you would just buy and was made to replicate it.”

IT’S GOT TO BE FRESH

TOP HemingwayDesign Pinball Parlour Visual ABOVE HemingwayDesign Event Space Visual

Back in Margate, although they’re restoring a collection of historic rides, it’s not purely about replicating the past. “What we don’t want it to be is pure museum, otherwise you’re restricting things,” explains Wayne Hemingway. “So I think we’ve got to respect the past and show the best of the past and show some history but also we’ve got to remember that not everybody is obsessed with the past. So it’s got to feel of today as well.” Alongside the historic rides the park is scheduled to open with, in between there will be sideshows, artworks, a pinball arcade and food stalls. In fact, the latter is being carefully considered. The Hemingways are looking for the best take on seaside ice cream, and the finest modern examples of traditional food for the park. British youth culture is also to play a large role in what they’ll present. With its lovely beach, Margate was a destination for Teddy Boys in the 50s, and hosted the biggest ever melee between mods and rockers in the 1960s. This year sees the 50th anniversary of that battle. The disco, ska, skinhead and punk scenes all helped shape the town’s culture in the 70s and 80s. With this in mind, Dreamland will host festivals and music events. With a fantastic fin that reaches up into the sky, the Art Deco architecture of Dreamland’s old cinema building will once again be a beacon signalling fun. “It’s a place you might go to watch the coolest band, as well as the coolest vintage band,” says Wayne Hemingway. “Whenever you go to Dreamland there will be some event taking place, whether it’s a classic car show or a food festival. The main thing is that it’s got to feel really creative and well-designed and thought-out. Everything’s got to have excitement, and things you want to take a picture of and tell your friends about.”

 To find out more about Dreamland Margate, visit www.dreamlandmargate.com. Hemingway Design: www.hemingwaydesign.co.uk.

Jo Willis thecurioinmargate.com

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