I wanted to explore new ways to output my ideas, and doing so with new materials in new creative ways became a huge part of the process. As this project grew, I found myself building sculptures, huge masks, routered wood signs, arranging photoshoots, screenprinting, painting, and installing murals. 'I want these suns to be exploratory and spontaneous, but inevitably many suns took on a life of their own and took much longer to complete. Ideally, Tad aims to work out the concept, design it, then share it within two hours. That's not to say that some of my suns are not aesthetically driven (What can I say, I love a good symmetrical logo-sue me).' I try to spend more time on the idea than the execution of the design.

'I draw fast, creating thumbnail sketches, exploring the concept and composition. 'I start every sun with good old pencil and paper,' he adds, stressing that he does his best thinking with his right hand. 'How can I apply meaning in pictures or use this vessel (the sun) to pour meaning into it?' he'd ask himself. 'It injected me with a little hope each and every week it really has made me look at things with a more positive lens.'Īnd seeing as he creates logos, brand systems and strategies for a living, it's no surprise that Tad approached this activity like he was developing a brand. 'This project has given me so much,' he says. He enjoyed it so much that he whipped up a sun in one form or another every Sunday morning from then on out. With no rules, no client expectations, and no creative brief, the simple act of drawing a sun made Tad feel a bit better about himself and his craft. Illustrator and designer Tad Carpenter describes his work as being modern, with a bit of Saturday morning cartoons mixed in. It was then that he started designing a sun for himself and nobody else.

Making art had always been therapeutic for me I needed to find that again.' 'I really needed to get back to making things I loved and remind myself how much I truly love to make. 'We as people tend to find joy when we are doing something we love,' he explains. That's when he realised he needed to reconnect with his love for design by experimenting and playing. After heading to the studio one Sunday morning in2015 to get a head start on his work, Tad found himself stalling, gazing out of the window, and watching the sunrise.

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