When I was proper young, like many tweens of the 90s, I used to make mix tapes. In keeping with the punk DIY aesthetic of the chop and change and take and keep nature of these tapes my cover designs were surreal collages, made from pictures and words found in magazines (how this all translates into the digital era is a whole other topic for another time).

When I grew up and moved to London (2008), I started making alternative valentines cards using the same technique, and the same tongue in cheek surreal juxtaposition made for some love messages that were by turns hilariously obscene, and strangely touching. I’ve been making them ever since and the best of the alternative valentines have been curated into 2 mini zines. The found text look has in recent years crept into other parts of my practice, mainly as a design technique.

My wedding invitations in 2013 took the found text angle to its pinnacle, or so I thought, but more recently I have been commissioned to make text collage pieces for The New Tabloids album design, a 4 page comic story for Soaring Penguin Press, and a sinister found text poem for Amelia Gregory’s new book That Which We Do Not Understand.

I’m excited to see where this technique will take me next, I never get bored of collecting interesting words and combining them with exciting colours and shapes.

Here is a really long love poem written using only found lyrics.