Welcome to my new (old) way of getting your Flowers Towers news fix.

I decided to start sharing a more in-depth insight into the goings on at Flowers Towers here. I'm going to try and do semi-regular newsletter updates, mostly when I've got something to share with you. Expect not just illustration stuff - insights into my inspirations, new acquisitions for my collection and any other fun stuff I'd like to talk about in a longer format than I usually share.

New Work

I've been super busy since the beginning of the year working on Thames View, an animated sitcom for BBC3 based on my childhood in East London. I'm doing a longer post about this, so look out for that but I have managed to find some time to squeeze in some other work.

The awesome dudes at National Geographic Kids asked me to do an illustration for their September Issue. It's a sort of 'find the mistakes' game and it was super fun to work on. Hopefully it's the first of many commissions from NGK

I designed the cover for a new game for Qubitunes, "Bug Stomp". Qubitunes is an interactive wooden play stage that sparks imagination and reinvents playtime by inviting kids to create amazing audio experiences. I'm not allowed to show the full thing so here's a little sneaky peek. I managed to turn it around really quickly during the production of Thames View, I wish I had a little longer to work on it but I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

Earlier this year I took part in Crayola Creativity Week. CCW is a free program for schools, libraries and homes. Actor Michael Rainey Jr choose my book "A Quick History of Money" for his contribution, Empowering Communities.

"......special guests actor Michael Rainey Jr. and illustrator Rob Flowers explore how creativity, confidence, and financial knowledge empower individuals and families. Through a shared reading of A Quick History of Money and illustrations, students learn key money concepts like income, expenses, saving, and debt and why understanding the difference between wants and needs matters!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW1onVPlWYk

watch me not me read my lines as well as Michael in our video!

New Flowers Towers merch

This is the part of my newsletter where I talk about new product drops and anything else I'm developing for sale in my shop.

I'm working on a couple of ceramic pieces that should be available for sale soon but in the meantime I've added some special discounts on a lot of products in my shop, including a bulk discount on my vegetable tiles

Viewing recommendation from Flowers Towers TV

I've been adding fun, weird, inspirational Youtube clips to my Flowers Towers TV playlist for a number of years and thought I'd share some of my favourites here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLl7sycophAEDSZBO_EXuYMJhezb5LFJdH&v=EraUPC2Oqt0

Seeing as it's a World Cup year and I LOVE a mascot it felt apt to share this Italia 90 clip from the 1989 draw for the tournament. It was made for SBS in Australia and it's a 4 MINUTE long dance number.

Ciao was designed by Lucio Boscardin and features a faceless stick figure constructed from segmented blocks featuring the red, white, and green of the Italian flag, topped with a football for a head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yofQNrr3Ktk

This video is amazing and features some fantastic early 90s graphics featuring Ciao

Ciao merch is pretty rare now but I managed to add this awesome large soft toy with the original tags and bag to my collection

New additions to Flowers Towers

I'm always on the lookout for new, awesome inspirations to add to my collection and this is the section of newsletter where I update you on the new additions to the Flowers Towers Archive.

Krampus/devil wooden carved thing / Bootleg Bart friction motorbike / Cheburashka squeaky toy / Banana with feet squeaky toy

Krampus/Devil thing

I loved the carving of the face on this wooden wall decoration thing. I'm a big fan of all things Krampus and I'm always on the look out for anything featuring St Nicholas' evil companion.

Bootleg Bart friction motorbike

KO Simpsons merch is always popular and I've been after one of these friction motorbikes for a while. The pink bike is great and I love the off-model face sculpt too. Early 90s Simpsons merch is the best IMO

Cheburashka squeaky toy

Created by Soviet writer Eduard Uspensky in his 1965 children's book Gena the Crocodile and His Friends, Cheburashka is one of my favourite characters and I've got a small but growing collection of merch featuring the "animal unknown to science"

Banana with feet squeaky toy

Squeaker toys have some of the wildest character designs and this fruit dude with feet is no exception. No idea what it's from and why they have feet but it's awesome none the less.

We're I've been and what I've seen

Travelling, researching and experiencing new places is one of my favourite things to do and really informs a lot of my work.

As I mentioned, I haven't been away from my desk very much of late but we did fit in a trip to Norwich to see the recently renovated castle. There was so much great stuff to see but I was really into the tomb brasses. There was some great ones in the castle as well as some ace (and super gruesome) ones at Hungate Medieval Art Collection. I think they could be a great thing to reference in some laser etched pieces at some point.

Thanks for reading, laters!