Raw 5
We commemorated five years of work and collaborations with an exhibition and birthday bash at our home, Islington Mill. We asked nearly 100 of our past collaborators and favourite illustrators to create a small one-off creation around our birthday theme. All of the pieces were then exhibited and auctioned, with profits going to Manchester’s Wood Street Mission who offer practical help and support to local families.
After much preparation and print hanging, we filled Islington Mill with all our favourite people and clients for an evening of birthday-themed collaborations, dancing and hog-feasting.
As an alternative invite, and a keepsake, we decided to follow the royals’ route and print our own commemorative plates, illustrated by our friend and collaborator Deanna Halsall.
For people that couldn't make it along on the night, we created an online showcase and shop with all the pieces from the event and collaborator profiles.
Long-time Raw collaborator and Illustrator Matt Sewell also joined us on the night to create a giant birthday canvas, which we then raffled off for charity at the end of the celebrations.
The whole event felt like not only a great commemoration of our personal achievements over our first five years, but a celebration of what can happen when you get in touch with hundreds of creatives and see what you can all achieve together. The fact that we were raising money for the guys over at the Wood Street Mission really was the icing on a rather lovely birthday cake.
