In May 2007, I was commissioned by Bradford City Council with Fabric acting as mediator to produce a series of 175cm x 75cm canvas banner designs for use during festivals and public events in Centenary Square, Bradford city centre. This was as part of a major project to 'vibe up' the public spaces of the city by drawing upon the vast creative talent found among arts and design practitioners in the region.

My primary sense of inspiration upon approaching this commission was from the roots and cultures of the diverse peoples living within the city limits - in fact, when I think of Bradford one of the first things that comes to mind is the many mosques one can see throughout the city. From this observation came the first design, Islamic Blue, and a series of five banners was eventually conceived, each one using different cultural motifs and background colours as its base point. A stylised cityscape of Bradford was also included at the base of each design, thus anchoring the cultural influences directly to the city.

It was intended that the final designs were to be heat-pressed onto heavy-duty coated canvas material for maximum durability, and this process greatly affected the nature of the designs: strong and bold lines were required, and a non-photographic (and preferably one- or two-colour design) quality was preferred. The work was largely done graphically, using Adobe Illustrator as the main tool.

Each design intends to symbolise the roots of a Bradford-based culture using both motifs and colour: Green Marks represents the native population of the city, Red Dancers exemplifies the vibrancy of Afro-Caribbean culture, Islamic Blue uses mosque designs to evoke the Muslim culture of the city, South Asian (and particularly Hindu) cultures of the city are characterised by the Diwali Orange piece, and Dragon Purple symbolises both the East Asian cultural influences and the hope and prosperity for the city's future.

This section allows you to explore each design in more detail and also view the completed banners sited in Centenary Square during a public festival.