No Guts No Glory

About No Guts No Glory

NO GUTS NO GLORY is a community based collective of creative people from around the UK, established in November 2009 by Nathan Blaker.

Built on strong D.I.Y ethics, the shop was initially opened with the sole intentions of helping local artists and designers to gain work and experience in the industry. This is still very close to heart as NGNG develops into a house for some of the best emerging talent in the country.

The No Guts No Glory shop outlet is based in Exeter, Devon, where our artists produce and display Limited Edition clothing, Prints, Zines and more. Our clothing is all screen printed by hand using Water Based (environmentally friendly) Inks, and we only use garments from manufacturers who are active in the ethical production of their goods.

The shop is also used to provide an outlet for budding local artists, and zinesters from all over to display their work. If you're around Exeter, don't forget to stop by the store and say hello in person. You can find us at: Mc Coys Arcade, Fore Street, Exeter, EX4 3AN- we're open from 10:00-5:00 Monday to Friday, and 10:00-5:30 on Saturdays.
If you live further afield, you can always take a look at our online shop or our blog for the latest Limited Edition works from our artists.
Please feel free to contact any of our artists directly, or email Nath at info@ngngdesign.com for more information.

Our artists

Nathan Blaker

Hi I'm Nath, the guy you will most likely see perched behind the till if you ever visit the shop. After completing an FDA in photography in summer 2009, finding it difficult to break into an overflowing industry amidst a recession, I was left in the same situation as countless photographers and artists all over the country. So rather than waiting around and hoping something would come along, I pushed forward and set up No Guts No Glory. This was not only to help myself, but other talented local artists to find a way in.

My main passion is photographing live bands, getting in close and being part of the crowd to capture the atmosphere as I see it. Shooting the majority of my work on black and white film and taking a raw simplistic approach to photography is what determines my unique style. As well as live work, I love to do promo shoots and portraits, all in the same simplistic and style, and using available lighting wherever possible.

Becca Allen

Becca Allen is a graphic designer/illustrator from Exeter, currently based in London and working at Puma since graduating with a First in a Graphic Design BA (hons) at Falmouth University in the summer of 2010. She's currently influenced by geometry and animals, combining the two elements in order to create visually exciting prints and t-shirt designs. Her core areas of design are stylized illustrations, art direction, typography, branding and editorial. Her latest work is demonstrated in the NGNG shop with her work including the idea and design for the NGNG logo. This includes the original and hand made type within the logo and art direction for the shop. Becca has the ability to adapt her style of work to the clients needs, she has a wide range of design and software skills enabling her to produce a variety of work and through our agency from band posters to magazines and business cards. See Becca's work at www.beccaallen.co.uk

Joel Millerchip

Mister Millerchip is a black and white Illustrator based in Suffolk. After studying Illustration at the University of Wolverhampton he relocated to the exotic town of Stowmarket, where the unusual characters and mundane elements of the everyday rat race are brought to life with a charismatic twist, and a pencil.

Mr M also organises community painting projects for schools and councils and has a client list that includes Big Scary Monster Records, Moshi Moshi Records, WUW Magazine, East London Art Guerilla Tellison, and a whole bunch more.

Be sure to check out www.mistermillerchip.com, and email Mr M directly if you are interested in commissioning him for a project, or just to say Hi.

Philip Harris

Philip Harris is a freelance Illustrator, currently living in Exeter. He draws great inspiration from the 19th and early 20th century etchings and illustrations of the Edwardian and Victorian eras, with a great passion in the surreal and bizarre. Working with dip pen and ink and using fine line and cross-hatching techniques, Phil is able to create a great amount of detail in tightly packed spaces.

Phil aims to draw the viewer in and to create narratives with his illustrations that can take anything from a few hours to a week to complete.

Find out more about Phil's work, and contact him at www.philipharrisillustration.com. Check out his flickr to see his latest commissions

Matt Martin

Matt Martin is photographer from Exeter. His interests are fashion, portraiture, music and pretty much any aspect of youth culture. His style is overly simplistic, shooting the majority of his work on basic 35mm point and shoot cameras. This snapshot style gives a very raw and honest feel to Matt's work; and his images are interesting because of that sense of realism.
Between Exeter, London, and currently New York City, Matt creates, reviews and gets his work published in countless photo zine's and blogs. Not wanting to be just another wannabe photographer, Matt is endlessly devoted to networking, taking more and more photographs and doing anything he possibly can to get his foot in the door and show the industry just what he has to offer.

Lauren Gow

Lauren realised her passion for the art of tattoo not long after she received her first one, aged 18. She struggled for years to get her foot in the door of a very tough industry, but never gave up - and was finally offered the opportunity she'd always dreamed of. Lauren is now an aspiring tattoo artist based at INK, in Exeter.Drawing from a young age, Lauren only longed to be as good as her father. Her desire to push the limits of her ability and be the best that she can be is what has enabled her to break into a very competitive industry, and is what will help her to continue to reach her goals. Growing up with a particular love for using pencil, it is clear to see that this strongly reflects on her passion and skill for grey shade tattooing. Lauren has a versatile style and enjoys mixing realism and obscurity to explore imaginations. Her main career milestone is to master the art of portrait tattooing. Out of work Lauren is proudly bringing the tattoo culture, and her unique style to the No Guts No Glory team, producing limited edition t-shirt designs available in the shop, so grab one while you can!

Samuel Bradley

Sam is a photographer currently working towards BA in Photography at the University for Creative Arts in Farnham.Freelancing for various record labels has enabled Sam to build an extensive back catalogue of Band Photographs. This has helped him to develop his unique style down to a tee, and gain a lot of experience in the field. As well as shooting bands, Sam is continually working to expand his own personal body of portrait and documentary work. Specialising in Digital photography and post-production, Sam is also fully competent in shooting film, and it is his ability to use studio flash lighting on location that gives his work the edge on your typical aspiring music photographer.Sam has a broad knowledge in his field, and strives to be the best.

Spacehop

Spacehop makes graffiti inspired artwork and like most graffiti artists he started out working on walls. Getting sick of the cold and big egos he began to use canvas in 2008 with a combination of stencil and freehand designs ranging from full colour pieces, Ninja characters, and more recently portraits on canvas using spray-paint. Spacehop still paints the odd wall but finds working on canvas more disciplined as he is forced to paint smaller and this is a very good way of improving his can control. Ultimately this will allow him to produce cleaner and more detailed work on a wall. Personal commissions are always a very welcomed project.

Who we've worked with...

Our artists have had the pleasure of working with a wide variety of clients. This includes bands such as The Arteries, The Sauna Youth, The Computers, Bangers, The Scavenger Type, Brothers, Idiom, Dancing With The Enemy, Evita, OK Pilot, The Cut Ups, Whitechapel, Ono Palindromes, Hooks, Some Sort of Threat, Bull See Red, and Salt Weapon. We have also worked with Freakscene Records, Platform Magazine, A-Side Studio, Free Riders Surf Shop, as well as many other freelance commissions.