Jon Hicks
LightNews LightNews
banner
hicks.design
Jon Hicks
@hicks.design
1.8K followers 220 following 500 posts
Gentleman Graphic Designer/Artist who wears many hats. Shoegazer, Birder and over-eater of eggs. Works on the Troika music podcast and Supernatural Detective's Field Guide in his spare time.

https://hicks.design
https://supernaturaldetectives.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
hicks.design
Went to the Ashmolean Museum tonight to see “A conversation with Stanley Donwood”.

He mentioned how he works in the studio while they’re recording, and that HE WAS WITH THEM IN ABBEY ROAD A FEW WEEKS AGO. More evidence for the new album rumours!
A queue going up steps to a grand museum entrance with ionic columns either side. A female interviewer and the artist sitting in front of a large screen showing his artwork
September 26, 2025 at 8:05 PM
hicks.design
Would love to know what's up with some apps on iOS 18 getting an 'enforced' liquid glass effect. I thought that was added at an OS level?
App icons for Instagram, BBC Weather and Monzo, with annoyingly shiny top left and bottom right corners. It subtly makes them look crooked
September 26, 2025 at 10:29 AM
hicks.design
Bypass//Engage #3: A (free!) live Ambient and Experimental music showcase at Fat Lil’s, Witney on 16th November 2025 7:30pm

The Balloonist (Ben Holton from Epic45 and Birds in the Brickwork)
Nine Is The Level
Nick Rees

Perfect antidote to the darkening evenings!
September 18, 2025 at 7:18 PM
hicks.design
Fuckingtons. Not managed to get a ticket since 2008 😔
RADIOHEAD Thank you for registering your details for tickets to Radiohead Europe 2025. Unfortunately, you have not been randomly allocated an unlock code for this Friday's sale. While every effort has been made to accommodate as many fans as possible, the number of registrations far exceeded the available tickets.
September 10, 2025 at 7:26 PM
hicks.design
Acquired this weekend, a 2007 BMW Z4. I’ve been hankering after one of these for years, and now they’re cheap enough second-hand for me to afford one!
A black two seater convertible roadster with the top down, parked by a mill.
August 31, 2025 at 5:24 PM
hicks.design
Achievement unlocked this week - I got to see Hayden Pedigo play live at Kings Place in London! If you read my blog and listen to the Troika podcast, its name you'll recognise - I will evangelise this man’s music for all time. It was every bit as amazing as I’d hoped and then some.
A young texan guitarist seated playing guitar on a dark stage A young texan guitarist seated playing guitar on a dark stage
August 28, 2025 at 12:39 PM
hicks.design
As a homage to my favourite spread from the Detective's Handbook, the latest addition to the Supernatural Detective's Field Guide is 'The Detective's Office'.

When I was 8, this office setup was a life goal!

supernaturaldetectives.com/introduction...
A panoramic illustration of a late 1970s detective office. There's a lot going on, so take a seat and I'll walk you through everything! On the left wall, is the door, with a trench coat hanging on a hook. To the left of the door is a string of garlic, and around the welcome mat is a line of salt, with a plastic tub of Saxa salt, a popular brand of salt in the 70s. At the centre back of the room is an evidence board and street map, to which a moustached detective with rolled up shirt sleeves pins a polaroid photo. Inset to the left of the back wall are shelves with books, jars of ghosts, a severed hand in a glass case, a copy of the Yellow Pages, Dowsing Rods, Electromagnetic Field Detector and a 1970s SLR camera. Inset to the right are some dark grey metal filing cabinets, with Bubbles the Clown emerging from one of the open drawers. Bubbles is meant to be locked away, but somehow has escaped, and has revenge on his mind. Above the cabinets are three posters. The first is a photo of a UFO above a line of trees with the phrase 'I don't know what to believe' (a parody of the X-Files). The second is a girl with hair in bunches, sticking her tongue out, with the headline 'Have you seen this demon? Do not approach!'. The third, and final, poster features a balding man about to be sprayed in green goo, with the headline 'Ectoplasm health & safety'. On the right wall is a window with Venetian blinds rolled up, and the ghost of a victorian lady can be seen on other side of the glass. In front of the window a male detective sits, taking notes while speaking on a red rotary telephone. In the foreground, a female detective in a blue jumper reads one of many sheets emerging from the haunted typewriter. Next to her are a pile of papers, held down by an eerie stone head, a plate of biscuits and a boiling kettle in which a generic ghostly spirit can be seen in the steam. The original illustration from the Dectective's Handbook. The viewpoint is the same, but is focussed on 'catching crooks' and features tricks to measure visitor's height and secretly record them on tape.
July 31, 2025 at 12:17 PM
hicks.design
I found out that Tidal has a library limit of “9,999 items”. If you try and add more, you just get a "Could not add to my collection” error message. It seems a low arbitrary limit, but it's kind of deal breaker.

(Apple Music has a 100,000 limit, and Spotify used to be 10,000 but now unlimited)
A screenshot from Tidal on iOS, with a red error message at the bottom - Could not add to my collection
July 28, 2025 at 9:54 AM
hicks.design
No cheating: post your Lock Screen.
My Lock Screen consists of weather widgets telling me the temperature is 23 degrees, a shortcut to Halide camera app, a now playing widget (Requiem for Dying Mothers by Stars of the Lid) on top of an image of my son and daughter
July 26, 2025 at 3:23 PM
hicks.design
Finally made it to the V&A East Storehouse this weekend, to see my icons in use. When the actual V&A East Museum opens next year there'll be even more on show, but such a thrill to see these in real life.
Me standing proudly against a veneered plywood wall with large icons representing Cloakroom, Gender-neutral Toilet, Disabled access and pushchair parking A black metal stairwell sign with icons for facilities on the ground floor - Toiler, Disabled toilet, Changing Places Toilet, pushchair parking, cloakroom and cafe A sign to show that the Cafe is straight on Vinyl wall sign to show directions for the Lifts and Toilets
July 21, 2025 at 1:00 PM
hicks.design
An Ai generated band, that have released two albums, both last month, and have 554,000 monthly listeners on Spotify where they're a ‘verified artist’. This isn’t just a Spotify problem, they're on *all* the streaming platforms.

Reminds me of a Scarfolk pie filling…

www.reddit.com/r/antiai/com...
An Ai generated toddy band photo, which features a reel to reel tape machine, with just one reel. Presumably because AI got confused with a turntable. A parody of 1970’s tinned food, the grim label reads ‘Scarbrand Steak & Child Knee Pie Filling. Cleaned, meat-like objects in a brown-flavoured grave. No lumps or flap of matter’
July 1, 2025 at 9:17 AM
hicks.design
Happy 10 Years to Apple Music!
A graphic that says "Apple Music 10 Years", where the 0 is the MacOS spinning beachball. Such is my experience with Apple Music.
June 30, 2025 at 7:35 PM
hicks.design
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Wars, Star Trek, LotR, Marvel
June 30, 2025 at 11:22 AM
hicks.design
Happy new Greet Death album day for those who celebrate! 🙌

song.link/i/1804151135
An illustration of a boy and girl kneeling and praying, facing each other on blue grass Their hands are connected by an odd tar-like substance, which is also dripping from their eyes and ears.
June 27, 2025 at 9:04 AM
hicks.design
Haunted objects: Bubbles the clown.

As well as buildings, ghosts and other paranormal forces can also become connected to objects. View the post for the full effect!

supernaturaldetectives.com/ghosts/haunt...
A cloth toy clown stands on a table, next to a blackboard, with a game of noughts and crosses drawn on it.
June 20, 2025 at 1:13 PM
hicks.design
@hicksmade.bsky.social and I went to see Hamlet Hail to the Thief last night at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon. It was incredible! Very moving and Hail to the Thief fitted the story so well. As you can’t take photos during the performance, here’s our mugs outside the theatre on the way out.
June 18, 2025 at 6:45 AM
hicks.design
Yeah, these messages are just too frequent!
June 13, 2025 at 8:33 AM
hicks.design
Just back from our annual Bruvs holiday. Keen to see each other outside of weddings and funerals, we go away for a few days of walking, cycling, eating and drinking. This year we lucked out with the weather, staying in the pretty Peak District village of Ashford-in-the-Water. Such a good reset!
A selfie of three men in their fifties, who despite appearances, are actually all brothers. They are standing in front of the fast moving River Dove in Dove Dale.
June 13, 2025 at 7:58 AM
hicks.design
In the spirit of "Let a website be a worry stone”, as well as “memory getting a little softer about dates”, I've added a section on my blog to show upcoming gigs, as well as keep an archive of previous gigs.
A screenshot showing the following gigs: Hamlet - Hail to the Thief RSC,Wilco, Hayden Pedigo, Uncanny Live, Elis James & John Robins, My Bloody Valentine, Wolf Alice and Mew
May 29, 2025 at 12:55 PM
hicks.design
Monday lunchtime's side-quest was using Spicetify to customise Spotify to use Söhne instead of the Spotify brand font. I also hid ‘Podcasts' and 'Audiobooks’ from the sidebar so that I can see ‘Albums' and 'Artists' without having to do that weird horizontal scrolly thing.

spicetify.app
A screenshot of the Spotify desktop client, with subtle changes to the font and menu items. The new typeface is more refined
May 29, 2025 at 12:04 PM
hicks.design
For reasons I haven't quite worked out yet, I bought the photograph. It's not even very good quality print (see the pixel stepping on the top of the road sign).
A hand holding a aphoto of a grey misty wintry morning of the most boring stretch of road you can imagine. No cars or people, just a road sign saying Hitchcock Way. An industrial park must be close.
May 20, 2025 at 12:15 PM
hicks.design
Cursed Advert
A photo of a sinister looking ventriloquist’s dummy with the headline, More cars from this dealer... , and the information, 1965 1 miles Petrol £100.
May 19, 2025 at 9:29 AM
hicks.design
I’m going in! Will report back
A hand holding a large packet of Torres brand crisps with a fried egg flavouring
May 18, 2025 at 11:47 AM
hicks.design
Going back over an early illustration for the Supernatural Detectives Field Guide. I feel I’m getting closer to the style I have in my head, and was keen to revisit this one in particular. As this is 1979, I changed the Vieszcy to be into Ska 😉

#ipad #supernaturaldectives #adobefresco
At night, in the doorway of a Chip Shop, a male detective in a trench coat checks his electromagnetic field detector, unaware that the vampire he seeks is around the corner of the chippy, eating chips. A female detective watches her colleagues frustrations, while also eating chips. The light from the window is a golden yellow, contrasting with the dark grey blue of the night. In an earlier version of the illustration, the focus is on the doorway only, with just the male detective and the vampire is inside the chippy.
May 13, 2025 at 4:39 PM
hicks.design
Maria Somerville’s Luster is one of my favourite albums so far this year, and it was great to see her at the ICA tonight. I say “see” her, this was the view…
May 10, 2025 at 9:40 PM