The Friends of Design · a side A

Twenty-Three

Chongqing, 2002 — London, 2026. A zine in sixteen panels, animated, sung by the man who wrote it before he knew.

Drawn in the underground register by the house, from the couple's own photographs.
Moved — every panel animated, sixteen scenes and eight close-ups, each with its own camera.
Spoken by Musa the Tailor — Iman's pre-2013 self, a LoRA on a base Gemma — in Iman's own voice and the Shaykh's.
Scored to four minutes of commissioned funk, an oud somewhere underneath.
For Asel. 7 September 2003 · 7 September 2026.

What to look for

A pig sheikh in robes and turban officiates the wedding at 0:30, a gold ring hanging from the end of his snout. In Chongqing the chalk equations write themselves while a chalk cupid flies a loop around them. The pigeons burst off the steps at St Paul's. At Hanging Rock the three schoolgirls in white walk up into the cleft of the rock and are swallowed one at a time, and the kookaburra laughs. A hedgehog band plays under the marquee. At 2:22 a single bee crosses a sunlit hedge — Asel is honey in Kazakh, and Nahla is bee in Arabic.

The sixteen panels

Every panel on its own, full size, hand-lettered caption and all. Click any one to download it — they are 896×1200, which sits well as a phone wallpaper or a cover. There is also the whole page as a single sheet.

Chongqing, 2002 — he only went because the grant was spare
Chongqing, 2002 — he only went because the grant was spare
7 September 2003 — she said yes, he said everything else
7 September 2003 — she said yes, he said everything else
London, 2004 — King's in the morning, Amina on the way
London, 2004 — King's in the morning, Amina on the way
The river — he never learned to swim
The river — he never learned to swim
King's to the bank — she approved the shoes
King's to the bank — she approved the shoes
Peak bank, 2014 — she enjoyed the money, he enjoyed the suit
Peak bank, 2014 — she enjoyed the money, he enjoyed the suit
Date night, the bank years — one negroni, two opinions
Date night, the bank years — one negroni, two opinions
The Tate — Friends of Design, Kraftwerkian suficore
The Tate — Friends of Design, Kraftwerkian suficore
St Paul's — the rings still fit
St Paul's — the rings still fit
The garden — the hedge stood back
The garden — the hedge stood back
Hanging Rock, 2018 — the schoolgirls were never found; she was
Hanging Rock, 2018 — the schoolgirls were never found; she was
The Alhambra, 2018 — he pointed at history, she had already found lunch
The Alhambra, 2018 — he pointed at history, she had already found lunch
March 2020 — the hair went first, then the wine
March 2020 — the hair went first, then the wine
The marquee — twenty-three years in, still the best table
The marquee — twenty-three years in, still the best table
The Oresteia — 23 years, she read my thoughts completely
The Oresteia — 23 years, she read my thoughts completely
7 September 2026 — still following too
7 September 2026 — still following too

The first cut

Before the drawings moved, there was a still version — the same sixteen panels on slow drift, the same voice, the same funk.

animated · full-size 1080  ·  animated · vertical  ·  first cut · 1080  ·  back to the band