In 2018 I was asked to be part of a group exhibition in Sheffield, where the brief was ‘to produce an A2 poster, summing up the apparent disdain of the privileged for the working classes’.

By taking the National Trust’s logo and trampling on the oak branch, I hoped to show the fragility of our environment, and the lack of trust towards the people managing it, ultimately implicating the Tory government and reflecting a general feeling of national distrust towards them.

The artwork was produced as a limited edition A2 screen print, using the official National Trust colour palette and typeface.

A very limited number are still available to buy here in the shop.

Interestingly, during the exhibition I was contacted by a member of staff from the National Trust who asked what I was doing with their logo. After explaining the idea, they still wanted to see me in person, and a meeting was planned to take place a couple of months later, with various members of staff present. It was all sounding very serious…

However, they abruptly cancelled the meeting a couple of days before and I haven’t heard from them since.

The National Trust symbol was designed in 1980 by David Gentleman, who is a hero of mine for many reasons, mainly because of his work on political and protest graphics. David himself is no stranger to co-opting symbols for political reasons, and I felt like he would have agreed with the intervention.