Andrew Backhouse Design

13/10/2026

The Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival runs from 11 to 25 October at the Crown Hotel and Cedar Court Hotel, with names including Prue Leith, Ben Okri and Alexander McCall Smith. Street typist Adam E Holdon will set up around town on 17 and 18 October, typing a personal story on the spot from three words and a name. That is two weeks of well-known authors and unusual ideas on our doorstep. Give a street typist three words and a name, and he will type you a story on the spot. I know where I will be.

12/10/2026

Starbeck Primary Academy has a new school library, opened by the Mayor of Harrogate. It will host reading events and family activities too. Lovely to see a space built around books and the people who live nearby.

09/10/2026

Good packaging tells a story before you've even opened it.

Brew York has launched three Halloween beers in its Dark Chapters range. Each one is based on a classic horror book:

• Dracula's Bite, a raspberry and marshmallow sour
• Franken Spice, a pumpkin spiced stout
• Jekyll and Haze, a hazy pale at 6.66%

York agency UnitedByDesign designed the cans. Each one shows its character against a scene from the story.

That's the part I find interesting. The names do half the work and the design does the rest. You know what you're getting, and it feels like part of the brand rather than a one-off.

When your words, images and type all pull in the same direction, people understand you faster. You can buy the beers at Brew York's bars, in some shops and online. There's also a £12.50 gift pack with all three.

07/10/2026

Good news for readers and music fans in Harrogate.

Author Christina Gabbitas is opening The Real Indie Bookshop on Parliament Street. It will stock books from small publishers and independent writers, along with the titles you'd expect to find. There will also be a music section with biographies and vinyl, plus a café with places to sit.

The shop was due to open in October, but a leaky roof has pushed it back to Thursday 12 November.

I work with a lot of independent businesses, and I love seeing someone take a chance on the town centre. As a typography fan, I'm also looking forward to browsing the shelves. A bookshop with vinyl and coffee sounds like a very good way to spend a wet afternoon.

You can follow along on Instagram at .

05/10/2026

The second episode of my podcast is out today, in it I nerd out about The Modernist Society's website.

02/10/2026

The latest from the blog - something to read when you should be doing something else; https://backhouse.tips/H5j2Wn - How to ask for Google Reviews without feeling awkward. A full break down of best practice and some homework.

A simple way for Harrogate businesses to ask for Google reviews, reply to them and show them on your site, without feeling awkward.

25/09/2026

The word that comes up most in client reviews is not clever or original, it is quick. Quick turnaround, quick replies, quick to understand the brief. It is not the most glamorous thing to be known for, but it is the one that keeps clients coming back and recommending me to someone else.

Read honest reviews and testimonials from my past clients. I am a freelance website designer in Harrogate. This is user given feedback.

22/09/2026

Most of my WordPress builds use Divi, a page builder that lets me create custom layouts without locking a client into a rigid template. It means the end result looks like your business, not like everyone else's site built from the same theme. A technical choice like this rarely gets mentioned, but it shapes how flexible your site can be later.

17/09/2026

Managed to make David's website this week, the assets were well prepared.

www.davidgarforth.com

06/05/2026

I received some great feedback over the weekend. Cheers, Lex, and all the best for your big gig.