Good lord. has it REALLY been that long? me at sixteen and three quarters, 13 years ago. standing in front of my second year final project for my graphic design diploma at cornwall college- a piece entitled ‘museum of failures in the 21st century’ the mural behind was painted/airbrushed, the pile of crap on the desk is actually a faithfully recreated scene from a dump, and the old broken looking tv is playing a video installation rolling through such cheery topics as famine, disease, war, racism, etc.. (i was a cheery youth!)
thirteen years and i’m still happy to say i’m a graphic designer and proud of it.
i no longer have so much acne, or a head shaped like an acorn though. and i’m DEFINITELY not that thin.

here’s a piece for a brochure of media and design services i’m being included in. for marc at Fre23Media. the theory of the piece is the eyes feeding the flower, which the bees pollenate and in turn return honey to the hives which represent the brain, while in turn the eyes are being nurtured by the scenery. it represents the way design is assimilated, processed and reborn and how it’s all interlinked, as the piece says, like one perfect self-sustaining ecosystem.

When i’m not commuting for two and a half hours at a time, or freelancing in the digital section of a big UK fashion retailer, i do some extracurricular freelance bits. mainly, for money, this time, for pleasure AND money. my old employers, Future Software are commissioning a pice for an upcoming signage expo, and drafted me in to turn a simple logo rotation into something fun and eye-catching.always happy to do repeat business with the guys at FLS, it’s nice to catch up, and i like that they keep on coming back for more work.
heres a still..more coming soon!

EDIT: and here’s a sneaky preview of how the thing might look. bit sketchy, but this IS my sketchblog.

This time one for my old uni friend Marc at FRE23 Media. these guys do it all, design, development, marketing, the whole nine yards. give them a look! there’s even talk of future collaboration in the pipeline… watch this space.

You ever get days where your brain just gets stuck on ‘stare aimlessly at blank sheet of paper while holding a pen’ mode?

sometimes you gotta draw something just to get things moving- the prune juice for designer’s block.

have a squiggly mess.

you see, the drawing actually represents something that’s been in the back of my mind for a while. sometimes, when you’re freelancing and you’re sitting at home, possibly in your pants, possibly  on your ninth cup of coffee, it can be easy to get a bit engrossed in your work and a bit of tunnel-vision.

While obviously, it’s important to get things done, being stuck in a room isn’t good for you. especially as a creative, it’s important to constantly update and refresh your visual lexicon. this ain’t gonna happen sitting in front of the same monitor and anglepoise lamp, in the same room, day in day out. a quick stroll outside through town, or somewhere nice will bombard your brain with a range of new colours, patterns, textures, words, typefaces.. product design, car design, architecture, advertising, sounds, thought trains.

so no matter how pressing that deadline is, you CAN and SHOULD spare ten minutes of brisk walking for the sake of your sanity. think of it as a mental tea break.

2010 in review.
where to start? got an opportunity to work somewhere prominent, and took it. realised the grass isn’t always greener. but learned a lot of cool stuff. I’m pleased that i had some opportunities and worked hard this year on my photography, did some action sports, event shots, product photography and even got to take a busload of models to the beach! all coming in my photo update in the new year.
I also learned a lot of nifty trickery in After Effects, improved my CSS and HTML skills, redesigned my site totally from the ground up.. more to come as i learn.
I’ve also moved to Brighton,into a beautiful little flat with my girlriend, and also close to the sea. on the flipside, i’ve been made redundant which means i’ve now been out of work for approaching three months. this is longer than i’ve been out of work by about two and a half months since i was 16 years old.. which is twelve years.
It’s made me do a lot of thinking, a lot of worrying but it’s also driven a lot of self improvement, and given me time to reflect on my design work rather than just get on with it. perspective is important sometimes.
It’s also given me an opportunity to gain insight into the world of freelance design, picked up a couple of good jobs, enough to let me know it’s feasible to actually pay my way once i get a bigger client list and some more testimonials on the site. i even found time to make a hip-hop parody video for one of my favourite artists, Sage Francis, the man behind Strange Famous records.

so what next? well, thanks to the EXCELLENT work from the guys and girls at Ecom Recruitment, who i can’t thank enough, they’re on my case twice a week with interviews, puttin me forward for this and that.. it’s tough out there, but they’re helping.
There is one thing in the pipeline i’m MASSIVELY excited about. i’m a bit of a nature freak at heart, so when i got asked to design a coffee table book, called ‘trees from seed’ i was excited. the added bonus, it’s a book written and photographed by my mum, a published author and artist, and will be a massive personal labour of love piecing together twenty years worth of photos, notes, and memories from my childhood.
i’m also constantly redeveloping the site, it’s my personal html/css/flash playpen so bear with me. and i intend this year to develop my web skills, get a Video dslr and start making short films, and ride my bike more.
onward and upwards

This has been inspired by a book i read recently which has rekindled a lost love affair with the sketchbook.
For Years, during college, i resented these things, due to having to fill them for a purpose. they became forced, and i became dismissive of their usefulness.. now i’ve appreciated the need to have one to expel the whimsical, nonsensical, and downright odd mental images and concepts i have clutterin up my creative conscious, and loosen the fingers and brain in preparation for the day’s work, i’m once again a follower of the cult of sketchbooks.
the book in question is here, and a BLOODY good read.. it’s nice to see inside other’s sketchbooks, to see that not everything has to be relevant, or sensible.