I haven't disapeared >> Dr Who

I haven't disappeared, as all of you will know sometimes things just get too busy. this time it was a positive, had to drive all over last night (picking up a new car, well new to me) didn't get home til very late and was ben's 9th birthday (on friday).

I am amazed at his obsession with the bbc TV program dr who. and he is not alone at all in his peer group. As a child I did watch it and as an adult I have watched a couple of episodes with him and actually fallen asleep much to his disgust.
the products available are scarey and as he is so captivated by the programme friends and relatives have joined in the buying dr who stuff. he now has a dr who lunchbox, as well as dr who cards, a cyberman that is movement activated, as well as a dalek computer game, never mind four different versions of the tardis.

I have to say the merchandising of the programme is incredible, some-one is making a lot of money, just from the amount of stuff ben has!

gizfolio >> hope the rain stops

for a while now I have wanted to mention gizfolio as I think the their refreshing attitude to design and creativity as well as working creating/finding work for freelance designers & others within realm of new media is worth checking.


perhaps it is a shame that I have cause to mention gizfolio today as I have been watching the news of the floods in the north of the country closely as carols family are from up there. hope you haven't been too badly effected.

logos >> sammy the surf dog

I just thought I would show that even I will design something on a whim, I was just checking out paula the surf mom's site when I saw she had a little competition. to design a logo for the surf report for north carolina's outer banks (usa), written by sammy the surf dog.
well how could I resist and just a short while later I had emailed my freshly designed logo. (macromedia fireworks is a wonderful thing!)

little did I know that not only would it be used for the surf report but also a complete clothing range, and accessory range. (the hoodies look good and the messenger bag is a must have!)

cross curricular >> different thinking

never mind the london olympic logo have a look over at for some great opinions and ideas davidthedesigner and noisy decent graphics. am fighting with my own design demons to create something that will hold the attention of 14 year olds for the best part of a year. it is part of a large cross curricular project. I am currently making a flash movie these here a couple of images from the as yet unfinished film.
the idea/premiss is a good one, drawing together the disciplines of product design, food technology, textile design, graphics, ICT, resistant materials, systems and control, & new media. to make a complete marketable package for a healthy, fast food restaurant/diner food chain.
I think we have a lot of work ahead to get it right.

>> glastonbury

every year I think this year I will go to glastonbury festival, and yet again I haven't gone. I seem to be the only person I know who hasn't been. even ben and carol went in 2003, that's when ben was only 5 years old. but I was too busy with work as usual.
I found out yesterday that the husband of a work colleague (who is famous in the car industry) has been almost every year and this year he has gone in their big motor-home that sounds a good idea especially with the mud.

I hope to go next time (camping) with the idea that hopefully all the separate parts of my family meeting up through the weekend, any way enough of that pipe dream.
check the links for more information. I hope its a good, if muddy weekend.
I will be watching on TV.

glastonbury festivals
music guardian
guardian, blogs, glastonbury festival

happy birthday gabes >> serious woodies

firstly a very happy birthday to my son gabes for friday 22.06.07. I really hope you have a great day gabriel.

and special thanks to davidthedesigner for pointing me in the direction of some seriously good looking woodies (american/californian surfing wagons).

>> go skateboarding day 2007

tomorrow (thursday 21.06.07) is go-skateboarding-day-2007 and all across the world skaters of all types and ages will be going skating. I am no longer part of the brighton skate scene as I moved to cornwall years ago my son gabes is. I am sure that during the day he will be going skateboarding.


as part of the event the vans skateboard team will be at the west pier brighton around 2pm. now the reason I am interested in the vans team is that they have some old school skaters as well as contemporary skaters, I will always consider myself old school, I first went skating in the 70's and that was in brighton then later london. since moving to cornwall the skate possibilities stopped as the old school skateboard parks became derelict, and generally we have less tarmac, and concrete down here, so the beach becomes the way to go and surfing the real deal.
however more recently some repairs and rebuilding has happened and I now have some good skate parks close by, and good friend and surf98 colleague moby is the man for them (check his surf pictures on the surf98 site).
anyway to add to the skateboard day I thought this video made in brighton might be worth a look.

.ppt >> projectors and presentation

probably because I work in a room that has a fixed projector coming out of the ceiling (mounted on a piece of polished scaffold pole) connected to a desktop computer that I can set it up and make sure that I have a screen that is in focus, no reverse parallax's in my room. I think I am getting increasingly intolerant of a badly presented anything.

I work in a educational situation where so many building have been adapted, I know that my room in its fifty years has been a sewing room a science lab, and now a room full of computers.
so I have to get round the problems of a strange shaped room and odd acoustics as well as the lure of computers for students to play with and look at web based email working around the network restrictions firewalls. generally playing on line rather than studying, using proxy servers so as not to get caught.

(there is just no need for this!)

it is funny that many people who do not work on computers all the time have a different idea of what is interesting. I am still surprised that a really academic educator will sometimes arrive having spent ages on a Powerpoint and wonder way the students are so bored as soon as the presentation starts, not realising that most of the audience have been using Powerpoint since they were in year 4 (uk) 8 years old.

I am even more surprised when at supposed professional meetings presenters don't take the time to set up equipment to provide the best viewing experience.
I know that there is heaps of stuff on youtube, talking about death by Powerpoint, but I could cope with some of it if only the equipment was set up properly as well as the presenter not reading it out and then giving me a photocopy of it all!