more bathroom >> nearly done

well the bathroom is coming on very nicely we even have the new toilet and basin in now, not much left to do, our man is coming back to finish off tomorrow (friday afternoon).


















unfortunately the rest of the day was a pile of b*ll**ks

bathroom again >> the man came back

I really have to apologise for the obsessive bathroom stuff it is just it has been something that has been bugging me for months. I should have done it really but I was and still are having major treatment on my shoulder and can't really lift stuff at the moment. (even though I did have a little game of rugby the other day).
I/we are so fussy about the look of things at home. it took a few weeks just to decide the colour of the tiles.
so out side of work where heaps is going on, it is very important for me to have other design colour problems to think about in a but is a respectful way as in world context it really is not that important.


I have had some very sad personal news in the last 24 for hours so writing about the design of a bathroom does seem futile, however I still do it.
as that is the way I get through stuff I suppose and it is important.

I really like the colour of the tiles and they haven't even been grouted or cleaned yet when the white grout goes on it will look stunning.

Still loads to do though as the new toilet an shower are yet to be put in.

bathroom >> the man came today

perhaps I should take back what I said in a blog last week, but then perhaps not after all they are only doing what we pay them for. as you can see a very nice bit of tiling going on, we are very pleased with it so far. hope he comes back in the morning as at the moment we have no bath and no flushing toilet.

will keep you posted.

new bathroom >> well nearly

isn't funny builders & plumbers acquire names like steve, bob, and dave and also have at least 4 spoons of sugar in the tea, rarely coffee, read 'the sun' of 'the mirror', 'the mail' (that was hard to type, I have a problem with the paper, that's a different story) when the want an intellectual view!!
it is with apology that I have not included the fact that there are women builder/plumbers I haven't been able to find one locally, believe me I have tried they are probably happily working all the time.
male plumbers in my area of the country are few and far between so are also impossible to pin down to a day or a date. something always happens to the van or it will have to be next week.

I am only making these largely unfounded claims (or perhaps not) as since january this year the builder/plumber has be evading us. he eventually arrived on tuesday to say that he would be starting today thursday. so he reasonable asked that we strip the bathroom of all the old fitting and tiles, as you can see in the grainy picture. living up to archetype guess what he didn't turn up and now wont be here until next week. so we now have a bathroom with out being able to use properly.

I fully realise in context it is hardly a hardship as more people in the world don't even have access to clean drinking water than do. but it just that if we as designers or creative people in what ever field took months to turn up we would never be employed.

if he arrives next week as now planned I wont say anything or complain instead probably just welcome him in with the offer of a sugary cup of tea! probably whilst I smugly hide behind the guardian, I feel embarrassed now.

I haven't given up

just in case some of you had thought that I had stopped blogging far from it. I have however a whole heap of work to get done this week, so I haven't been able to research stuff and write much. I do have these pictures taken on monday for you, should be back to normal blogging by the end of the week.

the hammock

one of the best things I ever did when I set up an area in the house to work (when not at work) if that makes sense. was to put two hooks in the walls each side of an alcove that doubles as a dining area. in which we have a square table, a couple of computers, and the dogs crate on one side on other side is a round dinning table.

when we have family staying and we have to juggle bedroom space or when I fancy an afternoon relax I get my parachute hammock (carol bought it for me when I was away in france a couple of years ago) hooked up using a couple of climbing caribinas. (I love caribinas)
today was such a day I cut the grass in the front (its a very small garden so it is not much work) and generally took it easy outside in the beautiful spring sunshine. then came in an put up the hammock and had a lovely snooze ZZZZZZZZZ ......

skateboards >> skimboards

after yesterdays post and with the continued great weather in cornwall I started the thinking of the beach and all things summer. it has been rather poor for surf over the last few weeks especially on the south coast so I though it must be skimboard time!! after all sunny evenings a flat sea not that many visitors yet, and the beach only an 8 minutes walk away!! I thought about it around midday carried on thinking about it while trying to explain to a group of over hot students how to make a an animated flash banner to insert into the dreamweaver created website, in the early afternoon. while also replanning a room in my head and trying to remember if I was collecting ben from the child minder?

by the end of the day I had completely forgotten my skimboarding idea, when I did get home I had that horrid feeling that I had forgotten something, (you like left something on a train or not locked the house) it wasn't ben he was already home with carol, it wasn't work related had my laptop and layout paper (more drawing tonight) . I had my blackberry, filofax, pencil & memory sticks, so not lost of left anything.

oh well I thought I have a cup of coffee while carol and ben went off shopping. more phone calls and another coffee then it came back to be 'skimboard time', by then it was getting a bit late and it would probably be cold and any more excuses, oh yes I could take a photo of it and put it on here.

oooppps! I have just used a list even with a photo as an excuse for not doing something! maybe tomorrow (no, I have a meeting) probably the weekend then?

its back to 'the hub' >> I am still trying

I haven't given up on 'the hub', I have mentioned it on this blog a few times.
it is a silly idea really, not because it wouldn't work as I believe it would but it would be just too expensive, and unless created in its entirety it would not have the same impact.

I don't now why but it has continued to make me think about the use of space in an educational situation and will still for a long time yet.
I have clearly seen that students or learners of any age react to their surrounding in such different ways but one thing they all do it respect something that had been designed with their use and only their use in mind, rather than something that just looks good.

futurelab have some really good stuff on their web site but it still follows the classroom model, in the original sense. however I like their (now unfortunately closed) invitation for ideas to create a better working and study space for learners.

I think what I am trying to say is that students are led to believe that a classroom must be quiet and the teacher speaks and the students listen the process is then repeated over and over for an hour. then they move on to someone else (another teacher) doing the same thing in another room that looks the same. in the later years of education I believe it is not really preparing them for employment or further vocational study because the situation is so different to the work place.

I know when I am studying I usually like it to be quiet but I well remember not to far from the college I graduated from there was a pub full of books looking as much like an old book shop or library as it did a pub.

it did get very lively in the evening yet within that environment some of us read books, often books we would not have even given a second chance in a way that was alien to us but good fun.

that said I want to make it absolutely clear that I am not advocating student of any age drinking alcohol in classrooms.

I do think that consideration to different solutions has to be found. just consider most of the larger waterstones book shops have a costa coffee shop in them to encourage browsers to spend more time thinking reading and in the end buying, a result as far as retail.

here are some current educational space practitioners web sites to have a look at if you are interested further.
ncaltd.com
tq.com
jisc.ac.uk

to be continued....................

lazy day >> but still posted this

I have been so lazy today all I did was played a bit of very light rugby outside in the sunshine for a while with the my boys. then searched to see if there was any beach to go for a surf. we didn't go any where looked a bit crowded and small.

I know it maybe strange for someone who runs and updates a surf website every day (me) surf98. I live on one side of cornwall and rely on not just computers and forecasts but real people to check that my reports are correct for the other side if I am not going. no-one was around today don't blame them lovely day and beaches to sit on, etc.

I found this link that's really cool not only can you look at the surf on a north coast beach but you can control the web cam as well just when its busy you have to wait your turn is good fun click this

I know Mr Nielsen doesn't like a link to use the 'click this' but still.

surf-time >> even if there is no surf

strange how having some-one around who is keen to find out about something that you are obsessed with. gabriel my 13 year old son is staying with us for the school easter break and he has started to become interested in surfing not through any major influence form me I have purposely kept away from pushing any of my children in any particular direction. (though obviously if I go on about stuff enough things rub off, gabes also has a rather nice mechanical pencil).
He has spent the last day and a bit asking question after question about when I started surfing and what I did when I was in Spain or France and how big was the biggest wave I have ever surfed, to be honest I love it but I have also got to get the surf article written for the new magazine only got about 700 words I need a minimum of 2000, they are hoping for more.

I relented and did something I prefer not to do with my children (sticking them in front of the TV). I put on some surfing videos from the era of surfing that I grew up with so that I could get on with writing but I ended up watching the films with gabes, and I spent most of the time talking through them he didn't seem to mind.
so I haven't done anything except spent some really good time with him watching 'old school' surfing videos. that isn't a bad way to spend and evening.

I love the way the surfing film became influential as far as lighting, colour and concept, being outdoors, often not telling a story, even creating such quality/inventiveness from pretty much always limited funds.
the surf movie was not often under funded because there wasn't the corporate sponsorship seen so often on the 00's. films were often made by surf obsessed hobbyists, and even some successful surfers would pay for a film to be made with the winnings of a surf contest, including them of course.
the visual impact of the all films we watched tonight was incredible considering they were made more than 35 years ago! it was really nice to see surf films without product placement and sponsors logo stuck all over the place. two stand out as classics crystal voyager and the morning of the earth I fully understand they are not to every ones taste but if you are involved in surfing they are must.

shame really I would have liked to gone surfing tomorrow but the ocean has already decided for us as currently cornwall is not getting any surf and is unlikely to get any before the weekend, but hey that is the way of surfing and part of its attraction. not like football were you all arrange to meet at a certain time and have a game, surfing has its own unique way you surf when the ocean says, I like that, I really like that.

sunshine >> good to see gabes >> a bit like summer

it felt like summer today as we drove across cornwall on a trip to sort out some quite important stuff, we were running late as I had all off a sudden started working on the surfing article this morning (has to be done by the 5th) and carol was waiting for the post.
then over to dhl in north cornwall to pick up a new body glove wetsuit courtesy of surfgirl magazine for carol.
then back down to the city (in devon) for me to sort out my broadband account with orange and pick up a new phone. sorry people but its a blackberry I know probably more than half the people reading this will be waiting for the i-phone (from apple) to reach the uk, but I have to think about the service I use and what I need.
in cornwall if I want to get information from the beach by email I need a phone that I can do that with. I know that blackberry work predominantly with a windows user in mind and the rim technologies are again set to work with microsoft. I got the 8100 so a small phone, and to my eyes at least a nice looking phone, be interesting to see if it is any good?


the indulgence of the day was another visit to mcdonalds for the second time this year, it was my son ben (8) who wanted to go. I was surprised that they accommodated my strange dietary needs, I am vegetarian and don't eat cheese anymore, as you can see from the picture it looks a little odd but it tasted fine, I just can't help fueling the all these american monsters.

then towards evening we went to met gabes another of my sons from his coach journey. he had been on a coach since 9 in the morning and had pretty much seen the whole of the south coast of the uk on route to cornwall. all things considered it was a successful day. that's better much better.

what a day >> designing for mobile communities

what a day, I really have to mention carol, first she left early this morning to drive to an interview, probably the most important in her working life to date. then she is back home after lunch when she received a call to say that she didn't get the job. next she called me very disappointed and I promised to get home as soon as I could which I did.
next early evening they were on the phone again offering her the job, quite rightly in my opinion she excepted, and got a good deal.
and there I was thinking the design/academic world was fickle.

I spent some valuable time on designs for 'the hub' today which is coming together a bit better than last week. I did take some pictures very quickly before I had to get home, but in my haste I had the camera set on macro which obviously meant that whilst the pictures are interesting they do not mean anything, I will try to get more pictures on tomorrow.

whilst looking at more stuff on the internet I again was drawn to cati's blog because I remembered a link to jeff axup who finished his thesis on 'methods of understanding and designing for mobile communities'. it sounds a bit heavy but I took it upon myself to read a large part of it. I am famous for not really liking reading a huge amount of text on screen. so as bad as it is if I have to consider an examination criteria for a new exam course I will be teaching I print it off to read it in a quiet corner somewhere at home, usually because the text has not been specifically designed for reading on screen so doesn't work.

however looking at jeff's thesis or the sections of it that I have considered and read, make it different and easier to see on screen.
the understanding of the first user seems to have been thought through in a way that suits me at least.

It would be silly of me to try and explain all that jeff axup has considered and written about but I will show a couple of screen shots and explain a little of way I think it works. obviously splitting the thesis up for download is nothing new, (the complete thesis can also be downloaded).
I like the way jeff has done this because for me anyway it makes the most important part the subject matter easier an clear to grasp.

I would be very interested to see what you think.

one of those days >> thinking too much?

I have been so unproductive today, I can't think it was just because the clocks moved forward or we had to get to falmouth for ben's rugby match (his team won again). we were a bit late as well as had to relying on the sat-nav to get us there which in its self quite interesting.

all the time I was involved and watching the game but thinking about the ideas I have for the hub again as well as trying to work out why the mp3 recordings I have been gathering for the podcast dgthekneelo.podbean aren't working properly. since I have been not getting round to doing stuff by finding other things to do that don't really need to be done, so as you can imagine I haven't got anywhere. in a way it has been an OK day though, I can't expect every day to be the way I want it to be.

I have had one of the least creative days for ages. I did manage to achieve something I found a nice place for coffee in truro. I also bought a nice new cup to drink it from when I got home.
oh yes I bought some good coffee as well.

been busy working on sound >> but found this picture as well

I seem to have spent all day trying to get the sound right on some audio work I have been doing as usual the best laid plans have gone out of the window.
I expected to spend some time on the project I mentioned yesterday but I haven't even looked at it. probably a good thing as it has given me a bit more time to think.
I have still not managed to create the sounds that I was preparing but still I have a few hours of the day left.
for no other reason than I really like it I wanted to post this picture I was going to create a web template based on it. I still might do that I certainly will use it in my work somewhere, (ooops I am back to flowers again) .

'the hub' >> a working title

I am rather absorbed in thought at the moment I have been doing a lot of thinking and looking over the last few days. sort of hinted at it in yesterdays blog, but I am try to plan a layout for an educational space that is very different from the usual. I have a whole lot of work to do as I want to be able to present some complex (interesting/exciting) plans for 'the hub'. this is a working title as I would like to treat it as a hub of fact finding, learning and communication.

the main aspect of the design is a central 'hub' of the work space is an interconnected bank of five stations/computers all equipped with, well I will explain that at a later date as I am not sure of the spec yet. all I have is a head full of ideas I can almost see it in there but I need to be able to explain it that needs some more work. all I have so far is the first scribble (left).

I have obviously looked at and visited a whole bunch of places, along with my experience of both working in design studios and in schools and colleges I hope to be able to draw the many different elements together to produce a 'zone' of enjoyment and learning that is a great place to be as well as a great place to learn.

I have added some of the research I have been doing to this blog. looking through other schools with amazing buildings but tending to conform to the use of the inside space as in the picture (left). as you can see the desks and chairs are formally positioned. , chumleigh community college, classroom of the future, chulmleigh, devon. devon property, county hall, exter, devon. riba awards 2005. I want to move away from the formality of rows of tables and chairs.


absolute designs a design company based in falmouth, cornwall, uk have produced some design solutions, showing an inspiring use of interior space. you can see a couple of projects they have worked on. pictures (left) of falmouth college of arts and cornwall centre for professional development (right). for a better view have a look at their website its quite an amalgam of design from interiors to branding, packaging, design for print and more.

I still have plenty of planning and more thinking to do yet but a sensible proposal will hopefully come, whether anything will actioned is another thing completely. as a designer/ideas person you kind of get used to that. whatever happens the creative side of problem solving is often enough to fuel me to move on to the next project.

in a rush >> waiting >> store design/layout

how many times have you rushed to get somewhere got there exactly on time only to be kept waiting and waiting! well that happened to me today I had to go into work two hours teaching then into a meeting then rush to see the consultant (about my shoulder) but ended up waiting for 2 hours 20 minutes. now I know that there are always people worse off and I realise that my need is not as great as others but it was a clinic I had an appointment time! I just had to wait quietly.

I don't want to use this blog to complain about stuff that has nothing to do with what the blog was started for so I'll stop.

I did however have a chance afterwards to go for a surprisingly nice coffee, (I chose not to have it black as would usually in case it was not very nice) at a very large retailer, as I was enjoying my coffee and carrot cake. I got set to thinking if this retailer take £1 of every £8 spent in the the UK, how does this reflect on the design/layout of the shop.



I also remembered that in the early 90's I was responsible for designing the floor layouts for a very large menswear retailer when they opened their flagship shop on oxford street, london and across the country the group where then bought up by eventually (arcadia). the design/layout of a shop obviously makes an enormous difference on how much money it makes I then realised why I had stopped doing it!

I have added a few pictures I took while I was there. I can't say I found any of it inspiring in any sense. though is so successful perhaps i need to think why, it can't just be price can it?


love the jars of octopus, I am sure not all the shops in this group sell them, so regional tastes must be catered for.

different >> but all linked

It has been a long funny kind of day, long in the sense that I have been awake for a long time, funny (I don't mean full of jokes) but I had to see a few people to discuss stuff as well as contact people who are making decisions that could effect my future.
oh yes and teach!

just a normal day you think for most of you I would expect. but I also spent some time talking to students and their parents who are currently making decisions that will at least make a difference to the next 2 years of their lives (probably more), if not the whole of their lives.

amongst all this I was sending and receiving emails and even twittering a little.
I received a very interested email, fully work related and I will hopefully attend some of the events that were documented in the email. it had a list of interesting links with it I thought of adding all the links but to put them all on one post would have been too much information would be too much so I have added just 4.

I am posting them out of context but I don't think that really matters have a look you might well find some interesting I did.

kurator
pirate university
signwave
andy pink

3 things from the kichen >>

I have been trying perhaps too hard to be inventive, informative and or complex in the last week or so in this blog.

but after a very interesting conversation this afternoon which ranged from barcelona to goudi, creativity to starbucks, ICT and the performing arts, I realised that sometimes you can try just too hard.

in the so called creative/design world things/images are so often not that good, it's more the explanation or intellectualisation of them that convinces you that it is good.

so I thought i would go it my kitchen a photograph 3 things that I liked for no other reason other than I liked them for some reason. Some cake, left over from carols birthday, a waitrose espresso tin (I just liked the red), and some chilli plants that we are growing as I like chilli's.
as I was thinking in 3's I have included in no particular order and for no particular reason 3 blogs that I looked at and enjoyed today that I wanted to pass on art design by, urban fonts and idealist, none of them new to you all I'm sure, but never the less still worth a look.

oh yes I ordered the (what if) 'sticky wisdom', book as well a good day all in all.

sunny saturday >> pics >> lunar eclipse

had a good day (Saturday) much of the evening was spent running in and out of the house watching the moon. the day was sunny and bright I'm still only using the camera on my phone so I didn't manage to get any lunar eclipse pictures. no worries check this link partial lunar eclipse for a really good picture taken from trinidad by caribbeanfreephoto's and while your there have a good look round as there are some beautiful pictures to see.

I am just posting a couple of pictures from Saturday the light was great and I played about a bit with some colour and flowers. we are so lucky in cornwall as the flowers peak earlier than east and north of us, but as you can see the daffodils in these pictures are past their best. I now really like flowers when I was at art school (as anyone who knows me will remember) I refused to include them in my I work in any form, strange how we evolve / mellow over the years!

still not feeling good >> too much time to think >> NCDS >>

it's only a title so don't worry I haven't reverted to the self indulgence of another blog I ran few years ago, if anything I have too much to write today.

haven't been to proper work just not well enough but have spent some time on the long over due surf98 re-design see picture "big shock work not being done on a Mac!?!"(work on both PC and Mac), the finished website is way off yet I'm still at the illustrator stage.

I/we at home are learning sign language to help ben our eight year old son who is deaf (well hearing impaired if you want to use the trendy term). each Wednesday for the last five a very patient/caring man (mark) has been coming to our house and spending sometimes a couple of hours teaching/helping us to communicate using signing, during this time I have been humbled by the phenomenal visual language used by people who are dismissed by so many. at eight ben's visual recall is amazing but it is only now that we can get close to tapping in to it. ben's drawing and computer use is already surprisingly advanced but he will always be held back in the hearing world as he wears hearing aids and sometimes misses things that are spoken.
anyway just a thought have a look at NDCS and BSL. remember next time you have the chance to tap into a "hearing impaired" persons visual memory give it a go you may well be amazed.

oh yes I took this picture in the kitchen, the daffodil was broken in the strong wind today. I just had to bring it in and include it, as it's so yellow.