Thursday 11 June 2009
Wednesday 8 April 2009
Social Media Gurus
Last night I once again attended the Manchester Social Media Cafe (MCR_SMC) at the Northern, a night that did not disappoint! I met heaps of very knowledgeable people all who are compulsive bloggers and twitters. What I found incredibly interesting was how diversely people use social media and believe how it should could and should not be used.
On arrival I bumped into a chap whom I met and told about the SMC_MCR a couple of weeks previously in Liverpool. He had made the trip deliberately to see what the SMC_MCR was all about. At the beginning there was a little competition to win a twitter T shirt which I thought looked ace. The tweeple who where there had to tweet a message with the hash tag SMC_MCR and the first three tweets in won a t shirt each. It was rather un-rehearsed, and could have gone smoother but I thought it was allot of fun and next time it will be better and I want to win! Last night were two discussions one which was about digital festival something to do with the Future sonic festival, which I am disappointed I missed out on I didn't even manage to speak to anyone ells about what the Digital festival talk was like or about. So if anyone can summarize it for someone with a short attention span then Id love to know.
Gray compulsive tweeter and poster shows us his twitterific t shirt!
I However did attend a Twitter discussion that was about promoting something through twitter or as the speakers said "How not to" or "learn from their mistakes". 3 Journalists had a brilliant Idea to put together and publish a book almost totally by twitter and an online publishing company called Lulu. Twitters started to spread as a call for submissions to write comedy stories and humorous tales to compile a book titled "twitter titters" of which the proceeds would go to Comic Relief. The submissions then went through a judging process then onto selection, One of the contributions was even from comedian Dave Spikey so they attracted quite allot of attention and given they had no real promotion experience the efforts where on plugging the book with celebrity tweeters such a Stephen Fry who even tweeted back.
Eventually the stories where decided, edited and the book put together in Lulu, which sounded like it needed a degree to get a result from. But in the end it happened and overall the book was a success and they managed to raise a good donation to support comic relief. The talk also dabbed into how easy it was for someone to become malicious and use twitter for the opposite and begin to push negative information, especially given that this was for a charity and a good cause I thought that wasn't a good sport.
The talk was informal, funny and interesting with drama and jubilation. Toward the end we started cramming questions in. I was interested in how they promoted using twitter and using it as a medium for chinese whispers style advertising or simple viral advertising. It was apparent to me that these experienced twitters who had used twitter for a long time now and on a regular basis, mostly used it as basic communication. If they had a more of a planned and strategic use of twitter could the project have encouraged greater response and re tweets. It was unfortunate that this seemed to effect the message they needed to get out. At one point it was mentioned about spamming and how we have to be incredibly careful as it seems so easy to do using twitter. Probably because it is so easy to keep sending messages. May be a tactic for a twitter campaign is to plan and timetable when you twit next so you don't over twit. Count down tweets could be a good Idea to start by mentioning when something has begun and with updates people can measure and return to like coming back to a good story.
I for one will be keeping an eye out for good promotion Ideas using twitter, The more loaded, cleverly written and pointed tweets are the more likely it is to targeting audiences and the more likely you will get action from your intent. Tweet promoting can clearly be very effective for example the twitchiker a great Idea that has helped a man travel right around the world and raise heaps of money for charity! There is no doubt a great Idea promoted carefully can become a great success. I am fast becoming obsessed with twitter, although my usage could be higher, I am fascinated with how to get messages passed around and how we can promote without in your face advertising.
Over all twitter titters was a really good Idea and the team clearly worked really hard on it, the book is still available and proceeds still go to Comic Relief. I would love to help any one who is interested in perhaps promoting something through twitter so I can get more experience and practice using this media to spread a message. So if you have something you want to promote drop me a line and perhaps I could help plan a Twitter campaign for you? or let me know if you see any interesting uses of twitter for subtle promotion.
To Finish The SMC is a really informative and great night, good people and a good atmosphere Ill be going every month!
Thanks for a great night with the Social Media Gurus and Goblins.
On arrival I bumped into a chap whom I met and told about the SMC_MCR a couple of weeks previously in Liverpool. He had made the trip deliberately to see what the SMC_MCR was all about. At the beginning there was a little competition to win a twitter T shirt which I thought looked ace. The tweeple who where there had to tweet a message with the hash tag SMC_MCR and the first three tweets in won a t shirt each. It was rather un-rehearsed, and could have gone smoother but I thought it was allot of fun and next time it will be better and I want to win! Last night were two discussions one which was about digital festival something to do with the Future sonic festival, which I am disappointed I missed out on I didn't even manage to speak to anyone ells about what the Digital festival talk was like or about. So if anyone can summarize it for someone with a short attention span then Id love to know.
Gray compulsive tweeter and poster shows us his twitterific t shirt!
I However did attend a Twitter discussion that was about promoting something through twitter or as the speakers said "How not to" or "learn from their mistakes". 3 Journalists had a brilliant Idea to put together and publish a book almost totally by twitter and an online publishing company called Lulu. Twitters started to spread as a call for submissions to write comedy stories and humorous tales to compile a book titled "twitter titters" of which the proceeds would go to Comic Relief. The submissions then went through a judging process then onto selection, One of the contributions was even from comedian Dave Spikey so they attracted quite allot of attention and given they had no real promotion experience the efforts where on plugging the book with celebrity tweeters such a Stephen Fry who even tweeted back.
Eventually the stories where decided, edited and the book put together in Lulu, which sounded like it needed a degree to get a result from. But in the end it happened and overall the book was a success and they managed to raise a good donation to support comic relief. The talk also dabbed into how easy it was for someone to become malicious and use twitter for the opposite and begin to push negative information, especially given that this was for a charity and a good cause I thought that wasn't a good sport.
The talk was informal, funny and interesting with drama and jubilation. Toward the end we started cramming questions in. I was interested in how they promoted using twitter and using it as a medium for chinese whispers style advertising or simple viral advertising. It was apparent to me that these experienced twitters who had used twitter for a long time now and on a regular basis, mostly used it as basic communication. If they had a more of a planned and strategic use of twitter could the project have encouraged greater response and re tweets. It was unfortunate that this seemed to effect the message they needed to get out. At one point it was mentioned about spamming and how we have to be incredibly careful as it seems so easy to do using twitter. Probably because it is so easy to keep sending messages. May be a tactic for a twitter campaign is to plan and timetable when you twit next so you don't over twit. Count down tweets could be a good Idea to start by mentioning when something has begun and with updates people can measure and return to like coming back to a good story.
I for one will be keeping an eye out for good promotion Ideas using twitter, The more loaded, cleverly written and pointed tweets are the more likely it is to targeting audiences and the more likely you will get action from your intent. Tweet promoting can clearly be very effective for example the twitchiker a great Idea that has helped a man travel right around the world and raise heaps of money for charity! There is no doubt a great Idea promoted carefully can become a great success. I am fast becoming obsessed with twitter, although my usage could be higher, I am fascinated with how to get messages passed around and how we can promote without in your face advertising.
Over all twitter titters was a really good Idea and the team clearly worked really hard on it, the book is still available and proceeds still go to Comic Relief. I would love to help any one who is interested in perhaps promoting something through twitter so I can get more experience and practice using this media to spread a message. So if you have something you want to promote drop me a line and perhaps I could help plan a Twitter campaign for you? or let me know if you see any interesting uses of twitter for subtle promotion.
To Finish The SMC is a really informative and great night, good people and a good atmosphere Ill be going every month!
Thanks for a great night with the Social Media Gurus and Goblins.
Monday 23 March 2009
Should we really ban comic sans?
It has been raised to my attention that there is a witch hunt afoot! One I am not sure I agree with or if I should grab my pitch fork and chase down the quarry?
Ban comic sans is Very amusing and I am almost rallied into an anti comic sans frenzy! However...It cant be done! unfortunately comic sans is very good for teaching aids it helps people with Dyslexia or and dyspraxia, (especially left aligned) it is a fixed with font as verdana is, so it also has its uses in all sorts of software and is also embedded in MS windows so its already to wide spread! The infection has been spread way too far!
I happen to agree and think it is a truly hideous font.(even the merch is horrid think they could have thought a bit more about it!) In fact it is so unattractive I feel brash enough to say that no designer let alone half good designer would ever use comic sans. However I cannot speak for the printers, sign writers and copy shops (who have probably produced the examples on the ban comic sans site) who apparently have little or no Idea about the true functionality or aesthetic values of well designed fonts, let alone even browsed for new fonts other than the ones installed on their computer!
Banning comic sans is like banning wheel chair ramps!
what we need to do is ration the usage, please feel free to upload some good examples of comic sans I'm actually on a mish to find good usage of comic sans.
Ban comic sans is Very amusing and I am almost rallied into an anti comic sans frenzy! However...It cant be done! unfortunately comic sans is very good for teaching aids it helps people with Dyslexia or and dyspraxia, (especially left aligned) it is a fixed with font as verdana is, so it also has its uses in all sorts of software and is also embedded in MS windows so its already to wide spread! The infection has been spread way too far!
I happen to agree and think it is a truly hideous font.(even the merch is horrid think they could have thought a bit more about it!) In fact it is so unattractive I feel brash enough to say that no designer let alone half good designer would ever use comic sans. However I cannot speak for the printers, sign writers and copy shops (who have probably produced the examples on the ban comic sans site) who apparently have little or no Idea about the true functionality or aesthetic values of well designed fonts, let alone even browsed for new fonts other than the ones installed on their computer!
Banning comic sans is like banning wheel chair ramps!
what we need to do is ration the usage, please feel free to upload some good examples of comic sans I'm actually on a mish to find good usage of comic sans.
Tuesday 17 March 2009
Printers are miserable gits!*
What is going on? has the Credit Crunch sent everyone backwards? Over last couple of Days I have been shocked, bemused and offended, at the way I have been treated by suppliers! Do these people not want my money? Do they not need to sell their products and services? Do they not want customers to return for more business? Are these people doing so well that they can be rude, obnoxious and pompous?
In sourcing print and production I have recently found that customer service has been suffering even more, as if printers can afford to be any more difficult to work with and it is becoming almost impossible to find any one friendly let alone even slightly accommodating. So much so that I assume more expensive and unaffordable printers charge so much because they buy in politeness from an external supplier. For the past 8 Years I have been supplying printers with art work in a professional capacity. In that time I have made mistakes and learnt from them. I have communicated well with suppliers so that I understand their needs, often rush jobs can cause files to have a minor detail set wrong, perhaps a very specific bleed option or a missing font that causes an issue. Simple hitches that are solved with an email or phone call. All in all I love getting work printed, its the climax of a Job, seeing it on media and smelling the fresh ink!
The most recent Job I have been working on, the client has been really excited about the design and looking forward to getting a finished product, until I had an incident with a printer that has taken me by total surprise. I was flat out told, I was wrong that I could not print art work as I had sent it over to him. I agreed. What I sent was a visual, I wanted to discuss the appropriate way to get the effect I wanted to print. The representative then started to rant about files not being set up for print (something all printers complain off) then I noticed his conversation turning to statements and his voice getting strained, not only that he started to rant, then came the raving and the rudeness, in an effort to calm the situation I explained my thoughts and conceded an ounce of stupidity, but that didn't helped my cause, I tried to learn from my error and enquire how I could make the file more appropriate; "You cant!" I was shouted at! Then the angry rep put me on hold. After this aggression I was actually shaking! I couldn't believe I had been spoken to so rudely. Then another chap picked up the telephone and started speaking, I then noticed that someone was shouting and swearing rather loudly in the back ground! Absolutely astounded I expressed my upset to the "new guy" who politely listened and tried to solve my questions and smooth out Rep A's customer relations issue. When I asked the new guy if Rep A was difficult to deal with I was ignored and he began discussing the print Job again! I took that as a yes and pushed no more. The new guy was nice enough, given the way I had been dealt with so I appreciated his time. (thanks Colin.)
It turned out that I could print the way I wanted, it simply required a little discussion, a little accommodation, a bit of thinking out side the box, understanding of who they are talking to and a little less of a superiority complex at their end. So over all thanks for wasting my time and getting me so upset I hope you are happy with your crappy little attitude, you....you, expletive!
As if that wasn't bad enough this company are pretty much a charity and I want to support them! Unfortunately this time they lost my business, I am determined not to let this get the worst of me and so I may try an reconcile the issue by working with Colin alone. Until I calm down enough to work with the company I'm going to do a bit of asking around see if anyone ells has had a similar issue.
If this wasn't enough a second supplier I have recently begun working with has dragged his heals since day one. Not much politeness or civil behavior, my calls and emails, not been returned and I have not really been served, then the other day they the used the "Im not being funny mate" line!
I am getting sick of these miserable gits! I am utterly disgusted at the low level of customer service in almost every case and the more I think about my experiences the more I appreciate the good ones I have worked with. And now I realize I have spent even more time on my blog about them, aarrrrgh! If any one knows any printers or sign production companies in Manchester I'd love to get some recommendations. When I do business I expect my customers to feel like friends or partners, that I think about their business almost as much as they do and that I genuinely have their interests at heart, and they have total confidence in me, I don't even call this going the extra mile! I call it customer relations.
I also want to know more about dealing with troublesome suppliers after all they should be groveling to the customer not getting cross with them!
*but not all I have a few who will go the extra mile.
I recommend Keith and Neil at Ormskirks Printing.com shop and Bronks printers in Prestwich, Manchester (ian@bronksprinters.com) really nice guy very accommodating cant recommend him enough!
In sourcing print and production I have recently found that customer service has been suffering even more, as if printers can afford to be any more difficult to work with and it is becoming almost impossible to find any one friendly let alone even slightly accommodating. So much so that I assume more expensive and unaffordable printers charge so much because they buy in politeness from an external supplier. For the past 8 Years I have been supplying printers with art work in a professional capacity. In that time I have made mistakes and learnt from them. I have communicated well with suppliers so that I understand their needs, often rush jobs can cause files to have a minor detail set wrong, perhaps a very specific bleed option or a missing font that causes an issue. Simple hitches that are solved with an email or phone call. All in all I love getting work printed, its the climax of a Job, seeing it on media and smelling the fresh ink!
The most recent Job I have been working on, the client has been really excited about the design and looking forward to getting a finished product, until I had an incident with a printer that has taken me by total surprise. I was flat out told, I was wrong that I could not print art work as I had sent it over to him. I agreed. What I sent was a visual, I wanted to discuss the appropriate way to get the effect I wanted to print. The representative then started to rant about files not being set up for print (something all printers complain off) then I noticed his conversation turning to statements and his voice getting strained, not only that he started to rant, then came the raving and the rudeness, in an effort to calm the situation I explained my thoughts and conceded an ounce of stupidity, but that didn't helped my cause, I tried to learn from my error and enquire how I could make the file more appropriate; "You cant!" I was shouted at! Then the angry rep put me on hold. After this aggression I was actually shaking! I couldn't believe I had been spoken to so rudely. Then another chap picked up the telephone and started speaking, I then noticed that someone was shouting and swearing rather loudly in the back ground! Absolutely astounded I expressed my upset to the "new guy" who politely listened and tried to solve my questions and smooth out Rep A's customer relations issue. When I asked the new guy if Rep A was difficult to deal with I was ignored and he began discussing the print Job again! I took that as a yes and pushed no more. The new guy was nice enough, given the way I had been dealt with so I appreciated his time. (thanks Colin.)
It turned out that I could print the way I wanted, it simply required a little discussion, a little accommodation, a bit of thinking out side the box, understanding of who they are talking to and a little less of a superiority complex at their end. So over all thanks for wasting my time and getting me so upset I hope you are happy with your crappy little attitude, you....you, expletive!
As if that wasn't bad enough this company are pretty much a charity and I want to support them! Unfortunately this time they lost my business, I am determined not to let this get the worst of me and so I may try an reconcile the issue by working with Colin alone. Until I calm down enough to work with the company I'm going to do a bit of asking around see if anyone ells has had a similar issue.
If this wasn't enough a second supplier I have recently begun working with has dragged his heals since day one. Not much politeness or civil behavior, my calls and emails, not been returned and I have not really been served, then the other day they the used the "Im not being funny mate" line!
I am getting sick of these miserable gits! I am utterly disgusted at the low level of customer service in almost every case and the more I think about my experiences the more I appreciate the good ones I have worked with. And now I realize I have spent even more time on my blog about them, aarrrrgh! If any one knows any printers or sign production companies in Manchester I'd love to get some recommendations. When I do business I expect my customers to feel like friends or partners, that I think about their business almost as much as they do and that I genuinely have their interests at heart, and they have total confidence in me, I don't even call this going the extra mile! I call it customer relations.
I also want to know more about dealing with troublesome suppliers after all they should be groveling to the customer not getting cross with them!
*but not all I have a few who will go the extra mile.
I recommend Keith and Neil at Ormskirks Printing.com shop and Bronks printers in Prestwich, Manchester (ian@bronksprinters.com) really nice guy very accommodating cant recommend him enough!
Sunday 8 March 2009
Brand? what brand?
The other weekend when I was in London I was strolling along the Thames and I suddenly noticed that Pizza Express seemed to have changed it's branding. Well I was surprised, especially as I quite like the Brand its nice Art Nouveau style logo and overall a nice European feel. But some one obviously felt it was time to move on. They had changed from Blue to Red a move I am pretty sure is basically unheard of! The font now sans serif, supporting colour black not white what and a fairly modern building.
In fact in a way it looks like they have moved the style forward to a 1920's or even an Art Deco feel. So Blue To Red? something not many foot ball fans cant associate with, why would consumers? why make such a dramatic change? who decided this was a good idea and who at Pizza Express said "oh yeah forget brand guide lines and consistency"? Well whoever it was I don't mind it! What do less brand aware consumers think?
So never one to frown upon a brand exercise until I have really thought about it...(still not keen on Pepsi's new stuff.) I plodded on to find...another Pizza Express this time it looked totally different it was it the old style but it felt even more Nouveau than other restaurant and it's blue really blue! Something isn't clicking here.
May be it was the building, and surrounding area, sometimes there are rules in place to have shop fronts in keeping with the original surroundings of the building. In Prague the McDonalds there in some areas have chrome arches which I think they fit in better with the surrounding medieval architecture, what a clash of culture that is! But this is defiantly the Pizza Express, with the Art Nouveau type face and logo I have used and am familiar with although it's very blue. What is going on I thought seems that the re brand had spread less than a mile. Then the following day we where walking around Shore Ditch and I saw this...
Another Style?! what the...now "I" was thinking, my brain doing ten to the dozen trying to fathom out how and why a marketing manager or brand guardian would allow such different styles of signage. I now wish I had gone inside the restaurant to see how that internal marketing looks. I predict it's the same menus and printed literature and what we see happening in these examples, is adapting the brand to the surrounding area.
So Consumers, marketing managers and brand guardians why do we have such uniform rules between outlets? Honestly I think this is good news I have recently had a discussion about a similar concept and Idea myself. Why do we accept the high street today? for so long we have refined brands, and become so brand loyal that small traditional shops have fallen and only the Brands and giants survive and that's why every town looks the same. But why should it, what if we took Pizza Express as an example of brand strength, "with" Diversity?
I think many big brands could do this, although they would have to spend more on each shop, to make them all different, yet keep them to a standard of look that suited. It would be great because they would be giving more to each town or street that they appear on.
I would like to know what Pizza Express are doing with their various shops and would like to know how people think about my Idea of "Brand Strength with Diversity" I say lets here it for "Brand Strength with Diversity!"
(I'll be contacting Pizza Express questioning this issue.)
In fact in a way it looks like they have moved the style forward to a 1920's or even an Art Deco feel. So Blue To Red? something not many foot ball fans cant associate with, why would consumers? why make such a dramatic change? who decided this was a good idea and who at Pizza Express said "oh yeah forget brand guide lines and consistency"? Well whoever it was I don't mind it! What do less brand aware consumers think?
So never one to frown upon a brand exercise until I have really thought about it...(still not keen on Pepsi's new stuff.) I plodded on to find...another Pizza Express this time it looked totally different it was it the old style but it felt even more Nouveau than other restaurant and it's blue really blue! Something isn't clicking here.
May be it was the building, and surrounding area, sometimes there are rules in place to have shop fronts in keeping with the original surroundings of the building. In Prague the McDonalds there in some areas have chrome arches which I think they fit in better with the surrounding medieval architecture, what a clash of culture that is! But this is defiantly the Pizza Express, with the Art Nouveau type face and logo I have used and am familiar with although it's very blue. What is going on I thought seems that the re brand had spread less than a mile. Then the following day we where walking around Shore Ditch and I saw this...
Another Style?! what the...now "I" was thinking, my brain doing ten to the dozen trying to fathom out how and why a marketing manager or brand guardian would allow such different styles of signage. I now wish I had gone inside the restaurant to see how that internal marketing looks. I predict it's the same menus and printed literature and what we see happening in these examples, is adapting the brand to the surrounding area.
So Consumers, marketing managers and brand guardians why do we have such uniform rules between outlets? Honestly I think this is good news I have recently had a discussion about a similar concept and Idea myself. Why do we accept the high street today? for so long we have refined brands, and become so brand loyal that small traditional shops have fallen and only the Brands and giants survive and that's why every town looks the same. But why should it, what if we took Pizza Express as an example of brand strength, "with" Diversity?
I think many big brands could do this, although they would have to spend more on each shop, to make them all different, yet keep them to a standard of look that suited. It would be great because they would be giving more to each town or street that they appear on.
I would like to know what Pizza Express are doing with their various shops and would like to know how people think about my Idea of "Brand Strength with Diversity" I say lets here it for "Brand Strength with Diversity!"
(I'll be contacting Pizza Express questioning this issue.)
Friday 6 March 2009
Social marketing or Twitter anger!
It is in no way a surprise that we have a new internet "Fad" at least that's what allot of people seem to think of twitter, it wasn't long ago that everyone suddenly dumped their myspace accounts and jumped onto facebook. Not everyone thinks its a fad of course, because it is on the verge of becoming huge! I have had an account for a short while now but not yet had the chance to really investigate the uses or purpose of twitter but in the last couple of months I have started to make a bigger presence with Twitter and try to get to grips with it.
As part of my exploration twitter I found my self at the Social Media Cafe (SMC) session held at the Northern on Tibb St in Manchester. About 40 or 50 people filled the room in different groups discussing separate subjects. Social marketing, word press and Mobile phones. I jumped straight into the social marketing discussion excited and willing to learn about other peoples "new media" experiences I was ready to learn.
Unfortunately the entire night was dominated by some people who had been using twitter for the last year or more, so they where well and truly veterans and using twitter to there advantage for some time, and they did seem incredibly confident in their knowledge but they where so bitter about any new users. Not that they were new users but how there experience was changing. They where incredibly annoyed that someone was using twitter in a different way to them? or to how they thought twitter should be used! The main complaint seemed to be that certain industries now target other industries and effectively spam with Press-tweet-leases (I just made that up "press releases through twitter".) so said annoyed pair are fed up with being spammed...block? or do you not want to because it is a negative effect , better to have more than less or not burn your bridges? what ever the situation the entire discussion was almost a waste of time said argument was even asked to be quite by another group! (I actually left the night with a head-ache. Thanks.)
In my opinion Twitter has one rule "what are you doing now" so in that school of thought are allot of people mis-using the site, but I also you should be allowed to use twitter in what ever way you can, be creative and inventive, help the use of twitter evolve. Nothing ever gets done with people saying "you cant do this, you cant do that" there should be no spamming, but there is so what are we going to do? people still drop litter and there are laws against that, chewing gum all over the floor in town centers pretty annoying to but what do we do? for the most part block it out!! So if we all blocked this the overall discussion was non exist-ant, I was desperate to pipe in and move the scenario that they where discussing on, but even I couldn't get a word in edgewise!
In the end there was a resolution and the chair cleverly rounded the evening off by delegating some tasks and home work for next month. Ultimately I think they are going to create a twitter guide, probably including rules and regulations that I might like to ignore or choose not to be annoyed by.But I do hope to learn from this knowledgeable frustrated pair. I do believe it is a really good event and that there will be plenty more opportunities to attend the night and learn from the people at the front of the technology.
See you next time?!
Saturday 28 February 2009
Birthday treats.
So last weekend (incase you didn't know I was twittering!) was my Thirftiest Birthday and the Faye and I went to London for the weekend. It took us about 4 hours in the little Peugot and only cost us 10 quid in diesel! Pretty good going really. I might have to write something about our car because it is the cause of allot of events in our life, Mainly because it was cheap and it breaks down, but we love it. So it was all a bit of rush and stress to get there, the Faye had a deadline for something, so I assumed she had planned a little surprise. I had no Idea what was in store and didn't really think about it too much because of the driving and getting there safe factor. Once we got to London (the Staines, massif no less.) we left the Pug at the Faye's Brothers driveway then got a train to the City. So she couldn't keep planning all of it a secret so I now knew we where going to stay in Shore Ditch. We scuttled and weaved our way with what was now Rush hour, so added stress there. Well we made it to the hotel with only the odd hic-up! and overall I quite like the drama.
The Hotel the Faye had booked us into was a new hotel venture from the owners of the cafe/ Fresh sandwich chain Pret-a-Manger.(Did a college project about pret once to do art work for the walls will put some pics at the bottom) The Hoxton Hotel is apparently 4 star has trendy restaurant and bar and Designer furniture art work and adornments everywhere. Greeted by a very friendly guy on the reception the place had a great vibe. In the lobby from left to right the lighting was a cool installation of 5 stage of eagle flight, leaving its perch, flying across the reception and then approaching another perch. Kind of like still photos of flight. (Don't know why I didn't photo that since I liked it so much think I felt it wasn't the thing to do in a "Designer Hotel" strange I don't normally need and excuse to get the Leica out. Ill do a blog on this kit I love it!) any way didn't actually have that much time as the Faye was hustling us up to the room, drop off bags and get out to a restaurant she had booked for us.
(But the Identity! I don't like it I don't like the Grey and yellow, and they use a font called Euro style unless they have very subtlety bastardized it and I cant tell! Why Euro style? its the standard future sans type face of the 90's and that's where it should stay! I have had to use this font before and I will never "choose" to use it again! Given the Brand of Pret which I think as great although some one did say communist to me the other day I all ways had it as deco with the chrome and Neville Brody fonts going on.)
So the frantic walking and navigating began again. We trotted down some funny little roads the I got a phone call from my cousin Ben "Hey Man are you coming here for a beer or what?" "Er I don't know Faye has booked us in at a restaurant what do you mean here?" I said "The strongroom" He replied then I kind of guessed what was going on, we popped out of an ally way and over the road was the Strong room bar! My cousin works at strongrooms recording studio and I had wanted to visit him there for ages, the studios has it's own Bar! Well we got there and the Faye had arranged for some friends and family to meet us and we had a wicked little night.
The Strongrooms is pretty Rock'n'Roll as the recording kit looks amazing and all set off with Jamie Reid's (designer of the Sex pistols album covers) textile and prints that adorn the walls, its really quirky. I believe Machine head had just mastered their album there so I thought that was cool. Mat showed me around and we got to get really techy although really techie for me was probably nothing compared to what Mat is used to. Then once we finished our drinks we went to eat at a wicked Diner called "The Diner" super American style food. I had a Guacamole and cheese burger and it was good. The Faye had a Chili cheese Dog, which according to sources is as original as the ones in America. Then there were also some bad ass milkshakes too! so a must for any shore ditch visitor. Finally we rounded the night of in the Reliance nice Pub type venue around the corner, before retiring to the Hoxton.
The following day we started the afternoon with a really good coffee at Monmouth (probably the best I have had in London!) and a flavour explosion sausage roll from a wicked shop in the west end near Neals yard.
did a big old walk from Bank to tower Bridge stopping off for stops at the Tate Modern and the Design Museum. I had wanted to see the Big Crack in the floor:
But when we got there:
So never mind but I was impressed with... the massive cat got to be picture of the day! Overall we had a really good weekend and made it back in one piece!
I cant wait to go back to Shore Ditch! Can anyone make some recommendations?
Pret-a-manger work from college days.
oh and check this out looks like fun. Might have to order a copy: Pie
The Hotel the Faye had booked us into was a new hotel venture from the owners of the cafe/ Fresh sandwich chain Pret-a-Manger.(Did a college project about pret once to do art work for the walls will put some pics at the bottom) The Hoxton Hotel is apparently 4 star has trendy restaurant and bar and Designer furniture art work and adornments everywhere. Greeted by a very friendly guy on the reception the place had a great vibe. In the lobby from left to right the lighting was a cool installation of 5 stage of eagle flight, leaving its perch, flying across the reception and then approaching another perch. Kind of like still photos of flight. (Don't know why I didn't photo that since I liked it so much think I felt it wasn't the thing to do in a "Designer Hotel" strange I don't normally need and excuse to get the Leica out. Ill do a blog on this kit I love it!) any way didn't actually have that much time as the Faye was hustling us up to the room, drop off bags and get out to a restaurant she had booked for us.
(But the Identity! I don't like it I don't like the Grey and yellow, and they use a font called Euro style unless they have very subtlety bastardized it and I cant tell! Why Euro style? its the standard future sans type face of the 90's and that's where it should stay! I have had to use this font before and I will never "choose" to use it again! Given the Brand of Pret which I think as great although some one did say communist to me the other day I all ways had it as deco with the chrome and Neville Brody fonts going on.)
So the frantic walking and navigating began again. We trotted down some funny little roads the I got a phone call from my cousin Ben "Hey Man are you coming here for a beer or what?" "Er I don't know Faye has booked us in at a restaurant what do you mean here?" I said "The strongroom" He replied then I kind of guessed what was going on, we popped out of an ally way and over the road was the Strong room bar! My cousin works at strongrooms recording studio and I had wanted to visit him there for ages, the studios has it's own Bar! Well we got there and the Faye had arranged for some friends and family to meet us and we had a wicked little night.
The Strongrooms is pretty Rock'n'Roll as the recording kit looks amazing and all set off with Jamie Reid's (designer of the Sex pistols album covers) textile and prints that adorn the walls, its really quirky. I believe Machine head had just mastered their album there so I thought that was cool. Mat showed me around and we got to get really techy although really techie for me was probably nothing compared to what Mat is used to. Then once we finished our drinks we went to eat at a wicked Diner called "The Diner" super American style food. I had a Guacamole and cheese burger and it was good. The Faye had a Chili cheese Dog, which according to sources is as original as the ones in America. Then there were also some bad ass milkshakes too! so a must for any shore ditch visitor. Finally we rounded the night of in the Reliance nice Pub type venue around the corner, before retiring to the Hoxton.
The following day we started the afternoon with a really good coffee at Monmouth (probably the best I have had in London!) and a flavour explosion sausage roll from a wicked shop in the west end near Neals yard.
did a big old walk from Bank to tower Bridge stopping off for stops at the Tate Modern and the Design Museum. I had wanted to see the Big Crack in the floor:
But when we got there:
So never mind but I was impressed with... the massive cat got to be picture of the day! Overall we had a really good weekend and made it back in one piece!
I cant wait to go back to Shore Ditch! Can anyone make some recommendations?
Pret-a-manger work from college days.
oh and check this out looks like fun. Might have to order a copy: Pie
Wednesday 18 February 2009
My Bloody Valentine...
Well it's all over now, but at the weekend my partner and I postponed Valentines day so we could move into a new apartment. We moved into new pad and now everything is Topsy Turkey! I have not internet so I nipped to the village to use Costa's free wifi yey Costa! here have a plug... On the way I passed a Launderette so I might have to pop in and see what kind of kit they are packing! Whilst sat here in the cafe a duo of cameramen have been filming fill in shots for something? that's been entertaining, panning shots of Prestwich shopping mall.
As for valentines, me an the missus are'nt too bothered about all that hum drum but we do take the opportunity to get each other something nice. This year I bought her tickets for Metallica, she bought me tickets to see Alex Horne, who I had never heard of! However she did tell me why and then it all made sense! So not as much of a review but my experience of last night!
Alex Does a very funny comedy stand up routine, called Birdwatchingwatching that's more like a conversation with the audience about an activity that he had "almost" dedicated an entire year to. Basically he decided to try and understand why his father like bird watching so much. (This is where my interest is, I am a proud bird watcher, although I wouldn't say dedicated to the cause, I am enthusiastic and have been for as long as I can remember.) So he and his Father (who he calls "Duncton" throughout, which is very funny when or if you see the show. (he has a book too.)) have a competition to see who could see the most birds in a year. With some rules to guide the challenge the two set off to see as many species of bird as they can. The routine is littered with audience interaction, and you certainly don't have to be a bird watcher to appreciate any of it, although it adds a little extra magic if you are. I found myself blurting out species of birds as he asked questions to a bemused audience, trying my best not to answer as I knew it would embarrass the "Faye", but I couldn't help myself, "Tawney Owl" I shouted! then slapped my hand over my mouth and looked at her sinking into the chair! I was of course correct and had a massive amount of self satisfaction.
The stories he tells are really funny and even quite touching as it is a journey of understanding and competing with ones father as much as understanding the passion for ornithology. So overall it was really very entertaining, I'd consider going again and defiantly recommend the show. if you do let me know your thoughts!
so until I get on the net again, next time it will be a Birthday weekend trip to the Big smoke.
As for valentines, me an the missus are'nt too bothered about all that hum drum but we do take the opportunity to get each other something nice. This year I bought her tickets for Metallica, she bought me tickets to see Alex Horne, who I had never heard of! However she did tell me why and then it all made sense! So not as much of a review but my experience of last night!
Alex Does a very funny comedy stand up routine, called Birdwatchingwatching that's more like a conversation with the audience about an activity that he had "almost" dedicated an entire year to. Basically he decided to try and understand why his father like bird watching so much. (This is where my interest is, I am a proud bird watcher, although I wouldn't say dedicated to the cause, I am enthusiastic and have been for as long as I can remember.) So he and his Father (who he calls "Duncton" throughout, which is very funny when or if you see the show. (he has a book too.)) have a competition to see who could see the most birds in a year. With some rules to guide the challenge the two set off to see as many species of bird as they can. The routine is littered with audience interaction, and you certainly don't have to be a bird watcher to appreciate any of it, although it adds a little extra magic if you are. I found myself blurting out species of birds as he asked questions to a bemused audience, trying my best not to answer as I knew it would embarrass the "Faye", but I couldn't help myself, "Tawney Owl" I shouted! then slapped my hand over my mouth and looked at her sinking into the chair! I was of course correct and had a massive amount of self satisfaction.
The stories he tells are really funny and even quite touching as it is a journey of understanding and competing with ones father as much as understanding the passion for ornithology. So overall it was really very entertaining, I'd consider going again and defiantly recommend the show. if you do let me know your thoughts!
so until I get on the net again, next time it will be a Birthday weekend trip to the Big smoke.
Thursday 12 February 2009
Miss a day, why? laundromat!
So I guess I pretty much failed or may be the blog is shaping up?
The last post I mentioned trying to do a picture a day which surely isn't impossible. Is it? well for me it probably is. So this Blog is gonna happen as and when, I'm pretty sure it will be very regular, as I have now installed a blog editor on my iPod allowing me to blog where ever I want.
And So I will discuss...why I missed my blog!
Well last week I had a computer problem, my beloved Power book almost died, she pulled through in the end and 7 days later she's doing me proud. On Saturday I am moving to Manchester so I have plenty of fussing to do before then, and I have had some deadlines to meet with work. Thankfully most have been realized.
As part of this fussing I found myself doing a task I hadn't partaken for about 6 years. I went to a launderette. Fascinating place. We'll it was very 70's and in there was a whistling old guy and a dodgy looking tall guy. Then at the back of the room the rotund happy lady who was my guide and adviser. I asked her how to use the machine, she told me, I explained it back to check I understood, Apparently I didn't! so she told me again. I waited till she'd finished. Then I used the machine. Worked a treat did exactly what I thought it might. Whilst I was waiting I asked her how long my Item would take to dry and how much it would be. She responded in 20ps and you know what, if I had enough 20ps she would have been bang on. I used £1.50 to get it nearly dry, she said 2 quid.
Once the three characters left, I pulled out my Polaroid and snapped a few pics. Wish I'd asked the old guy if I could take his picture. Could have been a nice shot. But I'm not very good at Portraits or confident at asking. Oh well I liked the ones I did do.
I also collected a couple of digi shots, one is a nice close up of the washing machine's logo. "Loadstar"
The last post I mentioned trying to do a picture a day which surely isn't impossible. Is it? well for me it probably is. So this Blog is gonna happen as and when, I'm pretty sure it will be very regular, as I have now installed a blog editor on my iPod allowing me to blog where ever I want.
And So I will discuss...why I missed my blog!
Well last week I had a computer problem, my beloved Power book almost died, she pulled through in the end and 7 days later she's doing me proud. On Saturday I am moving to Manchester so I have plenty of fussing to do before then, and I have had some deadlines to meet with work. Thankfully most have been realized.
As part of this fussing I found myself doing a task I hadn't partaken for about 6 years. I went to a launderette. Fascinating place. We'll it was very 70's and in there was a whistling old guy and a dodgy looking tall guy. Then at the back of the room the rotund happy lady who was my guide and adviser. I asked her how to use the machine, she told me, I explained it back to check I understood, Apparently I didn't! so she told me again. I waited till she'd finished. Then I used the machine. Worked a treat did exactly what I thought it might. Whilst I was waiting I asked her how long my Item would take to dry and how much it would be. She responded in 20ps and you know what, if I had enough 20ps she would have been bang on. I used £1.50 to get it nearly dry, she said 2 quid.
Once the three characters left, I pulled out my Polaroid and snapped a few pics. Wish I'd asked the old guy if I could take his picture. Could have been a nice shot. But I'm not very good at Portraits or confident at asking. Oh well I liked the ones I did do.
I also collected a couple of digi shots, one is a nice close up of the washing machine's logo. "Loadstar"
Tuesday 10 February 2009
My First blog
Since this is my first blog I'm not quite sure how to begin I guess topic or subject matter would be the first port of call. But I ask myself Why start a blog? Who cares what I say? Why do I care what I say? When should I do my first entry? I'm not sure If I know enough to blog!
There seems to be a lot of this blogging going around and I have been following sporadic threads leading me into the unknown depths of the internet, I casually glimpse at other people's lives and opinions, gather snippets of their knowledge and expertise, see art work and holiday snaps and read a whole array of different topics. So I think a blog is whatever you want it to be. A diary, a news feed, a folio, a rant you name it there is a blog on it.
So what about a blog on blogging? well sadly that kind of blog exists and quite extensively too. But whilst on my blog search and browse mission (is there a term for this? there seems to be for everything else.) I cam across numerous things of interest to me. So if you don't mind I would like to share a few of my current finds now and even see how Blogs have worked for others.
ffffound is ablaze with things that make my eyes pop out of my head! such design and creative loveliness that I make regular trips to see what kind of Ideas I am missing out on! This site should come with a warning to all design bods and creatives, too much good stuff can it be a good thing?
typeneu - Truly pretentious use of type is very prevalent I love it! and a really nice layout too. I love navigating it, although it does require quite a bit of effort, let me know any thoughts on this kind of web page layout.
Septemberindustry More nice design Bloggage.
Now for some stuffage that I just like:
Monsterism! So OK this is a tribute to Pete Fowler artist and Illustrator who has been around for Donkeys now but I used to really be into his stuff. In fact I still like his style a lot. I enjoyed collecting some of his work and vinyl figures.
Then there is card boy I loved these guys as soon as I saw them! You purchase them in blind packs unfold the box up into himself, hey presto card boy! Lovely vector styling and it's been creatively updated too, with OXO boxes, old printer cartridge boxes and shoe boxes. (I have a thing for card board robots.) if you look on the card blog he has done some visuals for star wars specials. I'm glad the designs didn't go ahead, I must admit I'm getting a bit sick of the star wars band wagon merch "And discuss..."
However if you fancy trying out being a fan of card boy on the home page, get the PDF of the OXO box card boy calender! Print out an construct I'm gonna make mine as soon as I can.
Picture of the day (I'm gonna try and keep this up):
So I guess its taking shape I have put up some blogs and I uploaded an image from today I'm doing a blog on me, by me and for me! If you happen to "get on my thread" and even become a reader or subscriber then I guess your comments and feedback may shape the way my blog develops.
But for now its easiest to say life, design and other things.
There seems to be a lot of this blogging going around and I have been following sporadic threads leading me into the unknown depths of the internet, I casually glimpse at other people's lives and opinions, gather snippets of their knowledge and expertise, see art work and holiday snaps and read a whole array of different topics. So I think a blog is whatever you want it to be. A diary, a news feed, a folio, a rant you name it there is a blog on it.
So what about a blog on blogging? well sadly that kind of blog exists and quite extensively too. But whilst on my blog search and browse mission (is there a term for this? there seems to be for everything else.) I cam across numerous things of interest to me. So if you don't mind I would like to share a few of my current finds now and even see how Blogs have worked for others.
ffffound is ablaze with things that make my eyes pop out of my head! such design and creative loveliness that I make regular trips to see what kind of Ideas I am missing out on! This site should come with a warning to all design bods and creatives, too much good stuff can it be a good thing?
typeneu - Truly pretentious use of type is very prevalent I love it! and a really nice layout too. I love navigating it, although it does require quite a bit of effort, let me know any thoughts on this kind of web page layout.
Septemberindustry More nice design Bloggage.
Now for some stuffage that I just like:
Monsterism! So OK this is a tribute to Pete Fowler artist and Illustrator who has been around for Donkeys now but I used to really be into his stuff. In fact I still like his style a lot. I enjoyed collecting some of his work and vinyl figures.
Then there is card boy I loved these guys as soon as I saw them! You purchase them in blind packs unfold the box up into himself, hey presto card boy! Lovely vector styling and it's been creatively updated too, with OXO boxes, old printer cartridge boxes and shoe boxes. (I have a thing for card board robots.) if you look on the card blog he has done some visuals for star wars specials. I'm glad the designs didn't go ahead, I must admit I'm getting a bit sick of the star wars band wagon merch "And discuss..."
However if you fancy trying out being a fan of card boy on the home page, get the PDF of the OXO box card boy calender! Print out an construct I'm gonna make mine as soon as I can.
Picture of the day (I'm gonna try and keep this up):
So I guess its taking shape I have put up some blogs and I uploaded an image from today I'm doing a blog on me, by me and for me! If you happen to "get on my thread" and even become a reader or subscriber then I guess your comments and feedback may shape the way my blog develops.
But for now its easiest to say life, design and other things.
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