iPaid. It’s a hard habit to break

Being an Apple addict isn’t a cheap habit but it’s one I’ve given up trying to beat. Quitting biting my nails was much easier…

So, there’s a new iPad and it’s called just that – ‘The New iPad’. Bit strange really, as they still sell the iPad 2 which is now inferior to iPad ‘The New’ and costs less which just doesn’t make sense. I can see that numbering things is silly and Apple don’t do it with desktops/laptops so really there’s no reason to do it with phones and tablets but I think the time to quit numbering things was back with iPad 2 so maybe it was Steve Jobs who had a thing for numbers?

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Out with the old – in with the new

It’s nice when you get a chance to fix a logo that you are familiar with and have never liked. Qwikprint is a local printer that I’ve used for a long time and whilst their service has always been brilliant, their logo has always irked me and my design sensibilities.

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Ooh aah… just a little bit

What’s not to like about the Eurovision Song Contest? It comes around every May and brightens our lives with eclectic sounds, visuals, performances and dance. The quality ranges from tragic to terrific and anyone willing to suppress snobbish musical opinions can usually find at least one gem amongst the 40+ international offerings. As a graphic designer, I always look forward to seeing how the host country will take the static Eurovision logo and build on it to reflect their own culture and identity.

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Dutch Lawn

I have always been interested in music, I remember getting bought a tiny Casio VL-Tone when they came out and thinking I was the fifth member of Kraftwerk or John Foxx Junior. My musical career however was never meant to be, even though I wrote plenty of songs and even did a couple of gigs which were thankfully in the days before people could film things and put them online for everyone to see – for eternity.

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Write here, right now

With so many fonts to choose from, one often forgets about the simplest of them all – your own. We all have our own unique font, and just like our fingerprints, it’s unique. It’s also perfect for many jobs. Before the design industry became computerised and while I was studying design in the 1980s, I used my handwriting for a lot of design work. This continued when I was employed as a graphic designer and the only alternative was transfer lettering, Letraset etc. My first major public health campaign for HIV/AIDS awareness was all written by hand and can be seen in a previous blog entry.

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All is calm – all is bright

It’s Christmas time, there’s no need to be afraid… or so the song goes. I like this time of year, the miserable weather is counter-balanced by the mirth and merrymaking of festivities and we can forget it’s Winter, if only for a few weeks while we bask in the coloured lights and enjoy a much needed holiday.

Business-wise, it’s been a great year for Soft Octopus, the business has grown a little and the happy clients keep coming back for more. Personally however, I’ve never known a year filled with such sadness, loss and ill-health of those I hold near and dear

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  • Blog
  • December 24, 2011

Sprechen sie Geek?

I’m just back from a trip to Hamburg. I went to see a show called “Stylectrical” at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe. This interesting exhibition explored the complex process of industrial product design in the context of cultural studies. It focused primarily on the industrial design of products by Apple and Braun, mainly by Jonathan Ive and Dieter Rams respectively.

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