Octoblog
With our wiggly tentacles in many places, it’s interesting to reflect on what’s happening on the open seas of creativity. Check out our blog for musings and observations on design related matters and connect with us in the comments.
Graphic humour
I write a fair bit about graphic design and music, whether it’s for Classic Pop magazine, the ‘Art on your sleeve‘ podcast or just general musings in my dedicated Facebook group about the subject. It was record sleeves that made me want to be a graphic designer, tantalising me with their beguiling concepts and creativity. As a kid, before I …...
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Being nosey
We are living through some decidedly grim times right now – politically, economically and emotionally. Lurching from one disaster to the next, with Brexit, toxic Trumpism, COVID and a new cold war, my usual optimism is being severely challenged. Thankfully, we have Eurovision happening in Liverpool soon (a subject covered elsewhere in this blog) and on Friday 17 March we …...
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All together now
If you just want images, they are below, but before that, we need some context… In my last blog post, I looked back at previous Eurovision Song Contests while we were waiting to hear who the host city would be in 2023. You can read about that HERE. Well… the news is now in, and against all odds, or certainly …...
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With a little help from my friends
It’s official, the Eurovision Song Contest is coming to the United Kingdom in 2023 as a replacement host for Ukraine which tragically remains under attack from Russia. The cities shortlisted have now been published; Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield and we’ll find out more in the autumn. These seven cities are all places I’m familiar with and …...
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Dw i’n dysgu Cymraeg
I like a challenge. Sometimes doing something completely alien can be just what one needs, especially after a forced period of lockdown inertia. Having said that, I’ve now passed half a century in age and could also argue that post-COVID, the head fuzziness is lingering, and getting back on the bike isn’t quite as easy as it should be. Either …...
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Left to my own devices
Few musical artists have fused audio and visual as artfully as Pet Shop Boys. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe’s use of design to project the band as a brand has been in evidence almost from day one. With backgrounds respectively in magazine publishing and architecture, it’s no surprise that an eye for visual detail would permeate everything for Tennant and Lowe. …...
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Value for money
Today in the UK we get a fresh design for one of our bank notes and the worthy £50 image is apt for Pride month as it now features a man whose legacy should never be forgotten: Alan Turing – a leading mathematician, developmental biologist, and a pioneer in the field of computer science. Alan Turing helped accelerate Allied efforts to …...
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What’s another year
Eurovision fans were made to wait two years due to COVID-19, but what a comeback 2021 proved to be. As usual, my favourites faltered at the first fence or ended up crash diving into the darkest depths of the final scoreboard, but even these things couldn’t distract from the fun and excitement. This month has really felt like we’ve turned …...
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Liverpool 8 against apartheid
31 years ago today, Nelson Mandela was released from prison. In 1990 the world was a very different place; I was not long into my first job and aggrieved about local and global injustices. I’d just ‘come out’, discovered animal rights and gone vegetarian, there was an unequal age of consent, the AIDS pandemic was raging and Liverpool was just …...
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