Cups of Tea 2187 - 2188

Goddddd Dammit! I'm sorry ladies and gents, today has got away from me and I've been 100% percent unproductive. I got back from London, realized I've eaten crap for the last two days and then went on a run to end all runs... Trying to run 10k in 50 mins, 5 minutes of my 2008 best at Margam Park's Reindeer run. However, lets just bear in mind, this was when I was running a training distance of 16 miles twice a week... Cutting a short story even shorter, I managed 52 mins... Which did shave off over 5 minutes from last week (which is nice) but looord, the last 1km destroyed my calf muscles. So I've been ko'd this afternoon. However, this means that I'm taking a rest day tomorrow, which means I can pull a weekender to try and get Rundown finished earlier :)

Sorry peoplez! But on a brighter note, I've started the plans for the 'set' of next month's issue ;) Trust me, if you thought this week's looked good, next months will hopefully blow your mind a little :)

M x

Cups of Tea 2180 - 2186

Yes, I know! I'm bloody annoyed at myself too! I can't believe I broke my streak of posting... I mean, I kinda cheated on Tuesday night, but I would have done the same last night if I hadn't been so flipping tired when I got in! I went out to see the 'Killing Moon' gig I did the flyer for a week or two back, and as a result, didn't get in until about 1... Which was a shame, because I wanted to give a more accurate run down of Drive! But I'm pretty damned tired after a day of traveling...

So just another quick blog tonight because I need to keep to doing this! A day or two up in London's made me slip out of routine and I want to get back to that! Rest assured, ALL of the illustration for Rundown is now planned out to be vectored tomorrow, so I'm hoping to have the first 'issue' out around the 5th :) Then those who want it, I'll figure out some way of printing and shipping it from the 7th (i.e. payday)! So until tomorrow, stay tuned! I'll pop up some new spreads and then maybe, just maybe pop up some other design as well :)

M x

Cups of Tea 2177 - 2179

Just the quickest of quick blog updates to tell you to go see Drive! Without a shadow of a doubt, my film of the year and has easily found it's way into my top 5! There is a cam TS available, but go-go to the cinema, trust me! You won't regret it :) M x

Cups of Tea 2173 - 2176

Don't you hate it, when you set out to do a day of work and everything just escapes you...? Today has been one of those days where you start the right way, then the universe decides to conspire to completely mess around with your plans... Ahh damn!

So last night I did a workout, then was KO'd by it, making me fall asleep earlier than I anticipated. Then after trying to come up with a rundown cover I was happy with, I realized I needed to print my CV... So I crack out the printer, only to find that in all the packing / repacking of the window's getting changed, the usb had gone walkies. I then spent half the day looking for it (for some reason, it was in the stereo cabinet) then find out that the ink supply was low. So that was a new colour cartridge that needed to be bought. Then the folks car broke down on the drive, so I was pretty much told if I wanted tea in the morning, I'd have to go grab milk. So I made the treck to Morrisons and back (which isn't long at all really) but by the time I sat down, it was almost half 6. A day out of the window. So naturally, being urked, I just chainsawed people in half in Gears of War 3 before I realized why I stopped playing 2, the damned over powered shotguns!!!

So anyways, enough moaning. I'm off to LANDAAAAN tomorrow (why that was capitalized, I know not...) so I need to finish packing. I'll try my best not to break this update streak of blogging and upload some of the street art / general cool stuff I see on the trip there!

M x

Cups of Tea 2168 - 2172

Why how do there movie goers! The featured presentation tonight has been brought to you by a man, with a little too much time on his hands, to run and then design something based around it. It has been rated a 12a (PG-13 to all of you across the pond) as it contains some naughty words and an absurd narrative, that leaves me introducing a blog as a voice-over... So now I'll stop doing that because it was a very silly premise...

Just a bit of a quick update to show you how Rundown's coming along... All there's really left to do other than the illustrations is the foreword and possibly an over all stats analysis at the end of the issue... Oh, and a cover, but that's more illustration I guess! Suffice to say, if I do do a cover and another page layout, I can probably put it in my portfolio just in case any interviews come along :) I may even attempt to do that tonight!

As you can see, by flipping the 'Running On' page onto the left, the title worked a lot better, I nullified the tone to an orange on grey, as apposed to white on orange to better tie into the colour scheme / it looks nicer with the grid! (also, the wall shadow blends very nicely into a white page) The only real problem with the maps atm is the text... I'm going to do a few proof prints tomorrow to see how it looks, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to make it a lot more minimalist for the print version!

Hopefully a lot more to show tomorrow! Now to work out and then back onto the illustrations!

M x

Oh and P.S. Purely because I told Rhys I'd up it in on Facebook, here's the running ninja that almost got used in 'Running on'... Oh, I have fun...

Cups of Tea 2164 - 2167

Shoop shoop, shoop de lang de lang. Oh balls, that's a Libertine's song. Scratch that from the record... Hello and good morrow! How are you today oh people of the interweb? I myself am fine and dandy, having taken a rest day to do some standing up comedy writing, which is always a treat! So I must admit, there's really not a lot to show you guys today, but as I got over 100 pages views yesterday (what's that about?!) I thought I'd treat you guys to some of the cool stuff I've seen around the net this week!

These BIRDBOXES are possibly one of the coolest things ever... Seriously, as a type-nerd and nature lover, I am seriously considering getting one or two of these for the folk's back garden... You know, something classy, like our surname 'BOYLE' in large, wooden bird box letters to nail to the washing line. I of course am joking, We'd put them on the front of the house.

I also happened to stumble across these old school beer cans via AisleOne (which is a fantastic blog).

Maaan, those beer cans are crazy! But a better question surely lies in who thought 'this beverage container will look good on a flickr page one day, best save it with the family jewels'... I guess the world of typenerds and creatives owes a lot to the late Victorian hoarder...

Other than that, I got sent this from my brawd earlier, a piece outside Hoxton overground. A quick google reveals it's by Cept (and apparently it's an 'iconic' piece of London street art), but damn! I can't wait to see it next week in person! It looks like it's probably a stencil of a panel from DC's 'The Flash', but it still looks sweet!

Anyways, that's it from me... gotta do a little bit more writing and then I'm off to bed. I'm up at 7 and I don't want to come home uber tired like I did today! There's things to be done, y'know!

M x

Cups of Tea 2160 - 2163

Hello world! I think that's a good way to start. I mean, it generally encompass everyone without being selective, right? Yes? Good times, we'll go with that then. Jeez, I really need to stop writing these things stream of consciousness, and come up with some sort of formal structure, but if I did that, where would the fun be? In a well formed and logical state I'd imagine...

Anyways, today has been quite chilled out if I'm being honest... I mean the weekend's here (which for me, means work) and as a result, I've just been taking my time, enjoying playing with some page formatting for Rundown... So here's a little snippet as to how the non-vectored pages will look! Because of the tight page size and the six column grid, the page essentially uses 2 columns each for text. Please forgive the pose, I'm no model but I thought it would make for an interesting layout dynamic and break the structure up a little.

Short of that, I've been vectoring maps of my running routes. As the clever people amongst you will have noticed on Wednesday's layout, the top left corner is 'Route B'... That's because opposite this page will be a corresponding image of my running routes! Please remember, at the end of the day, the aim of this is so that I can look back and see ma runs! Now back to my sweetened tea (couldn't last with no sugar... 7 calories and vanilla flavoring is surely better than two spoons sugars) and then to bed, up at 5

M x

Oh big P.S! Over 8000 pageviews! Wicked :)! Thanks to all of you that view this, it's the only reason I keep writing!

Cups of Tea 2157 - 2159

Hello Guys and Dolls, you bunch of crazy Guys and Dolls... That right there folks, is a Simpsons reference! Though I must say, despite my loving of a bit of musical theater combined with Mark Hamel's line 'This song wasn't even in the show', I still somehow thought I'd heard it sung by the original cast. Sometimes, I disappoint myself...

Anyways, there'll be no design on show today because most of the day was spent sussing out EXACTLY how many pages I need, what I want to talk about and how I'll lay that stuff out in Rundown. The other half, was spent in a sketchbook brainstorming for the 15+ Illustrations I realized that would be in the book! I'm spoiling you people... While I think I've got ONE down... I know exactly what I want to do for next month's! So a little bit of a catch 22 situation with it, but we shall see! Also I'm not sure if people would prefer I release spreads individually, then as a collection at the end of the month, or would your prefer a few little teases, then 30 odd pages of design at the end?

And as I don't want to write a novel like I did last night, I'll move swiftly onto this beauty! It finally arrived! My signed Jason Munn Tsunami relief Poster. Not only is it my favourite piece of Small Stakes printwork, but it's also signed by Deathcab! Oh, happy days!

I'm going to drool over it some more, then finish of Gears of War 3... I've been playing it responsibly, now it's time to end this!

M x

Cups of Tea 2151 - 2156

So yeah... no design today - is what I bet you thought I'd say! It would be a fair assessment but I caught you out sucka! I came at you with with a left foot and like Shane Williams in his heyday, ran right and scored a try! Good times! 5 Points! Grand Slam! The rugby savvy amongst you will notice I didn't say 7, because we know back in Shane's prime, Steve Jones was too hot and cold to be a definite 7. But this isn't Rugby by Design (that would be boring), so before I hear 'get on with it' chanted at me holy grail style, I'll move swiftly on!

I have completed the Master Pages and all that jazz for Rundown today! Yes! Go Me! It took a solid day of faffing, trying some different body copy instead of 'Lightyear' (which is the logo font - those with a fastidious eye for detail will notice the 'playlist' body copy is set in Brandon Grotesque, this isn't an accident), but in the end decided with it for this installment because it's a nice title font and infographics are, at their heart, bold and flashy / meant to grab attention like titles anyways. So it's all good!

But no! I can now tell you what it is... While I was going to release the first page, the 'what is Rundown?' page. I wanted to write it up all nice and stuff, use some strong adjectives, high caliber nouns and some rhyming couplets, but I thought 'well, that would just be a chunk of body text... These people want a little design!' So I guess this is kinda spoiler territory if you do want to wait for that! So if so, just skip to the pretty graphic and read from there. That point on should be spoiler free, even if the graphic kinda gives it all away. Well then, I'll go ahead and answer the big question. What is Rundown?

In short, it's a running log. To be a little more precise, it's my own personal running log, designed nicely in a limited pallet and accompanied by an illustration for every entry. It'll also have some other stuff in it that will be running related such short reviews, logs of my running routes and possibly a few other little gimmicky things like playlists and what not, but at it's heart it's simply a running log so I can keep track of my running, as I get back into my favourite pastime that doesn't involve some kind of screen.

Short of some nicely laid out typography, I guess at this point there's nothing in it for you lovely people. Well, I guess you're right. That's where the illustration comes in. Not only will every run be accompanied by a different illustration (as you can tell by the example, this month's is very 'me') that I'm giving my self a blank creative canvas on, but EVERY month, the whole thing will change it's visual style. In short, I am giving myself a month to experiment with a different style and then at the end of that month, publish it in this form.

Hopefully it won't go too badly and it'll be enjoyable to read / look at, but I guess more importantly for me, it'll give me a chance to experiment with stuff / flex some design muscle and get out of the comfort zone! But as for the printing aspect of it, when I release Rundown #1, I will be printing 25 copies of it, which I believe will be FREE (yes, even P&P...) if anyone wants them. So y'know, anyone who wants one, shotgun a copy I guess!

Anyways, onto the design!

It's a six column grid, a little bigger than A4 with the copy all set out in 'Lightyear' to help with the infographic feel. While this one was done in Illustrator (I hear gasps) it's because not a lot is really going to be standardize to style sheets... Because I want it to look organic / have a very illustrated graphical feel to it, for the most part I guess I'll be exporting the finished layouts into Indesign later. The obvious exceptions to this will of course be the aforementioned 'What is Rundown' page / anything with a lot of body copy that will be included monthly, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

So yeah, comments are more than welcome. If you want a copy, let me know and no, I'm not sure if the 'running water man' illustration pictured here will be in the final thing! (Inside source tells me that Mat Boyle didn't even run on the 10th of September ;) )

Hope you guys like it... Now to finish transcribing all the raw data onto paper, then to bed :) Night night!

M x

Cups of Tea 2146 - 2150

Wowzers. Go-Go-Gadget unproductive day... So after seeing the lads at the GLC last night, and having a pretty damned good night out in Swansea Town,  I got home to find some freelance work waiting for me! Hazaa! Which unfortunatly meant that I could not complete that page of rundown today... be patient, it's really not THAT exciting... Just should be quite cool. Don't worry, I have every intention of getting that sucker done tomorrow! In fact, as I've been teasing it so long, I may even put out a little print at home 'sampler' thingy of it. I'm to good to you guuuys.

But other than that, there's not been  a lot going down really, the freelance work as always, is nice and comes before personal projects... However, I did stumble across some damned good Black Swan posters by LaBoca that I want to share with you guys!

 

Hot Damn these posters are sexy! If they were available for print, I think I'd have to track at least that first one down... Pity they're not for a better movie though, ammierite?

Anyways, time to have a quick cup of sleepy time tea and hit the hay. I want to get up extra early tomorrow to mock up the freelance, so I can get a lot of Rundown done... Ahh, so little time!

M x

Cups of Tea 2142 - 2145

Just a quick note to keep up with the blogging as I'm off out for a social occasion! A little bit of rundown is done, but I really don't want to rush out a half finished page that isn't ready to be shown yet... I want to do it when it's ready. However, because I like you lovely people, I'm going to do one of the proper content pages tomorrow so you can see what it's REALLY all about.

M x

Cups of Tea 2138 - 2141

Why hello there campers. Does that require a hi-di-hi? I know not. What I do know however, is that today has been awfully tired! Well, today I had a bit of a conundrum when I got in from work! Did I goto bed as I usually do on a Sunday afternoon, then end up getting up around 8 / 9 o'clock, only to then stay up until a silly time and throw my sleeping pattern out of whack again!

Or I could be responsible, ride out the tiredness and in doing so, goto bed at a reasonable time (oh say, right after I finish this blog post). However, due to the whole nap / silly o'clock sleeping time / early start pattern I want to avoid today, but yet committed yesterday. I am very. very tired right now. What does this mean? This means that there's not been a lot done other than attempting to edit some of the comic stuff talked about yesterday (as one or two amaaazing illustrators have shown an interest...). However, as I want them as a high quality as possible... I had to just save them as an uber rough draft, and now I'm going to have to re-do tomorrow -sigh-

So the million pound question is, what did I do with my day to stay awake. Well, this is a simple one. I read possibly the BEST comic series of all time (if not the best, then a close second. But as my favourite ever comic book is written by the same ruddy genius of a writer, I can't really bicker about it). THE WALKING DEAD.

Now I've read the first few comics of Robert Kirkman's long running, AMC award winning series inspiring, Romero inspired zombie saga many a time. However, as I've always been one to own and read Kirkman's books, mainly due to wanting to support such a high quality writer, I've not got around to purchasing past the second trade. This was until I happened to realize that someone had given me the complete run in ebooks at some point (found it on an old flash drive)! So while I may have had to download the last 10 books, I read it in all it's page turning, grip you by the balls story telling glory. Oh my Days! Suffice to say, if you've not read it, please. PLEASE, go here and at least read the first issue. There are many differences between the comic and the series, so don't let the 'I'll know whats happening' excuse put you off, because you really won't! Rick Grimes (the dude on the horse from the trailer...) is without a shadow of a doubt, one of the greatest characters ever created. With such a complex story arch and a million kick ass lines, trust me, you'll love him!

And with that knocked off and the hour growing late, I can goto bed, get up early and crack on with Rundown! I'm actually really excited about it! Which is really sad, I admit, but if I do it well, it's going to be cracking! Nighty Night all, some stuff to show tomorrow!

M x


Oh P.S. My favourite book of all time is probably Kirkman's Invincible... The first arch beats ANYTHING I've ever read by Marvel / DC hands down! Find the first one here! Also if you like his writing, check out Haunt. It's a book he wrote and Todd McFarlene (creator of Spawn) inks... It's damned good!

Cups of Tea 2134 - 2137

A rather strange day today, it must be said! After coming home from work (4am wake up today because of the weather, then in for 6... joy!) I had a kip, then began researching some places to print Rundown (did he say print? I think he did you know ;) ), and then began to read the two new books that came through my door today! (namely 8 Faces #3 and CSS - The Missing Manual, which I'll write about in more detail when I'm more than a 10th into it...), but then, something happened almost accidentally!

Back about a year or two ago, me and the very talent other half, Ms. Gemma Anderson started a very short lived idea of collaberating on a comic book series... I wrote it, she was going to illustrate it... However, this never came to be. I wrote the first trade and plotted out the first arch, which she did some preliminary sketches before uni got to hectic... But after accidentally opening the first issue's script after thinking it was something else (ahh, the days when I named files randomly...) I started writing. And I've got to say, I think it's a pretty strong draft! So what I'm wondering, is if anyone fancies doing a few sketches on some of the character bios I've got kicking around...? Hell, it's early days but if someone could get the art down, I'd probably pay for publishing it myself... Always wanted to write a comic book. I'm going to browse stuff like the Swansea Comic Collective, but if anyone fancies it, drop me a facebook message or something and we can have a chinwag!

So unfortunately, no design today either! But I PROMISE tomorrow you'll at least get a page layout (or at least a tease of one...)! Who knows, Monday you might even get the cover and so actual information on what it is ;)

M x

Cups of Tea 2132 - 2133

The lack of tea today should tell you the type of day it's been... After enjoying a few hours sketching layouts for Rundown this morning (I'm almost ready to start compiling the base elements, then I'll tell you what it is, I promise!), I then went to Swansea with my mate Jamie with the aim of buying a few new rough sketchbooks and project wallets to orgainise the stuff I'm working on a little better, but alas,  totally forgot to buy them as we didn't walk past Smiths! In fact, I forgot almost everything I went there for, minus the company and to finally see The Inbetweeners Movie (which I'd rate about 6/10 maybe? I was alright, felt a little diluted over 1hr 1/2).

Then when I got home and ran / began to commence work again, my Mum told me it's probably the last time I'll see my Nephew before he moves, which sucks! I love the kid... so most of my night has been spent playing games, reading Bunny Suicides (he's a smart kid, he gets it) and then watching a little bit of Disney's Robin Hood. Because after he goes, I honestly don't know when's the next time I'll see him, which is weird. But this diary entry sounds like the narrative to a 90's teen drama, so I shall move on.

So as a result, I've not really done a lot today, then on top of that, I forgot all the stuff I need for Monday onward (I've got enough paper to last the weekend I think!), so an uber quick trip to Swansea will be required Monday Morn (or maybe tomorrow afternoon, I'll go hassle the GLC kids a little...), to get things back on a 9 / 5 track.


So I'll leave you with a little nudge to go buy the digital copy of 8 Faces if you haven't already done so (I'll give my full rundown of issue #3 when it clunks through my mailbox...) And this video I lifted from Swiss-Miss of a lady called Jessi. Oh how it made me chuckle... I feel it's something I would do...


Rainbow Skateboard from Jessi Arrington on Vimeo.


Until tomorrow, I'll give you a sneak peak of Rundown, I promise!

M x

Cups of Tea 2127 - 2131

Why hello there sports fans. I don't know why you would be, that's just an assumption on my part and I'm sorry for that. Another day of reading, paper based design and job applications here (thank you to Tom Ward for his uber tip of spread sheeting my applications! Go check out his illustration here!). So there's really not a lot to do, but partially review a book and show you some design from the blog hiatus! Exciting times!

Yesterday, I said I was reading a book by Andy Clark (you can read about that below or here), which is a pretty damned good book. However, after doing a little research into the rest of the books published by Five Simple Steps, I discovered that there was a book I should probably read before it... By none other than Mark Boulton called 'A Practical Guide to Design for Web'.

 Now. I'm over 100 pages in. And the book has not yet touched on Web Design. But the book is fucking fascinating! It talks about Boulton's own experiences working for different sized design agencies, then starting his own business, then to how he approaches (and believes other should) research and the design process. For the most part, it reads a lot like Adrian Shaughnessy's 'How to be a Graphic Designer without losing your soul', (which is a fantastic read, the latest version can be found here, but I linked to the one I read because i'm not sure of the changes...) but then it almost becomes a basic design school for web designers who've not undertaken design training. I won't lie, there's some stuff in here I didn't know and I'm now somewhat of a type nerd. I can't wait to get the web design part, but honestly, pick it up if you can. The first half of the book alone is worth the cover price.

Anyways, onto some actual design! This is some work I did for Fierce Panda that I don't think ever got used, but I was quite fond of it. Just a basic logotype for their new monthly night, Bamboozled! I'm particularly fond of the white one, but there you go! What do you guys think?

M x

Cups of Tea 2123 - 2126

Hello there all! It is I, the boy who has been very unproductive today...

Such is life I suppose! After a day or two of making some designs I'm quite proud of, today was the start of my 'eat healthy' and 'run daily' kick, and it's left my body in a bit of a sugar coma. I've cut the sugar out of my tea, gone back down to skimmed milk and been eating a shit tone of  fruit and veg. I am not used to this nutrition, thus my mind is without sugar, and like the TUC, considering strike action.

So I took the day, post run / food shopping, reading a wicked book by Andy Clarke called 'Hard Boiled Web Design'. The book published by Five Simple Steps (who are Mark Boulton's publishing company - damn, I really wish I'd got that job now I'm into web...), and focuses on the debate of why we should be using HTML 5 and CSS3 now, as apposed to waiting until the W3C deems it as completed (Which, according to the book, will be around 2022).

The books is a nice, light read, filled with my kind of humor (as you can probably tell from the title, the book is filled with Pulp Crime / Film Noir references and at times, in the dialect of a 30/40's detective)! It gets to its point pretty quickly and from there, begins to break down the reasons why we as designers need to champion HTML 5 / CSS3 now to allow for an exciting web.

The most important lesson in the book so far (I'm only 90 or so pages in at the time of posting), is the emphasis that websites absolutely DO NOT need to look the same in each browser. While certain brands may require this, Clarke states that these slight shifts in the display habits and capabilities of browsers, should be embraced as a form of creativity, allowing for a more defined user experience (after all, different kinds of people use different kinds of browsers).

Now I've kinda come to terms with the fact that HTML only dictates to a browser what a page should look like, which was a silly hard thing for me to get used to. I'm a print designer, I like the level of control. But to embrace these differences as a higher level of creativity, well that just sounds like the right thing to do.

Suffice to say, I'm edging over to the dark side of web design, and as am such, am going to try to find a placement doing it if a certain dream job doesn't come off. I'll give the book a full review when I'm done, but from what I've read so far, it's defiantly worth picking up!

Other than that, something to watch and be inspired by is this! The Museum of Obsolete Objects, a youtube channel which I think is pretty damned funky! It's designed by German Digital Agency Jung von Matt/Next. It's an appreciation of (and almost a digital tomb too...) those objects and devices of yesteryear that have been replaced or improved upon by advances in technology. Why it's a youtube channel / the mechanical whisk (I bought one a few months back and still use it...) is in there, I know not. But it's still a pretty funky idea anyways. That's the second time I've used funky (now third...) in this paragraph, so it must be so!

Anyways, time for bed... I promise there'll be a more productive day with physical work tomorrow. That is of course, unless my brain holds me hostage until I resume putting 2 sugars in my tea...

M x

Cups of Tea 2118 - 2122

Good Evening Chaps and Chapesses! I made that word up apparently as spellchecker went nuts...

So first off, I feel like an idiot! For those who looked at the image of the new blogger, there's a reason that page looked like a HTML editor, that's because it IS the HTML editor for the blog! I feel like a right numpty... Following yesterday's theme of taking pictures of the UI while typing, here goes! The REAL new blogger...

Unfortunatly, I now have to switch back and forth between the 'Compose' and 'HTML' option to insert a bloody picture... -sigh-
Anyways, as promised! The new flyer I did today, isn't that fun! For an up and coming gig at London's Bull and Gate, I like it! Though I did prefer my original moon, I wasn't happy with it's Res, so had to redo it... oh well, you live and learn!

Short of that, I've been playing around with grids and mindmaps etc. of Rundown, which I may even have a draft of tomorrow :o Who knows! I shall have to see how the day goes... Hopefully will record the first new Episode of Twoddle tomorrow too, then edit / upload it on Thursday or Friday :) However, this will be the NEW #001! The old two will be deleted when it's uploaded! So if you want to listen me babble crap, go download them while you can!

And on that note, it's time for a workout, a fresh cuppa and then to bed.  Nighty night!

M x

Cups of Tea 2111 - 2117

Hello Hello lovely people! Bare with me... I've just switched over to the new Blogger layout and it's... alright, I guess? The break down of traffic etc. is a very nice feature to have, but I'm not to sure about this posting screen... For those not on blogger, I'll take a sneaky screen grab!

As you can see, it's very google plus in its minimalism. Some would even say there's a little bit TOO much white space, but hell, I've been staring at TextWrangler for the last week, so it just looks like a plain text editor to me! For those with a fastidious, I literally took that then... Improvised blogging man, it's like freeform jazz... Though a nice feature that's been missing for awhile, is that pictures now appear at the cursor point, and aren't automatically placed at the top of the post! Now Google, just give me some sweet customization options and the ability to host this on my own server, and we'll be the best of friends!

Anyways, enough about blogger. I've been setting affairs in order for the most part today, emailing sources for freelance and scribbling down some rough page layouts, I did get a litttle bit of graphic design done for an up coming project, the logo for what I hope to be working on for the next few weeks! And while I shall reveal the logo and it's name now, what it is for now at least, will be a secret :) Though don't worry to much, I plan on working on it tomorrow afternoon after some freelance, so I'm sure it'll pop up on here sometime this week :)

But other than that, I've been whiling away the weekend by listening to Never Not Funny's new Podcast, Rock Solid. I say new, but it's been kicking around on my iPod since its launch in August, and while I've listened to it passively, I've started to listening to it while running. 'Lulz' and excellent music certainly help take my mind off shitty weather! For those who've listened to Never Not Funny, it's a show with podcast regular Pat Francis and a gentleman by the name of Gary Lucy. The basic premise is just two people talking about music, not in a 'lets analyze the cultural impact of the Bee Gees' way, but in what movie posters tend to describe as a light hearted romp. It's the kind of stuff you talk about to pass the time at work or in predrinks, such as who has the best debut album? Or what's the best Bond Theme? Just me talking about that shit in pre-drinks? No wonder I've got such a bad rep... As the 'NNF presents' would suggest, both of the hosts are ex comics / writers / lovers of music, so it's fun and educational. And by educational, I mean by giving me some new tracks to listen to, which can never be a bad thing. I highly recommend it. A word of warning however, the podcast uses Hockey's Song Away as it's theme tune, and my God, as a result it's been in my head for around a month...

With that in mind, the third episode of the podcast, entitled 'CD Force Feed', saw Mr. Francis and Mr. Lucy give each other an album to listen to that the other hasn't heard, in an attempt to gauge their opinion and hopefully convert them to a fan of that band. While Gary has quite a broad taste in music, Pat is a very big fan of '80s rock (Kiss, Van Halen etc.). Hilarity ensues. So when Pat was given his album, The Black Keyes (Grammy Award Winning) Album, Brothers, Pat was not at all impressed!

"This album is for trust-fund hipsters. The first thing, It was always tough for me to get past the 'oh look how cute and clever we are album cover. This is an album by The Black Keys, this album is called brothers'. (Gary - That's a nice Cooper font.) And on the back it says, These are the songs on the album and these are the guy's that aren't very good in the band." Pat Francis.

So naturally, I couldn't resist but to do an album cover spoof for the podcast...

I tweeted it to them and they loved it haha! So go listen imho, you honestly won't regret it :) On that note, I'm off to bed... Got some running to do first thing and then on with some freelance :) Hopefully a new flyer for the folio and a sneak peak at Rundown ;)

M x

Cups of Tea 2102 - 2110

Hello, Hello World. My apologies once again folks, the wonders of working in a house that isn't mine has completely destroyed all my plans for this week. The folks had new windows fitted and as a result, there's been drills, hammers and all sorts of interference and interruptions that have pretty much made the work I wanted to start on most projects neigh on impossible.

But never fear, I'll be making a start on them Monday, as well as the return to regular daily blogging and hopefully weekly podcasting... We shall see how it goes :)

So now that you're up to date, here's an update on the current life and times of Mr. M. S. Boyle, I'm off to bed! Nighty Night!

M x

Cups of Tea 1964 - 2101

Why hello there people of the world! Where have I been you might ask? Well that would be telling, but tell I shall! I'm good like that! As was seen by the wall of orderly sorted-ness in one of my last posts, I've been getting my act together! With a little bit of freelance here, taking some time to write stand up that I didn't get to perform, but more importantly... learning how to code.

HTML, then XHTML, then CSS, now HTML 5 and CSS3. I might even throw in a little bit of Javascript... We'll see how far it goes...

For those who know me well, this might come as a bit of a shock. I was, for a very long time, annoyed at web. Perhaps this might seem a little silly for somebody who wanted to be a Graphic Designer, but when you're a designer who's bread and butter is print based design, where all elements are fully controlled by the designer, down to the tiniest detail, where what you see is what you get, web was a frustration.

This is something I'll cover a little more in the upcoming week when I relaunch Twoddle, but I seriously got annoyed by Web. I'm past that now... Past it so much in fact, that I might have a bit of a crush on web design at the moment! Hence why i've been so methodical in my learning of code (I'm pretty much fluent in the elements I have learned now). So the plan for next week is to begin a total over-hall of Teasigner.com as well as the start of two new semi-daily projects :)

I should have one of them up tomorrow (hey, I'm almost at the end of my second book on html / css, I'm long over due some design!) for your viewing pleasure and more on how that's going to work... I may also design a tumblr to accompany this fine blog o' mine, for the more image conscious of you all :)

Until tomorrow ladies and gents, I shall leave you with this wonderful Etsy product by the user Gnomesweeetgnome, which is further proof that the simplest ideas are the best... it's a tissue box!



M x