Work, music and holidays

Busy, busy, busy... that's what I've been lately. Which is great. Hope it stays that way. Actually it will definitely stay that way for the next six weeks or so, what with it being the school holidays. It definitely adds an extra dimension of complexity to the working day when you have a young daughter requiring attention, but its a nice problem to have. It means there will be enforced breaks from the computer screen too, which will be welcome, and also a couple of breaks away from home, starting with this weekends Deer Shed Festival in North Yorkshire. I'm really looking forward to it - I do like my festival fix each summer and this one sounds like a lovely family-friendly, chilled out affair. Despite the fact that we don't get there until Saturday, it's already started well, as I won a Deer Shed hoodie in a competition this week. Fab! I'll be suitably branded when onsite then!

There has been a flurry of graphic design activity with York Test Laboratories (in York) this month with a swathe of mailers coming through the studio (a selection are pictured above) - they are always nice things to work on too.

As well as that I have been helping out at Kariba in Harrogate, and continue to work with Acceleris MC, also in Harrogate, and Bradfern in Oldham. Oh and I've created a logo and collateral for Red Cat Property in Harrogate as well. One of the 'To Let' boards is shown here, so look out for them dotted around Harrogate and the surrounding area.






















Almost as important as the work I've been doing is the tunes I've been listening to. This week, Fleet Foxes' 'Helplessness Blues', Gruff Rhys (who I saw at Harrogate Theatre this Monday playing a suitably brilliant, unpredictable, funny and unique gig. He's a talented fella, that man), Thievery Corporation and Death in Vegas.

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Glastonbury (I should be there).

It's been a funny old week this one. The week felt odd to start with on Monday. There was graphic design work to do, quotes to submit and the usual marketing jobs to done, but something didn't quite feel right. And then I realised. It's Glastonbury week and I wasn't going to be there. I don't go every year by any means but me, my wife and young daughter went last year and the year before and it feels wrong not to be there this year. Oh I know it's going to rain and get muddy, but I was there in 2007 when it was like a monsoon for the entire weekend and still had a brilliant time (although admittedly I didn't have my daughter there that year as she was only one at the time).

I know I can catch it all on TV and the radio (in fact I'm tuning in as I type) but I don't know whether that makes me feel better or worse about not being there. I hear there are already folk whining about the appearance of U2 (but when is there not whining about the appearance of a particular headliner or lineup) but the festival is so much more than just about the live music. Since we started taking our daughter, I've seen less and less live bands but had a better and better time, as I get to see stuff I otherwise never would have (and I can remember what I saw when I get home too, which is always a bonus!).

As the festival takes a break next year it means the earliest opportunity to go back there is 2013, but I'm gonna do my best to make sure we are all there then. There really is no place like it. To soften the blow of missing it this year, we are going to attend Deer Shed Festival in North Yorkshire next month, which I am looking forward to. Oh and Gruff Rhys at Harrogate Theatre too.

Still, this week the likes of OCS, Beaucare and new clients Red Cat Property and Bradfern have kept me busy and means that Howabout Creative Solutions continues to produce a varied portfolio of graphic design work for clients regional and national.

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KierTalk

It's been a few weeks since the last blog from Howabout Creative Solutions in Harrogate and that is largely due to the busy work schedule recently. I have been working on a variety of interesting design projects for a variety of both regional and national clients. It has certainly meant long hours, but really that's what gives me a buzz - I do love what I do.

One project that has really been fun to work on has been 'KierTalk' (with Charley Durham from Acceleris), the newsletter for Kier Building Maintenance. It's a 16 page tabloid magazine, and I've picked it up (from a graphic design point of view) at issue 7. Although the client considered implementing a 'design development' from the existing look (and liked the visuals I produced) it was decided that, for the sake of continuity, to run with the established look. However, that didn't mean there wasn't room for creative thinking and with that in mind I tried to inject some new design ideas into the layout. Headline fonts had a punchier look, pictures interacted more with the text, and graphic devices introduced to highlight facts and figures. The end was result was well received by both Kier and Acceleris which is great news and means that a really good platform has been established for the next issue.

Of course a few killer tunes have helped the creative process and what better way to choose the tunes by picking random letters from the alphabet. Wednesday was brought to me by the letter 'S' - Sisters of Mercy, Smiths, St Etienne, Stooges, Stranglers, Super Furry Animals and Seasick Steve, while Thursday featured 'P' - Penguin Café Orchestra, Primal Scream, PiL, Public Enemy, Polyphonic Spree, Police and Prodigy. I think like this way of choosing my tunes.

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Bit more Inspiration

As promised from the last blog, I have attached a few 'live' photos from Acceleris's 'Inspiration Station' room in all it's glory. The results look even better now that the furniture is in place too, particularly as some of the colours from the graphics are picked out in the colour of the tables, stools and bean bags. It's nice to see the room being well used by folk as well - and there's even a quick poker lesson laid out on the blackboard wall - brilliant!!

Other work continues apace including one or two other projects for Acceleris (including a nice chunky tabloid magazine) and some new projects for Beaucare Medical.

I've also had the opportunity to work with my old mate Mark Frudd (http://www.markfrudd.com/) on a project, which has been nice. He's a very talented illustrator and is creating a gorgeous map of Harrogate to drop into a supplement for Acceleris. If you get the chance, I'd highly recommend checking out his stuff.

Inspirational music on the Howabout hifi recently has largely been provided by The Pogues, The Charlatans, Nick Drake, The Libertines and Dinosaur Jr. Niiiiice

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Inspiration Station

Creativity continues apace at Howabout Creative Solutions in Harrogate, and recently my graphic design exploits have seen me tackle some large format designs for Acceleris Marketing Communications (based in Harrogate town centre). I was asked to help make a slightly plain breakout room a little more inspiring and thought provoking for the staff. Somewhere they could take a break, eat their lunch, brainstorm ideas, and was generally more welcoming than the existing room.

A meeting with Peter Davenport resulted a nice free-thinking brief for me, with a free-reign to be creative. We wanted to room to be both engaging and interactive. The approach was to have a mixture of interesting typography, more sympathetic lighting and areas where staff could display thoughts and ideas. We decided a good solution would be a corkboard for pinning, well anything really... nice flyers, postcards, magazine articles, bits of packaging - anything. This was surrounded with appropriate words in the form of a word cloud ('Liked It', 'Blogged It', 'Tweeted It', 'Shared It' etc) and the results looked really effective.

Another wall was given a blackboard paint treatment for the 'old-school' way of communicating ideas. I thought it would make a nice contrast to the modern day method of using computers/email/twitter/blogs to get ideas across. A bit more typography skirting the blackboard wall with a nice branch silhouette image (a nod towards the notion of acorns to great oaks) made for a black/white contrast (with a touch of zingy green too) that worked well.

Appropriate quotes adorned another wall and the window, with a nice wave illustration across one of the large window panes. The wave had an added (and unexpected) bonus of casting a brilliant shadow across the window sill when the sun shone.

Funky ball lights, a floor lamp and some wire frame wall art completed the designs, and I was delighted with the results. Peter sourced some brightly coloured bean-bags, stools and other bits and pieces of furniture and hopefully the transformation is now complete (I haven't yet seen the furniture in situ).

What I have attached here are the visuals we worked from. They are pretty accurate to the finished article, and as soon as I can I will photograph the finished room and post the photos here. It was a great graphic design project to be involved in, really enjoyable and I got a great buzz from it. I think it was because of the fairly instant nature of it - the results came together quickly and I could see the whole concept developing over the course of 24 hours. I love it when a plan comes together!

(Music on the day of installation was provided by an eclectic mix of Jesus and Mary Chain, Beach Boys, Libertines, Chemical Brothers, Gorillaz, Nirvana, Beatles and The Clash). Well, you can't work in total silence can you!?

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Another busy week, Deer Shed and just stuff

I'm pleased to say it's been non-stop on the graphic design front recently. I've been doing some really exciting stuff for Acceleris in Harrogate, as well as exhibition stands and marketing material for YorkTest Laboratories. Add to that the continuing branding work for Elegant Interiors (also of Harrogate) and pitching for a variety of new work and its meant there are often not enough hours in the day.

Tomorrow brings a rare day out of the office, as a quick dash to The Lakes is required before I'm back in front of the Mac on Friday.

Last weekend's weather was amazing (hopefully a sign of things to come) and we took full advantage with a brilliant picnic with friends in Valley Gardens (always reminds me of Hampstead Heath in miniature, that place).

Continuing the kiddie friendly theme, I must remember to buy tickets for the fab sounding Deer Shed festival, which bills itself as a family friendly festival. The past two years have seen us make the pilgrimage to Glastonbury, which my daughter loves (wish I'd done my first festival aged three!) but as that isn't an option this year, Deer Shed seems like a worthy substitute.

Anyway, hopefully the next blog post will have a few tasters of the graphic design bits I have been working on, but for now they are under wraps.

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Work, Wharfedale, Weekends

Hello Monday... it's been a really busy couple of weeks for Howabout Creative Solutions and we have been putting our graphic design skills to good use in and around Harrogate, Wetherby and Tockwith.

I have been working on location at Creative Farm, Kariba and Wish Agency as well as continuing to work with the wonderful Acceleris Marketing Communications and creating a new logo for Elegant Interiors (interior design) in Harrogate. On top of that, work continues with YorkTest Laboratories and Clive Sutton cars. And that's just the way I like it - keeping busy, making brilliant new contacts and working on a host of graphic design projects.

Yesterday was a lovely day too - not only celebrating Mother's Day with my beautiful wife and daughter, but also my wife's birthday too. We took a drive up to Burnsall in Wharfedale and then walked by the river to Appletreewick for a nice pub lunch. I love Appletreewick - the views from the Craven Arms pub are magnificent and the cruck barn there is gorgeous. It tickles me that Appletreewick is where Ben Kelly hails from as well - the designer who created in the interior of the legendary Hacienda club in Manchester. From a quaint Dales village to the steel, glass and iron interior of an inner city club. Amazing!

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