Tuesday 29 March 2011

The notebook dilemma partie deux


To choose a more expensive notebook with robust, high-qulity paper or to choose a less-expensive notebook with cheap, flimsy paper that has a 3D image of a dog wearing glasses on the cover.

Tuesday 22 March 2011

The notebook dilemma


To draw on both sides of the page, favouring economy or to draw on one side of the page to prevent ink bleeding through, thus causing the journal or notebook to last half as long.

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Commercial work


The client called me, asking for an illustration. I agreed and he gave me the following brief: "I want an image of a stylised new moon - an illustrated perfect circle - black, with a black drop-shadow with a blending mode of 'Multiply' on a black background. I obliged, and sent him an image of what appeared to be a consistently black square. "Nope" he said, "I can still make out the outline of the new moon and a touch of the drop shadow". "Aha!" I cried triumphantly. "I never made the moon or drop-shadow. What I am giving you is in fact, a consistently black square without a pixel of detail or variation". "Sure" he replied, unfazed by my jubilation and edge of superiority. "But I can still imagine it there, which is altering my ability to see a consistently black square which is ultimately what I'm after". "So essentially you want me to create an image of a stylised new moon - an illustrated perfect circle - black, with a black drop-shadow with a blending mode of 'Multiply' on a black background that also stops you from thinking of or seeing in your mind an an image of a stylised new moon - an illustrated perfect circle - black, with a black drop-shadow with a blending mode of 'Multiply' on a black background that is essentially a consistently black square".


"Exactly. And I want it to be 800 pixels square".

Tuesday 8 March 2011

A neglected blog becomes a blog about neglect

It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you
Without a strong rhyme to step to.
Eric B. and Rakim
October was a long time ago. I'd like to write a piece of software that sits on a web server and as you neglect a site it makes said site grow weeds and go to seed. In order to keep the site in check, you need to constantly update it so you're not so much creating content but gardening. Neglect begats neglect. It's like when you forget someone's name and you leave it for too long and pass beyond the threshold of asking their name again. You should know, right?

By way of summary, this:

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Stay tuned!

(P.S. The baby's name is Louis Francis Matthews - born on the 25th of November, 2010).