Wickedness

Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others - Oscar Wilde.

I have been very good today. Lent camera equipment to a friend; endured the weirdness that comes from sitting in the hospital waiting to have my head xrayed and been shopping in a shop that I've never shopped in which doubled the time it should take. Had an interesting and fulfilling day.

Walking

"All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking" So say Nietzsche.

Artists and writers alike attach great worth to this and celebrate their inspiration derived from taking a stroll. It is a way of giving your time wasting some validity. Yet it does work because I know that I have my best thoughts at that moment when I wake up when my head is clear and my thoughts have free rein.

Henry Thoreau said: "Me-thinks the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow."

Taking a step outside of your normal habits gives room and space for the mind to think things through. We are designed to thrive outside - not at a desk; high ceilings or the sky (even better) prompt unrestrained thoughts; the rhythm beaten out by the sound of our feet hitting the ground brings on a trance-like state which allows for dreams and thoughts to work; our brain functions better when walking - it's the whole multi-tasking thing as long as the two activities are different enough.

The main benefit I can see is that you are getting away from the problem - to step out of the house, or away from the desk, gives you chance to see around the problem; to find the inspiration.

"Going out," John Muir wrote, "was really going in."

Right I'm off out for a walk then :-)

Family Book - update

The Overton Family Book
What a project.

I did say in my FMP blog that I would be working on this over the summer. I have been to see three aunties and an uncle so far to scan their family photos. This has been great fun. I have found images of my Mum and Dad and of me that I had never seen before.

I love this one of Mum in her sexy boots. This is at Auntie Gwen's wedding in 1968.

The big task is to try and find an original un-sun-bleached version of this photograph for the front cover.


It is the only family photograph that has all 13 brother and sisters on it. Usually Norman was behind the camera but in this image Dorothy has taken the photograph so that he can sit down with his brothers and sisters. In the meantime I shall try to see if I can get some of the detail back by tweaking it in photoshop. The best thing to do would be to go and see Uncle Norman and see if he has the negative of the original image.

I have decided that the book should be 10" x 8" but that i shall lay it out landscape rather than portrait. I am going to create it using Blurb software as I had success with that creating my three helvetica books for the FMP.

Linky to the three Helvetica books is to be found here.

Greetings Cards

Have decided that I can make some greetings cards with images I have of Moira that might be of interest to be sold in local outlets. For example the local Post Office, Moira Furnace, Conkers, Tea Shops and Cafes.

I made some prototypes to see how they look all packaged up and decided that the paper quality wasn't good enough. I have ordered some 230gsm paper and that arrived at lunchtime. I will start printing some off ready to take around to outlets.

The feedback so far - from family and friends - is that they are really quite nice. Honest feedback will come from the outlets!

Some of the card images:

Moira Pit Wheel

Sunset over Ashby Canal

Moira Furnace

Weddings

Went to see my Aunt and Uncle yesterday and my Aunt said: "It's a shame you don't live around here".

"Why?" I asked, almost touched.

"Because," she said, "I have 2 work colleagues that are getting married this year".

"Well I'm only an hour away" I said as I handed over 3 or 4 business cards.

Now this is exciting. I shall update my website so that it includes information about weddings and also an idea of pricing just in case people do find their way to my website and want an idea of how much things might cost.

Final Thoughts - 1st July 2010

1st July 2010

The exhibition is down - it's all over.

College has finished I seem to have come out with distrinctions all the way.

Here's hoping for the student loan stuff to sort itself out and for me to be able to start the Digital Media Production Degree in September 2010.

Over the Summer I am going to look for some part-time work, including photography work. Bring it on.

Thoughts - 24th June 2010

24th June 2010

Came into college to see how the exhibition is fairing. Apparently some items have been falling off the walls each night - mostly those that have been stuck to the wall with double sided tape.

My books look well thumbed which is a good thing. A few postcards have been picked up and perhaps one of two of the leaflets but not as many as I had hoped.

Will top up the postcards and leaflets today as I have brought spares in with me.

I have a couple of friends coming in to see the exhibition this evening. Tomorrow I will be bringing in my sister to see it all. I wont be staying at college as there seems to be very little to do apart from play games and I have lots to do which I can better do at home.

On Wednesday (30th June) we are breaking up the exhibition and it is our last day at college on this course. I will need to be here to collect my books and if the holders are still in good condition I will take those home otherwise they will be straight into the bin.

I am now trying to find out more about the University course... when we start... how many days per week... which days... when do we find out if we are getting a student loan... how much do I get...

Over the next 12 weeks I am test trading and getting advice from a business consultant. The summer is going to be fun. I have already opened my Business Account in Ashby.

Thoughts - 18th June 2010

18th June 2010

After bending my 1.5inch brass screws whilst trying to screw them into the concrete like exhibition boards yesterday I decided to stop and wait for advice, help and assistance from Vinny when he had time. Instead I helped by typing up everyone's Artist Statement and helping Jo mount and trim them.

Let all the panic wash over me and went for some lunch. Vinny said that once he had set up the projector he would come with the correct screws to help me attach the book and leaflet holders to the wall. Only 5 hours to go.

I had hoped to have everything on the boards yesterday and today just drop the books and leaflets into place. But the best laid plans will always go kaputt so always best to have a plan B.

Tempers were beginning to fray and not helped by the Health and Safety guy getting involved. "You cant have glass in those frames" was said to a lot of students and people got a little frantic. You would have thought he might have come and given a 20 minute lecture about suitable hangings about 4 weeks ago about the time we were all thinking about how to hang our images - not pontificate on the day we are actually attaching them to the wall. The date of this exhibition is planned at least 6 months in advance so this would not be a difficult thing to organise.

With Vinnys help and the correct screws all my bit and bobs were up and attached in minutes. I dropped the books into the holders and arranged the leaflets and postcards - now its all ready.

I have Val on one side and Mitch on the other and we are all at the top of the stairs near the bridge and the lift.

Had my photo taken next to the stand - wonder if that will end up in he paper?

The evening was incredibly hot and balmy and the fashion show was unbearably hot... note to self don't become a model (ha ha ha).

Lots of people arrived for the preview at 6pm. I was walking around with my 'sex, drugs, helvetica bold' tee-shirt and my helvetica tote bag. It made people smile when they spotted it.

Chris and the Vice-Principal caught up with me to tell me that I had won an award 'best presentation' and my stand had a sticker on it to show it's award.


I didn't know they were doing anything other than Principal's award...but this year they are doing best presentation, most original and Principal's award. The three of us were asked to go to the lecture theatre to have our award presented to us. More photos were taken of us all holding our certificates and I was incredibly chuffed.

Out for a curry at Balti Towers where I had the best poppadoms I have tasted in years! Home about 11.30 and into my bed which felt the most comfortable I can remember after being on my feet for most of the day.

Very happy.

Thoughts - 12th June 2010

12th June 2010

Have been looking through some of the helvetica items I have purchased for this exhibition and realised I have not shown them here. So here goes...

MUG:
BUTTON BADGES:
TOTE BAG:
and my favourite, which I shall wear on the night ....
TEE-SHIRT:

The packaging this tee-shirt came in also offers a stencil of the words shown on the front of the shirt. I might consider stencilling it onto the exhibition stand towards the bottom. Have mocked-up the idea and like it but wondering if the whole stand looks a bit too busy now. But still have a week to decide if I want to drop any items.

Without leaflets and postcards:


With leaflets and postcards in place:

Thoughts - 11th June 2010

11th June 2010

Bought screws and screw caps today and the spray mount yesterday. That is another £16 I've spent - whizz back a few days and add the 16 to the total there.

Plan for next week will be to go into college on Wednesday and see what is going on with the putting up of the panels, see if there is anything that needs doing and find out where my plot is!!! I shall take in the pieces that needs attaching to the wall on Thursday and screw and glue them up. The contents of those items will not be put in place last thing on Friday.

All excitement and fun. I think now that I have little left to do with this I can concentrate on the ideas that the Apricot people have been encouraging me with along with all the work needed on the Overton Family Book that I am producing (the deadline for this is December 2010 - so no immediate rush - but I know it will take forever). mmmm think I'll start a part of this blog devoted to the creation of the book... or perhaps not.

Thoughts - 10th June 2010

10th June 2010

Had a chat with Vinny about the attaching everything to the wall questions. Spray mount is the best solution for the 2 posters and I shall trim them accordingly when they are on the wall. They will be impossible to trim before then. Although College might have some screws for me to use as well as screwdriver/drill - I think I will go to B&Q or Wickes (helvetica) and buy my own screws and also put my drill on charge - that way I can do what I need to do in my own time when I am ready and not have to join a queue of 30 for the use of a screwdriver.

Thoughts - 9th June 2010

9th June 2010

Collected final poster today. I have the choice of two and one is definitely better than the other - the colours are more true so I shall use that copy.

Got the chance to show Pete the books and how I'm going to lay everything out - he was impressed.

So far all my family and friends that I have shown everything to have been impressed. I secretly think they all think I am a nut job but I have enjoyed doing this.

Need to think about how I am putting the items onto the exhibitions space....glue, nails, screws, paste... I shall speak to Vinny tomorrow and see what he thinks the best solutions might be.

Thoughts - 5th June 2010

5th June 2010

Yesterday the first poster was printed. Tried the black on white one first to make sure everything was OK.

When I get this home I shall have a good look at it to make sure I am happy with it. It may need trimming because I think the paper is 841mm wide which is too wide for both posters. The black and white one need only be 304mm and the colour abc poster needs to be 594mm so I will need to do some trimming at some point.

Thoughts - 4th June 2010

4th June 2010

The books have arrived.

Oh my - Am I pleased or what.

They are blooming gorgeous.

They are stunning.

I am so glad I had already used Blurb before because I learnt alot from doing that and I think these books are better for it. They look great in their book holders and the business card holders with the new buisiness cards in look really good too and balance the whole asterisk thing.

Am taking all the component parts around with me to show people to ensure I have got it all spot on and see if people have other ideas.

So far the feedback is nothing but great.

Have a look at the Ashby Book here:

www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1377584

Have a look at the Burton book here:

www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1377604

Have a look at the Cardiff Book here:

www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1377626

I have made it so you can preview every single page - so please go have a look and if you feel so inclined - purchase.

Thoughts - 1st June 2010

1st June 2010

Things have been arriving in the post - all coming together. I received an email saying that the books had been shipped - excitment.

Chester trip was fantastic - it was very refreshing not having to look for helvetica all the time but I was noticing it. Chester is lovely; the views across to North Wales; the way you can walk around the entire city centre on the walls and without having to deal with trafffic; how close to the river it is and found out the river is tidal. Photographs were good. I will process them and put them onto website. Which now that FMP work is almost done I should concentrate on to make sure it stays up-to-date.

Went and set up a business account ready for setting up my business - very exciting too! Too much excitment in my life.

Favourite photograph of stained glass window from Cathedral. Ethereal.

Spent a good couple of hours entering the Open Here photography competition. I also set up a database so that I can keep an eye on all the comps I enter and where all the money goes. Some of these are not cheap.

Thoughts - 25th May 2010

25th May 2010

I have rather enjoyed doing this and will miss it. I think I am a project manager at heart - and why I was so good at my last job. Over the weekend I went through some old school books that my dad had removed from his lot. I found lists and diaries and more lists. I cannot understand why I was never encouraged to become a librarian. If I can find a way of being a project manager, a photographer, a librarian then I think I would be happy... is that role a gallery curator? I need to find out.

Things will not slow down really for me as over the summer I intend to work on the 'Overton Family' book that I am creating.

Thoughts - 24th May 2010

24th May 2010

Books had their final proof over the weekend. This morning I sent them to Blurb. Total cost £67.62. I can only have them on standard paper as the page count is over 160. I think I have slightly misunderstood something about the Blurb pricing - but none-the-less it should all be OK.

Created, uploaded and ordered 50 business cards from Moo. Total cost £15.99. I have used 14 different images from the books on the reverse side of the cards and this image on the other side.

I will display them in the business card holders and the use of the asterisk will tie in with the asterisk on the front covers of the books.

I have been asked many time times "Why does it say Helvetica* - what does the asterisk mean?" so with this at the bottom of the books it will now make sense.

The books and business cards should arrive before 2nd June - wow that is only about a week - these guys are fast.

FedEx redelivered the items from Euroffice and they look great. Seeing the DL leaflet holders reminds me that I have thought about creating a leaflet to encourage people to purchase things. I shall work on that over the next couple of weeks

Posters will be printed shortly - so everything is done as far as it can be until the exhibition spaces are created.

I am going to carry on with my blog right up to preview night - but this is as far as I can go as far as my sketchbook is concerned.

Thoughts - 27th May 2010

27th May 2010

Ordered loads more stuff just to make sure I have chucked as much as possible as I can to this project. Very excited about it all arriving and putting it all together. I now have a business card holder for each book so that the asterisk idea is on each one. I have created a 'story of helvetica' postcard and ordered 60 from Moo. I have also created a helvetica timeline which I might print off myself as a postcard. I reorganised the helvetica items for sale leaflet and ordered some double sided paper from ink2paper and I will print those off myself. I asked at the college shop if they did colour copying to get them printed at college as all the online places I tried do not do short run orders. The college shop said "Yes we do colour copying - but not for students." Well that surprised me, I shall take my business elsewhere. The college shop can do the posters too but it will be on photo quality paper and charged by the metre at £7.69 for gloss on 195gsm and £5.49 for matt on 120gsm.

Decided to list all the items I had purchased to complete this project - I will share them here ....

67.62 Blurb books

15.99 Business cards

24.98 Vinyl holders

44.50 Helvetica products to resell

20.00 Tee shirt

62.34 Printer Ink

60.00 Trip to Cardiff

28.64 Postcards

13.00 Double sided paper

I also bought 3 books about helvetica and the blue ray disc of the film was bought as a Christmas present.

TOTAL COST around £350.00

I am hoping that some items will be purchased at the show and that will help re-coup some of the costs.

Thoughts - 21st May 2010

21st May 2010

Into college for morning to share out the winnings from Chev competition around with rest of team. Arrived 8.30am to be told they cannot open up rooms early anymore because of an 'incident' yesterday neither can we stay in classroom to work through breaks or lunch. I like coming into class less and less.

Need to see if college shop can print the 2 posters. 1212mm x 304mm and 1212mm x 594mm and how much that might cost. Also my mate has a plot plan printer which I can use for free but need to check out the quality of the paper. The posters do not need to be robust or fancy as I want it to be like wallpaper, pasted to the wall and have the book holders screwed through it. Paper quality is less of an issue and I do not want to keep it after the event. Only thing I want after the event is the books and the holders. Will get a sample of the paper to see what it is like.

Had a tutorial which comprised Steve sitting and reviewing where I had got to. He has suggested that I think about getting specific business cards created that match the whole exhibition - this is something I had thought about and I still have time to do it. They would look good. He also suggested perhaps having a website that shows off the helvetica work link it to my own website. I could create a helvetica project gallery within my galleries but I do not think I want to create a whole new website. I know I do things fast and love being busy but I know that once the FMP work is out of the way I have to get on with creating my business plan. I therefore do not think I will be doing new website as I need time to concentrate on that this weekend.

Home to see if Mr Love has sent me his words and there was a FedEx 'sorry we missed you' card - think the book holders have arrived. They are re-delivering them on Monday morning.

2pm

Text has arrived from Mr Love - it is perfect. Brilliant. Right now I can complete books do final proof and send them off this evening.

4pm

Preface now added to all three books. Had a final proof read and have updated/amended about half a dozen pages. Will leave it for half an hour and then have a final look through before sending books.

Mr Love would like a copy of a book. I think the best thing to do would be to send him an image of the exhibition once it is up and ask him which of the three books he would like. And perhaps I can get another set printed up then.

Thoughts - 20th May 2010

20th May 2010

Working out how the exhibition stand will work now that I have changed the look/design of the books and the imagery. Had confirmation that the space will be 7 feet by 4 feet 2133mm deep x 1212mm wide. Now I have this I can decide how to lay things out.

The top poster (helvetica*) needs to be 304mm deep x 1212mm wide and the a b c posters need to be A2. I printed out shapes to scale to see how all the component parts would work together. Decided that I need to have more control over the letters because it is important that they sit on the same baseline and if I am sticking 3 posters onto a wall they will not follow the same line. Created the a b c as one poster and this will need to be 594mm deep x 1212mm wide.

Need to source options on where to get two large posters like this printed - costings and timescale.

Contacted Mr Love and said if I do not have his words before 2pm I would be sending the books to the printers without his preface. He replied saying could I wait until tomorrow morning as he was in London - I said yes. I will go into college in the morning and then go home to deal with Mr Love's words and create the pages for the book and then send the books to Blurb.

Ordered the acrylic holders 3 x A4 book holder; 2 x business card holder; 2 x DL leaflet holder.

Realised preview night (18th June) is 4 weeks away. I thought it was 3 - so now I have less panic. Blurb can take 2 weeks so I don't mind waiting for Mr Love. His original deadline was 10th May ... it's all about man management and you have to build in tine for people to miss deadlines. It is the hardest part of any project to deal with the intangibles.