Joy of Type

So I'm in my local supermarket at some late hour and I spot these. Think they look rather interesting - although I can't quite work out what font they are. Still, it should be possible to use them to print very distressed type on something with an interesting texture. I'm always trying to encourage students to look out for and use this kind of stuff. Way too much is done on a screen which shields you from part of the creative process.

Second try at changing a blogger page.

So the first didn't work, so I made some changes.

• Moved name from top to side, doesn't match website (www.steve-spicer.com); but better. May try to match better another day, but not sure I'll continue with Blogger anyway. May self host Wordpress.
• Got rid of the faded star, and moved bugs
• Faded the background to black, thus losing the bottom end. Background has repeat defeated. Really can't stand repeating backgrounds.

• Added animated GIF of me - see how I feel about the little fellow walking continuously in a week's time.
• Changed all the fonts from the defaults to the font I use on main website. 

Note, if you want to have a go at all this you need to be in Blogger's editing mode and have the template tab selected:

After that it's pretty self-explanatory. Beware there are 1000's of variations - and that's before you start editing the HTML

Any thoughts?

Animated Cat

This is a rotoscoped animation based on a Youtube video. For a description of rotoscoping the ever helpful Wikipedia says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscoping

Redesigning a Blogger page.

I got asked last week if you could re-design a Blogger page. The answer is yes, but you may have to dabble with code. Certainly it's easy to change fonts, colours, images and the rest of it. I've experimented here. Not quite sure I like it - plain and simple - rather than my tendency to make things complex is probably what's wanted.

I did this background - which didn't work, so probably it's already been deleted.

An idle moment...

There's a guy called Dave Walker, who I've met a couple of times at greenbelt who has done a series of cartoons called "Cartoon Church" that look at the Church of England. Unlike me, Dave knows two things: firstly he obviously is a very close and shrewd observer of the Anglicans, secondly he can draw very funny cartoons with minimal ink on paper. You can see his work here: http://www.cartoonchurch.com/

I'm just about an anglican, and I can't draw anything that simple. I've tried, but the need to keep adding detail and tints is too important to me. Although the cartoon here was done on a whim, I'm not sure that I'll be able to let it rest. The stained glass window is crying out for colour...

Promotional pieces.

I have had three small promotional pieces I've done recently.

Firstly there was the traditional business card; although mine was a little funky as I used some different materials to make them out of.

Secondly, there were business cards, but business cards with different images on, 15 in all. I let people choose which one they wanted to have The cards themselves were printed on distressed paper; I've been going through a grunge period and this was part of that. I was very pleased with them and only realised later that the distressing was so effective that not everyone realised that this was intentional. A chance remark by one person made me realise that they just looked old and worn out.

The last lot of cards I handed out were A6 sized cards with large images on them. These were clean and bright and the image could be clearly seen. Everyone that I gave one to was told they had been especially printed fir that evening. I managed to hand out 30 cards that evening. The most popular were those with clearly and quickly identifiable images. Another learning point I think.

Branding, one random thought.

Obviously I don't get the concept of branding.

I've just spent a considerable amount of time in a large shopping mall. It was full of brands.

That is to say it was full of logos, trained staff, experiences, promises, points of difference and the rest of the marketing communities flim-flam. What is was short on, or so it appeared was good honest product. Take away the concepts, the logos, the environment and you are left with very similar products (how many different hoodies can you have) of indifferent quality only separated by the "value" that the brand adds and therefore how much you can hoodwink the customer into spending.

Of course, not every familiar brand produces indifferent product. Quite the opposite, many make fine product and the brand is built on that reputation. But for some the brand leads the product and not the other way around and it is there I think the problem may lie. That and brand extension.

Take an example. Harley Davidson make motorcycles. Their motorcycles historically were conservatively built (I speak as an owner for over 30 years) and reliable if maintained and not thrashed. They were also (1) not Japanese, Chinese or Italian, and (2) they were ridden by 'Bikers', outlaws. It was an image that Harley quietly encouraged, but also remained aloof from. In the 90s a generation who had buckled down, made some cash, and was now realising that middle age had crept up decided it wanted a motorcycle. Harley cashed in on their brand and were very successful. Marketeers realised that you could stick HD on just about everything and it would sell, and it appears it did for a while. But when you start selling cheap aftershave (I forget how many people brought that for me) - and forget that beards figure quite a bit - and all the other stuff then you become a parody of yourself.

In the end, without honest products, the brand will be exposed for the valueless component it is. Spending money on branding won't make your organisation better if the base product is just the same as everyone else. Probably your company doesn't need a logo, or image consultants if the product is good. Reorganisation isn't progress.