It is with tear-filled eyes I type this final fairwell to all things Blogger. Things weren't working out between us that great and when I found out Blogger was posting stuff on the internet with my best-friend, well, enough was enough.
Please find my new and improved blog here. 
Thanks for the goodtimes Blogger.

Good as Gold

Keeping with the theme of logos-that-I-have-done-recently is this little beauty for the boys down at Chalice. I quite like it; the simple colour scheme, open spacing, vague mining reference and the dynamic and useful motif. Almost makes me look like I know what I am doing.

Computer Luv'n

Another logo. I likes it. But not as much as these guys like computers.

New Logo: Connect360

Probably one of the better logos I've done recently, this one here is for a company called Connect360 which I did through my day job at Trilogy Advertising & Marketing.

Connect360 are a company that develop software of a similar nature to Skype, but of a much better quality and with a more 'business' approach. Once I know their landing page is up, I'll add a link to it for anyone who is interested.

eFolio

As the countdown to the demise of my old website continues, grab a copy of my eFolio. It's the only part of the website I'm still quite proud of it and it's not actually part of the website. You can now find it on Issuu.

I Hate My Old Website

With that in mind, here's a picture of it. Just letting anyone and everyone out there (you four people who actually read this in other words) know that I'm working away on a new site that might even be good. Don't want to get you hopes up, but it won't be as bad as the last one.

Hannah Raising Fun... and Money

My friend Hannah is putting on a fundraiser and sure, it will be fun, but it's also for a good reason too. Basically, Hannah is skipping country, from dry, clean, safe Australia to the also steamy, dirty and dangerous Cambodia.

Why? Is she that obsessed with Rambo she want to go re-enact some scenes? Are banana prices getting too high in Western Australia? Does she have a thing for stir-fried cat? Maybe some of these are true, but the biggest reason is so she can help empower and heal young girls who have been exploited by the cruel industry of sex trafficking in the wake of massive civil war. Hannah has a massive heart for social justice and will spend a year over there living out of her own pocket.

As a result, she is fundraising by putting on a sweet event which I got to do posters for.

She's also a terrific artist and the art she sells helps her do what she does, so if you want to help her out. Do something you lazy slacker.

http://www.hannahhashope.com

2008 Graphic Portfolio: Part 1

Another one from the archives, these are dividers for the sections on my printed portfolio. I'd either this portfolio important meetings or potential clients or, more likely, show people at the pub . Sometimes it ended up being both.

Instead of sliding these babies into a plastic binder I glue bound all the sheets together and then bound them again into an old UK street directory from the 1950's. It was falling apart and I picked it up for a few bob in one of the best charity shops I've ever walked into in a place called Luton. Probably the only redeemable feature of the little, grey town. But, I'll try show that in a future blog. Partly for suspense and partly because it's in a cupboard at the moment.

Youth Alive - All of the Above

One of my first real album covers, back in 2004. The white was silver foiled and it looked quite pretty.

I Care Revolution

Apparently getting stabbed, bullied, abused or victimised aren't as much fun as Fiddy Cent makes out in his songs. Luckily, some bright young sparks have picked up this and want to do something about these sorts of issues in London and the UK, please welcome to the stage, the I Care Revolution.

No, the I Care Revolution aren't a bunch of colourful, fuzzy bears who solve problems but blasting light from their tummies, but instead a group of young, talented, focused fellas and ladies who think that doing something is good idea. Working mainly in schools using music, media and their good looks, the team are really starting to see some headway in changing some mindsets about the way teenagers treat each other. It's something I would like to become a lot more involved in.

Now you may think what's a bunch of young punks in London got to do with me, but I metaphorically encourage you at knifepoint to check out their some of their short films and their website, which are so cool you could keep a side of beef fresh on them for a month...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyEOz94q5tk&feature=player_embedded
http://www.icarerevolution.com/

Cameron Kim Jonas

You know, some people find it hard to cope with being famous. But not me. Instead I like to rock it out with my brothers. Or even write a few deep and meaningful tunes about my girl problems. At the end of the day I'm just your ordinary teenager who just wants party with one of the dudes. 

Keep it real,

CKJ

4th Wall Productions

My friend Harry has a very unique business ethos, one that I think, helps 'dodge' the problems of modern business. It first involves a complex series of checks to make sure any uneccessary work doesn't get done. Putting something on a 'to-do' list is a complete waste of time, so sometimes a 'filter' needs to be 'applied'. In Harry's case the 'factors' to examine before doing something include;

• Will the task be excessively challenging?
  
• Will the task encroach on any potential recreational benefits?
  
• Does it really need to be done today?
  
• Yeah. But, does it really?
  
• Is it lunchtime yet?

Once these questions have been 'tackled', it's from here that he really make a decision whether 'to' go forward with a 'project'. And' it's not just in the 'decision making' that Harry's methodology's are 'unique'. His project briefing also adopts original 'solutions'. Take for instance the brief for the design above, which was worded "Hey man, we need a funky logo. Hurry up". To some, it may seem a 'lazy' and 'vague' brief, but once you discount this reasoning and look beyond the surface you can see just how clever the design brief actually is. A man as busy as Harry doesn't need to waste time meshing out 'unnecessary' details, and instead encapsulates only the very, very important specifics. Extra 'words' and 'information' wouldn't give direction, but rather take it away. It's not laziness, but actually a disguised genius. Harry doesn't do 'business talk', he 'talks business.'

On a serious note, the guys are at 4th Wall in Manchester are a really a talented bunch, including Harry, and it was a pleasure to work on their logo recently. The interia of the logo can be swapped in and out creating a very flexible, yet still recognisable logo. Perhaps, they do a nature documentary and for this they can swap the inside of the logo with leaves or something like that. It's like a logo that never gets boring. Well, that was my reasoning. Once they get their new website up and going I'll post a link below.

The Elusive 'Cool'

What is cool? Whenever I work out what cool is, it moves. Like a bandana wearing leopard suddenly leaping away into the dark and morphing into cliché. It's an endless chase. Is the word 'cool' cool? Probably not. Should I hang onto it until it becomes cool again? Again, probably not. Are blogs cool? Certainly not. Is fashion cool? Broadly speaking and by definition, yes. So are fashion blogs, cool? It's that grey area where cool could be hiding. Perhaps they now just clichéd? Meaning they were once cool, but then got overcooled and are now uncool. Skulls for instance, was once an integral part of 2007/2008 fashion with the ability to turn an ordinary shirt into an amazing, friend-winning, door-opening wardrobe centre piece. But now every second shirt in supermarkets from here to south-east Asia has at least one slapped on the front.

Somewhere there must be some kind of board that tallies up what is cool and what isn't. Some kind of stock exchange that gains and looses points as things get cool and uncool. Constantly changing and moving yet still keeping a definite record of exactly how cool something is. Today I would have watched in awe as Eminem stocks dropped and Sacha Baron Cohen's drastically rose over last nights MTV Awards. But then again, knowing exactly what is cool probably means is not cool anymore.

Ghosts

When I was a kid, I really wanted to call the Ghostbusters. I was pretty young and from seeing the movie I couldn't quite work out if they were real or not. I mean, the ghosts looked real, then they had the newspapers and all the publicity on the movie. So I thought that was real. And then, at the end they have them doing a parade through New York with all the people celebrating. All this added up to it being real. One hundred percent real. I just figured that sort of thing didn't happen in our city.

I never worked out the difference between documentary and film when I was young. Cartoons I knew weren't real, but live action film? Who knows? I had the same problem with Degrassi High. Are these actors or are they stalking kids with camera's. Sports films I often thought were real too and I really hoped Doctor Who wasn't real. But at least I knew Wrestling wasn't real. 

Staines; Home of Ali G

To celebrate me doing a wonderful poster for him, Pete McAllen will be supporting some bloke called David Gibb at the Hobgoblin in Staines. The beautiful scenery of the area might be familiar to movie-goers as its the back drop to the thought provoking movie, Ali-G in DaHouse. Should be a good night, unless of course you're deaf or you hate Pete. If either of these are the case, then avoid being at The Hobgolin, in Staines on Sunday the 19th of April.

www.petemcallen.com