Writing

With January over, and having completed the month without drinking coffee, so on to February and a far more ambitious challenge.

Growing up, my brother was always the one in our family more interested in American culture. Whilst he followed the NBA and listened to Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan and Eminem, I stood to the National Anthem and worried about Britain’s growing closeness to Europe. America was of little importance to me.

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of an impoverished Indian teen who is one question away from winning the top prize in the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Before such a post becomes embarrassingly late (although I fear we may already have passed such a point) here is a quick run down of what I got up to last year.

Having nothing arranged for New Year’s Eve, meant I wasn’t sure how I would be celebrating the arrival of 2009. Well, not until I heard a conversation on the radio.

The final stop in my four-city tour of the US in October was Washington, D.C.

I briefly encountered Chicago in March, relaxing there for two nights after three long days aboard the California Zephyr. At that time it was a snow covered, cold and blustery city, but I saw enough to want to come back.

The first stop in my four city tour of America was Seattle in the north-western state of Washington. Best known for its iconic Space Needle, it’s perhaps no surprise that I spent most of my time fixated on this slender looking tower.

It’s probably no coincidence that my return to blogging comes while sitting in the departure lounge of Birmingham International Airport.

The California Zephyr is a 56 hour, 2348 mile long train journey that starts in Emeryville, California. After speeding across the deserts of Nevada and Utah, it climbs over the Rocky Mountains, tunnels under the Continental Divide before heading towards its final destination of Chicago’s Grand Union Station.

Influenced by the launch of Britain’s first new television station in almost 20 years, Channel 4, television design in the eighties saw experimentation with computer originated graphics. The graphic style during the nineties was also influenced by the launch of new channels – this time hundreds. The advent of multi-channel television meant the traditional terrestrial broadcasters, who for years had little competition, quickly needed to re-invent themselves, and branding played a key role.

This was written during the research stage of my final major degree project. It’s not intended to be authoritative, yet I feel it is still informative, and highlights a few issues and historical facts I never knew about football and the business it’s become.

The development of graphic design on the Internet, the problems associated with designing for this medium and some of the solutions.

A report published in September 1997 found that Britain’s image abroad was one of a backward looking country. In the eyes of consumers we produced goods of poor quality, while potential tourists saw a country were they would encounter bad weather and shoddy bed and breakfasts. Britain needed a new identity, but the country was unsure where its identity actually lay.

A comparison between the Apple II (1977) and the iMac (1998).

The launch of television in 1936 saw the birth of a medium that could be easily exploited and enhanced by graphic design. However the early story of graphic design in television was one of limited resources and under investment.