Notes

Drying out (figuratively and literally) in Redditch, a new town with a shopping mall at its centre, surrounded by a ring road built to confuse the motorist. Plenty here to excite the likes of Kevin Turvey.

I love a good wedding, not least one in which the live music is provided by an uncanny David Bowie tribute act that does a sideline in Larry Grayson impressions. Bizarre. Anyway, congratulations Lewis and Sarah!

Held my first session mentoring another designer today. Felt good to pass on the fruits of 15 years experience in the field.

Boarding the 15:30 LNER service to King’s Cross signals the end of my week-long adventure up north. Returning inspired and invigorated, thoughts turn to when I can make a return visit.

Emil Nolde’s colourful expressionist work appeals to my aesthetic sensibilities. Yet his anti-Semitic views and support for the Nazis (who deemed his art to be degenerative) make him hard to admire. It’s that age old quandary; can you separate art from the artist?

Out of five backpacks emerged a story about loss and acceptance, told via the fantastically analogue medium of shadow play. Touching, humorous and inventive, @TheBackpackEns’s The Search for a Black-Browed Albatross was an unexpected joy.

The Edinburgh Fringe is a victim of its own success. With so much on offer, audiences face a paradox of choice. Sat in a coffee shop at the Pleasance Dome unsure what to see, I was given a spare ticket to The Search for a Black-Browed Albatross. Problem solved.

Walking west along Princes Street, I make my way through the throng of festival goers and find myself drawn to the sun drenched Old Town and the cragged rock upon which the castle sits. A squeal of train brakes emanates up from where once was – and seemingly could still be – a loch. There are few places quite as architecturally, topographically and culturally rich as Edinburgh. I love this city.

Applied Trigger’s broom philosophy towards the upgrade of my phone. Same phone, but replaced its battery and case. As good as new!

Having seen the first episode of Mark Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema in which Kermode deconstructs the romcom, finally sat down to watch the modern archetype of the genre, When Harry Met Sally. Think I’ll do the same with the other episodes in this series, too.

While tonight’s result is disappointing, I doubt the agony will live as long in the memory as that felt after England’s semi-final exit from Euro ’96. I guess penalties will do that to you.

At the start of this campaign, you’d have taken going to extra-time in a semi-final. Proud of the Three Lions. Our boys are coming home.

We’re singing for England, Eng-ger-land 🎶 It’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming, football’s coming home 🎶

The curse has been lifted!!! All is forgiven @ITVSport. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🦁🦁🦁

I have not enjoyed this game. So far.

England deserve to win this. England can win this. But will England win this?

Round of applause to @ThreeUK for selling HomeFi routers that are not locked to their network. Made it much it easier to sell mine now that it’s no longer needed. 👏🏻

Blimey.

Question for @aarron after watching his presentation at UX London: how do we prevent storytelling from becoming propaganda? When does building an internal culture become indoctrination? Plenty of examples to suggest this is often the result.

Fantastically helpful and informative @guardianclasses with @wstorr; just the right amount of insight, inspiration and encouragement I was hoping for. I can do this!

Today, I dip my toes into the world of journalism, prompted by a little side-project I have in mind. Can’t wait to see where this journey takes me.

Presentations from some of my recent talks can now be found on @benotist. Excited about the service @drewm and @rachelandrew are building here; it has the potential to be a fantastic resource for speakers and conference organisers alike.

I came for the alternatives to Google Analytics, but stayed for the oblique comedic reference 😂

With a client project briefly on hiatus, I’ve been using my free time to think about a proper redesign of my website. Looking at the 404 page – priorities! – I thought it was probably time to bring back this guy. You’ve been missed, little fella.

The Beauty of Transport is such a compelling read. @danielhwright’s latest article goes into fantastic detail about the sadly short-lived identity for Rail express systems, a programme I distinctly remember poring over as a 12-year-old train livery geek. So, so good.

The Birmingham Design Festival is shaping up to be a great event. The Renew/Rebuild discussion is of particular interest; especially relevant when many of Birmingham’s brutalist buildings have been demolished in recent years. Such a shame I’ll be on holiday when it’s on.

Watched Isle of Dogs. A fun yet timely story. An inventive example of stop-motion animation. A beautiful piece of graphic design. A work of art. A visual feast – with dogs!

The slides and linked transcript from my talk at @CreateLeics are now available to read and digest at your leisure.

Having grown up just 50 miles away, somewhat embarrassed to admit that Leicester has been a bit of a revelation to me. This beautiful, historic and vibrant city has much to offer… and only an hour away from London on the train (like that should matter).

Thank-you @CreateLeics for being such a welcoming, friendly and engaged audience for my talk this evening. And a huge thanks also to the team at @bulbstudios for organising such a stellar event. Good things are happening in Leicester!

Finding Albert is a heartwarming family history research project, with the end result being a hand drawn graphic novel. I’m so happy @cole007 has met his funding target, but there are stretch goals. If you haven’t backed it yet, there are just a few days remaining; so go pledge!

Potential marketing slogan for this year’s Ampersand Conference:

Be there or be □

Get it?! I’m here all week, folks.

Finally – finally – watched The Grand Budapest Hotel. Layered, light-hearted and lavish; I enjoyed every choreographed second of it.

Headed back to Glasgow, via a highland winter wonderland. Stopping at Dalmally, the train is greeted by Angus, the station dog.

For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.

Robert Louis Stevenson captures my sentiments perfectly, as yet again, I find myself sat aboard the Caledonian Sleeper, and headed for Scotland.

A Guide to Modernism in Metro-Land – the essential guidebook to discovering the modernist treasures of London’s suburbs – is currently seeking crowdfunding on Unbound. Backed!