Two streams, same week, in two very different places…
No words, just running water…
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Author: julesprichards
Anchoring in the shire, with family, friends, coffee and cheese… always looking…
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The edge
Take some days …
Often prescribed in wiser times, a retreat, a holy-day. A specific change from routine busyness.
We traveled (back) to a place of contentment and a place where youthful roads diverged, the root of epiphany, the essence of understanding, a dantian land… A place of contrasts, often void of riches but full of richness.
We met old friends from verdant days. Friends unseen for decades, we used to play together, now we have children playing themselves, amongst change, growth and aging perspectives. We find a familiar friendship but with different stories to tell. Distinct stories from distant friends. We still share worries, hopes, dreams and visions.
Some days… in a place of simple treasures, ancient kingdoms where the torn edge of paradise glows daily. A place where absolution lies buried amongst art, tradition, innovation, entertainment, novelty… as lichens cover granite, we spread, share, exchange, and feed.
We return to looming buzzards drifting on thermals, they will always fly high. Shadows will always stifle our breath. However the light I was fostered with still shines, even if occasionally you need to take a few days out to rekindle it.
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Another Logo…
Another logo commission completed, and another satisfied client:
I’m asked occasionally to develop new logos and effective graphic visuals for new start-up businesses, or indeed to tidy up and consolidate ongoing visuals that have become tardy or perhaps have never really been considered as important.
Like all things, you can get them off-the-shelf for peanuts (they feed monkeys peanuts). You can always ‘get stuff done cheaply’. But my clients appreciate that I can bring bespoke consideration and individual creativity to the task. As with all my jobs, I aim to interrogate and understand what’s required, with a view to creating something that meets the brief as well as going beyond what’s expected. Yes, if you’re a high turnover business then it may be wise to invest in expert PR guidance. But even a start-up needs to get their image right. If I can help, jusy send me a message.
Your logo is the key-stone of your visual identity. It needs to be sharp and keen. It needs to be used wisely and correctly. Effective integration of your logo style, your colour schemes, your secondary graphic elements and typefaces etc (your visual identity); integration of this into all of your visual communication is important. To maintain and reinforce your brand, keep your services strong and in tune – this is why it’s important for your logo to be more than just a pretty design.
After the logo and visual ID is complete, it’s worth consulting your designer regularly. It’s easy to fly-off by yourself and crash the plane. A logo is only as good as how it’s used and incorporated in your marketing material. Yes, perhaps we can all colour-stuff-in and do desk-top publishing at home – similarly, I could build a garden wall or do some plumbing in the bathroom if I wanted to. But to add value, most jobs would be done better, last longer and have more guarantees if they are done by someone who knows their stuff.
The ‘Dirigo’ brief started with the client’s wish to use a stylised D and C and include graphic ‘linked circles’ – I worked on and developed this into the final icon and logo below:
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Pre-dawn
The days are getting longer, the cycle commute home is now dusk, but the commute in is still dark when I leave c.6.45am.
The Bridge
The Lane
The Street
The trip in is an awakening one, the chill and the freshness awaken you on many levels. It really can be a great experience. As with anything it’s what you make it; yes, there are many distractions that could make the trip a most horrendous routine – but as I say it’s what you make it. Or perhaps it’s what you don’t make it. One thing you can notice is that the day is bigger than you. It’s more than the things in your schedule; your targets, your meetings, your worries and your wants. The natural world, or rather the ‘raw’ world is alive. Breath is what keeps us going. A cycle commute certainly can help you to notice your breath, your spirit – the raw you, the raw us, that this all boils down to.
I thought I’d stop and capture a bit of the mood. Above are three quick images that I took this morning. As usual, a little post-camera processing to reflect my brain’s wondering milieu.
Words of the week – revolution and revelation…
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Chocofast
Chocofast over!
So it’s been a month, without chocolate, sweets or sugary treats. OK, I had one penguin bar when I gave blood, and some honey with some whiskey one evening, #manflu.
Generally, we have gone without the routine habitual chocolate fest with the 9pm tv, without the chocolate biscuits in the pack-up, without lemonade etc, without honey on the muesli, without the chocolates passed around at work, at choir, at friends.
Not sure what the experience has proved. It [extra sugary-fat] is perhaps not needed. Perhaps the sugar hit can be got from other more organic things. fruit, music, imagination, people… the burst of a cherry tomato or a grape can be a good substitute for fatty sugary slab. Banana facts… BANANA
Yes, a little of what you fancy does you good, in moderation. Yes, as you can see, tonight we’ve {the wife and I} gorged on a Terry’s CO (there’s a mega-stash left from Christmas). To be honest, to quote the wife, “I feel a bit sick”, I agree with her. Chocolate is one thing, brown sugary fat with favouring is another.
I fully intend to try and limit the habitually unnecessary sweet stuff. Our culture really does have sugar at its heart. Where your treasure is, there is your heart also. It’s there at every turn, often invisibly innocent, as a default feel-good substance.
As I say, perhaps we might appreciate stuff better without the feel-good lens of sugar, then again perhaps we may not.
I’m off for a Boost.
Next for the withdrawal treatment … cheese?
Posters, Flyers – there is life outside of the web. And the key thing is that ‘life’, can point people towards your shiny new web bling and that thing you just gotta share!
Local Football Club’s ‘New Girls Welcome’ flyer
Methodist Presidential Visit Event Poster
The flyer’s big unique feature over social media is its tangible nature and potential longevity. Your customers will physically hold the flyer, you are in their hand, in their kitchen, on their table. Of course, ‘design’ also is key to the impact you can make. The flyer is the signpost to you, your event, your product. It might include incentives, interactive elements, competitions, coupons or vouchers … of course a ‘FREE’ whatever is a great way of encouraging a response.
Waffle. waffle … I think you can see that a good flyer can be worth the relatively low production costs. And it’s simply worthwhile for the invest in good design of the content and the visuals.
You can see some projects I have helped with here: jules p richards
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Music…
It’s been 19 days into January and we’ve succeeded todate to go without chocolate, biscuits and sugary treats, but today being a Friday I needed a pick me up mid-day… luckily I had been asked by the college where I work to contribute to their radio station’s Desert Island Discs show.
Fullhurst Community College in Leicester was the first school in the UK to have a fully set up, professional, online community radio station which is run by the students. FullPower broadcasts around the clock online with music and live presentations aimed at young people and residents within the local community. You can listen to it now here: FullPower
So what music to pick… It got me thinking about music again.
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You can listen to the show above, with the tracks edited out.
As I say, it got me thinking about music again… (I wittered about music before: 2012 If you know me you’ll know that music is one of those things that floats my boat…).
I like most of us always had music in varying forms around me. I enjoy, value and try to find new ‘ways of seeing’ through music. I think of ‘music’ as perhaps anything that creates a resonating expressive sound.
As I mentioned to Marley in the show above, I like the analogy of music and food. As with food, there is formulaic & processed music that’s great for a quick fix. There’s pop food/music that pleases our short term urges. Yes, I like the occasional ‘Flames’ burger and pack of ‘Nic Naks’ as much as the next, but there’s a lot more food/music out there. We can feast on a wide variety of sounds and rhythms from other countries, from the past, from pockets of experimental culture, and nuggets of tradition that might be lost if we’re not careful.
I enjoy Radio 6 and also dip into ‘Late Junction’ on BBC Radio 3 “…music, ancient to future. The home for adventurous listeners”. I am also a member of a world-music choir in Melton. Global Harmony is an a capella choir that sings unaccompanied songs from all over the world; rhythms from Africa, stirring Eastern European harmonies, songs from the Southern Seas and the Americas, soulful gospel and blues, as well as traditional folk and rock and pop from our own culture.
But alas my 3 DID tracks are pretty staple choices:
Martha and the Muffins’ Echo Beach – 1980 (video below)
‘Echo Beach’ in 1980 was the band’s only significant international hit. It reached No. 10 in the UK Chart.
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto – 1878 (video below)
I know nothing about classical music, but love this – it goes everywhere! I specifically love the solo violin taking us away about 11 mins in – but I love it all. I have 5 recordings of it myself and each one has a different personality and sound. I’d love to hear it live!
Nina Simone’s recording of, Feeling Good – 1965 (video below)
‘Feeling Good’Nina Simone recorded the song in 1965 and it’s subsequently been covered by Muse, Michael Bublé and many others…
In picking these tracks, I am reminded of all those memories and music that accompanied them… James Brown, Beachboys, Sigur Rós, Bugge Wesseltoft, Ian Archer, Deacon Blue, John Martyn, Ray Davies, The Hothouse Flowers, Glenn Miller, Howard Jones, Elvis Presley, The Divine Comedy, Springsteen, Geldof, Billy Bragg, the list goes on… a smorgasbord of sounds!
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2016 some highlights
A quick look back, and although it was a kick in the guts of a year, I was still able to produce ‘stuff’ – here’s a few quick snapshots:
2016 – From the woods
2016 – I do my best…
2016 – Swim Schoool
2016 Night and day
2016 – Flyers
2016 – Pentecost
2016 – Memoirs
2016- from the beach
2016 – Abundant life
2016 – detail
2016 – Summer
2016 Book covers
2016 – street signage
2016 – Glass Doors
2016 – village news
2016 – Large Format Prints
From the woods – I love capturing images of nature
Scrupulous – I have had to try and sell what I can do
Swim School – my wife loves her job
Night and Day – I love the abstract
Flyers – there’s always a flyer to do…
Pentecost – An artwork for the season
Memoirs – a worthy project
People – I was born by the beach
Abundant Life – a really interest-filled commission
Detail – photoshop’s a great tool
Summer – Words and images
Book Covers – two enjoyable projects
Signage – for a local community project
Glass Doors – for a local church refurb.
Village News – It needed refreshing
Wall Prints – some very enjoyable large format projects.
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Running on empty…
Running on empty…
‘tis the season… where many celebrate, where many take to the stage, where many laud in traditions and habits, and indeed many create new memories… the first time’s never forgotten… as footprints form in deep, crisp and even snow, familiar tunes from childhood are hard to escape or forget… perhaps the only way is to deck the halls with holly and stuff…
But this Christmas, and for many months, I’ve found I often just can’t perform the routines… By the end of the day there’s a dearth of energy, purpose, and value… I am running on empty. Alas, it seems my synapses do need a chemical aid. Perhaps my spirit does too. We might hope, pray or wish for visions and dreams but it’s Greek to me. The body is weak, the spirit is woeful and the mind is misled. …Fails my heart, I know not how; I can go no longer…
It’s interesting to see that the use of the word ‘routine‘ peaked in 1986… #routine
The treasures I do cling to suggest that one stops; pause, breathe, relax, yield, and look… behold around you…
I hear that we are at our happiest when we lose our self, in the object of our treasure…
I had a vivid dream where the Paul Heaton and friends came on center-stage in Hull and just could not perform anything…
I had a dream, where David Bowie and George Michael died…
I woke, empty…
However… then my daughter brought me the smell and warmth of freshly brewed coffee…
I am thankful.
I rose, and the winter scene outside was white, crisp and even…
I hear…
Take up your bed and walk…
Mark my footsteps, good my page…
The birds of the sky…
Tis the season…
And so with a Christmas break coming up – I had it in mind to put the bike in for a good rub-down and refurb.
As the Starwars droid said “Thank the maker! This oil bath is going to feel so good…” C-3PO, A New Hope
It’s well overdue, the bike sees 18 miles a day of varying city-cycleway; on & off kerbs; over potholes; through grit, glass and other variable detritus – it takes a good deal of flack! Especially at this time of year. I will not get into the politics of Leicester Council’s celebrated soundbites about cycling but lack of commitment and support for everyday bike riding and solid quality planning. This is my 5th winter. I am now doing 360 miles a month.
- In March 2011 I started riding a bike to work.
- Back in August 2012 I considered Another way. “poor, fractured, token cycle lanes”
- In November 2013 I was asked by the BBC “Did I think cycle infrastructure was a good idea?”
- In April 2014 – we clocked about 9000 miles .
- In March 2015 saw 4 years of bike instead of car.
- In 2016 I had a break from the commute but two wheels …
- In September I started a new route that’s more than 94% off main roads
Alas, a forced pit stop came a few days early due to:
(i) the Council’s neglect to keep the cycle/footway in good condition and appropriately lit
(ii) me not seeing the rabid branch!
On my way back from work, 300 yards from the LBS, a fallen branch in my path went straight through the rear derailleur, ripping off the hanger and pulling spokes from the rim of the wheel! I wish I had taken a picture of the rear mech!
A short roll to the LBS – and Carl and the lads at Thurmo City Cycles took the bike in for some TLC.
I had planned for new break pads, and disc rotors – the rotors were paper thin, the only original item left on the 5-year-old Specialized Specialized Crosstrail Sport Disc 2011. I had planned for a tune up and a clean. But due to the branch I had to add a new rear mechanism, hanger, and wheel! Hey ho, still cheaper than a car’s MOT and service!
City Cycles Thurmo did a great job again- the bike’s now solid as a rock – like a new bike, a joy to ride.
Jules P Richards 