Jules P Richards

It’s been a while since I made notes about my bike use. So here’s an update.

It’s been three years since I moved to e-bike after more than ten years on a regular bike.

I sold my car back in 2012. Since 2011 I have cycled roughly 45,000miles over 15 years.

This week the e-bike’s odometer clicked over 9000 miles. 

E-bike; 3 years: 9000 miles
Cycling; 15 years: 45,000 miles

I have written extensively about bike use, so I’m not going to waffle on again.

I’ll just repeat what’s been said before  

Riding a bike:
You will save money.
You will get fitter and be healthier.
Over time, you will start to see the world differently.

You can read more here: my cycling experience

I will reiterate one of the reasons I cycle: it saves money.

Read more here: commute costs

Commute by Car 29mins, £14/week +costs,
Commute by Bike 34mins £1/week +costs. <20p electric*.
Commute by Bus 55mins £25/week +patience.

With current fuel costs in April 2026:
7.5 miles @ 7.5mpl,
£1.93/litre, costs £1.93 each way,
That’s saving £19 / week.

Happier commuting! NEVER CYCLE

My usual daily activity, ‘graphic repro’, in secondary school, sees me juggling quantities and deadlines, and is quite reliant on certainties* and specifics. Design new branded pages for page 1-7, change all the words ‘cheese’ to say ‘chocolate’ on page 21, replace questions 4-7 with the attached, and produce 10 sets of 33, A3 folded to A4 saddle-stitched booklets, delivered to Room 2.12, for 5pm tomorrow.
It’s good to have a break from the certainties.
*Having said that sometimes a little mind reading is required #YouKnowWhoYouAre 😁 It’s all good.

I’ve recently read a few good books, and we’ve also seen a few good films. The stories drew me into their worlds, their characters, their relationships and emotions. Things resonated, and maybe caused perceptions to shift a tad.

It is said ‘To tell a story is to cast a spell…’.

“go, said the bird: human kind cannot bear very much reality.” T.S. Eliot

We all love a bit of certainty, where would we be without it?

It’s been said before, we seek patterns, routines, shapes, forms, to make meaning from the ambiguity around us. Spells. Just words will do. Two words will form an idea. A harmony and a rhythm will shape a feeling. “April, in Paris, they said nothing, but ascended, pivoted, and pirouetted… with minds and hearts full…”

Yet… the ever-present ideas, tintinnabuli, reverberating in our consciousness are rarely enough, the resolutions are just glimpses of certainty… we do need to make space for the ambiguous gaps in between, the pauses, the still points, the unsignified, the reality.

To quote a line from a recent film, “serenity is something you get when you stop wishing…” ‘Sound of Metal’ 2019

And a line from a recent book, “His decision to live small made him larger than life.” ’Theo of Golden’ by Allen Levi

Here’s to a little ambiguous incertitude.

But, yes, I’m seeking the next good story.

Ancient texts say, “the young will have visions and the old will dream dreams.”

I recently had a vivid dream about the old days; days before Canva*(argh!), before Adobe CC, before QuarkXP, before Pagemaker, before desktop publishing, yes, before computers! Back when I trained as a print studio artworker, we did it all with a scalpel and hot wax.

In the ’80s, lick-n-stick was the phrase that described what we did. Using hot wax, we compiled type and graphics on art-boards, juggling scalpels, type-gauges and temperamental typesetters, we spec’ed photo transparencies, and mastered PMT.

We measured in picas and ems. We specified every item needed on the page before it was realised. It was all created in black and white, and CMYK & Spots were specified via overlay. I recall repetitive photo-mechanical transfer in the dark room, the stress of pleasing Gina and Linda, the typesetters, or making do with insufficient Letraset. Ah… Poppl Exquisit, it’s all coming back to me!

There was an art to pleasing the pre-press print planning department. Who dared to ask KT and his sunshine band of planners to compile a dozen vignettes or graduated tints? Dare we ask him for a 85% tint? “Bloody 80 or 90 will bloodywell do ya boy!” Ah, what fun.

I remember the apprehension and nerves as we ventured into the Creative Director’s lair, expecting our labour of love to be discarded with a mumbled comment about the “Seven Sacred Principles of Design”. Spectrum Design and Print, St. Ives; they were good times.

This was all before desktop publishing as we know it. The only computers in the building were in accounts and the typsetters. 

A lot has happened since then. I emigrated from Cornwall to England and discovered creative jouissance, post-modernism, and ‘The Lodge’ in Alsager, Manchester Metropolitan University’s country playground. I graduated in 1995, I moved to Leicestershire, and life took over.

Since then, we’ve been through Aldus Pagemaker, QuarkXPress, Adobe AI, ID, PS, etc, Creative Cloud in its many forms, and horrifically, we now see the delights of Canva*.  

It was a more physical analog time. I greatly value learning about the essence of it all before computers took over and automated things.

The skilled jobs between the print designer and the lithographer are now extinct. I fondly remember; Designer* Cathal, Artworker Tim, Typesetter Gina, Proofreader Brian, Film-separation Karl, Platemaking Ken… all can now be ‘done’ by anyone, on their phones. *Unfortunately, you really can tell when the ‘design’ step has been automated.

In 2016, I moved from working directly in the print/publicity industry to working in secondary schools in Leicestershire. It’s been 10 years, I’m 57 years old, I’m still learning, and dreaming.

I commented online recently about a grievous sad event that happened in Leicester: “…I hope warmth and compassion can be found as well as strong, effective leadership that might affect attitudes and behaviours of young people in our community…”

‘Compassion’ is a word/idea that specifically resonated with me a few years ago. I can’t remember what I was reading, possibly ‘Humankind’ by Rutger Bregman, but it has lingered subliminally since.

Real compassion is not necessarily easy to grasp, it’s bigger than just sympathy or empathy; it’s these things plus the motivation to help, a feeling/attitude, that leads to action.

Coincidentally, or perhaps it’s been biding its time, the word has come up again recently at work;
We’ve discussed the idea of ‘intentional compassion’ as an underlying attitude for change.
Medical scientist Stephen Trzeciak has studied and written about the power of compassion, showing that it is not just a soft skill but a measurable force that can transform outcomes, improve well-being, and create meaningful change. #compassionomics

Six years ago, thinking about career and purpose, I found myself going through an exercise to visualise some reasons for my being (my Ikigai). Surprisingly, what we eventually came up with at that moment was this:
“I get up in the morning… to discover and experience commonality and connections so that I can interact with people and the wider world, to help us all feel different…” #workinprogress

Maya Angelou wrote, “…people will never forget how you made them feel.”

There’s an African philosophy called ‘Ubuntu’ “I am what I am because of who we all are”, which emphasizes interconnectedness and humanity; “I am because we are”. It suggests that our identity and well-being are deeply tied to our community, belonging, and a shared humanity.

Bewilderingly, I was nominated last year, for my contribution towards our school’s ‘Community’; “Building a sense of belonging in a reflective and stimulating environment. Celebrating care, kindness, and difference, allowing positive relationships to flourish and ensuring communication is excellent.”

I’m an introvert; community is not my area of expertise. Yes, I’m good at visual communication and making graphics work effectively, but as a colleague rightly said, progress “does not happen because of posters… but more specifically because of intentional, small but meaningful, conversations;  human moments” – relationships, habits, belief…

Our community starts at the individual level.

So there’s the challenge; l little bit of intentional compassion… humm?

Blue Monday?

As Robert Smith sang “I don’t care if Monday’s blue…”

It depends on how you look at things. Sometimes it’s not that easy…

January and the turn of another year can become emotional. New Year’s expectations, financial pressures. Instead of feeling motivated, the dark blue Mondays can feel overwhelming, especially when wintery energy is low.

Inclement weather and dark days can be a challenge, with less time outdoors, less spontaneous socializing, and reduced physical activity. The contrast between the excitement of the holidays and the quiet routine of January can create a sense of emptiness. Reduced sunlight can disrupt circadian rhythms and lower serotonin levels, which are closely linked to mood.

However, it’s all in the mind, some say. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but try to take a fresh look at things – we might find a practical way to protect our moods and mental well-being during the blue month of January.

Perhaps we can revise our idea of ‘blue’.

‘Blue’ rhymes with ‘new’ – that’s a start!

Might we find some joy in the blue around us.

Of course, blue has a ‘complementary’ friend.

Orange is a complementary colour to blue. They are opposite each other on the colour wheel, creating high contrast and making each other appear more vibrant when placed side-by-side.

Can we find something outside the blues, that’s ‘complementary’; something that enhances and emphasizes …

As Zach Bryan sang “The orange touches all things around…”

Reward yourself. See joy in new things, and notice complementary things around us.

Things that complete, agree, and add energy.

Blue Monday? New Monday!?

“I don’t care if Monday’s blue…”
The Cure – Friday I’m In Love

“The orange touches all things around…”
Zach Bryan – Something In The Orange

If You’re still struggling to see through the blues. Don’t worry, breathe, you’re not the only one. Talk about it… I went through a dark period (a period of transition), we all do.

For me the festive December break has always been a time of stories. From the fantasy of theatre, to the drama of the big screen, from a page turning novel, to heart rending musical traditions, we love stories that help give shape, weight, and texture, if not meaning, to our place in the world. 

The stories I’ve enjoyed over the season, and indeed throughout the year, have given insight to how things used to be, how things could be in the future, and how things might be in other people’s lives…  Stories colour the fringes of our reality, but my present is the hoovering, filling a crack, and painting the wall, planning the tea, and briefly sitting with a glass of water in the winter sun.

The winter’s sun is remarkably quiet and still. The January dawn lights up corners of the kitchen that are usually in shadow. The moss on the garden wall sparkles with beads of dew… The new year sunrise illuminates the woods, transforming the dense dark dearth into variegated vibrant verbs.

In the new light, the small can become big, and the big be made small…

In the ‘New Year’ our cultures construct new stories, ‘they’ suggest targets, ambitions, routines, and goals. But in this small quiet moment I’m just breathing in the new light… the church bell chimes twice… and a crow caws thrice…  “Do things well…” she says, “be diligent… share compassion…” she crows…

Keep looking for light amongst the words. Light can be quiet, powerful, and exciting…

It’s been a while since I posted about graphic repro(duction)…

Back in May – I allowed myself a scintilla of optimism; ‘Be proud’!

I mentioned how the commitment and drive from the people I work with is awesome and infectious.

We’ve recently installed a celebration wall that will feature photos of scholars that have something to celebrate. 

As I said back in May, a dose of healthy pride can be a good thing.

A feeling of satisfaction and self-respect derived from one’s endeavours, abilities, or character. Pride can be a motivating emotion that can encourage continued effort. An authentic genuine feeling of worth and dignity that can energize a quiet implicit realistic humble confidence.

I believe that providing a graphic repro service to staff and students helps to visualise and reinforce a culture of teamship and belonging.

I did collate a little visual carousel:

Part of my Design & Reprographics role is to create and maintain a strong visual identity that relays the tones and qualities of our community, while promoting our cultural ambitions and expectations.

We create and maintain a consistent design identity and style, echoing graphic devices across all materials, and adding value to material created. As well as bulk reproduction, we create department-specific graphics and resources; signage, certificates, posters, cards, worksheets, passes, stickers, etc.

Graphic Repro and ‘belonging’: identity, community and culture.  

Identity: uniformity in design across materials maintains a professionalism.

Community: consistent, appealing, memorable design fosters trust and credibility.

Culture: visual familiarity can generate a deeper connection and improve teamship.

It’s what I do… ‘Image Creation‘