NOTES ON THE CREATIVE PROCESS
When Marshall McLuhan, famously declared that “the medium is the message”, he was making the radical point, that the very act of reading a newspaper is often ultimately of greater significance than the information contained within the newspaper itself. In the same way, Microsoft's Powerpoint, has become infamous, as much for its effects as a... Continue Reading →
‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars’ as Lord Darlington says in Oscar Wilde’s stage play, Lady Windermere’s Fan. And if you look up into the night sky for long enough, you may catch sight of a mysterious glinting object sailing silently across the face of those... Continue Reading →
I have always felt deeply moved by David Hockney's 'Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)'. Hockney completed 'the painting in I971 and - as a literal reading of the the title might suggest - this is a portrait of an artist called Peter Schlesinger. An artist who also happened to be David Hockney's lover. However,... Continue Reading →
In 1996, Gary Wolf, a writer for Wired Magazine, noticed that someone calling himself Marshall McLuhan was posting comments on the Wired website. This struck Gary as more than just a little curious, since Marshall McLuhan had been dead for more than sixteen years. Not one to be put off by such details, and sensing... Continue Reading →
From the Wild Lands in the North, to the Great Deserts in the South, and the Majestic River of Telmar in the West, to the High Castle of Cair Paravel in the East, the land of Narnia is an extraordinary region populated by centaurs, dragons, talking animals and all manner of wonders which no... Continue Reading →
I was driving across the burning desert When I spotted six jet planes Leaving six white vapor trails across the bleak terrain It was the hexagram of the heavens it was the strings of my guitar Amelia, it was just a false alarmThe drone of flying engines Is a song so wild and blue It... Continue Reading →
Much like the reception that greeted Monty Python's "The Life of Brian" in 1979, the publication of "The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion", by Sir James Frazer, in 1890, caused horror and dismay amongst a large portion of the British public. Sir James Frazer, a Scottish social anthropologist, with a particular interest... Continue Reading →
In 1989, Midland Bank, a traditional British high street bank, with a history of low customer satisfaction scores, decided to launch a separately branded, phone-based operation. This was to be called “First Direct” and was the first phone banking operation of it’s kind in the UK. Not only did this new venture look very different... Continue Reading →
It was the great american graphic designer paul rand who first said: “Don’t try to be original, just try to be good”. And this advice is nowhere more valuable than in the discipline of typography. These days any fool can knock up a half decent piece of design, given the wonderful menu driven, template based,... Continue Reading →
