Within the first chapter of Austin Kleon's book 'Steal like an artist' he states:"All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original."To expound on these two sentences let's look at the movie 'Shrek'.An extremely popular children's film that took the world by storm and spawned three sequels.Now 'Shrek' is not completely original. … Continue reading Completely original →

I think a downfall of a lot of self help books is when they tell the reader what to do.You see it often, the chapter starts with a great insight and ends with precise instructions on how to capitalise on that insight.And I think author’s can leave the ‘You have to/got to/need to’ advice out.I … Continue reading Carry a notebook →

I was shopping for footballs recently and I couldn't help but notice that there appeared to be a correlation between the price and the design. The higher priced balls all had an intricate, complex, appealing design. Whether as the cheap balls looked extremely basic. The low priced balls looked like the designer's first rough draft … Continue reading Paying for Design →

TikTok is a mad ole social media platform. There's so much content, so many videos.The notion of posting one myself flutters in through my ear and I'm immediately terrified.What would I post about? I have no ideas! (My fear fails to spot that I have been coming up with something to blog about everyday for … Continue reading TikTokTalk →

Have you ever had a dog come flying up to you out of nowhere?Then the dog proceeds to bounce around you energetically until finally the owner catches up with their pet. Then the conversation is always the same. A quick apology and a rolling of the eyes or a 'bad boy' in a baby voice … Continue reading Off the leash →

I’ve just started reading a new book and the font is giving me school boy flashbacks. It reminds me of novels that were mandatory reads. Books that were printed in the 50’s or 60’s where it appears the approach was to squash as much text as possible with every page.Which got me thinking.Did the author/publisher … Continue reading Fonty Font →

In a recent game of nods and volleys with friends we made a rule that if the goalkeeper concedes 3 goals then they have to buy the scorer of the 3rd goal a cup of coffee.This incentive brings with it a certain tension.Because when the group is on 2 goals and moving in for the … Continue reading Nods and volleys →

When young Alfie clapped eyes on that jacket time slowed down.The violent shades of orange and yellow clashed horribly with the bright pinks and greens strewn across the back.But Alfie wouldn't have described the mixture of colours in a negative way, the only way to describe this item of clothing in Alfie's view was - … Continue reading THE COOLEST JACKET IN THE WORLD →

Devious Derek was an ambitious piano instructor and one who's profits were not going to be hindered by conventional opening hours.He had tried and failed to book students in for late night appointments.But apparently they all had homework and bed times, the babies!So he had to stick to the typical hours of operation.But that would … Continue reading Devious Derek →

Between the excitement of the start and the fulfillment of the end there is this huge no man's land of uncertainty.To get you through this foggy terrain I think it's worth discussing Seth Godin's 'The Dip'.'The Dip' is the term Seth has coined that describes the lowest point or aspect of a project that has … Continue reading That foggy terrain →