Monthly Archives: January 2019

25.01.19 — Journal

Even More Surprising News

Once again I find myself writing the words “surprise news” for a blog post title, and this time I’m beginning to worry that I’ll soon run out of the adjectives needed to keep the series running. It was back in January 2016 –three years ago now– that I first posted some exciting news on my blog, back when I first discovered that I had been accepted to complete six months as an intern at Erretres, a design studio I’d admired since beginning to look for possible companies to intern with.

Since then, safe to say, it’s been quite the journey! After my internship, I returned to England to complete my final year of university, and then wound up securing myself a graduate job back at Erretres in October 2017. The story’s latest update came just a few months ago in October last year, when I made the decision to leave back for England, where I’ve been and still am. 

In the blog post announcing my move back to the UK, I noted my doubt that it’d be my last time living and working in Madrid, and how I knew I was sure to miss working with the great group of people at Erretres specifically. This has been true indeed, for although I have enjoyed prepping my new portfolio and this shiny new website, I have missed the people and lifestyle in the big city quite terribly.

Imagine the shock, then, as I now reveal the news that I have come to impart today: that I’ve just accepted an offer to return to Erretres!

It has all happened rather suddenly, I’ll admit, but I am over to moon to be heading back to Madrid. In the last post before I disappeared in order to update my site, my look back over 2018 posted on New Years Eve, I mentioned that I may have some exciting news to impart, and this was indeed it. Quite the start to 2019 I’ve had!

In terms of my next steps, I’ll be moving out of my cosy home village of Worsthorne and back to the kooky streets of Madrid at the start of February – three weeks to the day as I sit here writing this post (Saturday 12th January – I often write these things a bit in advance). I’m happy as that gives me the time to get myself organised, packed, and all my goodbyes said to friends both local and over in Leeds and beyond.

I’ll be taking the chance to get the boring admin stuff wrapped up and otherwise take it nice and easy whilst I still can!

Between now and then, I can’t say that I have all too much lined up, as I’ll be taking the chance to get the boring admin stuff wrapped up and otherwise take it nice and easy whilst I still can! If anything interesting pops up to report back on, you can bet I’ll be here with an update, but I suspect that the next time you hear from me may be upon my return to Spain.

Here’s to the next unexpected twist in my life, and a happy 2019 to everyone. I hope that your 2019 is as kind as you as mine has been so far to me!

21.01.19 — Journal

Worsthorne Wandering

With my parents jetting off to Murcia for a few days, last week was spent home along and having to entertain myself. This gave me plenty of time to sit around and finish the coding for this new website, but I knew I couldn’t spend all of my day sat behind a screen, so one afternoon I timed a little amble with the setting sun.

Also, and during yet another little clear-out of my room, I’d found my old Praktica film camera, and noticed it was loaded with a film which had only been half-used. After not having used the camera for over a year, I took it with me during a trip to Clitheroe to finish the roll of film, and then proceeded to completely destroy the film: I’d forgotten how to use the thing on and accidentally opened the back before it had been fully wound on.

After this disaster, I decided that I was to cheer myself up by taking the camera out and allowing myself to use an entire roll of 24 snaps in one go. I did just that during the walk, and so this post is peppered with photos taken on the Praktica and from my phone. As you can see, the first couple I took on the Praktica feature some pretty cool light leakage…

Once I’d technically wandered out the the bounds of my village, Worsthorne, I was drawn over to a horse who was poking his head over a gate and into the road. I’m not usually a huge fan of horses –they kind of scare me– but this one seemed friendly and didn’t bat an eyelid when I wandered over. It did, however, start raring its head whilst I patted its mane, baring its teeth which allowed for some funny selfies when I decided to do the same.

The two of us bearing our pearly whites.

I also tried to take a couple of photos on film as I walked away, but both of them have come out slightly bizarre. The first was grossly overexposed, and the second was well-exposed but completely blue due to something beyond my control which I don’t understand. If you can explain why this might of happened, please do let me know!

I then continued my wander towards the neighbouring village of Hurstwood, taking a photo of some inquisitive sheep along the way. Once again, the mysterious blue haze descended, this time bisecting the image into a lighter and darker area. I quite like the effect it made, despite the attendant in the image processing shop warning me that “half of them haven’t come out quite right”.

Once I’d risked life and limb clambering down a wet and muddy embankment, I found myself crossing an old stone bridge over the confluence of two rivers. Here I took a few more photos, and my camera magically decided that it was going to ditch the blue tint halfway through one of the snaps.

Once I’d been chased by some ducks and sent a few silly videos to some friends to demonstrate how different life back home was to the big cities I’ve become accustomed to, the sun had begun to set and I had to pick up my speed in order not to get caught walking home in the cold and dark of dusk.

The last couple of photos that I got out of my film camera are of one of the strangest views along the way. Walking down one of the roads, you are presented with a view to the left which looks completely false: a smooth, undulating field bordered along the top with a dry stone wall and punctuated by a smattering of trees.

I took two photos of this scene using two distinct combinations of settings on the camera. The first is a much more accurate representation of how the scene looked in the fading light, but I do quite like the pinkish haze created in the over-exposed second shot.

After I’d snapped these, the advance film arm on my camera went limp and I knew it was time to head home. This all happened last week, of course, but just earlier today I had chance to nip into Burnley and pick up the developed photos.

The rest of this week will now be spent with my sister who has just returned from a busy week of university exams in Sheffield. I may have some updates as the week goes on, but failing that I have some big news which I’ll be sharing later this week – stay tuned for that!

17.01.19 — Journal

Welcome Back

Hello to all of you that have checked back to see what’s going on, and to answer that very question: a lot has been going on!

As you can see, my blog has had a fresh lick of paint to start 2019 off with a bang. However, it’s not just the blog: my entire site has been redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up. Now, as well as pondering over the posts here on the blog, you might want to check out the work I get up to or just find out a little more about me.

If you’re a designer and/or a little bit technically inclined, you can read over the new colophon which explains how the site has been made, along with all the legal jargon that I should probably include. That said, the first time I proper tested the entire site was last night when I quietly launched it, so there’s the possibility that a few things might still not be working perfectly. If you do spot anything, please let me know.

That about concludes this quick blog post to welcome you to my new site, but be sure to drop by again soon – I’ve some very exciting updates coming very shortly. Until then, happy browsing!