Hello and welcome back to my sparkly new site which integrates my newly overhauled blog!
Unfortunately when my old blog went down, I lost the majority of my posts and images, but due to a lucky glitch I’ve been able to recover most of my text posts. If I get a spare moment I shall begin to re upload them here, where they will sit back in the archives where they once did.
Since my blog went down I have amassed some exciting updates to share with you, here’s a few highlights!
I hope you enjoy having a good poke around my site. As I am on holiday as of Wednesday I shall not be bringing many updates or responding to any messages, but please do still get in touch if there’s anything you’d like to say or ask!
It’s true – after over five months of work and a lot of blood, sweat and square eyes, the Burnley Arts Centre site has finally gone live!
The site, which is split into two, is designed to work across desktops, mobiles, tablets and all the crazy new electronic devices in between. Why not give it a go?
If you’re from Pennine Lancashire you may also be interested in the content as well as the design, as the Burnley Youth Theatre charity does some amazing work for children and young people across the region.
And with that I regret to inform you that I’m currently feeling quite ill, which is hindering my progress with pulling together my CV and portfolio. Damn. But do not fear, for the empty mugs of peppermint tea are stacking up, testament to my ongoing battle with this throat infection. I will rest when I die!
Today I was working away on some design tasks and was suddenly hit by a wave of cabin fever, after having spent a good few weeks in my home office slaving away over projects such as the Burnley Arts Centre Site and this very site.
I decided to jump in the car and drive myself and my dad (my parents have kindly put me on their insurance policy) to Hebden Bridge, one of my favourite places to escape to.
It was lovely and refreshing to get out and about, wandering up and down the valley and visiting all the niche independent shops that Hebden Bridge has to offer. I made my habitual stops at the traditional sweet shop and at the Innoventions shop in the mill, for some vanilla fudge and incense sticks respectively.
My dad took me on a wander to an area through which I haven’t been before, and I spied a couple of cool things, the first being this lovely piece of hand type on an old garage door:
The second being this quirky little terrace which the owner has blitzed with plant pots (and a hanging bicycle!)…
I had wanted to sit down in a cool little cafe and have some vegetarian lunch, but my dad insisted that we didn’t have time to spare, and so I settled for a shared portion fish and chips accompanied by my, umm, interesting milkshake.
I had visited my usual haunt, the Milk Bar, a great place where they’ll blitz any type of chocolate or confectionary into an ice cream, and ordered something a bit different (I usually get bubblegum Millions sweets liquified into a shake) – a peanut butter shake. I was then, however, asked if I wanted it hot or cold… Huh?
I asked for hot, wondering what it would entail, and was soon presented with a delicious smelling shake which was, sure enough, hot to touch. Dubious, I took a sip, and it was absolutely delicious! It had been made by mixing steamed milk with the peanut butter and ice cream mix, and tasted like a peanut butter hot chocolate without the chocolate – it was perfect for the decidedly cool weather.
I’m now home, it’s 9pm, and I’m in bed. Weeks of work and then a full day on my feet have drained me, and so an early night it is. I have to be all good and well for Monday when I’m doing a presentation on Social Media and Branding to the entire staff cohort at Burnley Arts Centre – eek!
If the title of this post didn’t already give the game away, I’ve recently been offered an internship to work with the design team at Sky Sports early next year!
The process of securing a placement was a lot of work but a lot of fun. This academic year I chose Web Design as one of my elective university modules, in which we were told that we were to embark on a live brief set by Sky Sports.
The brief, it transpired, was to redesign the video section of the Sky Sports website. We had ten weeks in which to come up with a solution, with eight out of thirty of us being chosen to pitch our ideas to Sky in the final week.
I procured a design which was very simple in comparison to some of the other innovative ideas I saw flying around, but I refused to deviate from my usual utilitarian approach. I did, however, imbue my designs with some innovative features, such as incorporating new interaction through gestures, refining minor features such as the copy used in the time stamps, and adding a “buffer zone” of active area around buttons on touchscreen devices.
I’m super pumped to have won this opportunity to work with one of the leaders in media and broadcasting, and I am very grateful of Sky for allowing me the opportunity to work on a live brief and present my work to them. I have already had the chance to ask for some really useful feedback from the team.
All in all good start to 2015! Now on with the final push to launch this Burnley Arts Centre site…
Today I visited Leeds with my family to do a spot of post-Christmas shopping – that is to spend some of my Christmas money, grab some new clothes and grab some leftover Boxing Day bargains!
As you can see, the weather has been particularly festive recently, with most of the countryside through Burnley and Yorkshire covered in a layer of snow. This provided a lovely backdrop to the family ‘discussion’ (see: argument) over which colour my sister’s new iPhone should be.
Anyway, we arrived in Leeds and I headed for my student house, where I stopped for a quick brew with my dad before heading on a walk towards the city centre. However, I was not prepared for the eerie sight of a totally desolate campus. We were the only human souls wandering through…
The main area outside the Student Union looked as picturesque as always with the clear skies and winter sun providing some beautiful lighting for a few quick photos as we passed through.
As eerie as standing in the middle of a usually bustling hub which was completely lifeless was, it was nothing compared to being stood in the shadows of the Chamberlin, Powell & Bon 1970s brutalist buildings, including the Edward Boyle Library and Social Sciences Building.
After our eerie photography trip around campus, we met up with my mum and sister in the city centre and proceeded with our shopping mission. Ellie still hadn’t decided on what colour iPhone to pick up. I ended up wandering into Primark and Next, my usual clothes haunts, and returning with some new goodies.
I also rediscovered the pure bliss that is Café Nero’s Hot Chocolate Milano – it’s like pure melted Belgian chocolate bliss. I recommend that you all try one. Ellie had finally chosen a colour of iPhone.
We wound up eating at Rola Wala in Trinity Kitchen, where we somehow made friends with the staff when they thought the fact that me and my sister are called ‘Ollie & Ellie’ was hilarious. For tea (or dinner, if you’re southern) we ended up at my old favourite haunt, Belgrave Music Hall, where we treated ourselves to pizzas, burgers and a huge platter of Session Fries. Delicious as ever!
At the end of the day my mum and sister were tired and stuffed full, and so insisted that we hail a cab back to the car before heading back home to good ol’Burnley.
In case you were wondering, Ellie decided on gold. Hmm.
