05.09.14 — Burnley
After a summer-long hiatus during which I’ve been awfully busy with other all-consuming commitments, I plan on updating my blog with all the shenanigans from this summer over the coming days!
Coming up we’ve got pictures from my holiday to Florida, news on Culture On A Shoestring, Burnley Arts Centre and much, much more!
My blog will also very shortly be blessed with a much needed redesign, shortly followed by the launch of my portfolio and the rest of my site! Watch this space…
21.08.14 — Burnley
Another bit of news to impart with you all today! After working for Burnley Youth Theatre/Arts Centre for over two and a half years, I can reveal that I have been approached to spend time working full time to both design and build a new site for them.
When I first began working at the youth theatre, one of my first self-appointed tasks was to bring the coding of the old Burnley Youth Theatre website up to scratch. The previous construct, although relatively new, had been built with very outdated techniques (geeks among you, I’m talking tables holding images…) and which left little room for updates. I overhauled the entire back end of the site, with new images, text and structure which made for easier updates.
But of course, with the new Burnley Arts Centre brand and the amazingly rapid expansion of the organisation, a new site is now needed. I will be working alongside the Artistic Director and Artistic Producer of the organisation to build the new site, which is set to launch before the beginning of the new term next year.
I have also, of course, overseen the visual identity creation for the new Burnley Arts Centre brand which envelops the Burnley Youth Theatre brand as part of it. I will be continuing the new visual design language with the website, with a clean and simple layout which is adaptive for every imaginable screen size.
As you’ll notice, the Burnley Youth Theatre site is currently down, whilst I continue to prepare our server for all the shiny new pages to come. Once the site goes live, I will return with another blog post and an entry on my portfolio outlining everything.
For now, I am going to eat some caramel popcorn and listen to some music way over the recommended volume limit. Goodnight!
02.06.14 — Leeds
So, here’s the (severely delayed) followup to my last blog post, in which I’m gonna have a quick overview of LUU Opera Society’s “Ruddigore” and Devonshire Hall’s “Rent”! Sit back, relax, listen to this very song and excuse the total lack of specialist thespian knowledge…
So almost a month ago, on the 7th May, I and some graphics friends (Izzy, Charlotte & Rhea to be exact) went along to see Leeds Uni Union’s Opera Society‘s performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Ruddigore”, which was showing at LUU’s Riley Smith Hall, in which fellow designer Emily was playing the starring role!
I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about going to see an opera – I was only persuaded to go along when Emily promised that it was a comedy and would make me giggle.
Even then I was still wholly unconvinced as to the need for opera, but I decided to go along and try something new, half-expecting hour upon hour of unintelligible yodelling and boredom… but how wrong I was!
I shan’t regurgitate the storyline, but let’s just say that it was hilarious, and I was told that I could be heard laughing from the audience up on the stage… (sorry, Em!)
The cast were all fantastic, I couldn’t fault the singing at all – and coupled with a hilarious strolling and some questionable dancing by Em’s boyfriend, it was an absolute treat, and well worth the pittance that I paid to go and see it! I know I’ll be there to watch next year’s performance – and I have to congratulate Emily for convincing me to go along, and of course the whole cast of Ruddigore for rousing my appreciation of opera. I also have to congratulate LUU’s Backstage Society for their tech work on the show!
The only regret I have was not taking more photos. The above one is the only one I managed to get, but if you want to read more about it from Em’s perspective, and check out a few more photos, she’s written a fabulous blog post on her own blog about it here. Go check it out!
My next tidbit of culture was a trip with Izzy and her flat to see Devonshire Hall’s performance of “Rent”, at Canal Mills, a renovated space which is sometimes used as a club venue, but whose funky decor provided an opportunity to take a few photos…
So, after encountering the above interesting sign, we headed in and were greeted with a fully-rigged stage in the centre of an old warehouse!
The performance was amazing – I was blown away by the sheer amount of talent that could be cooped up in one Halls of Residence! The singing, dancing and acting was impeccable, and the storyline kept me wanting to know more – which was why I was especially annoyed when I managed to get myself locked out of the theatre during the interval – hell, only I could manage that.
After being saved from certain death by Martin, who let me back in, I managed to get in and watch the second act, and take a few more photos after having learned my lesson after Ruddigore…
In the course of a week, then, I managed to get out and see two amazing performances. It was such a great experience, one which I hope to replicate over and over again in the future, and I can only thank all those involved in each performance for putting on a couple of fabulous shows!
14.05.14 — Leeds
After a few weeks of being invisible, during which I spent most of my time in the university Library or in Belgrave Music Hall, I am back from the dead!
It’s been a very, very busy few weeks working on our group work projects, which have now all been handed in and our presentations complete. We worked on two projects, and had to create a 6-8 page A3 booklet for each, before presenting our ideas in a ten-minute presentation to our tutors.
However, in the weeks leading up to this, I’ve been on a few trips to all sorts of different places, starting with good ol’Burnley! I nipped back to celebrate Burnley FC’s promotion, where the people gather on the street and parade with the players atop a double-decker bus!
Also, towards the end of Easter, me and Danni also nipped over to Blackpool Pleasure Beach for a day of riding the rides and forgetting all our responsibilities! It was nice and quiet and we managed to get on everything at least twice!
After Easter, I headed back to University to be greeted by a patch of lovely weather.
Izzy took the chance to introduce me to Belgrave Music Hall, as mentioned earlier, and since that moment I seem to have spent a lot of time there…
We also managed to be down there for one of the Belgrave Street Feasts, and spent the day relaxing before our hand-in and eating plenty of food…
Me and Izzy also wandered down to Liberty Dock by the canal, and spent some time wandering round Leeds city centre with Luisa!
We also grouped together, and for the first time in years, I actually acknowledged my birthday somewhat. We went down to a cool bar/restaurant called Neon Cactus and got pulled pork nachos, enchiladas and mini tacos… and it was bliss. Followed up by a few cocktails at the bar, I had a really great day!
So recently life has been very busy and stressful, but has been punctuated by really great moments with friends and some great time out.
23.04.14 — Burnley
Recently I’ve been doing a tonne of work, so the blog had fallen a touch behind again, but here’s some updates on some stuff I’ve been doing!
First up I’ve been working on expanding on the Blaze Festival 2013 designs ready for Blaze Festival 2014! The three existing icons were given a fresh lick of paint and another two added – one for Culture On A Shoestring and the other for Masquerade, a mysterious new theatre project by my good friend Shona T (check our her O2 Think Big blog here and her YouTube channel here).
The icons will first debut on the promotional “postcards” that will be distributed across Preston and Lancashire. I created these as a simple set of five colours which, it’s hoped, will look beautiful when they’re all distributed as a set.
I’ve also been working on the new design for Culture On A Shoestring, Issue 5 of which will be released this summer! Here’s a sneak peek at the cover…
Now from Blaze Arts to Burnley Arts Centre, where I’ve been busy polishing off the finishing touches on their design guidelines…
I’m currently also working on their new website, which should be up and running next year!
And now from working hard to playing hard – I went out and plundered Manchester city centre yesterday, and returned with this horde of design books and a pack of Puffin Book Cover Postcards. Mischief managed!
We also went to the Trafford Centre the day before (shopaholics anonymous or what), where we celebrated the news that Burnley FC (my hometown) have been promoted to the premier league! I’ll have to come back to celebrate when they players come and ride the bus through the town centre. Football isn’t usually my thing, but I’m really happy for the club, and my sister is adamant that Sean Dyche is king!
