Signing Contracts And Wandering

16.04.14 — Burnley

I write this whilst on the train zipping through the Yorkshire countryside, as with my current schedule I can find no other time to keep my blog up to date! As you may be aware, I’m currently partaking in a whole host of projects for both Burnley Arts Centre, Blaze Arts, my course at university and now my scholarship – which I’m very excited about!

The Roger Stevens building looking pretty in the springtime sun

I’m returning from Leeds, where I’ve been to sign my project contract and do a spot of shopping (because Leeds is my favourite place to shop!). I had a meeting with my project leader, Dr Kishore Budha, and then a chilled out chat with my mentor and PhD student Martin Hendry on the grass outside the union about the research we’ll be doing over summer. It’s all sounding very exciting and I wish I could disclose more, but due to the nature of the project I’ve to keep most things under wraps.

I have some exciting news about travelling abroad, bit I’ll wait until all the details are finalised before I tell you about that just yet! Speak of travelling, I’ve just arrived in Todmorden, and there’s a cat in the waiting room… Only in Yorkshire!

In other news, yesterday me and my mum and sister went on a much needed trek over the countryside just behind my house. As much as I adore Leeds, I do miss being on the doorstep of landscape like this…

Before this we agreed to take my neighbours dog, as we saw him in passing on the way up towards the fields, and so my sister Ellie took good care of ‘Eric’ as we traversed the countryside!

My mum also made a friend, an unusually tame and forthcoming little lamb which poked its head through a gate as we passed by.

Also, in one of my moments of madness, I decided that the fact that orange can signify both a colour and a fruit is too confusing – especially when my cordial was both orange coloured and orange flavoured. I hence declared that it was too much orange and took to dying the cordial blue.

And with that little insight into my mind, I’ll leave you with photographic evidence, and the promise of another blog post on the redesign of Culture On A Shoestring which I’m currently working on.

Blaze Forum

12.04.14 — Preston

Today I was in Preston for a much needed catch up with the Blaze Arts team, at one of the periodical Blaze Forum events which are open to all young people who’d like to get involved – check out the Blaze website here or get in touch with Laura for more info. Today we met at a new location – The Lancashire Archives, a strange concrete box which sits on stilts, almost as though the architects were preemptive of some future flooding in Preston…

The interior was old but still nice – almost like stepping in a time machine, with the abundance of wooden veneer and period fittings…

But less about decor, today we discussed the three existing projects from Blaze Festival 2013; Blaze Lounge, Level Up and Portable Projection, and how we were going to keep these projects going and include them as part of Blaze Festival 2014.

We then discussed one of my pet projects, Culture On A Shoestring, focusing primarily on how to widen its distribution across the north west. As designer of the publication (the latest issue of which can be found here), I spent time discussing my planned design overhaul for Issue 5 which will be released this summer. I’ve yet to start work on it, but I have already made a few preliminary sketches on my iPad.

Sketches for the design of Culture On A Shoestring Issue #5

We also spoke with Paul Kelly from LCC regarding Blaze as an organisation, and getting membership passes and other goodies for members and staff.

Overall it was really nice to see everyone again – especially Shona who runs her own blogs which you should definitely go and check out. Also be sure to check out Shona’s project on O2 Think Big! Anyway, I also ended up nosing through some of the archive’s books (from 1789 no less!) and found the beautiful old graphics…

I also snuck into Lush on my way back home and picked up a little Easter Bunny for my sister… It’s really cute and smells great too. One day I will walk past a Lush shop without buying anything, but that day is not today. I am going to go and eat more snacks and poke around typography.com for a while longer.

Not sure what this is but it's cute and smells lush

Liverpool

11.04.14 — Liverpool

Before we begin, click this link (which will open in another tab) and get the music playing. It is the official soundtrack to this post. Done? Yes? Now you may continue.

Yesterday I, along with the parents, hopped on the M62 and visited the other end of the Leeds Liverpool canal to explore and do a bit of shopping in the 2008 City of Culture.

We began by wandering down the high street and nipping into a few shops (I ended up buying yet another pair of sunglasses, so I’ll add those to the pile), but then I ended up wandering down a side street and finding a little museum and cafe, so I took a few photos and explored the area…

A petite handmade sign outside one of the studios

A view from the courtyard, with my dad taking photos

We wandered thorough the archways and ended up in a cute little courtyard, where people were just lounging around eating and reading. The architecture was quite quirky and made for some interesting photos…

Then, after a bit more shopping, me and my dad headed down towards the docks, where I took about a thousand photos. I’ve picked out a few of the key ones to save you a few hours of your life…

We also encountered some of the infamous Superlambananas along the front by the Liverpool Museum. I was reminded of a fabulous talk by Paul Kelly of Lancashire County Council on the history of the sculpture as part of a larger talk on public art in general, which was part of a Blaze Arts Forum last year – how time has flown! Which reminds me, after a large spell of minimal contact with Blaze, I’m heading over there tomorrow morning for the latest Blaze Forum. I’ll be sure to report back with another blog post!

Now I know I’ve mentioned this before, but seeing as this is a photography-heavy post, all my photos are taken on an iPhone 5S and then edited with an VSCO Cam, an iOS app that I’ve made mention of before here. I’ve considered buying a proper DSLR quite a bit recently, but my photography knowledge is rudimental at best, and so I’d have no idea where to start. If anyone has any suggestions be sure to leave a comment or get in touch via Twitter, Email or on Facebook.

My latest purchase, however, was made yesterday in Liverpool, I popped into the Apple Store and picked myself up am iPad. I’ve been eying them up ever since they released the Mini and have now finally taken the plunge! I couldn’t justify buying one after the splurge on my MacBook in 2012, but now I’m more mobile in regular travels around the country, I thought it’d be beneficial. Also, after my recent excitement of receiving the paid scholarship from university, I thought I’d treat myself – it may also be a useful research tool, you never know!

But veering off topic slightly there, back to Liverpool. After a snoop around Liverpool One, me and my dad wandered off once more to the Cavern Club area, birthplace of The Beatles! You will, of course, have the brilliant “Lovely Rita” playing already as I ~~requested~~ demanded at the start of the post. If you haven’t, then shame on you, and here’s the link again.

In other recent news, I took a few hours out on Tuesday afternoon to indulge in a spot of baking, assisted for a while by my mum. She mixed and baked the basic plain buns, which I then turned into butterfly buns (after a bit of a buttercream disaster), and then I went on to create some delicious triple chocolate buns with a peanut butter core. They were good. Here’s a few photos from my Paul Hollywood-esque adventure…

Delicious chocolate and peanut butter bun

But for now I’m going to grab my iPad and set off on a quest to find some killer apps for it. Currently really sad that FiftyThree’s Pencil isn’t yet available in the UK, so for now I’ll just play Solitaire and Tetris until I fall asleep.

Research Scholarship

04.04.14 — Leeds

So I start my latest blog post with some exciting news – I’ve been awarded the University Of Leeds Undergraduate Research & Leadership Scholarship for the School Of Design!

I quietly applied a few weeks ago, and never expected to be given this fabulous opportunity. Over the next two years I’ll be working alongside Dr. Kishore Budha and Martin Hendry and other researchers from the university on a piece of research that I’m not allowed to disclose. I’ll begin my work fully this June and will have completed and published my research findings and design concepts by the end of Summer 2015.

Some of the details have yet to be finalised but I’ll be engaging in all sorts of activities, from fundamental research skills such as literary reviews and holding focus groups, to exciting trips overseas to visit international conferences. I’ve to document and publish my findings, so I’ll be sure to keep you in the loop. You can find me on Twitter and Facebook if you want to stay informed on your timeline too.

I mention all this as I was back in Leeds yesterday for a scholarship meeting, after which I met up with Izzy to have a catch up over lunch. I then met back up with my mum in the city centre to do a spot of shopping, during which I also had a quick catch up with Emily, who I was lucky enough to catch passing through!

A lovely little street of shops which I don't normally visit

I also introduced my mum to one of my favourite spots in Leeds, Trinity Kitchen! She seemed a bit skeptical first, but after some tacos and a delicious vegetarian Sri-Lankan curry, she was a total convert!

But now I’m back home, and it’s cold. It was really nice a few days ago, and I managed to sneak in my first iced tea of the year! I’ll leave you with it, because I feel like it’s quite a nice photo.

Blast Off

30.03.14 — Burnley

So Easter has begun and I have returned back to good old Burnley to relax!

Ah, who am I kidding, I came back and got stuck back into work straight away. Yesterday (Saturday 29th March) was a big day for Burnley Youth Theatre, as we launched both Burnley Arts Centre and our new building, the Moira Preston Building!

People gathering outside during the launch celebrations

The day begun with back-to-back sharing events, followed by a mad break in which we cleaned both buildings ready for the VIP reception and performances in the evening. It was a hectic and busy day, but it was really nice to be back in work and to catch up with everyone again.

Me outside the newly opened Moira Preston Building

It was very strange, however, to come back into the office and see boxes and boxes of things I’d designed whilst at Leeds that I’d never had the chance to see for myself! This included an A4 Blast Off folder, a VIP Blast Off invite and of course the brand new Burnley Arts Centre/Burnley Youth Theatre brochure.

My colourful 'Blast Off' designs all neatly boxed

Also, I worked on some new signage for both buildings and the gates, and it was strange to see those up in full public view too, when I’d only ever seen them on my laptop back in Leeds!

The Moira Preston Building foyer signage

A new plaque for the Alan Daiches Studio

It was a really enjoyable evening, and a nice chance to catch up with not only colleagues at the theatre but also Paul Hartley from Blaze and Glen Meskell from Curious Minds.

Be sure to follow Burnley Youth Theatre on Twitter and on Facebook – I uploaded this set of photographs from the event yesterday if you want to check out some more photos. I think this is a fitting photo to end on – feel free to leave a comment by getting in touch.