Design solutions for web and print media in Cheltenham & Bristol - websites/flyers/posters/brochures/branding/promotional material - we do it all!

English in Cádiz websites

Sambo — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 12:54:25 +0000

English in Cadiz websites

I’ve recently made a couple of websites (one in English and one in Spanish) for Chloe. Chloe is a native English speaker living in Cadiz, Spain and she is looking to gain private lessons to go alongside her teaching English in a language school.

The websites are www.inglescadiz.es and www.inglescadiz.com.

These are examples of simple content managed sites (or ‘content management systems’ (CMS)). Chloe has a feature called ‘Phrase of the Week’ where she posts an article once a week containing a mini-lesson in which she teaches the meaning of some typical English phrases.

…oh, and she’s already had her first call from it!

Most outwardly supported football club (The race to 50)

Sambo — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:20:05 +0000

Most outwardly supported football club (The race to 50)

So I went to the football world cup (or should I say ‘The FIFA Disneyworld Cup™’) in South Africa last year. Whilst I was there, my friend and I noticed something quite glaringly obvious: That the most outwardly supported club football team were not, contrary to popular belief, Manchester United, but in fact Arsenal. By outwardly supporting I mean sporting of their shirt. Of course, we saw more international shirts depending which match we were at. But amongst the hundreds of thousand of supporters we saw at our 3 stadium matches and numerous other matches viewed from fan parks, there was no doubt that Arsenal were, by a long way, the most popular team.

With this now in my consciousness, I began to notice the trend repeating itself upon my return to England. Though, I didn’t know whether I was just noticing Arsenal shirts more now because I had become aware of this. So, after a few months, I decided to conduct my own little survey to test whether it was actually the case or not. Now, I know this sounds sad, but really this is the sort of thing that makes me tick. Numbers. I love them. I’m constantly making my own little charts of things and analysing the data. Hardly any of it ever reaches the public domain, a lot even doesn’t even get to my friends (I do like to be able to still have friends!), but lucky you, this one is coming out. I called it, ‘The race to 50‘.

I began the survey some time in September of 2010 and it came to its conclusion on June 21st this year when one team (guess who?!) won the race to 50.

Now, I had a few rules in place:
- If I was in the area of a team playing that day they did not count (hard luck to the Bristol teams).
- I also did not include any shirts worn by people I know, most of which were Arsenal ones anyway!
- I included national shirts for this survey.
- Carried out in England only. So when I went to Spain in May it was suspended (though the very first football shirt I saw was worn by a Spanish boy on the Xerex to Cadiz train …and it was …an Arsenal one).

I carried out the survey by noting down in my phone every time I saw a shirt of a football team being worn and then adding them to my spreadsheet when back at my computer at home.

So, below is the final table. Needless to say Arsenal were ahead for the whole time and only saw a close finish due to a late Manchester United surge.

50 Arsenal
47 Manchester United
39 Liverpool
33 England
21 Chelsea
14 Bristol City
11 Spurs
5 Man City
5 Bristol Rovers
4 Nottingham Forest
4 Barcelona
3 Real Madrid
3 Portsmouth
3 Newcastle
3 Aston Villa
2 West Ham
2 West Brom
2 Rangers
2 Leicester
2 Leeds
2 Holland
2 AC Milan
1 Sunderland
1 Spain
1 Sheffield United
1 Reading
1 QPR
1 Lincoln
1 Japan
1 Ivory Coast
1 France
1 Everton
1 Czech Republic
1 Colchester
1 Celtic
1 Cardiff
1 Burnley
1 Bulgaria
1 Brazil
1 Blackpool
1 Blackburn
1 Atletico Madrid

Control Over Nature – Tessa Farmer

Liz — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 12:48:10 +0000

Tessa Farmer at The Crypt Gallery, St Pancras Church, London.

To mark the release of the new Amon Tobin album (ISAM), Saatchi Collection artist Tessa Farmer put together the Control Over Nature installation, brought to life by the music of Tobin.

Vicious fairies (just 10mm in height) made from parts of insects, build imagined dwellings from carcases and bones – the most breath taking piece being a mummified cat infested by fairies accompanied by the track Kitty Cat.

As you enter the crypt (lit only by the spot lights angled at the installation) you stumble into a swarm consisting of the husks of dead insects – from the beautiful butterfly (featured on the ISAM album cover) to ferocious hornets and the usually bothersome blue bottles, which seam to glisten in this low lit grotto.

Tessa’s use of natural materials to create a sinister yet beautiful world where fairies rule, works in perfect symmetry with the hauntingly intricate soundscapes Tobin expertly crafts.
Possibly one of the best exhibitions in the most atmospheric venue I’ve ever been to.

Creative cakes!

Liz — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:27:03 +0000

Creative cakes!

It was only a matter of time before I combined my two loves: food and art and I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before…

Chocolate sponge, blackcherry jam, chocolate buttercream, fondant decorations – all completely and absolutely utterly edible!

Art Gallery in Cheltenham

Sambo — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:20:45 +0000

A Cheltenham art gallery website

I’ve recently refurbished the web site for deepspaceworks art gallery and studio space in Charlton Kings, Cheltenham.

The website, as with the art gallery, had been a work in progress for a while, waiting for everything to come together. But now that the gallery itself has played host to its first exhibition (see the website), the site has also been able to flourish. Images from the exhibition as well as more and more happening at deepspaceworks have allowed me to add all the content to the site that was previously missing.

So now the web site is fully up and running and under the care of Su from the gallery, who is happily adding her own latest news and info to the site as and when she needs to.

Our Portfolio Page

Sambo — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 14:15:56 +0000

Our Portfolio Page

We’re pleased to announce that, after the successful launch (and 48 hour worldwide sell out) of our Atompop fashion gear, we have now officially opened the fridge to reveal our portfolio page!

As well as being able to move the magnets and stickers on the fridge and the items inside the fridge, you can also click on certain items in the fridge to view different sections of our portfolio. Go do it! Have fun!

Ambient P Stretch

Liz — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:01:07 +0000

Ambient P Stretch.
Another painting finished!
x

Who is The Secret Footballer?

Sambo — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:39:09 +0000

Who is The Secret Footballer?

On my way to see Spurs v Stoke last weekend I was made aware of The Secret Footballer‘s column in The Guardian newspaper by my friend Colin. I was intrigued and on Friday night I went on the Guardian website to read all of his previous articles. It has to be said I was in a bit of a drunken haze at the time and so I decided to buy the domain www.whoisthesecretfootballer.co.uk. I then set up and launched the website over the weekend whilst watching The FA Cup semi final between Man City and Man Utd, El Clasico, MOTD, The Football League Show and Arsenal V Liverpool. By this morning it has gone a little viral! Robbie Savage has been tweeting me about it and Ian Prior, Sports Editor for the Guardian, tweeted that he ‘loves it’. Crazy fun.

You can follow my tweets on the subject, check out the facebook page or go directly to the website and contribute to the debate…

Atompop tracksuit exclusive!

Sambo — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:16:10 +0000

Atompop tracksuit exclusive!

Read all about it!

The official Atompop business gear goes global today. The famous uniform that Liz and Sam don when it’s business time is now available for everyone.

Of course we’re expecting stocks to clear in very short time so get your skates on and order before it’s too late.

Those damn lazy bunnies!

Liz — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 22:38:16 +0000

Those damn lazy bunnies!

I had a lovely day on Saturday, pottling around sunny bristol. I went to see the Cosima Von Bonin’s Bone Idle exhibition at the Arnolfini.

Materials, craft, music by Moritz von Oswald and film came together to expore the notion of sloth and fatigue.

The exhibition in on until Monday April 25th, so if minimal german techno, textiles or lazy bunnies are your thing, I promise you’ll love it!