City of the Sun.

As some of you may or may not know. I used to run a clothing firm called City of the Sun. I was certain we had a good thing going and that we had what it took to make it a credible success. We had solid ideas, what we thought were great designs and a group mentality that we were friends at the end.

Well that last bit basically attributed to our demise, it shut us down. Out of the 6 involved, i am only in contact with 2. Those 2 i have been friends with for more than a decade so therefore we have a strong relationship. I, once in a blue moon, speak to a third member who i wish i was in more contact more with. As for the last two, i don't know what happened. We were all so close, spent a lot of time together, even had a holiday together which obviously had its good & bad moments but we got on with it.

After a resignation and many arguments later, the group dwindled itself down to 4 members. It's not like i didn't want to speak to the other members but after us all agreeing that we "will have our friendship no matter what"... we learned the hard way that things don't always pan out the way we would like them to be.

You could say we had some success, we were in magazines, our sponsored bands had shared stages with the likes of Lostprophets, Paramore to name a few, but we never really hit the jackpot. Not even with all the help and support we had from a hardcore few (you know who you are) that were at every event we were at, bought every single design that we released and generally spread nothing but love for us.

My verdict of what happened to us was pretty much Accidental Death. We imploded and crashed landed because of our delusions of grandeur . Our internal squabbles would effectively lay the ground work for a failing company. I recently went through EVERY email i ever received from other members of the group regarding decisions, absence from meetings, petulance and everything in-between.

I never knew it could have ended like that. I never knew 6 men, could have had such petty arguments and cause so many issues on such trivial issues. Maybe some of the disagreements were legitimate but we never seemed to find a middle ground. I am not singling anyone out, collectively, we dropped a ball. I am sitting on lost investments, shirts in boxes doing nothing. A constant reminder of a business venture gone down the drain.

But even after i analyze all of this, i still don't regret doing it. I had some great times, seeing some of our hard work actually pay off. I can honestly say that there is no better feeling for a designer or businessman to see your product being worn by someone you don't really know, walking down the street, or when you see a band member on stage doing what they love and choosing to do it in your shirt.

As for future ventures, i am not sure where we will all be in 5 years time. I'd like to think we all took something positive away from this and can build on it to make our lives a little more exciting. I am going to sell off the remaining shirts over the coming weeks on eBay, for pretty much the cost price.

Knowing our luck, we will probably hit the jackpot and demand for our shirts will be higher than it ever was. A boy can dream can't he?

T-Shirts have always been something i enjoyed making, and i am looking into the prospect of doing something along similar lines, to coincide with my portfolio getting updated which is still a work-in-progress.

I think i have gone on for long enough now. Plus its 3:07am and i should be sleeping, so night people.

BTW, go watch District 9, it's actually a really good film!!

Portfolio & Latest News.

Over the two years i was at City College Manchester, studying towards my HND in Graphic Design, i probably didn't work to the best of my ability. Pre-occupied with doing stupid stuff, too relaxed and laid back. So therefore my briefs were probably not concluded as well as they could have been.

I have decided to revisit my earlier briefs and redo them, and upload them to see what it could have been like if i had applied myself. The only drawback will be that i have no-one to really bounce my ideas off, no tutor pushing that little bit further, no trained eye to spot a lob-sided layer or typeface.

The first one i will be revisiting will be my brief on the essence of Community. A group of people with a common aim, belief structure or location. I will post it as soon as it is ready, with my first attempt for a comparison.

So please bare with me.

On other news, i can now legally drive. I passed my test on the 13th July and its been a massive weight off my shoulders. My theory test certificate was due to expire on the 22nd of this month so i wanted to get it done as soon as possible, so i did and i only got 6 minors!

Take Care.

Holy Ghost

Went to Urbis today to have a look round at a few exhibitions, including a very good VideoGame show. While we were there we went into a free exhibition called the "State of the Art: New York". This piece was called Holy Ghost by Carolyn Salas & Adam Parker Smith. Quite striking piece of work and was probably the highlight of all the shows. Get down and see it if you can.

Power Grid

Right, don't actually know how to take this. If it used power from a natural source i.e Solar Panels, then yeah this would be pretty cool.

I reckon it also shows how reliable we are on our in-house entertainment, also the amount of electrical consumption!

Wonderul Wizard of Oz.

Ok so its been a long time since i posted anything on here to be honest, and it hasnt been through negligence or anything like that. I have just been extremely busy recently with a massive decision that my girlfriend and i have to consider.

We have decided to emigrate to Australia, we're starting the visa application very soon and we have decided to leave our flat to help build up our funds. The process could take upto about 12 months to complete so we are hoping to be over there by summer next year or just after.

I am going to be looking for work about 3 months or so before we get out there, i am going to be looking for design work only to begin with but might have to face the fact that it might not be possible and look for work when i get out there.

My girlfriend, Jaime, is a district nurse therefore has quite a sort after profession in Australia so she will have no problem in getting work i imagine. Its been a massive decision for the both to make, leaving a lot of family behind, including parents, grand parents, sisters and Nieces. Not mention all our friends, who we hope will come and visit us when they can. Also Manchester is where i have always called home and i love it here but i just feel Perth has that little bit more to offer.

Oh well, i'll still be posting my blog when i can, posting random stuff that no one reads.

Anyway, more important news! If you havent seen The Hangover, seriously, go and watch it!
Going to watch the new Transformers flick on friday too.