da baby thing.....

got a shout from a mate of mine in Londinium asking if I could build a site for his new baby. Y'know, all that sort of thing...baby photos etc. So i've said yes, and have made up my mind it's going to be about the adventures of 'superdev' (baby's name is Dev btw), and how he's conquered the world etc ...... watch this space.

times they are a changin' .....

Sorry about that. I've always had a slightly strange sense of humour. Well, where do I start ...... a friend and business associate has suggested that we share a lve-work space in central London (not at the same time...I'm not that sort of guy and neither is he :) to enable a proper presence in the City for both of our businesses. Sounds very interesting, as we only have a non-official presence there at the moment.

Add to that the sudden influx of database job enquiries, both here and in London, and it looks likely it will happen.

However, do I commute or do I go down for a week at a time or what?

living in interesting times ......

Slightly sick title, as this blog is about death. In the last 5 weeks three people I knew have died - one was in his late 80's so he had a good innings, however the other two were the same age as myself (52) and died from illnesses. Sobering thought!

However, a friend is due to have another small human soon and my business partner's son has his 8th birthday this week, and so there's always a positive to balance against the negative.

poetry stuff.....

I've had an interesting chat with a sculptor mate of mine. Basically it's a bet that my 2nd book of poetry (which has taken 27 years to arrive at) won't be ready before the book that he's writing is finished. The bet is 2 tickets for the RSO later in the season, to an opera of the winner's choice.

I'd better get working......

hehe..me and technology .....

I love technology. I've been used to using it, in one form or another for most of life. However, this new all-singing all-dancing pda / phone / swiss army knife device is driving me mad. Unlike the last one, this one has to be actively plugged in, and I constantly forget to. Upshot? Two hour-long (plus) meetings 15 minutes apart, one for Empire HR's new multimedia project and the other for Aberdeen College. Needless to say, Ian Caie, my co-director in Rocket, took one and I took the other.

I missed my friend's leaving do in London. AH well, I'll hopefully see her later in the year when I go on holiday. After all I got 1 week in Florence last year, that's a sign of things to come ....... time off. Hopefully the 70 hour weeks won't keep going for another 18 months.

It was brought to my notice by designer friends, that a couple of design companies are being hit with the closure of all the shops and offices on the south side of Justice Mill Lane, due to a new hotel development. The Bonaccord Swimming Pool next door is also closing due to council cutbacks ..... is this a coincidence? I don't think so. We've been hit by this as well, as we had a small shareholding in a Chinese Takeaway in the same block, and our lease has not been renewed. C'est la vie.

growing up ......

We have had to make some mature decisions for the various businesses recently. Not as much fun as usual, but it still has to be done. We've actually put a formal HR protocol in place, complete with contracts and all the gubbins, and actually employed an external service to administer it. Scary! We've also had to seriously look at setting up a holding company for our various interests. This may be getting too serious. While I enjoy business, and largely treat it as fun, I've had to make some hard decisions recently regarding expansion, particularly of Rocket. While Paradox has clients all over the world, Rocket is also now getting more and more work from clients in other countries. We've supplied to Switzerland, amongst other places, and have just completed a new site for the Amber Trust in Rajasthan.

so it's happening ....

Looks like we've got agreement on a new place where the eight of us can work together. Definitely bigger, and as per usual, a bit off the wall (who me? never!) but is a lot bigger with much light (the existing place only gets the sun in high summer). London is going to have to wait a few more months.

The new service which accompanies Rocket Print will shortly be in place all ready to service our ever growing client base. It should be fun (business really should be about enjoying yourself, no?) and may make our clients even happier.

Had a shout from an ex-workmate who is soon going back to the Antipodes, asking if I want to nip down to Londinium for the leaving bash.... I'm trying really hard to make that one...or do I want to wake up face down on the pavement at 8 in the morning :) Oh yes!

hmmm...should I ?.....

Well that was really surprising. Fifteen years after laying down my camera, professionally, I suddenly realised how much I'd missed it. Cause of this? This shared exhibition that I'm doing with Jonathon Holt. Though it's not a big deal in the scheme of things, I really enjoyed putting together this one, with completely fresh images, and without being tied to what the Times and Telegraph want to see. However, just as I get back into a bit of fun photography, a large local company wants me to shoot all of their properties for a new brochure. Do I want to do this...I think so, but time will tell.

On the design side of things, I have to go off to London again shortly to see some more clients ..... the opening of a (part-time) studio down there has been discussed and discussed, but now it's time to make the decision.........

ever had that feeling ?

My life is just getting faster and faster. I have a pile of work on my desk that would scare a platoon of workaholics, and just to make life really easy, I'm assembling a small, shared, photographic exhibition which has to be ready for framing in days, not weeks. Add to this the formation of a new company, and I'm having some sleepless nights at the moment.

I'm sure this is supposed to be the quiet time of year for our business........

I'm amazed .......

Well that was an education for me. Here's me, thinking that no one read my blog and it was just an opportunity to get some of the crap out of my head and ....... bingo! I've had a number of responses today from graphic designers and web people. Thanks for your responses, it will take us some time to look through them and get back to you, but we will be in touch.

Re. the 'cyber-squatters', wow! Didn't know there was anyone else out there with similar tales of woe, let alone the many that have been in touch re this particular problem. We'll keep you informed as the legal process progresses. Though it will probably take time it may be of use to you in your battles.

Thanks once again, and if you want to contact me you can at davexmachina@yahoo.co.uk instead of through the various sites at the bottom of the page.

silly tactics for silly people ......

It's been a real, heads-down, flat-out swine of a month. Paradox, both here and in London, is snowed under with work....branding, websites etc...now getting quite scary with our workload (and we're looking for talented designers btw), and Rocket Print has attracted a lot of new clients this month, probably due to our guaranteed service, but, and this is a tiny but, the "cyber-squatting" opposition are not amused .... see www.rocket-print.com ....... How not to win friends and influence people :)
The owners of this website are our ex-suppliers... read the old, old, story here .... who were, like us, late arrivals in the online print market. However, they are under the impression that they were the first. Tell that to the true inovators of this idea ......

For general consumption a) the studio was painted (bright red) by handyman Mark some 5 months ago, and b) we're in the process of moving to bigger premises so that all the parts of the business in Scotland can be together. This should result in some further serious savings for clients, and a new range of products. We're hoping this will be in the next couple of months.......

So ignore the the "We are painting our offices in the Castlegate, probably move in in next couple of weeks" and pop in by for a coffee if you're in the area. If you're one of our international clients, it could be an expensive coffee ... so we apologise in advance :)

You should have seen him Rocket - Print him a ticket now!!!

Ahhh... It's boring ... The 'ethical' ones have struck again ..... Not content with cyber-squatting one of our domain names, they've started the old 'we've been bad-mouthed' routine. Get a grip! The only bad-mouthing has been by these ex-friends against myself and my studio partners. Shockingly poor form. Especially in light of the fact that they tried it on with some of my clients ... unsuccessfully, I might add, as my clients were on the phone immediately to me to tell me about this piece of nonsense.

I've let this whole thing go past me, without response, for over a year, but 2008 is the time for change! I'm starting a legal action against them for cyber-squatting, helped by one of the main government-funded business agencies. Check it out at www.rocket-print.com then look at the original www.rocket-print.co.uk. They're trying to make it look as if we're recommending or commenting on them......sad, yet funny.

In addition to this, they've constantly had a 'potshot' at us in blogs etc.

Wish I had the time to spare, like that... I'd go to the pub and relax for half an hour instead ......

My partner (life, not business) told me not to bother getting worked up, as companies that depend on slagging others off tend to be doing that due to fear, and I suppose, with our cheap prices, that's where it's coming from... just straight fear that we are beating their prices all the time