I deactivated all my social media accounts a couple of months ago. Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, LinkedIn, the lot. It was in an effort, along with other measures, to get on top of some mental health issues I’ve been dealing with for a while. This post isn’t about living with depression though, it’s about the widerContinue reading “Conundrum de dum: musings on deactivating social media”
Category Archives: Observation
Graphic commons: transmission
I found this tape in the shape of a cross on the floor of a Waitrose store at an M1 service station last weekend. Such yellow and black tape is typically synonymous as a health & safety hazard warning for when a surface is unsafe, and used “for excavation, trip hazards, low hanging objects andContinue reading “Graphic commons: transmission”
Surface exchange
During this year I’ve been growing tired of my use of Instagram, to the stage where recently when posting something, I thought to myself: “god I’m really starting to bore myself here.” I suspect this is mostly due to not getting out so much over the last couple of years, (for obvious reasons), and whenContinue reading “Surface exchange”
Graphic commons: make do and mend
Getting out and about in recent weeks has bought a renewed attention on my part to the graphic commons, and in particular, road markings. I noticed a few ‘make do and mend’ type repairs to road markings over the last year on some of my constitutionals, but their prevalence has only really struck me recently.Continue reading “Graphic commons: make do and mend”
Repetition repetition repetition
After a tutorial with a student who spoke of having what they thought might be RSI last year, I decided to deliver a lecture on the subject. It isn’t untypical for students to start to develop RSI symptoms in their final year of study, as they cram for their dissertations and towards their last assignments.Continue reading “Repetition repetition repetition”
And the answer is…
On Monday evening I went to an online design talk, and for the first time ever of attending such things, the organiser put us into break-out groups for 5 minutes at the start. I wasn’t quite sure why this was happening, and couldn’t see a connection to the talk, but I went with it. InContinue reading “And the answer is…”
Mainstream discussions on graphic design
Mainstream media doesn’t often do graphic design, and when it does it rarely does it seriously. Preference is more often given over to art, architecture, interior design, photography and fashion. On the odd occasion when an appropriately critical article does appear, (one that does not claim that the journalist’s 6 year old daughter could haveContinue reading “Mainstream discussions on graphic design”
Constitutionals
Since I wrote Graphic commons: Government sanctioned dérives, I have started to upload photos taken on my daily #coronawalks to a dedicated Instagram feed called Constitutionals. It features much more of a variety of observations than just the graphic or typographic, as written about here, and is more typical of my usual Instagram feed. Depending onContinue reading “Constitutionals”
Graphic commons: Government sanctioned dérives
Making the most of the ‘sanctioned’ time I am allowed out to exercise during the UK government’s coronavirus pandemic ‘lockdown’, I have been drifting through my neighbourhood on a daily basis for the last week. Despite the awkwardness of swapping sides of the road every time I see someone coming in my direction, this hasContinue reading “Graphic commons: Government sanctioned dérives”
A question of signs
A couple of weeks ago I took the above picture at Felixstowe docks, finding it interesting to see a group of signs in what appeared to be a holding pen, waiting to be distributed as need-be around the busy port. After editing the image to post to Flickr at the weekend, I wondered what theContinue reading “A question of signs”
Nigel Ball 