Colour and your branding

Colour and your branding

Colour is one of the strongest elements of your visual branding It’s probably the first thing you see, closely followed by shape. So, not only does your colour palette have to ‘talk’ to your clients and customers – helping them to decide how you make them feel...
Rubbish in, Rubbish out: using ChatGPT

Rubbish in, Rubbish out: using ChatGPT

Create role play scenarios that suit your writing to get the best out of using AI (ChatGPT). ‘You’re (an) x in a company like (x) and your audience are x in x market. Your tone of voice is x (and add some humour)’. I need a heading, bullet points and 500 words. Add some urgency perhaps – ‘my job depends on this’. Or ‘have some fun with this’. Hone down the responses by asking for rewrites where it needs it.

Me, Copyright & Donald – a cautionary tale

Me, Copyright & Donald – a cautionary tale

Don’t trust a Creative Commons Licence unless the original image is fully cited and released. News photo libraries in particular charge high fees anyway, and a fine could be exponentially worse as the infringement company that found you will want a cut too.

3 ways to weed out your fake news

3 ways to weed out your fake news

Ok, not Trump’d up (‘I invented … fake’) news, but fake Twitter or X followers, who are no good for your brand … you heard it here first! Hands up – have you ever analysed your Twitter/ X followers? Some fake Tweeters (eX’ers) are easy to spot – the...
Gong Xi Fa Cai

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Happy New Lunar Year of the Dragon! The Dragon swishes his tail and brings a year of change – and change can also bring new opportunities sparking creativity and innovation. I am a rat and in the Year of the Dragon, rats ‘will experience growth and energy and will...
“There is Always Hope” – Banksy exhibition review

“There is Always Hope” – Banksy exhibition review

Thoughts on Banksy Before going to ‘The [unauthorised] Art of Banksy’ exhibition in London last week (totally worth a visit), I took the time to listen to a podcast series on BBC Sounds to give me a bit of back story and help me understand him better (we...
Advent-type calendar

Advent-type calendar

This year I have made an advent image calendar of my favourite typefaces. These are coupled with a colour flow, picking the second colour to go into the next frame. I’ve also picked up words beginning ‘Advent’. I love words, especially when you pick at them – there weren’t quite enough for the 24 days, but, despite their same beginnings, they mean so many different things.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day to all my American friends here and over there.I asked  Bing to make me a ‘4th July celebrations image, in the style of Jasper Johns’ and it came up with this in about 30 seconds.It’s pretty good. Looks very AI.Saved me a ton...
Apples and Kings

Apples and Kings

The coronation, a major event in 2023, but did you know Sir Jony Ive designed the emblem? Sir Jony Ive, the legendary designer at Apple who helped shape the iconic look and feel of some of the world’s most popular tech, used his minimalist, elegant design...
Gong hei fat choy!

Gong hei fat choy!

This is the year of Rabbit, a symbol of longevity, peace, and prosperity in Chinese culture. 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope.

Each of the 12 lunar year animals has it’s own story.

Stories are one of the most important elements in your branding, because they connect your humanity to your audience and help you become their first choice.

The story of the rabbit is a bit like the hare and the tortoise. Funny how moral tales cross cultures, I guess it means we all share similar values…