As a young(er) man I was an avid collector of vinyl records, starting with seven inch singles and gladly welcoming the twelve inch format with its extra capacity for aural and visual creative adventure. I mourn its loss, there have been plenty of records I have bought PURELY for the design of the sleeve and it was my teen dream to be a record sleeve designer like my heroes, Neville Brody, Peter Saville, Malcolm Garrett and the late, great iconoclastic designer David Band – for whom I’ve made a tribute website. Alas it wasn’t to be, I ended up primarily designing for a more worthy cause but still look back at this era with nostalgic fondness and sincerely welcome the idea of Record Store Day.

Regrettably, the idea and reality of Record Store Day are two very different things for me though. I tried to pick up a few special things last year to support the cause and also get some nice rarities along the way. Just like the old days, I got to the record shop as it was opening, full of enthusiastic verve and a feel good feeling that I was ‘doing my part’. Then I remembered where it all went wrong in the past – the service. When I download a song I don’t have to put up with the bearded bellicose, casting judgement. I enquired about various records and was met with a mumbly, dismissive shake of the head and instantly felt like I was in a scene from ‘High Fidelity’.

I’m not going to bother this year. It’s a great idea but without suppliers that care as much as the consumers it’s just not going to work and the format will remain a niche, maybe that’s the ideal anyway? Popular never really was cool.

US researchers found that those with access to dogs were less stressed as the day went on than those who had none. The preliminary study published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management looked at 75 staff and the researchers suggested access to dogs boosted morale and reduced stress levels, whether people had access to their own pets or other people’s. The study was carried out by a team of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University who looked at a manufacturing company where people are allowed to bring their pets to work. They compared those who brought in their own pets, with those who had dogs – but left them at home – and staff who did not own pets.

This was nice to see, I remember being so impressed when I read about Paul Frank Industries allowing pets in the workplace and it’s great that those lovely folk at my local Apple Store are so welcoming of pets too. But these are minority cases and I can’t even post a cheque or deposit cash at my local bank without being told off for stepping inside for a minute with my lovely beagle.

Louise Lee, spokesperson at pet charity Blue Cross said they have always promoted the benefits of dogs in the workplace. ”We encourage our employees to bring in their well-behaved dogs where practical and we have seen similar results to the survey – a more enjoyable working environment, staff more likely to take regular breaks and a reduction in stress through stroking and petting dogs during the working day. The dogs themselves are also much happier as they are not being left at home for long periods of time.”

I have to say that I enjoy having my dog here with me in the studio, we keep each other company and being forced away from the Mac for ‘walkies’ can be frustrating when I’m on a deadline but it always helps me clear my head and the exercise isn’t bad for me either.

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Well, that’s nice to know isn’t it. Or isn’t it?

So, there’s a new iPad and it’s called just that – ‘The New iPad’. Bit strange really, as they still sell the iPad 2 which is now inferior to iPad ‘The New’ and costs less which just doesn’t make sense. I can see that numbering things is silly and Apple don’t do it with desktops/laptops so really there’s no reason to do it with phones and tablets but I think the time to quit numbering things was back with iPad 2 so maybe it was Steve Jobs who had a thing for numbers?

Anyway, this is all irrelevant. I now have a coveted iPad ‘The New’ and I didn’t sleep on the doorstep of the Apple Store to get it early on day one of release, I simply ordered it online. A much more satisfying way of shopping I find, especially when it’s a little ‘crisp’ weather-wise. As I write this it’s sitting there next to me, looking all shiny and expediently taking all the data it needs from my Mac to bring it to life. So far so good, the screen really is ridiculously clear, much better than my original iPad (1) and it feels ever so curvy in comparison. I also went for white instead of black this time just in the name of aesthetic equality really, I’m an equal opportunities technology whore.

Later this year I am travelling around the world, literally. I’m flying one way around the world down under, and then coming back the other way so a lot of these new acquisitions will comprise my mobile office for when I’m out of action for nearly a month. As well as the iPad ‘The New’ I also ordered a lovely set of international plugs so I can stay charged, an iPad cover and various other gizmos and gadgets that are essential to my creative and social effectiveness.

Today was like Christmas morning for me. Perhaps I shall call it Christmas ‘The New’.

Last month, Qwikprint got in touch with Soft Octopus to say they wanted to update their brand across everything – from van liveries to signage to stationery to invoices and eventually a website. Marvellous! I finally got the chance to see off something ugly and replace it with something beautiful. You can see the old and the new above and I hope you agree.

The creative development of this design grew, like all the best logos from a simple idea. I took the two first letters of Quick + Print and simplified them into geometric shapes that I then dissected and infused with a range of vibrant colours to represent full colour printing. I love the end result and more importantly, so does the client.

There is something wonderful about the sheer eclecticism of the entries on show at this exhibition, it’s not controversial in the same way as The Turner Prize but I do often wonder how some of the pieces get through to the final and it’s rare that my favourite piece of art in the show is the winning piece. For decades I always dreamed of entering this competition, I am not a painter but as a designer I have a good eye for the visually pleasing one would hope!

It took a long time, but in 2010 I finally got around to entering a piece, it was a dual painting in collaboration with a fellow creative – Andrew Cornes, and the process was as interesting as the final result – so we weren’t too upset not to be shortlisted.

Not to be defeated, I spent a while thinking about what I wanted to do and actually worked on ideas for this painting over many months. It’s a mixed media effort, partly because I am terrified of paint and hate the lack of control I have when taken away from my Mac for creative endeavours. Battling on with the materials I worked with a selection of my Father’s discarded ties and worked through a laborious process of immersing them in resin which was then over-painted with multiple layers of oil paint until I got to a point I was happy with.

Interestingly, I used the reverse of the canvas/frame for this piece as I needed something that the resin could set-off in without leaking, so it’s ended up a bit of an homage to Howard Hodgkin and I see elements of other artists in there too including RB Kitaj – but it’s all by coincidence rather than design, which I like the idea of. The end result was 50% design and 50% where I was forced to go with the media I was working with.

Once again, it was the process that I enjoyed; I liked the idea of having paid for entry to the show I was effectively ‘tied in’ to entering and only just managed to get thte piece submitted within hours of the closing deadline. Who knows what will happen now? It looks like the sort of painting one would see in the John Moores Painting Prize, so maybe this year I’ll be lucky? Oily painted fingers crossed…

This year Azerbaijan are hosting the show in Baku after they won it last year with ‘Running Scared’ by Ell and Nikki. Do you remember it? The brand and theme has been announced and they want you to ‘Light Your Fire’. It will be summer by the time we tune in, so I’m hoping I won’t need to, but they’re taking this really seriously and have even created a mini-epic all about the logo and how it is a reflection of Azerbaijan – land of fire.

I like the logo, I think it’s a nice development and one of the best we’ve seen in years. You can see a few of the more recent ones HERE. Like any design, it inevitably reminded me of something else, there isn’t anything 100% original left to design, there are only so many ways you can position shapes, colours and words to create something and I’m sure this is a coincidence but it does resemble Nagano’s 1998 Olympic logo, just a little bit. Look closely at the abstract figurative shapes.

What do you think? Nil point or a decent douze?

I think that the process for writing music is very similar to designing something and I approach both in the same way. Now they’re both 100% Mac-based activities so that’s the first big thing they have in common, but the creative process is also very similar. They’re both about adding and subtracting different elements in order to see what works, what is harmonious, what feels right, what is odd and shouldn’t work, but does, and perhaps most importantly, what can be left out.

I wanted 2012 to be the year that I got back into music so have made it so. Over Christmas I worked on a track with the working title of ‘Brittle’. It’s about 25 layers of music at the moment but it’s lacking lyrics and some vocals. That’s where the wonderful internet comes in and I can call upon the support of pop chums around the world! First up, Peter Coyle of The Lotus Eaters has sent over vocals by email from his home studio in France that I can cut up and drop in. This collaboration will be under the moniker of ‘Dutch Lawn’ which shall be explained to those wanting to know

I have no plans to do anything serious with this, but it’s a lovely diversion and the results will eventually make it to the public domain via a video that is being planned with brilliant film maker and co-conspirator John Scotland. Who knows where it will go, but I’m happy I’ve stuck to one of my new year’s resolutions at the very least.