Dept. of Design & Creativity

19/06/2026

This morning, after saying good morning to Alexa, my son came into the living room armed with two facts:
🏏 Ian Botham was the first player to score a century and take eight wickets in a test match.
🚶 And today is World Saunter Day.

Now, with my son's school across the road from the beach, the sun shining and the temperature climbing, I thought, "Why not?"
So I headed off for a saunter along the prom. ☀️

Earbuds in, Audible on, and another chapter of 'Winners: And How They Succeed' by Alastair Campbell playing. It was a recent book-of-the-month choice from The One Percent Club book club, and one I was lucky enough to win. 🎉 Thanks BIG ideas for small businesses!

One idea from the chapter really stuck with me. Alastair talks about Dave Brailsford and British Cycling. Rather than asking, "How do we improve cycling?", the question became:

*"What would it take to produce a British winner of the Tour de France?"*

A clear question. A clear goal.
Everything else followed from there.
It got me thinking…

Whether it's in business or life, perhaps we all need to spend less time rushing and more time asking ourselves:
*"What's the one thing I'm really trying to achieve?"*

So, my questions for you are:
🚶 Where are you sauntering today?
🎯 And what's your one clear goal right now?

It's Friday. The sun is out. Enjoy it, and don't forget to slow down every now and then.

17/06/2026

14/06/2026

Phew! It has been such a busy week that I am still in the studio and late to post...

This week (8th June) I’ve mostly been:
⚽️ Enjoying an U10’s football tournament in Alnwick
🎨 Talking colour space and printing with artists – lots of art market preparation this week
🪟 Preparing my new World Cup window display
🙏 Remembering DAVID HOCKNEY and his influence on my study in A-Level Art

We did manage to:
©️ Create a set of logo designs for an educational rebrand
👩‍🎨 Print fine art for Skyeblomma
🍔 Design and print Looey’s a-boards and menus and see my trailer design come to life!
🎓 Print employment brochures for North Tyneside SCITT and North East Partnership
🎨 Run giclée prints and greetings cards for Katie Rzedzian Fine Art
🍺 Print posters for Kerry O’Shea’s
💎 Design and print sapphire wedding anniversary invitations
🎰 Run more posters for Tyne Tees Entertainment
🦪 Print large format menus for The O Co.
📈 Run signage for an Accenture event
🪖 Produce stickers for Veterans at Ease
👗Print large format dress patterns for a very thankful customer who now does not need to tape A4 sheets!
🖼 Produce fine art prints from a customer’s 30 minuntes daily sketches
💒 Print stationery for our wedding competition winners
.. and now, we are getting ready for a game of foot golf as part of the kids' end of season football celebrations. Enjoy your Sunday!

13/06/2026

Our new window display celebrates trophy design of the World Cup.

Pop along and have a look!

11/06/2026

Happy World Cup Day! ⚽️ 🏆

Can you guess the focus of our new window display?

10/06/2026

World cup fever is coming... ⚽️

Ì can print A0 posters for £25 ex vat; order more than five and these can be discounted.

Need it in a hurry? As we print in-house, ask us about same day/next day availability.

09/06/2026

So….we’ve gone BIG!

Our giant Whitley Bay gift voucher has been making its way around town and we’ve been stopping off to take photos with some of the amazing local businesses that accept them.

First up is Mark from Dept. of Design & Creativity on Whitley Road.
We must mention Mark printed our giant voucher. We emailed asking him to do it and it was ready in a few days. Top service from a top guy!

Keep an eye on our page over the coming days and weeks as we share more of the local faces of those who accept our vouchers.

When you give a Whitley Bay Gift Voucher, you’re giving the gift of supporting our town.

06/06/2026

End of another working week...

This week (1st June) I’ve mostly been:
- Enjoying a day out at Lilidorei at The Alnwick Garden
- Talking about branding with customers
- Further exploring the benefits of AI
- Generating ideas for a ‘Fun Friday’ social media – watch this space 👀

We did manage to:
✍️ Produce a research document for a logo design proposal
🥛Print marketing material and strut cards for a new cooler at eatclean.uk
🎨 Run more giclée prints and greetings cards for local artists
🎾 Print leaflets for NET 360 CIC
🍔 Create a new trailer design for new burger brand, Looeys
🥳 Print promotional material for the next Fiesta Whitley Bay
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Create bespoke wrapping paper from a tartan swatch for The Ministry of Tartan.co.uk
🌟 Print posters for Sarah’s Star
🖼 Print a large 1m x 1m satin art print
⚱️ Produce an order of service for a celebration of life
🎭 Run the last order of t-shirts for Saturday Stage Schools
⚽️ Design and print a ‘Rebirthday’ banner for a brave little boy
..and now I am relaxing with a coffee at Rustic Cup.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

05/06/2026

It is games night in our house tonight so I thought I would share a great little project! 🃏

These branded playing cards for Cornish Accounting Solutions created a fun, quirky gift for clients whilst recognising that playing with numbers isn't a game! Leave that to them! 😉

Happy Friday!

04/06/2026

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹(𝘀)

It’s a family or close friend’s milestone birthday. You want to treat them to something special.

You know what they love — shopping at 𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙨. So, you decide a gift voucher would be perfect. 👌

This is where it goes downhill…

A few weeks ago, I went to buy a voucher for our nephew who spends hours window shopping at 𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙨, Metrocentre. I thought this would be something that felt special, reflective of the store’s premium image. After all, when hoodies start at £180 and coats hit £1,000, you’d expect their vouchers to match that standard. 🤔

Instead, what we were handed looked like… a business card, and a similar quality too. No envelope. No thought. No experience or value.

Okay, they did go a step further - they rounded the corners. 🫨

That got me thinking; how often do businesses overlook the small things that make a brand feel premium?

As someone who creates bespoke printed materials every day, I can tell you, presentation is everything. The texture, the finish, the packaging. These are the details that make customers feel valued.

Something 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙜𝙚𝙨 is good at. I'll share this experience in another post. 👀

You wouldn’t give your family member or special friend a present without gift wrapping it? So, why should we accept that from high-end brands such as 𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙨? Luckily, I was able to redesign it myself (perks of the job!) — and my nephew never knew the difference.

It made me think about how many businesses underestimate the impact of good design that those everyday moments have on your brand.💡 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸-𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

What does your voucher say about you? Do you remember receiving anything special?