It’s gone a bit quiet on here but that doesn’t mean that I’m being lazy. Like so often, when there’s lots going on, there’s no time to blog about it. My self-negotiated ‘practice year’ is coming along well and I’m as busy as ever developing new skills and experiencing the ‘real world’. After a few commissioned projects like the BiWa website, the interactive e-cards for Allianz Group and the logo for c² Consulting Group, I took a step out of the door of my little studio and went on a work experience with City ID in Bristol. City ID is a design studio that develops award-winning design, information and wayfinding solutions for cities across the world. They are a multi-disciplinary team from a variety of specialist fields including information designers, urban designers, illustrators, cartographers, interface designers and product designers to name but a few. I took the opportunity to shadow them for four weeks and dip in and out of some of their exciting projects. I was also actively involved with information planning and research and developed a personal project with a result that I’m very proud of. What it is will be revealed soon, so watch this space.

Now I’m back at my little studio and work on a couple of websites, one of which is the complete redesign of paznow.com. My new site will go live in early April and so far it’s looking very good and I’m rather excited about it. Until then there probably won’t be much blogging, so if you wanna know what’s going on in my life (and the little aches and pains I’m running into) then head over to twitter or facebook and subscribe to the RSS feed or e-mail updates so you won’t miss the relaunch.

A lot of people in the UK seem to be superstitious, particularly in winter. Many people think for example, that leaving christmas decoration up after the 6th of January causes bad luck. Others think that gritting your own drive or the pavement outside your house or clearing it of snow will cause people to sue you if they slip and fall despite your efforts. Well, both of these popular beliefs are actually myths, I’m afraid.

Fair enough, this country isn’t used to a bit of snow in the winter and that’s why people react scared and paralyzed - I give you that. But come on, stop acting like children and take some responsibility. Stop complaining that the council doesn’t grit your pavement and that elderly people are piling up on the street corners as they slip on the ice and fall on their face. People don’t need to be “trapped in their homes”, this is not the Antarctic. Take a goddamn shovel and grit your own pavement!

But … but … haven’t you watched TV? There’s a national shortage of grit. Don’t give me this bullshit! If you don’t have salt for gritting (which is bad for the environment anyway) use something else. Gravel, sand, sawdust, or even wood chips are better than no grit. Use your imagination. This is an island, there’s plenty of sand all around. And no, nobody will hold you liable when they slip on your drive unless you act grossly negligent ie. when your gritting efforts make things worse than they were before. If for example you had the brilliant idea to pour hot water over the ice, you’d clearly be an idiot and deserved to be sued. In most countries you’re legally obliged to free the pavement outside your house from ice and snow and you’re liable for any accident that happens if you DON’T. In this country however, you enjoy the freedom of looking after your neighbours voluntarily. So stop complaining about the council and do it yourself. It shouldn’t be the law, it should be common sense.

Oh and having some fairy lights up on the 7th doesn’t kill anyone either.

Myth busted. Now enjoy your snow.

My design adventure in mainland Europe has now finished. I’ve had some great experiences in the last nine months tasting both design education and the publishing industry in Switzerland and Germany. I’ve met some amazing people and learnt a lot about the industry and myself. I’ve learnt that I should use the three years of my degree to get the absolute most of my time as a design student. This has led me to the decision to take a year out after my exchange semester in Zurich, to gain some invaluable work experience and be better prepared for my final year at university as well as the ‘real life’. After serving a three-months editorial design internship at one of Germany’s most respected newspapers, I have now returned to Bristol and will use the next few months for personal development. This basically means that I am interning at myself, trying out the life of a freelancer and making use of all the learning resources out there that I’ve never had time for until now. I can learn whatever I want, whenever I want and as much as I want. Something tells me that this is gonna rock!

The only thing that upsets me a little bit is that the view has changed from lovely mountains and exciting trains to victorian terraced houses and a brick wall. Ah well, can’t have everything.