Happy Christmas 2011 from Andrew Kelsall Design! A quite busy with a few projects at the moment, and I have some new posts lined up for after the New Year. Thanks to all my readers and those of you who have commented and shared my posts; appreciated.

For more on Christmas, check out What is the true meaning of Christmas?

Base-image credit (CC) Cliff Robin.

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

As a freelance creative designer, I like to backup my stuff. I use Mac Time Machine to backup my hard-drive. I have off-site backup via Backblaze to create constant backups to a off-site server, too. I have a backup Macbook just in case my iMac goes on the blink.

I thought I’d covered everything—except a backup chair.

Yes, after years of use, I was just sitting on my office chair when it broke in half when I was checking my email. I’ll not mention the manufacturers name here, but lets just say that when I bought it, it was flat-packed in Sweden’s finest cardboard.

You can’t backup everything. Lesson learned.

Are you a designer? How’s your day been?

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

I can’t believe that it’s been more than 9 years since I graduated from Coventry University:

Some information is censored due to possible copyright restrictions + security.

I can’t believe how much I’ve aged since. I was very pleased to have received a 2:1 grade (kind of like a B). I don’t think anyone who got a First class grade got their face out of the books

I’m looking forward to what the future holds, and at the moment, I’m concentrating on my online presence.

How are things going for you?

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Hemsworth is located on the borders of South and West Yorkshire—and Yorkshire is a county in northern England, UK. The main focal point of the town is a massive Tesco (supermarket), so there’s not much of interest here, although I live about 20 miles away from the City of Leeds:

Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons | stewedpeas

↑ Here’s a shot of the Northern City of Leeds (about 300 miles north of London).

Landscapes

Here’s a few shots of the type of landscape found here in Yorkshire. They’re images I found online, since all my personal photos have family members on them, etc:

Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons | John Clift

↑ Yes, there’s plenty of rolling hills and sheep.

Photo Credit: ©Fran Hansall Photography

↑ Although this scene in from Whitby (a place I frequently visit about 90 miles away), there’s plenty of these bright yellow oilseedrape fields around my town.

Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons | S John Davey

↑ We have a mixed bag of weather up here in Northern England, but the countryside comes alive when the Sun starts to shine.

The Bigger Picture

Now, I’m going to show you some images of where Hemsworth is compared to the rest of the world:

↑ Hemsworth a bit further out.

↑ Hemsworth and surrounding villages/towns.

↑ This image must have been taken after the summer. Otherwise, many of these fields would be bright yellow due to oilseedrape harvests.

↑ There’s quite a few cities contained in this shot, such as Wakefield, Barnsley and Doncaster.

↑ Here, you can see the Pennines (mountain range) in dark brown to the left of the “A”. On the other side of the Pennines is the City of Manchester.

↑ As can be seen, Hemsworth is roughly in the centre of the UK mainland.

↑ I’m going to keep zooming out over Europe!

Photo Credits for all Maps images above: Google Maps

↑ As previously stated, I’ve worked for clients in America (BlueDrift) and Australia (Dominic Finley), as well as in the UK (Next, Plc). This is why I market myself as a worldwide designer for hire.

Photo Credit: Google Earth

↑ …but despite what my friends think—I’m from planet Earth

Are you a designer? Why not introduce yourself and let us know where you do business…

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Okay. I’m pretending to have a cup of tea with the mug my son bought home from school.

However, with pinky-finger raised, here’s my designer tribute to Prince William and Kate Middleton. I hope they have a great day together.

See the Royal wedding: Crowds in pictures on the BBC

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Now that Christmas is out of the way (here’s a late “Merry Christmas” everyone), I’ve started working on some projects again. As can be seen in the dodgy photo above, I look knackered already. I think it’s time to drink my coffee, have a well-needed shave and pop my contact lenses in… hmm, and maybe loose some “holiday weight” …albeit from LAST Christmas

Anyway, I’m looking forward to 2011. After already having some projects in progression and a couple to start soon, I’m looking forward to what the new year brings. I will be available for design projects from mid-January if you would like to Hire Me.

I just want to say a huge thanks to all my readers, and especially those who have commented, contributed or shared my posts via Twitter and Facebook, etc.

I have some new plans for this blog, but I’ll leave the details to a later post.

Happy New year 2011 (in 8 hours time in England)…

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

It was only recently I snapped this double rainbow from my house window (the second rainbow is really faint).

Today is a different story here in Hemsworth, Yorkshire UK. A double-portion of Siberian snow. It’s nice and warm designing in my office, though

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

The previous owners of my house left this retro 1995 Apple Macintosh keyboard and mouse in my attic, as can be seen in the image.

Being a Mac fan, it’s a great find—and I’ll definitely be keeping hold of it—it’s a classic piece of Mac history.

It just shows how far technology has developed in the last couple of decades…

Do you own any retro-Macs? What discoveries have you made whilst searching your attic?

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

Over a week ago, I was involved in a somewhat-serious car crash. The image above shows what my car looked like after been “T-Boned” by another car on a National Speed Limit road near Lincoln, England.

I was knocked unconscious in the smash for a little while (I think), and I have little memory of the incident due to my head hitting the inside of the car (the right drivers side column or window perhaps).

The Police and ambulance staff who arrived at the scene couldn’t believe that I walked away from this crash. If a lorry had hit, me, I could have been a goner. As a Christian I don’t fear death, but I still want to live! It’s a good job my family weren’t in the car with me.

Fortunately, the occupants of the car that hit me had only minor injuries too, but their air-bags deployed; such was the force of the impact. Anyway, after suffering a little concussion, I’m okay now. My project/design schedule was thrown out of whack for a few days, especially as I was then at the east-coast for 3 days shortly afterwords.

This article is also a special thank-you for their patience in the matter.

So, I’m still alive, so please stay tuned for my upcoming articles

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall

◥ Me, Wife & Kids next to York Castle.

I have just returned from a couple of days camping a few miles away from the ancient City of York (England). I went with my family and some other family members. We had plenty of sunshine and it turned out to be a great short break away.

◥ York City Wall.

As can be seen, I yet again have my daughter strapped to my back! Check out my earlier photo from London regarding this. Note the red circle in the background…

◥ York Travelodge

A while ago, I wrote an article named 3 Great Logos I saw on the Motorway—and one of the logos I wrote about was the Travelodge logo. In the comments section, fellow blogger and designer David Airey made the following comment:

Had to make a comment about the Travel Lodge logo. I don’t feel the graduations are doing it any favours, and would like to see how it works as flat art (e.g. for use on uniforms).

Well, after noticing this white-coloured Travelodge logo after walking around part of the ancient York Wall, I couldn’t help noticing how thin the lines were which are contained in the icon. It does look rather classy, however, I feel a little more weight would have done the logo justice—and maybe the logo would have looked better than the gradient version afterall?

What a Mix

Yeah, this is quite a mixed-up blog post. As designers, even when we are away relaxing, the designer-brain never turns off. What do you notice design-wise when you’re away supposedly taking a break?

This post is Copyright Andrew Kelsall, author of the Andrew Kelsall Graphic Design Blog.Andrew Kelsall | Creative Designer - Graphic Design Blog of Andrew Kelsall