My son has started playing chess (or chest, as he used to call it when he was cute) at school. So I thought I'd buy a chess set. The problem is, if one is design savvy, that they are all rubbishly old fashioned and anachronistic. Except this on. Designed in 1923 by Josef Hartweg when he was in the Bauhaus School. Each piece represents how that piece can move on the board. It's beautiful.

I bought a pair of these. They cost me an arm and a leg, which is a shame as I need my legs to hold my feel to put my shoes on. But they are beautiful.

Although the first time I wore then they caused me a matching set of life-threatening blisters. These got better and I wore them again. And all was well.

I wore them again yestarday and a completely new set of incredible blisters have appeared.

They are nothing if they are not persistant. Once I break them in they will be the comfiest shoes in Christendom. Until then then are like wearing the Taliban on your feet.

But they are beautiful.

I like this. And I don't like books. I like Kindle. But I like this.

Buy it for your Nan for Xmas.

http://kapitza.com/products/organic-book

I might be shooting myself in the foot here, but I passionately believe in open source. Ideas that further the course of man should not be owned by anyone, but be accessible to everyone.This flies in the face of a company that charges for ideas. If everyone has access to the idea then there is no value on it. And we sell ideas; not pretty pictures. It's a dichotomy.

That said, today I listened to a Radio 4 programme that was an anology for that. It talked about a different discipline, but the root causes and effects are the same as in the design world.

Listen to it and make your own mind up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b017mrbd/

I live in a flat. No, don't be silly, it's okay. It's right by Victoria Park and the architectural practice that designed it was the Basil Spence Partnership. They diid some good stuff. And my flat is good. However sometime in its life over the past 40 years, someone who lived here decided to put beading on all of the doors. Beading; totally incongruous. It's a 70s flat. It looks awful. Anyway, I tried to take a bit of it off one of the doors to a cupboard, but there is so much paint on the doors it is impossible. So, we found a local place which will take the beading off and strip the doors for us for a small fee. 

None of this is exceptional design-wise, except for the fact that I have taken all of the internal doors off their hinges in my flat. Including the built-in cupboards. So my house has no internal doors.

And it's wierd.

Even though we don't reallty close doors, having no doors is strange. I feel exposed.

That said, I think I like it.

I might not put them back once they are stripped...

This is real open plan.

I'll ask Francesco, but I think that ombra means shadow in Italian. It is also the name of a new Italian restaurant/caff on the end of Vyner Street, just around the corner from where I live in Hackney. My lovely wifey and I had dinner there tonight, we had an Italian cured meat platter between us, steak tartar, spagatini with pesto and potato, and panna cotta, with two glasses of Campari and Prosecco, and three glasses of wine... and it was under 50 quid...

Go, but don't tell anyone, because it will get too busy and too famous and I won't be able to get in any more.

I don't like things that look old which aren't. But I like this. Not the crappy 'handwritten' typeface, but the bottle and the whisky and the price. £8.99 for 200ml for a 16 year old single malt. (This one is Talisker actually.) You'll find it and others like it on the 'damaged' shelf in the whisky shop on Old Compton Street. There are lots of different distillaries in there so if you are experimenting with which whisky you like, this is the way.

A few days ago I used the digital medium of the internet to order a new fountain pen: probably the most analogue of writing tools.

I find that funny.

I think that makes me an idiot.

Okay, it's a Rotering collapsible carbonfibre fountain pen, one of the most lovely fountain pens ever made and on sale for less than 20 quid, but it still doesn't have a USB port.

Sorry.

We have just added the lovely Hannah to our website. She's the newset fish, started on Monday. And while I was looking at her profile page on our site I saw Phil's and Eve's* photos.

Separated at birth or what?

Probably the best bit of software I use is Apple Logic Studio. Imagine Illustrator that works with sound and you are only still halfway there. It is beautiful, powerful and intuitive. And it's even better now that I bought this Editors' Keys keyboard. It has all the key command shortcuts written on the colour-coded keys. It makes editing and recording sound even more of a pleasure than before.

The problem is that it is an American layout. And not a standard one at that. All of the keys are in different places, not the QWERTY keys, but the odd ones that you use more often than you'd imagine. Plus, the § key is next to the space bar on the left and I keep pressing it when I try to press Apple...

I'm having to rethink how I use a keyboard.

Which is exactly the same as me retuning my guitar I suppose.

Which is good for me... I suppose.

First(ly) I appologise about the missing gerrunt in the title of this post. I didn't add it on purpose, to make a point, but no one will realise so I'll carry on.

iOS 5 is very good. No suprise there. Every time Apple upgrades its OS (either on its mobile devices or on Mac) it's a winner. I particularly like the quick use camera function and the iCloud photo streaming.

But this isn't an iOS piece, it's a 'I can't believe I've used an app that actually works in a very different way, but it still works very well' post.

Check out the LinkedIn app for iPhone. It is nothing like any other app I've used and it works really well.

Which is unusual. 

I told you that I was relearning the guitar. I am. But it's hard. So every now and again I tune my axe back to good old EADGBE and play a few rock'n'nroll licks. Songsterr is a site I've found that shows you guitar tab transpositions of a load of tracks. There's an iPad and iPhone (and probably Android) app that are great too.

But what I really like is that the site is really well designed and works like a dream. I wish I'd done it.

A couple of weeks ago I met someone I used to work with 20 years ago and, because I am rubbish at carrying around business cards, I had to scribble my contact details in his notebook. The guy he was with, someone I'd never met before, commented that I had to be a designer with handwriting like that. Ha. I know I'm pathetic, but I liked that. Especially as I actually turned my handwriting into a Mac and PC typeface, it's free to download here.

That said, I actually never realy write anything any more. The odd scribbled note in my book and a PostIt every couple of weeks. So, when I received a package from one of our lovely clients the other day I was well made up to see how FANTASTIC the handwriting was on it.

I only ever send her things with typeset stickers...

I am ashamed. Sorry Jane. 

At 3fish we don't specialise. No sir, no ma'am. Not in medium or sector or target market or anything. We do this because we believe that if you do the same thing day in day out you create a creative muscle memory. If you only do one thing you end up doing it the same time in time out. Maybe not on the surface, but the thought processes you put into the project end up being the same thought processes you've used a hundred times. You can't help it. It's good to mix it up and do something that throws you outside your comfort zone.

That's why I've decided after 32 years of playingthe guitar to adopt a completely new tuning. 

The new standard tuning was invented by Robert Fripp and extends the guitar's range by  four semitones in the bass register and three in the trebble. It also means that everything I've ever learnt is now redundant. To all intents and purposes, I'm learning to play the guitar all over again.

I'll let you know how it goes.

I am middleaged. I am having a midlife crisis. Other people buy Harley Davidsons. I bought a Gibson Holy Explorer. It is beautiful. I have been playing AC-DC tracks on it. It's a Whole Lotta Rosie.

It's back

After a couple of months in dry dock at Captain Francesco's base deep in the Lewisham System, the 3fish Indperial Star Destroyer is back where it belongs; on display in the 3fish window. Swing by and have a look, you won't be disappointed.

But don't get cocky kid.

I found this schematic while I was Googling 'Lego Minifig Images'*. Pretty obvious I suppose. But there is something extraordinarily beautiful and perfectly formed about the maths and design and beauty of the Minifig. My son and I have about 400 of them and I have an obsession with making famous people Minifigs.

I love them.

* BTW, I don't really know why I was Googling 'Lego Minifig Images', I was bored I think.

I have been using an Apple laptop for the past 11 years. When 3fish first set up I had a G3 PowerBook. Since then I have had various models, including a titanium G4 PowerBook, one of the first 17" G4 PowerBooks one of the first Intel 15 MacBook Pros, one dual-core 15 and about three dual-core 17" MacBook Pros. Day to day, I'm using a fully specced-up 17" and it rocks. It can do anything. But it's not really that portable. It's like a desktop in your bag.

That's why my favourite EVER MacBook is my 13" MacBook Air.

I can use it anywhere. The battery lasts for a week. It runs what I want super quickly with its solid state hard disk. I can cut cheese with it.

It is the mobile device of choice. And I have an iPad.

Actually MS Word has a lot of good points. As a wordprocessor, it can't be faulted. Well it can, but that's just me being churlish. As a design tool, however, it is the worst piece of crap ever coded.

That is why I love, and almost universally use, OmWriter.

It's simple. It's beautiful. It doesn't try to help you. (MS paperclip asks: you look like you are creating a bulleted list, shall I format it for you? I reply: NO FUCK OFF.)

It's just a simple way to marshall your thoughts to write clearly and simply.

And it's coming out for iPad soon.

I'm getting it for that too.

OmWriter

Our lovely Em has a claim to fame...

She once sat on The Princess Michael of Kent's Lap

She did up her cardigan - that's TPMoK did up Em's cardigan, not visa versa

It was after she did a dance for her as a bird

She is sacked

I just said that Windows 7 is better than OS X.

I'm just going out to kill myself by swallowing gummi bears till I choke.

>I've just updated to OS X 10.6.7

Something weird happened.

When I minimise an application window it hides behind the app dock icon. A bit like WIndows 7, but not as good.

Why and what's the point?

Or is it just me?

I'm not talking about the iPad2, or the new multicore laptops or even the rumours of OSX10.7. I'm talking about something the got right and then messed up. The new MagSafe design. When Apple introduced the original MagSafe I was impressed. I knew of two people who had caught their old jackplug-tipped powerlead around their leg, dragged their PowerBook off a table and smashed the screen. The new magnetic plug plug means it is impossible to do this. Then, I think when they launched the MacBook Air which has a very low profile socket, they redesigned the plug to make the lead enter from the side, not the front. The problem with this, as we discovered to our horror last week, is that if you pull this lead there is a chance that it will not release because it is caught of the flange around the socket. Sorry Steve, but here's the proof.

I get through a lot of notebooks in the course of a year. When they are full, I keep them for a bit. Then eventually throw them away. The problem is that some of them have info in I occasionally need after I've binned them. This could be the solution. An electronic notepad with a 1-bit interface, an editable OS and connection to my Mac. Perfect. Plus it's a bit of tech, which is always nice. It's out soon apparently and looks like it might launch at only $99. Too good to be true?

That's the problem. As many people who are hailing it as the next revolution in human/computer interfacing are accusing it of being a hoax.

I hope it's not.

noteslate.com

I witnessed the introduction of Podcasts with damp unenthusiasm. I couldn't see the point. I couldn't see where they fitted into my life. Then I started trying to listen to Radio 4 on a radio streaming app on my iPhone 4 on the bus in Hackney. It didn't work. I'd get two minutes of talk and then 20 mins of buffering. It was driving me mad. So I looked for Radio 4 podcasts of the shows I was trying to listen to and hey presto, there they are. The new podcasts even download automatically. They are fantastic.

I finally got them.

Thanks Apple. And thanks BBC.

Pixels are your friend. And this pixel watch is as cool as cucumber frappe. Especially at 9, noon, midnight and 3 o'clock.

I didn't used to watch TV. I do a bit now, mostly Dave and cooking programmes, but still I'm in the 90th percentile of TV watchers in the UK. I love films though. And I love projects. So, my wife and I are in the midst of a film project. We are watching the Ten Best Vampire Films Ever Made.

The list is: (on no particular order)

Van Helsing

The Hunger

Lost Boys

Blade

Interview with a Vampire

Nosferatu

Blood – The Last Vampire (Dir. Youki Kudoh)

Dracula (1931)

Bram Stoker's Dracula

Salem's Lot

We forgot about Let the Right One In, but we watched that recently.

Claire went on Ebay and bought them all for £35.

Sharp.

I was quite excited last night on the way to the first night private view of the new Barbican exhibition of work by Anderson, Brown and Matta-Clark. To set the scene, the Barbican website puts it like this: 

Performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson, choreographer Trisha Brown and artist Gordon Matta-Clark were friends and active participants in the New York art community, working fluidly between visual art and performance. 

Cigdle (pronounced Cheedle) is back in Istanbul but still working remotely for 3fish. In fact, she's doing some great work for Beachcroft that we are presenting next week. That said, she is more pregnant that is feasible. Have a look... I'm sure she won't thank me for this photo. Sorry Cigdle.

R

I like Japanese things. I like to play my ukulele. I like the 'make your own ukulele' kit my eldest son bought me for my birthday. It's a Japanese idea and the translation of the manual is really funny. I'll scan it in and post it here soon.

The design of the whole thing is great though. Well done Sam. (And Naomi.)

The Future Beauty exhibition at the Barbican runs for another fortnight or so.

Go and see it, it is beautiful and inspiring and full of the energy that is so often missing from design today. I could write a thesis on its greatness, but I think you should just go.

http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=10771

On Radio 4's Today programme this morning I heard an interview with a neuroscientist who, whilst reading his Kindle, thought that he was finding it more difficult to remember what he was reading. He thought on this and came to the conclusion that the easier to read a font is, then the less rememberable the words are. This seems to fly in the face of common sense, which tells me that the easier some copy is to read then the MORE likely you are to remember what they are saying because you can apply more brain power to simply remembering, rather than understanding.

Anyway, since his conjecture tests have been done and he seems to be right. We may never recover from the effect this has on typography and graphic design. 

Read the article, it's very interesting.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/the-benefit-of-ugly-fonts/

Yesterday was Cigdem's leaving do. And today is her last day. The consequence of the former is that I have a Raki-induced hangover the size of Hackney Marshes. The consequence of the latter is that we will all miss her very much. She is a great designer and a lovely person.

I can't moan too much though (about her leaving, I've been moaning all day about my hangover) 'cos she is returning to her native Turkey to have her baby and be a great mum. 

Good luck from all the fishes.

They say that a fish only grows to the size of its tank. That's why we are expanding our tank and sharing our space with builders, electricians and decorators in an attempt to make the most of our space. It's going to look fantastic when it's done. But for now, here's a work in progress pic. And watch out we might even have a studio warming party. I'll let you know if we do.

Ha ha ha, Ho Ho Ho.

Every year for the past two years we have made our Christmas presents for each other at 3fish. This is my pressie. Cigdem made it.

I think she wanted to make her presents felt. (Sorry, bit of a cracker joke that one.)

Last February Duncan, who shares our studio, came round to my house with his lovely girlf Andrea. Andrea is a brilliant singer and I had given them a copy of a song I had been working on for a couple of months, but had reached a dead-end on. Andrea sang her heart out and left with me promising I'd mix the song and give her a copy.

Ten months later I've finally managed to get an end result I'm happy with. Not because of her singing but because of my orchestration... 

Anyway, whatever the reason, it's done now and here it is.

I hope you like it. I'm dead pleased actually.

01 All For You (Feat Andrea Semas).mp3 (13.59 mb)

Our Christmas party... nuf said.

I am truly ambivalent about Ikea. Some things it sells are truly great. Most things ware out after a week. These hand puppets are £1.99 each and make me smile. Great design at a great price. What more could you want?

PS I plan to use them in a presentation soon.

We have a vacancy for a mid/senior designer

This doesn't happen very often, but we are recruiting. We need a middleweight/senior designer. If you think it might be you, send your CV and a small portfolio and one page of A4 saying why it should be you to 

someone new@3fishinatree.com

And good luck.

Although I've been in the creative business for 22 years, I actually trained as a physicist. And I still have a soft one for all things maths and the like. So when I discovered this app, I nearly died and went to calculatory heaven.

The i41CX+ iPhone, iPod and iPad app.

The webiste is atrocious, but the app is ace (and at £14.99 with the printer module, which you need, that is a big ace, this is not a 59p thing that is okay but throwaway, this is serious)

http://alsoftiphone.com/i41CXplus/

It is a simulator of the CLASSIC (and I mean classically revolutionary) Hewlett Packard 41CX calculator launched in 1979. When I went to university I wanted one, but couldn't afford it, it was about £300 in 1984, more than a car. It was available until 1990 and people actually collect them and everything.

It comes with a set of retro and modern skins and works like a dream. Proof that design is more than aesthetic. Design is what something does.

If you aren't maths-savvy you might find it actually hard to use as a calculator, but if you have even half a maths brain get it, you'll never use the in-built Calc app ever again.

But just look in the window of our office, you'll soon work out that I like 80s stuff.

I lost my Japanese knife. I had owned it less than 24 hours. If you find it, can you return it to me c/o 3fish?

Thanks

My eldest son was 19 a few weeks back and he told me that he wanted an Amazon Kindle. I went online, but there was a two-three week waiting list as everyone wanted one. I ordered one and told him he'd have to wait. Then, last Thursday it turned up and Sam came down from Oxford, where he is at university, to collect it and see me and Claire and his brother Felix.

It was a good day, but what really made it special from a design perspective is how beautiful the Kindle actually is. It is slim as a cream cracker, the screen is unbelievable contrasty, the battery lasts a month, it allows you to sync where you are in the book you are reading between it, your iPhone, your iPad, and your Mac or PC.

It is truly a lovely piece of kit. 

I have asked my wife to buy me one for Christmas.

After nearly slicing my finger off on some Japanese plaster packaging, I thought I'd go one better and actually buy a Japanese thing that is meant to be dangerous. 

Well not exactly. You see I really like penknives. I live in Hackney so I don't carry the bigger ones I own around as I'll end up banged up like a kipper quicker than you can say knife if I ever got caught with them, but I do own quite a lot.

And this is my latest purchase. It's from SCP (www.scp.co.uk) and comes from Osaka in Japan. It's a carbon steel carpenter's knife and is stupidly sharp. It's 15cm long fully extended and not actually that specially made, but it's a super-functional piece and I can't see it falling apart for the foreseeable.

But what I really liked about it was its box. First because the illustration is not the same as the actual knife. And second because the cheap three-colour print is beautiful.

My son is learning to speak Japanese so I'll ask him what it says. If I find out I'll let you know.

And if you see a good penknife, buy it for me, I'll let you have the money when I see you.

A few days ago I bought a pack of Hello Kitty plasters. Ace or what? And this morning I thought I'd have a look at them. 

Unfortunately I cut my finger opening the box.

How ironic is that?

Hey the people who know us, or work with us, will know that, as well as designing stuff and fixing our Macs, I write a bit. Mostly marketing copy, but the odd bit of fiction.

In fact, last year I had my first short story published to great critical indifference. But not one to be put off easily, that didn't stop me and my second story is in print and available on Amazon. In fact I even get a mention in the review section on the Amazon page which describes the story being 'a stand out tale'. Ha ha.

It's published by Glasshouse Books, so Google them and have a look. Or check out the Amazon page.

Now, where did I leave my typewriter?

I was asked recently to write a story for inclusion in an anthology of vampire stories.

I did and it's been published. And I'm reading extracts from the story, along with some of the other authors, on the 13th April at The Wine Press in Trinity Square, Tower Hill EC3N 4DJ.

Please come along and see me make a fool of myself.

I bought the Southpark Avatar app for my iPhone to keep my six-year-old son happy on train journeys and then I got addicted. So I made a bunch of 3fish Southpark characters. Then Cigdem joined in and made Rids and Eve.

Ha ha. They are going to be our website photos next week... have a look. 

Made by Duncan for James: electric thump piano

Made by Matt for Alastair: felt Alastair doll

Made by Paul for Cigdem: Turkey cake

Made by Nat for Chris: I hate cushions cushion

Made by Di for Ricky: ginger threesome

Made by Ricky for Di: balsa wood lamp

Made by Christian for Paul: a gansta P Riddy tee

It was our Xmas lunch yesterday and we all had to give each other a present. But to break with tradition a little and to add a bit of extra fun we decided that everyone had to make their present. The results were fantastic, truly witty, clever, beautiful and thoughtful. But most of all: creative. I'll post them all up here for you to enjoy one by one. Cigdem, James, Alastair and Nat haven't bought their pictures in yet, so I'll post them tomorrow.

Here's number one, made by James, for Matt: a gay Airfix Spitfire

I have just attended a seminar on diversity in design and whilst it turned into a seminar on ethnicity, not diversity, I did learn some pretty interesting facts:

93% of people who work in design in the UK are white*

68% are male

60% are younger than 40 years old

65% earn less than £20,000 a year

Now I don't know what constitutes * 'design in the UK' but these figures are awful. We all have a duty to try to change these statistics and make design a more equal place and a fairer place for everyone.

I'll let you know what we plan to do to help.

At 3fish we have a pretty clear view of what makes good design. We aren't minimalist, but we do kind of believe that form follows function. The issue is that if you want your 'function' to be 'everything under the sun' you end up with something like this.

(BTW, this is a real Swiss Army knife available in the States for $999.)

Why did I let anyone talk me into this? Transporting a shed on the top of my executive motor? It was a disaster waiting to happen. In fact, how Di and I managed to get from The Old Kent Road to the 3fish studios without killing anyone was a miracle, But we did.

All we have to do now is paint it pink and build it. (It's going to masquerade as a seaside hut and we think pink is the best colour for that.) When it's done, we'll post more pictures.

Oh, and if I ever get around to cleaning my car, I'll let you know as well.

Hey, it's the Style Birmingham awards and we want everyone to vote for our client The Mailbox. It's ace there and they deserve to win, so get along to the Style Birmingham website and stick your ex in the box.

http://www.stylebirmingham.com/style-awards

Thanks

It's all over. It is now.

The three way final was between EJ, Di and me. We all took two shots each at our two opponents and it moved round like that. First to go was Di (and her concker Bill) after only three hits. Then there was just me and EJ left. EJ hit like a demon and smashed into my concker (affectionately known as  The Old Man's Testicle) and I was worried. Then I hit back and smashed a piece clean off hers. Then she swiped me and the end was close. 

One last smash and...

Both conckers smashed apart.

A draw. EJ and me joint winners. Well done.

We get loads of emails asking if we have any work placement opportunities. And the people asking range from designers with a few year's experience, through recent graduates and second year undergraduates, to year 10 school children who want two weeks to fulfil their national curriculum. Most of the emails and CVs and portfolios are simply underwhelming, a few are absolutely great, but most aren't, however today Di got an email from someone in year 10 that really stood out. Simply for the following line.

"... and I'll do as I'm told with a big smile on my face."

I think I might write that into people's contracts from now on.

The draws have been made for the 3fish conker championship 2009 and we kick off this lunchtime.

We have six matches in the first round and Matt gets a by as Nat doesn't want to play. Then the semis and it's a three-man final. How that's going to work, I have no idea. 

I'll keep you posted of the results.

Mallory may be back in Baltimore studying for her degree, but she's not forgotten. Especially when she emails and tells us about her new pet. Lucy the sqrl (American pronunciation) is an orphan and Mal stepped in to rescue the her. I'm not sure we'll ever get to see Lucy in the flesh over here as petpassports are not available for rodents at the moment. But, hey, that might all change now Obama is in. Wait and see.

Monday sees the first day of the Official 3fish Conker Knockout Challenge.

Fighters will be required to enter one conker and fight their way to the top. Obviously, 3fish staff are eligible, but anyone with a vague 3fish link can enter. Entrance fee is a pound and winner takes all. Come on, what are you?

Conker or plonker?

Any time I see any design work we've done in print, or an ad we worked on on a billboard, or an illustration we slaved over out there (like the time I saw something I'd done decorating a plate in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC - well it was on sale in the shop there) I am dead chuffed. And it should have been like that when I saw a proof cover we worked on for the new Iain Banks novel recently used in a magazine reviewing the book. The novel hasn't been released yet properly, and they shouldn't have used our cover, but they did and there it was in lovely four colour print.

Unfortunately the magazine was SciFiNow.

I don't think anyone I know will see it, I have to admit.

Still it's 3fish work and it's in print.

Save 600 jobs at Vestas

Vestas Blades UK (one of the UK’s largest wind farms) closed on 31st July. Six-hundred jobs were lost immediately, many more that depend on the farm will follow. This makes no sense environmentally or socially.

The government has just announced a major expansion of renewable energy including wind power. We are calling on Vestas to keep the factories open, saving jobs and offering those who want to leave a better redundancy deal.

We are calling on the government to intervene to save jobs at Vestas - through nationalisation if that is what it takes - to show that it is serious about saving the planet.

What you can do:

Send messages of support from yourself or your organisation to: savevestas@googlemail.com.

Send a donation. Cheques payable to:Ryde and East Wight Trades Union Council, 22 Church Lane, Ryde, Isle of Wight, PO33 2NB

Contact energy minister Ed Miliband:Email: MILIBANDE@parliament.uk

His phone number in his constituency is 01302 875 462, at Westminster, 020 7219 4778.
Flood him with calls for the government to take over the Vestas factory and keep it producing, under new management.

For more info visit:

Save Vestas

Guardian website

Campaign Against Climate Change

Save Vestas on Twitter

It seems like two minutes ago that Mal said hi and walked into our design lives. Now she's gone. Flying back to Baltimore Saturday. She drank Stella and bought us cheesecake and was a good designer. I think we'll miss her. 

I won't miss the creepy thing she can do with her tongue though. Euw.

Most briefs we work on lend themselves to two or three solutions. (Sometimes more as was the case when we recently produced an identity for the lovely Adam Beard and his lovely new business The Elevator Consultancy, but that's another story.) Anyway, if the ideas are good enough we present them and let the client decide which he or she is going to go with.  Which is ace, except sometimes a great piece of work never gets to see the light of day. So, from time to time, I'm going to post some of the ideas that got killed because I think they deserve to be seen. The first is an illustration Di did for a proof book cover for Little, Brown Books. I think it's lovely.

Hey, four years ago I got a call from an American student who wanted to spend six or eight weeks with us at 3fish over the summer. Now I'm normally very receptive to this sort of request, but my congenital inability to get my shit together means that the best laid plans never really see the light. This time however I did the do and she kept in contact and we all got it sorted and Rebecca rocked the 3fish boat.

We kept in contact and she told us that every year her university invites a visiting lecturer over for a week to spread the word and generally make the students over there feel like they are getting some attention. I was well up for a US holiday at the time and I nagged her to let me be the one who flew to Baltimore to impart my graphic design knowledge. Well they fell for it and I flew over and it was great and I made some great friends and I think a lecture theatre-full of american graphic design students saw what 3fish and I was about. It was good. So good that the university approached me to see if that they could send a placement student (an intern they call it) over to 3fish every year to spend six weeks with us learning the way of the fish. I said yes. They ran a competition and whittled the entrants down to two worthy students and we picked one to come over. 

Last year we had Justin and it was a scream. (I might write a retrospective blog about that if news gets scarce, but for now believe me.)

This year we picked Mallory.

Obviously we had no idea if Mallory was (is) a boy of a girl, but we liked her/his stuff and the decision was made and we were excited. 

***

As it turned out Mallory didn't have a penis and was excited too. I'll tell you more as it unfolds.