Tiny fungi hiding in the trunk of an old tree.

Partnering for your digital success with innovative marketing, tech, and product solutions tailored to your unique needs.

Player Works

Victorian Christmas Cake  Ingredients   225g Sultanas 225g Raisins 175g Currents 190g Glacé cherries 75g Minced peel 250ml cheap sherry 50g Self raising flour 225g White flour Pinch of salt 1 teaspoon mixed spice 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon  175g butter 175g soft brown sugar 2 tablespoons black treacle...

Victorian Christmas Cake

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LQp_PQX8xrGNzhhEwtK7R_hOXcVyrfagea51QEkTZJI/edit

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jasp.13062

Elizabeth's Design Constellation Quiz

https://www.artofvisualdesign.com/aesthetic-quiz

Pitch is the complete pitching platform that enables any team to quickly create sleek presentations that get results. Sign up for free. 

Presentation software for fast-moving teams | Pitch

Weast Coast makes beautiful games with a focus on immersive art, high-end components, and approachable gameplay.


		  Desperate Oasis
 &ndash; Weast Coast Studio

https://weastcoast.games/products/desperate-oasis

Kyozo is a dynamic community platform for creatives, blending discovery and connection, with a seamless user experience and intuitive design.

Kyozo | KISSLabs

https://www.kisslabs.co.nz/case-studies/kyozo

https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/Sierra/a5402a9c-d0ea-4e60-a1bc-68574d54950f

Whomever it was mentioning the Frame0 app: thanks! I wireframed a site update afternoon: so easy to use. No superfluous design or details. Just structure.

Who.needs an alarm clock when you have 5.8 earthquake at 5:30am to get you out of bed. 😬

Time to focus on the details of this logo I’ve been working on.

Stitches are out. Forest explorations are back just in time for the holidays. Sneaked in a short adventure this afternoon.

While I don’t usually recommend presenting multiple options for brand identity sometimes it’s worth it: this week we shared two very different options with a client. And they wanted both! One will be for a secret project we didn’t know about. Yes, we are billing double. 💰💰

Dialling in some details here. More on this later I think.

What music player do you use for gapless flac playback on the Mac? VLC has its limits and a quarter second gap between tracks on a live concert recording is daft.

I woke this morning with the realisation that I never saw my Dad on a bike. I don’t know why that hit so hard, or why I never realised it before. Memories are weird.

Anyone discovered a tool to manage all the subscriptions a design business needs to operate?

Still so much to master but I’m beginning to understand what I need to work on.

New  work featuring the loopy logo I was working on. Interesting client: zero input. They gave us total control. And I mean every single detail/word/functionality. Hopefully I get to keep adding to it as it’s ‘just’ and one-pager for now. 

https://www.playerworks.io

A client’s been holding off paying a bill. So I took some of their product samples they’d sent me to the market to make a few bucks. Didn’t count for the distraction of buying a few things myself. Left with more that more than I arrived with but not by much.

Have had a very productive morning watching the sun rise. Was inspired to title one of my slides in this talk “THE DUALITY OF CATS”. Feeling good about that.

Being able to plan and art direct a 3D product shoot is an amazing feeling. Right: previous product shot. Left: new shot. Created in half a day.

Weekend walkies. Some of you might remember a similar shot from a while ago. But today I had a different lens on my camera which changed everything. Really happy with how the steps and the waterfall relate ✨

New addition to my bookshelf. It’s only 50 pages so I’m fairly confident I can find time to read it soon.

Weekend walkies. This one was amazing. I realise you can’t zoom in here, but on the ridge, where the left clouds meet the mountain is hut. That’s my next mission. It’s also another half days walk.

I’m no plant expert but I think some of these seeds were not at the front of the queue when common sense was being handed out. One is literally growing the wrong way. Unless there’s a gravitational anomaly in my house.

Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever create another  film poster as cool as this one. (I did a limited edition screen print that was glow-in-the-dark).

What have I been up to today? Well, mostly unpublishing websites from clients who haven’t paid their bills. What’s up with that?

I realise I’m a little late. But today I’m starting our traditional Christmas cake. I’ve digitised my grandmothers recipe, written on the back of an envelope if anyone wants to join me. 


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LQp_PQX8xrGNzhhEwtK7R_hOXcVyrfagea51QEkTZJI/edit

Today is a day of celebration and gratitude for my wonderful family. And eating cake.

You lot get a sneak peak at this week’s series update.

A twist on the ‘I’m a hard worker’ brag. 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jasp.13062

Some fun loopy icons I designed for a client recently.

Having some fun this morning transforming flat ui design into 3D.

A fun little design site. What’s your sign?

https://www.artofvisualdesign.com/aesthetic-quiz

A sneak peek at a something I’m popping into Friday’s talk. Because life’s too short too take yourself too seriously.

Last project of the year: a little retouching for a sustainable jewellery company. If you need a last minute stocking filler… 😜

We are celebrating this weekend! ‘No Such Thing as a Fish’ is in town! I appreciate it’s not everyone’s idea of a night out… but I made a 5 minute artwork because it is to us :)

I always forget how long it takes to bake this. (It came out of the oven at around midnight…) And now I need to wrap it up and feed it booze till Christmas. Because that’s what my Grandmother would do.

Currently re/reading this book. And I’m so glad I am, not least because as I opened it a crisp $100 bill fell out. 

That’s the kind of bookmark I can appreciate (even though it’s been over 10 years since I last read it — what was I thinking!?).

Looking for an assistant again. Main tasks I need help with: email marketing + potential client follow-ups. Budget is $20-$25/hr for up to 10 hours a week max. I’m a solo freelancer, this is the one main thing I need help on. Shoot me a DM if you’re interested! Prefer US-based.

Woohoo. Final proposal of the year was just accepted! Winning clients is hard work. Obviously our previous work was influential, but so was putting our proposal in Pitch. They were looking for a progressive team, and they admitted it gave us bonus points. ⚡️

https://pitch.com/

A little social content for a sustainable jewellery company

My annual reminder to brand designers that if you don’t have LogoPackage you are wasting time. Full logo suite export (176 files) in 2 minutes. Fully automated magic.

First in a series that reflects the studios new creative positioning

New macro adapter arrived in the post! Heading outside to play with it 🍄‍🟫

The new game from this crew looks as good as their last. 

https://weastcoast.games/products/desperate-oasis

My poor doggo was attacked this morning by a random dog, so no weekend walkies till the stitches come out. 😢

This is a new one: browsing a font library. Found one I liked. Check pricing. Find out that if I wanted to use it to base a logotype on it’s an extra $249.

New work (featuring that 3D from earlier). Staying on top of your portfolio is a challenge. Especially as I decided that we have to do two at a time. 

https://www.kisslabs.co.nz/case-studies/kyozo

Still waiting for a new adapter for my camera to up my fungi game… but in the meantime I am making use of my new lights.

Come work with me at Sierra or tell your design friends!! We're hiring our first ✨ brand designer 🧑‍🎨!! 👉 https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/Sierra/a5402a9c-d0ea-4e60-a1bc-68574d54950f

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