Photos
A cornetto, a SIM card, a Vogue, and some Bitcoin please
10 minutes with John Maeda
John Maeda is the Fortune Cookie it says. I had no desire to snap him in half and extract his wisdom on a piece of roughly typed paper. But I did figure it’d be a chance to meet an interesting guy and ask him a question in a strange…
At The End of the Day
Like shooting fish in a barrel. But there’s a bit in the middle that’s a minor stroke of genius (I won’t spoil it)… Originally found at jiggmiester’s Tumblr.
Packshots vs Reality
This German site has photos of 100 product packs and shows them alongside photos of ‘the real thing’. Surprise surprise, the packs look better. Via: metafilter
A Dream Come True (and it’s Only Monday)
I’ve always wanted to see a safe fall out of a window (like in the cartoons). This morning as I was walking down Commercial Street I saw a safe lying on the pavement! I don’t think it can have fallen out of a window. And the pallet sitting…
In The Past
Nik just sent me this photo from a few years ago. It’s from 2001 I’m guessing. Before we started Poke we had a company called Nodding Dog that existed for a year or so. We lived in Naked’s basement sharing it with a TV company called…
Exactitudes
I’d spotted this exhibition in the press and then stumbled on it totally by accident in Selfridges basement this evening. It’s amazing. It’s a series of photographs of style tribes. They say: Rotterdam-based photographer Ari Versluis and…
Who Needs Tripods?
This is far from an exclusive, it’s been featured in quite a few places. But it’s something that everyone with an interest in taking photos should see. It’s so simple. Brilliant. $1 Image Stabilizer For Any Camera – Lose The Tripod – Funny…
Brighton Got Wood
It appears that the wood from the sunken ship has made it down the cost to Brighton. It’s nowhere near as impressive as it looks in Worthing, but it’s not bad. It’s nice to see how much fun people can have with a bit of wood. But there are…
Need A Photographer?
My friend Marese has just gone freelance as a Photographer and is looking for work. She says: I’m specialising in portraiture, but my skills are flexible – I also work in documentary, landscape, event and fashion photography. Have a look…
India – Signs and Odd Designs
Here’s some more photos from India. Don’t know really what to describe the set as. It’s broadly interesting signs or bits of designish stuff that caught my eye
Octopussy in Udaipur
One of the many strange things we saw in India was the fact that you can watch Octopussy in almost every single bar, restaurant, guest-house or hotel in Udaipur. Every night. Seriously. Of course it’s because a big chunk of the film is set…
Shit Graffiti and Shit
Got home today to find this shit graffiti on the side of the house, as well as a small pile of dog shit just next to it to finish the perfect picture of urban decay. I wouldn’t have minded so much but the letter formation on this ‘tag’ is…
Indian Underpants Billboard
I’m not sure that the copy on this Indian billboard works all that well…
Greg’s Show (and Marc’s Flickr)
Greg’s a very modest man and a very good coder at Poke. He’s also, it turns out, an awesome photographer. He’s got a show on at the moment which you can see here: http://www.nottingstill.co.uk/. Or you could just go to his Flickr Page and…
Live Internet Streaming Man
Pretty soon we’ll all be like this. Photo from KK+ on Flickr. UPDATE: If you want to do live streaming from your phone keep your eyes peeled for Flixwagon. Eran popped by with news of a soon-to-launch startup, see comments for more.…
Bad Interface Destroys Retail Opportunity
It was the last line on this machine that stopped me in my tracks: It’s obviously supposed to tell us something about the contents of the machine. But it doesn’t actually help at all. This rather odd ‘Nominal Width 53mm’ raises far more…
Freaked Out
I was walking back from a meeting when I saw these 3 things in quick succession. I was freaked out. First up… Howards Way – I thought. Funny an 80s TV show street, ha ha. (Turns out the TV show is Howards’ Way, which makes a big…
Customer Service
Awesome. “Yes sir, you did ask for a pie. The quality of the pie was average. So I’ve given you a herring. The quality of which is also average. Therefore we’ve avoided your disappointment. Did you not read the sign…?”. From a tea shop in…
Unfortunate Advertising Crop
I quite like the new ‘be more Nokia’ ads. But when I tried to photograph one I got this unfortunate crop. Whoops!
It’s All Gone Vodafone
It started here: Then I saw: Then this: Then I realised it had left ‘advertising’ and gone native… (I should have taken the time to balance the red colour to make the point better, but I don’t have the skill or the time, sorry…)…
Showing Off Is Bad For You
I’ve got a hurty thumb. It’s my own fault. I tried to demonstrate that I can support my own weight on my fingers and walk around. And it’s true, I can. Or rather I could. Just another sign that I break more easily than I used to. I’m sure…
Concrete Truck
From a designer’s point of view there’s probably all kinds of sins going on here. But I love the side of this truck. It makes me feel that concrete is both fun and very tough.…
I’m Drawn to Nerdy Bag Contents
I don’t know why, but I really liked looking through this gallery of peoples’ bag contents. Perhaps it’s because they’re all readers of Life Hacker and therefore they tend to be pretty organised and full of interesting gadgets and overly…
Accidental Ad Mashups
Ribena have these quite fancy outdoor ads that rotate between flavours but have the same message overlaid on the top. They’re pretty eye catching and a bit clever. Where they work less well is when the board inside gets changed and the…
Hidden in the Club Posters
I originally took this photo because I thought it was funny that Vivaldi and Bach were being treated in the same way as Bukem and Grooverider. Wondering what time Vivaldi would be playing his set, etc. But then I looked at the photo and…
The Image of Joy Division
Lots of stories around this weekend about the sad death of Tony Wilson. It also span off lots of stories about bands that he’d been involved with and that time in Manchester. This story in the Observer caught my interest: Closer to the…
Brighton Pride
I went to Pride in Brighton on Saturday. And it was great. The weather was good and gays and straights were out in huge numbers having fun. Struck me how nice it was to have an event that was founded in people just wanting to celebrate…
Protected Banksy (vs Warhol)
They just had to didn’t they: Warhol vs Banksy. Which reminds me. I’ve been meaning to have a bit of a letoff about this… It’s a bit of Banksy stencil art on a wall in Brighton (on the side of the Prince Albert pub on Trafalger St if you…
House Sign Typography
I always get overexcited by nice type on house signs. Whenever I go to Europe I’m impressed by the layouts of their flat numbers and suchlike. They always look so, well, European, and sophisticated. So when I was walking home in Brighton…
Aaaah Shoreditch
I think I will…
I saw this on a poster on the way to work. It set me up for the day. I thought: ‘yes, I’m going to use better skills to overcome challenges’. So far it’s working…
I Blame Russell Brand
No Cameras!
On the bus this morning I spotted this guy taking photos of some police people pulling over a motorbike. After what looked like a brief ‘You can’t take photos here’ telling off, the policewoman started to check what the guy had been taking…
Mutton Dressed as Lamb
You can change the typeface and give it some trendy force justified alignment. But it’s still the same rubbish tacky tshirt as before…
Barbed Wired For Sound
Sorry about the title, it was too bad not to…
Smiley Semantics
I posted this a couple of weeks ago and commented on how I found it a big unsettling. Then this morning I think I twigged as to one of the reasons why I found it so odd. It’s this sign that I walk past every morning on the way to work…
Blue Skies Back (for a bit)
I liked the weather being better this weekend. So did this seagull, I caught it smiling as it sat on the roof.…
More Impregnation Needed
Big Second Life In My First Life
Last night I went for a quick drink in the T-Bar near work. When I got there I noticed that someone was ‘doing’ Second Life massive on the wall. It was quite odd being the same size as the animated characters who were all doing some messed…
Separated at Birth
Someone’s just ‘separated at birth’ed me. I suppose I have to live with it
My SpecialBike
I picked up my custom recycled bike from the guys at Specialbike last night. Unfortunately the gods decided to unleash one of the biggest thunderstorms in the universe immediately after picking it up so we got soaked. But I still love it!…
London of the Future
A sight that’s about to get much more common…
Back From Holiday!
Had a lovely holiday. Nice quiet island in Greece. Sleeping lots. Just taking it very easy. Lovely. Photo below is from a lovely little restaurant in a nearby village. The slightly bonkers chef was parading round this creation proclaiming…
BusyPost
I’m really rather busy right now, so finding time to post is tricky. Plus they’ve taken away the wi-fi on my morning train which is a right old bugger. But I did see 2 things on lamp posts that pricked my interest today: I’ve got no idea…
My Thought for the Day
I saw this yesterday morning on a lamppost. And it’s stuck with me for nearly 2 days. I can’t decide if it’s true or not. It’s eating me up inside
Miami Nice 2
Here’s a couple more things I liked in Miami. I’m guessing it’s the only place in the world the police could have a logo like that on a dual pastel coloured wall. They have beach volleyball nets up the whole time. And they don’t get nicked…
Miami Nice
Sorry for lack of blogging. I’m in Miami. I’m at the Clios Advertising Festival thingy. I’ll write some stuff about my impresions of what people have talked about and generally what’s going on when I’ve had a chance to digest and ponder…
I’ve been TaxiBlogged!
My thing about YogaLadder has been lifted by the London Taxi News: There’s a YogaLadder in My Taxi | London Taxi News I feel special. As I’m now on the TaxiWeb here’s something else taxi related. I saw this parked near Old St yesterday…
Aaaaaaargh. I’m Falling.
Only a French artist could say something like this: “When the social elevator is broken you have to know how to bounce. Between the take off and the fall, the man parachuted in the city learns to control his trajectory.” Stunning stunning…
User Generated Signage
I deliberated about posting this because of the very bad language in one of the photos. So if you’re easily offended stop reading and leave the page now… Then I reconsidered when I realised that there’s actually an interesting point in…
Bill Banned This Photo
Doesn’t that look like the most amazing sandwich you ever saw? Take it from me, it’s an amazing sandwich from an amazing shop. Bill’s in Brighton (there’s a branch in Lewes too but I’ve never been to that one. If you’re ever in the area…
Babycham Trainers – A Brand Extension Too Far?
That’ll be a yes then
I’m In New York
And it looks a little something like this… I’m going to Flickr my photos when I get back, but I couldn’t resisit posting this one. I shall call it simply ‘Irony’.…
Flickr Romances
Funny article on ‘How to turn your Flickr crush into real romance‘, specially posted for Valentines day over at Wired. Starts off with a story of a real life Flickr Romance, then gives you the 10 steps to finding love on Flickr. I…
Deadly Rock
To celebrate my move to Brighton I brought in sticks of Rock for everyone. Perhaps I should have looked at the ingredients first! I’m going to get done for mass murder
Computers Behind Blogs – Intro
Here’s a little pet project I’ve been thinking about for a while. I wanted to do something that shows the computers that people blog from. I reckon it might give an interesting, non-verbal snapshot into the bloggers’ world. So I’ve gone…
Hats are Good, Hat Hair is Not
I like hats, they keep your head warm. But once you’ve worn one, it’s a bugger. You can’t take it off. Or you look like an idiot.
Snow in London
OK, so it’s hardly skiing weather. But you can actually see snow on top of stuff. Which is nice for a change. Expect stories of commutors taking 79 hours to get to work as a result
Wigs Awaaaaaaay
Spotted on my way to work… Note: It’s very windy today in London
Layers of History
On the way to work I noticed these vintage (1997) Orbital posters advertising the track they did for the move The Saint. I quite liked the fact that it had been buried behind something that had just been demolished. It’s like excavating…
More MySpace Scrawlings
I don’t know what it is about Shoreditch. But there seems to be someone who loves writing things on walls about social networking
More Internet Scribblings in the Real World
What a shame. From a pub toilet near Spittalfields. Which also had the great line writ large on the wall “England isn’t competitive”. Which I thought was rather profound.
Sorry, Not Much Going on Blogwise
Sorry for the blog quietness. Although I’ve not been busy blogging I have been busy doing other things. Like working. And more excitingly trying to buy a house in Brighton. I’m looking forward to living near the sea. From this you can take…
Turner Prize?
There’s something really compelling about looking inside the ‘sharp objects’ bin at airports. Especially now that they have things like hair conditioner in there. I think it’s to do with the fact that there’s essentially a bunch of really…
Life is Great
Some deep rooted need for belonging has been fulfilled
The Art of Headlines
Confused I was.
When Things are Broken it’s Bad
I was sitting upstairs on a bus last week and the CCTV screen was broken. A blue screen with ‘no signal’ on it. As well as a couple of tags and a sticker with another tag on it. It made me feel really unsafe. More unsafe than if the…
Things I Learned in Cork this Weekend
There are green Irish postboxes – yay! Limerick and Blarney are both real places in Ireland, and you go the same way from Cork to get there. I really wanted to go and kiss the Blarney stone, but apparently so does everyone else. Everyone…
Odd Junk Mail
I get a lot of strange ‘junk mail’, or highly targeted direct mail communications depending on your point of view. And at least this one was informative. I had no idea that the BAA was my First Stop for Airport and Aviation Imagery!…
Organic Bread Cures Tuberculosis
As seen in a minimart window on Kingsland Road.…
Shoes on Wires
I’d always wondered why you often see shoes hanging over overhead cables. I saw loads of them in the Lanes in Brighton at the weekend. Wikipedia has the answer (as always). But this time I’m not convinced about any of their stories, or any…
Notting Hill Lights
Notting Hill Lights at Night – a photoset on Flickr – I was wandering around Notting Hill late last night (trying to find a cab) and I spotted lots of different types of light. Lights with different purposes that create different effects…
My New Blog Experiment
I Love London Actually I don’t. That’s the whole point. Me and London haven’t been getting along all that well recently. So I thought I’d try a little experiement. To see if blogging about great things in London can inspire me to think…
All the Fun of the Fair
Sophie and I went to Lovebox on Saturday and a jolly good time was had by all. I didn’t take my camera with me, as I’d have done in the past. Instead I took my new phone. By the end of the day I was a bit tipsy and got a little snap happy…
More (poor) people using public transport
Saw this on my way to work. Unfortunately , in London, it’s probably true…
Photonotes
Nik’s set up a group called ‘Boast it Notes‘ on Flickr. It’s simple really. I don’t think I should even stoop to the level of explaining it. It came about after he set up a group on Flickr called ‘Street Style’ now it’s got 63 members and…
My Thai Dancing Worm
quality=”high” width=”320″ height=”256″ name=”movie” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” pluginspage=”http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer”> When I was in Thailand I saw this little fellow dancing on his thread as I walked up a…
Frooting – Bike Blended Smoothies
Saw this near Brick Lane on Sunday. Smoothies blended by bicycle. Thought it was really sweet.…
Making Friends in 2006
So this is how people are making friends nowadays. This MySpace friend recruitment drive was spotted in a tunnel in Shoreditch on my way to work. Also spotted this in the same tunnel, it’s becoming quite a little creative hotspot… Graffiti…
Fun Features 2
After my previous post on Photo Booth. And how small simple novelty features can sometimes be the makings of a product, I thought I should share this: it’s a feature on a Casio camera that allows you to take 2 shots and combine them ‘in…
Flickr Mashups
I’m pretty sure I’m way behind the curve on these (as per usual). But here’s a couple of amazing uses of the Flickr API (if you don’t know what an API is, this might help. Or then again, it might leave you baffled). Tagnautica – A really…
That’s not very nice…
Spotted this on the wall of Weiden & Kennedy’s London office. Not sure I agree 100%…
Soul Agents
This is on the front of the building across the street from work. I’d love meet one of these estate agents – I really hope that they look like Otis Reading and can sing the particulars in a motown style. But I think it’s just a bad mistake.…
Google Image Hoo Ha
BBC news reports on this rather odd story from the US. A judge in the States has ruled that Google have violated the copyright of Perfect 10 magazine (a high end ‘adult’ title). The violation results from the fact that Google shows…
Islam is OK sticker
Saw a couple of these stickers around the place on my way to work this morning. Nice to see a bit of non-extremism in the hood.…
Sarlacc Pit?
I saw this yesterday. I thought it looked like the Sarlacc Pit from the Star Wars film (if you’re not a SW geek you’ll need to go here to find out more). I’m not going to tell you what or where it’s from (it’s a bit yukky).…
The Saddest Photo Ever?
A poor discarded half eaten gingerbread man abandoned on the platform at Tulse Hill Station. Darned cake-cannibals, if they’re going to eat people at least they could have the manners to finish them off! I could have cried.…