i visited fellow-lancastrian harriet devoy last week in san francisco. after long stints at johnson banks and the chase, she was snaffled up by apple about a year or so ago as head of european graphics, but as they don’t talk about what they do i can’t give you any more info than that. all i really know is they work incredibly hard to achieve the effect of effortless simplicity.

after more than a month in the california sunshine harriet was tinged with homesickness so we went through some recent london snaps of mine and spoke of the sad loss of tony wilson, pea wet and scraps and dandelion and burdock pop.

while this image of big ben had her yearning for a return to london, a shot of an august bank holiday fairground reminded her that pea wet and scraps are free in some lancashire chippies, but everything comes at a price.

whenever i go abroad, i have the horrible habit of looking for books that myself or friends have worked on. i know it’s wrong but when i do find one i am filled with what can only be described as glee, and if you’ve ever experienced glee you’ll appreciate why i can’t stop seeking it out.

on a recent trip away i happily skipped into a branch of borders in the soma district of san francisco where i found they have a highly specialised section – commercial art and topography – that i’m not sure anyone i know has yet written a book for.

typos can be fun. when you’ve got a deadline of yesterday and the better part of a 200 page guideline to read through, you might think otherwise. this one will probably disappear soon so i’m saving it now as i’m rather fond of it.

i thought i’d better get back into this blogging thing now that we’re through a major period of testing servers and other technical wizardry that i shan’t pretend to understand.

i have been busy in the short hiatus, creating a surprise child, due for delivery to the world early in the new year so don’t be surprised if future blog entries are weighted towards why victorian properties in london were not converted with single mothers in mind or finding buggies that are designed to support baby’s back as well as mine (most pram manufacturers seem to think all mothers are under 5 foot tall).

anyway. so we’re back. the boys have been busy adding such stuff as to test my ability to learn new things, but mister lewington of digital london is rather good at explaining so i now know that tags are like ingredients. huzzah.