Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Last year under the watchful eye of Mr Mike Morris we successfully grew tomatoes and chillies in the HL Studios windows. Lets see if we can repeat it this year on our own!

Tiny chilli plant seedlings all labelled up with (idiot proof) instructions on variety and care. 

 

Realistic 3D Paintings Of Aquatic Life

from The Graphic Design Blog.

Worth a follow for the fabulous examples of artwork that crop up from time to time.

This artist begins by painting the fish (using acrylics). He tries to use as little paint as possible, then pours resin into the bowl and continues to illustrate it layer by layer to create a sense of depth; thus creating the illusion of the fish swimming in water. I want the bucket of goldfish for my house, my cat would love them!

Click to follow them, or to follow us

 

BREAKING NEWS: Former prime minister Baroness Thatcher dies peacefully at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke.

We dont normally get involved in politics on the HL Blog, but we are very patriotic. We were so saddened by the news that such a strong, iconic symbol of Britain had passed away that we thought we would bend the rules.

The Iron Lady, Baroness Thatcher, the grocer’s daughter who became the longest serving British prime minister of the 20th century, spent 11 years in Downing Street. In 1990, a leadership challenge forced her to leave No 10 and two years later she was made a life peer, as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven. In recent years she has led a quiet life cared for by her loyal housekeeper. Britain’s first and only woman prime minister, who won three consecutive general elections, has been in fragile health since she suffered a minor stroke in 2002 which left her with short-term memory loss. Her beloved husband Denis died in 2003 and her children Mark and Carol both live abroad. 

She is expected to be honoured with a full state funeral at Wesminster Abbey.

 

A brief working history of Mr Mike Morris

- Courtesy of Ricky Capanni

Mike was my first real friend when I moved down to England in ’78 – we had graphic design and Laverda motorcycles in common.

I first knew him when he worked for GetSet in Eynsham, where he’d been for many years.

He was persuaded in the early 80s to leave to come and work with me at VAP in Kidlington, we then all got made redundant after about 12 years when the holding company WPP decided to close the company to sell the building.

Three of us, ex-VAP were employed to open a branch office for Magnet Harlequin (NOT the fitted kitchen people!) in the mid 90s in Cowley, Oxford.  We then all got made redundant again after about 8 years when our largest client suddenly withdrew all their work and the branch was closed.

I think Mike may have decided to retire the first time at that point (!), but he ended up working for Hardlines in the early 00s (think it was 2005) and the rest, as they say, is history…

Please feel free to insert good wishes in the comments box below.

 

BBC Television Centre closed for business

BBC Television Centre has closed its doors after 53 years

With a design said to have been inspired by a question mark scribbled on the back of an envelope, BBC Television Centre is one of the UK’s most recognisable cultural landmarks. The site sold for £200m last year to be redeveloped into a hotel, flats, a cinema and office space. The three main television studios will be refitted and leased out to production companies, including the BBC, from 2014. The 14-acre site will also house the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.

Some of the best-known programmes on British television were recorded within its walls: Dad’s Army, Fawlty Towers, Top of the Pops, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Two Ronnies, Blue Peter, classic era Doctor Who and Absolutely Fabulous to name but a few.

The £200m development will see the forecourt opened up to the public

 

Designed by Graham Dawbarn, Television Centre was built in 1960 on the site of the Franco-British exhibition of 1908. Its distinctive circular main block – which housed the studios, dressing rooms and offices – was known to staff as the “doughnut”. The story goes that Dawbarn came up with idea in the pub after he drew the triangular shape of the building site on the back of an old envelope. Doodling a question mark in the middle, he realised it would make the perfect design.

BBC TELEVISION CENTRE HISTORY

• Opened: 29 June 1960
• Location: four miles west of central London on Wood Lane, Shepherd’s Bush
• Architect Graham Dawbarn was inspired when he drew a triangle with a question mark in the middle
• Its distinctive circular main block is affectionately known as the “doughnut”
• The central sculpture, by T B Huxley-Jones, depicts Helios, the Greek god of the sun and represents the radiation of television light around the world
• The two reclining figures at the bottom are Sound and Vision
• The Forsyte Saga was the last major drama serial to be shot in black and white in 1967
• The same year, Vanity Fair – starring Susan Hampshire – became the first drama series in colour
• The House of Eliott in 1994 was the last major drama series to be shot at TVC
• The building was damaged by a car bomb left outside in March 2001
• The last network news bulletin went out from TV Centre on Sunday, 17 March 2013

 

TOP THAT! Combat Fliers project

As Production Manager here at HL Studios, you never quite know what type of project will land on your desk.

One day it can be a six level series of ELT titles and another it can be making up paper aeroplanes to check the position of new artwork… which is exactly what happened to me this week!

TOP THAT! Combat Fliers is a children’s book containing 13 amazing plane designs to construct and fly. We are re-designing the cover, the pages and making sure that the markings on the models match their real life counterparts. I don’t think I have ever known a job to be so fought over in the studio!

 

Big Birthday Buffet is open!