NEWS AND VIEWS
… musings
& much, much more
So here’s what’s been happening in and around Looking Glass Press. Enjoy!
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THURSDAY 30 DEC 2021
Hear that? That TICK • TICK • TICK is the sound of a count-down to 2022.
Are you anything like me? The person who looks at the start of a new week, a new month or in this case A WHOLE NEW YEAR and break out in a sweat which is equal parts excitement and abject panic (?)…mostly because there is so much promise and potential and such little time?
Of course I set myself up to complete Herculean tasks and then scramble at the end. Bottom line is that I'm the only one setting a high bar and the only one who will know if I get over it, or not...
Suffice to say it's gotta be better than last year when I set myself up to change up the whole colour scheme for LGP (using grey and yellow - the Pantone color(s) of the year), establish a marketing schedule, blog several times a week and (and …) I don't think I made it past about four posts and I can't say that the marketing bizzo really took off...
But after the couple of years we have ALL had, things have just gotta improve, hey? Before the start of the New Year I have committed to change-up the website with a new vibrant colour theme 'very peri' (Pantone's Color of the year for 2022) and I'm delighted to say that I am almost there!
I have to say that I am finding 'very peri' - described as a beautiful blue with violet red undertones inspiring, so here's to a new year and the hope of some joy, dynamism, creativity and imagination!
Hear that? That TICK • TICK • TICK is the sound of a count-down to 2022.
Are you anything like me? The person who looks at the start of a new week, a new month or in this case A WHOLE NEW YEAR and break out in a sweat which is equal parts excitement and abject panic (?)…mostly because there is so much promise and potential and such little time?
Of course I set myself up to complete Herculean tasks and then scramble at the end. Bottom line is that I'm the only one setting a high bar and the only one who will know if I get over it, or not...
Suffice to say it's gotta be better than last year when I set myself up to change up the whole colour scheme for LGP (using grey and yellow - the Pantone color(s) of the year), establish a marketing schedule, blog several times a week and (and …) I don't think I made it past about four posts and I can't say that the marketing bizzo really took off...
But after the couple of years we have ALL had, things have just gotta improve, hey? Before the start of the New Year I have committed to change-up the website with a new vibrant colour theme 'very peri' (Pantone's Color of the year for 2022) and I'm delighted to say that I am almost there!
I have to say that I am finding 'very peri' - described as a beautiful blue with violet red undertones inspiring, so here's to a new year and the hope of some joy, dynamism, creativity and imagination!
Turn! Turn! Turn! / Lyrics To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven A time to be born, a time to die A time to plant, a time to reap A time to kill, a time to heal A time to laugh, a time to weep To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven A time to build up, a time to break down A time to dance, a time to mourn A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven A time of love, a time of hate A time of war, a time of peace A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing To everything (turn, turn, turn) There is a season (turn, turn, turn) And a time to every purpose, under heaven A time to gain, a time to lose A time to rend, a time to sew A time for love, a time for hate A time for peace, I swear it's not too late youtu.be/W4ga_M5Zdn4
Stepping into the CSR space
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is important for how our world should be. Companies should have a positive impact on our society as a whole while still being able to operate as a functioning business in the current paradigm. But as a micro business CSR, always felt a bit aspirational...
And to be honest, a cause I felt I could give back to did not really surface until I enrolled in life-changing and life-affirming studies in sustainability in 2014–15.
My first tranche of pro-bono work was for 350.org Australia, designing memes from the comfort of my own desk to support action on climate change, and for me probably a less confronting option to ‘locking on’ at a protest! Funny thing was, back in 2014 I really was not across what a meme was, and specifically how I was to set it up… but this old dog was up for new tricks. An added bonus was I got to work with some of the most passionate, committed and intelligent people you could ever meet!
My CSR response has evolved and so these days I just go with the flow. I am ALWAYS up for doing good work for people and organisations that are on the front lines of communicating about the environment and climate change, to a budget they can afford. And sometimes that is zero dollars. And that’s OK.
Over the last few years I have been blessed to have produced materials for some amazing organisations including Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia, the Green Institute, Farmers for Climate Action, the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, Tipping Point, Groundswell Gloucester, The Next Economy, Doctors for the Environment and Climate and Health Alliance.
Blessed and proud to be part of, and support, this movement.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is important for how our world should be. Companies should have a positive impact on our society as a whole while still being able to operate as a functioning business in the current paradigm. But as a micro business CSR, always felt a bit aspirational...
And to be honest, a cause I felt I could give back to did not really surface until I enrolled in life-changing and life-affirming studies in sustainability in 2014–15.
My first tranche of pro-bono work was for 350.org Australia, designing memes from the comfort of my own desk to support action on climate change, and for me probably a less confronting option to ‘locking on’ at a protest! Funny thing was, back in 2014 I really was not across what a meme was, and specifically how I was to set it up… but this old dog was up for new tricks. An added bonus was I got to work with some of the most passionate, committed and intelligent people you could ever meet!
My CSR response has evolved and so these days I just go with the flow. I am ALWAYS up for doing good work for people and organisations that are on the front lines of communicating about the environment and climate change, to a budget they can afford. And sometimes that is zero dollars. And that’s OK.
Over the last few years I have been blessed to have produced materials for some amazing organisations including Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia, the Green Institute, Farmers for Climate Action, the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, Tipping Point, Groundswell Gloucester, The Next Economy, Doctors for the Environment and Climate and Health Alliance.
Blessed and proud to be part of, and support, this movement.
The graphic design industry standard system for specifying print colours – Pantone – decided on two Colors of the Year for 2021. With my philosopher’s hat on I kinda get the selection, but as a designer I find grey and yellow problematic. Granted it’s a rather nice grey (Cool Gray 7 – note the American spelling) and a very sun-shiny yellow (AKA ‘Illuminating’ but otherwise known to people like me as PMS 106C) but matching and working with these colours can be a challenge. Because both lack tonal depth, it is hard to set readable text in either colour, and let’s just forget creating contrast or interest in a design by using tints.
Leaving my misgivings aside for now (and also the grey…) yellow is pretty inspiring is it not? Look up any search engine and you will straight-up find yellow associated with sunshine, hope, and happiness, but it can have conflicting associations. On one hand yellow stands for freshness, happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, optimism, enlightenment, remembrance, intellect, honour, loyalty, and joy, but on the other, it also is used in reference to cowardice and deceit. Ouch.
When my brain plays with words, it often drifts to songs and lyrics and so it was no surprise that musings on yellow took me straight to ‘Mellow Yellow’, a song released by Donovan in 1966. Mellow Yellow has some intriguing facts associated with it (see Songfacts for more details: www.songfacts.com/facts/donovan/mellow-yellow). I discovered that Donovan and the Beatles were close collaborators (which I never knew), but what made me laugh out loud was Mellow Yellow was rumoured to be about getting high on banana skins. The suggestion was that scraped banana fibres cooked over a low fire released some sort of hallucinogen. Of course, it was never true!
Bananas happen to be one of my favourite yellow things. What’s yours? (...feel free to pop your comments below)
Leaving my misgivings aside for now (and also the grey…) yellow is pretty inspiring is it not? Look up any search engine and you will straight-up find yellow associated with sunshine, hope, and happiness, but it can have conflicting associations. On one hand yellow stands for freshness, happiness, positivity, clarity, energy, optimism, enlightenment, remembrance, intellect, honour, loyalty, and joy, but on the other, it also is used in reference to cowardice and deceit. Ouch.
When my brain plays with words, it often drifts to songs and lyrics and so it was no surprise that musings on yellow took me straight to ‘Mellow Yellow’, a song released by Donovan in 1966. Mellow Yellow has some intriguing facts associated with it (see Songfacts for more details: www.songfacts.com/facts/donovan/mellow-yellow). I discovered that Donovan and the Beatles were close collaborators (which I never knew), but what made me laugh out loud was Mellow Yellow was rumoured to be about getting high on banana skins. The suggestion was that scraped banana fibres cooked over a low fire released some sort of hallucinogen. Of course, it was never true!
Bananas happen to be one of my favourite yellow things. What’s yours? (...feel free to pop your comments below)
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