Joanna Montgomery | Blog

Start It Up

2012-01-23T21:52:00.000Z

At the end of 2011 I was trying to weigh up the pros and cons of accepting investment for my company, Little Riot. I didn't fully understand the ins and outs of such an undertaking, so my friend at Shell LiveWIRE, Paul Lancaster suggested I checked out Luke Johnson's book, Start It Up.

Like the keen bean that I am, I ordered it from Amazon. You can too, if you want, for only £8.60 of your hard earned cash. I know book reviews are generally something most people stopped writing after primary school (literature journalists excluded) so I'll try and keep this brief. In a sentence: if you're running a start up, or thinking about starting a company, read this book.

If you're still reading, I'll tell you a bit more. If you don't know who Luke Johnson is (I have to admit, I didn't either) I can't really sum his business achievements up in a paragraph, so all you probably need to know is that he took over Pizza Express and grew it from a collection of 12 restaurants, to 250. He's also a chairman of the RSA and the former chairman of Channel 4. And somehow, he has effortlessly channeled his many years of experience into one book.

The content is spot on. There's no messing around; the mix of guidance and practical advice is easily swallowed because it is peppered with real-life situations Johnson himself has navigated. His writing style is conversational, direct and down to earth. He doesn't throw around all those big words that strike fear into even the most budding of entrepreneurs.

I primarily read the book for for the financial advice, and it was a great place to start. There is a succinct but clear rundown of the common sources of finance available to most start-ups. At the time of reading, I felt the chapter was quite short, as realistically I was probably looking for a bit more detail... but then afterwards, I realised most of my confusion came from not really understanding what each of my options actually involved. So in hindsight, it was a great starting point - I found out what I needed to know and therefore which one I wished to research further (angel investment, if you're wondering).

My other favourite thing about the book is the way it addresses the "are entrepreneurs born or made?" debate; ie. can you teach someone to be entrepreneurial and business minded, or does it come naturally to a certain 'kind' of person. Johnson reckons the most important characteristic to have is the ability to make decisions, in a term he calls 'a bias for action'.

"They are not the same as other people. They have an ambition, a competitive urge and a lust to take risks that is way beyond the norm"

However, he then goes on to agree that nurture can too an entrepreneur make. He believes the key ingredients of a good businessman/woman emerge from a mixture of hard work, their upbringing and hands-on experience. Overall, he puts forward several compelling arguments for both sides of the endless debate, leaving the reader to ultimately make up their own mind.

Overall, the book was a good read and probably one of the better business books I have read. It was interesting, engaging and actually quite hard to put down. It serves its purpose as a motivating, all round business book. If you take nothing else away from it (unlikely) - you will at least learn some interesting business facts. Did you know that KFC's "Colonel" Sanders' founded his chicken empire at 47, but it didn't take off until he was nearly bankrupt at the ripe old age of 66?

My 2011

2012-01-03T20:11:00.000Z

I am aware that today, the 3rd of January, is decidedly past the date unto which 2011 year summaries are deemed acceptable. Fortunately, I don't mind being unacceptable, and I've had a pretty stellar year, so I've decided to blog about it anyway. Sorry :-)

January
- Saw in the New Year in Dundee with my best, Scottish, friends; Jen, Keiran, Carol and Paul
- Started developing Pillow Talk's first prototype after winning £25,000 at the end of 2010
- Was interviewed and accepted onto Cultural Enterprise Office's "Starter for 6" programme

February
- Went to Dublin! Few personal dramas.
- Secured £3k of funding to conduct an IP Audit on Pillow Talk
- Met Ben Folds in Glasgow

March
- This was a very stressful month, with subcontractors letting me down and lots of deadlines
- Finalist in Newcastle University's 'Enterprise Challenge'
- Did a pretty cool project with Newcastle Council looking at how to raise awareness of public art in the city

April
- Went to London to compete as a finalist in the "Disruptive Enterprise" category of NACUE's National Varsity Pitch Competition... and won! :)
- Won a scholarship to MEX Conference in London

May
- Pitched to an auditorium of people at the British Library as a finalist in the National Varsity Pitch Competition and won £10,000!

June
- Won a Shell LiveWIRE 'Grand Ideas' Award
- Got a pretty insane amount of press thanks to Shell LiveWIRE and Jonathan at Wave PR
- Found Meso, my amazing, amazing new product design company who have been a breath of fresh air in Pillow Talk's development process

July
- Reached the end of the six month 'Starter for 6' programme and pitched for funding
- 2 years with John. He was at sea, naturally.
- Went to T in the Park with Jen

August
- Went on holiday to Lanzarote
- Found out I'd secured £10,000 of funding after my pitch at the end of Starter for 6
- My car came back from a BMW service, started making a funny noise and they tried to get me to pay over £3,000 to fix it. Still haven't won that battle.

September
- Busy month!
- Won a Smarta 100 Award and hung out with Deborah Meaden at the awards ceremony in London
- Headed to Sheffield for MADE Festival
- Won 'The Pitch' competition at aforementioned festival
- Gave my first ever proper, teaching-y lecture at Dundee University

October
- I turned 24 and celebrated in Scotland with a nice meal with my closest friends
- Found out I was a finalist in the Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards
- Worked with Snook on a project for people with Dementia

November
- Definitely the most exciting month of this year! Got so much press and publicity including three radio interviews.
- Travelled to London and spent an amazing few days being judged as a 'young entrepreneur' and experiencing Shell LiveWIRE LIVE!
- Also went to London to speak on a panel of young entrepreneurs during Global Entrepreneurship Week and met some pretty awesome contacts
- Pillow Talk was featured on CNN and my inbox reached a whole new level

December
- Pillow Talk properly entered its final phase of product design, the end is in sight!
- Inbox hit 20,000+ unread emails.
- Full page spread in the Daily Record
- One of my best friends, and the guy who introduced me to John, got married and I photographed his wedding.

2012 is going to be my year. Pillow Talk is going to launch and I'm going to go from running a small start-up to being in charge of a global, internationally-exporting company. This is the beginning of something incredible and I can't wait.

Shell LiveWIRE LIVE! 2011

2011-11-26T23:49:00.001Z

(With YO! Sushi Founder Simon Woodroffe and Shell's John MacArthur)

Since starting Little Riot in September last year, one of the best business support organisations I have come across is Shell LiveWIRE. The longest-running enterprise support programme in the UK (30 years!), the organisation supports young people aged 16-30 who want to start, or have recently started, their own business. They are best known for their "Grand Ideas Awards", a monthly competition in which budding entrepreneurs can apply to be in with a chance of winning £1,000. If you make it through the first round of judging, you are then invited to submit a one minute elevator pitch video which is then subject to public vote via the Shell LiveWIRE website. They give away up to 5 awards of £1000 every month.

I won a Grand Ideas Award back in June and, at the time, had little idea of what was yet to come. In October I was honoured find out I'd made it into the "Hot 40" - a list of the top Grand Ideas winners from the past year. Never for a minute expecting anything further, I was amazed when I received a phonecall to say I was one of the 8 finalists in the running to become Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

(Article in the North East Journal, October 2011)

That day kick started an incredible few weeks for myself as a young businessperson and for Little Riot as a company. One of the greatest things about Shell LiveWIRE is the publicity they have the power to generate - I received a lot of press after winning my Grand Ideas Award and they certainly weren't holding back this time around either. As the only Scottish finalist, I was lucky enough to have Jonathan from Wave PR as my "right hand PR man" and he did an absolutely phenomenal job in generating a lot of buzz around both my company and myself as a finalist. If you you're based in Scotland, I genuinely couldn't recommend him enough - as well as being amazing at his job, he's also an incredibly nice person who is always at the other end of the phone whenever I need advice. I had a whirlwind time in the run up to my departure for London, squeezing in the submission of a business plan and other supporting documents to Shell LiveWIRE (for the judging process) around various radio interviews and photo shoots.

On November 7th, in quite a last minute aaah-what's-happening-to-me flap, I rolled into London, arriving the night before the judging day. I checked into The Bloomsbury Hotel - which I also highly recommend if you're looking for somewhere to stay in London - and the next day I headed off to the Shell Centre to meet the other 7 finalists. We had an intense day - we all had to deliver a 10 minute presentation to one panel of judges, and were interviewed for half an hour by another. With that all done and dusted, we were glad to spend the evening enjoying dinner and drinks with the Shell LiveWIRE team. With the decision made, we just had a nail-biting wait until the LIVE! event the following day.

(Will King from King of Shaves)

The day's activities, at the Southbank Centre, included talks from the likes of Will King (King of Shaves) and Brad Burton from 4Networking. As ever with Shell LiveWIRE, the content and speakers were spot on for the audience - relevant, interesting and highly motivating for the several hundred young entrepreneurs in attendance. The 8 finalists sat close to the front, torn between savouring the afternoon and wishing it away to get to the part we'd all been waiting for; the evening event and hence the announcement of Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

After Brad Burton wrapped up with his motivational "Get Off Your Arse" talk (also the title of his book!) everyone headed back over to the Shell Centre for the evening event. For the finalists, this was an amazing opportunity for us to network and make connections. Each of us had an exhibition table on which we could display our products or offer leaflets etc. I took the opportunity to showcase my Pillow Talk prototype - I do this at every opportunity I get, as it's really fascinating/inspiring to see people's reactions when they actually experience the product, rather than just read about it. Simon Woodroffe of YO! Sushi had lots of nice things to say about it!

After lots of pillows (but definitely not enough canapes or wine) we all took our seats and Oli Barrett took to the podium, cracking out several bad jokes over the course of the evening. Simon Woodroffe gave an absolutely hilarious talk - the man is wasted in sushi! Each of the 8 finalists then spoke to the audience for 60 seconds about their idea (Oli Barrett: "Joanna, when you ask for investment do people say "let me sleep on it?"")... and then came the moment we'd all been waiting for; the final announcement.

Michael Korn of Kwickscreen was announced as Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year - so well done to him! Definitely well deserved; he has organically grown his company from an idea to where it is now and is entirely self-funded. For the "unlucky" other finalists - well, what can I say? I don't really feel like I lost! I still came away from the whole experience feeling like a winner. I had an absolutely incredible time, met some amazing people, made some valuable connections - and I got a bottle of champagne for being a finalists! No one's a loser when there's champagne involved.

The other finalists - and now my friends - were Rosemary Francis (Ellexus), Isabel Lizardi (Bare Conductive), David Grimes (myParcelDelivery.com), Lawrence Kemball-Cook (Pavegen), Chris Dodson (Concept Cupboard) and Christopher Yeomans (Estriatus Energy). Stiff competition, and a bunch of people I'm happy to be placed amongst.

All in all, Shell LiveWIRE LIVE! was an incredible experience and I'll definitely be heading back next year to see what 2012 has to offer. Thank you to the Shell LiveWIRE team for treating us so well and making the whole thing so amazing - hats off to Stu, Anna, Erin, Mark, Paul and also John and Wendy. I'm honoured to have been a part of it all and I'm sure I'll be reaping the benefits of the event for many months to come.

Lecture: Pitching and Presenting

2011-10-01T20:31:00.000+01:00

(Photo by Lena Blackstock :)

My ex-lecturer and now friend, Professor Mike Press, last week invited me to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design to deliver a lecture to the Master of Design and Master of Design Ethnography students and teach them how to pitch an idea persuasively and present themselves as people.

After panicking for a little while, failing to think of a good excuse as to why I couldn't do it and then trying to opt-out regardless, I eventually decided to man up and get on with it. It was a new challenge for me; I've pitched and presented a lot over the past year, but it's always been about my product, my company or myself. I've spoken at young enterprise events about my journey so far and what others can learn from it, but as I'm sure everyone knows - talking about yourself is easy. What isn't easy is establishing the best way to impart your knowledge unto others; how do you choose what to tell them? How do you structure it in such a way that it is not only easy to understand, but absorb? How do you ensure they learn something from it? It's a whole different ballgame from pitching and one I wasn't sure I would excel at.

I was feeling pretty apprehensive about trying to "impart my knowledge" for a whole 60 minutes, but fortunately the class were a good bunch and I think it went okay. Despite my fears, turns out I can talk for nearly an hour no bother! It was actually really good fun, sharing what I know with other people and hoping that they learned something from it. Definitely open to the idea of doing more in the future.

I've since come across some notes taken by Jamie Thoms during my lecture - aren't they beautiful? I find them really inspiring as it's really interesting to see how someone has interpreted what I've said (the fact he wasn't asleep at any stage throughout is also a bonus as far as I'm concerned!)

Thank you very much to Mike and DJCAD for having me, as well as the MDes and DesEtho guys for being such a great audience.

The Apple Logo

2011-09-05T22:35:00.003+01:00

The Apple logo. Is there a more recognised logo worldwide? It must be up there in the top few. This logo is a real success story; it's been around for 34 years and, save colour/texture changes, has remained the same. Not many logos can say that.

Today I read an interview with Rob Janoff, the graphic designer behind the Apple logo. It's a pretty interesting insight into the mind of a designer who kicked things off for a brand that has ultimately been so successful, people get the logo tattooed on themselves. How many companies can say their brand is so strong, their customers want it permanently on their bodies? Not many.

I won't share the whole thing, just my favourite part. Before I read this, I presumed that Apple would have hired the cream of the crop and that the design process would have been a laboured, intensive process. If I was a graphic designer, I'd probably want to know this guy's secret. It's pretty eye-opening, and really refreshing to see that even Apple were a start-up too once - only giving a brief of "don't make it too cute".

"Well, I'm probably the least religious person, so Adam and Eve didn't have anything to do with it. The bite of knowledge sounds fabulous, but that's not it. And, there is a whole lot of other lure about it. Turing the famous supposed father of computer science who committed suicide in the early 50's was british and was accused of being homosexual, which he was. He was facing a jail sentence so he committed suicide to avoid all that. So, I heard one of the legends being that the colored logo was an homage to him. People think I did the colored stripes because of the gay flag. And, that was something really thought for a long time. The other really cool part was that apparently he killed himself with a cyanide laced apple. And, then I found out Alan Turing's favorite childhood story was Snow White where she falls asleep forever for eating a poisoned apple to be woken up by the handsome prince. Anyway, when I explain the real reason why I did the bite it's kind of a let down. But I'll tell you. I designed it with a bite for scale, so people get that it was an apple not a cherry. Also it was kind of iconic about taking a bite out of an apple. Something that everyone can experience. It goes across cultures. If anybody ever had an apple he probably bitten into it and that's what you get. It was after I designed it, that my creative director told me: "Well you know, there is a computer term called byte". And I was like: "You're kidding!"

Part of me kind of wishes Steve Jobs had designed it, though. I still feel such a sense of "ownership" to my company... I contemplated hiring a graphic designer, but at the moment my company is ME and I wanted to retain, or at least be a part of, what defines it visually.

20 Reasons Why People Get Their Best Ideas in the Shower

2011-04-22T00:42:00.000+01:00

Today I found an article on 20 reasons why many people get their best ideas in the shower. It's so true! So I thought I'd share it - some interesting points here, I'd be interested to know if there's any real science/psychology behind it.

1. Showering signals "a new day" or "new beginning."

2. You're usually alone, with time to reflect.

3. Interruptions are rare.

4. The rush of water creates a kind of "white noise" that makes concentration easier.

5. Shower stalls look like little incubation chambers.

6. Water is associated with "contemplation" (i.e. sitting near a river, lake, or ocean.)

7. Showering is a metaphor for "getting rid of the dirt" -- the stuff that covers up what's beneath.

8. Showering is a ritual. Lots of creative people like to have little rituals to get their head in the right place.

9. You can write your ideas on the walls with a water soluble pen.

10. There's not a lot of judgment or analysis going on in a shower.

11. A hot shower opens the pores -- and by extension, maybe the mind.

12. Showering wakes up you. It makes you more alert.

13. Showering is a relaxing and stress free experience. With nothing to stress about, your mind is free to roam new territories.

14. If you shampoo, you're massaging your head. That's gotta be good.

15. It's hard to check your iphone or Blackberry in a shower.

16. Albert Einstein also did his best thinking near a shower. ("Why is it I always get my best ideas while shaving?")

17. Water is associated with "flow." Being in the "flow state" is often a precursor to creative thinking.

18. There is no deliverable expected of you.

19. If you shower with a friend, and he/she happens to be in a brainstorming mode, lots of great ideas get sparked.

20. Showering is easy. Not a lot of thinking is required to make it happen, which frees your mind to think about other things.

Sleep

2011-03-20T03:22:00.002Z

Gosh, I haven't updated since January! I'm a bad blogger. I've been run off my feet lately - things at my company Little Riot are getting pretty hectic. Pillow Talk is nearing the end of its £25,000 development phase and is being developed for the commercial market. This time last year I don't think I'd even come up with the idea, it blows my mind how quickly it's all happened.

Sadly, one of the downsides of being constantly stressed out and having to think about 100 different things at once, is lack of sleep. I also hurt my back a few weeks ago which added to the problem - it's even harder to relax when all the muscles you're lying on are really tense/tight. I was doing some research online about sleep, and came across this rather interesting graphic, which I thought I'd share with you all.

Via: Psychology Degree

Not that it's of any interest, but for the record I went to a chiropractor and got my back fixed. It was SERIOUSLY AMAZING. Best £40 I've ever spent - felt a million times better afterwards and had such a great sleep that night. Wish I hadn't waited so long! Never again will I put up with back pain for over a week when some magical man can crack it all out of me.

My 2010

2010-12-31T01:53:00.000Z

A year coming to an end always makes me slightly nostalgic and reflective. I like to look back at my year and summarised the main events of each month and what they've meant to me. So, this is my 2010.

JANUARY
Saw in the New Year at a pretty good house party/fire/BBQ in Dundee.
John took me to Egypt for my Christmas present, it was amazing.
Started the home run towards my final degree project.

FEBRUARY

Lots of nights out!

Was hating my degree project

Spent a lot of time discussing my life with the cat

John spoiled me rotten on Valentines Day

MARCH

Tache Bash, the fundraising event for our degree show

Changed my project idea 6 weeks before the end of the year - BEST THING I EVER DID.

Pretty much just slaved away for all of March doing project work.

APRIL

Didn't eat or sleep for weeks as I frantically worked on my project

Pillow Talk went viral

Got featured on Gizmodo which, it's safe to say, has changed my life

Apparently didn't take many photos as I was so busy

My horse kept me sane

MAY

Where do I start? Gave my final ever presentation at uni.

Was awarded a First Class Honours degree.

Degree Show opened.

Saw the true colours of some of my "friends".

Was interviewed on BBC Radio and made the front cover of a National newspaper

Photographed my first wedding

JUNE

Graduated from uni!

Went to grad ball

Drank my own bodyweight in champagne

Did a lot of Freelance work.

Spent a lovely weekend in Loch Lomond with John and his family

Was offered a PhD place at Newcastle uni.

(These are my two best friends in the whole world)

JULY

Went to T in the Park

Chilled the hell out since uni was finished.

Grew a giant courgette.

Drove a lot.

Celebrated one year with John. Well, I did, he was at sea!

AUGUST

Pretty much just went on holiday a lot.

Went to Greece with John.

Went to France with John to visit my folks at their house there.

Had my PhD offer pulled out from under my feet and was suddenly left questioning what to do with the rest of my life again

SEPTEMBER

Moved to Newcastle

Started my own company

Started a Masters of Research at Newcastle University

Did a LOT of paperwork in my newfound Director role

OCTOBER

Turned 23! Worst birthday ever, alone in Newcastle hardly knowing anyone. Spent it at the aquarium with my 3yr old pseudo-nephew, who also shares my birthday.

Won £25,000 the week after which kind of made up for it.

Went to London.

Presented Pillow Talk at the Innovate 10 Conference

Met some old friends :)

NOVEMBER

November was bad for a variety of reasons.

But it still had its good parts... like going to Spain

DECEMBER

Finally started to feel settled in Newcastle

Drank more jagerbombs in one night than I will ever again, across the rest of my life!

Home to Scotland for Christmas.

All in all, it's been a funny year. It saw my last year of university, the last time I would enjoy the company of all the people I spent the best four years of my life with. It saw the end of four years of studying, of blood sweat and tears, becoming one single certificate which will define my career prospects for decades to come. Two thousand and ten was a year which, for me, held a huge life transition.

And let's not forget the people. I found out in 2010 that a lot of people weren't who I really thought they were (or perhaps I wasn't who they thought I was?) But either way, as the year draws to a close, I call far less people my friends. This doesn't bother me - those I have lost were not worth my time, and those who remain will stay with me forever. Jen will forever be my best friend, and I'll never forget the loyalty of Keiran and - until nearer the end - Neil. I suppose, in a way, 2010 has shown me what I expect from people and who I can expect it from. It has also carried through some old friendships which, through thick and thin, only become stronger for each New Year they see (Ross, I'm looking at you).

Two thousand and ten started okay, slid into a Springtime Slump and then gave me everything I could have asked for in the summer. Autumn was hard, harder still, but I'm approaching 2011 with a strange sense of optimism. I hope you all have a good one too.

Russell Brand on Love

2010-12-23T01:06:00.001Z

Russell Brand writing about Katy Perry. I don't like Russell Brand in the slightest, but this is lovely.

Trust

2010-11-25T15:26:00.002Z

–noun

1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

2. confident expectation of something; hope.

–verb

3. to have trust or confidence in; rely or depend on.

4. to believe.

5. to expect confidently; hope (usually fol. by a clause or infinitive as object): trusting the job would soon be finished; trusting to find oil on the land.

Trust. What is trust? We use the word so boldly but do we ever stop to question what it really means? We talk about it with family, with friends and with colleagues. We talk about it online and offline, it is responsible for our deepest secrets and for the successful completion of many daily tasks. We are defining it, outlining it and promoting it to each other, but the definition of trust seems less concrete. As I battle the ups and downs of various situations life throws at me, I am finding myself becoming more aware of what moves me to “trust” - and what undermines that.

There are so many different kinds of trust. I trust my parents to love me unconditionally no matter what decisions I make in life. I trust my boyfriend not to cheat on me. I trust online shops to send me the items I have paid for. Is any kind of trust more important than another?

The birth and creation of trust is a grey area. Trusting someone should be hard but we seem to accept that it is a necessary starting point in any relationship or friendship. Where do we find it in ourselves? Trust opens us up and presents our vulnerability to anyone we bestow it upon. It exposes us in a way few other emotional commitments do. In doing this, we expect our openness to be treated with respect and our disadvantages and weaknesses not to be taken advantage of. As individuals, we have to do this in good faith. But how do you prove this trust? Can it be proved? People have many flaws but we are all so beautifully raw and vulnerable when we initially interact with people. We can be guarded and attempt to shield our cores but ultimately, we have to trust based upon nothing.

The reality is, our ability to trust is probably one of our purest traits as human beings. Truth can be so easily lost. Once the damage is done, the notion that you might ever trust that person again can feel impossible. When we are hurt or betrayed by someone and the trust is no longer complete, we find it difficult to expose ourselves again. It takes this “proof” that we cannot trust them before we experience the doubt, yet we trust so openly and completely in the beginning with no solid foundations.

I’ve been thinking about this for days but I still don’t know what trust is. All is know is that trust is both brave and vulnerable. Trust is not sparing my feelings. Trust is the hard truth spoken gently. We can lose it before we have it or find where we least expect it. Trust can be given, but not invented, stolen, or demanded.

The painful truth about trust is that, once it is shattered, we cannot glue it back together. Like good health, generosity, or love, we are most reminded of its value when it is gone.

A Week in October

2010-10-24T01:23:00.000+01:00

photo: dbrightwell

About four weeks ago I moved to Newcastle or, more specifically, to a little coastal town to the South East (I think, don't quote me on it) of the city. I'm not sure if I'm officially in Whitley Bay or not, but I do know that I'm close enough to the beach to enjoy it whenever I want. I've had a couple of long walks along it this week but, in a sea of dog walkers, I felt a bit out of place.

I moved here to live with my boyfriend but he works at sea and is away at the moment so I've had a lot of time to explore the local area. Whitley Bay seems to be quite cheap and cheerful in areas, the street with all the bars/pubs is quite the meat market on a Saturday night! However the town centre does have lots of teashops, and I am a sucker for a good teashop. I also live across the road from a bakery which sells pretty epic cupcakes, so all in all I hope this is going to be a good place for me.

Other things I've enjoyed this week:

Coffee with Katy Trouble - a very talented little lady, well worth reading
Goodbye, New York, and Thanks for Breaking my Heart - the NY Times is one of my favourite online reads and this article struck a chord with me for some reason
15 Signs You'll Be Rich - some interesting statistics on wage statistics. Sadly being small and rotund, things aren't looking good for me. But hey, being blonde counts for something apparently
Unicorn After Wisdom Teeth - so funny, not sure how I haven't seen this before now!

Back in the Game

2010-10-17T23:49:00.003+01:00

I've been really caught up in various things over the past couple of months, so I'm ashamed to say I haven't found time to update since July! However, I am back now so hopefully I'll manage to write more often.

I spent my summer thinking I would be beginning a PhD at Culture Lab in Newcastle this month, but at the end of August I was told my funding had fallen through. At the time I was devastaed, but my mother always tells me that everything happens for a reason - and only good things have happened to me since.

In September I founded my own company, Little Riot Ltd. I have a lot of ideas but felt I needed a platform on which to develop them, so Little Riot has been set up as an interaction design company. I'm primarily doing research at the moment, but I'm also going to channel my consultancy and freelance work through it.

I'm also thrilled to be able to say I won £25,000 to develop Pillow Talk, my degree project. The lovely people at the Technology Strategy Board selected me as one of the three winners in their recent "Disruptive Solutions" competition, so I am now able to finally start pushing the concept towards market. I also got to present my work to a live audience at the Innovate 10 conference - it was really strange to be a "business woman" (I had to wear smart clothes and everything!) but I got some pretty good feedback about what I'm doing. I have several people interested in collaborating with me or using my concepts so fingers crossed there are lots of exciting things to come.

It's a huge opportunity and I'm both proud of myself and incredibly grateful to have gained the support. As a graduate, I am really lucky to be working on my own projects and interests instead of slaving away for a larger corporation. Still very much living the life of a poor student, but hopefully that will start to change in time.

I'm also doing a Masters/some research work at Culture Lab, a part of Newcastle University. I think I've really lucked out with it to be honest; I am part of a very small group of people who are resident researchers within the lab. We spend the year working on our own interests and projects, and at the end of the year we write it up and will receive a Masters degree for it. It only came about when my PhD fell through, but I think it may in fact be even more perfect for me as it allows me time to work on my company and sample life as a PhD student or researcher. Again, I'm so lucky to be working in the interaction design field - I always thought I'd end up doing whatever was available when I graduated.

Six Items or Less

2010-07-26T18:58:00.000+01:00

I spend quite a lot of my online time reading the NY Times, over the years they've published some of my all-time favourite articles - they never hesitate to make me think a lot. One that recently sparked an interest was this article about shoppers on a diet.

"Imagine that horrible though all-too-familiar feeling: You are standing before a fully stuffed closet and yet have nothing to wear. Now, imagine something worse: Your closet contains only six items, and you are restricted to wearing only those six items for an entire month. Now, if you can bear it, imagine something unspeakable: No one notices."

The article tells the tale of Stella Brennan, a 31 year old insurance sales executive, who wore just six items of clothing for a month. This self-imposed exercise in frugality was prompted by an online challenge called Six Items or Less. The challenge was to go an entire month wearing only six items you already own - not counting shoes, underwear or accessories. Motives include a way to trim back on spending, an outright rejection of fashion, and a concern that the mass production and global transportation of increasingly cheap clothing are damaging the environment.

Aside from the challenge of mixing and matching the same six items for 30 days, what is really interesting about the outcome is that no one noticed. Not even Stella's husband - the man responsible for doing all the laundry in the house.

This has made me question my own life. Do I own too many clothes? Definitely. Could I survive on six items or less for a month? Probably, but I don't do washing often enough; I'd be out of clothes by the end of the week. I've suddenly realised how much stuff I own that I don't use. I have four bedrooms full of material artefacts, yet I managed to backpack round Australia for months with only a rucksack full of clothes. Do I need to go on a shopping diet? Almost definitely.

I also hate wearing the same thing more than once a week, incase anyone thinks I haven't washed it. This undoubtedly makes the "what shall I wear today?" dilemma every morning all the more difficult. But the fact that even Stella's own husband didn't notice has made me question if I'm worrying unnecessarily. I bet my boyfriend wouldn't notice (and he does most of my washing) so would anyone else? Would I notice if any of my friends recycled their outfit for many days in a row? I'm not all that sure that I would. I used to have a lecturer who wore the same outfit every time she taught us (including on a uni trip where she seemingly wore the same outfit for 3 days straight) but even then, how many weeks/months did it take us to notice?

Almost tempted to try the Six Items or Less challenge. Watch this space.

Update

2010-07-14T20:56:00.000+01:00

Oh by the way, I officially graduated a few weeks ago.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of project publicity, job offers, a wedding in Glasgow, a party in Aberdeen, my graduation ceremony, my graduation ball, etc etc. I had plans to chill out over the summer but the summer is rapidly disappearing. Some exciting events are taking place soon, don’t want to say anything until it’s all confirmed though! Watch this space.

Recent Events

2010-07-05T19:31:00.001+01:00

Last week I went to Super Freelancing - an event organised by the wonderful Super Mondays crew. You can even see my wee blonde head in the audience. Super Mondays is a creative and IT community in the North East of England who meet once a month and host a selection of speakers from across the industry. As I have recently branched out into the world of freelancing - to tide me over until I decide what I'm doing with my life - this month's even was of particular interest to me.

Paul Easton of Easton Media was first up, who gave us some hints and tips on using PR to our advantage. He urged us not to underestimate the power of good old fashioned newspapers and journalists, and some provoking questions from the audience resulted in us all learning what to avoid when offered a feature-and-ad combo.

Paul was followed by Laura Maddison of Altitude Recruitment who gave some insider information on presenting our CVs. Always valuable advice. Rob Lavendar followed her, giving a talk titled "The Freelancer's Toolkit". I found this very interesting as it laid out some of the key tools and programs which aid the life of a freelancer. He has kindly uploaded his keynote here, which I highly recommend you check out. Lee Simpson was last up with tips on how to generate a passive income. Very interesting but not really applicable to me, unfortunately.

The following Thursday, I attended the Design PhD Conference at Northumbria University. The keynote speaker was Mike Press, a lecturer of mine from Dundee University, so it was nice to catch up as well as hear his lecture.He showed and described a broad selection of work from Jewellers to Animators, each of whom had made international impacts in their subjects from human computer interaction to cleaning up the planet. This brought the audience to a conclusion that the way ahead for design is in Social Innovation. You can read more about the conference and the lectures at the link above.

The past week has definitely given me some food for thought.

New business cards

2010-06-09T13:59:00.001+01:00

Got my new business cards in the post today from the wonderful Moo. Really pleased with them :)

Wedding Photographs

2010-06-08T23:23:00.003+01:00

A few weeks ago I took my first foray into the world of wedding photography. The bride to be, Sarah, emailed me saying she'd been recommended by a friend of mine, Clare Doogan, and could I photograph her wedding. I was a bit nervous as capturing someone's big day is a pretty big deal - and I'd never photographed a wedding before - but today I got confirmation that she'd received the photos and was delighted with them. I am so pleased - I'm not sure if I'd ever have been able to forgive myself if I'd messed them up.

With kind permission from the bride and groom, here are some of my favourites from their big day.

I've had a pretty relaxing few weeks which is really nice - also have some exciting opportunities coming my way but can't say too much at the moment :)

Time of My Life

2010-06-03T02:59:00.000+01:00

This week has been so amazing and it's only Wednesday. Got my final degree results and literally couldn't have done any better, so really proud of myself. I'm starting to really look forward to Graduation and Grad Ball now! It's nice to be able to chill out and relax a bit after the stress of the last few months.

I've also had some more publicity this week on my Pillow Talk project - I was interviewed on BBC Radio on Tuesday talking about it, closely followed by a stint on Tay FM. I also somehow made it onto the front page of The Courier, which is pretty crazy. Really flattered and grateful for everything that is coming my way at the moment.

Degree Show

2010-05-24T22:40:00.000+01:00

My degree show opened on Friday night. Here is me in my infamous yellow dress at my exhibit. It seemed to go down pretty well, lots of people took my contact details and lots of people tried it out. It runs until this Sunday at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at Dundee University if any of you are local and fancy popping along.

The publicity just keeps on coming which is incredible really. My video on YouTube is close on 100,000 hits and on Saturday I was featured in the Arts section of The Herald. I have two job offers on the table and potential funding to develop my project so it's all systems go from here. End of an era but the start of what will hopefully be a new and exciting one.

Big Top Jamboree

2010-05-17T23:46:00.000+01:00

This evening I was sent to photograph for The Skinny magazine at "Big Top Jamboree" - a craft/art/handmade fair organised by Jen Collins, Nikki McWilliams and Lauren Gentry - three graduates from the art school at Dundee University.

I was lucky enough to be there just before everything kicked off at 7pm. There was some really beautiful stuff on show, I'm quite amazed at what people can hand make. It's also really inspiring to see creative people still having the time and motivation to actually create - I know a few graduates who left art school and now work in call centres and banks.

Here are a selection of photos, more are available on my Flickr.

Really, REALLY wish I'd bought that bracelet!

Quotes

2010-05-16T21:26:00.001+01:00

I watched The Notebook last night, what a heartbreaking film. I don't think anyone will love me as much as Noah loved Allie - does love like that even exist? I really, really love the quote it opened with:

"I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough."

Ironically, another of my all time favourite quotes comes from none other than Chuck Bass, in Gossip Girl.

"So the next time you forget that you're Blair Waldorf, remember that I am Chuck Bass, and I love you."

What are your favourite screen quotes?

Yellow Dress

2010-05-03T01:55:00.000+01:00

So, a few weeks ago I was in the Metro Centre in Newcastle and I saw this dress in French Connection. It was love at first sight. John said it was ridiculous and dragged me away to look at a computer game instead. For some absurd reason, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I looked it up on the website that night and when I saw the price, I felt a bit ill. But I still really, really wanted it.

A few days later, I dragged John to the FCUK store in the town centre... but they were sold out of yellow. Then, the day he went back to sea, after I dropped him off at the airport, I drove back to the Metro Centre, desperate to buy it. They only had a size 16 left.

I arrived back in Dundee a day or two later, still with no yellow dress. After pulling a long day at uni, I traipsed with little positivity to the Dundee store. Sold out.

Fortunately, I have an amazing dad who let me bought me it online. It should arrive in a few days. SO EXCITED.

Featured

2010-05-01T22:21:00.000+01:00

My degree project is featured on the front page of Fashioning Technology :)

Pillow Talk - My Degree Project

2010-04-30T20:52:00.003+01:00

Hello, blog. Yet another vast expanse of time has gone back in which I have not updated, sorry about that.

Things have been pretty hectic over the last couple of months. I'm rapidly, RAPIDLY heading towards the end of my degree. Where have the last four years gone? I have no idea. Fortunately, as our course is studio based, we don't have any exams this year - just an end of year project.

My project is about networking long distance couples. It hasn't actually come from the situation John and I are in - basically I managed to make a heart rate sensor with any visual/audio output I wanted, and needed something to apply it to. Eventually I figured out that if you didn't want to see/hear your own heartbeat, the only other one you would want to hear would be someone you love's - eg. your baby, child or lover. Children aren't really my forte, so I went with long distance lovers.

My project summed up in 100 words (one of my submissions):

"Pillow Talk is a project aiming to connect long distance lovers. Each person has a pillow for their bed and a chest sensor which they wear to sleep at night. The chest sensor wirelessly communicates with the other person’s pillow; when one person goes to bed, their lover’s pillow begins to glow softly to indicate their presence. Placing your head on the pillow allows you to hear the real-time heartbeat of your loved one.

The result is an intimate interaction between two lovers, regardless of the distance between them."

A Joke

2010-03-13T23:46:00.002Z

Comic Sans walks into a bar and the barman says "sorry, we don't serve your type here".

Hahaha, best thing I've heard for days.