Wednesday 3rd December 09:49

I've seen and used SVG files before, yet never really went into great depth as to what they were, until today. SVG is an acronym for Scalable Vector Graphic and have an XML (Extensible Markup Language) specification and file format for describing two-dimensional vector graphics. I hope you've followed so far...



The files are an open standard, meaning that they are publicly available and have licensing rights associated with them. They have been under development since 1999 by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the files can be searched, indexed, scripted and also compressed. The files use a fully presentational language, which means they can be edited with any text editor or with the wide range of specialist features that are available through SVG development environments. SVG allows three types of graphic objects that can be vector, raster or text-based. These graphic objects can be grouped, styled, transformed and composited into previously rendered objects.

Anyway, the reason why I'm drawing (pardon the pun) this particular file format to your attention is because with them being XML, they contain many repeated fragments of text, particularly suited to compression by most methods. Once these files have been compressed, they're usually referred to as .svgz files and the resulting file may be as small of 20% of its original size, which is just brilliant!
For more information about scalable vector graphics and the World Wide Web Consortium, please click on the SVG logo above.

Tuesday 2nd December 17:17

As mentioned on yesterday's blog, I've been working on a product brochure for one of my clients. I started the initial drawing just before the working week was out and continued drawing this on Friday night/Saturday morning. Having scoured the internet for a "fat bloke in a deck chair" and being completely unsuccessful, I asked Tanya to take a photograph of me in a "deck chair pose" and then fatten it up a bit.



All in all, the drawing has taken quite some time but I feel as if it really has been worth it, particularly as I'm sure the concept will bring a smile to their client's faces. I made the finishing touches to the drawing tonight; adding the headlines and photographs to the newspaper, drawing the palm tree and creating the seagull and crab for added authenticity.



Having completed the artwork, I decided to celebrate with my last bottle of real ale, and very pleasant it was too.
A sparkling golden ale called 'Williams Gold' brewed by Williams Bros Brewing Co based in Alloa, Scotland. It's a very refreshing ale and is brewed using a blend of seven different malts and has a distinct fruity aroma.
For more information, please click on the logo above.

Monday 1st December 15:29

At the moment, I'm working on a large project, designing a product brochure for one of my clients. It's all based around a summer theme, so I suggested doing a cartoon graphic of a typical British chap sat in a deck chair (more about that soon). Obviously the internet is the best resource for finding reference material for practically anything, so the hunt was on via Google Image Search to see what 'deck chair' threw up... one of the images was an incredibly clever graphic and although it was nothing like what I was looking for, I had to take a look at the website.



Deckchair Dreams began on a sunny spring day in 2005, when the founders looked out of the window and thought it would be a great idea to have striking designs on the seat fabric. Three years on, and they now have the help of sponsor Bloomberg and a handful of generous artists. The deckchairs eventually go on auction, raising vital funds for The Royal Parks Foundation and their special projects.
For more information about Deckchair Dreams, please click on the link above.



The Royal Parks Foundation, 'London's personal space', is a charity that encompasses London's eight Royal Parks, covering some 5,000 acres of historic parkland. With a team of dedicated plantsmen and staff within the parks, along with their very own nursery, means the parks can be enjoyed all year round. As well as being responsible for maintaining the eight parks; Bushy Park (with the Longford River), The Green Park, Greenwich Park, Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, The Regent's Park (and Primrose Hill), Richmond Park and St. James's Park, they also tend a number of other spaces in London, including Brompton Cemetery, Grosvenor Square Gardens and the gardens of 10, 11 and 12 Downing Street.
For more information, please click on the logo above.

Just so you can brush up on your deck chair facts, the actual design was patented in 1886 by John Moore, a Macclesfield businessman. The first discovery of a folding chair dates back to the Ancient Egyptians with one being discovered in a tomb.
The Titanic boasted some 600 deck chairs, with only six surviving the disaster, one of which was sold for £35,000 in an auction back in 2001.