Year: 2010

I was sitting on the sofa thinking what to do next and I had a tape measure near by. I played with it a bit and thought what a clever mechanism it is. Why has it remained the sole domain of measurement? I decided to try and think of a new use. Firstly I sprayed the whole thing white.

Then I decided that it could be a portable diary and that I could document through notes and sketches each day of this 30 day project.

I recalled what I did in the previous days so far and drew them in order. I will continue through the forthcoming days.

<< Project index

Continuing from Day 5’s lightbulb in bread dough experiment I decided to make some lampshades from bread. This time I used used bread flour with no yeast to keep the bread thin, hoping this would increase translucency. First I rolled some bread dough over a metal semi sphere.

After it came out of the oven and I tested it against a lightbulb I decided that it was a little too thick to let enough light through so I decided to drill holes through it.

I then rolled out a large circular shape of dough and draped it over a large glass and put it in the oven.

I dry the bread out until it is hard. I will probably need to seal the bread with varnish to keep it from going mouldy. I think I need to spend more time perfecting the process but it would be great to fill a big room with bread lights.

This is part of a 30 day Speed Creating project I am doing. Final outcomes will be exhibited at the Anti – Design Festival 18th-22nd September, Mestakes and Manifestos, 28 Redchurch St, London. You can follow my progress on Twitter and Facebook, Click here to view all the days so far in a row.

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Today I travelled up to Edinburgh for my exhibition at Analogue Books (preview 7-9 pm, 3rd sept). I knew I would be on a train most of the day so took some photos of my local London Fields park and made a paper pop up for the food tray. Hopefully when the next passenger pulls down the tray they will get a pleasant surprise. For more info on this 30 day Speed Creating project go here.

You can follow my progress each day on Twitter and Facebook, Click here to view all the days so far in a row.

<< Project index

Day one of this Speed Creating project and I found some polystyrene balls in a craft shop. I liked the different sizes and decided that I could maybe do something interesting with them.

I wanted to join them together to create a bubbly object. After trying different glue I realised that they just don’t work or melt the balls or take too long to set so I decided to use needles as a way to connect them by pushing half a needle into one ball and the other half in another.

I started joining balls but realised it wasn’t easy as in order to create strength in the ball structure each ball needed to connect to two or three others. The needles were difficult to push into more than one other ball at the same time. Eventually I got somewhere and created a mass of bubbly balls. Could develop in many directions, I like the look of it but needs a stronger method of connecting….

<< Project index

update: See the finished project index here

I have been invited by curator Daniel Charny to take part in the Anti Design Festival‘s Mistakes and Manifestos events. I am starting a new project called ‘Speed Creating’ where I attempt to do something creative each day for 30 days (gulp). Large or small, quick or time consuming I have no idea where it will take me. The project is from today the 1st of September until the 30th. So keep checking back each day, I will probably update late at night every day. Objects created during this project will be shown during the London design Festival, Mestakes and Manifestos, 18-21st September as part of the Anti – Design Festival at the Londonewcastle project space, 28 Redchurch st. Here is the official description…

Speed Creating
“Each day for 30 days I will make a new object, installation or creative intervention while going about my daily life. At home, in the studio, on the train or wherever my day takes me, I will attempt to make something that interests me creatively and then quickly document it on the M&M website (and here) via photographs, drawings or video. Each day I will receive a small budget of £10 for materials.
I believe that this self-imposed project with it’s constraints on time and money will force me to take an instinctive and experimental approach. The fear of failure and the usual time spent thinking through the potential pitfalls of a project will not be an option and I will need to react swiftly to my thoughts, observations and experimental outcomes discovered along the way. I am not focused solely on the final objects or images but on the creative journey I take. Complete failures are expected and embraced.”

I will document each day on this site but more pictures and details will be on the soon to be launched http://www.mestakesandmanifestos.com/

UPDATE: The project is finished and you can see the index of all the days here << here
Thanks to the excellent Sarah Roberts who kept me sane and organised enough to get through the project.

I have an exhibition of my drawings and some objects at Analogue Books, 102 West Bow, Edinburgh, EH1 2HH between the 4th of September and 2nd of October. There is a preview on Friday 3rd Sept, 7-9pm all welcome.

Well it’s been a year since I started this website and it has been fun. I really enjoy reading the comments people add and their ideas to improve on my inventions. When I started out I didn’t know where it would take me or whether anyone was interested. There is a belief among some people that you should share your ideas and not be too protective of them and in return you will get something bigger back. It’s a nice thought but it’s not an easy one to make in this competitive world. One good thing that has come from doing this site is that I am always getting contacted by amazing people in all areas of creativity (music, film, publishing, art, design) asking if I want to do something for, or with them. Hopefully I will show you some of this exciting stuff in the future. If you have any suggestions on what type of things you like to see on this site let me know. Thank you for your visits and I hope I can keep you entertained in the future.

Most clicked on posts out of 66:
1: Two way toothpaste
2: iPad simplification
3: Doorbell with inbuilt visitor statistics
4: Genetically Modified Egg Improvement Design
5: Welcome mat carpet
6: Work hard, play hardly
7: Hill walking easyfication
8: I’m forever sculpting bubbles
9: Sorry what was your name again?
10: I like, love, loved you

I am terrible at remembering names, this is down to mental lazyness and there is no excuse. However sometimes technology makes up for our shortcomings which is why I came up with this GPS name awareness unit.

Buy a print here

Many people in the world seem to be at war with each other. We see families split through disagreements, gang warfare on the streets, politicians arguing, whole civilisations and religions constantly battling. This device aims to help those who are at odds with each other make a first move toward reconciliation.

The Pre-Handshake Handshake Device is currently on display at the Uncomfortable Conversations exhibition in New York please visit and use if you need to make up with someone. To buy the device for your home, office or embassy please email me. For more info and pictures please visit my main site here.