Journal

@media 2006 is just around the corner

@media 2006 logoI’m getting pretty excited abut @media which kicks off in a couple of days.

Over the past few months I’ve been working with the guys at Vivabit to produce the printed material for the conference. It’s been great to get my teeth stuck into some print again, but I’ve forgotten how stressful print deadlines can be. I think printers are like builders, and to be perfectly honest I’ve no idea how some of them remain in business. But if you find a good one, it’s a totally different story.

There were problems with finishers (not being booked in to do the stitching), to name badges having to be printed again (bloody printer cropped them landscape instead of portrait), but we got there in the end, the client’s happy and I’m looking forward to seeing them in situ.

That brings me neatly onto the conference itself. It looks a belter this year. Not only the panels, but I’m in the position of knowing a lot more people so the social side of it will be more enjoyable. On another positive note, I’ll also be enjoying @media 2006 illness free. Last year—about two weeks after @media—I was in hospital, I’d lost a stone in weight and was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. At SXSW, I had a flare up (probably due to the stress of preparing for a panel!). However, currently (touch wood), I’m symptom free and feeling good. I’m just so looking forward to meeting up with friends and making new ones.

So, if you see me, say hi.

Comments

Ooh, I know what you mean about some printers. A few years ago I had to have a load of glossy colour books printed up for use at a university - about 8,000 of them - and, due to delays every year, we made sure this time that we were ahead of the game and supplied the files to the printer three months before we actually needed them. Then, silence. We found out a week before we needed them that the printer had sub-contracted the job out to Exeter (on the other side of the country) and we got them done only hours before our deadline. Lovely stuff.

paul haine's Gravatar

paul haine
Tue 13th Jun 2006
at 5:09 pm

Does that mean we can get our name badges signed by you, then - a Mark Boulton original? ;)

Matthew Pennell's Gravatar

Matthew Pennell
Tue 13th Jun 2006
at 7:53 pm

Sure, I?ll say hi if i see you. :)

Jens Wedin's Gravatar

Jens Wedin
Wed 14th Jun 2006
at 8:45 am

We get name badges this time - things just keep getting better and better.

@media2006 is going to rock!

Ross Bruniges's Gravatar

Ross Bruniges
Wed 14th Jun 2006
at 9:57 am

Might well see you there, not that I have a clue what you look like ;-)

IIRC Scott Speed (of F1 fame) suffered from Ulcerative Colitis too. Fascinating fact for you there…

Olly's Gravatar

Olly
Wed 14th Jun 2006
at 3:10 pm

I didn’t know that Olly. It’s good to hear about people in the public eye with it.

I’ve just been reading about it and it looks like Speed was pretty sick from it. Luckily I’ve got a great couple of consultants and enjoying a brief period symptom free (kind of). Sir Steve Redgrave also has UC. It’s actually more common than you think - 1 in 400 people I think (UK).

Mark Boulton's Gravatar

Mark Boulton
Wed 14th Jun 2006
at 3:28 pm

Back to the print days.. give me dig any day..

Gabs's Gravatar

Gabs
Tue 20th Jun 2006
at 4:46 pm

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A picture of Mark BoultonI'm a graphic designer from near Cardiff in the UK. I've been a designer for over ten years now and primarily work on the web. I'm still partial to a bit of print every now and then though. I used to work for Agency.com in London as an Art Director before working as a Senior Designer for the BBC in sunny Cardiff. This was all before I took leave of my senses and formed my own design consultancy, Mark Boulton Design Ltd.

I've got a thing about grids and typography and occasionally ramble on about them to anyone who will listen.

If you're after simple, clean and effective web design; let me know.