SNOW HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Well it was snow stopped play this week for us here at Design Farm so we thought we'd put our shovels to good use and make something useful out of all this lovely white stuff we got over the weekend. So, a coffee table and twelve stools was born out of the snow in the garden opposite the studio and it was great fun to do but took a few hours and two cups of tea! We are going to have some sandwiches on it on Christmas Eve if the weather is nice!

We also went walkabout in Levisham this week and took some nice snaps of the lovely snow-laden village and surroundings which was rather cold but enjoyable, have a look at the pics below, especially the huge icicles, amazing!

NEW ADVENTURE FOR DESIGN FARM!

During the last six months Cheryl-ann and I have been working extremely hard alongside an author called Ian Bowie, artist Tim Bulmer and his wife Sarah to set up an independent publishing company where we can write, illustrate, design and publish our own range of high quality humorously illustrated books with the tongue-in-cheek tag line of "Entertaining reading for an inspirational lavatorial experience". Ian first approached Tim in April and the concept moved on very quickly from there and when they invited us at Design Farm to come on board we jumped at the chance to work on something so exciting. So, after a lot of planning and hard work, Bog Books Ltd was set up to bring the idea to life. Bog Books are basically for anyone with a good and broad sense of humour. They make excellent ‘stocking filler’ gifts or a souvenir gift as well as a great present to oneself!

The very first Bog Book is called “Yorkshire Pudding ‘n’ All That Tripe” and it is an affectionate tribute to all the friendly folk of Yorkshire and their illustrious county. The book contains a special edition fold-out Bog Books ‘Map of Yorkshire’ which can also be bought as a beautiful ‘giclée’ watercolour print, in fact all the full page illustrations are available as prints via our website.

We are launching Bog Books in a number of places in Yorkshire over the next few months including Pickering, Whitby and York. The weekend of 16th, 17th & 18th October sees the Bog Books hometown of Pickering turned into 1943 Wartime Britain. The annual Wartime Weekend has coincided with the launch of "Yorkshire Pudding 'n' All That Tripe" and our good friends at The Ginger Pig have kindly allowed Bog Books to use their currently empty shop space in the middle of Pickering's Market Place to call our own for the weekend. There will be 'Ration Book' flyers being handed out all around town giving you £1.00 off the RRP of £8.95 of the book and FREE entry into a prize draw for a specially signed copy of the Bog Books Map of Yorkshire. So come along to Bog Books at The Ginger Pig to see all we have to offer and pick up a nifty present to remind yourself of Yorkshire!

Bog Books Ltd are also proud to be affiliated with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Charity and are doing their bit to keep this amazing group of people going. YAA save lives all over Yorkshire, and sometimes beyond, and their tireless effort should not go unnoticed. Bog Books Ltd donate money from the profits of every single copy of the "Yorkshire Pudding 'n' All That Tripe" book to the charity and also donate profits from every "Bog Books Map of Yorkshire" and every giclée print from the book!

You can purchase the book and any of the prints via our website so have a look to find out a bit more about us www.bogbooksltd.co.uk

You can also keep up to date with what’s going on at Bog Books HQ by visiting our blog at www.bogbooksbogblog.blogspot.com

So go and check us out when you have a minute or two!

THE FIRST DESIGN FARM BABY - LENNON HAS HATCHED!

Baby Lennon has hatched!

On Tuesday 22nd September 2009 at 10.48am Cheryl-ann did a bloody marvelous job giving birth to our first child, a little boy called Lennon Taylor Davies who weighed in at 7lb 12oz. Mother and baby are both doing really well and we are all settling into Levisham life comfortably! He’s as cute as can be and will hopefully take the best bits from both of us! Lennon will have Cheryl-ann’s surname as his middle name and my surname as his surname.

Lennon was due on Friday 25th September but decided he was cooked enough and so with a dash to Malton Hospital at 4am he made an early appearance by water birth which was absolutely fantastic. We are extremely proud parents and are enjoying every second of these precious moments.

Gary, Cheryl-ann and Lennon

YOUR HOME MAGAZINE ARTICLE

The September 2009 issue of Your Home magazine features an article on Cheryl-ann and myself and our home.

Back in November we did a photo shoot and interview at our home for Your Home magazine which. We had a fantastic couple of days full of laughs, cake and plenty of coffee! It also got us out of the studio for a change which was nice too.

We had such fun dressing the cottage for the shoot. We are both eternally grateful for the amazing jobs the photographer and journalist did in capturing the true essence of our home in the article. Our dog Freckle was a hit and quite rightly so a she is such a lovely little dog. She turned out to be such a poser! She loved having her photo taken and was trying to muscle her way into every shot...this one below is so cute...think 'His Master's Voice'.

The opportunity for the article came about through Cheryl-ann's Knitwear exhibtion 'Dress' which she undertook at The Ryedale Folk Museum From August to October in 2008. We met the journalist when he came to The Studio to write and article about Cheryl-ann for Yorkshire Life Magazine.

You can buy the magazine in most good newsagents and it costs £1.99

Click on the page images to view in a readable size.

VOCATION, VOCATION, VOCATION

It's all go here today! Just in case you didn't see it first time around back In November 2007, a repeat of the documentary we took part in was shown on Channel 4 this morning. You can watch Vocation, Vocation, Vocation online at http://www.channel4.com/programmes/vocation-vocation-vocation/catch-up#2920683
for the next 29 days (Tues 14th July)

It was good fun to do and great helping out a young lad called Liam who needed a bit of direction.

EWE PUT THE 'FARM' IN DESIGN FARM!

"QUICK EWE LOT, I'VE FOUND A WAY IN!"

"WILL EWE PUSH ME ON THE SWINGS?"

"WHAT ARE EWE LOT UP TO?"

What a way to start the week! A local farmer has been putting his sheep into one of the fields belonging to Cheryl-ann parents recently. They are cute little things and seemingly full of mischief! I was beavering away in the studio this morning and heard a really loud sheep say 'Baaaaaa!' and I thought 'wow, that sounds close'. I looked out of the studio door and there were about 15 sheep playing in the garden! I grabbed my camera and thought i'd quietly take a few snaps of them before i rounded them up and put them back into the field. They had planned The Great Escape Steve McQueen style and scaled the fence then proceeded to eat trees and plants in the garden...hilarious! They must have been tastier than the grass they usually eat so I felt a bit mean spoiling thier fun!

So they did a massive 'Ewe' turn as I chased them back into the field where they belonged, maybe they bit off more than they could chew! Just goes to show, if Ewe want something that bad, Ewe can get it! (Sorry!)

OUR 4TH BIRTHDAY! SPRING CHICKENS CAN BE 4 YEARS OLD TOO!

Here at Design Farm we are celebrating our 4^th Birthday today! Wow! Where has the time gone?

We feel so privileged to be able to still be doing what we love and enjoy 4 years down the line. We really couldn’t have done it without the support and trust of our loyal client base. We have learnt so much during the past 4 years and we are so pleased to be growing bigger and stronger every year and always looking for ways to improve our knowledge, skills and services.

We have had a fantastic time working on so many projects of all shapes and sizes and with people from all walks of life and this is what makes what we do so exciting.

A few personal highlights for us are:

July 2005 - Formica Design a Laminate 2005 Shortlist

We had two of our graphic designs short listed and published in the Formica Design a Laminate Book 2005. One of the designs 'Roses' was put into the final 25 in the 'Organic Category'.

January 2006 - Sky One's Project Catwalk

Cheryl-ann spent time in January working on 3 knitted garments for our good friend and Fashion Designer Debi Walker - www.dewk.co.uk who appeared on Sky One’s ‘Project Catwalk’. Debi’s designs were displayed and scrutinised by the judges Ben De Lisi, Julian MacDonald, Lorraine Candy and Liz Hurley at London Fashion week on 13^th February 2006.

May 2007 - The Gallery at Ryedale Folk Museum Furniture Installation – ‘Old at Heart

Design Farm wanted to create a functional yet aesthetically pleasing group of furniture pieces that would compliment the interior of the Ryedale Folk Museum Gallery and the Museum itself. The concept of ‘Old at Heart’ came about through in the initial brainstorming session. We wanted to combine the immense sense of history the Museum has with the contemporary feel the new Gallery achieves by using the ‘Old’ materials running through the ‘Heart’ of the new materials. We knew that the pieces would need to be used collectively and individually so were very careful with the design to allow this multi-functional usage.

We believe that ‘Old at Heart’ conveys the past, present and future of the Ryedale Folk Museum through the use of old and new materials. The concept is a reference to the contents and the history of the Museum (the ‘Old’) and the present Staff and Volunteers (the Heart) that support its continuity into the future.

The Plinth

This piece can be used as a plain, simple plinth to accommodate works of art in an exhibition scenario and also as a display area for a touch screen computer and monitor. The oak ‘Spine’ literally runs through the heart of the plinth giving it a connection to the other pieces. The angled shape of the plinth at the bottom is to allow easy and neat storage of the other pieces.

The resemblance to a standard plinth is deliberate as we feel this piece, even though it has a distinct oak feature, would not look out of place when being used in an exhibition to display work. The plinth has a shelf area on the front, showing the oak spine, which can be used for placing leaflets and flyers. The plinth has a lockable door on the back which allows the computer and touch screen monitor to be stored when not in use.

The Stools

The sides of the oak topped stools have waney edges giving the oak a natural feel to it. The fronts and backs are cut into straight segments across the width of the oak spine. The stools all have identical steel frame legs which are angled at the bottom to gives the user a guide to alignment when tidying the stools away.

The stools were designed so that they can be used individually or bolted together as benches. Gallery visitors can sit and view/interact with the touch screen monitor on top of the plinth or just simply take in their surroundings. The stools can also be used independently of the plinth and placed around the gallery or the Museum foyer.

November 2007 - Channel 4 Documentary 'Vocation, Vocation, Vocation'
The 10 part series was based around the decisions that young people have to make when they leave school and how they will affect them for the rest of their lives. Vocation, Vocation, Vocation tackled the problem head-on and followed ten individual teenagers as they seek to find their true vocation in life.

Liam Meeson, a budding young entrepreneur from Leeds who has ambitions of becoming his own boss, was sent to Design Farm to experience a day in the life of a creative design company, as well as seeing first hand the pressures and day to day obstacles faced with when running a business. Design Farm set a project called ‘Useless to Useful’ which challenged Liam to make a useful piece of furniture out of a load of old, useless materials to test his design skills and ability to think on his feet.

We were asked to produce a mini project for Liam allowing him to experience the creative design process. Our role was to act as mentors throughout the day, allowing him to take control of the project and make his own decisions. As we offer a range of design services at Design Farm, from bespoke contemporary furniture commissions and fashion design to web site and graphic design, we feel that our diverse skills were put to great use guiding Liam through a ‘day in the life’ of our design studio. It was a very exciting and enjoyable day for us all.

August 2008 - Cheryl-ann's 'Dress' Exhibition at The Gallery at Ryedale Folk Museum
During the residency Cheryl-ann, under her Fashion Label Knitwit Design, relocated her her industrial knitting and sewing machines to the Gallery where she created a collection of silk knitted dresses. She created seven garments using elegant dress silhouettes and concentrating on developing a section of each; neckline, cuff, waist, fastening, corsage, bodice and sleeve. The dresses were of vintage proportion and each had a different silhouette, and although they were complete dresses only the front of the garments were adorned, reflecting the conventions of the sample industry. In highlighting the individual components of the dress she explored the conventions of dressmaking and emphasised the importance of structure in her own garments.

"Movement in is so important to me, therefore creating garments which flow and hang exquisitely is key to expressing my vision of what the garment should be. Creating innovative silhouettes using knitwear to enhance the female form is where my passion lies. By weaving together beautiful yarn, strong use of colour and the flair to mix charming prints, delightful embroidery and exquisite knit stitches enables me to thrive as a knitwear designer.

My current work explores the concept of ‘vintage proportion’, and my main focus is to create garments which are beautiful but only fit the forms of old, where possessing an hour glass figure was so important. The scale of the dresses will be of vintage proportion, the dresses will be whole but only the front of the garment will be dressed or adorned – This reflects what I do with my samples as I only make the fronts."

May 2009 - Our Period House Cover Story
Our home features on the front cover of the May 2009 edition of Period House Magazine features our country cottage home. Pages 62-69 feature the article about us, view a PDF version here.

Back in November we did a photo shoot and interview at our home for Period House Magazine which was a fantastic couple of days full of laughs, cake and plenty of coffee! It also got us out of the studio for a change which was nice too.

The opportunity for the article came about through Cheryl-ann's Knitwear exhibtion 'Dress' which she undertook at The Ryedale Folk Museum From August to October 2008. We met the journalist when he came to The Studio to write and article about Cheryl-ann for Yorkshire Life Magazine.

It was good in a way that the magazine came out on the 2nd of April because we think if someone had said we were on the front cover of Period House Magazine the day before (April Fools Day) we may not have believed them!

Click on the images below to view in a larger format.

Who knows what the next year of Design Farm will bring but we assure you, recession or no recession, we will be challenging ourselves to achieve your goals to the highest standard and pushing for perfection every time.

BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY!

Bank Holiday Monday. A day for rest, relaxation and refeulling your energy resources for the upcoming summer. Its is a chance to sit back and think of how far you've come so far this year and also where you are going in the remainder of it.

Toftly View have been doing just that, but not just over a bank holiday weekend but since they became one of our first customers in 2005. Their website has undergone radical changes since it's conception four years ago and today we get to launch the newest version to coincide with a recent interior refresh at The Old Vicarage.

Barbara and Neville Hobbs welcome you to Toftly View with the warmest of welcomes and proceed to spoil you rotten with wonderful homemade cakes and luxury products in your room. They really have created an exquisite home from home for you to relax in.

For more information about Luxury Bed and Breakfast accommodation in Newton upon Rawcliffe, near Pickering please visit www.toftlyview.co.uk

DIDN'T THEY DO WELL! NOELLE'S COTTAGES WIN GOLD!

We are proud to say that on 23rd April in York at the Railway Museum our clients Tim & Noelle Thornton of Noelle's Cottages won Gold!

'2009 Self-catering Holiday of the Year Enjoyengland Award for Excellence'.


Well done to Noelle and Tim (and everyone else who has been involved over the years) for all their hard work in turning the Applestore, The Barn and The Coach House into stunning Self Catering Accommodation.

After winning the Yorkshire Tourist Board White Rose Award for Self Catering Holiday of the year 2008 at the back end of last year this came as no real surprise to us as we know first hand how much effort they put into making their guests so welcome.

Since we started working with Noelle and Tim in 2006 we have had a fantastic time helping them acheive their vision of Luxury Self Catering Accomodation online and in print. Our close working relationship has ensured the enormous effort they put into making Noelle's Cottages so beautiful and inviting is represented to it's fullest in their website and brochures.

For more information about Noelles Cottages please visit - www.noellescottages.co.uk and to see Tim's ever increaing collection of fabulous photographs visit their Flickr page - www.flickr.com/photos/noellescottages

HOT OFF THE PRESS! OUR MAY 2009 PERIOD HOUSE MAGAZINE COVER STORY

Hot off the press indeed! The front cover of the May 2009 edition of Period House Magazine features our country cottage home. Pages 62-69 feature the article about us, view a PDF version here.

Back in November we did a photo shoot and interview at our home for Period House Magazine which was a fantastic couple of days full of laughs, cake and plenty of coffee! It also got us out of the studio for a change which was nice too.

We had such fun dressing the cottage for the shoot. We are both eternally grateful for the amazing jobs the photographer and journalist did in capturing the true essence of our home in the article. Our dog Freckle was a hit and quite rightly so a she is such a lovely little dog. She turned out to be such a poser! She loved having her photo taken and was trying to muscle her way into every shot...this one below is so cute...think 'His Master's Voice'.

So after a few months of anticipation and excitment about seeing the article in the magazine we were absolutely blown away with it, and to be featured on the front cover with our relatively modest country cottage was a privelage, Period House, you did a great job with the article!

We wanted to use the article in Period House to cross promote other local business and friends of ours who have all played a part in making our home so lovely that someone would want to come and photograph it. A lot of the quirky little ceramic items and cushions we have bought from Anne Reed at Made & Found in Pickering, a lovely little shop above her newsagents in the Marketplace. All of the flowers throughout the cottage were lovingly made by Linda Jones at The Scented Garden in Scarborough.

The opportunity for the article came about through Cheryl-ann's Knitwear exhibtion 'Dress' which she undertook at The Ryedale Folk Museum From August to October 2008. We met the journalist when he came to The Studio to write and article about Cheryl-ann for Yorkshire Life Magazine.

It was good in a way that the magazine came out on the 2nd of April because we think if someone had said we were on the front cover of Period House Magazine the day before (April Fools Day) we may not have believed them!

You can buy the magazine in most good newsagents and it costs £3.50

Click on the images below to view in a larger format.

EXHAUSTING TIMES? NOT IF YOU PLAN AHEAD

I've been meaning to blog for the past week or two but kept getting sidelined by various things, some fairly trivial and others very, very important (more on the very, very important will appear in our blog very soon) but one thing's for sure, the snow has gone...for now!

Something happened the other day which set my mind off thinking about how we run our businesses and make decisions on how to progress with them.

Before Christmas we were thinking of buying a new car, when I say new I mean newer than the one we currently have. Our car, the little treasure that she's been, had started to cost us more and more money and we felt like we were throwing good, hard earned money down the drain. After lots of deliberation, and test driving (the fun part) we decided that we weren't going to buy a new car just yet and that we would get another 6 months out of the one we have as it had just been MOT'd and taxed...makes sense right? Well, not quite...

Yesterday, after 2 months the exhaust fell off on our way to a meeting, not only making us late but costing us another round of money and no doubt will cost us a bit more over the next few months as you can sense that something else will no doubt go wrong with it! So, thoughts again turn to buying a new car but it is a big thing to find and spend money on something like this so we want to be sure that it will be worth it.

The reason that this random story got me thinking about our businesses was that it is very easy to 'carry on regardless' and 'make do for now' which can lead to all sorts of unseen problems. The new car analogy works particularly well in this instance as we no longer feel safe in the car we have and confident that it is going to help us get from A to B without breaking down on the way!

We all want to be successful in business and want to be the best, it's natural, but we don't always think logically about how we are going to get there in one piece safely. Would an investment in a new car a few months ago have saved us from the exhaust falling off or something similar...maybe? But it sure would have been a wise step in terms of our safety. Yes, it may have cost us a considerable amount of money in the first instance but it would have been a step we would have had to take some time.

Sure, everything breaks down and needs reapirs at some point whether it's a car, a lawnmower or a website but planning ahead and setting yourself up correctly to deal with the previously unforseen can give you a head start and not leave you stranded by the roadside waiting for the AA.

So my point is this, do as much as you can to prepare your business for the future and you will always be one step ahead of the game. It's simple but not always executed, even by us at times, but as long as you can accept that you need to plan and prepare you will be onto a winner.

To talk about the possibilities of how you can bolster your business against the 'Doom and Gloom' merchants of recent times please give us a call at The Studio on 01751 460 161 or email thestudio@design-farm.co.uk we will be more than happy to talk through what Design Farm can do for your business.

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

Waking up to a white-over front garden feels the same now as it did when I was a kid! The first thought that goes through my head is...'YES! No School!'...then I realise that I left school 11 years ago! So the next thought is...'YES!...No work!'...then I realise that my studio is only 20 metres away from my house! So my final thought is...'Better get the log burner going or it'll be a cold day at the office!'

Most people would jump at the chance to hide away on a cold winters day like this if they had the choice but we seem to be compelled to carry on as normal and make the most of what could have been a wasted day. Don't get me wrong, I will throw a snowball or two later but that thought will only spur me on to tackle the tasks in hand for the day then relax later on. When things are tough, and for a lot of people they are tough at the moment, you still need to keep your focus and battle on becasue if you don't then someone else will. So i suppose my thought for the day is ' No matter how cold, crappy and bleak you may think things are, if you loose sight of what your goals are then you'll definately get shut out in the snow!' (excuse the analogy...but it is snowing!)

Now I must tend to the log burner or my fingers will surely drop off!

CONFIDENCE IS KEY!

Barack Obama's election as the new President of the USA was a truly inspiring moment for billions of people all around the world. It was a moment that spoke out to people who have doubts about how successful they can be in their life by saying 'if you beleive enough in yourself and what you stand for then it can be acheived'. Yeah I know that he didn't just do it overnight or that that it was by any means an easy task but he believed in himself and his message so much that he made it happen becasue he had the belief that he could make a difference. You can take from this what you want but it is no doubt a great lesson to everyone that there is hope no matter what you do in life. Whether you're trying to be the next Prime Minister, make your first million or simply make your worklife easier to manage, self confidence is key.

So take great encouragement from 'Barry' Obama's rise to the top and use it in your life, business or whatever to keep on going and believing in yourself or your business. Confidence is key to being successful!

NOW IS THE TIME!

With all the gloomy forecasts given by the media for business in 2009 there are a lot of people out there not feeling too confident about how things are going to play out. Probably the best thing to do to overcome this fear factor is to start planning and actioning your vision for 2009 now.

What do you want to acheive this year with your business? What opportunities are there for growth? How could you position yourself to appeal to a wider audience? Just a few questions that you should be asking yourslef at the moment if you haven't already. You need to define your goals and set about acheiving them straight away. There's no sense in waiting to see if the fog lifts, you need to get yourself to the top by taking on the task of making your business successful rather than leaving it in the hands of the scaremongers.

When you do start to look at things with a more positive eye then you find that the ideas and confidence in your wares grows enormously. Speaking from experience, confidence in yourself, your business and what you provide for people is the starting block for any business. Being designers we are challenged every day with putting your thoughts and ideas about your business into a visual format that will show the viewing public what you offer is better than the next business. We have to keep ourselves motivated and fresh constantly which can be very difficult at times if everyone around you is predicting doom. The only way to get over this is to remove yourself from it and be confident in yourself and the ideas will come.

We at Design Farm are always available to meet up and discuss options for development of your visual communications on any level. We love a good cup of tea and a natter so give us a call and we can help kickstart the shift in confidence that you need. We'll bring some nice biscuits with us!

2009 HERE WE COME!

Happy New Year! After a fantastic Christmas break we are back in the studio preparing to bring you an even better service than ever before! We have been hard at work over the past few weeks refining the services and way we operate here at Design Farm.

Over the coming months we will post regular articles and link to various stories online that will help, benefit, alarm, shock, motivate and inspire you to achieve your goals in business for 2009. We’ll be there alongside you to make the most of the opportunities that come your way.

2008 ended with the ‘Doom and Gloom’ merchants telling us that the economy has gone to pot and there’s nobody out there spending money anymore. We’ll that’s not exactly true is it? I saw plenty of people spending their hard earned cash on the high street during Christmas Week without a second thought! I also saw plenty of people making the most of the massive Sales after Christmas too - in the shops and online! We were two of the many millions who logged onto the internet on Christmas Day just to see what was on offer during the sales.

Granted, a lot of people have been hit by this mess created by those in the big chairs but not everyone has. There are still millions of people in work with millions of pounds and they want to spend it. All we need to do is work together and show them that you are the people they should be spending it with. The soul purpose of Design Farm is to show your customers, potential and existing, that you can provide them with the very best product/service. We aim to show you the best and most effective ways to do this to suit your business.

We acknowledge that there has been a major shift in the way things are being perceived in all areas of business at the moment so our aim is to bring you as much help and guidance as we can to keep your business thriving online. We want to give you a greater advantage over your competitors in this supposed ‘Economic Crisis’ and help grow your business to its full potential.

For more information on all Design and Marketing Services at Design Farm then please contact us at the Design Farm studio on 01751 460 161.