The thing I find most frustrating as a graphic designer is when a client or colleague chooses the worst option presented to them or requests an amendment to a design that will make it worse, or just plain bad. Sometimes I just have to concede. Sometimes I just have to make do and follow through with the bad choice. But sometimes good design is really worth fighting for. What makes a really good piece of design worth fighting for is the benefit it provides that would not be achieved otherwise. Design that's worth fighting for is design that adds value, a lot of value, quantifiable value, compared to the alternative. And so, I see it as part of my job to, as far as is appropriate, help the client or colleague understand why one design is better than another - to help them have their perceptions changed. Often, I want to educate those I work with why I believe a certain design is better than another. I want them to end up on my side. I want them to change their mind - their per...

We say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Which means we define beauty by our preferences. Therefore, if we do not experience beauty in any given situation, we judge that there is no beauty there. We do this by saying things like, I don’t like this particular piece of music, therefore it is not good music. We tend to ignore the objective reality of beauty and promote the subjective reality of our own personal tastes, making it the overruling determiner of what is beautiful or not. But beauty is not subjective, beauty is objective. It exists whether we perceive it or not. It is our tastes that are subjective. Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, it is in the intentions of the author. And so, very often, in order to truly apprehend beauty, we need to reorient our perceptions and look beyond merely what we instinctively prefer, and in many instances, learn to appreciate something we might not be so naturally inclined towards. That's where the moral and the aesth...

I've seen every Simpsons episode there is. I've seen most of them more than twice! I just think it's wonderful. It's full of dry wit, droll humour, memorable characters, hilarious catchphrases, ridiculous storylines, and some of the best social commentary you're ever going to come across; including some rather poignant theological insights - some surprisingly agreeable. So, why not start a Simpsons theology theme on the blog? Well, here we go then! The Simpsons Season 24, 2013 Episode 18: Pulpit Friction This idea might seem odd at first. The Simpsons isn't known for its fondness of religion and regularly pokes fun at American Christianity as a confused body of illiberal, moralistic hypocrisy that only uses the Bible for the purposes of opposing things like evolution and planned parenthood. That doesn't mean that the writers don't get it right every so often and in one of my particular favourite episodes, I believe there is a really rathe...

At Easter, in church, we usually focus specifically on the Gospel accounts of Jesus death and resurrection. Makes sense. This is the time of year we have dedicated to special reflection on these particular events. But, partly to be a bit different, and partly because it's fresh in my mind, I thought I'd just share a recent reminder I've had, that the Gospel is everywhere in the Bible and that the significance of the cross of Jesus rings throughout even the Old Testament. And so I'd like to share an Easter message with part of the story of Ahab, King of Israel because I think it is hugely helpful for us today in responding to the cross of Christ. Ahab was a lousy king. Son of Omri, we learn in 1 Kings 16 that he did more evil than all the kings who had come before him and did more to provoke God than all the other kings who had gone before him. He married a devious foreign wife who tried to kill the prophet Elijah, he worshipped foreign gods and he was a miserabl...

Bone, a recently published collection of poetry by model, actress, Instagram superstar Yrsa Daley-Ward is one of the most devastating collections verse I've read. Featuring themes of broken relationships, mistakes, regret, neglect, and failure from those responsible for care, it is one of the most simply haunting depictions of a life lived looking for a hope that is as elusive as it is temporary when it does arrive. Yet there is tension it creates for the reader beyond having to confront the deep sorrow of another, which is that it is thoroughly enjoyable poetry. The beauty is as clear and bright and shining as the themes are moving. It almost doesn't make sense to be there because of the nature of the themes explored, yet it is. But that's the only reason it's accessible. Because there is beauty. The beauty of the form of the verses, the construction of the sentences, the dry humour, the wit, the intelligence and the bravery are all as evident morally as they ...

"If Christians have anything to offer this contentious age, it is truth, and we should not shy away from that truth." "It is only loving to hold to Biblical truth if that truth comes wrapped in love." These two sentences, heading up consecutive paragraphs in a chapter called "Challenging the Church" serve as a great summary of the ethos and intention of God and the Transgender Debate by Andrew Walker, a book that succeeds so admirably in what it set out to do. Up until a few years ago, to question gender would have been an absurdity. I don't think it would be a stretch to suggest that, a decade ago, even Phillip Schofield would have raised an eyebrow at the thought of someone believing themselves to be of the opposite gender (or something completely non-binary) to the one they were born with. But now, in 2018, we find ourselves, as a society, adrift in a new wave of ideologies that challenge so many of the basic cultural practices and assumpti...

I found this post whilst doing a bit of housekeeping in Google Drive. It's a bit old now I think, maybe three or four years, but it seemed like it was worth sharing. Enjoying life A couple of weeks ago Katie and I were out and about, foraging. A good couple of acres worth of free food exists along the cemetery path near our home and we collected enough blackberries to make two litres of blackberry gin and a dessert! I was wondering, though, why we were able to pick tasty, ripe, nutritious fruit from what was meant to be God's curse on the earth, a thorn bush. Surely a curse is void of positive, and should not be accompanied by signs of life and sustenance... Oh, wait, we're still alive! We find the account of God cursing humanity with toil, labour and thorns in the book of Genesis. But what's even more surprising than a fruit-bearing curse is found earlier in the plot. In Genesis chapter 3, God promises Adam and Eve that they will surely die if ...