Design Different Blog

Last Blog Entry

2012-01-30T15:03:00.001Z

I've discontinued the Design Different blog, though Design Different is still going strong.

But I'm continuing to write a blog - this time about plants at http://www.jeremybartlett.co.uk/, my "Let It Grow" blog. Why not take a look?

The Urbal Fix - Transforming Cities

2011-08-20T15:35:00.003+01:00

This is inspiring stuff - "The injection of countryside, or more specifically; green productivity, deep into the heart of our cities."

See http://www.turnstone.tv/theurbalfix.html.

Website of the Month - Campaign for Better Transport

2011-08-18T09:53:00.001+01:00

I don't drive, so I travel on foot, by bike and by public transport. I do this largely for environmental reasons, plus the fact that I don't like driving.

Public transport should be cheap and easy to use, to encourage people to make fewer car journeys. But bus services are being cut and train fares are rising steeply, in spite of the Government's claims to be "the greenest Government ever".

So this month's website is the Campaign for Better Transport - an organisation that is doing something about this.

Self-employment: how to set up your company website

2011-07-24T12:30:00.000+01:00

There is an excellent article on setting up a website for a small business on The Guardian's website - see http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/jul/22/self-employment-set-up-website. I can thoroughly recommend it to anyone thinking of having a website for their business.

Website of the Month - Landshare

2011-06-14T20:40:00.002+01:00

June's website of the month is www.landshare.net.

Landshare links people wanting to grow their own produce with people who have spare land. It was launched in 2009 on one of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's "River Cottage" programmes and now has almost 62,000 members.

I'm lucky enough to have a back garden and two allotments, plus a community garden, to grow in but not everyone is as fortunate - and this is where Landshare comes in.

Website of the Month - Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society

2011-05-26T10:16:00.000+01:00

Bombus hypnorum on Salvia 'Mainacht'

The Grapes Hill Community Garden is now planted up and actually looks like a garden. One of the highlights at the moment is Salvia 'Mainacht', a beautiful ornamental sage with violet-purple flower spikes. This is proving to be a great hit with bumblebees. On Tuesday we identified three species, including the beautiful Bombus hypnorum (Tree Bumblebee), which only arrived in the UK ten years ago, and is spreading north.

A Google search quickly found the Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society (BWARS) website and I submitted a record.

The BWARS website is website of the month as it has some very helpful factsheets and information on bees (and wasps and ants). With habitat loss these beautiful and fascinating insects need all the help we can give them.

Facebook

2011-04-23T14:22:00.001+01:00

I must admit I was a Facebook sceptic for a long time. And I still don't see the need to post lots of trivia on a regular basis.

However, I think Facebook provides a useful way of following particular actions, activities and groups. Here are a couple I've set up:
Grapes Hill Community Garden on Facebook
West Norwich Art Trail on Facebook.

Reluctantly, I think Facebook may even be April's website of the month...

It Cuts Both Ways...The Alternatives

2011-03-25T17:20:00.002Z

Excellent, positive video which shows alternatives to the Government's austerity measures. See http://vimeo.com/21438134.

Website of the Month - Emorsgate Seeds

2011-03-09T18:17:00.000Z

This month's website of the month is Emorsgate Seeds, a supplier of wildflower and grass seeds, including mixes for different soil types. For the Grapes Hill Community Garden in Norwich we're going to sow their loamy soil mix and also some cornfield annuals - plants which are hardly seen in the wild these days as agriculture has intensified and seed grading techniques have improved.

Emorsgate Seeds is a very well laid out and informative website and their printed catalogue is really useful too. The seed order arrived promptly - I'm now looking forward to doing some sowing later this month.

Wild Food, Wild Mushrooms, Fishing, Foraging, Recipes

2011-02-15T17:05:00.000Z

I've just discovered a great blog -Wild Food, Wild Mushrooms, Fishing, Foraging, Recipes, Essex UK. I was looking for Alexanders on the web (a favourite plant of mine) and stumbled upon the site.

It has some really good wild food recipes, from Pan Fried Cod Fillet with Garlic Mustard Mash and Wild Sorrel sauce to Alexanders, Prawns and Chilli with Spaghetti and Wild Cherry Jam Conserve.

I'm starting to feel hungry...

Website of the Month - Write To Them

2011-02-11T16:30:00.000Z

This month's website is Write To Them, a site that finds your local representative - MP, councillor, MEP, MSP etc. - and allows you to contact them by e-mail or fax. Simply put in your postcode to start.

With the current shower in power, it's time to get writing...

A Day Out In Suffolk

2011-02-06T19:19:00.000Z

Today we went over the border into Suffolk, but needed no passports as my wife has dual Norfolk/Suffolk nationality.
We looked for Hawfinches around Sotterley Church (unsuccessfully), then headed to Minsmere RSPB Reserve, where we had excellent views of a Firecrest and also saw female Smew and several Pintail. It was warm but rather windy.
Excellent lunch in the Eel's Foot at Eastbridge, acompanied by a superbly kept pint of Adnams' "Oyster Stout".

Sotterley Park

Walking to Sotterley church

Sotterley Park

Beech tree, Sotterley Park

Sotterley church

Winter Aconites

Minsmere

Minsmere Beach

Sea watching, Minsmere Beach

Hedge Planting at Norwich Community Agriculture Site

2011-01-30T18:08:00.002Z

Last week it was tree planting at Grapes Hill Community Garden and today a group of us planted a mixed hedge of Holly, Blackthorn, Hawthorn, Crab Apples, Field Maple and Hazel along the edge of the Norwich Community Agriculture site at Postwick, just beyond the east of Norwich. We also planted a single Red Oak.

The hedge will provide a windbreak to the west of the field we are renting, which will be used to grow a variety of market garden crops from this summer onwards.

Carrying the trees in.

Planting instructions.

Deciding on the hedge line.

Removing top of turf (to reduce competition with hedge).

Planting starts...

Planting hollies.

We have a hedge!

Putting in stakes.

Planting the Red Oak.

The hedge.

Happy volunteers.

Grapes Hill Community Garden - Tree Planting

2011-01-24T15:59:00.000Z

Yesterday we planted fruit trees and bushes at Grapes Hill Community Garden, including six apples, two pears, two cherries, a quince, a plum, a medlar, a fig, three grapevines and various soft fruit.

View the complete gallery of tree planting pictures here.

Group photo - planting the first tree

Planting the Medlar

Planting apple trees

Planting the quince

The tree roots are soaked in water prior to planting.

Website of the Month - Norfolk Churches

2011-01-24T15:49:00.000Z

This month's website of the month is Simon Knott's The Norfolk Churches Site, which has excellent photographs and descriptions of Norfolk's churches - 868 at time of writing.

The site is a wonderful resource and I often visit when I've passed or stopped at a church during a cycle ride in the Norfolk countryside, or linked to from one of the church websites I've built.

For forays south of the border there is a companion site of Suffolk Churches.

Save Our Forests!

2011-01-22T17:31:00.002Z

The Government is planning a massive sell off of our national forests, which could be auctioned and fenced off, run down, logged or turned into golf courses and holiday villages.

We can't let that happen. We need to stop these plans. National treasures like the The Forest of Dean, Sherwood Forest and The New Forest could be sold off. Once they are gone, they will be lost forever.

Sign the petition against this at http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-forests.

See more on the Caught By the River and Hands off our Forest websites. The latter focuses on The Forest of Dean, but closer to home Thetford Forest and Horsford Woods, for example, are also under threat.

Design Different Featured as NWES Success Story

2011-01-18T15:54:00.000Z

Design Different is now featured on the NWES website as a Success Story.

NWES is an organisation that offers free business start up advice in the East of England. It provides an excellent five day course known as Best Start which provides the skills and knowledge to develop a business plan and manage and grow a business. I can recommend the course very highly.

See the NWES website for more details of this and other courses.

Bindweed Clearance

2011-01-17T10:11:00.000Z

I spent much of the weekend clearing bindweed roots and pruning Buddleia bushes at Grapes Hill Community Garden, ready for planting fruit trees and bushes on Sunday 23rd January. Sunday's turnout was especially good, with about twenty of us, including members of the Norwich Community Green Gym. The sun even shone!

End of Saturday

Cutting up Buddleia prunings

Clearing roots from the lawn circle

A Proper Sort Of Nursery!

2011-01-15T17:10:00.002Z

Yesterday three of us from the Grapes Hill Community Garden Group went to Reads Nursery at Hales Hall, near Loddon to look at fruit trees, which we need to buy for the garden.

The nursey is superb - lots of varieties of tree, including local varieties of apples and the national collection of fig trees. The staff are very helpful and knowledgeable too. As if this isn't enough, the nursery's location next to Hales Hall and its beautiful thatched barn is great too.

We will return late next week to make our purchases, including apples, pears, an apricot, cherries, a fig, a medlar, a quince and some soft fruit bushes and canes.

Fig tree

A proper sort of nursery like Reads is a real antidote to many garden centres, which sell fewer and fewer plants and seem to be just plant supermarkets. You can find more good nurseries on the Norfolk Nursery Network website. I will certainly try to visit more of them during the year.

Pete Postlethwaite

2011-01-03T17:21:00.000Z

Heard the sad news that Pete Postlethwaite died yesterday, aged 64.

A Walk In The Mist

2010-12-31T11:34:00.002Z

30th December 2010: Another foggy day. We took the train from Norwich to Cantley and walked back to Brundall via footpaths, lanes, Buckenham Marshes and Strumpshaw Fen RSPB Reserve. It was very atmospheric, with trees looming out of the mist and fog, clicks and whistles of starlings and, at Buckenham Marshes, a flock of Bean Geese calling as they flew overhead.
At Strumpshaw Fen we saw three Water Rails from the Fen Hide, mostly on the edges of the reeds but also venturing out onto the ice. At the Visitor Centre we had great views of a Stoat just outside the hide (with a black tip to its tail, so stoatally different from a Weasel). Also a couple of Barn Owls and two Hares during the course of the walk, and Wigeon, Shovelers, Teal, Lapwing and Rooks at Buckenham Marshes.

Lane near Cantley

Highland cows

Near Cantley

Lane near Cantley

Cantley to Hassingham

Lane between Hassingham and Buckenham

Buckenham

Buckenham Church

River Yare by Buckenham Marshes

Strumpshaw Fen - view from Visitor Centre

Good To Get Outdoors Again

2010-12-29T14:59:00.000Z

Well, the snow has gone at last and although it's foggy, the temperature has reached a high of 6°Celsius, which feels almost tropical!
It has been good to get outdoors again, to the allotment today to prune autumn raspberries and yesterday to Grapes Hill Community Garden to clear bindweed roots from the topsoil.

Clearing bindweed roots

See http://www.grapeshillcommunitygarden.org/bindweed_removal.htm.

Merry Christmas from Design Different

2010-12-22T12:56:00.000Z

Merry Christmas!
As an antidote to all the snow and cold weather, here is a photo of where reindeer go in summer:

Reindeer, Porthcressa Beach, Isles of Scilly (June 2010)

Website of the Month - Steve Bell Cartoons

2010-12-10T12:23:00.001Z

It's time to nominate the website of the month and initially I thought of nominating WikiLeaks, but in the tradition of Mastercard and other big companies I've decided not to offer my principled support to free speech and whistleblowers.
Sometimes we just need to be cheered up, so I've chosen Steve Bell's Cartoons website as site of the month.

Grapes Hill Community Garden - Bulb Planting

2010-12-04T16:00:00.000Z

In a comparatively balmy 2 degrees Celsius(!) we planted daffodil bulbs this morning at the Grapes Hill Community Garden. We planted mini daffodils and also the appropriately named "Ice Follies", which has a yellow centre and white petals. Visit the Grapes Hill Community Garden website to find out more.

Planting daffodil bulbs

First Medlars

2010-12-02T13:49:00.000Z

I've eaten my first Medlars, courtesy of a fellow allotment holder.You leave them to "blet" (go soft) and then eat them. Mine were raw and tasted of cooked apple with hints of apricot and date - delicious! I'm thinking of buying my own tree.


Medlar

Winter Arrives

2010-12-02T13:46:00.001Z

Winter has arrived in the last week, with snow, ice and, on a more cheerful note, Waxwings. (87 Waxwings yesterday afternoon in sycamore trees by The Avenues / Colman Road junction in Norwich).

Waxwings

The allotments are under a blanket of snow.

Website of the Month - BBC Gardening Plant Finder

2010-11-25T17:21:00.000Z

We're currently choosing plants for Grapes Hill Community Garden and one of the most useful sources of information (other than various gardening books) has been the BBC Gardening Plant Finder.

This is why it's November's Website of the Month.

Allium

Yellow rose

Government services to be online only?

2010-11-21T14:53:00.002Z

I've just read that, under plans to be unveiled this week, people will be forced to apply online for government services such as student loans, driving licences, passports and benefits. It's all part of the government's cost cutting.

As I web designer I am happy to use online services and they can help to reduce costs and save paper.

But around 27% of UK households still don't have internet connections at home, including many elderly and disadvantaged people. And how will people with no knowledge of how to use a computer "fill in forms digitally at their local post offices"? There is a danger that people will be excluded from society and from claiming benefits or even travelling abroad.

This appears to be another badly thought through idea, which is likely to affect the most disadvantaged in this country.

Read more on The Guardian website.

Autumn Mists

2010-11-19T17:50:00.001Z

This morning I went for a short cycle ride south of Norwich. The sun started to come out but by the time I'd reached Caistor St. Edmund the mists were starting to close in. I saw three Waxwings in Shotesham and admired the "Slow Ducks Crossing" signs in Brooke. I stopped for lunch at Hellington Church and then headed back into Norwich.

The ducks in Brooke are slow, but brightly coloured!

Hellington Church in the mist.

Walking to Glandford and Bird Art at 50

2010-11-07T10:17:00.004Z

Yesterday we took the train to Sheringham and Coasthopper bus to Cley and then walked south to Glandford, home of the BIRDscapes Gallery. The gallery is holding an exhibition entitled "BIRD ART at 50" which features work from fifty of today's top bird artists, to mark fifty years since the artist Robert Gillmor held an exhibition that led to the formation of The Society of Wildlife Artists. The exhibition continues until 14th November 2010.

Birdscapes Gallery

We enjoyed the exhibition and also the walk from Cley to Glandford and back, along quiet lanes with hedgerows full of autumn colour.

Field Maple

We ate lunch at Glandford ford and made friends with some ducks.

Hungry Mallards

Feeding time is over...

On the way back we saw a Barn Owl hunting by the river near Wiveton Church. We also admired the colours of the berries along the way.

Wiveton Church

Cley village green

Sloe berries

Black Bryony berries

Shaggy Inkcap

Back in Norwich, the last rays of the afternoon sunshine caught the tower of St. Giles'Church as we walked past.

St. Giles' Church, Norwich

Waxwings

2010-11-02T16:57:00.001Z

I was working on the allotment this morning when a flock of about twenty birds flew overhead. Their flight and flocking reminded me of Starlings but their tinkling call immediately made me realise they were Waxwings. They settled for a while in an apple tree and I was able to tell three other plotholders about them, and we all went for a closer look.

I was feeling very pleased with myself when I arrived home to tell Vanna. However, she had managed to see at least thirty Waxwings in Norwich city centre at about the same time, feeding on rowan berries by the former Bethel Hospital.

Read more about Waxwings.

Orfordness

2010-10-31T15:52:00.000Z

Yesterday we went to Orfordness, a strange shingle spit on the Suffolk coast formerly used by the Ministry of Defence - for airfields, radar research and bomb testing, including triggers for atomic bombs - but now owned by the National Trust. We couldn't have wished for better late October weather - the light was intense and ideal for photography.

Signs of Autumn

2010-10-25T17:05:00.004+01:00

Black Bryony berries

One of the advantages of being self-employed is that I can, to some extent, choose which days I work.
So I spent much of the weekend, when it was raining, looking at Wordpress software (http://wordpress.org/).
But today was sunny so Vanna and I headed out to south Norfolk on a 30 mile cycle ride so that she could sketch a hedge near Woodton, in preparation for a series of acrylic paintings.

We first noticed this hedge last autumn. It is full of Elm, Field Maple, Hawthorn, Spindle, Sloes, Roses and Dogwood, as well as the twining stems of Black Bryony.

Then on the way home I stopped off at the allotment and dug up the winter's first parsnips - a good size and very muddy! 'Tis the season for roast dinners...

Parsnips

Sweet Potato Harvest

2010-10-19T17:03:00.002+01:00

I've just lifted our crop of sweet potatoes from our allotment.
The sweet potatoes arrived as 'slips' in late May and looked like very sickly bindweed shoots. (When I first saw them I thought Vanna had picked bindweed to draw!) After a week in water they were planted in compost in root trainers and then planted outside in mid June. They were lovingly watered through late June and early July's drought and then growth took off in the wet weather of August.
The tubers vary in size and are a lovely pink colour, like the stems. We now have 9lb of sweet potatoes to eat; I think that works out at £1.50 a pound, so they had better taste good!

Sweet Potatoes

Website of the Month - Doodle

2010-10-19T10:26:00.000+01:00

I've recently discovered Doodle - www.doodle.com.
This is a useful tool for scheduling meetings and the basic version is free. You create a poll with a number of possible dates and times for the meeting and send a link to the attendees. Everyone then 'votes' for the dates and times that suit them. It can also connect to a Google or Outlook calendar and there's an iPhone app too, if you're that way inclined.
As this is a poll, it is very flexible, so you could use it to decide on a venue for a meeting or day out as well.
The website isn't pretty but Doodle is a useful and free tool, which is why it's October's website of the month.

Ely Apple Day

2010-10-17T15:49:00.003+01:00

Yesterday we went to Ely Apple Day.
This is held every October in front of the cathedral, and features lots of stalls, many apple-related. There were apples for sale, an East of England Apples and Orchards Project (EEAOP) apple identification stall, apple cakes, sausages and pork and apple burgers to eat, cider, apple juice and crafts. Musicians and morris dancers provided entertainment, as did some very friendly alpacas from Norfolk's Alpaca Trekking.
We also visited the wonderful Topping and Company bookshop on Ely High Street, where - appropriately - I treated myself to a book on apple identification.
A great day out, with plenty of sunshine as well as some showers.

Building a garden from scratch - Grapes Hill Community Garden

2010-10-15T12:06:00.000+01:00

One of my jobs is as webmaster for the Grapes Hill Community Garden Group. Based in Norwich, Norfolk, we're hoping to transform an area of tarmac into a lovely community garden. We have received funding from various sources and the hard landscaping work finally started in mid September this year.
I've been visiting the garden most days since then and I've added photos of the construction work to the website in a garden construction gallery.
In the last few days it has become really interesting, as deep beds and paving are put in place and the overall structure of the garden takes shape.

Website of the Month - River Cottage Community

2010-09-09T10:33:00.002+01:00

I'm a big fan of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and the River Cottage programmes and books. Only yesterday a friend and I were out foraging for fungi, using the excellent River Cottage Mushroom Handbook, which identifies both edible and poisonous species. Not that much help was needed with this Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria):

Fly Agaric

The River Cottage Community website is an excellent resource for lovers of food, whether grown, caught or foraged - see http://community.rivercottage.net/.

Vanna Art Exhibition - "Nature's Bounty"

2010-09-03T10:48:00.001+01:00

Yesterday was the first day of my wife Vanna's "Nature's Bounty" exhibition in the Noverre Gallery at Norwich Assembly House. We spent Wednesday morning hanging the pictures.
The exhibition features over forty of Vanna's paintings including acrylics, watercolours and linoprints and continues daily until Thursday 23rd September 2010. The Assembly House is in Theatre Street, Norwich, NR2 1RQ.

Website of the Month - Moneymadeclear

2010-08-30T09:42:00.002+01:00

This month's website provides help with personal finances, including budgeting, savings and guides to everyday financial issues.
With Britain's financial future looking ever bleaker in the face of ConDem cutbacks, this site could be very useful.
See http://www.moneymadeclear.org.uk/.

PV Panels - Update

2010-08-06T16:23:00.002+01:00

Well, it's nearly two months since our six PV panels were installed. In that time we've generated 247 units (kWh) of electricity. This is about twice to three times the amount of electricity that we've used.
At the moment we're generating about 3 - 4 units per day. In early July, when it was very sunny and days were long, we were generating up to 6 units per day. However, on a few dull and rainy days we only managed to generate 1 unit.

Vapourer Moth

2010-07-29T18:00:00.000+01:00

A couple of weeks ago we found a lovely Vapourer Moth caterpillar on a Pelargonium in our back garden and decided to rear it.

Today it hatched into a wingless female. We transferred it onto the garden fence, next to an apple tree, along with its cocoon.

Within half an hour it had attracted a (winged) male and shortly afterwards the female began laying eggs. By 5pm there were 150 to 200 eggs and we'll be keeping an eye on them to see when they hatch.

Website of the Month - The Man In Seat Sixty-one

2010-07-18T11:50:00.001+01:00

It's the summer holiday season and many people will be flying to their holiday destination, massively increasing their carbon footprints and contributing to climate change.
But it doesn't have to be like that - especially for for short-haul destinations. The Man In Seat Sixty-One shows how to travel by train and ship in Europe and throughout the world.
It shows that another world is possible and that is why it is my website of the month.

Rain At Last!

2010-07-12T16:27:00.004+01:00

The recent sunshine has been great but going to the allotment every other day to water crops that would otherwise frizzle up was becoming a bit tedious. But today it is raining in Norwich and I can personally vouch for the fact that the rain is wet!

Today has been a good day for getting on with work, such as adding photo galleries to the Grapes Hill Community Garden website for yesterday's fundraising stall at Norwich's St. Benedict's Street Fair and new pictures to the Vanna Art website.

Website of the Month - Guardian Bike Blog

2010-06-08T10:46:00.005+01:00

This month's website is the Guardian Bike Blog. As a keen cyclist, it's good to read well argued comment on cycling issues.

Recent posts include What's the carbon footprint of ...cycling a mile? (answer: if you eat sensibly, you'll have the carbon footprint about a tenth of an efficient car) and How to stop your bike being stolen.

An excellent read.

PV Panels - Generating Our Own Electricity

2010-06-06T09:44:00.002+01:00

Our PV panels have now been installed and they generated their first kWh (unit) of electricity late Friday afternoon and another 5 kWh yesterday. The meter that sends electricity to the National Grid has a light that flashes for each 1/1000 kWh generated, so we keep looking in the meter cupboard to see what's happening. I'll update this blog when the panels have been running for a while, to give a progress report.

Norfolk Open Studios Success

2010-06-01T12:09:00.001+01:00

My wife, Vanna, has just finished her first Norfolk Open Studios, which was very successful, with a number of sales and some very good feedback. Thanks to everyone who came along and made it such an enjoyable event. Vanna hopes to take part again next year.

Visit Vanna's website.

PV Panels - The Scaffolding Is Up

2010-05-31T13:06:00.000+01:00

Well, the scaffolding is up for the PV panels and RenEnergy are due to come round tomorrow to do the work...
Unfortunately the initial quote was wrong, so we'll only have room for six panels, but that should still generate most of our electricity - both for domestic use and Design Different.

Website of the Month - Nothing To See Here

2010-05-26T16:00:00.001+01:00

Nothing To See Here is a celebration of some of the lesser known and quirky places in Britain and further abroad. If you'd like to find out about places as diverse as the Lady Godiva Clock in Coventry, the Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle or the Unst Bus Shelter, this site will provide everything you need to know (and perhaps more).

I'm including the site for its quirkiness and individuality, a refreshing change from all things commercial and corporate. It's a shame there's no proper index or search facility, but you can go to the archives page and search for specific words, using Edit / Find in your browser.

Vanna Art - Norfolk Open Studios

2010-05-20T09:00:00.001+01:00

It has been a bit hectic recently, as we prepare for Norfolk Open Studios. We will be opening our house to members of the public on the weekends of 22nd - 23rd and 29th - 31st May 2010, for viewings of my wife Vanna's artwork.
Vanna's website was the first one I designed and built - see http://www.vanna-art.co.uk/.
Below: "Nine Lives" linoprint. (Vanna meets Warhol?).

Installing Photovoltaic Solar Panels

2010-05-05T10:38:00.000+01:00

For several years we have thought about having solar panels on the back roof of our house.
In late March we committed ourselves to having photovoltaic (PV) panels installed and we've now been given an installation date of early June. This assumes that the parts will be available. Inverters (which transform DC current generated by the sun falling on the panels to AC current exported to the mains) are in very short supply at the moment.
The company who'll be doing the work are RenEnergy of Blofield Heath, near Norwich (http://www.renenergy.co.uk/). We had our site visit last week and have been given a final quote for the work.
Hopefully we'll be able to generate up to twice as much electricity as we use over the course of a year.
Watch this space for further updates.

Website of the Month - Tescopoly

2010-04-16T12:08:00.000+01:00

Tesco is building its Unthank Road store in Norwich, in spite of widespread local opposition and being turned down by Norwich City Council four times. The store is likely to damage the existing shops in the area and increase traffic levels in an already congested area of the city.
So this month's website is Tescopoly - http://www.tescopoly.org/. Find out about how Tesco operates and learn how to campaign against this unaccountable giant.

Vote for Policies

2010-03-31T10:23:00.000+01:00

I was recently sent a link to an excellent website which, with a General Election looming, concentrates on parties' policies rather than personalities.
Why not give it a try? You may be surprised.
See http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/.

From the Woods to the Sea - Photographic Exhibition

2010-03-23T14:08:00.001Z

I've been busily preparing for my first photographic exhibition, "From the Woods to the Sea", which will be held as part of the Art of Norwich 11 Exhibition in St. Margaret's Church, St. Benedict's Street in Norwich from Monday 12th to Saturday 24th April 2010. I've put together a gallery of the photos at http://www.vanna-art.co.uk/gallery.

Website of the Month - CSS Zen Garden

2010-03-10T15:19:00.001Z

CSS Zen Garden is a site I've admired for a long time, so I just had to feature it as a favourite website.

The site uses one set of XHTML code with a variety of images and CSS files submitted by web designers and graphic designers, to produce beautiful and often startlingly different web page layouts. The site provides an excellent demonstration of what can be accomplished visually through CSS-based design.

Visit the site at http://www.csszengarden.com/.

Grapes Hill Community Garden wins a Norwich Eco Award

2010-02-26T14:44:00.016Z

I was pleased to attend last night's 2010 Norwich Eco Awards, along with other members of the Grapes Hill Community Garden Group. Our award was in the category of Eco Community Group and was presented by the Sheriff of Norwich, Professor Tim O'Riordan. This recognises the hard work done by group members as we strive to turn a disused area of tarmac into a thriving community garden.

I'm looking forward to our first work day this Sunday, clearing Cotoneaster plants to make way for railings around the site.

I designed and built the group's website, http://www.grapeshillcommunitygarden.org/.

Design Different supports the Robin Hood Tax

2010-02-11T14:03:00.003Z

The Robin Hood Tax is a tiny tax on bankers that would raise billions to tackle poverty and climate change, at home and abroad.
By taking an average of 0.05% from speculative banking transactions, hundreds of billions of pounds would be raised every year.
That’s easily enough to stop cuts in crucial public services in the UK, and to help fight global poverty and climate change.

A website (sadly, not one of mine) has now been set up to give more information about the campaign.

Watch the video below and go to http://robinhoodtax.org.uk/.

Website of the Month - Vincent Van Gogh: The Letters

2010-02-10T11:36:00.001Z

One of the best websites I've seen, for the sheer amount of information it holds, the way it is organised and its overall design is Vincent Van Gogh: The Letters.

There is an exhibition in London at the Royal Academy of Arts until 18th April 2010. I hope to go to that the next time I'm in London, but for the moment the website gives me a fascinating glimpse into Van Gogh's life.

There is also a superb book of the letters but it costs £395, so thank goodness for the website.

Internet Snooperhighway

2010-02-02T14:57:00.006Z

The British Government has just set up a dedicated unit for delivering the Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP), a surveillance project that will record the details of every email, phone call, text message and internet session in the UK. This will cost the taxpayer £2bn over 10 years.
While the police need to use communication data to stop crime, this does not justify collecting all our private data, on the assumption that we are guilty until proven innocent.
Christopher Graham, the Information Commissioner responsible for overseeing the protection of private information, has described the creation of the IMP as "... a step change in the relationship between the citizen and the state".
Also, given the Government's ability to lose our private data, we can have no confidence that the data will be kept securely, leading to the possibility of sensitive personal or business information falling into the wrong hands.
At a time when the Government deems it acceptable to make widespread public funding cuts, the Government considers that its creeping programme to snoop on us all is sacrosanct.
Find out more
http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=12013
http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=10315
http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=11189

Content Management with Joomla

2010-01-26T12:20:00.006Z

I've just built a website for Write-Minded.co.uk, using Joomla! Content Management software and I'm very pleased at how easy and user friendly it is, both for me to develop and for the owners of the site, who can log on and add or update articles from the site's homepage.
In the past I've turned down work because I only offered hand built websites, but now I'll be able to provide function rich websites to potential clients.
Content Management will allow clients to update their websites, giving them greater control over content as well as freeing up my time for building new websites rather than updating old ones. A win-win situation!

Using Picasa to resize photographs

2010-01-18T16:21:00.003Z

When I build a website I have to reduce the size of photographs so that they'll load quickly and easily in a web browser. I normally use Adobe Photoshop Elements to do this.
However, if you don't have this software on your PC, why not use Google's Picasa software, which is available to download free of charge. Go to http://picasa.google.com/ and follow the instructions.
There are numerous tutorials on the web to tell you how to resize photos (search for "picasa resize image"), such as http://www.latech.edu/tech/rural/website%20project/web_tutorial/articles/resize_pictures_picasa.html . The help within Picasa is good too.
I use Picasa when I want to resize several pictures at once, such as when I want to load up photos to an online gallery.

Family Documents added to The Last Bartlett website

2010-01-12T17:52:00.001Z

I have just added some family documents I inherited along with my family photographs to my Last Bartlett family history site, including old ID cards, vaccination certificates, wedding invitations, ration books and a letter to my great-grandfather from Prime Minister Gladstone in 1885.
Why not take a look?

New Pictures from Vivid Images and Vanna Art

2010-01-08T18:18:00.020Z

I've built websites for a couple of Norfolk artists - Andrew Pettitt (http://www.vivid-images.co.uk/) and Vanna Bartlett (http://www.vanna-art.co.uk/) and in the last few days I've added new pictures to both these sites.

Andrew produces beautiful pictures of the Norfolk countryside, such as the recent oil painting Storm Over Cantley (above). See http://www.vivid-images.co.uk/storm_over_cantley.htm for a bigger image.

On Wednesday I added some watercolour paintings to Vanna's site - see http://www.vanna-art.co.uk/Watercolours.htm. Earlier this month I added Vanna's acrylic painting of Winter Apples, Fieldfares and Redwing (above), inspired by the large flocks of fieldfares and redwings currently in Norwich.

Happy New Year from Design Different

2010-01-03T15:43:00.004Z

Wishing you a Happy New Year from Design Different.

Here in Norfolk the cold snap continues.
Yesterday saw the Norfolk countryside coated with a light dusting of snow, as we went for a lovely walk in the sunshine, starting and finishing at Blickling Hall (pictured).

Website of the Year - CaughtByTheRiver.net

2009-12-31T13:11:00.007Z

My website of the year for 2009 is Caught By The River, http://caughtbytheriver.net/.
In September I visited the excellent Toppings Bookshop in Ely and bought the book "Caught by the River", subtitled "A Collection Of Words On Water". Over the next few days I read its wonderful essays on British rivers from cover to cover and I discovered that the book was the offshoot of the Caught by the River website.
The website began about three years ago as a way of documenting lazy days out, especially fishing trips. But soon it grew into a place where people could eulogise about the various things that make the working week bearable, such as books, music, art, nature, angling, drinking and even cake baking.
Its content is varied and fascinating and I love the logo and clear, calm layout of the site, which fits its content perfectly.
Enjoy!

St. Thomas' Church website

2009-12-29T12:27:00.002Z

One of the first websites I built was for St. Thomas' Church, which is just around the corner from where I live in Norwich. I've just updated the site with events for 2010 and the vicar, Reverend Philip Young, has just sent me a link to a Radio Norfolk broadcast where the website is mentioned by Nanette Aldous - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p005p5f9/Louise_Priest_27_12_2009/ (1 hour 10 minutes into the programme).

The St. Thomas' church website is at http://www.stthomasheigham.org/ .

Grapes Hill Community Garden

2009-12-22T17:02:00.005Z

One of Design Different's websites is for Grapes Hill Community Garden in Norwich.
The garden is currently just an area of tarmac set back from the bottom of Grapes Hill in Norwich, behind Valentine Street and Dereham Road.
However, we have had some plans drawn up and will be applying for lottery funding in the early New Year.
The more people who send in comments on the plans, the better the chances of funding.
Please help by going to http://www.grapeshillcommunitygarden.org/contact.htm and submitting your comments by 6th January 2010.

White Pre-Christmas

2009-12-19T15:19:00.004Z

My planned visit to Wymondham Farmers' Market today didn't happen because of snow. I didn't fancy a 20 + mile cycle ride on snowy and icy back roads, at temperatures of freezing or just above.
But I took the opportunity to visit the allotment, take photos and feed the birds. It makes me glad I'm not a leek!

Leeks on the allotment.

Choosing a business and web domain name

2009-12-19T15:07:00.011Z

I'm often asked by customers how they should choose a web domain name.

Firstly, if you're setting up a new business, I'd suggest that you check that a business or limited company doesn't already exist with the name you'd like to use. If you set up a company with the same or a very similar name, customers may be confused or the existing company may take legal action to prevent you from trading under that name - not a good start!

The website start.biz is worth a check because it has a search for business names that are already being used - see http://www.start.biz/business_names/multi_search.php.

Once you've checked that no one else is using the same business name, check whether your domain name is available by doing a search on the 123-reg site - http://www.123-reg.co.uk/. Consider using hyphens in your name if your first choice isn't available, or to make the name clearer. For example, my wife's business Vanna Art uses http://www.vanna-art.co.uk/ because www.vannaart.co.uk runs the words together and is more cumbersome.

For a UK business or a personal website, the suffix .co.uk is normally the best option to use as it is widely known, good value for money and links you to the UK. (Cost at time of writing is £6.88 inc. VAT for two years). Non-profit organisations can use .org.uk or .org. The use of certain suffixes is restricted - e.g. ac.uk, which can only be used by higher and further education and research institutions.

There are also rules about the lengths of domain names:

.co.uk and .org.uk must be between 3 and 23 characters long, not including the .co.uk or .org.uk part.

See http://www.nominet.org.uk/registrants/aboutdomainnames/rules/ for full details of .uk web domain rules.

The Business Link site also has useful information on choosing a web domain name for your business.

2009-11-04T16:30:00.011Z

Welcome to the Design Different blog.
Over the next weeks, months and years I will post occasional items about Design Different, my web design business, and also other topics that I hope may be of interest.

Jeremy Bartlett

t/a Design Different

Websites created in Norfolk.