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How not to do corporate sponsorship

Did you see the amazing spat between independent brewers BrewDog and drinks megacorp Diageo this week? It’s been a real David and Goliath affair.

First off BrewDog won a big drinks industry award, then when they got to the glitzy awards ceremony they found out the gong was being given to someone else. Why? Because Diageo, the awards sponsor, had bullied the organisers into not giving it to BrewDog. They had insisted it be given to someone else, who in turn publicly refused the gong because it had BrewDog’s name engraved on it. Ha.

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Exclusive Interview with Dubai Graffiti Writer Arcadia Blank

So some of you probably read our article a couple of weeks back about the infamous Dubai Graffiti writer Arcadia Blank whose been hitting up the walls of the middle east’s number one playground over the last couple of years. Well we had some great response to the piece, even from the artist himself, who kindly agreed to do an exclusive interview with D4. So if you’d like to know what circulates around the mind of a writer who’s capturing people’s attention in the UAE then read on! Continue reading “Exclusive Interview with Dubai Graffiti Writer Arcadia Blank” »

Urban expressions of randomness

So I recently moved back to the UK after living for 5 years in Dubai which I had always considered to be something of a cultural desert as well as an actual one. I had fairly regular daliances with the Emirate’s cultural events, art openings and pseudo creative happenings but always felt that it was a kind of lipservice to Dubai’s mitigation of their cultural void. Then in 2011 something happened. Whilst walking back from a shoot in the unglamorous TECOM area of town I noticed a rather prophetic piece of spray can scrawl on a bare concrete wall. “We’re Nearly Gods” it read, something I took solace in after a slightly arduous day, but also it was something that awoke a sense of intrigue in me particularly given the location but moreover that it wasn’t a piece of street art, a tag or throw-up it was raw as you like ‘Scrawl’ no frills, no style but a whole lot of of power and substance. Someone in Dubai has ideas, words and an agenda swimming around in their head that simply must get out and speak to people in the most crude and instant form. Continue reading “Urban expressions of randomness” »

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It’s OK to fail

Is it OK to mess up? Try out something that doesn’t work? Experiment? In today’s manufactured world everything has to be polished, these days people demand perfection.

But how do you get there if what you’re doing is new? Originality never came easy. Your man Van Gough wasn’t exactly a success while he was alive. The first series of the TV classic Only Fools and Horses fell right on it’s arse. Would Nirvana have been as big if Kurt had stayed around a bit longer? Ideas risk failure, that’s what makes it so exciting, and it’s also why so many of today’s comics spend much of their time on bland panel shows in-between knocking out DVD’s. No risk = no failure.

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Now that’s handy. A peak into the world of handmade ecommerce.

Recently whilst trawling the web for a unique something special for a mother’s day gift (yes, left it ’til last minute again!) I had an epiphany which lead me on a spiraling expedition into the swirling vortex of online handmade shops. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The diversity of products lovingly made by seemingly anonymous artisans was overwhelming: German wool felt iPad cases whose credentials boast not only stain resistance but also water repellence, a set of French candles hand stamped with French script and delicately bound with a dainty muslin ribbon, Babushka Bunnies patterns so that the budding craftsperson can create their own mini rabbit humanoid hybrid simply by downloading a pattern pdf and fruity hand painted seasonally themed glass tumblers to bring a touch of fun to ones otherwise drab Ikea shelves. Continue reading “Now that’s handy. A peak into the world of handmade ecommerce.” »

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Now Then

We are big fans of Sheffield’s Now Then magazine.

Not only do they champion 3 of the things D4 truly love: art, words and beer, but they have something sorely lacking in much of today’s publishing empires. They have morals.

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TWC

The Walking Club

Macs all day, Untappd in the pub, Anytime+ on the sofa. Winter has taken it’s toll on the retina’s of us all.

But there is hope. Spring is springing it’s magic, the Peaks call, wide vistas await and life in all it’s natural glory beckons. (Well, it’s kind of like that – the first few walks usually find me stumbling up a hill, head down, gasping for oxygen and swearing quite a bit). Continue reading “The Walking Club” »