Posts by Justin Williams

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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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obama maggie ghandi

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 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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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” »

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Foursquare is the new Big Brother

In tribute to the amazing powers of Mr Paul Herron for hmmm, how shall we put it… partaking in refreshment, we have been following him on Foursquare for the last month or so. Bit freaky I know, but we love him to bits so it’s OK.

Happy birthday Paul, you dodgy geezer you. See you in the Grapes.

Cloud building at home

Danish textile suppliers Kvadrat have collaborated with acclaimed designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec to create Clouds. This fabulous tile concept allows you to build amazing three dimensional cloud installations in your home. Continue reading “Cloud building at home” »

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More splashy paint stuff

Don’t worry there’s nothing tricky about this post, it won’t tax your brain. Just take a bit of boring street furniture and decorate it with squirts of colour. Simples.

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Holmesdale Fanatics

Bored with the casual racist geezer violence that has plagued the nation’s favourite sport since the eighties, a group of young Crystal Palace fans formed the Holmesdale Fanatics. They saw Football Factory, and then they saw the fans at Champions League matches on the telly. And they decided. Who wants to be Millwall when you can be Panathainakos?
A new generation of footy fans was born…

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Introducing Mr Andy Richards

We are over the moon to announce that top brand designer Andy Richards is joining our team in March. Andy has been the Senior Creative at Omnia Dubai for a good few years, working on huge international projects, whilst also founding the inspirational design blog Derive. It is an absolute coup for D4 that he has decided to come and work with us here in Sheffield.