Creative Insights - Everything seen differently

13/10/2026

There were two of us.

Tony, the ex-media director from Saatchi & Saatchi. And me, the self-employed graphic designer who had studied in Wales.

Together, we launched shopping and leisure centres, promoted racecourses and worked with MPs.

We also created advertising campaigns that worked wonders for our clients.

On the radio. On TV. And in the national and local press.

Tony planned and booked the advertising space.

I crafted the copy, art directed the creative and designed PR campaigns and events.

Years before the call to teach.

Before I began passing on what I'd learned to graphic design and fashion students.

Before I went on to specialise in SEND education.

And then made the move into secondary education.

And then set up Creative Insights while undergoing cancer treatment.

The point is, the twists and turns in our life stories make us who we are today.

Trace your story back far enough and it will become one of your greatest selling points.

Because no one can compete with the life you've lived.

Or the interests and passions you've pursued.

Or the training you've completed and the people you've helped along the way.

If you're self-employed, or considering self-employment, tell your story.

Shamelessly and without holding back.

Not sure where to begin? Pick up a pen and create a mind map.

If you'd like my help, and want to stand out from your competitors, send it to me.

By email or as a DM.

And then let's talk.

09/10/2026

Thai’d and gone to heaven…

How often do you get away from the screen and out of the office? Properly.

If you're self-employed and have no employees, the answer can easily be, 'not very often.'

Since leaving teaching, and as a workforce of one, I've missed the staff socials. And the Christmas parties.

So, a couple of years ago, I decided to do something about it. And started inviting other solopreneurs to join me for lunch.

Chris Thompson and I now do 'corporate' lunch get-togethers regularly.

From Jet Sushi to Mosaic Turkish, we're on a gastronomic roll.

This time we chose Braintree Thai Restaurant for our Not-Working-Lunch. And Lert, the manager, jumped in to join us for a group selfie.

The food here is some of the best Thai we've tasted!

We're now planning our Not-At-Work-Christmas-Party.

Solopreneur (and an ex-teacher) based in Essex? Message me if you'd like to join me for lunch.

04/09/2025

Watching this reminded me of why I enjoyed teaching graphic design and art so much.

Everyone has a story to tell.

And a gift to share.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1715iCCXGB/?mibextid=wwXIfr

24/06/2025

Enjoy the read…

Tomorrow, a New Moon cycle begins.

Not with light.
But with darkness.

Not because there’s nothing to see -
But because something sacred is starting from within.

We’ve left behind the airy momentum of Gemini.
Now, we descend into Cancer -
the Moon’s home,
where thoughts blur and feelings lead.

This isn’t a rational sign.
It’s an ancestral one.
A place where memory lives in the body, not the brain.

And when the Moon returns to Cancer,
she doesn’t illuminate.

She remembers.
She takes us back to what shaped us.
To the roles we learned to play.
To the protections we built before we knew we were building them.

Cancer is the sign of the mother.
But not every mother meets our needs.
This Moon may touch that tender place -
the gap between what you longed for and what you received.
The ache that formed around absence.

You might feel something surfacing now:

A heaviness you can’t name.
A sadness that belongs to your lineage.
Because Cancer also rules the matrilineal line -
the emotional DNA passed from mother to daughter, womb to womb.

What your mother held back.
What her mother swallowed.
What now lives in your chest, your stomach, your nervous system.

Not all of it is love.
Some of it is loyalty.
Some of it is silence.
Some of it is pain that never had words.

Cancer is symbolised by the crab.
In myth, the crab tried to help Hercules in battle.
It was crushed.
The gods placed it in the sky.
But the message remains:

How many times have you done the same?
Entered battles that weren’t yours to fight.
Carried emotions that weren’t yours to hold.
Disappeared into the role of the helper, the healer, the one who understands.
Because being invisible felt safer than being unmet.

This New Moon brings all of that to the surface.
The devotion that became disappearance.
The care that concealed control.
The silence that cost you your voice.

But Cancer is not passive.
It’s Cardinal Water -
It initiates. It moves.

Not in straight lines -
but in rhythms, shaped by tides and instinct.
It retreats before it returns.

So if your path doesn’t make sense to others -
maybe it’s not supposed to.

The crab doesn’t walk the obvious path.
It survives by sensing what others can’t.

And if you know your natal chart -
Look to where 4° Cancer sits
That’s the part of your life being stirred.
The place where something ancient is ready to begin again.

The New Moon sky is dark.
But that doesn’t mean it’s empty.
It means the light is inside you -
quiet, alive, waiting.

Not for the world to see it.
But for you to trust it.

10/06/2025

Who cares about tone of voice when you’re writing these days?

Your target audience will.

If your writing comes across as too formal, it may put some people off.

If it’s too informal, the same could equally be the case.

It all comes down to knowing who you’re talking to.

And writing in a way that respects the needs and preferences of your audience.

While spinning the other content writing plates!

Like your content pillars, headline hooks, keywords, alt text, and calls to action. 😉

…….

09/06/2025

Do you believe that one thing always leads to another?

It really can.

And that’s a good thing.

Especially when it comes to writing.

One word can lead to another.

And another.

And another.

You just need to begin.

And have the courage to see where it leads.

……….

01/06/2025

A man called Henry came to our house on Friday last week. Twice.

I’d never met him before.

Neither had my daughter or wife.

By the time he left, the second time, we had all grown to like him.

And will possibly always remember him.

Henry is a beekeeper.

He came to remove a bee swarm from a pear tree in our back garden.

And he didn’t want to be paid.

When he returned the second time, he brought us a jar of honey from the bees he keeps.

It was unlike anything we had tasted before.

Guess who we will be buying honey from in the future?

There was no hard sell.

Just an act of kindness.

That will always be remembered.

And a story that will be retold.

Of a man who cares for bees and sells the best honey in Braintree.

……..

I asked Henry why he became a beekeeper.

“Because my wife wouldn’t let me keep chickens,” he replied.

If he kept chickens, I suspect his eggs would also have been the best in Braintree.

Without trying, Henry’s honey has become our favourite honey.

We will also be returning to buy his honey as gifts for our friends and family.

31/05/2025

I once spent ten minutes talking to Lionel Blair in a car park in Eastbourne.

Lionel was an actor, choreographer, tap dancer, and television presenter.

And he had a way of putting people at their ease.

He’d come out of the theatre for fresh air during morning rehearsals, and we got talking.

About everything and nothing in particular.

What I remember is how easy he was to talk with.

Way before social media was a thing, he also understood the value of being social.

We all have a story or two to tell.

What’s one of yours?

……..

Lionel Blair was born in Montreal in Canada in 1928. He danced. He entertained. And he uplifted people. RIP Lionel.