Getting back out in Belfast’s creative design scene.
I spent yesterday working in Belfast city centre. I’ve been saying for ages that I want to spend more time in Belfast. I need to get in more. I want to work out of the city more often and there are loads of reasons why. But one of the main reasons is to connect more with other people in the creative and entrepreneur scene that is often thriving in Northern Ireland.
Yesterday was also an ideal opportunity to trial out hot-desking Blick in Belfast as they were also hosting a creative talk by this really fantastic designer/artist called Alana McDowell.
Exclusive update: It’s actually now Wed 21st Feb 21:54 and I’ve been listening to Chris Williamson podcasts for an hour or so and I’ve remembered I’ve not written this blog post yet so I really aught to get it out today! So let’s get back to it!
The event itself was a sell out. There was about 25/30 people in the room and I got the opportunity to network with a few of them. One of the good things about these events at Blick is that the diversity of creativity in the room is always unreal. Blick itself is a melting pot of design, art, creativity and more. There is something about the vibes in that space that always makes me feel super inspired. I think if you’re into semiotics at all you’ll get what I mean. I’ve added an image below from the Seedhead Arts instagram who lead the way in Northern Ireland with street art and a video from Belfast Design Week. Two essential accounts you should follow if you’re interested in the Belfast / Northern Irish creative design scene.
Alana’s talk was super inspiring. Prior to the talk I was pretty new to her work but the moment I looked her up on Instagram I realised I had seen several projects before. Primarily from being a big fan of Jameson whiskey and the work at Kelly's Cellars in the heart of Belfast.
Alana is an Artist, an Illustrator and a Designer. But what really stands out to me is her work with Colour, Letters and Murals. Being from Northern Ireland and painting murals is a sentence that generates a tonne of energy and Alana is really able to take that energy and inject real positive vibes into her work.
There is a piece that she painted for Larne council that makes me feel happy just looking at it. If I was Larne council I’d be commissioning Alana McDowell to paint the whole area. I’d encourage all areas of Northern Ireland to look into the opportunities to paint walls in a positive way. It’s part of our culture and we make our own culture we should remember the crafts passed down but curate the future that we want the next generation to live within. I certainly want to live in towns and cities full of colour and positive vibes around me anyway!
Alana walked us through her CV… Update: it’s now 22:39, that was less than one hour of writing but I’ve published this post to see how it looks on the web. I’m going to rewrite this paragraph and much of this blog tmrrw…
brb
Electronic cash that changes hands directly from person to person, under the control of no financial institution.
Last year my focus has been about stability in family life, work, health, fitness and focus. 12 months prior I was working on a startup called Sugar. This was an Invisible Building project but the idea was to spin it out into it’s own company. Sugar Financial Technology was a startup with a focus on Fintech mixed with social. My research lead me to gain an great interest and a fascination about building with Bitcoin from a design perspective.
I have had an interest in Bitcoin for some time and like many in my culture bubble, I had landed myself into a room within the app Clubhouse. Within my first few weeks there I’d learnt about these new things called NFTs and I’m not gonna lie I was very excited about the prospect the new crypto economy and everything Web 3.
Sitting here in 2024. After the collapse of FTX and everything that went with it. Crypto is most certainly looking dead in the water and the only time I really think of cryptocurrency or blockchain these days is when I watch Man United train in their sponsored training kits.
What makes Bitcoin different to Tezos or any other cryptocurrency in existence is that Bitcoin has been open source from the day Satoshi mined the first block. This first block is known as the genesis block.
The first thing I actually see in the code above is the word banksy. What you should be looking at though is the phrase: The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.
This was put there by Satoshi for a few reasons.
Timestamp Proof. Including a headline from a well-known newspaper served as a timestamp to prove that the block was created on or after January 3, 2009. This helped prevent pre-mining, a practice where creators generate blocks for a blockchain before its public release, thus potentially gaining an unfair advantage.
Political Statement: The message can be interpreted as a critique of the traditional banking system. In 2009, the world was still reeling from the 2008 financial crisis, which led to massive bailouts of banks by governments. By referencing a news headline about a second financial bailout, Satoshi might have been commenting on the instability and moral hazard of the traditional financial system, while proposing Bitcoin as an alternative system that doesn’t rely on central banks or government interventions.
Historical Marker and Identity Concealment: This message in Bitcoin's genesis block not only serves as a historical marker by permanently anchoring Bitcoin's creation in a specific moment of financial crisis and uncertainty but also aids in Satoshi Nakamoto's identity concealment, as using a newspaper headline avoided revealing personal information, maintaining anonymity and keeping the focus on the technology's purpose rather than the creator's identity.
Looking at the front page of that newspaper, I can’t help but notice many similarities to the world today in 2024. The world is outraged about the war in Gaza, yet we’re not doing anything about it. The symmetry between the word 'Chancellor' and the pink banner that says ‘Eat Out from £5’ reminds me of life during the pandemic, when our current Prime Minister, who was then our Chancellor, ran the very popular ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme. The entire page echoes the cost of living crisis that the UK is going through at the moment.
The future of finance starting with small change
The rising cost of living crisis most definitely inspired me to proceed with my idea for Sugar. I wanted to launch a digital tip jar incorporating a savings technology and build a social network into it. I thought there was no better way to do this than with Bitcoin. I envisioned creating a tipping network where electronic cash could change hands directly from person to person, free from the control of any financial institution. Obviously inspired by that direct quote from Satoshi Nakamoto. I believed the best way to create a brand new market utilising this electronic cash was to concentrate on small change. The tagline for Sugar was 'The future of finance starting with small change,' and this vision led me to the Catalyst Co-Founders programme, where I sought a team to build this project with.
Co-Founders is an excellent programme based here in Northern Ireland and i’m really delighted that our team got to the final and we were in the top 10 through the process. Unfortunately on the last night we did not make the cut and lost out in the opportunity of a 10k seed grant.
I’m going to do another blog post on my journey with Sugar, Co-Founders and Bitcoin design soon. I’ll talk about where it’s at, where it could go and it’s future. Let me know what you think about this post, the idea and if you’d like to learn more about anything mentioned.
Getting back into video content like it’s 2017
Back in 2017 I was getting into vlogging both as a subscriber and a filmmaker. I’d subscribed to the likes of Kraig Adams and Sara Dietschy who were NYC vloggers inspired by the likes of Casey Niestat and Gary Vaynerchuk. Back then, the idea of doing a daily vlog hadn’t gained massive popularity, but it was definitely something that was really quite achievable for many small creators on YouTube.
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Uploading vlogs lets people see your personality. It reveals to the world your offline activities by bringing them online. It’s also a really great way to grow a personal brand online, putting out regular, sometimes more raw and unpolished content is a proven method to get more subscribers and ultimately more eyes on you and your personal brand.
I had never sought a huge YouTube following, but I have always loved the culture that was unfolding online. I’ve always been really into video content, and although I haven't daily vlogged, during 2017, I regularly uploaded vlog content from my life filmed on weekends, highlighting and capturing cool moments of the year.
Check out the videos above to see some content I filmed and uploaded to YouTube in 2017. Most of these vlogs were edited fairly fast, but with each one, I learned to develop my own laid-back style. Part of that style was influenced by those NYC vloggers mentioned above, and I can definitely say I have been influenced by well-known names in the content world like Neistat and Vaynerchuk.
Don’t go fancy, document, verses create.
It was Gary Vaynerchuk who pushed the message, “Don’t go fancy; document versus create.” This means showing up to work and pumping out content quickly, caring less about the camera, not using a script, and focusing on documenting what you're doing rather than planning what you want to tell people. It's more effective to guide people through the process you're experiencing, rather than advising them based on what you think you should be sharing
When it comes to business and work, I have been actively engaging in #workinpublic, and I always encourage customers and clients to do the same. I’m particularly keen to document my personal journey through blogs and vlogs, both as a way to hold myself accountable, ensuring I show up every day, and to showcase my journey in my unique style.
Film what you love, chances are other people will love it too.
Last year I uploaded two Instagram reels on my personal Instagram account for a Northern Irish band called And so I watch you from afar. One of these videos has over 7,682 views and the other has over 10,600 views. These were filmed from the crowd, in the moment footage. But they captured the real energy in the room.
Another example is when I filmed the Moira Community Santa Run. There was magic in the air that night, and snow started falling unplanned halfway through our journey. I was in vlog mode that night and captured it all on camera.
The video, now with over 11,000 views on my personal YouTube channel, not only showcases the event for future Santa runs in Moira but also has helped put the small town on the map and contributed to advertising for Tourism NI.
Serendipity in the moment
I guess what I’m saying that there is serendipity in the moment and you never know what will happen when you upload. So just keep smiling, share as you learn and follow the vibes. You never know, Santa might arrive and it’ll snow in your local town.
If you’re interested in following me on this journey, you’re in the right place right now. But also remember to check back whenever you see my content online. Or if you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to smash that like button and hit subscribe.. :)
Finding my offer.
A new year, a new website and this time we are focused on personal blogging, personal branding and sharing as we are learning.
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For as long as I can remember I have always pushed the message that everyone should have their own website, their own blog. But I always over analyse the situation when it comes to my own space.
I’ve decided to whip up a very nice Squarespace site that let’s me have a space for my own brand. A space for blogging, showcasing work and in the future a space for commerce. After all it wouldn’t be as fun if you couldn’t sell stuff online.
Part of this exploration is so I can rediscover value that will lead me to create offers that people would be silly to turn down. You might be able to tell that I spent the latter half of 2023 reading the books of Alex Hormozi. I might make Alex’s first book “100 Million offers” the first book review of this blog. Reviewing books would be a good way to add value. This website is a Squarespace and I’m keen to share how to get as much value from it as possible.
I’ll be constantly redesigning and updating live. I’ll blog about how to perform technical upgrades, how to add your own CSS and how best to utilise all the awesome built in features. We’ll then consider if we should pivot to Webflow, Shopify or build something bespoke!
I guess if you’ve read this page I will say thanks. Genuinely thank you. Looking forward to this journey and sharing the public redesign as we go.