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- Gardener12
- Nairn6
Food
Went down to Borough Market earlier to have a meet-up with a few friends, some of whom run stalls in there.
Seeing as I was down there, I popped by a place to get some of their absolutely delicious chermoula, as I've not had it for six months or so. My partner popped beside and wanted some bits and pieces too, so insisted on paying and then said to the guy who was weighing out the tub of chermoula I'd asked for "No! Go for the big tub!". I raised my eyebrows at this, seeing how much a small tub cost, but she knows the people down there and has spent a lot of time working there, so I assumed she knew what she was doing.
Anyway, we now have a £25 tub of delicious Moroccan Chimichurri-esque herb marinade, and we're off at the end of the week, so I guess I'm going to be making myself sick on this stuff in the meantime.
I don't mind. It's fucking delicious.
Also, the look on her face when she realised what she'd done was priceless.
- taking notes: chermoula
tnx!uan - If you like Chimichurri, and let's face it - who doesn't? - and you like Levantine or North African food, you'll absolutely love it.Nairn
- Those two are like bacon butties for me - sure, I can make them myself, but they *always* taste better when someone else does it for me.Nairn
- And I'm telling you, i make a mean bacon buttie.Nairn
- Mmmmmmm!monospaced
- taking notes: chermoula
- utopian11
- Horp18
Layoffs...
I haven't been laid off, and I haven't been a designer since about 2006 anyway.
However, I think the whole industry is continuing to shrink dramatically, and the reality is it will never return to the form any of us ever knew.
I leapfrogged my way around the general creative industry for my entire career, and was finally labelled a "brand strategist" until August 2025.
But that role was, by then, patently absurd. I'd paid off my mortgage around 6 years ago and had dabbled, between project commissions, with various things... one of which was driving for money.
I paid the money to undertake the HGV (heavy goods vehicle / trucks) tuition and test.
Got my license, and I now drive trucks. Signed up with an agency and I drive all kinds of trucks for a wide variety of organisations.
I drive for the National Health Service blood donor services, and a national food distributor, and a local business that supplies building materials. Other things will come along. Driving tippers out of quarries, or doing a run to Scotland in a massive rig. I've just got started.
The money is fine. It's less of course, but it's still more than enough.
I like it. It has a physical aspect to it, and it brings an insane amount of new experiences. I drive long distances and see places I've never been to before.
I quit LinkedIn ... about 6 weeks ago I guess. I'm out. I'm ex-creative industries. Life is good.
There's so much else that one can do.
Don't cling on to the idea that you're a designer, or a creative, or an image maker, or whatever.
It can be more exciting being brand new and having it all to learn.
- "I quit LinkedIn"
Not having that self-important circle-jerk in your daily life must be liberating.Continuity - We see you rollin', we likin'...
Enjoy the freedom.Longcopylover - Congrats, Horp, on your continued success. I was laid off with the rest of my team in November. For me, having no job or role in society has been a bummer.nuggler
- Well doneGnash
- +1 @continuity...canoe
- Interesting take.You don't have to give up being an artist or designer though. Those can be life long passions. But 100% agree. It's a big world.falcadia
- +100 Horp. There's a whole world of things out there where creativity still applies. I started a side gig that has evolved into branding vacation properties.aslip
- thanks! and glad things are working out. this is inspirationalSquiddy
- "I quit LinkedIn"
- newcunt24
- I done a painting.
Oil on canvasnewcunt - Love it.Continuity
- <3PonyBoy
- +++PhanLo
- Cool********
- You done good!palimpsest
- Dope_niko
- Very niceGnash
- Strong imagestewart
- like it --- and your name_me_
- Its setFax_Benson
- Like it a lot. If I may, how big is it?MrT
- Thanks chaps. Glad you like it :)
MrT, it's 30x40cmnewcunt - I'd like to start doing some bigger ones. I'm new to oil paint but really enjoying itnewcunt
- +1utopian
- +renderedred
- SET!garbage
- https://static0.srcd…garbage
- LoTR IIIpalimpsest
- I done a painting.
- bainbridge9
- He worked at a shoe store and had a hot stay at home wife. And had a daughter smarter than today’s president._niko
- as a kid I never understood why he was avoiding Pegmxhxr
- They weren’t supposed to be poor. Just working class and not rich like the Huxtablesmonospaced
- Roseanne was poor.monospaced
- He's not poor but he works retailbainbridge
- Yeah he had a stable job that supported basic shit. He couldn’t enjoy the high life, but he wasn’t struggling hard.monospaced
- Krassy5
- Had to look that up to confirm, Jesus Christ I didn’t realize he’d gotten so jacked_niko
- part of it is the tiny shirtKrassy
- One of the best and worst drivers in history!fooler
- Too much horse powerOBBTKN
- lol fooler_niko
- For a professional golfer he sure drives like shitcanoe
- https://www.youtube.…utopian
- Asian Tiger Hidden WoodsAQUTE
- https://www.youtube.…neverscared
- The man is rich enough to have a driver and car ready to take him anywhere 24/7. And yet, there he is still flipping carsAkagiyama
- Krassy13
- Krassy12
- ********10
- Gnash1
- Makes senseGnash
- https://i.imgur.com/…utopian
- he looks confusedrobthelad
- I'm pretty sure he can't readGnash
- he looks like he's had his head stuck one of those Roman helmets for 6 months.Fax_Benson
- he is a Roman helmet_niko
- mort_5
- Lets get shawarmamonospaced
- 2 kilos for everyone.Continuity
- With onions.monospaced
- Squiddy6
Layoffs...
I’m guessing most QBN are graphic designers. Any programmers?
Anyway I live in Honolulu worked for an outfit in Los Angeles..laid off back in September.
Did random stuff and currently shelve groceries. It's zen; different kind of stress, clearly less money. No dependents however. Anyway, the time and environment allowed me to constructively think about things.
At the same time, working a different timezone had trained me to wake up at 4am - or "signs your getting old" :-) - which due to these changes, turned into walks at the beach park. Which lead to a new path: I regularly saw the corner liquor store owner’s wife and his daughter out on walks/runs. And so are training to do the Honolulu Marathon in December. More paths in there I hope
The point is, like others said, stay positive. Small things. Different things. Change your point of view.
Hope there is some nugget of usefulness in there. Hope things go well for everyone.
- I'm in advertising, and the scene isn't all that much different than it is for designers and programmers. At least, not for those looking for FT work.Continuity
- My freelance practice pays rent, food, and bills, but it's clear the environment is unstable. At the same time, I've found opportunities to gradually shift itContinuity
- ... from servicing typical generalist advertising agencies and their clients, to starting to build up fandom marketing consulting services, too. Basically:Continuity
- advertising to otakus, nerds, and geeks, which brands are only now discovering also have money to spend. Plus it's way more enjoyable to me than helpingContinuity
- ... agencies hawk the usual suspects: sugary drinks, cars, clothes, frozen pizzas.
It's a hustle like doing outreach for FL clients, but thematically is where IContinuity - ... want to be.
*strokes his manga and Macross variable fighter toys while wearing a t-shirt that says "ラーメン" on it*Continuity - Point being: even though the economy and the market for creatives are extraordinarily shit right now, it shouldn't stop one from looking for interesting ways toContinuity
- ... enhancing one's career in ways that bring a bit more satisfaction.
So, like everyone has said so far: try to stay positive. I know it's tough.Continuity - I'm a freelance web developer, mainly doing Shopify dev work. It been inconsistent on work for the past year. Been looking for more contract before FT.BabySnakes
- @Continuity Thanks! BTW I am a programmer if it wasnt clear. Part of me wants to do stuff that doesn't involve computers if that makes sense.Squiddy
- @Squiddy
Oh, I hear you loud and clear. A bit part of me wants to table-flip advertising and rage quit it, and then open a ramen shop somewhere not here.Continuity - *big partContinuity
- Nairn4
Aphex Twin
My first aphex track, before I even knew what any of this sort of thing really meant
- +1canoe
- rinsed this on vhs taped from mtv :) jarvis cocker co-directed the vid... just realising it would have been made just as pulp hit the mainstream.kingsteven
- its such a rad track too, the one with the didg was one of my first i think https://www.youtube.…neverscared
- such a strange vid :)jagara





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