Unsurprisingly, this “about me” page is all about me, so to find out who I am, learn what on earth a “splateagle” might be hit the relevant question below and I'll endeavour to answer. Tech stuff is bundled off in its own subsection accessible via the navigation bar.
so what is this place?
splateagle.com is my internet domain, it was bought as a present back in 2001 to give me a permanent personal email address. There's been a personal site of some description here since 2003.
This is the fifth version of that site. Its primary purpose recently shifted from simply being a “vanity site” to being my first point of contact as a freelance graphic designer... I'm still working out the finer points of that but I think I'm starting to strike the right balance, with the work side of the site taking a front seat, without losing the personal content.
The rest of the site serves much the same function as that of the domain itself: helping me stay in touch with far away friends and family by blogging and posting pictures.
This is the fifth version of that site. Its primary purpose recently shifted from simply being a “vanity site” to being my first point of contact as a freelance graphic designer... I'm still working out the finer points of that but I think I'm starting to strike the right balance, with the work side of the site taking a front seat, without losing the personal content.
The rest of the site serves much the same function as that of the domain itself: helping me stay in touch with far away friends and family by blogging and posting pictures.
who are you?
My name's Patrick, I'm a freelance graphic designer living and working in the wonderful Escheresque city of Edinburgh. I grew up in South Yorkshire across the border in England. I'm 33.
Since this site is (by its nature) essentially all about me, it seemed sensible to explain who “me” is to anyone visiting who might not know me (hello!)... that said I imagine most if not all of the people who read this site actually do already know me in some way (hello to you lot too!) either in real life or online, but some of you know me better than others... anyway whether you have no idea who I am, or you just feel you might be missing some specific detail then I've rambled on further in the various other sections below with more detail.
Since this site is (by its nature) essentially all about me, it seemed sensible to explain who “me” is to anyone visiting who might not know me (hello!)... that said I imagine most if not all of the people who read this site actually do already know me in some way (hello to you lot too!) either in real life or online, but some of you know me better than others... anyway whether you have no idea who I am, or you just feel you might be missing some specific detail then I've rambled on further in the various other sections below with more detail.
what do you do for a living?
(have you noticed how this is almost always the first question people ask you at parties?)
It should be pretty clear from the rest of the site that I earn my living as a freelance designer. Mostly I work in print and web design, with experience in branding, corporate identity, direct marketing, and web design. If you missed it somehow the front page has some examples of my work.
I always wanted to earn my living in some way which combines my love of language and communication, with my knack for building and maintaining relationships, together with a pretty strong design literacy.
Now after several years of agency work, I'm finding that working as a freelancer gives me more freedom to tailor my work to the specific needs of individual clients. I've been lucky to work on some really exciting projects, and with some wonderful clients.
If you want to know more about me and work, you can look me up on LinkedIn.
It should be pretty clear from the rest of the site that I earn my living as a freelance designer. Mostly I work in print and web design, with experience in branding, corporate identity, direct marketing, and web design. If you missed it somehow the front page has some examples of my work.
I always wanted to earn my living in some way which combines my love of language and communication, with my knack for building and maintaining relationships, together with a pretty strong design literacy.
Now after several years of agency work, I'm finding that working as a freelancer gives me more freedom to tailor my work to the specific needs of individual clients. I've been lucky to work on some really exciting projects, and with some wonderful clients.
If you want to know more about me and work, you can look me up on LinkedIn.
tell me more about you?
“Hello, my name is Patrick and I am a language addict.”
Way back when, my choice of degree (English) was motivated by a deep rooted love of language and communication, which is a recurrent theme in everything I do. I write short fiction when I can, which isn't always just a matter of having the time...
I love my own life and value them in general: the phrase “wouldn't hurt a fly” is an exaggeration because I'm only human and sometimes flies piss me off, but on the whole I'm in awe of the sheer magic that allows some particular combinations of elements to enjoy an existence that goes beyond their physical properties.
Partly that awe drives my vegetarianism (though in truth not liking meat has more to do with it) I don't eat other animals. I get a little bit hacked off when people assume this doesn't include fish or chickens (when did these become vegetables?) I'm really not a foaming at the mouth evangelical type however... about anything really but certainly not about food - so long as you enjoy what you eat (and recognise the differences between animals vegetables and minerals) that's fine by me.
Way back when, my choice of degree (English) was motivated by a deep rooted love of language and communication, which is a recurrent theme in everything I do. I write short fiction when I can, which isn't always just a matter of having the time...
I love my own life and value them in general: the phrase “wouldn't hurt a fly” is an exaggeration because I'm only human and sometimes flies piss me off, but on the whole I'm in awe of the sheer magic that allows some particular combinations of elements to enjoy an existence that goes beyond their physical properties.
Partly that awe drives my vegetarianism (though in truth not liking meat has more to do with it) I don't eat other animals. I get a little bit hacked off when people assume this doesn't include fish or chickens (when did these become vegetables?) I'm really not a foaming at the mouth evangelical type however... about anything really but certainly not about food - so long as you enjoy what you eat (and recognise the differences between animals vegetables and minerals) that's fine by me.
what do you know?
Most recently (and relevantly!) I have a handful of formal training - and about a decade of practical experience - in graphic design, specialising in print and (for the past four years) direct marketing. I'm fluent in most aspects (and versions) of Adobe Creative Suite, but I'm utterly clueless in Quark and Microsoft Publisher brings me out in a rash.
I can design, build and maintain websites (as you might have noticed) but my primary focus has always been print. I've worked on shop floors enough to have a fair grasp of the production side of design - as well as the creative side - which I find gives me an edge in producing designs which translate well into real finished products. As with everything though there's always more to learn!
Academically I have a Masters degree in English Literature, specialising in contemporary Scottish women's fiction (how practical eh?) as well as a raft of broader qualifications at earlier levels. Those include some that say I can speak French and German... mind rust has crept in there somewhat due to the fact that I have barely any occasion to use a language other than English these days, but on the rare occasions that it's needed I've found my babelfish is still alive and kicking, even if he can take a while to wake up.
Last but not least, in a former life I did part of a post-graduate qualification in Library and Information Studies. I gave up on it when I realised that I didn't actually want to be a librarian. You'd be amazed how many of the skills I picked up are still useful though...
I can design, build and maintain websites (as you might have noticed) but my primary focus has always been print. I've worked on shop floors enough to have a fair grasp of the production side of design - as well as the creative side - which I find gives me an edge in producing designs which translate well into real finished products. As with everything though there's always more to learn!
Academically I have a Masters degree in English Literature, specialising in contemporary Scottish women's fiction (how practical eh?) as well as a raft of broader qualifications at earlier levels. Those include some that say I can speak French and German... mind rust has crept in there somewhat due to the fact that I have barely any occasion to use a language other than English these days, but on the rare occasions that it's needed I've found my babelfish is still alive and kicking, even if he can take a while to wake up.
Last but not least, in a former life I did part of a post-graduate qualification in Library and Information Studies. I gave up on it when I realised that I didn't actually want to be a librarian. You'd be amazed how many of the skills I picked up are still useful though...
who do you know?
Friends have always been one of the most important things in my life, and I seem to have a knack for making good ones: the very first friend I ever made is still a close and dear one, although now his days of playing with snails have long since given way to a fulfilling adult life in Cambridge with his lovely wife.
Closer to home I have a good crowd of friends with whom I spend a lot of my time and you'll tend to find that I link to their sites (when they have them) if the subjects of their blogs relate to my own. This is partly just because they're all wonderful people (even the ones with no websites) but mostly because I think you'll gain a better perspective on the events I'm describing if you can see them from different angles.
My knack for making friends carries over into my work on occasion, both in befriending colleagues and in finding ways to work with friends. I get a bit uncomfortable about calling it “networking” but it's something I do almost instinctively. Again I'm on LinkedIn and Twitter if you'd like to keep up with what I'm doing.
Closer to home I have a good crowd of friends with whom I spend a lot of my time and you'll tend to find that I link to their sites (when they have them) if the subjects of their blogs relate to my own. This is partly just because they're all wonderful people (even the ones with no websites) but mostly because I think you'll gain a better perspective on the events I'm describing if you can see them from different angles.
My knack for making friends carries over into my work on occasion, both in befriending colleagues and in finding ways to work with friends. I get a bit uncomfortable about calling it “networking” but it's something I do almost instinctively. Again I'm on LinkedIn and Twitter if you'd like to keep up with what I'm doing.
tell me more about the site?
web sites are by nature always "work in progress"
The current incarnation of the site represents its fifth major overhaul (having also now been significantly updated within that fifth framework - hence v5.5). As always I have a few ideas for adding to it/changing it but I wouldn't advise holding your breath in anticipation! One thing about the fifth generation of splateagle.com is that it's been designed to be easier to update than previous versions... we'll see how that pans out.
That said (as ever) you'll more than likely always find some recently edited content in the blog section... unless I've gone away for months on end again... which has been known to happen.
If you're looking for more tech-oriented answers they're corralled in their own section under "tech".
The current incarnation of the site represents its fifth major overhaul (having also now been significantly updated within that fifth framework - hence v5.5). As always I have a few ideas for adding to it/changing it but I wouldn't advise holding your breath in anticipation! One thing about the fifth generation of splateagle.com is that it's been designed to be easier to update than previous versions... we'll see how that pans out.
That said (as ever) you'll more than likely always find some recently edited content in the blog section... unless I've gone away for months on end again... which has been known to happen.
If you're looking for more tech-oriented answers they're corralled in their own section under "tech".
what is a "splateagle" anyway?!?
(it's not that interesting but people ask a lot)
Back in school one of my friends compulsively gave people really odd nicknames, even to the point where he referred to his parents as “bead” and “pear” - my name (Patrick) doesn't lend itself readily to any particularly unusual nicknames, but somehow this friend managed to distort patrick, to “splatrick” and thence “splat”, which to my ear is always pronounced in a very particular and emphatic tone characteristic of this crazy old friend.
splat became splateagle on contact with the internet back in the mid 90s. Opening my first personal email account I wanted something simple and distinctive, but both patrick@ and splat@ were already taken. Faced with a depressingly unoriginal sequence of numbers for my email address, I was forced to be more inventive. The obvious choice was to add a surname. My own is a cumbersome nuisance however so I borrowed the surname Eagle from my best friend making “splateagle” which has kinda stuck.
These days - to paraphrase one of the web greats - it's become a treasured and carefully guarded point in the space of ten-character strings. At last check (and for the past decade or more) every instance of splateagle you'll find online is me. I like that and hope it continues that way.
So now you know. I told you it wasn't that interesting.
Back in school one of my friends compulsively gave people really odd nicknames, even to the point where he referred to his parents as “bead” and “pear” - my name (Patrick) doesn't lend itself readily to any particularly unusual nicknames, but somehow this friend managed to distort patrick, to “splatrick” and thence “splat”, which to my ear is always pronounced in a very particular and emphatic tone characteristic of this crazy old friend.
splat became splateagle on contact with the internet back in the mid 90s. Opening my first personal email account I wanted something simple and distinctive, but both patrick@ and splat@ were already taken. Faced with a depressingly unoriginal sequence of numbers for my email address, I was forced to be more inventive. The obvious choice was to add a surname. My own is a cumbersome nuisance however so I borrowed the surname Eagle from my best friend making “splateagle” which has kinda stuck.
These days - to paraphrase one of the web greats - it's become a treasured and carefully guarded point in the space of ten-character strings. At last check (and for the past decade or more) every instance of splateagle you'll find online is me. I like that and hope it continues that way.
So now you know. I told you it wasn't that interesting.
what's this creative commons you mention?
Intellectual property is a thorny issue these days, not least because it's quite difficult to police copyright infringement in a space like the internet. I've worked hard on this site, it's a labour of love (nobody's forcing me to keep a personal page after all) but nonetheless it takes effort, so while policing copyright is difficult, it's happily not impossible.
Unless otherwise indicated, all of the text and graphical content of splateagle.com is my own work. As such it remains my property even out here in the big wide web. That property is protected by a creative commons licence full details of which can be found by following that link. In short you are free to copy, distribute and display work from these pages under the conditions that:
I may waive any or all of these conditions if asked, and I'd appreciate being informed of any distribution or display in advance - you can contact me via the site.
Unless otherwise indicated, all of the text and graphical content of splateagle.com is my own work. As such it remains my property even out here in the big wide web. That property is protected by a creative commons licence full details of which can be found by following that link. In short you are free to copy, distribute and display work from these pages under the conditions that:
- You clearly credit the original creator (that would be me)
- You do not use my work for commercial purposes
- You do not create derivative work by altering or transforming my work
I may waive any or all of these conditions if asked, and I'd appreciate being informed of any distribution or display in advance - you can contact me via the site.
