Selected projects:

All Posts in Manchester

May 22, 2010 - No Comments!

So, I’ve got a new job!

As of next Tuesday (1st June), I'll be starting my new job as designer at TBWA\Manchester.  I'm really excited about the opportunity and can't wait to get to work.

After a year and a half, its time to say goodbye to this...


(This an advert from the dizzy heights of 1999!  Amazing,)

and hello to...

Media_httpwwwmediabis_jlwkf

February 8, 2010 - No Comments!

Ooh… I have only gone and re-designed my website…

Over the past couple of months I’ve been working on re-designing my website.  Whatever I have had up before has either been a bit of a bodge job or rushed up in time for something happening.  The result was a bit of a mess, and a nightmare to update.

So with this new site should hopefully fix all the issues with the old one, and hopefully my work is now portrayed in an easy and accessible way, with a smooth flow around the site and between sections.  And hopefully it looks ok too…  but I suppose that is for everyone else to decide.

A few further site updates will be coming at a later date.

Anyway, I’d love to know what you think.

Ben. x

bentopliss.com

ps. try refreshing the page a couple of times too.

February 3, 2010 - No Comments!

Jon Burgerman at Noise Lab, Manchester. (@jonburgerman @noise_lab)

I visited Noise Lab (twitter.com/noise_lab part of Noise Festival) on Market Street for the first time last Sunday (31/01/2010), I’d been wanting to pop in for a visit since they opened and I’d not had a chance to make any of their talks so far.  Last Sunday was different, I finally made it in as Jon Burgerman (www.jonburgerman.com ) was in town.  To be honest the visit didn’t start very well. Firstly the heating was/is broken, and secondly we were left waiting an hour and a half for Mr Burgerman to arrive (something to do with flying in from Oslo).

Once Jon Burgerman arrived, and the talk/interview got underway the cold and (slightly) restless audience seemed much happier and engrossed in the man and his work.  It was interesting to  hear about his early motivations (not to have to work to much and not to starve, being the main ones),  as well as hearing how he progressed from working in his bedroom to being an internationally known artist and doodler; drawing on everything from envelopes to Pepsi cans, putting on art exhibitions, annoying art agents/sellers and some of his new projects (including combining doodling and live music performance).

If you’ve not been down to Noise Labs yet I’d recommend it (although wrap up warm if it’s a cold day!), there is loads of great work to buy from lots of creative people, a nice little café and there are loads of great workshops and talks too going on.

 
Some links…  yeah.

www.noisefestival.com
twitter.com/noise_lab
www.jonburgerman.com
www.biro-web.com
twitter.com/jonburgerman

September 25, 2009 - No Comments!

Orbital at the Manchester Academy 19/09/2009 – videos

 

I’ve had my new iPhone a while now and realised I haven’t used the much talk about (prior to release) video function, so I did a little test at the Orbital gig at Manchester Academy last Saturday (19/09/2009).  (I never generally think to take videos on my iPhone, but I forgotten to clear the memory card before going out and ran out of space on my card.)

 I took two videos on my iPhone and two on my camera ( Canon Ixus 700, http://www.cameras.co.uk/details/canon-ixus-700.cfm) the results are as below:

Orbital - Impact (The Earth is Burning) - Canon Ixus 700

Orbital - Belfast - Canon Ixus 700

Orbital – Satan – iPhone 3GS (held vertically)

Orbital – Doctor? – iPhone 3GS (held horizontally) - This has a bit of a slow start.

I was largely impressed with the iPhones video capabilities, and I like how it automatically knows which way round the phone is being held.  Although the sound sensitivity levels are pretty high on the phone which causes the sound to drop out completely which is no good!

Ps. What an amazing gig!

September 6, 2009 - No Comments!

Joy Diversion

I know this pic has been posted about a bit over the past few weeks or so. But I happened to walk past it in on my way to Northern Digitals the other day and it got me thinking about the art of graffiti.

 When done cleverly, with a bit of wit and a tongue firmly in cheek then it can be really succesful and form a sort of landmark, such as works from Banksy etc, and contribute to an area. Done badly and it does exactly the opposite and starts what can be a downward cycle of vandalism and neglect.

 Whether good or bad, the result often outlives the period in which the graffiti remains and certainly the brief moment of inspiration from the artist or vandal.

 Anyway this bit of marker fun made me smile.

Photo