The people over at refill seven have created what must be the best looking skateboards I have ever seen.

Partnering old school punk and skateboard artists with a laser engraving machine, these aren’t just any old deck but quite frankly works of art.

Needless to say I want one but riding across the marble of Milton Keynes is almost certainly out of the question.

They even do laser engraved posters. How good is that?

Go and check out their website and flickr sets.

Recently we gave a quick lesson on the basics of video editing used the most recent Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Airport Trucks video as an example.

We used out takes and extra scenes from the popular chocolate TV advert (clips downloaded from www.aglassandahalffullproductions.com) to create a quick alternative version with a noisy soundtrack that demonstrates sound and visual elements working together.

At 7.30 you are awoken by the shrill sound of your alarm clock. One arm stretches from beneath the duvet and automatically presses the snooze button. You think to yourself “I’ll wait until the alarm goes off next time…”. This process is repeated until the alarm clock finally gives up or you give up and haul yourself out of bed…. usually just before regular office hours begin.

“As long as I’m awake enough to answer the phone if any clients call I’ll be fine.” you think. The kettle is put on, a shower is taken, the dishwasher emptied, the cat fed, clothing desicions made and eventually at about 10.30am you sit at your desk, coffee in hand and switch on your computer. Email is checked and read, Facebook maybe perused, that present for your niece found on Amazon and your to-do list reveiwed.

“Time for another coffee.” Then after an important meeting with the cat it’s back to work.

It’s a freelancers life…. and we all have had days like it when we work for ourselves from our homes. Sure, we usually end up making up the time elsewhere, or so we tell ourselves, but none of us could deny that when working from home those small domestic duties and commitments suddenly seem much more important (or favourable) than that review that needs writing.

There are also times when I have sprung out of bed and worked a half day solid before most have even eaten their cornflakes. I have gone to the front door at 10 o’clock in the evening to put out the rubbish and it has been locked… This is because I have not stepped one foot outside and not met single living soul all day…

Then there is office / studio life. The daily commute, breakfast show radio or reading a great book on the train. A sunny drive with some uplifting music playing in the car. Arriving at work, coffee machine on and a quick catch up with colleagues. Email checked, meeting with associates, new tasks allocated, 1st 3 items crossed off the to-do list by 10.30am.

A buzz is in the air because of a great pitch win and the hum of activity keeps you motivated. You find out all about Dave’s unbelievable weekend and learn from the delivery driver that he actually used to be roadie for Led Zeppelin and that he prefers Mercedes vans to Fords. One thousand ideas run through your head after an afternoon briefing and when you turn off the computer at the end of the day you look forward to an evening at home with some good food and a couple of favourite shows on TV.

There are only certain jobs you can do from home, our creative field almost being one of them. I have to say though there is nothing like the buzz of a studio environment to get the juices flowing and the enthusiam of colleagues to keep you motivated… even if it does mean getting out of bed a bit earlier.

Hi My Name is Rob.

You can call me the ‘new boy’ here at Provide Design, although just passing my 30th birthday, I’m not sure how long I can use the term ‘boy’ for.

I thought it would be best to introduce myself personally, not because my life is incredibly complex and decyphering it would take far too long but I wanted to ensure what was written was correct, or at least made me out to be vastly rich and highly intelligent.

I have been working professionally within the creative industry for over 8 years and have undertaken roles at numerous design agencies, print studios and publishing houses before seizing the opportunity to work for Provide Design.

I love working on all aspects of graphic design, be it print, web, illustration, product or any of their sub genres. Design comes in all forms and each one has it’s own challenges and although it may sound very ‘designer talk’, we all need challenges to keep us creative.

I regularly confess to being a bit of an über geek. My slightly obsessive love for good, clean web programming, (especially CSS and XHTML), would probably bore most people to a pulp but I like designing websites that not only look good but work really well. I find it imperative that as a designer we don’t loose track of the job in hand. The balance of form and function is never more prevalent than with today’s websites. I try and ensure that all our websites meet that balance.

Living and working just outside Milton Keynes makes me happy. It’s nice round here, lots to see and do, and the countryside is never too far away for a quick hammer on the mountain bike. If only to burn off chocolate muffins.

Any spare moment I can grab I spend with my family. I’ve been married to Rachel for the past 6 years with one child and another about to arrive any day now – what was I saying about liking challenges?

So this is me, pleased to meet you. If you’d like to know more, drop me a comment.

Although I’m not sure what I am letting myself in for!

Close friend of Provide Design, Simon Chambers, has just launched his new online gallery on ebay – Psynapse.

The mainstay of this gallery is archive quality prints of Simon’s fractal based digital art.

Check it out for yourself here: PSYNAPSE DIGTAL ART GALLERY