I ‘jazz’ things up, press a few buttons on my PC, colour things in and ‘magic’ stuff up.
I’ve been doing this for almost four decades.
When I’m not working ... I’m usually ...
at football, buying records, going to parties that play the sort of music I like, making things from scrap wood, t-shirt printing and designing posters.
I’ve been following my team, Chelsea, for almost fifty years. Home, away, European competitions and friendlies.
A
selection of work I’ve created (design, print and installation) ... for Chelsea fans groups and also for Freemantle media. (they operated a Chelsea fans channel as well as TV series such as ‘Who wants to be a millionaire, X Factor and Britain’s got talent’*.
All of the images on the next few pages were picked up and commented on by Chelsea TV, TalkSport, Sky Sports, BBC Sport Football, and a number of football media outlets across the globe.
The John Terry flag, (unveiled after an Eden Hazard wonder goal at Anfield), became a bit of a news story across the national papers as well as SkySports, BBC, TalkSport, Metro and the Evening Standard. The following week, John Terry was awarded a new contract by Chelsea FC.
I’m not saying the flag convinced anybody, but I’m still waiting for him to buy me a drink.
* a highly-questionable programme title, I will say.
In the pre-season of 2015, I was contacted by Rory Jennings from Freemantle Media (now of TalkSport) to create a flag for an upcoming Chelsea tour of the USA.
I had a deadline of not much more than 36 hours to design and print the flag above to accompany Chelsea Fans TV on the tour.
It was finished on a Wednesday morning and less than 12 hours later, appeared in pictures in Times Square, New York. This was followed by appearances in games against Barcelona and Real Madrid amongst others in various locations in the United States.
Last day of the 2015 football season at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea crowned as champions and me installing flags I had produced.
Again, quite good to see my work that evening on Match of the Day and commented on by Jonathan Pearce for BBC Sport.
On the right, I’m installing it all - I had to keep a space between the ‘M’ and ‘P’ characters as there was a walkway between.
A flag to say, as travelling fans, how much we valued our inspirational captain, John Terry. After Eden Hazard scored a wonder goal at Anfield’s Kop End, somebody behind us let off a blue flare so this came out in support. It became a bit of a news story across the national papers as well as SkySports, BBC, TalkSport, Metro and the Evening Standard.
The following week, John Terry was awarded a new contract by Chelsea FC. (just sayin’)
Carrow Road, Norwich which also coincided with the tenth anniversary of the death of our talisman striker, Peter Osgood.
Peter Osgood also played for Norwich City towards the end of his career so these flags received a very warm welcome from both sets of fans at the game.
This display was, again, picked up on by SkySports, TalkSport, BBC Sport Football and Chelsea FC who featured it on their website home page for some time.
I’ve also created (design, print and installation) several large format murals, wallpaper, canvas prints and posters for people’s homes and offices. (above and over the next few pages).
The Nottingham Forest FC canvas I drew when bored one week after a holiday. I donated it a few years later to a charity auction in Nottingham. It was bought by a former player who played in both of their European Cup winning sides.
Some large format graphics (design, print, installation) for a clothing shop fit out in Preston back in 2013.
Some large format graphics (design, print, installation) for an IT business in Northamptonshire in 2019.
I’m often
in places similar to this ...
Where I’ve also been going to for almost fifty years, across the UK, Europe and the USA, buying obscure soul, jazz, house and funk records.
and buying even more music to play at home.
I like building stuff from waste materials, such as pallets and other building materials often found in skips.
With a bit of effort and some tools, can be turned into really nice, functional things.
Best of all, apart from time, and sundry items, they don’t cost anything.
I like making t-shirts and merchandise with a heat press and an ...
Epson Stylus Pro 7400 large format graphics printer, covers up to a metre by 15 metres
It’s a decent-ish side hustle and quite rewarding.
Above are some of my friends wearing some of the designs I have created.
Achievements
I’m not really much into these things, I took an English O-level 18 months early and passed fairly easily but, although I hated school, English, history and geography were subjects I found interesting. Some of the things I consider achievements and given me a great deal of pride have been covered previously but, one or two things come to mind ...
One thing was something my Dad said to me when I had left school in the early 1980s.
You’re on your own now so, make sure of two things ...
1. whatever you decide to do, make sure you love it, that you wake up on a work day and (within reason) make sure you look forward to going somewhere and doing your job.
2. whatever you decide to do, make sure you’re the very best at it that you can possibly be. Aim to be the very top-level best at what you do.
If you do those two things, you’ll never work a day in your life.
Apart from a few downs in the last two years, I’m there on number one. I don’t think I’m too far away on number two. That, as far as I’m concerned, is my biggest achievement.
All day long.
It’s worth mentioning ...
A few years ago, I was freelancing and used to pick up work via PR / marketing / advertising firms.
I received an email brief one Monday morning from AkzoNobel Dulux who needed a bespoke invitation to an awards ceremony.
The coatings firm (one of the ‘Global Fortune 500’ businesses) were unveiling seven new paint shades at this awards thingy for a load of ‘movers and shakers’ in Tower Bridge
Once the waffle in the brief was navigated. I also offered up directions for the printing of 200 of these - on an HP Indigo, 400gsm, GS Smith board with the colours brought to life by spot UV varnish (hence the black ‘guide’ for the application).
The client team were delighted with the first draft and my options for bringing it to life. A few weeks after I delivered this project, I received another one with a brief to advertise an ‘ultra white paint’. I wondered how white ‘ultra white’ must be, was / is it whiter than ‘pure brilliant white’? Is it whiter than the whitest thing you could imagine?
Whatever it was, I applied the same process and then noticed something at the bottom of the brief document. It was my previous work held up as their ‘benchmark’ with, what seemed like some sort of warning, along the lines of ... this is the standard we expect from any person tasked with design work for Dulux Akzo Nobel and this is what we expect to receive.
I took that as one huge compliment.
Akzo Nobel Dulux ‘ultra white house’ became the next benchmark for advertising, told in no uncertain times which, again, is / was a massive backhanded compliment
1984 1989 1995 2001
Produced newswire content and financial news in the aftermath of September 11th 2001, analysing, editing news summaries and layout for client websites and newsletters.
Worked in central London for a press agency laying out news articles, overall composition and preparing printed reports of financial and City of London news.
Copywriter on news stories for Dresdner Bank and several other corporate finance / investment banks such as Kleinwort Benson, JP Morgan, Chase Manhattan.
Started using early edition Apple Macintosh digital computers for design and graphics production at a number of advertising agencies in London.
(Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand and Quark Xpress).
Went straight to work in the printing industry after leaving school / college on screen presses, print finishing, typesetting and film work.
Career timeline thingy
in case you don’t know, I love trains and train maps
Originally a bit of a ‘side hustle’, I started taking on freelance graphic design and content writing assignments for various SMEs through to bigger businesses
Freelance event, mail order business catalogues design and prepare for print output
Freelance event, mail order business catalogues design and prepare for print output
Freelance illustration, Photoshop editing and document composition
Working for Johnston Press / EMAP (at the time, both were FTSE100-listed businesses) on layouts for regional and daily, weekend national newspapers. Also learned more about new digital platemaking (for pages), web presses, RIPs, workflow to print software.
Music event flyers and posters, design and print.
Music event flyers and posters, design and print.
2022
After taking voluntary redundancy at Johnston Press, I had been planning to set up a business with my wife which she had already started.
We used some savings and my redundancy payment to set up Faces Publications. The business provided forecasting information and trends in colour and fabric to garment manufacturers in Asia, Australia, USA, Europe and South Africa.
In three years, Faces Publications had increased client base substantially, clients included Guess Jeans, American Apparel, RocaWear and numerous other clothing brands.
2013
Due to my wife’s ill-health, we had to cease trading with Faces Publications.
I started freelancing graphic design and artworking jobs and added a small digital print output.
What I do in my 8-5 at Munnelly Group and the business units.
OK, if you take out the ‘jazzing stuff up’ and ‘colouring in’, I handle most internal and external literature design, work-winning documents, graphic visuals for Linkedin posts, newsletters, brochures, brand directions, print requests, large format graphics, err ... making tea once in a while and asking people if they want anything from ‘the shop’.
Some recent work is displayed over the next few pages.
Guardior’s Adam Bailey showcases industry leadership at The Security Event in Birmingham
Adam Bailey, Commercial Manager at Guardior, recently attended The Security Event, held at the NEC Birmingham, marking a significant presence for the company in one of the UK’s leading security industry gatherings.
This event, renowned for bringing together professionals and innovators from across the security sector, provided an ideal platform for networking, knowledge exchange, and showcasing new technologies.
During the event, Adam participated in several key discussions that focused on the latest trends and challenges facing the security industry today.
His involvement underscored our commitment to staying at the forefront of industry developments and innovations. Adam’s participation also highlighted our proactive approach in adopting cutting-edge solutions to enhance our services.
The Security Event is designed to cater to the needs of the UK commercial and residential security market. It offers attendees insights into the most recent technologies, practices, and regulatory changes affecting the sector. We viewed this event as an opportunity to align our strategic goals with the latest industry standards and expectations.
Adam Bailey’s role at the event involved engaging with technology providers and security professionals to discuss potential collaborations and partnerships.
6 GUARDIOR IN FOCUS
These discussions are crucial as they help shape the strategic direction of Guardior services, ensuring that we meet the evolving needs of our clients.
Furthermore, Adam explored advancements in areas such as cyber security integration, AI-driven surveillance systems, and smart access controls.
His focus was on identifying technologies that could enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness at Guardior, providing clients with more robust and comprehensive security solutions.
Our Guardior presence at The Security Event through Adam Bailey’s participation, not only reinforces the company’s role as a leader in the security industry, but also demonstrates our dedication to continuous improvement and professional development.
By engaging directly with peers and experts in the field, we are positioning ourself to better anticipate and respond to the dynamic needs of our clients.
As we continue to innovate and lead in providing top-tier security services, events like The Security Event serve as vital platforms for collaboration and growth.
Adam Bailey’s active involvement is a clear indication of our commitment to excellence and proactive approach to leadership in the security sector.
7 GUARDIOR IN
VERTEX, BENEFITS AND REWARDS
Enjoy
*so you’re not feeling like you’ve just landed from outer space! Recruitment. Redefined.
Who do we work with?
As a leading recruiter to the construction and infrastructure services industries, our clients are some of the biggest names in the built environment.
We work with the leading tier one and tier two main contractors, developers and the large subcontracting businesses who support project requirements.
We are very proud of the clients we have on board, most of whom are who stay with us because of the trusted service we strive to provide.
Our collaborative and dedicated team are always aspiring to be the best they can be, individually, and collectively. We apply best practice, compliance and expertise to add value to our customers’ operations.
We’ve been working with Julie at City Calling for a few months now and I can honestly say that she’s been the most reliable recruitment consultant that I have worked with.
I have to make sure that we have qualified people to work on our busy sites and Julie has always been at hand to help – she’s trustworthy and delivers, which is exactly what I need.
Our approach to site wide logistics
Our approach to responsible operations, sustainable business and social value.
I have worked as a volunteer at a number of social enterprises and charities, creating marketing literature, annual reports, banners and flyers, brand identity for an SEN school in Ealing, shop fit outs and even wallpaper for the visitors cafe at HMP Rochester in Kent (Construct a Future).
I have recently accepted an opportunity to join ‘Sustainable Amersham’, a local social enterprise who operate across south Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and the London boroughs of Hillingdon, Hounslow and Ealing.
SA encourage the repair, reuse and recycle of household items, textiles, building materials and tools to contribute to the circular economy, as well as wild flower planting to increase biodiversity.
I’m really looking forward to working with them on a voluntary basis, in my spare time.
REUSE REPAIR RECYCLE RECOVER DISPOSE REDUCE
I think that’s about it.
Yes, I do have one or two ‘learning goals’ or ‘achievements’ left to go in my career. Unfortunately, two of them, I will never achieve.
I’ve finally faced the realisation that I’m too old to be a train driver and I haven’t slipped through the net when it comes to playing for Chelsea, it’s because I’m rubbish at football. (my dad did have a trial though, in 1961!).
