Mike's blog...

I hope you like my snowman drawing? With most of the world on lockdown or isolating over Christmas, I thought I’d write a short snowman poem. Enjoy… The Snowman Poem There was a snowman in a mask Who sipped his whisky, from an old hip flask He kept his distance, caused no trouble Wishing someone…

Several weeks ago I got to work on some Reef Trust artwork, something they could use for merchandise and a T-shirt design. I wanted to capture their logo within an ocean themed setting, highlighting some of the many issues they aim to tackle. This artwork was donated to the project by Tidy Design. It starts…

Earlier today I created “The Mask”, some face mask artwork for social media. This was a quick illustration I did in Procreate, an image I had in my head. I guess I was thinking about “The Creation of Adam”, this is some famous artwork by Michelangelo, two hands almost touching. With COVID being front page…

Yesterday was the 10th of October, what is known to many as World Mental Health Day. With this in mind I wanted to draw something different, dedicating it to the people who battle mental health on a daily basis. This artwork is for the warriors, the brave, those who push forwards, often putting others first….

On Friday afternoon enough was enough, I’d had Snowdon on my to do list for too long, it was time! Sadly a combination of friend cancellations, bad weather and a UK lockdown resulted in a few trips being cancelled in 2019-2020. But… this weekend the forecast looked good and lockdown v2 had not happened yet….

Back in September 2019 I submitted a couple of oil paintings and a selection of pen sketches to the Haslemere Art Society exhibition. I had not painted with oils before, many years ago I dabbled with acrylics, I had also used watercolours. But oil painting, this was a new beast… The Stag – work in…

In today’s post let’s take a look at the term “creative agency” and what it means, symbolises and represents. To be a creative agency is to deliver awesomeness, thinking outside the box to produce quality graphics, content, media and marketing material. When looking to hire a creative agency, review a few case studies first, or…

This weekend I uploaded drawing number 100 to my Sea Life Art website – woop woop! It was a goal of mine that naturally evolved; in January 2019 the mission was “draw once a week”, then in January 2020 I said “let’s reach 100 sea life drawings”. Boom, job done! Now I am all for…

As businesses across Hampshire return to some form of normality following COVID-19, one question is; how will social distancing, our economy and the winter months impact business networking events? Now don’t get me wrong, I was never one for business networking breakfasts or golf club B2B events. My business Tidy Design has always been pretty…

The term flow state is used a lot in web development and design, I guess it symbolises a productive state of mind, often heavily influenced by caffeine! Personally I love to be “in the zone”, setting new challenges and difficult todo lists. Be it quitting alcohol for a year or drawing 100 ocean creatures, climbing…

To produce “tidy content” means to produce something of value for a reader. It is the process of getting your message across, delivering the facts, telling a story, evoke emotions or engage with your target audience. A Content Case Study… When the world went into lockdown in March 2020 we all had more time on…

Hi, my name is Mike, CEO of Tidy Design, a web design agency established back in 2007! I relocated to Drayton Portsmouth in 2014. A strategic move based on the schools, plus giving my kids a garden to play in. Prior to moving to Drayton I lived in Southsea for many years, but life evolves…