I'm back!!!

[Simon Beck]

Don't know if anyone remembers me. About 6 years ago I had a burst of Xara-based creativity. I was turning out witty logos, minimalist pop- and op-art designs and clever graphics at a rate of knots. People were paying me good money to design logos and websites. I even appeared as Featured Artist in the Xone! Well, after about 2 years I guess my creative frenzy burnt itself out. My business gradually evaporated, and I lost the impetus to carry on at the same level.

But I still use XaraXtreme Pro nearly every day. I have exhibited (and even sold) prints of some of my old artwork at a local cafe gallery. So I thought I'd give you an update on Me and My Xara.

I might as well explain that quite a bit of my time these days is dedicated to music. I play Wurlitzer electric piano, organ and Stylophone in an 11-piece ska band called The Skanx, and we play all over London. This January we had just recorded a 5-song CD, and I decided to make an animated video for one of our songs, "The Morning After". All the graphics were created in Xara, exported as Flash sprites and then animated in SwishMax, a Flash editing program.

So if you ever wondered what my graphics would look like animated, look no further!

The Skanx: The Morning After

[Soquili]

Hi Simon, good to hear from you again.

[HayTay]

Simon, welcome back!

What a coincidence (or was it something else?), I was just perusing several of your old threads this weekend. Nice stuff! I'm hoping you have another burst of creativity 'cause I'd sure like to see some newer graphics from you.

Stick around,
Harry

[steve.ledger]

Welcome back beck (couldn't resist that)

[Simon Beck]

Nice to hear from some familiar names! Did I hear that we lost one of the senior members of the group?

My sons are now aged 11(!) and 8, and the younger one, William is particularly into Pokemon. I therefore invented some spoof Pokemon characters called Pukemoron.

[Simon Beck]

On a more serious note, I designed the cover artwork for my father's memoirs; "Grandpa's Book". This book covers the first 25 years of his life, from his childhood in prewar Vienna to his flight from persecution and his upbringing and early adulthood in London. He will be 80 this December, and he wanted to tell his grandchildren about where he (and ultimately they) had come from.

This cover design could not have been produced using earlier versions of Xara, and I am grateful to my dad for having bought a copy of XaraXtreme Pro for me.

The background of the cover is a modified texture from a standalone program called Wood Workshop. The photo of my father aged about 8 is one he sent to his own grandparents from London, treated with Xara's Crumple plug-in. The red stamped letter J (for "Jud", meaning "Jew") is based on the one on my father's Austrian passport; the document allowed him to leave Austria, by then part of Hitler's Reich, with his mother but not return. I found a matching typeface and used Xara's Fractal Plasma as a transparency map to give the effect of a rubber stamp. The title and author text uses a font called Kabel Heavy, processed with Xara's Chrome plug-in. I found a bitmap of flames on the internet and used it as a reflection map. On the back cover, the photo is one I took last year when the two of us visited Vienna together to witness the dedication of a memorial plaque outside my grandparents' former home.

If you are interested in reading "Grandpa's Book", you can buy it as a download or a paperback from Lulu.

[amoore]

Welcome back, Simon. Looking (and sounding) good.

Allison

[Scotty]

Welcome back Simon,
Your work is still amazing. I envy your 'Grampa's Book' that is an excellent way to pass on your heritage. I only wish I had recorded some of my family's history when they were alive.
JimM

[MEB]

Welcome back!
Nice to hear from you again.

[Egg Bramhill]

Hi Simon, always great to see old friends.