The Leadmill has a particular significance for Dom Raban, our MD. In the early ’80s he rented an office upstairs where he produced ‘Proper Gander’ a well-known fanzine of the time and documenter of the burgeoning Sheffield music scene. Later that decade The Leadmill became his first client as he embarked on a career as a self-employed designer producing posters for its club and gig nights.

Dom says: “Not only is this a great win for Corporation Pop but it’s also a very special project for me. The Leadmill was my social hub in the 80s and it’s great to see it entering the next stage of its history with an attitude just as young and fresh as it was back in the day. The only downside is it makes me feel incredibly old!”

Visit The Leadmill website.

Yesterday we hooked up with Nick Roberson of Roberson Stone Carving. He arranged for us to have a behind-the-scenes tour of the fabulous John Rylands Library, a little known Mancunian gem which took ten years to build but apparently only two weeks to design! Nick’s knowledge and enthusiasm was enthralling – it was the incredible quality of the stonework here that first inspired Nick to become a stonemason. After our fascinating tour we all piled in to a minibus which took us back to Nick’s workshop. Here we learnt about the materials and techniques that Nick uses in his work and witnessed some of the beautiful projects that he’s working on at present.

In our computer focused world its very easy to loose sight of ‘craft’. Yesterday (and our other days out) serve to remind us why we were first inspired to become designers and keep us in touch with the true master craftsmen. Its their singularity of purpose and devotion to their craft that enables them to produce truly remarkable work.

Here’s Nick carving a Trajan letter ‘R’ for us. You can see the rest of our photos from the day here.

With more than 20 years’ experience in the marketing services industry, Mark is proprietor of marketing consultancy, Think Hard. Previously he was Group Account Director at The Leith Agency before leaving to form his own highly succesful agency, 1576 Advertising. Mark is also Chairman of Scottish Marketing Association.

The launch party for the show is this evening but I popped by yesterday afternoon to see how he was getting on. Looking surprisingly calm, I found Paul huddled in a corner meticulously cutting out stencils of 70s inspired wallpaper designs, and surrounded by numerous multicoloured tins of emulsion paint. Apparently he’s been doing this since 7am every morning for the last week (he’s taken a ‘holiday’ to do this!) and that doesn’t include god knows how many late nights and weekends spent planning and designing the space. The result is typical Paul – hard-edged graphics with a left-field wit, detailed but not self-indulgent.

Sadly I’m on kid duty tonight so can’t make the opening but if you find yourself in Manchester’s Northern Quarter anytime over the next four months pop in to Common and check out Paul’s work.

Anyway, old Mungo has just been on the radio which got me thinking about the changing tide and current shift to being more ecologically responsible by, well everyone it seems. Glancing at my clothes today it occurred to me that I’ve become organic all of a sudden… without even having to try that hard. My jeans and shirt are organic cotton whilst my fair trade rubber soled trainers are too, and no they’re not some tie-dyed hippy nonsense but from my favourite Mens shop in the heart of Manchester called Oipolloi. What’s more I didn’t even buy them because of their right-on ethics but because of their style, and I think that’s key in creeping towards a greener future. If it appeals on an aesthetic level as well as to your conscience then you’re more likely to buy whatever it is you’re holding in your hand and If everything you’re browsing is made with environmentally friendly and socially aware methods then all the better, you can then just worry about squeezing into that pair of new jeans on a sunny Saturday afternoon shopping session.

OK, maybe I need to swap my Rose tinted sun glasses for some more realistic ones but one step at a time yeah?