Written by Nicky Getgood on Friday, May 8th, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Tags: brightsizegypsies, chrisunitt, fazeleystudios, katebeatty, meshedmedia, substrakt, thisisastoryaboutlove

I’m still recovering from last night’s party at Substrakt’s office in Fazeley Studios, celebrating their and Chris Unitt’s (Meshed Media) new(ish) home.
As well as music from the Bright Size Gypsies band we also got to see some great photography by Kate Beatty.

The downstairs studio doesn’t just hold Kate’s pictures. It’s also home to the Mirror of Erised. When you look into it you see your heart’s desire. Honest.

The Substrakt offices have funky foliage and fauna on their walls. Which is nice.

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Written by Nicky Getgood on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Tags: Digbethisgood, fazeleystreet, katebeatty, links, substrakt, toblog, typhoobasin

The Tea Factory? – Substrakt propose something creative be done with the empty Typhoo basin and factory buildings, supported by Kate Beatty’s lovely photographs.
It seems like old factory’s make for successful ‘creative hubs’…So how about the Tea Factory?
Typhoo Tea’s premises on Bordesley Street were in use from 1892 to 1978 and now remains largely unoccupied….The Custard Factory is obviously a great asset of Digbeth, but the retail element suffers due to lack of footfall. Developing the Tea Factory could provide an enticing link from the city centre to Digbeth, and it stands proud at the end of Fazeley canal which could be an awesome feature.
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Written by Nicky Getgood on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Tags: Digbethisgood, floodgatestreet, links, substrakt, toblog

Credit crunch christmas decorations – I spotted this in a skip on Floodgate Street and it made me giggle, meant to take a picture but seems Substrakt actually managed it. Someone had a very merry Christmas!
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Written by Nicky Getgood on Monday, November 24th, 2008 ( Start discussion )
Tags: bigcatgroup, custardfactory, Digbethisgood, fazeleystudios, links, publicenemy, substrakt, toblog
- Substrakt have moved to Fazeley Studios! – A very nice space it is too – I popped over to give them a neighbourly hello and found them office warming with Stella Artois, chocolate Eclairs and Sensations crisps. Most importantly, ‘We’ve gone and got ourselves a pool table, so a Digbeth creative pool league is definitely on the cards!’ Oh yes.
- PUBLIC ENEMY MAKE FRIENDS IN BIRMINGHAM – Big Cat Kenny hypes up ‘Hip Hop giants’ Public Enemy playing at the Custard Factory on 3rd December. Simon Jones, creative director of Custard Factory Spaces, says: “The Custard Factory has hosted some major international artists in 2008 such as Fleet Foxes and Basement Jaxx, and hosting Public Enemy is a great way to finish another highly successful year. It is also a big step forward for the music scene in Birmingham; venues in the city are starting to regularly host world renowned acts, not just from the UK but from all over the globe.”
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Written by Nicky Getgood on Monday, November 17th, 2008 ( 4 responses )
Tags: antonio roberts, Digbethisgood, Flickr, links, substrakt, toblog, tommartin

The shape of Digbeth – Tom Martin at Substrakt Design creates an outline of the area using photos geo-tagged ‘Digbeth’ on Flickr:
‘Flickr recently made a loads of interesting geo information available, by plotting the outside edge of geotagged photos they’ve managed to roughly show where a ‘place’ is according to people that have taken photos in that area.
‘Interestingly it looks like our new home on Fazeley Street, doesn’t quite qualitfy as ‘Digbeth’ yet. If you’ve got some photos of Digbeth on Flickr, why not spend a few minutes adding them to the map so we can represent where we the true shape of Digbeth.’
It seems my flat also falls just outside of the border, but that’s probably my own stupid fault. You see, I must admit to having my own Flickr account but have been far too embarrassed by the poor quality of my photos to tag them in order for them appear in others’ searches.
But now it seems Flickr are not only storing and showing photos but using them to map areas. So I’d better swallow my pride and do my civic duty by tagging and geotagging my photos, using the instructions Tom’s linked to, to help build a more accurate shape of Digbeth.
However, Antonio Roberts has pointed out that the current shape looks kind of like a goofy cat, which I like lots.
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Written by Nicky Getgood on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 ( One response )
Tags: acedanceandmusic, baskerville, custardfactory, Digbethisgood, expressandstar, hello digital, jeremyhunt, links, marvelcomic, michaelheseltine, millenniumpoint, nickclark, plus+, silversurfer, substrakt, thinktank, toblog
Pinch, punch, first of the month….
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