Brendan Dawes
The Art of Form and Code

That Was The Week That Was — 8th March 2020

This week I've been working towards delivery of the static images for my new Trend Micro commission. Last week I had gone too hard on brand colours and after a video call with the team, the feeling was "more colour". So after some wrangling and various attempts, I landed one something both myself and the client loved.

Next it was a case of setting the large renders running. The main images are 28,000 pixels wide, so to render these I use the Gridmarkets cloud rendering service, which I've used previously. I was heading to Munich for the TOCA ME conference on the Friday morning, so just before I left I began the rendering process.

As luck would have it my good friend Marc Thiele was arriving at the airport at almost the same time as me, so we got the train together from the Airport into the city. I'm always amazed that nobody ever seems to check your tickets — either in person or via a machine. Then again, I like the idea of trust more.

After lunch together at the hotel which used to be the speaker hotel, I headed for the new hotel, right next next door to the venue. This place was very nice, with a lovely room that was almost suite-like, with it's separate seating area.

Before heading out for the speaker dinner, I checked in on the render and so far, after almost a day, it was around 40% done. Still a way to go.

The talk went well I think, and it was great to see the other speakers put on such great presentations, and the audience being so receptive and generous with their feedback. Nina, Thorsten and Ron are such wonderful organisers and hosts.

That same evening I had to head back to the airport. Surprisingly the plane wasn't as empty as I had thought it would be, partly made so because of a large school group heading back to Manchester. Munich airport is pretty terrible with hardly any facilities. Much like Berlin.

Have a feeling this will be the last trip for a while...