Chapter 1: An Introduction.
Hi, my name’s Alex. I’m a 38 year old husband and father of two. I’m also the founder of Cueboid; a design business which I‘ve created to bring my product and furniture creations to life.
Cueboid is in its very early stages, and while I go through this journey of getting the business off the ground, I thought I would start doing some writing to give potential customers a little insight into my life and an idea of what makes me tick. I want to be honest with people about me, my situation, inspirations and day to day perspirations.
I haven’t really done any writing for years, the couple of times that I’ve travelled in my life for significant amounts of time I kept journals and I really enjoyed the process of writing them. It helps me to organise my disorganised brain at the end of the day!
It’s also great looking back through those journals. Somehow, reading my own handwriting re-ignites those thoughts, feelings and experiences. Without those books, some of the memories (that make the corner of my mouth curl up or make me grit my teeth!) would be lost.
I think its my personal situation at the moment that has made me feel more nostalgic than normal… My wife and I decided to sell our house last year, we’ve been thinking about it for the last five years really but decided that the middle of a pandemic was the best time to move – I know that sentence made no sense!
We had some issues with finding a house to buy, so we decided to sell anyway and move us all in with my Mum until our house purchase goes through.
So here I am, in the house (and the bedroom!) that I grew up in where I haven’t lived for 15 years, hence the nostalgia and the urge to write and reflect. Either that or I’m at the start of a midlife crisis!
There are so many memories for me between these walls from my younger years, and its great being back and being able to watch my kids make their own memories here.
The pandemic has given me time to slow down and not feel the pressure to go out and fill our weekends with back-to-back activities. This reduction of pace has helped me to be more creative and I intend to broaden my horizons with some writing inspired by life, family and design inspirations.
This blog is going to talk about simplicity, for me simplicity is important. Cueboid revolves around the central ideal of simplicity. The Cueboid designs are consciously simple, aiming for the most straightforward way to tell the product’s story by a process of formal reduction.
If you were able to simplify most aspects of your life, don’t you think your life would feel easier, less stressful and potentially more fulfilled? I really do.
I’m going to talk about things. Simple things that I admire or have influenced me over the years. Each post will be based on a different subject, and how it has influenced me, either in my life or creatively. I’m going to write because I want to keep the creativity flowing in my brain… I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’m expecting to enjoy writing it!
APT 2021