Simon James

New website...

Simon James -

I now have a new website! Where we find ourselves would suggest you might already be aware of that, but if you've managed to stumble here in classic-early-hours-of-Saturday-not-knowing-where-you-really-are type fashion... you're on my new website!

Considering the site is as topline as it is, it's taken far longer than I expected, primarily due to my own ignorance with code/script. To jump straight into the theme of the site with a proper script, here's general gist of my dynamic with my web designer:

Me: Hey, how about this?? You could have a curtain at either side of the screen which pull apart as if you're at the theatre!

Web designer: Hm, all that 'trying to imitate the real world' stuff is called skeuomorphism and it almost always ends up looking tacky. How about this mobile-friendly one-page layout which is quick to load and easy to look at?

Me: Yeah, fair enough, that's quite nice actually. Oh wait, how about if this section had a spinny effect like you're flicking through a notebook, and then this window has a little superhero flying past so it looks like an actual real window??

Web designer: How about you go and write a play and let me go with my gut?

I'm going to take this as an opportunity to thank the kind folks whose content I have used on the homepage (in scroll order):

  • The main header image of Jude Law rehearsing Into the Sunset, as well another image of the beautiful man down in the 'theatre' section, are by Surrey-based photographer Charlotte Levy.
  • The image of Superior inset in the main logo is from the cover of the Millarworld Annual which has my Superior comic inside. It's by fellow North-Westerner Rob Doyle, and you can even watch him digitally paint the thing here.
  • The Idiot TV logo was done by Manchester animation studio Flipbook.
  • The panel of Superior flying off out of his friend Chris's window was drawn by the most talented Filipino I've had the pleasure to know, Alex Aguilar.
  • Monkey-Hitler on the cover of my first book was painted by my better half.
  • The cover of Here For You was photographed by my own fair hand, but I suppose if ever I'm going to thank Alex Hardgrave for providing a cabinet to shoot, it should be now. Oh and for buying the £1 copy of Chapter One which is peaking away on the image - the support is overwhelming pal.
  • Liam Gallagher giving me the stink-eye is a screen grab from a video taken by Christopher Irvine, who is the frontman of a band who did a song I like.
  • The picture of me trying to flog my book to the children of Crowton Primary School who are far too young to read it was taken by Nick Jones.
  • All fonts were designed by typographer Lee Vitoff. I didn't actually pay for them and he's recently fallen on hard times, so if you seem him on the streets of Manchester please drop him a smile - it costs nothing.

Feedback about the website is welcome as long as it is 100% complimentary. No suggestions for improvements please unless you happen to be a coder and know for a fact -and I mean a fact- that they would be very easy to implement, because I'm as busy as Ringo Starr.

Oh and if you fancy sharing the site with any of your friends or family who like sitting up to a good story, the address is www.storiesbysimon.co.uk. But unless you've just stumbled here in the early hours of a Saturday, you already knew that.