Today I got an email from Thomas Cook, reminding me that I’m still due to pay the rest of the costs – for the trip to Munich.  So, I followed the instructions; called the given number.  Was taken to those automated voice thingys, pressed the options, only to be met with: “Sorry, we cannot…[..]…please go to www.flythomascook.com and go to My Account…”  To top it off, without me speaking to anyone: “Thank you for calling Thomas Cook…” and get charged 44p for the call, which involved me thinking to myself.

I did go onto the site but apparently my reference code is not recognised.  On the same information/alert window it tells me to call such and such number.   I did that, after getting back from uni. but the office was closed. :/

Hey ho, I’ll try again tomorrow.

Anyone else had/been in an unhelpful situation?

My current project is a live one.  Meaning my designs are judged and if deemed good I could possibly even win something. *fingers crossed*  The jewellery collection has include a ring, which in turn will be the main focus of the collection.  However, this time I do not need to actually need to make the ring but make (is that the right word?) it with Matrix¹.  Then we have to make an advertisement for the piece, using Photoshop and Illustrator.

The concept I’m going with is symbolism so besides the engagement ring and wedding band, I’m going to design 5 anniversary rings.  Something I’m really going to have to work on is how to make it obvious that:

• 1st anniversary ring is symbolic of paper;
• as 2nd is to cotton;
• 3rd is leather;
• 4th is linen;
• 5th is wood

Before hand we had to chose the aimed consumer – a chose of male or unisex.  I chose unisex, age gap of mid 20s – early 30s.  My plan is to have rings which stack on top of one another, so buyers needn’t wear the complete collection but can accumulate the rings and stack.  Like so:

Stack of 2 rings.

The wedding ring (18ct white gold), by itself, will look something like this:

Asymetric wedding band.

Random question:  How many guys actually wear engagement rings?

What do you think of these, baring in mind they are meant to be unisex?²

I have my ideas of what I want the advert to look like, however opinions are always the best way to get the best of out of what you need.  So…

• Do you have a favourite advert?  What drew you to it?
• What, in terms of appearance, mainly captures your attention?
• If any of you have had to make an advert before, how did you go about it?

1. Jewellery specific CAD program [↩]
2. Eh…the repeating images aren’t meant to be shown on the gallery . [↩]

Well, I got the flight and hotel sorted for the trip to Munich. Booking a “holiday” is slightly more hardwork than I first anticipated. I was very happy about having completed the booking, as it’s not something I’ve ever done – Mum usually sorts all that out.  I got £70 off and so the mini break will cost just under £200¹ for, each, my friend and I – excluding what is personally spent when we get there of course.

However…I didn’t quite anticipate one thing, which my friend brought up.  Actually getting to the airport. The flight departs at 7:55am, and technically we should be at the airport 3 hours before departure. Now, I don’t plan on driving there² because:

1. London seems like a crazy place to drive and I’ve had to cope with the Birmingham way of driving so I dread to think what it’s like in London.
2. I’m not sure how the roads in London “work”.
3. as much of an adventure it’ll be, we can’t risk getting lost, which will inevitably happen if I drive; my sense of direction is horrendous.

So, I thought it’d be better to take the train but as my family quite rightly pointed out, trains aren’t that reliable; in that they may get delayed or, even, cancelled.  Mum has kindly offered to drive me there but I don’t want to be a hassle  so I’m thinking of a solution to avoid that scenario.  It wouldn’t be nice for her to drive me there and then back alone; too much petrol and not really fair on her.

The thing we might have to end up doing is taking a train³ and getting to London a day early, stay over night and go to the airport without panic – the airport has hotels.  I’m going to research for cheaper hotels/B&Bs/etc though…just in case.

I’ve got until mid-February so hopefully I’ll have everything planned and sorted by then.

What do you do for early flights?  Have any of you flown with Easyjet before?  This will be my first time. :S

1. Flight and hotel [↩]
2. Well, from Telford, to Birmingham and then London [↩]
3. Taxi?  No, probably too expensive.  A taxi to and from Manchester cost £100. [↩]

I plan on going to Munich to visit Inhorgenta 2010. Checked the price on Tuesday but didn’t get the tickets as I wanted to see what else was out there, plus I’m quite stiff with my money. Turns out that was a silly mistake – flight fares have now risen.

What to do? A student needs a cheap flight, a hotel/youth hostel and money for treating oneself.

Anyone know of cheap places to purchase tickets?

[Edit]Did look into the Eurostar but that would cost too much. That and I shouldn’t really spend too much time away as this is happening during the second semester.[/edit]