Culture

If you’re based in Scotland and have an idea for a business or project within the Arts or Creative Industries, you’ve only a couple more weeks’ left to apply for the Starter for 6 Programme. If you’re unsure if your idea would fall within the “Creative Industries” remit, here are the main areas it covers: Advertising, Architecture, Art and antiques markets, Comp...
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If you have creative vision and work as an individual within the Performing arts, Dance, Music, Visual art, Creative producing sectors, then the 19th December is an important date. This is the closing date for the Sky Arts Ignition: Futures Fund which is offering five young artists £30k each to fund their work for a full year. (in association with IdeasTap) Recognising that there is an inc...
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Thanks to the good ol’ smartphone, most of us have a pretty decent camera at our disposal, pretty much all of the time. But do we really make the most of it? Well perhaps we could, especially if we availed of some of the latest apps for sharing, manipulating and editing our photos. So, whether you’re a full time designer or artist or you’d simply like to get a little more creativ...
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Sometimes when you have a great idea, it’s not the idea that concerns you initially but the fear, uncertainty, and lack of knowledge on how to take that idea and make it a workable reality. That wall is often too big a barrier for some people to leap. The visualisation of that idea becoming a reality is however possible, but the process of how you get from concept to practical reality is a ...
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Finding and recognising the UK’s greatest Craft skills champions is the mission of the first ever Craft Skills Awards which opened for entries this week.The Awards are seeking to promote and celebrate the work that Britain’s craftspeople are doing and the important part that crafts play in our future heritage. Individuals, companies, organisations and groups can all apply provided of c...
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Now in its’ second year, the RBS EnterprisingU competition has just reopened and is seeking entries. The ‘business plan’ competition is open to both current students and recent graduates of any UK universities who have an idea for a business. ‘Recent’ is defined as anyone who has graduated within the last 5 years.The application process requires all entrants to comple...
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Here at Startacus we like to think that our forthcoming collaboration section is a rather innovative approach to pushing the ‘self employed’ wheel, however speaking of wheels, we couldn’t fail to be impressed with Google’s Driverless Car which we would bet shall be coming to a road near you in the very near future...Google eh? First they mapped the roads, then they designed...
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None of us can have failed to notice the impact that Gifs have had over the last few years. Thanks in no small part to social media, animated gifs are created, shared and go viral almost instantly. However whilst they certainly have their comedic value, they also can play a major part in promotional and marketing strategies. Integrating a Gif into an email newsletter or as part of a website design...
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Whilst many of us may harbour ideas for businesses, not all of us will act on them and it’s often the case that we have an idea, do nothing about it and then months, maybe years later we see someone who has acted on that very idea and created a business. We may get annoyed - have a little rant perhaps - “But I thought of that first..” or even “ Why didn’t I bother doi...
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Self Starter, Krisi Smith, co-founder of the innovative Bluebird Tea Co. offers her top tips on how to reinvent a product for a new audience.I’m not claiming to be a guru of reinvention, however, I am very proud to be on a mission to reinvent possibly the most well loved drink in the world – The humble cuppa.Although considered a staple and an ordinary, everyday occurrence, the cuppa i...
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Some people really really love Powerpoint. It is their trusty comfort blanket when the company presentation, meeting, or pitch comes a-calling. Powerpoint is afterall the daddy of presentation tools. However it was not until recently when I started testing a few other Presentation tools that my own interest in Powerpoint waned slightly. Most of us probably use Powerpoint for presentations because ...
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When something has the underlying objective of helping people “create, not just consume”, it immediately strikes a chord with us here at Startacus and the latest initiative to do just that is the recently launched Digital Makers Fund. The Fund which is backed by a pretty impressive bunch of organisations - Nesta, the Nominet Trust and Mozilla has just announced an open call for ideas ...
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