David N Atkinson
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dnatkinson.bsky.social
David N Atkinson
@dnatkinson.bsky.social
220 followers 320 following 640 posts
Graphic designer / DJ of The Tone Shift radio show on http://loose.fm

http://mastodon.social/@DNAtkinson
http://instagram.com/thetoneshift
http://mixcloud.com/TheToneShift
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dnatkinson.bsky.social
(*technically* it’s not a serif but) yes.

e.g.:
The expressions ‘Weird AI’ and ‘Weird Al’ set in the typeface New Transport; they look identical except the lowercase ‘l’ has a small curve flicking out at the bottom whereas the uppercase ‘I’ hasn’t
November 27, 2025 at 10:48 AM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
#NowWatching The Killing (United Artists, 1956) d. Stanley Kubrick #noirvember
November 26, 2025 at 10:33 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Sonny Rollins – The Sound of Sonny (Riverside, 1957) #vinyl
LP cover propped up on the lid of a record player in use
November 23, 2025 at 6:47 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
‘almost’
A little vintage man trying to start up a little vintage Apple Mac by hand-cranking it like a little vintage motor car
November 22, 2025 at 2:47 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Swiss rock and roll
Dufourspitze, the highest peak in the Swiss Alps A Swiss roll. I am hilarious
November 19, 2025 at 1:56 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
I bought my copy from Boots record dept.
Possibly the most exciting thing I’d ever heard
Seven inch single release of Never Understand by the Jesus and Mary Chain
November 18, 2025 at 7:01 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
I mean …
Cover of Mogwai’s 4 Satin EP featuring a photo of a disused Ferris wheel, very similar to the one in the photo accompanying the Chernobyl fungus article
November 17, 2025 at 2:57 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Quite like this one too
Record cover; Toscanini does William Tell plus Dvorák’s New World Symphony
November 14, 2025 at 1:04 AM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Poor Rossini not even named on the cover :(
LP of Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic doing the William Tell overture and other favourites
November 14, 2025 at 1:01 AM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Faeces-eating, mercifully, not depicted
youtu.be/Ug4QluSvEus
Animated underwater scene: a very happy sea urchin perched on top of a very happy carrier crab
November 11, 2025 at 8:43 AM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
I considered scotch tape but: doesn’t everyone just call it sellotape (or sticky tape)?

Apparently the brand name of the tape originates in the slur about Scottish people being miserly anyway: www.thoughtco.com/history-of-s...
The brand name Scotch came about while [the inventor Richard] Drew was testing his first masking tape to determine how much adhesive he needed to add. The body shop painter became frustrated with the sample masking tape and exclaimed, "Take this tape back to those Scotch bosses of yours and tell them to put more adhesive on it!"
November 9, 2025 at 4:30 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Mamdani graphic generator in format ‘x for y’; text entered reads ‘J.V.C. for ce’
November 8, 2025 at 9:23 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
I don’t think my mind has ever struggled to grasp a trifle before
Waitrose Weekend magazine. A photo of the result of their ‘night before Christmas trifle’ recipe, the scale of which is not easy to comprehend: the glass dish it’s in makes it looks as though it might be an individual portion until you notice that it has – insanely – several actual mince pies ‘scattered’ over the top.
November 8, 2025 at 12:22 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
#NowPlaying Mose Allison – Sings and Plays V-8 Ford Blues (Columbia, 1974 reissue; originally released as Takes to the Hills, 1962) #vinyl
Album cover, featuring a colourful painting of the front of the titular automobile, on a record player
November 8, 2025 at 10:53 AM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Appropriately …
www.rmets.org/metmatters/w...
Screen grab from article about white Christmases: ‘the bookies will pay out for just a single flake of snow to be observed falling during the 24 hours of the 25th December at a number of official locations across the UK, including […] Manchester’s Coronation Street’
November 7, 2025 at 1:01 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Inadvertent bread paw
Five slices of sourdough bread accidentally arranged on a grill pan to resemble the pads of a mammal’s paw
November 7, 2025 at 10:27 AM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Lewes
A sign on Cliffe Bridge reading ‘FIRE POINT’
November 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Black Candy by Beat Happening
October 29, 2025 at 7:39 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Spent several hours in the British Museum. Took one photo.
4th Century Roman mosaic: mask of Phobos (Fear)
October 28, 2025 at 6:10 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Love the illustration by @katherinelam.bsky.social for this article: www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
More of their excellent work here: katherinelam.com
Person sitting in a chair in a darkened, shadowy room, all shades of deep greens and teals; they are captured at the moment they turn their head from the book they’re reading towards the viewer, who appears to have opened a door onto the scene and let in a shaft of light. Very atmospheric and sinister.
October 25, 2025 at 2:15 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Aha, yep – this copy of Do It got the odd outing at my end of the country circa then too
Mitt clutching a seven inch single
October 24, 2025 at 9:03 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Hitchcock in a corridor
Vintage photo of Alfred Hitchcock poking his head through the double doors of the Rovers Return
October 20, 2025 at 7:48 AM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
Incredible that this signage was only taken down earlier this year
maps.app.goo.gl/jJuBA5Pugg4P...
The Duke of York pub in Fitzrovia with signs depicting Andrew, who is now not the duke of York
October 19, 2025 at 2:40 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
‘We want to use Unch to showcase the work of setters from a wide variety of backgrounds, and celebrate the online community of setters and solvers we're part of. We feature puzzles by experienced setters every issue, but also aim to highlight newer and up-and-coming setters wherever we can. We aim to be an inclusive and forward-looking publication, and actively encourage puzzles that explore using a wide range of cultural references.’
October 18, 2025 at 6:10 PM
dnatkinson.bsky.social
So, here’s a nice thing I’ve just designed: Unch, a new independent magazine by and for cryptic crossword setters and solvers
Front cover of Unch issue one, the title is set in a big curvy bold font in a teal/turquoise colour and beneath it there’s an extreme close-up photo of part of a crossword grid rotated through 45 degrees Copies of the magazine showing part of the contents page and a spread with a puzzle Inside spreads of the magazine showing a crossword and an article
October 18, 2025 at 6:06 PM