Pat-and-Co.com - Answering all your construction industry questions

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it all started with an idea.....

Adults seem to like storytelling just as much as children, but the stakes can be higher…

As an Architect with over 25 years of experience, I discovered that there seemed to be a trend in the questions being asked by new clients. I found that the best way to engage a potential client and help them to avoid the elephant traps that I had seen many previous clients fall into, was to tell them various true stories that I had seen from past jobs.

When I was a member of Business Networking International, all participants were given 1 minute to promote themselves. I soon learnt that humourous stories were the most effective at gaining attention and getting the message across.

People started to ask me about things like what made me want to be an Architect, what the training was like, and what sort of changes would I make if I were in charge? So I decided to compile a book of all my stories to save having to tell them over and over again.

a world is born.....

To avoid naming names I created some fictitious characters and brought them to life with the help of a cartoonist. The paperback book led to demand for an e-book, and we are now working on an interactive i-book where the images animate.

As we added colour, sound and movement, the cartoon characters began to develop and the book turned into more of a stage set. It soon became apparent that the characters had outgrown the confines of the book, so I gave them special permission to run their own website in return for my freedom.

they're alive.....

Having got away from the confines of a ‘sensible’ and informative book, it wasn’t long before the cartoons were filming themselves at 12 frames per second using ‘Flash’ software, with each member being given their own designated layer.

To keep production costs within budget, Mr Stick was employed on Pat’s first short video diary film. Pat was way too expensive to engage on lowly rehearsal work dealing with mundane things like getting the timing, lighting and script all working well together.

The film consisted of over 3,500 frames when Pat finally gave up, leaving his mates to finish off the project as best they could – a bit like your average building project.

If you watch the alternative versions closely some of the mishaps can be seen. View them here... videos.