Mike Afford Media BLOG

Latest news, observations, and the occasional comment


AccuWeather weather icons

Weather icons for AccuWeather data

I’ve recently added another look-up table that maps my royalty free weather icons to AccuWeather data condition codes.

It’s a text file with tab separated values for the AccuWeather codes and descriptions and the corresponding file name from my weather icon sets. There are also a few notes regarding the symbols I have chosen for particular weather types, and possible alternatives that you might prefer to use.

Browse all the weather icon sets here. All of the mapping tables are linked under the ‘Weather Condition Codes’ heading.


BBC Weather Symbols. What do they mean?

Weather symbols. What do they mean (infographic)

Even though it’s been about fifteen years since I worked at the BBC Weather Centre, I’m still surprised at the number of emails I receive asking about the BBC weather symbols, and what they mean.

It’s quite interesting to get a glimpse into the kind of things that people find confusing. Even though the BBC weather symbols have been around for nearly 50 years now, it’s still a bit strange to discover that not everyone ‘gets’ them. For example – the fact that the symbols show the difference between ‘rain’ and ‘showers’ is still often misunderstood.

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4 Comments

Ancient Designs and Arcane Symbols

Promotional image for Eldon Threads T Shirts. A girl wearing a tshirt with an unusual occult symbol

I’ve been busy over the past couple of weeks putting the finishing touches on our new website eldonthreads.com

It’s a brand new clothing store specialising in ancient and unusual T-shirt designs. They’re all inspired by pagan myths and sacred symbology. It’s true that you can find some similar products out there, but from what I’ve seen, most of them are ghastly. I like to think that I have drawn from my decades working as a graphic designer, and my love of things obscure, to make some decent looking tees. You know – for the more discerning customer.

We have some nice Alchemy T Shirts and Chalk Hill Figures T shirts. Also Esoterica T Shirts, and even a magnificent Vinegar Tom!

So, if you’re in search of something curious, quirky, and perhaps slightly baffling, make sure to visit our store. And have a browse!

Thanks for your time!


Did I mention my BAFTA?

Regular visitors to this site might have noticed that the blog entries have been few and far between recently. In fact, it’s been over a year since I posted anything here at all, and probably much longer than that since I mentioned my BAFTA.


Never mind Star Trek – did Trump just use my arrow for his Space Force logo?

Arrow logo from 2011 compared to Donal trump's new Space force logo

Donald Trump unveiled his new Space Force logo recently, and of course everyone immediately noticed a striking similarity to the Starfleet Command emblem from the Star Trek TV show. Quite right too.

But hang on a minute.

The one part of the new Space Force logo that’s quite different from the Star Trek version is the ‘arrow’ device in the centre. Which bears (I think!) an even more striking resemblance to this arrow I designed years ago as part of my free pack of Wind Icons and Arrows that you can still find on my page of weather symbols.

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Virtual Studio Set 5 updated

Virtual Studio Set free update

Just to let you know that I’ve updated one of my virtual studio sets over at VirtualStudioSets.com.

Studio 5 has been completely updated with a new colour scheme, a different example skyline outside the windows (you can still add your own of course!), and extra layers and customisation options. The coloured wall sections are now blue, and are completely separate layers, so you can easily change the colour scheme (using NewTek’s Virtual Set Editor, Photoshop, or the colour correction tools in your NLE), or turn them off to reveal the white walls behind them. read more »

2 Comments

Virtual Weather Studio

TriCaster Studio Set for Microsoft

Just a quick heads up to say that I’ve added another complete multi-angle virtual set to the store over at virtualstudiosets.com

It is based on the Tricaster virtual sets I designed for the Weather Network a little while back and I’m pleased to say they’re letting me provide ‘unbranded’ versions to new customers and clients. I’ve completely updated the sets to include brand new skylines, and a number of new close-up angles. The multi-angle packs also come with a set of ‘weather variations’ on the skyline outside, showing different weather conditions from sunny, partly cloudy all the way to foggy and overcast, and also a couple of night-time versions too. read more »