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I was rather shocked when I saw my first industrial robot. The year was about 1989 and I was in the factory of Mitsubishi Paper Mills in Kyoto, Japan. At the end of the production line for SilverMaster^® paper-base plates, rolls of plate material were being picked up by a large robotic arm and placed carefully into a cardboard carton.

In a move that could have serious repercussions for digital advertising and perhaps a positive effect on direct mail, one of Europe’s largest Internet service providers and mobile operators, EE has announced plans to investigate the introduction of software that will enable its customers to block advertising content that they consider inappropriate or unwanted.

Little did I know when I wrote last year about Johanna Basford and her colouring books for adults that the topic would start to take a more mainstream position. Ms Basford if you remember was the Scottish Author of Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest, both best sellers, with the former having sold now more than 1.5 million copies.

My children are now all in their thirties and with our first grandchild born in July, I am looking forward to another round of children’s books, games and movies as she grows up. Since our teenagers left home, my contact with the worlds of computer games, music and social media that they inhabited has been very limited, rather fortunately according to my wife’s view on the subject.

Trix, a popular cereal brand from General Mills since 1958, has used packaging and ad spots featuring an illustrated Trix-loving bunny that was repeatedly told, “Silly rabbit! Trix are for kids!”

I was laying on a sunbed in Spain recently, with a cold beer and the waves lapping a few metres away enjoying a contemplative moment of contemporary reality. I was a long way from the cold and wet UK, with nothing really on my mind apart from what I was going to have for lunch. For a baby boomer like me that’s the sort of reality I like to enjoy a couple of times a year and it sure beats the reality of normal day to day life.

At this festive time of year it is usual for commentators to make predictions about what might happen in the new year and it is equally common for individuals to make resolutions which they will try to keep.

In starting this blog by telling you it is about Irish fairies, you will struggle to see the connection with print and packaging. But bear with me while I relate my recent experience on vacation in Ireland.