Northern Digitals’ BLAB event at Madlab last night was pretty special. As well as an opportunity to meet a fair few like-minded digital people, it provided a chance to see a couple of presentations from some remarkable digital creatives.

Andrew Brooks talked us through some of his insanely detailed photographs, and generally dazzled/inspired everyone with his skills and the results of the hours he puts in to each piece. It was interesting to hear from someone who is straddling the worlds of both commercial projects and artistic commissions. We can safely say that pretty much everyone in the room was stunned by the attention to detail in his hyper-real digital art. Wonder how many office and studio walls around Manchester will be featuring one of his prints sometime soon?

After a brief break, during which everyone flooded out into the street for some fresh air (Madlab is a cool place but it was very busy, which meant that it was very warm) the second speakers of the evening took over. Hellicar & Lewis took us through their background, their impressive achievements so far, their ethos in general – including some big statements about selling software – and what’s on the horizon for them.

It was a great event, and the hot weather (and much appreciated refreshments supplied by the event sponsors) provided a rare opportunity for some “continental-style” outdoor networking. Keep an eye on the Northern Digitals site for more info about the next one; we’ll see you there.