The Hernia Diaries
I’m Rob — dad of three under six, graphic designer, and now unwilling hernia expert. After twelve months of waiting, surgery, and recovery, I realised the whole ordeal was equal parts painful and hilarious. So I started writing it down. These are the true stories of juggling nappies, deadlines, pain meds, and the occasional public-shower hernia reset. It’s messy, it’s honest, and it hurts to laugh… but that’s kind of the point.
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Dad Point of Hue
A designer-dad’s survival guide to life with three kids under six — told through the lens of print deadlines, pantone swatches, and parenting chaos. Where graphic design meets dad life, and the print registration is always blown out.
Expect honest, funny, and slightly chaotic stories where bedtime routines feel like client briefs, school pick-ups run like print jobs, and tantrums land harder than a missed deadline. It’s the messy overlap of kerning and parenting, colour matching and kid wrangling — proof that life doesn’t come with bleed marks or a neat final print.
Because in this house, every day is a new draft.
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Retro Dad
Parenting today meets the nostalgia of growing up in the 80s and 90s. From VHS tapes and Saturday-morning cartoons to Bluey on demand and smart speakers, Retro Dad rewinds life’s simpler times and fast-forwards them into the chaos of raising three kids under six. It’s a tongue-in-cheek time machine — where floppy disks meet floppy toddlers, and late fees meet late-night tantrums.
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Is a blog dedicated to sharing the unique experiences and challenges of fatherhood from a designer's perspective.
Through humor, creativity, and personal anecdotes, we aim to connect with fellow parents and offer a refreshing take on modern parenting, design, print and running a small business.
Subscribe for more chaos (the good kind).
Or email: rob.allen@brandem.com.au or rob@conservationprinting.com