one of the things which has always impressed me about birmingham since i first came here is the way the city has a habit of bidding for grand projects – such as the capital of culture that that river-based city got, & not getting them. that’s not the bit that impresses me. the bit that impressed me is when it doesn’t get the project, rather than moping around feeling sorry for itself (like said river-based city tends to), it just turns around, & all the things it said it would do as part of its bid, says “pah – we’ll do them all anyway”.

There’s nothing wrong with listing dead people associated with Birmingham. The trick is, I guess, to turn their admirable qualities in key features that the city can try to build a reputation on (or enhance one that already exists).

So if we say Baskerville’s quality is symmetry and grace, then how does that translate to a target for the development of Eastside, or in fact, any part of the city?

I like William Hutton, I think I would say his qualities were independence and enterprise – perhaps that would translate into some sort of commitment to support more independent retailers?

I’ve always thought we need more household names to be born in and tied to the city centre – a bit like The Body Shop and Brighton.

I had thought of some people who have the qualities listed, but they’re all dead, and I thought that wouldn’t be nice to say, nor appropriate.

But then Bounder has gone and done it hisself. So I’ll add one, the man who walked the length of Hadrian’s Wall, to London and back, and who knows how many other treks: William Hutton. His quality? We’d probably call it confidence.

So as a target would that translate to a drive to improve the quality and appearance of city council documentation and signage?

Jon: I think the design aspect is important. I love the stories of the Luna Society and the great bets that were taken around designing weird and wonderful machines. Most failed, but the culture and attitude that went with it helped to make the city a success. It would be nice to shout about that a bit more and show that it’s still going on today.

Dp: I agree. Perhaps I should add another post about that. Out of interest are there any names that spring to mind for you?

The problem with this Mr Brum is that most of his traits are laudable things that most cities would claim for themselves – there’s not really much that makes it Birmingham – I’m sure Mr Nottingham or Mr London or Mr Sheffield would say pretty much the same thing about himself.

These things are more of a given, inherrent in any image Birmingham should have – but not what we’d promote (except perhaps the design aspect…?).