The directors of Blue Island Media are husband and wife Michael and Rosalyn Ellis. Freelance professionals from the creative and IT industries have collaborated with us over the years on specific projects. Editor Jane Simmonds has worked continuously with Blue Island since the beginning.
Rosalyn Ellis – geospatial, web development, digital publishing
Rosalyn is the director of geospatial and web projects at Blue Island Media. Experience gained from more than three decades in the media production industry has given her a deep understanding of how to structure information and reach different audiences. It also means that planning and delivering projects to budget and on time are second nature to her. To Rosalyn, digital platforms are where publishing and marketing meet, and she loves the daily challenges of big data. She directs our Maproom project.
Favourite books: A Pale View of Hills (Kazuo Ishiguro), Comet in Moominland (Tove Jansson)
Favourite films: Badlands, The English Patient
Favourite websites: Classic.co.uk (love looking at cottages in the West Country) and Ancestry.co.uk – 48 lost ancestors found in one evening
Michael Ellis – photography, mapping, editorial
Since his days at Glasgow School of Art in the early 1990s, and later for art publishers, Michael has worked with photography, design, editorial and mapping. His photographic specialisms are architectural and product photography, and he is skilled in image post-production and map design.
Favourite books: Slowness (Milan Kundera), Albert Angelo (B.S. Johnson)
Favourite films: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Performance, Blow-Up
Favourite websites: StumbleUpon.com, YouWorkForThem.com and the blogspot Sit Down Man, You’re a Bloody Tragedy
Jane Simmonds – editorial
With over three decades of experience in editing, Jane has worked on many projects from large encyclopedias to travel guides to business publications to websites, always with an emphasis on conveying the information in a concise and elegant way to the target readers. Her core skills are editing and writing copy, developing new ideas and ensuring the accuracy of the finished text.
Favourite books: Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf), Waterlog (Roger Deakin), Ex Libris (Anne Fadiman)
Favourite films: Man on Wire, Belleville Rendezvous, Another Country
Favourite websites: DoveGreyReader.co.uk and the Cabinet of Curiosities blogspot