Niefish is the nom de plume of Adrian Price who has a company that is also called Ninefish, after 1989 he began to assume the mantle of an imaginary friend of Dan Brown and in 1995 he became the alter ego twin of Adrian.

Adrian now lives in Christchurch, New Zealand very happily

Erik the ninefish was pressed into action as the first part of the name of the new graphic design company Ninefish Trombone.

I met Dan as a callow youth in Whittington a village in Worcestershire, England. I was teaching Art at Dyson Perrins High School in Malvern and Dan was still at primary school, but about to burst out on an unsuspecting public. Dan would often be heard shouting at me from his bedroom “erik the ninefish!” he also had some other choice words on occasion, and other imaginary friends like Jaques LeFac as well. I rather liked the sound of this, and when faced with needing some nonsense to use at school, this was the first idea that sprang to mind.

So the genesis of my company began that fateful summer of 1989 as Dan and I sat huddled over a Mac plus computer with MacDraw and Freehand 2 installed.

Now Erik is firmly ensconsed in my own little part of the mad world, and has gone from being Dan’s imaginary friend to being mine, all mine! He’s also become the main fellow in my graphic design business, and my nom de plume. So much so that my children often call me fishy to get my attention.