July 28, 2007
That’s right. The time has come to ramp up. We’re looking for an exceptional designer to join our Cardiff based studio. You will be based in South Wales and work out of our studio in beautiful Cardiff Bay.
You will work on a range of challenging and interesting projects—from web apps to branding—for companies large and small. You need to be creative, passionate and enthusiastic. You should be thorough, with a keen eye for detail bordering on obsessive. You read blogs (you probably write one of your own). You know your way around Web Standards, in addition to the usual desktop apps. You will have a minimum of three years experience. Pay level, and details, will depend on experience.
If you fit the bill, we’d love to hear from you. We’re in a hurry though. Deadline for submissions is Monday 13th August. Interviews will commence the following week.
July 28, 2007
We’re all busy. I know that. Just indulge me, okay?
For the past month, I’ve been chasing my tail and it’s beginning to show. The permanent four o’clock shadow; the dark rings under my eyes; and the ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat—something I’ve never suffered with before.
This morning, I went along to the Cardiff Flower Market with The Wife at the incredibly ‘un-weekendly’ time of 7.15am. Whilst bathing in the early morning sunshine, I was trying to think about how to create more time so I can balance off the crazy time of it recently. I reached some sort of conclusion based on a book I read last year—The Power of Full Engagement—which was recommended by my best mate, Phil. The conclusion I reached was; it’s not about how much time you have, or how you use it, it’s about finding balance by adding routine and triggers.
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July 04, 2007
If anyone has done any work for themselves—painted a painting; made a model; built a shed— you will know how difficult it is to finally stop. It’s about the love you see. The craft. Anything done for yourself has to be just right.
In April of this year, I became the Director of my new design consultancy, Mark Boulton Design Ltd. Since then, I’ve been beavering away to get a website up to let the world know what it is we do and who we’ve done it for (so far). Today Mark Boulton Design launches.
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June 15, 2007
There has been a lot said recently about Vertical Rhythm. Richard Rutter began the work on 24ways last year with the piece ‘Compose to a Vertical Rhythm’. This was built upon by Wilson Minor on A List Apart recently with his article on Baseline Grids. All sound typographic advice. If you haven’t read both of them, I’d urge you to do so now otherwise you know what I’m on about it in this post.
At @media this year, I presented ‘Five Simple Steps to Better Typography’. Step two in my presentation was was Vertical Rhythm where I reiterated some of the excellent points Richard made in his article and also the presentation we both gave in at SXSW in March. I also added something of my own: Incremental leading, or Incremental line-height.
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June 12, 2007
For those who saw my talk at @media will know that I have a dark secret. It’s something I’ve never talked about on this blog and I’m not sure why. It’s a secret that I learnt not to talk much about as it could get you in trouble. So here it is:
I have a twenty year interest in martial arts. I’ve also trained in many, many styles and achieved a black belt in one. I was an instructor, competed at national level and I’ve got a pretty good right hook.
There.
Why am I telling you this? You may well ask.
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June 11, 2007
That’s @media done for another year. Patrick put on a great event. Again. Seriously, year on year the bar is raised and he delivers. The speakers were great, the venue, the food, but most of all the location; Islington is such a great place for an event like this.
I feel like I’ve lived with @media 07 for a while. I produced the conference printed matter for San Fransisco and London, so for the best part of a month I’ve felt the looming pressure of speaking. I was very nervous about it, but I think it went ok.
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June 05, 2007
Since I started Mark Boulton Design last August, I’ve been working at home. It’s been mostly fun, but the words of Andy kept ringing in my ears loudly as time went on.
“Get out of the house as soon as you can afford it” would rattle around my head like some crazy mantra. Andy’s point was, sooner or later the two environments would merge; home and work. You’d end up doing the laundry whilst at work, and designing when you’re supposed to be enjoying a nice evening with your wife. He wasn’t wrong.
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May 16, 2007
For the past week, I’ve been designing the printed material for a certain conference. I often forget the mixed emotions that come with switching medium and designing for print again. On one hand, it’s great not to have to think about IA, usability and CSS bugs and to focus on just creating something nice and smelling paper (we’ll get on to that). On the other hand though, especially when designing to a specific deadline which can’t shift, the feeling of finality that comes with print still scares the shit out of me. If it’s wrong, that’s it.
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I'm a graphic designer from near Cardiff in the UK. I've been a designer for over ten years now and primarily work on the web. I'm still partial to a bit of print every now and then though. I used to work for