March 06, 2007
Mark Boulton Design shuts up shop for a week next week as I’ll be taking my third trip over to Austin to enjoy South by Southwest Interactive.
Like Jeremy, it will be my third time at the conference and if the last two were anything to go by, this will be bigger and better. Talking of Jeremy, he’s put together his superb little guide to all the parties. If you’re going, that is well worth looking at.
So, what’s on the cards this year?
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February 19, 2007
I’ve had a few people over the past months contact me and ask what has been happening with Flow Well, we’re still working on it, but as one of the developers, Keeran, states on his blog:
While it is achievable to ship new products in a short amount of time, as we have seen with companies like 37Signals and Carson Systems, there are always going to be times, certainly in the early stages, where Real Paid Work must take priority.
Damn right, especially for a business which is only six months old.
Since returning from snowboarding a month ago, I’ve been consumed with Real Work and everything else, including the book, has been put to one side. Such is life and, as I’m learning, business.
That said, Flow is coming along and as I’m writing this, I’m working on the templates whilst a couple of guys at Beanlogic are working on the backend. It’s coming along. Slowly but surely.
February 15, 2007
Me. As I registered the name ‘Mark Boulton Design’ over six months ago, technically, I am the winner. Hurray!
However, to show I’m not a tight Northern bugger, I’ve decided to award the prize to the runner up (he says, stuffing his face with humble-pie)
Congratulations Chris Gibbons, whose suggestion—point12—was top of the list for most of the week. There’s one iPod shuffle in the colour of your choosing on its way to you.
Once again, thanks for all the suggestions. If anything, it made me realise my original choice wasn’t so bad after all.
February 09, 2007
Anyone who has ever been in a band will know how difficult naming the band can be. It is no different for a new business.
I find naming incredibly difficult. It really isn’t one of my strong points.
Unfortunately though, next Thursday, I have to register myself as a new company name and I’m completely devoid of inspiration. So, I thought I’d hold a competition to find me a good name. Lazy? yes, I suppose. Thing is, I’m totally stacked with finishing off the book and a mountain of client work. Sitting here with a blank piece of paper (after thinking of names) for about an hour now has not been a productive use of my time.
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January 28, 2007
A couple of books coming up which may be of interest. Firstly, Web Standards Creativity is up on Amazon for pre-order. It’s a sumptuous full-colour paperback covering topics like Typography, PNG transparency techniques and Grid Design from the likes of Ethan Marcotte, Simon Collison, Cameron Adams, Aaron Gustafson, Jeff Croft, Derek Featherstone, Dan Rubin, Andy Budd, Ian Lloyd, Rob Weychert, Andy Clarke, and me.
Secondly, Five Simple Steps: Designing for the Web is nearing completion. It’s not quite finished yet, and yes I’m going to miss the January deadline, but it will be worth the wait. To keep you going until then, here’s a few tasters…
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January 19, 2007
Mrs B and I are on our annual jaunt to the Alps for a spot of snowboarding. This year we’re staying in the, rather large, Swiss town of Zermatt which is nestled in a valley underneath the beautiful Matterhorn. The snow is not great at the moment. And it’s raining here in the village which is making everywhere covered in a thin, almost invisible, coating of ice. Putting the snowboarding aside for a moment, this place is rather special for one reason: The Matterhorn.
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January 03, 2007
Colours chosen from different spokes on the Colour Wheel will provide a variety of colour combinations. Deciding upon and selecting a colour combination that works for you will very much depend upon the job at hand.
Will it communicate what you want it to? Or are you just choosing them because you, or the client, like them? These are very difficult questions to answer because any designer or client will let their personal style and preference interfere with their decision-making. Colour combinations tend to evoke certain reactions either by cultural, or personal experience. Understanding these experiences will help you create colour combinations that tell a story. That is what good colour theory can give you; designs that tell a story.
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January 03, 2007
This post is more for me than you. If I’m seeing it, then your seeing it and that means the move to the new server and DNS pain was, hopefully rather painless. I’ll delete this post once all the dns stuff has resolved it self.
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