March 26, 2009
Yesterday, a rather heated debate raged over on Carsonified’s blog regarding a design competition they’re running to design a slide for the upcoming Future of Web Design conference in London. The debate was an old one, resurrected every now and then and fiercely debated on both sides. The debate was regarding speculative work. It’s a subject I feel very passionate about as I’ve seen the damage it causes – both personal and professional.
I’m a little tired of justifying my position and opinions on Twitter, so I thought I’d pen a few thoughts here and explain my personal viewpoint and hopefully spark some considered, intelligent debate (see my paragraph citing Matt Henderson for an example of this).
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December 23, 2008
I was on a business trip last week, and as always, rely heavily on my iPhone for not only calls, but email, navigation, and - courtesy of AirShare - a method of carrying files to and from meetings. Who needs USB sticks, right?
I’ve used this 3G phone since August without too many problems. Well, that’s not strictly true, I’ve had the usual phantom restarts, blank screens, and general software lag. Just like everyone else. But, as I’m an Apple fanboy, I’ve put up with it, hopeful that with subsequent software releases, the platform would become more stable. The pitfalls of early adoption.
That all came to a grinding, abrupt halt on Thursday when my phone croaked and then died.
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September 26, 2008
Like Jeremy, I’m such a blogwhore.
And, like Jeremy, I was contacted a while ago by the nice people at Sumo, asking if I wanted an Omni in exchange for a blog post.
Yes, like I said, I’m a blogwhore too.
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August 01, 2008
I’ve got a confession to make: i’ve got a thing about signage design. On any given day trip, excursion, or holiday, and I can be seen ignoring the attraction and taking photographs, or even drawing little sketches, of the signage. I’m particularly interested in airport signage.
A few days ago, I took a business trip to Brussels, via Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. I’ve wanted to visit Schiphol ever since I attended a lecture in 2005 by the designer of the signage system, Paul Mijksenaar. As a designer, you know when you get those moments where something somebody says turns you’re entire understanding on its head? Seeing Paul talk, I probably had one of those moments every minute.
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April 22, 2008
Little Alys was born on 15th April 2008, weighing in at 7lb 8oz. Isn’t she a looker? There are more photos up on Flickr.
A proud dad doesn’t even come close. :)
February 29, 2008
Every six months or so, my brother-in-law, Bruce Gordon, updates his website (which I designed a while ago) with his latest work. I’m generally not one to pimp sites, especially family, but Bruce’s work continues to amaze me. He’s a Head Sculptor for the film industry in the UK and his website is glimpse into the world we rarely see--set design and construction.
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February 26, 2008
Cardiff is finally getting its act together. Tonight, I’ll be speaking at the second Cardiff Geek Night, along with Dan Zambonini. It’s a ‘microslot’ that will last about 15 minutes, leaving plenty of time for questions.
When I spoke in November last year at the Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin, the feedback I got from my Typography presentation was generally positive. It seemed that most of the people I spoke to preferred the last 10 minutes, on Micro-Typography, and all the quick tips that you could use every day. Tonight will be more of the same, with a slightly different slant. I’m going to highlighting my top ten crimes against web typography, and how you can put them right. Ten crimes (and subsequent tips on correcting them) in ten minutes. I’m told the talks will both be recorded, so I’ll post up a link to them (and slides), when they’re all done.
If you’re at a loose end tonight, and fancy a pint, then feel free to come along. We’ll be at Cafe Floyd from 7pm.
February 20, 2008
This article was published in .Net magazine before Christmas last year. I was asked to write a small article on making the leap to working for yourself (as it was still fresh in my mind). It’s by no means a definitive guide (for example, there is no mention of the legal aspects of setting up and running a company). It’s also aimed at a UK market, but a lot of this will work no-matter what country you’re in. Most of it is actually just common sense.
It’s been eighteen months since I went freelance, and almost six months since starting my small design studio. I’m no expert. So, this article documents what I did, and when. It also features a little interview with our very own Colly.
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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