September 16, 2008
One of the interesting challenges of the redesign process for Drupal.org is managing the expectations of a community of over 200,000 registered users. Not only that, but a community of largely open source developers. I mention that specifically because of the culture that surrounds open source development. Leisa and I have been trying something that is, frankly, terrifying. We’re designing in the open.
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June 05, 2008
The other day, 37Signals wrote about Why they skip Photoshop. Fine. I think that suits them and their workflow, considering they don’t do client work and have an established UI style on which to draw. Jeff does a much better job of summarising my thoughts on the subject that I could. As does Jon
So, yesterday, we see this post on SVN, presumably as a follow up. Is it an inflammatory post? Or, do they have a point?
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May 20, 2008
On the 15th May, the winners of this year’s D&AD awards were announced. This year, there were only two nominations for graphic design, neither of which won an award. There were many more website nominations, and one was even awarded a yellow pencil. Although, typically, it’s a flash-based, motion-based ‘microsite’ masquerading as a website. Now, that aside, why did the graphic design category not produce any winners this year?
That very question has got me thinking about industry awards in general and why graphic design, and its application to websites, no longer has a place in the D&AD.
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May 07, 2008
Last year, Mike D introduced me to a friend of his who had just started work on an exciting new project. Coolspotters, the first major project from Fanzter was built on the back of a simple concept: combine products and people and let the users create the connections.
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March 06, 2008
A few days ago, Keeran sent me a link to this video by Job & Roel Wouters. It’s such a beautifully simple piece. Watching Job draw the letterforms is mesmeric enough, but when his son (?) joins in, I found myself laughing as he tries to imitate his fathers work. This leads to some funny-looking characters (c and d are particular favourites of mine).
I’m particularly jealous of the assured free-hand script of Job. It really is a joy to watch.
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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