= Here!

That’s right, I’ve got my first product in the shops… Actually on shelves! In an Apple store of all stores! Exciting times

Well, to say it’s my product is a little strong, I didn’t start it, but I finished it off. The next bunch will be even more exciting, the one’s that I’ve worked on from start to finish, the Brothers in Arms: Double Time and Mini Ninjas of the mac gaming world. Watch this space

I’ll leave you with this:

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Many many months, a few haircuts, and a new job later, I’m back! Yes, I’ve been a busy boy… And what better day to start getting back into my blogging habit than the strangest day of 2010 – 110110, which has a lovely binary ring to it. Strangest until October 10^th anyway. (Not that I had built up much of a habit, but I was working on it )

I spent a lot of 2009 wishing to work for people I liked, creating work that I was proud of. I was searching for an opportunity to design, be creative, and develop my skill. I was lucky enough to get this opportunity! Since late September ’09 I have been working as the principle print designer at Mac games publisher, Feral Interactive. In this role I am now responsible for the design and artworking of all printed items and the odd digital/web work. This includes corporate and consumer marketing pieces, e-newsletters, sales brochures, DVD labels, sleeves and boxes, disk icons, folder backgrounds and the occasional in-game graphic or screen. If you’re an owner of the recently released BioShock port, or are a fan of MacFormat, then you may have seen some of my work already. I’m thoroughly looking forward to the release of the first title I’ve been involved heavily with, Rome: Total War – it will be a real thrill to see a product I’ve worked on ‘in the wild’, so to speak.

Other than that aspect of my life, my freelance web and design work is going fine, having redesigned and upgraded the CMS on a Scottish Labour Party MP’s website and launched a new college website for a school on Oxford Street.

I’ve also been having a think about a new design for this site, which I’ll come back to in a later post. I’m sure you’re all on the edge of your seat for that one

Until then, I hope you all enjoyed the snow if you’re in the UK (great fun, even if it does cause transport havoc!) and hope you had an excellent Christmas break & great new years celebrations.

As I always say, “I intend to post more often now”. Maybe in 2010 this will turn out to be true! I promise there’ll be at least one more before I use the header 111111*.

Thanks for reading and feel free to say “hi!” in the comments…

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

*November 11^th 2011 for anyone who doesn’t get it

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My business cards for my freelance design venture have been delivered, so I thought I would post a photo and some info here for posterity.

They are printed on 380gsm fsc accredited board, matt laminated, and die cut with spot UV varnish to the front logo.

I decided to spend a little extra on the enhancements to illustrate to potential clients the finishes that are commonly available. I’m hoping that they will pay for themselves fairly quickly, but only time will tell.

I also wanted to mention something that really got my attention in design theory, back in my university days: Phi; the golden ratio or section; divine proportion; 1.6180339887. It’s presence through nature and history and it’s use in design and architecture fascinated me, and still do. In the past I have used it as a starting point for layouts and grid systems within my work, but my business cards represent the first time I have designed to the proportion in it’s entirety. I knew what I wanted on the cards, and I worked towards creating a grid which would allow me to apply them accordingly. For more information on phi, this site has an exhaustive collection of articles and this page contains some useful links for further reading.

Conveniently, and possibly not by coincidence, the standard measurement of business card supplied by my regular printer conforms quite nicely to Phi, so that was a good starting point. See below for the template I worked to.

Whilst I wanted to include some wow factor on the front, I tried to keep the back as simple as possible. Utilising a fairly plain design with a white background, they allow clients to jot small notes on the reverse if they choose, at the same time as using my chosen trading name ‘design is’ to bring into question the nature of my service and providing a quick definition (thanks to The Oxford English Dictionary) to give them a starting point to think from.

Essentially, I want potential clients to be thinking, “What else can design is do for my business?”

Let me know what you think of my cards. I’ll take all constructive thoughts into consideration for the next iteration.

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