= 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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Whilst the sun has decided to shine on the UK at last, all it seems to have done for me is make me a little less comfortable in my chair at work, instilled a yearning to go outside, and made me a little more sleepy.

However, time has been ticking on, so let’s have a little catch up on what’s been happening since Calm before the Storm:

• Writing some posts about useful things I’ve found and learnt.

^ Started a couple, but not quite finished any.

• Re-building my freelance site using WordPress for the back-end.

^ Complete! design-is.co.uk is now a lot more professional looking with a lot more content – head over and have a look.

• Getting up-to-date with admin.

^ Pretty much there, although getting it all organised would be a good thing to do next.

• Getting approval on an improved website (previously mentioned).

^ Unfortunately the corporate cogs haven’t quite found the time yet.

• Contacting existing clients.

^ Hot on the heels of my renovated freelance site came the first instalment of ‘design-is: updated‘, my newsletter to clients and prospects. I foresee this becoming a vital touch point, allowing me to easily inform readers of new offers and services.

• Following up leads.

^ Progress made, but an unending tasks when leads keep coming.

• Investigate post-grad certificate.

^ I wasn’t overly convinced that Birkbeck University knew what courses they were running when I attended their open day, but assuming I can find the cash, I’ll be looking into their offering more thoroughly as the months progress.

Other recent events include the Apple WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) 2009, in which they gave a nice little bump to their laptop range, took us through the latest features of their upcoming operating system Snow Leopard, and released the iPhone we all wish they had released the first time around. Yes, having upgraded from my first generation iPhone, I am now the proud owner of an iPhone 3GS. Now boasting both media messaging and video recording capabilities along side its (slightly) improved camera, this new hardware is the perfect accompaniment to their new OS 3.0 software.

Other noteworthy events include a couple of completed websites (see Case Studies on new design-is.co.uk) and attending the exhibition of finalists for the Young Designers Competition at Dulwich College. Whilst there I caught up with Luke Riggall, the young designer I recently completed a portfolio for who has made quite an impact on the ‘blogosphere’ with his advanced product designs.

Luke Riggall on Novanta, his 'designers desk'.

I hope you’re all enjoying the summery weather that has finally arrived on the wonderful island of Britain!

(If your not in Britain, I hope you’re having lovely weather too ).

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So, we are now well into the year 2009.

Unfortunately my aim to finish this and my freelance site over the Christmas holiday period was thwarted by the flu pandemic which seems to of hit the majority of the UK. However, all is not lost! I have now got my freelance site, design-is.co.uk, to a stage where I’m happy enough to push forward and get some stationery printed up and flyers/business cards handed out.

This site (dougbarned.co.uk) is nearing a similar stage – it’s construction is complete, but it’s not quite full of the intended content yet. I’ll be working on this over the coming weeks, hoping to populate the work and miscellaneous sections with wonderful things.

I am also about to get stuck into a new site which has been partially designed, and built, but is stuck in the dark ages of web design with an antiquated table based layout and JavaScript powered roll-overs. I think someone had too strong a liking of Dreamweaver. I hope to remedy the situation.

In the technology arena, the year is already turning out to be an exciting one. Having avidly followed the process of the Macworld 2009, I can honestly say I would love to know what Apple have in the pipeline. I keep up-to-date on the latest rumours on MacRumors.com, but somehow it’s never quite enough. To prove this point, my favourite appearance at Macworld has to be from Axiotron, an Apple Premier Developer. They are responsible for the much sought after ModBook launched last year. This year, they begin shipping their new ModBook Pro. This machine looks to be a thing of dreams – the closest thing to digital paper a designer can get. I can’t wait until Axiotron start trading in the UK.

The ultimate tablet computer

As a closing note to 2009′s opening post, I would like to say how much I am looking forward to the finalization of CSS 3 and in particularly hope for a good implementation of the new multiple columns and text flow features.

Thanks for reading, I intend to be a bit more active with posting from now on.

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