Latest Thoughts

It’s now more important then ever that your sites work across many different devices, from smart-phones with screen as narrow as 240 pixels wide, to computer monitors that are 1920 pixels or larger. How do you achieve this nirvana of a design that works across all these different sized devices? You could create a different build for each device type, which would incur extra costs and an even longer time frame, or you could build one site using the responsive [adaptive] design techniques such as; fluid grids, flexible images, and media queries.

7up has refreshed their new branding, created by TracyLocke. It’s surprisingly simple, and I like it. Normally the logos and packaging for drinks end up becoming very intricate, but this shows class in it’s simplicity. The official line is that the branding “goes back to the core elements that define 7up: lemons, limes, bubbles and refreshment”. read more…

I’ve been using tumblr on and off since September 2008, but never really committed to the platform. Very sporadically I’d post things to my account, but then just forget about it. Over the last couple of months I’ve stared using my account in ernest. Why the sudden change? Because I’ve suddenly realised that, to me at least, it’s the perfect scrapbook. read more…

While mooching around the sales I visited Muji and discovered this little delight. Although not strictly designed for wireframe sketching it’s perfect for those initial quick scamps. The 4 boxes on each page are just the right proportions to scamp out ideas without getting bogged down with details. read more…

So I’ve had my iPad for almost three months now and even though my finger works well I was keen to have a stylus right from the start. I followed with interest all the different views and opinions of the Pogo, which appeared to have the edge. However, upon watching someone using one, I wasn’t keen on the foam tip. Due to the Pogo’s soft, flexible foam tip, it looked good for painting, but not so good for sketching.My local Maplin store had one iPad compatible stylus and although I didn’t recognize the manufacturer, Exspect. At only £4.99 it was worth a punt.
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Looking for that special typeface and just can’t find it? Help is on hand… read more…

Following on from my mass post-it note session, Sketchboarding, a couple of hours of clarity , I retreated back to my Mac to produce a sitemap. Using the sketchboard method, learned from Leah Buley at UX London 2010, allowed for rapid and easy re-working of my thoughts. With clarity of vision, I moved to creating a sitemap using a mix of Omni Outliner and Omni Graffle. With this run out and stuck together, all 12 A3 sheets of it, I returned to our Ideas Room and stuck it up on the wall.
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Sketchboarding is a rapid, flexible design method, which delivers results fast. It’s a technique which Leah Buley from Adaptive Path teaches extremely well via Adaptive Path’s workshop ‘Good Design Faster’, which I managed to catach while at the recent UX London 2010. For a full description and great video check the Adaptive Path blog post Sketchboards: Discover Better + Faster UX Solutions.
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I didn’t make it over to the UX Lisbon event, but reading through Luke Wroblewskis’ notes from the event these comments and subsequent list from Eric Reiss’ presentation: Killer Content or Content that Kills? hit quite a few notes with me.
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Idea Couture have created a fun little quiz to help work out whether you’re a left or right sided brain thinker. “We all have a natural inclination towards either left or right brain thinking, while some people have a combination of both. Which of these characteristics dominate your personality?” read more…