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Self initiated Project – Cinema Rating Review site

By On August 6, 2011 In projects With No Comments Permanent Link to Self initiated Project – Cinema Rating Review sitePermalink

In the next few days I will be developing an Idea into fully realised researched and design concept. The Idea, like qype is similar in the fact that it is based on reviews, however this idea is more specific in what is being reviewed. Its not Cinemas, as you probably had a stab at guessing after looking at the title. Its is more precisely, what is in the cinemas. The Screens.

Reviews will be based on picture quality and sound quality. The later will be more important with users reviewing the bass, the surround sound and the general quality.

Here are the main outcomes of this self initiated project:

  • A designed logo.
  • a concept Windows Phone App
  • a concept Webpage
  • a concept Windows 8 touch app
All of which would be available to see in portfolio.
For the time being I have a website to finish, a website to start and internships to apply for.

Wallpaper series 1

wal1
By On June 12, 2011 In general, portfolio, projects With 2 Comments Permanent Link to Wallpaper series 1Permalink

This is the first set of desktop wallpaper for your Mac or PC. These images were taken on my Sony Alpha camera, the NEX-5. Click on the image to open the large version then save as desktop wallpaper.

I sincerely hope you enjoy these desktop wallpaper images. Phone versions are on their way to adorn on your Windows Phone or iPhone. Will be creating a zip downloadable version for all images soon for those who want the whole collection. This is the first of many more wallpaper series’ to come.





brainstorm, randomise elements on a webpage

By On January 10, 2011 In projects With No Comments Permanent Link to brainstorm, randomise elements on a webpagePermalink

Ok so I was thinking, if I am able to randomise the colour of a webpage everytime a new page loads then what else can i randomise. This blog post serves as a brainstorm for my ideas so I am typing as i think here…I didn’t think about this earlier and decided to share with the world what I thought up. This is LIVE PEOPLE…LIVE! ahem anyway.

So I have already been able to randomise the colour of a webpage, albeit via randomising the css being loaded. This only works with files stored in a directory path on my server. Lets start by thinking about different files then.

    • i can randomise jpegs, and pngs and gifs
      I can randomise video files…but to be honest I would only embed videos streamed elsewhere
      I can randomise css (yes i know I have done this already but listen) to change layout
      I can randomsie CSS to change the sites typeface!

    • thats all i can think of as yet. hmm ill update this when i think of more.

    Current progress on the Mango Down

    By On December 27, 2010 In general, projects With No Comments Permanent Link to Current progress on the Mango DownPermalink

    Mango Down is currently looking juicy. Here is a quick look at the homepage. Its simple. Cute…but…it will change. Even the home page will be interactive using orientation so watch this space.

    random CSS for Mango

    By On December 26, 2010 In projects With No Comments Permanent Link to random CSS for MangoPermalink

    I thought about making the experience colourful. So I have decided to make each page a different colour, these colours are quite juicy to match the name mango. There is infact a mango coloured page aswell.

    I found a way to randomise the coloured pages so that every user gets a randomly coloured experience. To do this I used a bit of php code. The code randomly picks a css file out of an array of files and loads that within the page once the webpage has loaded. I found this script on www.marcofolio.net in a post that can be seen here. The code is intended to be used for displaying a random image to users who visit a page, but with a bit of editing I got it to do it with css files.

    At the moment I am typing text and there are no visual treats…just text. Well I will add some soon. I promise. I shall go back to my first post and add a logo when I have developed one for this project.

    The colours I will be using are (in hexdecimal representation) are:

    #2389b9 #92252c #6a482a #838700 #f48f00

    D&AD Windows Phone 7 Typographical manifesto brief

    By On December 26, 2010 In general, projects With No Comments Permanent Link to D&AD Windows Phone 7 Typographical manifesto briefPermalink

    Whilst sifting through the latest tweets on my timeline I spotted an interesting tweet by D&AD. Firstly to those who do not know, D&AD

    exists to inform, educate and inspire those who work in and around the creative industries.

    To put it in a nutshell. Find out more about them here: dandad.org/dandad/about .

    Anyway the tweet read:

    Student Awards Brief: Create a typographical manifesto for Windows Phone 7 & win a phone, Xbox and placement http://bit.ly/fTmume #BP_WP7

    They are asking those who want to take the brief to create a typographical manifesto for Windows Phone 7. This caught my eye because if you read my previous blog post about why I use a windows phone I state that one of the reasons is its typographical user experience. It has a simple yet fresh feel to it. On top of that the new mobile operating system built from the ground up is fast and smooth. It is clearly a departure from the widley regarded ugliness that dogged the old windows mobile operating systems. Windows Phone 7 is also unique in its appearance, not like iOS devices or android devices with their glossy and embossed looks, it seems microsoft is ushering in a new renaissance in style and appearance by creating an operating system with clean lines, chromes-less and spacious user interface.

    We are seeing this similar shift to cleaner, less cluttered and an aesthetic that rewards typography with an enhanced legibility, free from drop shadows, embossed borders  and gradients. One only has to look at the BBC’s new design language for their website as seen in the BBC News Website, or even D&AD’s own website. Microsoft is also rolling it out to its own products such as the XBOX 360 dashboard system which sees a cleaner and fresh modern look reminiscent of windows phone 7. It also extends to the new XBOX.COM website.  The name of the style that Microsoft is following is called Metro and is actually older than you think. One of the first examples was Media Centre for Vista where this style was used. It can be seen in the update to the aforementioned windows mobile os 6.5 with the new home screen, but both had the glossiness that we associate with, well, current times. Metro became wholesome and complete when Microsoft launched Zune. It stripped away all unnecessary eye candy which in turn created a new eye candy: the overall look of a simplified and stylish design.

    I am highly interested in signing up to this brief because I have been following Microsofts efforts in these areas and also because I am a consumer of the products that metro has been bestowed upon. I had the original  windows mobile 5, then 6 then 6.5 update. I witness the news that Microsoft stopped itself in its tracks, when it was moving onwards toward windows mobile 6.5′s sucessor, to completely scrap its original plans and design something new. I use Zune as my default music player. I use an Xbox 360 (admittedly i use it everyday) and most importantly I was one of the first to get a Windows Phone 7 device.

    I remember when I watched Bill gates talk about “three screens and a cloud” a few years back when he was CEO. Today, that is a reality thanks to the 360, windows phone and windows. Synchronising life so that all that you are interested in comes to you. Xbox live is now in my pocket. I buy a movie on my computer – I can watch that same movie on my 360. I listen to a podcast but dont have time to finish listening to it because i need to get to uni? I can continue where i left off and listen to it on my phone while i commute. I wont even start by talking about Kinect or else we will be hear all day. That will be for another blog post.

    I am excited to have seen the opportunity to work on a brief such as this. Hopefully I can plan and design something based on what I love about of the Windows Phone platform, what I know Microsoft wants to communicate about the platform and the many benefits Windows Phone 7 brings to our lives. Project brief aside I would like to personally mention that if you use facebook, if you love games, if you love music and you also love productivity then you should definitely get a windows phone. Xbox, facebook, office, windows live all comes together in your hand in a nice, simple easy to use phone!