Tag: design

If you have been working in the digital marketing arena for any length of time you will be well aware of the importance of content marketing. Our audiences are hungry for content and like any staple diet, variety is the spice of life, no one wants to be eating the same thing every single day. There are various ways to offer different content to our users from blog posts, podcasts, infographics, illustrations, videos but also interactive content. One form of interactive content to entertain your audience is to create free online quizzes.

Continue “How to create free online quizzes to entertain your audience”

When creating design elements everyone, no matter who we are has their own opinion of what works and what doesn’t, what is beautiful and what is ugly. Visual cues and hierarchy feel different for different people but you will find that the majority of people will be biased to one way of thinking or another. When you are just working between yourself and a client it can be difficult to reach agreements on what is beautiful and thus you need a third party to help make final decisions, that is where Desinion comes in.
Continue “Desinion get others opinions about your design”

For the last three years, I have been entirely focused on up-skilling my digital skills, after all, it is how I earn my living so it is of the utmost importance that I do so, particularly at the rate that technology and design trends change. Unfortunately, due to this circumstance, it means my art, painting and drawing have taken a back seat but that is something I have decided to rectify and my canvas, paints and A2 sketchpad have finally arrived today!

Continue “New Years Resolution do more art underway!”

The monocle, the sign of a true sophisticated gentleman also showed the wearer as an intelligent and mature human being. Where has this piece of clothing gone? It takes utter class and confidence to wear something such as this and the design (of which this blog is all about) is nothing short of gold plated genius. In this blog post, I discuss the design of the monocle and 10 famous people that have worn or do wear one. Continue “The monocle , the sign of sophistication and 5 gentlemen who wore them”

Future tech, it seems, is often inspired by the movies or the Hollywood directors who know something we don’t. Movies are the place of fantasy and desire and movie buffs being able to bring some key technologies of our favourite films to life is really a motivation of every film lover. From the Back to the future time travelling car, to the Tron Legacy Light Cycle so many key technological film props capture the imagination of us all. Continue “Future Tech Products that are straight from the movies!”

Lest we forget. I have been working in-house for MigSolv for the last two years now and have been asked by the board of directors to design something that could show our support and sympathy for the occasion with it being 100 years since the start of the first world war.

To begin I sketched a few ideas very basic to get my ideas out and then began constructing what I believed to be the best concept which is what this blog post will discuss in detail. Continue “Lest We Forget Graphic Art”

Creating a colour scheme for your brand should not be taken lightly, colour has a huge psychological power over its viewer than has been with us in nature from the beginning of time. It’s not simply saying ‘I want it to be yellow’, you need to consider what shade of yellow as a vivid bright yellow has a different feel, mood and meaning than a dark mustard yellow. Here is some basic information about the meaning of the main shades of colour.

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As you may already know, long before I became a graphics and branding designer I attended a BA Hons degree in Architecture at Liverpool John Moores University,  graduating in may 2008 when the recession was at its peak and the building trade had all dried up, even worse in the north of the UK so a part 1 architect position was not exactly oozing out of every crevice.

I have decided to include my past works in my blog as I feel this was a stage that did develop my creativity and led me on to where I am today.

This project was called the Kente Locus based around fashion and dedicated in memory to the African connection Liverpool has. The concept was that everyone who was on the boulevard had to pass through the building so that the fashion designers who reside in the building can people watch and get inspiration from the varying cultures of the area and also be a multifunctional space that could be used for catwalks, fashion pods, lectures, a research space, a meeting place and an exhibition space on the top floor. The below plans were drawn using AutoCad 2008

Depending what event was on at the Kent Locus the lighting within the Locus would inform the passer by what was happening. One colour may be a fashion show, another for general creative use and another for an exhibition etc.

The facade of the building is clad in reflective metal and glass for two purposes, firstly to reflect the surrounding georgian buildings that the dockers of Liverpool used to live in thinking of the past that created the wealth and history of the city, the long form of the building like a piece of cloth that Africans make to fabricate a cloth together and secondly so that the building can get passive solar gains from the internal concrete walls of the building to ensure it can make the most of its sustainable credentials.

In this section it shows how the central space can be used in various ways. From a lecture being conducted, to a catwalk etc

This is a closer look of a lecture being conducted with light tunnels filling the space with natural light. This was not the final design as it was decided that bridges should cross the space on the third floor so that observing others fashion was easier.

These 3d pictures were created with the use of 3ds max 9 and photoshop, the largest image is the entrance to the Kente Locus, a space made of concrete and plain metal so that the colours of the people would be the features of the building rather than the building itself. The two pictures on the right of the large picture show two people observing people as they enter the building and below shows that there are many different angles you can observe people no matter where you are in the building.

This shows the OMAA DA boxes, boxes that can be place together to create seperate private spaces and be used for different purposes. In this illustration you can see the space being used as a pop up shop, an art class, a changing room or even a meditation pod for quiet reflection.

In this section it shows clearer details of how the building is constructed and how both the passive solar gains would work and should there be a fire how the smoke could be removed from the building as quickly as possible due to smoke being the main killer of a fire rather than the fire itself.

Unfortunately I don’t seem to have taken pictures of my model or I have mislaid them but in my next post I will be showing one of my most popular models that I constructed which was a book shop that sold radical books on a bridge. The Architecture course was a great experience and I don’t regret any of it, the subject will always hold a place in my heart and I am still a fond studier of construction and buildings. Please feel free to leave any comments below

I have been asked to redevelop a website as it is not being as effective at creating leads or conversions to the level that they would like. In this post I discuss 5 points of research on how to create great website menu bars.

1. Less me and more you

In life no one likes someone who talks about themselves, everyone is more interested in their own life. In their achievements & in their problems and drawing your visitors attention should start by thinking what your customers want from your site? The old rule when websites where first made was to always put Home at the start so its easy to locate & then the About Link..this has changed. I would now recommend putting the About section near the end of the menu as people are less interested in you and your background and more interested in what you can do for them!

2. NO Services Tab

What is the point in a services tab? Saying you have services is all very good but it isn’t specific enough, how is anyone going to know what you can provide them without visit that specific page? It isn’t just to be more specific but you must also reenforce your marketing message to the visitor. BE creative with your choice of words not just your images.

3. Contact

The contact feature may be considered to be one of the most important feature of any website so making sure it is clear and easily accessible at all times. Why not even have a button that is always on screen to ask for an instant quote for your product? One step further, if you have the team available have a live chat feature to give your potential leads more options for making an enquiry.

Look at my website for a simple example. My contact page is always available ( top right corner) to you no matter where you are on the site.

4. Lets be Social

Being social is very important in the modern world. Being an active participant on social media sites shows you are a company that stays in touch with the latest technology, value your customers current opinions and keep abreast of what is happening amongst your industry. I usually keep the social media icons in the footer of a website but ocassionlly in a sidebar. Some websites include it in their menu for easy access. Any of these three options are fine.

5. Blog all about it

So you have a home page, about page, “something” other than services tab & a contact tab but do you blog? What is a blog? Well you are reading a blog right now! Why blog? Well for three main reasons : –

• SEO – improves your search engine ranking
• Expertise – shows you know what you are talking about
• Socialise – it gives you something to tweet about regularly and create conversation
• Build a fan base – those who are interested in what you are will begin to communicate with you
• Create leads and opportunity – blogging sometimes leads to being offered to guest blog on other websites as well as opportunities for contracts, job offers & networking.

Don’t forget to create an RSS Feed for your regular fans ( wordpress creates this automatically as it was developed for blogging purposes just use www.yourdomain.com/feed or alternatively set up a feedburner account so you can see exactly how many fans you currently have subscribed to your account! ).

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Have you got some more ideas about what works well on website menus? Please share this post with your social circle using the buttons below and discuss the article in the comment box below.

So you are setting up a new business and you need a business card created that really stands out from the industry you are entering, how are you going to do that? Hire a designer to create a very abstract creative design? Well Vistaprint recently contacted me with some fantastic novel ideas you may not have considered..

Aboveis an infographic with 31 creative uses for business cards .

To see this in more clarity please visit my pintrest board here .

8 of the best ideas from the Vistaprint infographic I particularly like.

creative uses for business cards no 1

Meeting a potential client in person? Why not make them feel extra special with a special discount on the business card you give them? That may just close the deal if they were wavering about it..everyone likes to feel a little bit special.

creative uses for business cards no 2

Every single business in the modern age now uses social media to connect to its audience and if they don’t they should do. Make sure to put your social media id’s on your business card for a more personal and direct connection to your fans, customers & business partners.

creative uses for business cards no 3

Got a major event coming up in the future or one that you attend regularly? Make your Customers aware on your business card.

creative uses for business cards no 4

Giving your business card a 2nd purpose other than to give your details to the person receiving it may get the recipient using it more places. A bookmark is one idea, particularly good if you are a 2nd hand book shop. Just think about your product or service you are selling and convey it on your business card if possible.

creative uses for business cards no 5

Are you an event organiser? A holdiay rep or maybe a tour guide? Why not ask your customers to upload their pictures to a location online to share their experiences? Your customers view points are the most valuable thing to help promote more sales to others.

creative uses for business cards no 6

Making others feel good about themselves or seeing another smile can be very rewarding, why not send a little positive vibe out into the world. Just be careful not to use quotes as not every quote will agree with every personality. An example, “you are beautiful” could be great for a beautician or life coach.

creative uses for business cards no 7

Getring good feedback from your clients?Great! That will surely help give your potential customers a little more confidence in you. Before you do this make sure you get permission from your customers first, you don’t want to upset anyone.

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Loyalty is a rare thing to find these days with so many different companies desperate to win your business rewarding that loyalty with something special will make your customer feel special & give a positive impression of your company.

Want more ideas for business cards? Check out my pinterest board or alternatively use the contact button above and i can help design you a very unique and creative business card for your company.

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• 20 Creative and Unique Business Card Templates
• Types of Business Cards
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